The CMO Podcast

With the Paris Olympics upon us, Jim can think of no better guest to preview the big event–from a marketing perspective–than Andrea Fairchild, the SVP, Global Sponsorship Strategy for Visa. 

Visa has been a major sponsor of the Olympics since 1986, and became the first global partner of the International ParaOlympic Committee in 2003. Sponsorship is a major pillar of Visa's marketing strategy; they are also partners with the NFL, FIFA, and Formula 1, to name a few. The global payment platform strives to uplift everyone everywhere by providing the best way to pay and be paid. In 2023, Visa garnered almost $33 billion in revenue, up 11% from the year before. 

Andrea joined Visa in 2021 as SVP of Global Sponsorship Strategy. After growing up on a farm in Illinois and playing sports to escape farm work, Andrea graduated from Southern Illinois University and launched her amazing career. She worked ten years at Nike, eight at Gatorade, four with Kobe Bryant’s Kobe Inc, and a few years as an entrepreneur before joining Visa. As the world looks to come together to cheer on their athletes, tune in for a conversation with a brand leader who looks to support them on their journey.

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Jim's guest this week on The CMO Podcast is Lisa Caputo, the EVP, Chief Marketing, Communications and Customer Experience Officer at Travelers, the 165-year-old diversified insurance company. You know, the company with the red umbrella, which they first used in an ad in 1870. Travelers is one of the largest insurance companies in the world, with revenue of $41 billion, 30,000 employees and 13,500 independent agents and brokers. Travelers operates in the US, Canada, the UK and Ireland.

Lisa has experienced a nontraditional career path to her senior role at Travelers. She studied Political Science and French at Brown University, and then earned a Masters in Journalism at Northwestern University. During the first 10 years of her career, she worked in public service–including Press Secretary to the First Lady and Deputy Assistant to the President in the Clinton Administration. She then left public service to work at CBS and Disney, before clocking 11 years at Citi as Global Chief Marketing Officer and 13 years at Travelers. Lisa also serves on the Board of Best Buy. Tune in for a conversation with a woman who has a network like no other!

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Jim is celebrating the 300th episode of The CMO Podcast with a bang! He welcomes back three of his very first guests on the show from 2019: Kristin Lemkau, the Chief Executive Officer of J.P. Morgan Wealth Management at JPMorgan Chase, Lilian Tomovich, the Chief Marketing & Experience Officer at Barclays, and Dean Aragón, Group Brand Officer and CEO & Vice-Chairman of Shell Brands International AG. In a way, they co-created this podcast, helping Jim find those initial footsteps and directing the show to what it has become today.

First up is Lili Tomovich, the CMO & Experience Officer at Barclays Bank. Jim had Lili as his third guest on the show in 2019, when she worked as the Chief Experience & Marketing Officer at MGM Resorts International, a $15 billion global hospitality and entertainment company. Her career path has included ten years at Mastercard as head of Marketing for Canada and Senior Vice President of Consumer Marketing for the US market. After time within the hospitality space, she returned to financial services and joined Barclays in 2021. She created and accelerated transformational growth for the bank, while reimagining the customer experience.

Jim's next returning guest, Dean Aragón has come on the podcast a few times over the years; he was the 10th guest back in 2019, and later joined Jim for a roundtable discussion at Cannes in 2022. Dean is also celebrating an anniversary. He has worked at Shell for a decade, serving as the Group Brand Officer and CEO & Vice-Chairman of Shell Brands International–or, as he puts it, Shell’s "Chief Brand Guy." Prior to Shell, Dean spent 15 years in Senior Brand Marketing roles at Unilever, across a range of categories and markets.

For this episode's final conversation, Jim comes full circle to welcome back his very first guest, Kristin Lemkau. Kristin is The Chief Executive Officer of J.P. Morgan Wealth Management at JPMorgan Chase, where her team oversees the U.S. wealth management division. When they spoke back in 2019, Kristin was the Chief Marketing Officer of JPMorgan Chase, where she led a global marketing team of 2,000 people with a $5B+ marketing budget.

Tune in for an episode filled to the brim with stories that have carried this show throughout the last five years. Here's to 300, and many more to come!

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This week on The CMO Podcast, Jim continues his conversation with Jonathan Mildenhall. He hands over his hosting duties and shares his own career & life journey. If you haven’t already, make sure to listen to part one before heading into this one.

Last week, the episode ended with Jim bringing P&G to the Cannes Lions festival for the first time; little did he expect that five years later the company would be honored as Creative Marketer of the Year. Jonathan picks up their conversation with Jim's decision to leave P&G after receiving the Cannes Lions award, and to start the second part of his career.

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As the podcast approaches its 300th episode, Jim is switching things up (literally) as he welcomes guest host and friend, Jonathan Mildenhall, to interview him. 

Why Jonathan? For starters, he is one of the most gifted and generous leaders in the brand-building industry, and as you'll learn during the conversation, a sort of brother to Jim. Not in the obvious ways; Jonathan is black, gay, English, and was raised by his mother in the projects of north Leeds. Jim is white, one of six children, born and raised in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, in a very Roman Catholic household. Despite their differences, you will certainly feel the brotherly spirit between the two. 

Jonathan's career has also brought him to incredible heights. He has worked 14 years on the agency side of the business, with time spent at BBH and TBWA. During his seven years in the Senior marketing role at Coca-Cola, his team was named 2013 Creative Marketer of the Year by Cannes Lions. From there, he became the first CMO of AirBnB, where they introduced the “Belong Anywhere” brand platform. In 2018, he co-founded the consultancy 21st Century brand. Currently, he resides as the first-ever CMO of Rocket Companies.

For the past five years, once or twice a week, Jim has interviewed hundreds of senior leaders (mostly CMOs). Each guest has a unique story and has opened up to share their challenges, successes and vulnerabilities. Now, with Jonathan’s “CMO C-Print” as a guide, Jim shares his own story. 

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There is no city like New York City! This week Jim welcomes the Chief Marketing Officer of New York City Tourism and Conventions, Nancy Mammana. Just before joining Jim for the recording, Nancy was also named the Interim CEO of the company.

Nancy’s organization is a private, non-profit entity, earning about half of its funding from the city of New York through a contract, and the other half from membership fees, sponsorships, and ad revenue on its digital properties. NYC Tourism and Conventions aims to invite the world in and energize New York City—building equitable, sustainable economic prosperity and community through tourism for the mutual benefit of residents, businesses, and visitors.

Nancy fell in love with dance early in her life; she started a dance company while at Syracuse University, which is still running today. After college, her passion for dance led her to a marketing job with the Alvin Ailey Dance Theater. From there, Nancy worked in a variety of roles on both the client and agency side of the business–including stints at the Cunard Line and the NBA. Nancy has worked at NYC Tourism and Conventions for about six years and–as you will hear–loves her job. 

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This Friday, June 14 is National Bourbon Day in the United States! Naturally, Jim has invited a real expert: Matias Bentel, the EVP and Chief Brand Officer at Brown-Forman. This 150-year-old Louisville-based company holds brand icons like Jack Daniels, Woodford Reserve, Old Forester and Herradura. An industry leader, Brown-Forman boasts about $4 billion in sales across 170 countries, 40 brands, and about 6,000 employees worldwide.

Matias has worked as the Chief Brands Officer at Brown Forman and served on the company's executive leadership team for about 4 and a half years. He grew up in Argentina and earned his Bachelors of Science in Business at the Argentine Catholic University. From there, he spent most of his career in the spirits and wine business with stints at Allied Domecq and Diageo before joining Brown-Forman in 2008 as a marketing director. Pour yourself a glass of your favorite bourbon and tune in for a conversation with a leader who believes in leaning in on the significant history of a brand.

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Did you know the consumer research industry has a whopping $75 billion in revenue in the US alone? Then, why in the world do we have such trouble discovering insights that can change or reframe how someone feels about a brand or a company? On this week's episode, Jim will shine some light on this massive opportunity!

Jim's guests on The CMO Podcast are Gunny Scarfo and Lindsey Wehking of Nonfiction Research, a six-year-old company with this purpose: to create uncensored, emotional research studies that usher the hidden thoughts and feelings of everyday people into the rooms where decisions get made, so that organizations can better serve everyday people.

Gunny and Lindsey are upstarts in the tradition-rich research industry. Gunny is the co-founder of Nonfiction, with a career that spans several roles in the agency world, including stints at Accenture Interactive and Vice Media; Lindsey spent almost five years at the PR firm FleishmanHillard before her move to Nonfiction. In their conversation, Jim explores their learnings on why research must change, and how this can help marketing leaders better serve their customers.

Reports mentioned in the episode are available here: https://www.nonfiction.co/reports

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This week, Jim provides a different kind of episode of The CMO Podcast, featuring two executives from different companies who work together in a client partnership relationship. 

Jim's first guest is Clayton Ruebensaal, the SVP and Chief Creative Officer of Comcast, the $122 billion by revenue media, entertainment and technology company. Comcast’s portfolio includes the NBCUniversal brands, Universal Studios, Xfinity, and the Sky brands. 

Also joining Clayton and Jim is Sam Hornsby, the founder and CEO of TRIPTK, a seven-year-old global strategy firm that helps clients to be more purpose-driven, customer-centric and culturally magnetic. Clients include Comcast, Netflix, Samsung, Marriott, and many others. 

Tune in for a broad conversation, from the dynamics in partnerships that create meaningful work, to one of the biggest events that showcases outstanding brand-building partnerships: the Summer Olympics.

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The guest today on The CMO Podcast is Eshan Ponnadurai, the Vice President of Consumer Marketing at META, the 1.2 trillion dollar company by market cap, with a brand portfolio that includes Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, Threads, and Messenger.

Eshan is a man of many interests, with a voracious curiosity. He was born in Sri Lanka, and moved to Australia when he was four years old. He now lives in New York City with his wife and two boys. Eshan began his professional career at Procter & Gamble Asia, and then began a series of assignments with blue-chip tech companies like YouTube, Google, AirBnB, Uber, and WhatsApp, before taking on a broader role as Vice President of Consumer Marketing for META.

Eshan once believed that advertising and marketing were the same thing...until he joined P&G and got shocked. Tune in for a conversation with a marketer who has looked to be accountable in every role he's led.

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Links mentioned in the episode...

Follow Eshan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eshan-p-a459ba1/

Boxes Let's Unlock Cities | Uber: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNyq2_92H0Y

Google Search: Reunion: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHGDN9-oFJE

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