CMO Weekly

In this episode of CMO Weekly, host Hayley Clover sits down with James Whitemore, the Chief Marketing Officer at Indeed, to unpack the marketing strategy behind the world's most powerful employment platform. James, who leads global marketing, communications, and the Indeed Hiring Lab, brings a unique perspective to the role, balancing a deep history in B2B enterprise tech (including roles at Celigo and NetApp) with a fresh focus on Indeed's mission.

James dives into the pivotal role of marketing in a company dedicated to its mission: "We help people get jobs". He reveals how Indeed structures its marketing efforts to serve its three distinct audiences: job seekers, Small-to-Midsize Businesses (SMBs), and large enterprise clients.

Key Discussion Points:

The Mission-Driven Brand: Learn how Indeed maintains its top-line brand vision while tailoring its message for different segments. James shares a fascinating internal symbol—the orange chair—that ensures the job seeker is "always at the table" in every decision.

The Future of Data and AI: Discover how Indeed manages its audience of around 615 million job seekers. James explains how the company is deploying cutting-edge AI and propensity modeling to track "triggers and signs" that a job seeker is becoming active. This system helps personalize content at scale and feeds into agentic SDR tools for relevant outreach, driving their digital-first business model.

Brandformance in Practice: The Indeed CMO breaks down the company's "mixed bag of tactics" in marketing. While Indeed has massive brand awareness and a strong digital focus, James shares the surprising performance success of more traditional channels like direct mail and linear radio advertising, which is confirmed through continuous holdout and incrementality testing.

From Sales to CMO: James reflects on how his over 25 years of combined sales and marketing experience, which began with direct sales, influences his leadership, emphasizing the critical need for a close connection between sales and marketing teams.

Don't miss this in-depth look at how Indeed is navigating a fast-changing labor market, balancing performance with storytelling, and leveraging data with empathy to transform the hiring process.

In this episode of CMO Weekly, host Hayley Clover sits down with Matthew Kellie, Senior Vice President of Marketing at Sandbox VR, to explore the unique challenges and breakthrough strategies of marketing one of the premier location-based virtual reality entertainment platforms.

Matthew, a marketing veteran with a fascinating career history—from a French chef to roles at Supercell Games, Robinhood, and CMO at brilliant.org—shares why the opportunity to merge his love for physical hospitality with digital marketing drew him to Sandbox VR.

What is Sandbox VR? Matthew gives the elevator pitch for the truly immersive, social experience that goes far beyond at-home VR. He details how their proprietary technology, haptic feedback vests, motion trackers, and even in-room wind effects are used to make customers feel like they are completely in the game—whether they're fighting a zombie apocalypse or playing a real-life Squid Game.

Key Takeaways & Discussion Points:

• The Marketing Challenge: Learn how Matthew's team tackles the complex challenge of merging two worlds: the digital cinematic fantasy of VR with the real-world social energy of an "epic night out" with friends.

• Effective Strategies: Matthew reveals the primary advertising means for driving foot traffic and brand resonance, focusing heavily on influencer ads, social media content, and leveraging the cool, shareable videos customers receive after their experience.

• Experiential Marketing: We dive into the difficulties of bringing the full, deeply integrated VR experience out of the physical stores for experiential marketing due to the tech stack's complex requirements.

• BONUS: Don't miss the story behind Matthew's fortune cookie tattoo, a hilarious anecdote involving his grandfather and the Marines in World War II!

This episode is a masterclass in driving growth for a high-tech, high-touch consumer experience that thrives on social connection.

Welcome to CMO Weekly! In this episode, host Hayley Clover sits down with Andrew Strickman, Chief Marketing Officer of New American Funding (NAF). Andrew, a marketing veteran who led branding at realtor.com and infuses a journalist's storytelling mindset into his work, discusses how he’s helping NAF fulfill its core mission: defining a path to homeownership for everyone, including underrepresented and diverse communities.

This conversation is a must-listen for any marketing leader navigating high-stakes, regulated industries and looking to scale content production while maintaining brand compliance and a powerful emotional connection with consumers.

Key Takeaways & Discussion Points:

AI in a Regulated Industry: Andrew reveals New American Funding's journey in adopting generative AI for content creation. Learn how NAF has successfully integrated AI to save hundreds of hours per week (up to 360 hours/week) and reduce their time-to-publish from days to hours, all while navigating the stringent regulatory landscape of financial services.

Compliance and Content Velocity: Discover how regulatory checks and balances are built directly into NAF’s AI platform, which has pleased their legal team and dramatically sped up the compliance review process.

The Power of Purpose-Driven Marketing: A deep dive into NAF's mission-first strategy, particularly through their initiatives like NAF Promise, which focuses on underrepresented communities in their homeownership journey.

The "Hell Yeah" Campaign: Andrew discusses the creative inspiration and strategy behind NAF’s bold "Hell Yeah You're Buying a Home" campaign. Hear how the campaign shifts the focus from rates and approvals to acknowledging the emotional moment of triumph for new homeowners.

Mindful Leadership: Andrew shares his philosophy on fostering a culture of empathy, accountability, and trust to build high-performing, highly engaged marketing teams.

Brand Love: Andrew shares the brand outside of the mortgage space that is currently setting the standard for marketing and storytelling (Hint: it’s finance adjacent!).

Don't forget to like, comment, and subscribe for more conversations with the world's top marketing leaders on CMO Weekly!

#CMOWeekly #AndrewStrickman #NewAmericanFunding #MarketingStrategy #GenerativeAI #CMO #FinTech #MortgageMarketing #BrandStorytelling #Leadership #MarketingLeadership #NAFPromise

Welcome to CMO Weekly! In this episode, hosts Hayley Clover and Dylan Feinstein sit down with Tracy Tannenbaum, Chief Marketing Officer of Meritage Homes, for a deep dive into her 30+ year marketing career and the bold strategies she's used to transform one of the nation's largest homebuilders.Tracy, an avid traveler who has visited over 80 countries and every continent, brings a diverse background from industries like AT&T, Petco, and healthcare to the highly complex world of homebuilding.Key Takeaways You'll Discover: The "Data is King" Philosophy: Learn how Tracy leverages a consistent focus on market research and customer service from her B2C and B2B experience to drive strategic shifts at Meritage Homes. Breaking the "Sea of Sameness": Tracy explains how she took on the challenge of a sector with little brand distinction by modernizing the Meritage brand—including a strategic color palette shift—to stand for stability, trust, optimism, and energy. Eliminating Homebuyer Friction: Discover the groundbreaking strategic decisions Meritage made to simplify the new construction process and remove buyer skepticism. This includes guaranteeing a move-in date (the only builder to do so), offering transparent pricing, and including items like appliances and window treatments that are typically unexpected added costs. The Realtor Partnership: Hear about Meritage's consistent commitment to working with real estate agents regardless of market conditions, and how they developed a loyalty program to help realtors grow their business. Digital-First Advertising: Get an exclusive look at how Tracy's team creatively tailors their message for different digital channels (like HBO, YouTube, and LinkedIn) to combat short attention spans, including their unique, fun "Paymore Plaza" campaign which relates the home buying process to hotels to highlight pain points.Don't miss this masterclass in marketing strategy and brand leadership!Connect with Meritage Homes and Tracy Tannenbaum: Website: MeritageHomes.com Email: [email protected] the episode? Hit that subscribe button for more in-depth interviews with the world's top marketing leaders!

In this episode of CMO Weekly, host Hayley Clover and guest co-host Carlo Palomino, President of Open Fortune, sit down with Courtney Brown Warren, the Chief Marketing Officer at Kickstarter. Courtney shares her incredible journey from a graphic designer to a multi-industry marketing leader, with a career spanning L'Oreal, Time Inc., Madison Square Garden, Audible, and Twitter.Courtney discusses her core marketing philosophy, which centers on brand storytelling and understanding the "why" behind consumer behavior to create "fandom". She believes a great marketer combines "art and science" to thread the needle and tell a compelling story that makes people care.The episode delves into the challenge and excitement of reigniting the Kickstarter brand. Courtney explains the platform's B2B2C model, where creators are the businesses and backers are the consumers. She reveals the strategies behind Kickstarter's explosive growth in 2023, including a 482% increase in social growth and a 1,300% spike in YouTube subscribers. This success is attributed to telling good stories, strong SEO, and amplifying content from creators.Courtney also talks about Kickstarter's evolution from a platform for creative arts to a "launch platform" for a wide range of categories, including design, technology, games, and comics. She highlights the importance of strategic partnerships, such as one with Tubi, to provide creators with distribution opportunities beyond just funding. As a leader, she sees herself as an "orchestrator," trusting her talented team to execute the marketing and outreach strategies that align with company goals.This episode is a masterclass in modern marketing, brand leadership, and leveraging community to drive exponential growth.#cmoweekly #podcast #marketing #podcastinterview #kickstarter

This episode of CMO Weekly features an interview with Peter Scherr, the Chief Marketing Officer of Noom. Hosted by Hayley Clover, the show delves into Scherr's career and his current role guiding Noom's marketing strategy.Key Discussion Points: Career Trajectory: Scherr discusses his diverse career path, which began in investment banking before he quickly realized it wasn't his passion. He then moved into digital marketing, working at a startup acquired by DoubleClick (now part of Google). This experience provided a foundational understanding of building a digital business. He went on to hold key marketing roles at companies like JetBlue, American Express, and Vroom, where he helped build the brand and take it public. Joining Noom: Scherr was drawn to Noom because it sits at the intersection of technology and healthcare and has a mission to empower people to live better, longer lives. He was also excited by the company's evolution from a weight loss app to a broader digital health platform. Marketing at Noom: Scherr explains that Noom's marketing is science-backed but focuses on storytelling that people can relate to, such as struggles with willpower or the relief of progress. The company leads with empathy, transparency about benefits and costs, and aims to resist hype. Noom's approach emphasizes understanding the "why" behind behavior, not just the "what," to help users build healthy habits. Measuring Success: Beyond clicks, Noom measures success through metrics like the lifetime value to customer acquisition cost ratio (LTV to CAC) to ensure profitable growth. Retention is a huge component of LTV, and they measure it by tracking user engagement with lessons and coaching, and whether users feel more confident over time. Use of AI and Channels: While AI is not used to create all content due to the industry's strict regulations and need for human review, Noom uses it to support human coaches, analyze marketing data, and create personalized plans for users. Scherr states that the company's brand efforts are dominated by TV and OTT, while digital channels are focused on paid social in Meta and Google. Leadership and Advice: Scherr describes his leadership style as one of empowerment, encouraging team members to act as CEOs of their respective channels. He emphasizes accountability, developing people, and leading by example with fairness and ethics. He advises new marketers to dive deep into their channel but also to pay attention to how all the different parts of a campaign work together.#cmoweekly #marketing #startup #podcastinterview #noom

In this episode of "CMO Weekly," we sit down with Pam Piligian, the Chief Marketing Officer of Navy Federal Credit Union, the world's largest credit union. As the CMO, Pam is a leader focused on brand narratives, corporate social responsibility, and digital marketing trends. She oversees marketing and advertising strategy, including research and public relations.

Join us as Pam shares her insights on:

Purpose-Driven Marketing: Learn how Navy Federal's marketing strategy is centered around a deep understanding of its members' needs and a focus on "doing what is right for the member".

The "Our Members Are the Mission" campaign: Discover the story behind this successful brand platform and tagline, which was developed to generate loyalty and trust among active-duty military personnel, veterans, and their families.

Building Trust: Pam discusses how the credit union leverages data and storytelling to build a deeper connection with its audience, positioning Navy Federal as a "flight to safety" during economic uncertainty.

Data and Creativity: Hear Pam's philosophy on how marketing is a blend of "art and science" and how her team uses data to turn insights into opportunities and guide strategic decision-making.

Pam has over 25 years of account management experience with major brands like Wachovia, Energizer, and Nabisco. She is also a founding member of the DC chapter of Chief, an organization that empowers women in leadership. A true inspiration, she has also completed nearly 50 marathons across the nation.

#marketing #podcast #podcastinterview #cmoweekly

This episode of CMO Weekly features a conversation with Raina Enand, the Head of Marketing at Blue Apron, a Wonder company. With over a decade of experience scaling brands in beauty, e-commerce, and food and beverage, Raina discusses her career journey and her current role leading Blue Apron's brand relaunch.The episode covers:Career Path and Intentionality: Raina shares her early career experience at L'Oréal, which she describes as "the best marketing school you can go to". She talks about her intentional decision to move from traditional brand management to a startup to gain hands-on digital marketing experience, a skill she felt was crucial for the future. She also recounts the story of how she joined Wonder as the first marketing hire after receiving a random text message.The Blue Apron Relaunch: Raina details the comprehensive relaunch of the Blue Apron brand, explaining that it was driven by a new business strategy based on customer feedback and data. She highlights the shift from a subscription-only model to offering faster, easier, and more flexible meal solutions that meet the post-pandemic needs of customers.Rebranding and Go-to-Market Strategy: The rebranding effort focused on maintaining brand awareness while making the brand feel modern and fresh. The new logo has hand-drawn, "flowy" nuances to make it feel less authoritarian and more like a sous chef. The go-to-market campaign addresses "subscription fatigue," positioning Blue Apron as a solution that meets customers where they are.Marketing Channels and Influencer Strategy: Blue Apron is changing its media mix to focus on brand consideration rather than just promotions. This includes returning to channels like TV, connected TV, streaming audio, and podcasts for the first time in years. A significant part of the new strategy is a large-scale influencer campaign, working with over 100 creators to create authentic content, treating them as an extension of the marketing team. Raina mentions drawing inspiration from Abercrombie's successful brand relaunch to regain relevance.This episode is a must-listen for anyone interested in brand transformations, strategic marketing pivots, and the evolving landscape of e-commerce.For more from Raina, you can follow her on LinkedIn. You can find Blue Apron on all social platforms, including Instagram, under the username "Blue Apron".#marketing #cmoweekly #podcastinterview #blueapron

CMO Weekly is joined by Andrew McCormick, Head of eToro US, for an insightful conversation about the future of investing and how eToro is making the financial markets more accessible. In this episode, Andrew shares his unique journey to eToro, from his background at a large financial institution to his current role leading the US division.He delves into eToro's mission to empower a new generation of investors by creating a platform that is not only easy to use but also fosters community and financial literacy. Andrew discusses the power of "social trading" and how it helps both new and experienced investors learn from one another. He also touches on key trends, including the growing interest in cryptoassets and the importance of adapting to a complex and evolving regulatory landscape.Whether you're a seasoned investor or just starting your financial journey, this episode offers valuable perspectives on the importance of education, the role of technology in finance, and eToro's vision for a more inclusive and transparent investment world.#marketing #podcastinterview #cmoweekly #andrewmccormick#etoro

Join us on CMO Weekly as we sit down with Amy Martin Ziegenfuss, the Chief Marketing Officer at Carnival Cruise Line. She has been leading marketing, branding, and customer experience across Carnival's global fleet of 25 ships since joining in 2023.In this episode, Amy discusses Carnival's post-pandemic marketing reinvention, which focuses on targeting travelers by mindset and celebrating togetherness through experiences. She also shares her background in travel marketing, having previously worked at Hilton and Choice Hotels. Amy explains that the cruise industry, and Carnival specifically, is now performing better financially than in 2019, which was a record-breaking year for the industry. The conversation also touches on her leadership style, which emphasizes collaboration, emotional connection with customers, and the importance of being intellectually curious and open to diverse voices. This episode is a must-watch for anyone interested in brand evolution, post-pandemic marketing strategies, and the future of the travel industry.#podcast #marketing #cmoweekly