The New CCO (Page Society)

Throughout his tenure at Merck, Ken Frazier made it a point to stand up for his principles. Unlike most CEOs, Ken was once his company’s CCO. That experience prepared him to think multi-stakeholder and pass decisions through the lens of the company’s character and values. At the 2022 Page Spring Seminar, Ken sat down with industry icon and longtime Page member Bill Nielsen, in what would go on to be the highest-rated conference session in Page history. They discussed Ken's leadership philosophy, his love for the communications function, and the role business can play in bettering society.

In the world of executive coaching, there is perhaps no one more well-known, more respected, or more sought-after than Dr. Marshall Goldsmith. At the 2022 Page Spring Seminar, Marshall sat down with Charlene Wheeless, former Page Chair and CEO of Charlene Wheeless LLC.  Along with invaluable life and family advice, Marshall shared wisdom for leaders as they take the top spot, and explained the behaviors - and misbehaviors - that can make or break a team.

KPN is looking to the future of mobile networks and the digital infrastructure on which they will run. Recent CEO Maximo Ibarra discusses how the company is preparing for what he calls a new world of “immersive connectivity.” 

Ibarra discusses the future of interpersonal communication, starting with the next era of screens and the new features they will provide. He also dives into the emerging field of neurotechnology and brain-machine interfaces, such as Elon Musk’s Neuralink. Ultimately, Ibarra describes how the company itself is transforming to meet the needs of a rapidly changing and perpetually disrupted industry. 

This podcast is adapted from a session led by Becky Edwards, CCO at Schneider Electric, at the Page International Exchange held this summer. 

Thank you for listening! If you like what you hear, subscribe on iTunes, Google Play, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. 

Special thanks go to Morning Consult and Rivet Smart Audio for making this season of The New CCO possible.

On this edition of The New CCO, we welcome Southwest Airlines SVP & CCO Linda Rutherford to tell the fateful story of Flight 1380 and April 17, 2018. She takes us through the minutiae of that day, from first learning the breathtaking circumstances surrounding the airline's lone passenger fatality in company history, to the heroic actions of the plane's crew. She details how her communications function played a role in shaping national dialogue in the wake of the tragedy, and why Southwest Airlines was uniquely equipped to emerge from the tragedy with brand intact.

Thank you for listening!

Please subscribe to make sure you don't miss an episode. You will find us on iTunes, Google Play, Spotify, Soundcloud, and Stitcher.

Special thanks go to The Home Depot and Rivet Smart Audio for making this season of The New CCO possible.

Please enjoy this episode of G&S Communications' podcast Building Brand Gravity titled The Specifics Matter: Reinforcing Credibility in a Multi-Stakeholder Environment. It featured a wide-ranging conversation with Page Up members Steve Halsey and Rob Jekielek with our very own Eliot Mizrachi.

Carrying on our series on COVID-19 and its implications, in this episode we speak with Whitney Eichinger, Managing Director Culture & Engagement at Southwest Airlines. We explore how an essential business with a strong culture of employee inclusion can leverage that to support the company through this crisis.

Page Chair Charlene Wheeless has been convening conversations among our members recently to share ideas about the concrete steps that they can take to address systemic racism within their organizations and across business and society, an issue on which she has been a fierce advocate throughout her career. In this podcast she speaks about what's happening, what needs to be done about it and how CCOs can lead the charge.

In this episode, we explore the findings from IRG’s new research, which Page participated in, and their implications for Chief Communications Officers. We also hear Dana Holmes's practical experience at Blue Cross Blue Shield and Marc de Swaan Arons's insights from the Institute for Real Growth.

At this year's Annual Conference, Page welcomed to the stage Paul Argenti, Professor of Corporate Communications at Dartmouth College's Tuck School of Business. Paul led a session titled, "If, When, and How to Engage." The session strove to answer the basic question: What's the playbook for companies as they weight the risk & reward of engaging around social issues?

Paul welcomed to the stage Linda Rutherford, SVP and CCO at Southwest Airlines. Linda presented the "traffic light model" she and her team developed to streamline the decision-making process around engagement.

On this episode of The New CCO, you'll hear from both Paul and Linda, as they present their frameworks for engagement.

Thank you for listening! Please subscribe to make sure you don't miss an episode. You will find us on iTunes, Google Play, Spotify and Stitcher.

Special thanks go to The Home Depot and Rivet Smart Audio for making this season of The New CCO possible.

As language evolves and workplaces divide, CCOs must lead with empathy and clarity. SHRM CEO Johnny C. Taylor, Jr. joins Page CEO Dr. Rochelle Ford to explore how communicators can craft the unifying language today’s organizations need in a lively fireside chat at our 2025 Spring Seminar.

Howard Pyle has worked for more than two decades integrating design, technology, and creativity — from leading startups to running global design at Fortune 100 companies. At the 2023 Page Spring Seminar, Howard shared how emerging technologies and methods can scale influence to serve stakeholders — and stand out in a sea of dark patterns, digital haves-and-have-nots, and experiential siloes rife with friction.

On this edition of The New CCO, we bring you our conversation with General Motors CCO Tony Cervone from the 2019 Page Spring Seminar. Interviewed by former IBM Chief Brand Officer and SVP Jon Iwata, Tony discusses the brand transformation effort he’s leading at GM alongside CEO Mary Barra.

Facing disruption from new players such as Lyft, Uber, and Tesla, GM has had to rethink everything from its business model to its role in society. Tony has led the redefinition of the enterprise, starting with its brand and culture. He, along with GM’s senior leadership team, developed a new aspirational goal for the company - Zero Crashes, Zero Emissions, and Zero Congestion - which now serves as its north star.

Tony details how he leverages his responsibility for the corporate brand to influence other parts of the business in ways that bring that brand to life. He also explains the emerging field of CommTech and how he’s used data and new technology systems to reach the stakeholders that matter most.

In this episode of The New CCO Brief, Megan Noel, former Senior Managing Director for communications and corporate affairs at PwC, shares how change management was the key to unlocking AI’s full potential. From upskilling 75,000 employees to building trust across the organization, she reveals the practical strategies that made AI work at scale—and why communicators are best positioned to lead this transformation.

History may not always repeat itself but it sure can rhyme. As the world grapples with populism, income inequality and a revolt by a disenfranchised working class, we can see now how the 1920s, with similar circumstances, brought about a progressive movement and spawned the field of public relations. On this episode, Rob Flaherty, chairman of Ketchum, shares his thoughts on how the world we live in today must heed important lessons from a century ago. His big two calls for today’s CCOs – step up to the evolving role of business in society, and commit to CommTech as a central aspect of the future of our profession.

Following our interview with the 2024 Page and IPR Case Study Competition winners, we bring you an extended conversation between the students and Katherine Frymark, EVP of Corporate Communications at Mattel, getting an insider perspective on the success behind Barbie’s brand transformation. The insightful conversation, led by IPR President Tina McCorkindale, covered brand authenticity, risk-taking and how it takes bold decisions for iconic brands to reinvent themselves.

When it came out, Barbie dominated the box office, grossing nearly $1.5 billion at the box office. But what many don't realize is the movie was part of a larger strategy, to reposition the iconic doll in the minds of consumers. The Grand Prize Winners of the 2024 Page and IPR Case Study Competition focused on how Mattel managed this effort, and what risks they encountered along the way. For this episode, we brought in the four winning authors, Rebecca Wolff, Mariela Dothe Marcial, Katrina White, and Chloe Oakes, from University of Florida, to dive deeper into their research.

We pull the thread on a story about a group of leaders and socially-conscious shareholders that waged a proxy battle against legacy powerbrokers of a Japanese megacorporation, challenging traditional notions of where power lies. Jin Montesano takes us through this fascinating story from her company.

The CCO role is one of the most dynamic in the C-suite, requiring a swiss army knife of skillsets. Because of that, there are many different paths to the top of the communications function and we find that fascinating. In this episode, we sat down with Brian Lott, Page Chair and CCO at Mubadala about how his unlikely start in midwestern U.S. politics uniquely prepared him to lead comms in the UAE.

Last week, Harold Burson announced he will return to his childhood home of Memphis, TN, after seven decades of living in New York while leading one of the world’s largest and most successful PR agencies. At 98 years young, Harold is a larger-than-life icon of public relations - he’s the Founding Chairman of Burson-Marsteller, a predecessor firm to Burson Cohn & Wolfe - and, to this day, imparts visionary wisdom regarding the industry and its future.

On this edition of The New CCO, we revisit a conversation from the 2018 Page Spring Seminar between Harold and Becky Edwards, now the CCO at Schneider Electric, who was then with the International Olympic Committee. Harold explains why he’s bullish on the future of the communications, his roundabout path into the profession, and how the digital era has and will continue to reshape it.

Thank you for listening! If you like what you hear, subscribe on iTunes, Google Play, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Special thanks go to Morning Consult and Rivet Smart Audio for making this season of The New CCO possible.

Ofield Dukes was a brilliant communications strategist and one of the most influential racial justice leaders of the 20th century. Last September, he was posthumously inducted into the Page Hall of Fame. As we celebrate Black History Month, we hear from those who knew and loved Mr. Dukes about his storied life and career and how he changed the industry and the world for the better.

As the world grappled with the hardships of COVID-19, Mark Hoplamazian, President and CEO of Hyatt, struggled balancing his personal grief with the harsh business realities of the pandemic. Leaning into his empathy, Hoplamazian transformed Hyatt’s culture, implementing new policies and technology to support employee mental health and well-being.

PR often gets miscast as spin—but Curtis Sparrer wants to change the script. The Page member, PR pro-turned-graphic-novelist, joins us to talk about "Game Face," his new graphic novel that puts public relations in the hero’s seat. What started as a way to explain PR to his niece became a clever crash course for kids, clients and anyone who's ever struggled to explain what we actually do.

While the outcome of this unusual election cycle is uncertain, one thing is clear: CCOs will be treading carefully between two political minefields. At our recent Annual Conference, Bruce Mehlman, a renowned expert on the intersection of business, politics and technology, delivered a compelling session on the key drivers of today’s political climate and its implications for business leaders. We’re excited to bring you this highly-rated talk.

In this episode, we’re joined by Stacey Tank, former CCO, Page member and the founder of this podcast, about her new role as CEO of a rising beauty brand. She recounts the path she took to become a CEO, and what skills were essential as she moved from CCO to Chief Transformation Officer, among other roles. We hope you enjoy this conversation as much as we enjoyed recording it!

On this edition of The New CCO, we invite Bill Heyman, Founder & CEO of Heyman Associates, and Jennifer Doidge, Executive Search & Assessment Consultant with Russell Reynolds, to discuss hiring for the CCO role and how it is evolving. 

The two leaders of premier executive search firms give us a window into the search process: what CEOs are looking for in a CCO and how the relationship differs from other C-suite functions. 

Thank you for listening! If you like what you hear, subscribe on iTunes, Google Play, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. 

Special thanks go to Morning Consult and Rivet Smart Audio for making this season of The New CCO possible.

Enterprises face severe disruption, whether via technology, business model, new competition, etc. Indeed, in order to keep up, organizations must answer fundamental questions about the nature of their business, starting with their people. “What kind of culture do we need to compete in our industry? What does it look like, feel like, sound like? What are the base skills our people possess? Where do they come from?”

These are some of the questions Reggie Walker, Chief Commercial Officer at PwC, has wrestled with while helping to lead the enterprise's communications function over the past three years. He’s also helped spur a critical organization-wide effort around digital upskilling to better align PwC’s people with its business strategy. He’s also unified the Communications, Sales and Marketing functions, streamlining an operation that was once disparate entities. On this episode, we’ll learn more about each of these initiatives from Reggie and how they ladder up to a new kind of CCO role that’s swiftly changing in order to adapt to new disruptive factors.

Special thanks go to Morning Consult and Rivet Smart Audio for making this season of The New CCO possible.

Given the enormous impact of Coronavirus on companies, we are shifting gears for the next few episodes. Page has been convening its members to share knowledge and best practices in these uncharted territories. We will be bringing you insights from a few of our members with a first-hand look at how they are helping their organizations grapple with these circumstances. 

In our first episode in this series, Kati Everett, the CCO at Novant Health, shares with us how her team is helping the people at the front lines of this battle, at a time when their business priorities have shifted entirely. The role of the communications team has never been more central to the organization when having the latest information saves lives. She ends by sharing advice for CCOs navigating this crisis, keeping in mind that there will be a time when we are post-crisis.

At a time when reality and satire are becoming increasingly indistinguishable, it is easy to see why disinformation can be so hard to detect. To dissect the various types of disinformation and identify the role business plays in helping tell the truth, we sat down with journalist Vivian Schiller, Executive Director of Aspen Digital, who is focused on the intersection of media and technology.

Carmella Glover, president of the Diversity Action Alliance and director of DE&I at Page stopped by the podcast for a conversation on what Juneteenth becoming a federal holiday means for all Americans and how business leaders can use this opportunity to help build an equitable future. 

In a world of ever-increasing uncertainty, the importance of the communications function is only growing. In this episode, we are reviewing Edelman’s new report, The Future of Corporate Communications, to see what trends might persist into 2022 and beyond. Our guests are Edelman’s Jim O’Leary, U.S Chief Operating Officer and Dave Samson, Vice Chairman of Corporate Affairs.

In this episode, Dr. Candace Steele Flippin, CCO at Acuity Brands and the chair of our upcoming Spring Seminar, discusses the event’s theme of radical relevance and what it means for CCOs whose leadership has proven to be vital in a period of persistent disruption and transformation.

In the past, Communications was largely media relations and speechwriting. While technology has helped make our function more strategic and impactful, we are on the cusp of a major transformation of how it works - what our teams look like, the roles it includes, the skills it requires, and the ways it operates.

On this edition of The New CCO, we discuss the emerging notion of CommTech with one of its pioneers, Daniel Jörg, Head of Digital Marketing & Research at Farner Consulting in Zurich. Daniel has spent the last 20 years taking the Communications function through a period of technological experimentation that has resulted in what he views as the function of the future. He walks us through his journey, what he’s learned along the way, and how his team is blending new tech with new ways of working to drive real business outcomes.

AI is reshaping corporate communications—are you ready to lead the shift? In this episode of The New CCO, top comms leaders Megan Noel (Golin), Mike Marinello (J.P. Morgan Payments), and Dan Gaynor (Signal AI) share how AI is driving real impact. Learn how communicators are turning AI into a competitive advantage.

Recently in the United States, Indigenous People's Day was observed, a holiday that, until fairly recently, was known most commonly as Columbus Day. We are bringing you one of the many powerful voices from our recent Annual Conference Panel on On Racism, Inclusion and Reconciliation: Breaking Barriers through Partnerships, Michael Jacobs, the CEO, and Chairman of Cambium Indigenous Professional Services. He shared his personal experiences with us and revealed how communicators should be speaking with this oft-overlooked stakeholder group.

In this episode, Ethan McCarty, CEO at Integral and the chair of our upcoming Spring Seminar, discusses the event’s theme of Influence at Work, and explains how communicators can leverage influence to drive results.

Award-winning author and journalist Simon Kuper joined Brian Lott, CCO of Mubadala Investment Company, on stage at our spring seminar conference in Paris last spring. He described a new point of view on Paris, one of a dynamic city amid a huge transformation, beyond the role as an Olympic host city. In this episode, we’re bringing you this highly-rated session titled, Paris, the impossible city in an impossible world.

Every year, Page teams up with the Institute for Public Relations to hold a student case study competition and the winners are chosen by a panel of some of the most prolific communicators in the world. This year’s winning case study examined the controversial decision by Dick’s Sporting Goods to discontinue the sale of guns in many of their stores, and the outcomes that followed. 

Every year, Page teams up with the Institute for Public Relations to hold a student case study competition. The winners are chosen by a panel of some of the most prolific communicators in the world. This year’s winning case examined Delta Air Lines' early decision to require masks on flights, the ways they used communications to effectuate that policy, and its step to use the "no fly list" as a tool to enforce compliance.

If most organizations found themselves as the punchline of a late-night comedy joke, their CEO or head of communications might consider it a crisis. But Carnival Cruise Line is different. Hear from their president, Christine Duffy, and CCO, Chris Chiames, about how the organization’s loyalty and good humor serve as a shield for the brand. 

At our 2023 Page Annual Conference, Dahabo Ahmed-Omer, CEO of Black North, joined a panel to share her experiences as a CEO and as a black, Muslim woman in Canada as well as actionable, candid advice on having tough conversations on DEI. If your organization’s DEI efforts have waned or are being impacted by the recent wave of anti-DEI sentiment, let this episode be the bolt of inspiration to recharge your efforts. 

In this 3-episode mini-series, we sit down with three CommTech experts, discussing what generative AI technologies currently exist, how they are developing, and the implications for the communication profession. In the final episode of the series, we look at what current systems and guardrails are in place for this technology, identify areas of concern, and prognosticate what may happen if these concerns aren’t addressed.

With AI & automation poised to change the very nature of work, we welcome Alan Marks, CCO at ServiceNow, to join us for a discussion on his vision of the 21st-century office. He describes the consumerization of work, what automation really means for the future economy, and why establishing meaningful purpose and culture within the enterprise is more important than ever. 

Thank you for listening! Please subscribe to make sure you don't miss an episode.

Special thanks go to The Home Depot and Rivet Smart Audio for making this season of The New CCO possible.

Roger Ferguson’s departure from TIAA in March of this year leaves the number of Black CEOs on the Fortune 500 list at four - less than 1%. At last year’s Page Annual Conference, we were fortunate to speak with Ron Williams, the former CEO of Aetna, and now CEO and Chairman of RW2 Enterprises. Ron shared some of the lessons from his experience as a Black CEO and what companies should be doing to ensure enterprise leadership is more diverse.

Emily Goodson is a writer, entrepreneur and workplace culture consultant. She joined us at our 2023 Spring Seminar and shared how her disability helped her uncover bias and deficiencies in many aspects of day-to-day life and led to her finding her own voice, sharing important ways you can help design inclusive journeys for all your stakeholders.

At this year's Annual Conference, Page welcomed to the stage Carlos Brito, CEO of Anheuser-Busch InBev. Brito, one of the consensus most admired CEOs in the world, described how AB InBev transformed from a profit-driven company to a well-rounded, societally influential, and community-building organization. He discussed AB InBev's award-winning #NoExcuse campaign and its sustained push to conquer the issue of domestic violence. He also touches on InBev's partnership with Water.org and social value proposition at-large.

Brito was interviewed by William Lewis, CEO of Dow Jones and Publisher of The Wall Street Journal.

Thank you for listening! Please subscribe to make sure you don't miss an episode. You will find us on iTunes, Google Play, Spotify, Soundcloud, and Stitcher.

Special thanks go to The Home Depot and Rivet Smart Audio for making this season of The New CCO possible.

As senior communicators face unprecedented challenges—from economic uncertainty to societal polarization—how are they adapting? In this episode of The New CCO: Brief, Mara Hedgecoth (APCO) and Bill Walsh (AARP) discuss the evolving role of CCOs, their growing influence in risk management and how they are shaping strategy in an increasingly complex world.

In this 3-episode mini-series, we sit down with three CommTech experts, discussing what generative AI technologies currently exist, how they are developing, and the implications for the communication profession. In the first episode, we attempt to level-set the existing AI landscape, analyzing how people are currently using (and misusing) these tools.

In a world of increasing complexity, building trust across cultures has never been more challenging—or essential. Shahar Silbershatz and Axel Löber share insights on how global CCOs can navigate cultural nuances, leverage AI and data and foster authentic stakeholder connections. Listen to the conversation to hear how human connection remains at the heart of effective communication in an AI-driven era. 

On this episode, we take you inside our new research report, The CCO as Pacesetter, with the research leaders: Roger Bolton, Aedhmar Hynes and Jon Iwata. 

Together they visited nearly 30 countries, speaking to over 200 senior communications leaders. Those conversations shaped a new perspective on how and why the role of the CCO is at a pivotal moment. Above all, the CCO is a crucial leader in enterprise transformation, which is in many cases an existential proposition for their companies. 

Through our research, we introduce a new wrinkle to traditional stakeholder engagement models through CommTech. We also focus on three key dimensions of Corporate Character the CCO can use as a lever within the C-Suite: corporate brand stewardship, corporate culture and societal value creation. 

We also explain how we will translate the new research into digestible, easy-to-learn formats, starting with Progression Paths. 

Thank you for listening! If you like what you hear, subscribe on iTunes, Google Play, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. 

Special thanks go to Morning Consult and Rivet Smart Audio for making this season of The New CCO possible.

Heineken’s Chief Transformation & Corporate Affairs Officer, Stacey Tank, recently rejoined the company to spearhead its “Evergreen” growth strategy. What’s on tap in this episode is an in-depth look at how the company is transforming its operations and Stacey’s role in building its sustainable future, giving new meaning to “drink responsibly.”

At this year’s Annual Conference, Page welcomed four students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas and the March For Our Lives movement: Sari Kaufman, Casey Sherman, Delaney Tarr and Sofie Whitney. Each described her journey from tragedy to activism, urging our membership to take part in the cause and establish voting incentives for both their employees and external stakeholders alike.

This edition of The New CCO podcast features the discussion with those students.

Thank you for listening! Please be sure to subscribe to make sure you don't miss an episode on iTunes or Google Play.

Special thanks go to The Home Depot and Rivet Smart Audio for making this season of The New CCO possible.

After the passage of Texas Senate Bill 8, which severely limited women’s access to abortion care, Lyft sprung into action to protect its stakeholders. This episode, including behind-the-scenes perspective from Dominic Carr, VP of Comms at Lyft, features the 2022 winners of the student case study competition that Page holds every year together with the Institute for Public Relations. Both the case study and the recording took place before the Supreme Court ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson was decided, but the key themes and takeaways remain relevant.

In this episode, we’re featuring a highly rated session from our 2023 Spring Seminar featuring futurist Mark Schaefer, author of "Marketing Rebellion" and "Belonging to the Brand." He dives deep into the new ways branding is shaping our relationships with companies and their products. You can learn more about Mark at www.businessesGROW.com

Deepfakes are media that take a person in an existing image, video or audio and replace them with someone else's likeness using artificial neural networks. The nefarious application of this technology is wide-ranging, and worse, it’s spreading. More than ever, we must equip our enterprises with safeguards against malicious actors who seek to damage corporate reputation and tarnish trust among stakeholders. 

Professor Danielle Citron from the Boston University School of Law spoke at the Page Annual Conference to educate us about deepfakes, and we’re bringing you her lecture on this episode of The New CCO. Professor Citron is the vice president of the Cyber Civil Rights Initiative and an expert in online privacy. She discusses deepfakes’ rise to prominence, their proliferation, the ongoing battle to regulate them through legislation and the best ways for us to steel our organizations against attacks. 

Special thanks to our podcast partners Morning Consult and Rivet Smart Audio for their support.

In this episode, we turn back the clock to 1992 — Southwest Airlines is helmed by their eccentric co-founder Herb Kelleher, whose larger-than-life personality has become the stuff of legend. Hear how he and a rival CEO took an unorthodox route to settle a tagline dispute, all in the name of charity.

How do you build an entirely new global customer base for a business that has remained domestic throughout its entire existence? That’s the challenge that faced Mitsubishi Heavy Industries CCO Dan Lochmann when he was tasked with burnishing the company’s brand globally by CEO Seiji Izumisawa.

MHI is a $40 billion B2B business that builds all kinds of large-scale heavy machinery from wind turbines to jets to rockets. In order to identify prospects and target them as core brand stakeholders, Lochmann and his team use CommTech, the emerging field within communications that takes inspiration from MarTech. Leveraging an array of paid social, targeted placements, earned media, and thought leadership, all unified via data dashboards, Lochmann’s team opened the doors for MHI to build a global brand, generate leads and earn its longstanding domestic reputation as an engineering innovator abroad.

On this edition of The New CCO, we feature Lochmann as he presents the MHI case on CommTech at the 2019 Page Annual Conference in Boston.

Special thanks to Morning Consult and Rivet Smart Audio for making this season of The New CCO possible!

In this episode, we bring you a conversation between Alan Murray, CEO of Fortune, and Page President Roger Bolton. Having known each other for decades, the two discuss the economic outlook in a pandemic crisis, the progress of stakeholder capitalism, employee mental health and the future of journalism. The discussion took place during our 2020 Page Spring Seminar.

Earlier this year, Page Up Chair Umayma Abubakar had the opportunity to interview Étienne Thobois, the Paris 2024 CEO, about the upcoming 2024 Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games at our Spring Seminar. For this episode, we bring you their conversation, which covered topics ranging from stakeholder engagement, project management and cross-cultural collaboration. Their tête-à-tête was rife with insights for leaders and communicators, Olympic or otherwise. 

After a Florida law prohibiting the discussion and instruction of sexual orientation or gender expression in classrooms was passed, the Walt Disney Company publicly opposed the law, despite the repercussions that it would have on its special district status. This year’s winning student case study examined how Disney navigated through discrepant expectations related to its stance on the bill from different stakeholders, along with the impact it had on the company's reputation and financial standing. For this episode, we brought in three of the winning authors, Ayesha Djibo, Mya Estrada, and Breahn Fisher, from Texas Christian University, to dive deeper into their research.

Aaron Bernstein, Walmart's senior director of insights and advocacy, explains how the retail behemoth flipped the script on their brand narrative, using CommTech to uncover actionable insights. He shares how his eclectic experiences - from liberal arts to politics - prepared him to see the power that a CommTech capable function could bring to Walmart's comms efforts. 

Generative AI is evolving from a simple productivity booster to a strategic game-changer in communications. At the Page Up Annual Conference in October, member Ethan McCarty moderated a dynamic panel featuring Joao Belo of Takeda Pharmaceuticals, April Yue of Boston University, and Dan Gaynor of Signal AI. Together, they explored how to leverage AI to elevate communications as a strategic function, while addressing the psychological and cultural barriers to adoption. 

In this special episode of the New CCO, Jesse Betend, our longtime producer, flips the script on Eliot. Together, they dive deep into the history of the New CCO Podcast, and recount some of the more profound lessons they've learned.

Carmella Glover, president of the Diversity Action Alliance and director of DE&I at Page stopped by the podcast for a conversation on what Juneteenth becoming a federal holiday means for all Americans and how business leaders can use this opportunity to help build an equitable future.

Continuing our focus on organizations’ response to this pandemic, Pablo Jimenez, Global Vice President, Reputation & Communications at AB InBev, shares the challenges and opportunities that come with a global business whose operations are deeply connected to local communities. Pablo reminds us that Comms is a two-way function that needs to balance speed, accuracy and responsiveness, be sensitive to local context while maintaining a global coherence, and help the organization marshal its resources to help where the world needs it.

Authentic Purpose goes beyond products, policies and public advocacy - it is the ethos that companies like Patagonia use to guide their business decisions, and as it turns out activism is good for business. In this episode, we speak with Corley Kenna, the Director of Global Communications and Public Relations at Patagonia, analyzing how the CCO role is well-positioned to connect different functions to align a company behind a cause.

As The New CCO wraps up 2019, we sit down with Mike Wing, the lead writer of Page’s most seminal research reports, to discuss the common threads of the CCO role from our first publication in 2007 to the present. 

Mike’s been helping define Page’s perspective on the transformation of the CCO for over a decade. Most recently, he penned The CCO as Pacesetter, our report on the state of the CCO role and its way forward. Having surveyed a broad swath of Page membership and their teams, along with his years working alongside Jon Iwata at the head of IBM’s communications organization, Mike has a distinct, hyper-aware perspective on the state of the function and how it must evolve. 

Special thanks to Morning Consult and Rivet Smart Audio for their support throughout this past year.

Continuing our series on the COVID-19 crisis and its implications, many companies are now looking to the future, including when and how employees will return to workplaces. Bob Feldman, Vice Chair of ICF Next, explores the question of how we get back to work, from implementing policies and guidelines that ensure workplace safety to the broader, potentially lasting impact on corporate culture.

Purpose and values are often derided as corporate buzzwords or feel-good messaging. But for Franz Paasche, SVP of Corporate Affairs at PayPal, these foundational elements of corporate character are the lifeblood of the enterprise. They are what differentiates this financial disruptor from its peers. 

On this episode of The New CCO, Paasche discusses PayPal’s purpose to democratize financial services. From remittances for small businesses to cash advances for furloughed government workers during the shutdown earlier this year, PayPal lives by its purpose and makes it real through action. 

The company’s mission and values similarly inform its policy positions, some of which have played out on the national stage: as in the case of PayPal’s responses to North Carolina’s controversial “bathroom bill” and the Charlottesville episode. As Paasche notes, “If you have a clear sense of your mission and you have a clear sense of your values, then these are not political decisions, these are values-driven decisions.”

Special thanks to our podcast partners Morning Consult and Rivet Smart Audio for their support.

Last week, Harold Burson passed away at age 98. Harold was a larger-than-life icon of public relations - he’s the Founding Chairman of Burson-Marsteller, a predecessor firm to Burson Cohn & Wolfe, he covered the Nuremberg Trials as a cub reporter after serving during WWII and he’s the author of one of the PR industry’s most seminal works, The Business of Persuasion. 

To commemorate him, we are republishing a past podcast featuring Harold’s conversation with Becky Edwards, now CCO of Schneider Electric, at the 2018 Page Spring Seminar. Harold explains why he was bullish on the future of the communications, his roundabout path into the profession, and how the digital era has and will continue to reshape it. 

We've also published a handful of retrospectives on Harold to the PageTurner blog. Former colleagues and friends such as Roger Bolton (Page), Bill Nielsen (Johnson & Johnson), Carol Cone (On Purpose), Bob Feldman (ICF Next), Bill Wohl (United Rentals) and Herbert Heitmann (Karaktero) have contributed. 

Thank you for listening! If you like what you hear, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Special thanks go to Rivet Smart Audio for making this season of The New CCO possible.

In this 3-episode mini-series, we sit down with three CommTech experts, discussing what generative AI technologies currently exist, how they are developing, and the implications for the communication profession. In the second episode, we analyze the current state of disruption caused by AI technologies, and look at similar points of technological transformation in the past to see how they unfurled.

Introducing The New CCO: Brief, a shorter format podcast from Page. In this episode, we look to uncover the most powerful weapon in modern communications today. Spoiler: it isn't artificial intelligence—it's the distinctly human ability to draw insights from art, philosophy and science. Listen to find out why your liberal arts degree might just be your corporate superpower.

Jim Hackett, former President and CEO of Ford, wants you to think outside of the (glove)box and look at the world in a new way. In this conversation from our Annual Conference, Jim speaks with Margery Kraus, founder and executive chairman of APCO Worldwide, about how design thinking helped Ford pivot to the future, using new frameworks to upend the status quo.

The New CCO offers a firsthand look at member stories related to engaging stakeholders through digital platforms. Our first episode features Home Depot CCO Stacey Tank interviewing Starbucks CCO Corey duBrowa about their Upstanders campaign. The two discuss the campaign beginning with its origination at a town hall-style meeting through its evolution into a rich storytelling platform highlighting individual "stories of valor" about people taking positive action in their communities.

Catherine Blades, CCO at Aflac, joins Stacey Tank of Home Depot to tell the story of how the company’s work in fighting pediatric cancer came about, and the #DuckPrints social campaign that continues to support it.

Pete Marino, CCO at MillerCoors, joins Stacey Tank of Home Depot to discuss how the company’s digital platforms have helped the brand achieve greater transparency by providing accurate information to stakeholders, and to shape the narrative in a proactive way.

Brent Colburn, a veteran communications and public affairs official joins Stacey Tank of Home Depot to discuss the galvanizing role digital engagement can play in politics and nonprofits.

In our new episode of The New CCO podcast, Deirdre Latour takes listeners inside the communications function at GE.

Jon Iwata, former Chief Brand Officer at IBM, speaks about his role, how he helped to shape the IBM of the 21st century, what it means to be a next-generation CCO and what’s in store for the future of our profession.

The New CCO is back! From blockchain to social purpose and beyond, hosts Stacey Tank and Eliot Mizrachi explore the potential pitfalls and opportunities of a rapidly shifting industry. Here's a sneak peek at what's coming in 2018.

World-renowned experts break down blockchain, explore how it will disrupt business and the economy and why it might be one of the largest communications opportunities in the history of mankind.

This is part I of a series of podcasts exploring the question, "Is your organization future-proofed?" Next week: what blockchain means for CCOs specifically, and how best to capitalize on the massive change it will undoubtedly bring.

This is part 2 of a series of podcasts exploring the question, "Is your organization future-proofed?" In this episode, world-renowned experts explain what blockchain means for CCOs specifically, and how best to capitalize on the massive change it will undoubtedly bring.

We’re constantly bombarded by game-changing technologies but how can we separate the noise from the signal and make smart decisions about which ones are right for our enterprises? Leaders from eBay, ServiceNow and TrailRunner International weigh in.

This is the final episode in our three-part series about the technologies fundamentally changing the way we communicate. Last week, we discussed the technologies reshaping culture. This time, we're examining the technologies transcending culture and reshaping the workplace.

We revisit our panelists at this year's Page Spring Seminar: Alan Marks (Service Now, moderator), Dave Wright (Service Now), Lulu Cheng Meservey (TrailRunner International), and R.J. Pittman (eBay).

Special thanks to The Home Depot and Rivet360 for their help in producing this podcast.

Jin Montesano, Chief Public Affairs Officer of LIXIL, a global housing and building company discusses social purpose with Eliot Mizrachi. She talks about the inherent social value the company creates and how it is a unifying force that gives meaning to the work of more than 70K employees across the globe.

On this edition of The New CCO, we speak with Melissa Selcher, LinkedIn's Vice President for Brand, Communications, and Social Impact. She describes the critical role the Communications function plays in the social giant's operations, from crisis prevention and response to content curation and production.

3:28 - Privacy and the impact of the Cambridge Analytica scandal 6:10 - The CCO as an Integrator across the enterprise 9:04 - Social platforms as publishing companies 12:19 - The social value of social media 16:13 - On brand and reputation, and managing both 17:06 - The future of the Communications function

Thank you for listening! Please be sure to subscribe to make sure you don't miss an episode:

iTunes: itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/arthu…d1212422149?mt=2 Google Play: playmusic.app.goo.gl/?ibi=com.googl…o-pr-mu-pod-16

Special thanks go to The Home Depot and Rivet Smart Audio for making this season of The New CCO possible.

On this edition of The New CCO, we speak with Aedhmar Hynes, CEO of Text100 and Chair of Page. She explains the recent Page rebrand, why it was essential to move the organization forward and the opportunities we hope to create through the new Page.

Thank you for listening! Please be sure to subscribe to make sure you don't miss an episode:

iTunes: itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/arthu…d1212422149?mt=2 Google Play: playmusic.app.goo.gl/?ibi=com.googl…o-pr-mu-pod-16

Special thanks go to The Home Depot and Rivet Smart Audio for making this season of The New CCO possible.

On this edition of The New CCO, we welcome Joe Carberry, SVP and Head of Communications at Charles Schwab. Joe explains how Schwab expresses its unique differentiating identity within the financial sector, from building a strong culture to realizing the firm's corporate purpose. Joe also discusses how he and his team have adopted Agile methodology, borrowing from the tech community, as well as Schwab's Main Street roots.

Thank you for listening! Please be sure to subscribe to make sure you don't miss an episode:

iTunes: itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/page-…d1212422149?mt=2 Google Play: playmusic.app.goo.gl/?ibi=com.googl…o-pr-mu-pod-16

Special thanks go to The Home Depot and Rivet Smart Audio for making this season of The New CCO possible.