Great Minds

Welcome to Great Minds, recorded live at Advertising Week New York 2026 in the Salesforce Podcast Studio. Joining us is Madeline Schofield, VP, Experience Strategy and Executive Marketing at Salesforce, fresh from Dreamforce. Madeline shares how her team designs different experiences for developers and senior executives, assesses success through both data and conversations with sales leaders, and carries the event’s story into the months that follow. We also discuss why curiosity matters when building marketing teams and how AI can free up time for deeper creative and strategic thinking.

Welcome to Great Minds, recorded live at Advertising Week New York 2026 in the Salesforce Podcast Studio. Joining us is Will Cohen, CEO and co-founder of Downtime, whose background in retail media led him to build a business around customer participation. Will shares how the company works with retailer loyalty programs, the challenge of distinguishing meaningful feedback from behavior driven by incentives, and his thoughts on using AI to personalize advertising while preserving a human connection.

Today, we're joined by Pauline, CEO of Gradient Experience, an experiential agency working across luxury, spirits, beauty, and technology. We talk about how experiences have moved closer to the center of the marketing mix, what brands should expect from them, and how to measure their value. Pauline also shares examples of how a strong experience can become a larger brand program, with a focus on making sure the creative work delivers on the business goals behind it.

In this final episode of Great Minds, Otis Williams, the founder and last surviving member of The Temptations, takes us on a journey through the legendary group’s history. From his early days in Texarkana to the vibrant music scene of Detroit, Otis shares how the group evolved from the Distants to Motown superstars. He reflects on pivotal moments, including the addition of David Ruffin and Eddie Kendricks, their breakthrough with “My Girl,” and the challenges of navigating fame, racial discrimination, and industry changes. With personal anecdotes, insights into their global impact, and reflections on the group’s enduring legacy, this episode is a must-listen for music lovers and Motown enthusiasts alike.

On this first episode of two, Great Minds is pleased to be joined by Shelly Berger, manager of legendary American vocal group The Temptations. Shelly discusses the early days of the group, their Detroit origins, their place in popular culture, and what made (and continues to make) their music so special.

Don’t miss this part one of two! It’s a must-listen!

On this very special episode of Great Minds, we’re pleased to welcome the legendary Smokey Robinson to the show. Smokey walks us through his incredible career in this must-listen episode.

Longtime friend of Advertising Week and Founder of creative agency Gravity Road, Mark Eaves, joins Great Minds for a lively discussion about his career, the industry, and much, much more. This is a don’t miss episode of Great Minds.

Victoria is the founder and CEO of GingerMay, a multi-award winning global B2B PR and digital marketing agency for blue-chip, technology, advertising, media, and fast-growth disruptive businesses. GingerMay works with leading global companies including Comcast, Global and Oath. Our numerous industry accolades are driven by our reputation for rigour, remarkable thinking, and strong relationships with clients and journalists.

Rachel Shechtman is a fourth-generation retail entrepreneur and founder of STORY, a concept store known for its editorial, ever-changing approach to retail. Prior to opening STORY, Rachel built a career in consulting, founding Cube Ventures in 2002 – an independent firm known for its skill of strategically combining business models.

When Rachel launched STORY in 2011 she did so with the belief that retail held the potential to be about more than the transaction – it could serve as a channel for branded, community-based storytelling – retail media. STORY offered the point of a magazine, changed like a gallery, and sold things like a store. After seven years and 44 different ‘themes’, in April 2018, Rachel sold STORY to Macy’s Inc. where she served as Brand Experience Officer until July 2020. During her time at Macy’s, Rachel successfully launched two new businesses for the brand and built a 150+ person cross-functional team specifically and strategically designed to operate, perform and generate effective results efficiently and nimbly within the larger, traditional operation.

Rachel has been recognized as Fast Company’s 100 Most Creative People in Business, Fortune Magazine’s 40 Under 40, Crain’s Under 40 and Ad Age’s 50 Most Creative. The AAF inducted Rachel into its Advertising Hall of Achievement and in 2018 Shechtman was named a Henry Crown Fellow by the Aspen Institute.

Rachel sits on the Board of Directors of the National Retail Federation (NRF) and CAMP, an experiential family retail concept and media company.

Dan Amos is chairman, chief executive officer and president of Aflac Incorporated and the second longest-serving CEO in the FORTUNE 250. Under his leadership as CEO, Aflac Incorporated’s total return to shareholders1 has exceeded 15,446%, compared with 3,075% for the Dow Jones Industrial Average, 2,812% for the S&P 500 Index and 1,471% for the S&P 500 Life & Health Insurance Index. In 2000, Dan launched the popular Aflac Duck advertising campaign, transforming Aflac from a successful supplemental insurance company to a top international brand.

Under Dan’s leadership, today, Aflac helps provide protection to millions of policyholders through subsidiaries in Japan and the U.S. by paying cash fast when policyholders get sick or injured. For nearly seven decades, insurance policies of Aflac Incorporated’s subsidiaries have given policyholders the opportunity to focus on recovery, not financial stress. In Japan, Aflac is the leading provider of medical and cancer insurance. In the U.S., Aflac is the number one provider of supplemental health insurance products.2