Happy Cinco de Mayo! This week on The CMO Podcast, Jim welcomes the leader behind the explosion of avocado consumption: Alvaro Luque, the President and CEO of Avocados From Mexico. This 11-year-old non-profit organization was founded by the Mexican Hass Avocado Importers Association and the Association of Avocado Exporting Producers and Packers of Mexico. As a result of the efforts from Avocados From Mexico, the avocado market has doubled since 2013, and 80% of avocados purchased in the US are f...
May 01, 2024•54 min•Ep. 290
To celebrate Earth Week, Jim Stengel welcomes Brad Hiranaga to The CMO Podcast. Brad works as the Chief Brand Officer of Cotopaxi, the colorful outdoorsy brand you likely see around on streets, in airports, and of course, in the great outdoors. It’s a fast growing brand; it has just about doubled its size every year for the past three years. Cotopaxi’s products include backpacks, hip packs, jackets, and other outdoor products and experiences. Inspired by his time living in Latin America, Davis S...
Apr 24, 2024•59 min•Ep. 289
With women's sports on the mind, Jim's guest this week on The CMO Podcast is Shelley Zalis, the Founder and CEO of The Female Quotient, or FQ, the ten-year-old company that curates experiences, media, and solutions that advance gender equality. The FQ is famous for its Equality Lounges at some of the most important global gatherings–like Davos, CES, SXSW, and the Cannes Creativity Festival. One of Shelley’s mantras is “to conquer imposter syndrome you must believe in yourself," and she has vivid...
Apr 17, 2024•44 min•Ep. 288
Joining Jim this week on The CMO Podcast is Mauro Porcini, the SVP and Chief Design Officer of PepsiCo, the $91 billion company by revenue. Pepsi’s founding dates back to 1893 with the invention of Pepsi-Cola in a small town in North Carolina. In 1965, the Pepsi company combined with Frito-lay to become PepsiCo, and has become one of the most admired food and beverage companies in the world, with brands that range from Cheetos to Mountain Dew to Gatorade to SodaStream to Quaker. Mauro is the fir...
Apr 10, 2024•42 min•Ep. 287
The guest this week on The CMO Podcast is Michelle Froah, the Global Chief Marketing & Innovation Officer at The Educational Testing Service, or ETS. ETS is the largest private educational assessment organization in the world, serving 50 million people a year in 200 countries. You probably know them better for their products, which includes the GRE admission tests for graduate and professional school, and the TOEFL tests which prepare students for university study and immigration. ETS was fo...
Apr 03, 2024•52 min•Ep. 286
This week on The CMO Podcast, Jim wraps up Women's History Month with Natalie Sunderland, the Global Head of Marketing and Communications at the Bank of New York Mellon, or BNY Mellon. This is definitely the oldest company Jim has featured on the show; BNY Mellon was established in 1784 by Alexander Hamilton, and became the first company listed on the NYSE. BNY Mellon holds nearly $48 trillion in assets under custody and/or administration. In 2024 it was one of Fortune’s Most Admired Companies, ...
Mar 27, 2024•50 min•Ep. 285
It's tax season! On this week's episode of The CMO Podcast, Jim is joined by none other than Jill Cress, Chief Marketing and Experience Officer at H&R Block–the Kansas City-based company that has been helping people with their taxes since 1955. H&R Block is one of the most ubiquitous storefronts in America with thousands of offices–almost as many locations as McDonalds! H&R Block has a big business in tax preparation–revenue is approaching $4 billion–but their ambition is changing to...
Mar 20, 2024•50 min•Ep. 284
Happy Women's History Month! The CMO Podcast continues to celebrate key women leaders with Jim's guest this week–Deena LaMarque Piquion, the Chief Growth & Disruption Officer at Xerox, the 118-year-old workplace products and services company. Of course, Xerox holds a special place in brand history; like Kleenex, Google, and Coke, Xerox is one of the few brands that became synonymous with its category. Today, Xerox is a $7 billion company, and more diversified than the company you likely reme...
Mar 13, 2024•47 min•Ep. 283
To kick off Women's History Month, Jim's guest today on The CMO Podcast is Lara Abrash, the Chair of Deloitte US. In June 2023, Lara was promoted to the Chair role, where she runs the largest professional services firm in the US, with about 170,000 people in her organization. Lara has worked at Deloitte for about 18 years, beginning as an audit partner in 2005. She earned her Bachelors in Economics at SUNY Albany, and her MBA in Accounting from Baruch College. Jim welcomes Lara on the podcast to...
Mar 06, 2024•50 min•Ep. 282
This week, The CMO Podcast celebrates Black History Month with a special episode centered on the incredibly fast start-up of an organization called BECA–the Black Executive CMO Alliance. BECA is the 3-year-old brainchild of founder & CEO Jerri DeVard, the former CMO of Verizon, ADT and Office Depot. BECA is the only alliance created and composed of Black CMOs and CXOs to address the persistent diversity problems in America’s C-Suites and boardrooms. It has gained momentum in the short three ...
Feb 28, 2024•58 min•Ep. 281
Just in time for the month of love, this week's guest on The CMO Podcast is Michelle Crossan-Matos, the Chief Marketing Officer for Ulta Beauty. Founded in 1990, Ulta Beauty is the largest beauty retailer in the US, with sales in the $11 billion range, and growing. It offers a wide range of beauty products and salon services: 25,000 products online and across their nearly 1400 stores, from 500 well established AND emerging brands. Ulta Beauty is not just big; the company is highly innovative in ...
Feb 21, 2024•48 min•Ep. 280
Tune in this week for The CMO Podcast's fifth annual Super Bowl Roundtable Discussion! Important marketers provide insight into how they created their Super Bowl ads and share their thoughts on the biggest marketing day of the year. Jim welcomes special co-host, Gary Vaynerchuk, Chairman of VaynerX & CEO at VaynerMedia. Joining this year's conversation: Brett O'Brien (CMO of PepsiCo Foods North America) Kory Marchisotto (CMO of e.l.f. Beauty and President at Keys Soulcare) Russell Wager (VP ...
Feb 14, 2024•56 min•Ep. 279
This week's guest on The CMO Podcast is Vineet Mehra, the Chief Marketing Officer of Chime. The 12-year-old fintech company was founded by Chris Britt and Ryan King as an alternative to traditional banking. Interesting marketing trivia: many believe the official launch of the company was in April 2014, when Chime was featured on "Dr. Phil." Chime is a private company, with a mission to bring financial peace of mind to its customers. It has raised more than $2 billion in funding from a Who’s Who ...
Feb 07, 2024•54 min•Ep. 278
Jim's guests on The CMO Podcast are entrepreneurs Mike Zelkind and Tisha Livingston, founders of 80 Acres Farms. Mike is the CEO of 80 Acre Farms and Tisha is the CEO of Infinite Acres, a subsidiary of 80 Acres and the tech platform that powers the company. Listeners are likely not familiar with this company, but should be. The nine-year old startup has raised more than $250 Million and revolutionized farming. 80 Acres is a pioneer in indoor, vertical farming. Imagine a farm that does not need s...
Jan 31, 2024•58 min•Ep. 277
Before we get too far into 2024, let's look back at the five major business themes from the 50-plus CMO Podcasts recorded last year. To apply these lessons to our work this year, we have invited three previous CMO Podcast guests to join us for a fruitful discussion. First, Jim welcomes Julius Robinson, the Chief Sales & Marketing Officer for the US and Canada for Marriott International. Second, Samatha Maltin, Chief Marketing Officer for Sesame Workshop, the non-profit educational organizati...
Jan 24, 2024•57 min•Ep. 276
Jim's guest today on The CMO Podcast is Jessica Correa, the Chief Marketing Officer of Unleashed Brands, the most interesting company you have probably not heard of. It is a portfolio company of brands that focus on youth development, including Urban Air Adventure Parks, Little Gym, Snapology, and Premier Martial Arts. The business model of Unleashed Brands is similar to a franchise model–they partner with founders and help them scale with support in human resources, technology, finance, marketi...
Jan 17, 2024•47 min•Ep. 275
We're still feeling that party energy of the holidays as Jim welcomes Taylor Berry, the VP of Brand Marketing at Tito’s Handmade Vodka, to The CMO Podcast. Austin-based Tito’s may be handmade, but it is no small brand. Tito’s is the number 1 best-selling vodka brand in the US, with revenue in the $2 billion range. Its story is a classic American Dream saga. Bert “Tito” Beveridge–yes Beveridge is his real last name–founded the brand in 1995 after failed ventures in the oil and drilling industry, ...
Jan 10, 2024•53 min•Ep. 274
Ring in the new year with the CMO Podcast as Jim welcomes Jonathan Knight, the SVP, Head of Games for The New York Times. The Times Games include the famous New York Times Crossword Puzzle, The Mini Crossword, Wordle, Spelling Bee, Connections, and Tiles. Founded in 1851, The New York Times is one of the oldest and most respected brands in the world, with nearly 10 million subscribers. Jonathan knows a lot about building brands with high and lasting consumer engagement and loyalty. He has worked...
Jan 03, 2024•54 min•Ep. 273
Join us for one final episode to wrap up the year as Jim welcomes MJ DePalma, the Global Director of Cultural & Inclusive Business Impact at Microsoft. Founded in 1975 by Bill Gates, Microsoft is now a $200 billion by revenue–and growing–company with 220,000 employees. The company has also made headlines more than usual this year with its investment in OpenAI. MJ is a UCLA graduate with a psychology degree, and has worked at Microsoft twice in her career–once for four years, and now going on...
Dec 20, 2023•47 min•Ep. 272
Today's guest on The CMO Podcast is Shira Feuer, the Chief Marketing Officer of Trinny London, the seven-year-old, digital-first, global beauty brand founded by Trinny Woodall. Founder Trinny Woodall has been an influential personality on the fashion and beauty scene since the 90s, when she started a Daily Telegraph Ready-to-Wear column with Susannah Constantine. The column morphed into the BBC series What Not to Wear . Since its founding in 2017, Trinny London has succeeded within the beauty sp...
Dec 13, 2023•48 min•Ep. 271
Jim's guest today on The CMO Podcast is Tamara Mendelsohn, the Chief Marketing Officer for Eventbrite. The 17-year-old global self-service ticketing platform for live experiences allows anyone to create, share, find and attend events. The app showcases music festivals, marathons, conferences, community rallies, fundraisers, gaming competitions–and even air guitar contests. 12 years after its founding, Eventbrite went public. The company’s purpose is simple: to bring the world together through li...
Dec 06, 2023•54 min•Ep. 270
Jim's guest this week on The CMO Podcast is Derek Yarbrough, the Chief Marketing Officer at the J.Crew Group, where he looks over the J.Crew and Madewell brands. J.Crew began in 1983–40 years ago–with its first catalog. Since then it has grown to a multi-billion dollar clothing and accessories business, with hundreds of specialty retail stores, about 150 outlet stores, and a thriving on-line business. With its sister brand Madewell launching in 2006. Derek has been at J.Crew for about 13 years, ...
Nov 29, 2023•51 min•Ep. 269
How do you prepare to join the C-Suite after years of working as a marketing leader? Jim wraps up the final episode from the 2023 Deloitte University Next Generation CMO Academy with a roundtable panel discussion featuring Brad Hiranaga (Chief Brand Officer of Cotopaxi), Erica Taylor (Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer of Genentech), and Lisa Materazzo (Group Vice President of Marketing at Toyota Motor North America). Brad Hiranaga is a returning guest to the podcast. He spoke to Jim in ...
Nov 15, 2023•50 min•Ep. 268
The guest this week on The CMO Podcast is Carrie Ruddy, the Senior Vice President, Chief Communications & Marketing Officer of Trane Technologies–a 17 billion dollar by sales company focused on heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration systems. But this is no ordinary HVAC company–they are 100% focused on helping solve the climate change crisis through innovative new products and services. Trane’s CEO attributes their strong business results to “a focused execution of our purp...
Nov 08, 2023•53 min•Ep. 267
Jim's guest on The CMO Podcast this week is Kelly Lohr, the Chief Marketing Officer for Orangetheory Fitness, the leading heart-rate-based workout that combines science, technology and expert coaching to help members live a longer, more vibrant life. Orangetheory’s history begins in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where founder Ellen Latham opening the first studio in 2010. Now more than a decade later, Orangetheory has expanded to 1500 studios throughout the US and 24 countries, with over one million...
Nov 01, 2023•54 min•Ep. 266
Jim's guest this week on The CMO Podcast is Ramon Jones, the Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer of Nationwide–one of the largest and strongest diversified insurance and financial services organizations in the United States. Founded over 90 years ago, Nationwide provides a full range of insurance and financial services products, including car, motorcycle, homeowners, pet, farm, life and commercial insurance. And we all know the jingle…”Nationwide is on your side.” Ramon first be...
Oct 25, 2023•59 min•Ep. 265
One issue often explored on this show is how to build the trust and value of marketing within the broader C-Suite. For this week’s episode, Jim welcomes three C-Suite execs (who are not CMOs) to dive headfirst into that issue. Recorded live in front of an audience of emerging CMOs at the 2023 Deloitte University Next Generation CMO Academy, this episode features guests Susan Sheffield (Executive Vice President and CFO of General Motors Financial Co.), Deborah Gibbins (Chief Operating Officer of ...
Oct 18, 2023•53 min•Ep. 264
Jim's guest this week on The CMO Podcast is Micky Onvural, the Chief Marketing and Communications Officer at TIAA, whose mission is to help people find confidence in retirement. TIAA is an acronym for Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association; it was founded 105 years ago by Andrew Carnegie, to help teachers with their financial security in their retirement. TIAA is now a Fortune 100 financial services organization, with revenue north of $40 billion, serving clients in academic, research, cultu...
Oct 11, 2023•54 min•Ep. 263
Looking to the skies, Jim's guest today on The CMO Podcast is Maggie Schmerin, the Chief Advertising Officer at United Airlines. Although the company boasts nearly 100 years in business with roughly $45 billion in revenue, United does not behave like an "old" brand. From a new brand campaign–Good Leads the Way–to clever, viral social media, like naming Oscar the Grouch as its new "Chief Trash Officer," Maggie and the United team are leading a renewal of their brand and culture. Maggie, like Jim,...
Oct 04, 2023•56 min•Ep. 262
Jim's guest this week on The CMO Podcast is Molly Battin, the Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer at The Home Depot, the iconic orange-branded home improvement retail company. Since the first store opened in the Atlanta suburbs in 1978, Home Depot has become one of the largest retailers in the United States, with almost 500,000 employees and more than $151 billion in revenue. Molly is no stranger to managing large brands. Her career journey so far has taken her through brand giants...
Sep 27, 2023•55 min•Ep. 261
