TRENDSETTERS

Rishad Tobaccowala’s marketing roots run deep, but his ideas go far beyond the boardroom.   He recently marked 250+ published editions of his brilliant "The Future Does Not Fit in the Containers of the Past," a weekly Substack that blends strategy, philosophy, and personal reflection.  I had the chance to ask him about the themes that matter most, the future of marketing, his evolving relationship...

According to Robin Bonn, CEO & Founder of Co:definery, the ad agency market is not oversupplied but rather under-differentiated. In an industry where agencies often work harder while margins decrease and talent experiences burnout, he presents a thought-provoking analysis in his new book entitled Market of One: How Your Agency Can Rewrite the Rules and Create a Lasting Competitive Advantage . ...

Khalid El Khatib is the CMO of Consumer Reports, the nonprofit advocacy organization and one of the most popular publishing platforms in the country. He oversees CR’s revenue-generating teams, including member acquisition and fundraising, and works to elevate the organization’s profile among new, younger, and more diverse audiences.   Today, we discuss how he has managed to embrace the 89-year leg...

Marriott Bonvoy, the hotel loyalty program of Marriott International, which rewards members at over 7000 locations globally across its brand portfolio, has introduced a new marketing campaign and brand platform. In this initiative, Bonvoy has moved away from traditional hotel advertising clichés, choosing instead to emphasize the emotional appeal of travel experiences.  Terri da Silva, Vice Presid...

Few people have a role that combines media, creative, and analytics.  However, Brad Feinberg, VP of Media, Digital, and eCommerce at the Molson Coors Beverage Company, is one of those rare individuals. And if that’s not enough, he’s also part of the company’s Americas Commercial Accelerator leadership team. The Accelerator aims to build capabilities across all geographies and categories for premiu...

When Mollye Rhea founded For Momentum in 2003, she pioneered one of the first cause marketing agencies to foster partnerships between brands and nonprofits.  She characterizes her work as “bringing causes and companies together to multiply good.” For Momentum is now one of the leading cause-related marketing firms in the United States.  For Momentum has been monitoring corporate partnership trends...

Ask  Amy Dunham , Habitat for Humanity International's Chief Communications Officer, about her latest initiative, and she'll enthusiastically discuss encouraging the Habitat organization to take a fresh look at a much-loved brand. Whether reacting to changing market conditions, new leaders, or an organizational strategy update (or all of the above), she believes marketers must continue to plan and...

David Aaker is prolific. He has published over 120 articles and 18 books that have sold more than 1 million copies and have been translated into 18 languages. Among them are Managing Brand Equity, Building Strong Brands , Aaker on Branding , Creating Signature Stories , and The Future of Purpose-Driven Branding .  Marketing Expert Philip Kotler called him the Father of Modern Branding. David Aaker...

Many associate marketing with innovation, but it is also about anticipating what’s next.  If anyone can look around corners as a strategic and transformational leader focused on driving growth, it’s Charlie Chappell of The Hershey Company.  Few people have held such a diverse range of marketing roles—from product development at Kimberly-Clark to brand management and marketing at P&G to senior...

Not all visionaries are people of action.  Amy Williams is both.   She recognized the need to redesign online advertising, making annoying internet ads a force for good.  In 2016, she co-founded Good-Loop as a simple and profitable way for major brands to do good through their advertising. So far, her Good Formats have raised over $10 million for good causes globally.  Today, we’ll discuss how she...

Mike Nichols’ career has been at the intersection of business, sports, and philanthropy—an inspiring but not typical combination. As Chief of Sponsorship and Activation at Group 1001, an Indiana-based financial and insurance collective that includes brands like Gainbridge®, Delaware Life, and Clear Spring, he “brings to life” the group's values with partnerships that build community through educat...

Throughout his career, Manos Spanos has been consistently motivated by the intersection of marketing, innovation and technology—whether working for large multinationals or startups.   Now, as the Chief Commercial Officer of Sunny Sky Products, a leading producer of beverage solutions, he talks about turning bold ideas into realities while offering his perspective on the potential of AI, purposeful...

According to Kate Price, “High-performance marketing means integrating the drivers of brand and demand – long-term customer perceptions and short-term sales.   Kate, a partner at Prophet's New York office specializing in marketing transformation, shared findings from a recent report by the consultancy, titled Brand & Demand: A Relationship Guide (to Marketing’s Great Love Story).   The study,...

TRENDSETTERS:  Parity Reveals a “Silver Lining” for Brands in Support of Women Athletes  Parity, the sports marketing and sponsorship platform that’s revolutionizing the financial model for women athletes and creating impactful opportunities for brands, released some new research quantifying the economics of being a woman athlete. Leela Srinivasan, Parity’s CEO, discusses some key takeaways from t...

Ask Marla Kaplowitz about her outlook for the agency business in 2025, and she’ll begin by reminding you that ad agencies operate in a constantly evolving environment.  In fact, they often do their best work and deliver their greatest value during periods of significant change. She does have several critical items on her New Year agenda. First among them is an agency “compensation reset” that goes...

Bob Liodice, the ANA's chief executive officer, is bullish on AI. Not only has the term been chosen three times as the "Marketing Word of the Year" through voting by the ANA membership, but he believes that GenAI has the capability to help his members become better marketers.  "AI," he says, "will change the entire productivity scale. Marketers are learning rapidly that our work can be done much f...

Brian Wieser is one of the few people who can outline a career with such roles as investment banker, equity research analyst, long-time agency executive, and developer of two of the global advertising industry's most widely relied upon data sets.  His firm, Madison and Wall, operates at the intersection of how trends in media spending and advertising budgets affect marketers and investors.   He’s...

Ask Ruth Bernstein about her concept of Brand Beacons, and she’ll tell you they set the next standards in business.  While that may sound like a monumental task or an extraordinary description of a brand’s potential, after a 30-minute conversation, I was convinced about the power of beacon status.   Ruth Bernstein is the CEO and Co-Founder of Yard NYC, an independent creative company that helps in...

Eighteen months ago, former Omnicom Vice Chairman Tim Love released his award-winning book Discovering Truth: How to Navigate Between Fact and Fiction in an Overwhelming Social Media World. Drawing inspiration from renowned business leaders, Discovering Truth explored how today's social media affects trust in institutions and divides an increasingly polarized society. Tim Love is now devoting his...

Surprisingly, few books are dedicated to how marketers can bring out the best in their advertising agencies.   Joanne Davis, a renowned expert in client-agency relationships, has just released a new book through Internationalist Press entitled How to Get Your Agency to Run Through Brick Walls—Without Paying More.   With humor and wisdom, she provides a concise yet impactful volume that delivers a...

Dave McCaughan, Expert on Age and International Culture, Explains What Brands Get Wrong about Older People   Dave McCaughan is a storyteller, marketing expert, consultant, and public speaker passionate about understanding the interconnection between people and brands.  He spent three decades with McCann throughout Asia, developing the Strategic Planning practice and working with a stellar roster o...

Women’s sports have been soaring in popularity, yet they still receive as little as 5% of sports media coverage. Ally Financial took a pioneering step in May 2022 by committing to spend equally on men’s and women’s sports within five years.  Ally also scored a huge early win by working with CBS to move the National Women’s Soccer League’s championship game to its first-ever prime-time slot. This d...

Hiki is the world’s leading app for friendship and dating in the Autistic community. It stands out from other dating apps because of its mission: to enable the Autistic community to connect with each other.  Autistic people are 4x more likely to feel lonely than others. A contributing factor is that false assumptions and misinformation have created biased images in media and advertising that misre...

The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that one out of every thirteen people have enough hearing or vision impairment to depend on captioning and descriptive audio for their media use.   By 2050, WHO also anticipates that 2.5 billion people will be living with some degree of hearing loss.  While these statistics may seem overwhelming, the Ad Access Alliance, a group led by ISBA and Union des...

Lana McGilvray is the co-founder and CEO Of Purpose Worldwide, a communications consultancy that specializes in helping clients define and connect purpose to growth.  In an era of accountability, particularly in marketing, even the most noble missions must be associated with economic outcomes.  Given her broad experience with brands, associations, nonprofits, and tech companies, Lana discusses the...