Jim’s guest this week on The CMO Podcast is Jonnie Cahill, the newly appointed SVP and Chief Marketing Officer of International Foods at PepsiCo. Originally from Dublin, Ireland, Jonnie stepped into this role in April 2025 after more than 12 years at Heineken, where he most recently served as Chief Marketing Officer for the U.S. PepsiCo is a global food and beverage powerhouse with nearly $95 billion in sales and an iconic portfolio of brands — including Pepsi, Gatorade, Quaker, Lay’s, Cheetos, Mountain Dew, and Tostitos, to name just a few. This marks Jonnie’s third CMO role. Prior to PepsiCo and Heineken, he served as CMO of Telefónica in Dublin, and earlier spent six years at Diageo, where he had the opportunity to work on one of Ireland’s most beloved brands: Guinness. Jonnie and Jim sat down over coffee at the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity to talk about his journey, leadership lessons, and the challenges of building global brands.  --- This week's episode is brought to you by Deloitte and StrawberryFrog. Learn more: https://strawberryfrog.com/jim See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week, Jim welcomes Melody Lee, the Chief Marketing Officer of Mercedes-Benz USA. Mercedes-Benz is one of the world’s most enduring luxury brands and will celebrate its 100th anniversary next year. Melody’s career in marketing had an inauspicious start. She graduated from Georgia Tech with both a BS and an MS in international affairs, took a $12/hour internship at a PR firm, and never looked back. After six years in PR, Melody made the jump to the client side with a six-year stint at Cadillac. She then held senior roles at Shiseido and MillerKnoll before joining Mercedes-Benz in the summer of 2023. Recorded during the Cannes Festival of Creativity, this episode features a conversation about modernizing legacy brands and building your creative chops. --- This week’s episode is brought to you by Deloitte and StrawberryFrog. Learn more: https://strawberryfrog.com/jim See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this special roundtable episode of The CMO Podcast, recorded live at the Brand Innovators LVMH Villa, presented by Shutterstock. Jim Stengel sits down with four powerhouse marketing leaders to explore the timeless—and timely—question: What does it take to build a brand people truly love? Joining Jim are... Matt Spiegel, EVP of TruAudience Growth Strategy at TransUnion Nicole Parlapiano, Chief Marketing Officer of Tubi Melissa Hobley, Chief Marketing Officer of Tinder Carole Diarra, Global Vice President of Marketing for UGG Together, they reflect on the power of going back to brand-building fundamentals, why “the fruit is in the roots,” and how kindness and care can be transformative forces in leadership. This is a conversation full of wisdom, laughter, and straight talk on how to lead brands, and teams, with heart. Whether you're a marketer, creative, or purpose-driven leader, you’ll walk away inspired to double down on what really matters. --- This week's episode is brought to you by Deloitte, StrawberryFrog and Transunion. Learn more: https://strawberryfrog.com/jim See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Jim's guest this week on The CMO Podcast is Brian Irving, the Chief Marketing Officer at Lyft,  the 13-year-old, San Francisco-based  company whose purpose is to improve people’s lives with the world's best transportation. Lyft does business in the US and Canada, and has about $6 billion in revenue Brian has been at Lyft for about 15 months. Before that, he has worked at three of the world’s most valuable companies: Google, Meta and Apple. He has also worked at Levi Straus, Eventbrite, and AirBnB. Brian had no idea growing up in Flint, Michigan that his life would unfold this way. Recorded in person at the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity, tune in for a heart-to-heart conversation with Jim and Brian! --- This week's episode is brought to you by Deloitte and StrawberryFrog. Learn more: https://strawberryfrog.com/jim See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Jim's guest this week on The CMO Podcast is Elizabeth Rutledge, the Chief Marketing Officer of American Express. Elizabeth is a unique CMO–she has been at AmEx for her entire career of 35 years, and she has been CMO for seven of those years. AmEx’s stock was about $4 when Elizabeth joined, and it is about $300 currently. More trivia–American Express was founded in 1850–one of the oldest brands in the world.   Elizabeth graduated from Princeton, and earned her MBA from the Stern school at NYU. Recorded in person at the Deloitte Apartment at the Cannes Festival of Creativity, join the two for Jim's conversation with the CMO of a 175-year-old brand that is certainly not behaving that way. --- This week's episode is brought to you by Deloitte and StrawberryFrog. Learn more: https://strawberryfrog.com/jim See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

We had a whirlwind five days in Cannes last week, bringing you our first of many live, in-person episodes recorded as part of the Cannes Lions Festival. And to kick it off, Jim is diving into a topic that was a part of many conversations in the south of France…the Creator Economy. Creators and the space they’ve forged have become one of most transformative forces in marketing. It’s reshaping how brands connect with people, how content is made and consumed, and how influence is earned.  Joining Jim are three guests who know this world very well: Brandon B, Creator and Founder of StudioBKim Larson, the Global Head of YouTube CreatorsKenny Gold, the Managing Director, Head of Social, Content and Influencer for Deloitte Digital We’re going to talk strategy, authenticity, audience building, and where this entire ecosystem is headed. With a little advice sprinkled in! So, tune in as we come to you live from the Deloitte Apartment at Cannes Lions! --- This week's episode is brought to you by Deloitte. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

You have probably noticed we are getting more provocative with our episodes and their titles. A few weeks ago we released an episode titled “Is Brand Purpose Dead.” Well this week’s episode takes it up a notch:  “The Day the Universe Changed:  How the last five years have changed us as humans and consumers.”   Jim's guests are Mike Moynihan, the SVP of Brand, Marketing, Insights and Partnerships at the Lego Group, and George Carey, the founder and CEO of Human-ology, a research company that tracks shifts in values and emotions that shape human attitudes and behaviors.mTheir clients include Google,  Nike,  McDonalds, and of course Lego. Mike has been at Lego for an amazing 30 years,  and George founded his company about 15 years ago.   George will share how the human inside the consumer has fundamentally changed over the past five years,  beginning with the pandemic and then intensifying with the 2024 US elections. And Mike from Lego will talk to how this has changed how they think about their brand, and the initiatives that emanated from that. --- This week's episode is brought to you by Deloitte and StrawberryFrog. Learn more: https://strawberryfrog.com/jim See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week Jim's guest on The CMO Podcast is Carrie Palin, the SVP and Chief Marketing Officer of Cisco, the $55 billion by revenue tech leader, whose purpose is to leverage technology, people, and broader networks to solve society’s greatest challenges. Cisco is on quite a roll–its stock is up about 40% in the last year.   Carrie never took a marketing class in school, and never even imagined she would be a top tech B2B marketer, let alone the CMO of one of the world’s great companies. But serendipity happened, and Carrie said yes to IBM coming out of TCU, and began a tech marketing career that took her to Dell, Box, Splunk, and now Cisco. Carrie has had a remarkable run in her four years as Cisco’s CMO, which we will talk about. Tune in for a conversation with a CMO, who believes some things in life are simply non-negotiable. --- This week's episode is brought to you by Deloitte and StrawberryFrog. Learn more: https://strawberryfrog.com/jim See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

It’s officially summertime here in the U.S., and Jim welcomes a guest whose company truly embodies the spirit of the season. Kelley Puckett is the Chief Marketing Officer of goodr, a high-growth sunglasses brand founded nine years ago in Southern California. Like many great startups, goodr began by identifying a problem and solving it. The founders—runners themselves—noticed that running sunglasses were expensive and overly engineered. So they created fun, stylish, and functional sunglasses specifically for runners, all priced at just $25. Today, goodr offers sunglasses for a wide range of sports and outdoor activities. Kelley seems tailor-made for goodr. A UCLA graduate, she went on to work at both Sony Pictures and Paramount Pictures. She’s also a runner—though not just any runner. Kelley is an ultramarathoner who has completed the Badwater 135, often called the toughest ultramarathon in the world. Tune in to this episode to hear from a CMO who brings unmatched energy to her brand and community! --- This week's episode is brought to you by Deloitte and StrawberryFrog. Learn more: https://strawberryfrog.com/jim See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week Jim welcomes Rah Mahtani, the Head of Commercial Strategy US for Alibaba.com, the Chinese multinational technology company founded in 1999 by Jack Ma and 18 colleagues. Alibaba Group operates as a holding company for a wide array of businesses, including online retail, wholesale through Alibaba.com, logistics (Cainiao), cloud computing (Alibaba Cloud), and financial services (Ant Group). Alibaba.com is the world’s largest B2B (business-to-business) platform. Rah has been at Alibaba for about 2.5 years, and was promoted to head of commercial strategy about two months ago. Before Alibaba, Rah had a career deeply grounded in social media and digital communications, with time at Volvo, Jack in the Box, and BMW’s Mini brand. A graduate of Syracuse University, where he studied Industrial Design, Rah is a self-described lover of dogs, kids and candy.  Tune in for a conversation with a marketer in the middle of the changing global trade landscape! --- This week's episode is brought to you by Deloitte and StrawberryFrog. Learn more: https://strawberryfrog.com/jim See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Is Brand Purpose Dead—or More Alive Than Ever?

We’re on the verge of summer, so you’re probably dreaming of that ice-cold beer—whether at the beach, the ballpark, or on your back porch. This week, Jim welcomes Sofia Colucci to the podcast. She’s the Chief Marketing Officer for North America at Molson Coors, the fourth-largest brewer in the world, with about $12 billion in revenue. Molson Coors traces its roots back to 1786, when John Molson founded Canada’s oldest brewery on the banks of the St. Lawrence River in Montreal. Today, the company’s portfolio includes Molson, of course, along with the Miller and Coors families of brands, and a wide range of other beverages, including Peroni, Madri, Pilsner Urquell, ZOA Energy, and Arnold Palmer Spiked. Sofia has been with Molson Coors for eight years and has served as CMO for about two and a half years. Prior to that, she spent six years at Maple Leaf Foods in Canada—where she met her husband—and nearly eight years at PepsiCo, working in both Canada and the U.S. Tune in for a conversation with a CMO who brings serious muscle to her marketing strategy! --- This week's episode is brought to you by Deloitte and StrawberryFrog. Learn more: https://strawberryfrog.com/jim See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week's episode is something a little different. Jim returns to the beautiful Miraval Berkshires — a place known for reflection, intention, and growth. And that spirit is exactly what this conversation is all about: Jim's own Reflections on the Journey to Chief Marketing Officer. We each have our own journey, but today, Jim will take you through his — including an internal viral campaign within P&G that ultimately led to him being offered the role. Then, he walks us through my version of the CMO To-Do List: ten key characteristics to help you ascend the ladder. So whether you're aspiring to the CMO seat, just starting your marketing journey, or simply curious about how leaders grow — this one’s for you. Let’s jump in! Head over to our LinkedIn to complete your own Marketer’s Self-Evaluation. --- This week's episode is brought to you by Deloitte and StrawberryFrog. Learn more: https://strawberryfrog.com/jim See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week, we are celebrating the Class of 2025 inductees into the Advertising Hall of Fame, as Jim welcomes three of this year's honorees for a roundtable discussion. Recorded live the morning after "The Biggest Night in Advertising"—the American Advertising Federation’s annual Hall of Fame induction and celebration—the conversation highlights a few individuals each year who have made an indelible impact on the advertising and marketing industry, as well as exceptional philanthropic contributions. Since the Hall of Fame’s inception in 1948, only 296 people have been inducted. Joining Jim are:David Lubars, the recently retired Chairman and Chief Creative Officer of BBDO. David has won an astonishing 600 Cannes Lions and is the only creative head ever to win Network of the Year at Cannes for seven consecutive years.Linda Boff, the former long-standing Chief Marketing Officer of GE, who, among many other achievements, helped guide the company through its split into three separate public entities.Rishad Tobaccowala, who served in a variety of roles at Publicis Groupe over a 40-year career. Rishad is impossible to put in a box—he is an innovator, a pioneer, a mentor, a teacher, and an advisor. His weekly thought letter, The Future Does Not Fit into the Containers of the Past, is read by 30,000 people. Tune in for a funny, warm, reflective, and poignant conversation with three people who have just experienced one of the most special evenings of their lives. --- Learn more about the entire class of inductees: https://www.aaf.org/Public/Public/Events/Advertising-Hall-of-Fame/AHOF_Home.aspx Plus catch up of videos from the past celebrations: https://vimeo.com/showcase/7609857 --- This week's episode is brought to you by Deloitte and StrawberryFrog. Learn more: https://strawberryfrog.com/jim See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week, Jim is coming to you from the serene and stunning Miraval Berkshires, nestled in Western Massachusetts, where Vayner hosted the Future CMO Summit. We welcomed twenty next-gen marketing leaders for a perfect setting that inspired a candid, energizing roundtable with some of the brightest minds in the industry today. Joining Jim are four standout leaders who participated in the Summit:Melissa Madaio Colleluori, Global Head of Social & Influencer Marketing at General MotorsDanielle Wallis, Chief Marketing Officer of Connected Commerce and Head of Card Customer Marketing at JPMorgan ChaseKatie Berry, Director of Global Brand Marketing at CoachSteven Saenen, Vice President of Marketing at Mondelēz InternationalFrom financial services to fashion, from autos to snacks, these leaders bring bold perspectives, creative strategies, and a shared passion for connecting with customers in meaningful ways. So grab a coffee—or a glass of wine—and settle in. You’re about to hear an honest, inspiring conversation straight from the heart of the Berkshires. --- This week's episode is brought to you by StrawberryFrog and Deloitte. Learn more: https://strawberryfrog.com/jim See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week, The CMO Podcast is on a field trip, as Jim recently attended the Adobe Summit Digital Experience Conference in Las Vegas. The three-day event featured over 200 sessions, hands-on labs, sneak previews of new products, and plenty of opportunities for fun networking. So, it’s fitting that his guest is someone at the heart of the Adobe Summit: Rachel Thornton, Chief Marketing Officer of Adobe Enterprise. Adobe is, of course, a company renowned for its creativity, innovation, and strong employee- and customer-centric culture. Its purpose is to change the world through personalized digital experiences, with offerings that include Creative Cloud, Document Cloud, Experience Cloud, and Adobe Express. Founded in 1982, Adobe now generates about $22 billion in annual revenue, thanks to groundbreaking innovations such as Photoshop, Acrobat, the PDF, Flash, and Firefly. Rachel was a speaker at this year’s Summit and is a newcomer to Adobe, having joined in December 2024. However, she’s no stranger to B2B tech marketing. She began her tech career at Microsoft and went on to hold key roles at Cisco, Salesforce, Amazon Web Services, and several startups before landing at Adobe. Tune in this week for a lively chat with a curious, history-loving Chief Marketing Officer! --- This week's episode is brought to you by Adobe, StrawberryFrog and Deloitte. Learn more: https://strawberryfrog.com/jim See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

As we celebrate National Pet Day, Jim's guest this week on The CMO Podcast is Natalia Ball, the Global Chief Growth Officer of Pet Nutrition at Mars. This is a big business for Mars, Petcare is about 60% of its estimated $50 billion in sales. Mars was founded as a candy company by Frank C. Mars in 1911 in Tacoma Washington; it remains to this day a family-owned business. Mars Petcare brands include Pedigree, Whiskas, Royal Canin and Iams. Natalia has been at Mars Petcare about seven years, and was promoted to Global Chief Growth Officer in April 2024. Before Mars, Natalia spent about 15 years at P&G, starting as a brand manager in Venezuela; her last role at P&G was senior portfolio director in global Laundry. Natalia joined P&G in my early days as P&G’s Global Marketing Officer. Tune in for a conversation with a dog-loving, London-living mom of a seven year old, and a chief growth officer! --- This week's episode is brought to you by StrawberryFrog and Deloitte. Learn more: https://strawberryfrog.com/jim See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week we’re bringing you a special episode, recorded live at the Adobe Summit in Las Vegas in March 2025. As we here at the CMO podcast are happy customers of Adobe, we were excited to be part of the programming at the Summit. Our topic was How CMOs can thrive in these times of rapid change, with Jim being joined on stage by Emily Silver, SVP and Chief Marketing & Athlete Experience Officer of Dick’s Sporting Goods, to join me on stage. Emily is a returning guest to the show, joining Jim last fall to talk about stepping into her first CMO role. Emily spent over 16 years at PepsiCo, in about nine roles, before she joined the sports brand in 2023. Recorded live in front of an audience, including a collection of Emily’s associates from Dick’s, Emily and Jim discuss how sports brings us together, and how she and her company are thriving in these uncertain times. This episode is brought to you by Adobe. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Happy April Fools! To celebrate the spirit of first day of April, Jim welcomes to the show one of Duo the Owl’s best friends, Emmanuel Orssaud, the Chief Marketing Officer of Duolingo, one of the hottest growth brands in the world with one of the hottest mascots in the world. Duolingo is the most downloaded education app in the history of the App Store and in 2019 became the top-grossing education app worldwide. Duolingo’s purpose is to develop the best education in the world and make it universally available; its core service today is in language learning. Duolingo is only a 14-year old brand, founded in Pittsburgh by Luis van Ahn and Severine Hacker, who met at Carnegie Mellon. It is publicly traded, with a market cap of about $14 billion. Emmanuel, or Manu, has been at Duolingo nearly five years, CMO since August 2023. Prior to Duolingo, Manu worked about five years at Spotify and nine years at Playstation. Tune in for a conversation around growth marketing & more with a bi-lingual CMO (French and English) who is learning Japanese on Duolingo! This week's episode is brought to you by StrawberryFrog and Deloitte. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Spring is time for rebirth and renewal…and today’s episode is about a relationship between a client and an agency that embodies continual rebirth and renewal. Jim's guests this week are Sherry Graziano, the EVP, Head of Digital, Client Experience & Marketing at Truist Bank, and Scott Goodson, the CEO and Founder of ad agency StrawberryFrog. Sherry and Scott are longtime partners at Truist, a top 10 US bank headquartered in Charlotte, NC. Truist has a purpose to inspire and build better lives and communities–and they mean that, as you will hear through Sherry and Scott’s stories. Sherry has been at Truist since 2011; she was part of SunTrust, which became Truist after SunTrust’s merger with BB&T. Scott and his agency have been working with Truist for many years. Many brands switch agencies frequently–this is a story of a client and agency who have learned to work together over the years, and thus discovered the magic of teamwork with a common purpose, common objectives, and a shared ambition. Tune in for a conversation on the playbook for a successful partnership! --- This week's episode is brought to you by StrawberryFrog and Deloitte. Learn more: https://strawberryfrog.com/jim See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.