CMO Confidential

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...

A CMO Confidential interview with Jim Stengel, the former CMO of P&G, author, podcast host, professor, and CEO of the Jim Stengel Company. Jim discusses how marketing has evolved from "awareness" to "entertainment and attention," the need for constant innovation and creativity, and why your purpose should be directed at making consumer's day-to-day lives better. Key topics include why CMO is 9...

A CMO Confidential Interview with Chris Andrew, the CEO and Co-Founder of Scrunch AI and former Chief Product Officer of Hearsay. Chris shares his thoughts on how AI will dramatically alter customer purchase patterns and why marketers should be thinking about how to win "BOT engagement." Key topics include: why he believes consumer consideration and use of websites could collapse over time; his be...

A CMO Confidential Interview with Tom Stein, the Chairman & Chief Brand Officer of Stein IAS, a leading global B2B agency. Tom shares his thoughts on why we are in "The B2B Decade," the underleveraged power of many B2B brands, and how organization structures are often in the way of good marketing. Key topics include: why so many B2B companies default to the "3 yards and a cloud of dust" plays...

A CMO Confidential interview with Jason Radisson, CEO of Movo, former Regional GM at Uber and Marketer at Caesars Entertainment. Jason shares his thoughts on how to approach inflection points like declining sales, a change of control, or company pivot -- and the importance of focusing on the outcome you have to deliver to move the business forward. Key topics include: how to quickly get the math y...

A CMO Confidential Interview with Jean English, CMO of Juniper Networks, formerly the CMO of Armis, Palo Alto Networks and NetApp. Jean describes the ongoing digital transformation journey, how the "Infrastructure Layer" works and why it's so important to marketers, and why Marketing and IT should be BFF's. Key topics include: the forces driving tech consolidation; a 3-part process to integrate AI...

A CMO Confidential Interview with Joyce Kim, CMO of cloud cybersecurity company Zscaler. In this highly informative and conversational interview, Joyce describes the ongoing race between companies and the innovative onslaught of bad actors, the concept of "Zero Trust," and how marketers can be good partners with their Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs). Key topics include: what to do if y...

A CMO Confidential Interview with Tom Goodwin, author, speaker, and former head of innovation at Publicis, Zenith and Havas. Tom makes the case that much of today's marketing spending is wasted on a "playbook of precision" where everything can be attributed and all customers can be micro-targeted. Key topics include: why branding in the AI Age is more important than ever; why claiming performance...

A CMO Confidential Interview with Scott Griffiths, CFO of the Affiliati Network, formerly the Marketing CFO at Farmers and VP at Countrywide. Scott discusses how marketing and finance can get into a self fulfilling doom loop by avoiding hard discussions, what it takes to be a good Marketing CFO, and his belief that it is important to recognize the true leaders versus solid performers. Key topics i...

A CMO Confidential Interview with Seth Matlins, Managing Director of the Forbes CMO Network, formerly Head of Cultural Strategy and Insights at Endeavor, Global CMO of Live Nation, President of Rock the Vote and Founder of CAA Marketing. Seth discusses why he thinks the media is overhyping the drama around the CMO position, the CEO misperception that they understand marketing because they have bee...

A CMO Confidential Interview with Matt Carey, EVP Customer Experience and CIO at Home Depot, formerly the SVP and CTO at both eBay and Wal-Mart. Matt discusses how the majority of customer experience is provided by tech, why you shouldn't buy "tech for tech's sake," and why marketers should always "know precisely what problem they want to solve" when interfacing with IT. Key topics include: why yo...

A CMO Confidential Interview with Michael Treff, the CEO of Code + Theory, a growing 2000 person agency which combines engineers and creatives. Michael discusses how AI combines new factors and current data to anticipate consumer behavior, why AI represents "change management for humans," and how his agency is writing AI into job descriptions. Key topics include: why money saved with AI efficiency...

A CMO Confidential Interview with Kim Whitler, business professor at the University of Virginia and former GM and CMO. Kim joins us to discuss how start-ups require different CMO's at the various stages starting with seed money and ending with an IPO, how good intentions can jeopardize business success on the corporate activism front, and how to think about NIL from the perspective of marketers an...

A CMO Confidential Interview with Dr. Dan McCarthy, Professor of Marketing at Maryland. Dan uses a customer lifetime value (CLTV) analysis to show how Peloton's pursuit of growth after a very successful launch negatively impacted its financials and cratered its stock price, leaving its future uncertain. Key decision points include: misreading Covid trends as a permanent demand shift; price decreas...

A CMO Confidential Interview with Karna Crawford, CMO of Marqeta, formerly SVP at JPMorgan Chase, and Head of US Marketing at Ford. Karna discusses how a number of factors have created more "promiscuous customers," the challenge of constantly delivering against rising value expectations, and why the marketplace has left many companies behind in the loyalty race. Key topics include: how companies b...

A CMO Confidential Interview with Kate Bullis, Global Marketing Practice Leader and Managing Director at ZRG Partners. Kate discusses the "growth renaissance" occuring in tech, B2B, and Private Equity where marketing is emerging as a growth driver, why companies in transition often look for new talent, and "what a difference maker" great marketers are to companies. Key topics include: why diversit...

In a new twist for CMO Confidential, host Mike Linton moderates a panel for The Association of National Advertisers on Industry Thought Leadership. Unlock the secrets to collaborating with non-believers in marketing with insights from top CMOs and executives! 🎥 In this engaging panel discussion, moderated by Mike Linton, host of the CMO Confidential Podcast, we bring together industry leaders Jef...

A CMO Confidential Interview with Leesa Eichberger, Former CMO of Jenny Craig & Ring Central and Amanda Reierson, former CMO of Avant and Head of Marketing at Thumbtack. We all worked together at Farmers Insurance. Amanda and Leesa discuss tips for evaluating "communication health," what to do in a company that doesn't like bad news, and how to manage a situation where you think your boss is m...

This episode is brought to you by CMO Confidential Title Sponsor Props. Visit them at Props.co A CMO Confidential Interview with Peri Hansen, Leader CMO Practice and Sector Leader Consumer Products at Korn Ferry. Peri discusses why she thinks it's the most important and exciting time to be a CMO, how marketers need to "connect" sales, IT and other functions with their go-to-market strategy and why...