CMO Confidential

A CMO Confidential Interview with Dr. Joel Shapiro, Managerial Economics & Decision Sciences Professor at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern, formerly Varicent Chief Analytics Officer. Joel discusses the difference between Data Science and Data Leadership, how many "little, better decisions" aggregate into something meaningful, and why everyone should remember that "data doesn't...

A CMO Confidential Interview with Evan Wittenberg, Chief People Officer of VuMedi, formerly CPO of Ancestry and Box, Google's Head of Leadership Development, and a Saturday Night Live Page. Evan discusses why HR has become a much tougher position over the last 5 years, AI's negative impact on leadership development, and the similarities between marketing and HR. Key topics include: his belief that...

A CMO Confidential Interview with Andrew Medvedev, Dean of the Weatherhead School of Management at  @case  Western Reserve University, former Managing Director and portfolio manager at Morgan Stanley. Andrew discusses why he left Wall Street for the opportunity to reimagine Weatherhead, why schools should reassess traditional industrial economy approaches to education, and his vision of...

A CMO Confidential Interview with Jim Lecinski, Clinical Professor of Marketing at the Kellogg School of Management, two time author, and former Google VP. Jim discusses the need to teach both durable and perishable knowledge, the importance of faculty composition, why students should "sample" B-Schools, and how the Northwestern "House Design" keeps it ranked as the #1 marketing sch...

A CMO Confidential Interview with John Rudaizky, EY Chief Brand & Marketing Officer, who previously held leadership positions at WPP, J. Walter Thompson, and Saatchi & Saatchi. John discusses the concept of confidence including how to market it to clients, build it into the organization and measure it in the marketplace. Key topics include: why brands benefit from strong competitors; his b...

A CMO Confidential Interview with Rishad Tobaccowala, former Publicis Groupe Strategy & Growth Officer, speaker, author, and podcast host of "What's Next." Rishad discusses the media, data, and technology scale benefits driving agency consolidation, the challenge of managing people through a merger, and his new book, Rethinking Work. Key topics include: why talent and marketing will be more im...

A CMO Confidential Interview with Rishad Tobaccowala, former Publicis Groupe Strategy & Growth Officer, speaker, author, and podcast host of "What's Next." Rishad discusses the media, data, and technology scale benefits driving agency consolidation, the challenge of managing people through a merger, and his new book, Rethinking Work. Key topics include: why talent and marketing will be more im...

A CMO Confidential Interview with Richard Sanderson, the firm's Marketing, Sales and Communications leader shares his take on the "hot off the presses" study of the Fortune 500. Toplines include stable tenure with variations by industry, how the job and title are rapidly morphing away from the traditional role (only 40% of companies use the CMO title), and the fact that a full "one third" of compa...

A CMO Confidential Interview with Kate Bullis and David Wiser, Managing Partners and Global Marketing Practice Leaders for ZRG Partners. Kate and David translate their extensive search experience to classify common mistakes into "movie themes" and share tips on how to recognize if you are directing or reading for a part in a disaster film. From "Play It Again, Sam," to "No, No, It's Really A CMO R...

Welcome back for Part 2 of A CMO Confidential Interview with Gary Briggs, former CMO of Facebook and eBay, and board member at Etsy, Petco & Combe. As the Paid Media Advisor to the Harris campaign, Gary shares the inside story of what it is like to work at breakneck speed in the rapid spin up of a political organization and all of the marketing that goes with it. Key discussion points include:...

A CMO Confidential Interview with Gary Briggs, former CMO of Facebook and eBay, and board member at Etsy, Petco & Combe. As the Paid Media Advisor to the Harris campaign, Gary shares the inside story of what it is like to work at breakneck speed in the rapid spin up of a political organization and all of the marketing that goes with it. Key discussion points include: a look at the billions spe...

A CMO Confidential Interview with Gabrielle Kessler, SVP Brand Experience at  @wearesocial  + Narrative, and experienced agency executive. Gabrielle discusses why experiential marketing should be part of an integrated plan versus a stand alone stunt, the value of delivering an emotional memory, and how experiential can reach "ad blind" customers. Key topics include: why marketers should...

A CMO Confidential Interview with Josh Golden, CMO of Quad, Creator of Eureka and 3 Things, former Publisher & President of Ad Age. Josh outlines the key components of both personal and business vulnerability and offers tips regarding the balance between enough and too much disclosure. He also shares how to build a personal brand without "overshadowing" your company brand. Key discussion topic...

A CMO Confidential Interview with Dr. Dan McCarthy, Professor of Marketing at Maryland. Dan returns for the third time to share research on the food delivery business and how marketers can "bend the growth curve" by implementing a subscription model. He discusses the engineering behind various subscription models and why most marketers should "at least" consider these programs. Key topics include:...

A CMO Confidential Interview with Kip Knight, founder of CMO Coaches, formerly CMO of Taco Bell and H&R Block US President. Kip breaks marketing leadership into "3 Chiefs" - Marketing Leader, Member of the Exec (First) Team, and Company Ambassador and offers tips for how to sequence and think about all three. Key discussion topics include: why running marketing is like being a conductor; how t...

CMO Confidential correspondent Carilu Dietrich, former CMO and hypergrowth advisor who helped take Atlassian public, returns to talk about why she thinks 2025 represents the biggest change in the B2B marketplace in decades. Carilu discusses the potential acceleration of acquisitions and investment driven by macroeconomic factors and how AI is "smacking everyone in the face." Key topics include: ze...

A CMO Confidential Interview with Dr. Peter Fader, Professor of Marketing at The Wharton School of Business. This show is a bookend to "The Rise & Fall of Peloton as Seen Through the Lens of CLTV" with Professor Dan McCarthy. Pete discusses the use of Customer Lifetime Value (CLTV) as key to understanding the true value of the company and explains why it is risky to think "Your company is diff...

A CMO Confidential Interview with McKinsey Marketing & Sales Partner Robert Tas and Nick Primola, EVP and Head of the CMO Practice at the Association of National Advertisers. We discuss their recent study and Wall Street Journal article showing that CEO's who have marketing at the center of their strategy have measurably better results. They discuss the 3 types of CEO's including "non-believer...

This week's holiday episode revisits one of our most popular shows from the past year where leaders from  @McKinsey  and  @ANAmarketers  discuss the continued divide between marketing believers and non-believers. A CMO Confidential Interview with McKinsey Marketing & Sales Partner Robert Tas and Nick Primola, EVP and Head of the CMO Practice at the ANA. We discuss their rec...

This is Part 2 of A CMO Confidential Interview with Andy Sack and Adam Brotman, Co-Founders and Co-CEO's of Forum 3, authors of the book AI First, previously at Microsoft and Starbucks. They discuss why AI is different from previous technology advances and the series of "Holy Shit!" moments experienced when interviewing Sam Altman, Bill Gates and others. Key topics include: their belief that AI is...

A CMO Confidential Interview with Andy Sack and Adam Brotman, Co-Founders and Co-CEO's of Forum 3, authors of the book AI First, previously at Microsoft and Starbucks. They discuss why AI is different from previous technology advances and the series of "Holy Shit!" moments experienced when interviewing Sam Altman, Bill Gates and others. Key topics include: their belief that AI is "moving faster th...

A CMO Confidential Interview with Jon Davids, founder and CEO of Influicity and author of Marketing Superpowers. Jon discusses the idea of creating your own influencers in a marketplace where communities matter more than ever. Key topics include: the synthetic influencer as a natural evolution from Colonel Sanders, Toucan Sam, and Tony the Tiger; the ability of an artificial character to do whatev...