Frictionless Marketing

Lynn Blashford is the Chief Marketing Officer of White Castle, a company she has been with for over a decade. Despite being over 100 years old, White Castle has remained relevant in popular culture. The brand is known for its fun and originality, with collaborations with the Wu-Tang Clan, selling branded silk robes, and even officiating weddings in its restaurants. All a testament to their commitm...

Alan Sexton is the Senior Vice President and Chief Communications Officer at Prudential Financial, where he's responsible for leveraging the company’s outcomes-focused Communications to generate competitive advantages for Prudential while protecting and enhancing the company’s reputation around the world.  Alan spent almost twenty years as a communications consultant before joining Prudential...

Lisa Caputo is the Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing and Communications Officer for The Travelers Companies, Inc., where she's been since 2011. Lisa held previous positions at Citigroup and spent over ten years in the public sector, serving as Deputy Assistant to President Clinton and Press Secretary to First Lady Hillary Clinton through President Clinton's first term in office. In this...

Russell Wager is the VP of Marketing at Kia America where he oversees all of the company’s marketing & communications, including the marketing operations, customer journey, and public relations areas. Russell joined Kia in July 2019 after previous positions at Mazda, DDB, and TBWA Chiat Day among others. In this conversation with Paul Dyer, Russell gets into Kia's very successful transition in...

Andrea Sengara is the head of marketing at Campari America. Andrea joined Campari in 2020 after over two decades of experience within the alcohol beverage industry, including senior leadership roles across Diageo, Combs Enterprises, and, most recently, Moet Hennessey LVMH.  Today, Andrea oversees all facets of marketing for Campari Group’s premium portfolio of brands, including Aperol, Campar...

Jonathan Adashek is the Chief Communications Officer and Senior Vice President of Marketing and Communications at IBM. Before joining IBM, Jonathan was at Renault Nissan Mitsubishi Alliance in Paris, as well as Nissan Motor Co. in Yokohama, Japan, and prior to that had stints at Microsoft and Edelman.  One of Jonathan's first roles was as a special assistant at the White House before becoming...

Mark Truby is chief communications officer at the Ford Motor Company where he leads all global communications and public relations activities. This includes building the company’s reputation globally and helping to lead communications that reach Ford’s external and internal audiences, including customers, employees, dealers, suppliers, news media, communities, governments, and policymakers. He rep...

Wendy Lund is a women’s health advocate, adviser, and activist with more than 30 years of experience in marketing and communications. After working at Planned Parenthood, the National League of Nursing, and some of the country’s leading healthcare communications firms, Wendy joined Organon, the largest women’s health company of its kind. As Chief Communications Officer, she’s working to change how...

Michael Gonda is the Chief Communications Officer of McDonald's, a position he's held for the past 8 months. Michael is responsible for setting integrated communications strategies that advance the message of the brand and drive business impact in more than 100 markets around the world. He oversees corporate communications, including media relations and financial communications; global public affa...

Maggie Schmerin leads the global advertising and social media team at United Airlines where she's been for over five years. Her previous experience includes multiple years at Edelman where she worked on such brands as BlackBerry, Shell, Kellogg’s, Mars,  Proctor & Gamble and Samsung among others.  Maggie has also been honored by Crain's Chicago Business, and named a 40 under 40 by PR...

Adam Collins is the Chief Communications and Corporate Affairs Officer at Molson Coors. In years prior, Adam spent four years working for the office of Mayor Rahm Emmanuel and was the Communications Director for the Chicago Police department. In this wide-ranging conversation with Lippe Taylor CEO Paul Dyer, Adam discusses all things Molson Coors, including the Superbowl ad they launched in The Me...

Chris Fuller is the Chief Communications Officer of Inspire Brands whose portfolio includes Arby’s, Baskin-Robbins, Buffalo Wild Wings, Dunkin’, Jimmy John’s, Rusty Taco, and SONIC Drive-In restaurants. Chris’ prior experiences include stints at Yum! Brands and Pizza Hut as well as an early position as press secretary for the US House of Representatives. In this conversation with Lippe Taylor CEO...

Pam Forbus is the Chief Marketing Officer of Pernod Ricard North America, a role she has held since July 2020. In her role, she oversees the marketing strategy for Absolut, Jameson, Malibu, Avion, and multiple other spirits, wines, and champagnes. Before joining Pernod Ricard, Pam worked for Walt Disney Studios, where she led the insights, analytics, and CRM functions. Prior to Disney, Pam spent n...

Kim Olson is Chief Communications Officer at Land O'Lakes, one of America’s leading marketers of dairy-based food products for consumers, foodservice professionals, and food manufacturers. Land O'Lakes also offers local cooperatives and agricultural producers across the nation an extensive line of agricultural supplies, as well as state-of-the-art production and business services. Kim’s history in...

Grant Farhall has been with Getty Images for 10 years, the last two as chief product officer. Earlier, he worked for Rogers Communications as a broadcaster/newsroom assistant at radio station CFFR. Before that, Grant was a studio manager for Evolvs Media Inc. Gene Foca has been with Getty Images since 2017. In his role as chief marketing officer, he reports directly to the CEO and serves on the ex...

Peter Land has been with DICK’S Sporting Goods since mid-2020, where he currently serves as their Chief Communications and Sustainability Officer. He is also an adjunct professor at the New York University Stern School of Business, a position he has held since 1998.  Prior to joining the team at DICK’S, Peter specialized in corporate reputation and consumer marketing as a partner in New York...

Laura Duda is senior vice president and chief communications officer at The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, where she leads all internal and external communications globally for Goodyear, including public and media relations, employee communications, corporate reputation management, philanthropy, and community relations, as well as Goodyear’s fleet of world-famous airships. In this conversatio...

Liliana Esposito is the Chief Corporate Affairs & Sustainability Officer at The Wendy's Company where she guides public affairs and communications to build and protect the company’s reputation. Liliana has spent nearly 15 years leading communications for consumer packaged goods, beverage and restaurant brands, with stints at Burson-Marsteller, Mars, and Dean Foods.  Wendy’s is one of the...

Josh Earnest is the Senior Vice President and Chief Communications Officer for United Airlines, a position he’s held since 2018. In the past, Josh served as the 29th White House press secretary under President Barack Obama, an experience which was extremely formidable for his approach to communications. He also serves on the Board of Advisors of Let America Vote, an organization founded by former...

“ There have been times when my team has proposed something, and I say, ‘Let's do it,’ and then we get blow-back very swiftly. Do you know what we do? We take it down, and we move on. You can't succeed in this realm if you're not willing to fail in this realm.” Sally Susman is the EVP & Chief Corporate Affairs Officer at Pfizer, U.S., where she leads engagement with all of Pfizer’s external st...

After a 30-year agency career that included notable stints with Edelman and WE Communications, Alan VanderMolen was named Chief Communications Officer at CPG giant SC Johnson last year. Alan oversees both internal and external communications at SC Johnson, reporting to CEO Fisk Johnson.  In this wide-ranging conversation with Lippe Taylor CEO Paul Dyer, Alan delves into the importance of trus...

Russell Dyer is the VP & Chief of Communications and Government Affairs at Mondelēz International. At Mondelēz, Russ is responsible for overseeing all external and internal communications as well as government affairs for Mondelēz International, a Fortune 150 and the global leader in snacking. Russ joined Mondelēz in 2015 as Vice President, Global Communications. In that role, he was responsib...

“COVID-19 has impacted so many people around the world, and people really are the heart of my leadership and have been the number one priority through the pandemic. It is important to have great brands and great products and great pipeline, but people make the business.”  June Lee Risser is Vice President and General Manager for the U.S. Galderma Consumer Care business.  A strategic business...

Jen Sey is the global brand president at Levi Strauss & Co.,  where she is responsible for marketing, design, merchandising, and brand experience. Jen has been with Levi Strauss & Co. for more than 20 years, holding a variety of leadership positions within the Marketing, Strategy, and Ecommerce teams. In 2013, Jen became the global chief marketing officer for the Levi’s brand and, in...

John Galloway is chief marketing and innovation officer for Godiva Chocolatier, the 95-year-old Belgian maker of premium chocolate. He joined the company in 2018 after nearly 30 years in marketing, including substantial stints at Pepsi and Hard Rock.  John came to Godiva from a position as CEO of Beautiful Day, where he worked for three years to roll out the lifestyle brand startup. Before th...