The CMO Whisperer

My guest this week is Oksana Sobol. Oksana leads the insights function at The Clorox Company, where she's implementing an agile, fast, and consumer centric insights model. Her global career spans everything from brand marketing and market research in her native Ukraine, and then the Czech Republic. She's worked for big companies like Nielsen, Kraft Foods, Unilever, J&J, and Mondelez.

Links

• Oksana's LinkedIn
• Steve's LinkedIn

Back in 2011, Jim Leschinsky, while working at Google, coined a phrase; Zero Moment of Truth. He would later write the book, Winning the Zero Moment of Truth. It was then and is still today a seminal book in the world of marketing. Jim's gone on to become an Associate Professor of Marketing at Northwestern University.

My guest today is Pio Schunker. Pio has been on both sides of the aisle; from the brand side, including stops at Coca Cola and Samsung, where he held senior marketing management roles, to the agency side, including stops on Ogilvy and Mather and Loewen and Partners, where he worked on accounts like American Express and Mercedes Benz. Most recently, Pio just launched his own agency called The Actionists, whose mission is to make marketing more actionable.

Links

• Pio's LinkedIn
• Steve's LinkedIn

My guest today is Bart Sichel. Most recently, Bart was the CMO of Bed, Bath and Beyond. Before that, he was at Burlington stores and he was also a partner at McKinsey where he was a leader in their marketing practice. He has an unbelievable amount of experience in the world of marketing, especially in retail. We kicked off the conversation on the topic that is the elephant in every marketer's room, AI, and what it means in the world of retail.

We had a really, really fascinating conversation about that and a whole host of other topics, including the fact that Bart sits on the board of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. And it is a highly personal story.

Links

• Bart's LinkedIn
• Steve's LinkedIn

My guest today is Terry Kawaja, the founder and CEO of Luma Partners, a strategic advisory firm that's right at the intersection of media, marketing and technology. Terry has been called the Jon Stewart of investment bankers, and with very good reason. He's overseen over $300 billion worth of transactions. He's also known at least by me as the Weird Al Yankovic of investment bankers. Find out why in my unbelievable, entertaining, energizing conversation with Terry.

Links

• I'm Still Branding parody video
• Terry's LinkedIn
• Steve's LinkedIn

Alma Derricks has over 25 years of experience building inventive new ventures at established media, entertainment, tech, hospitality, CPG. You name it, she's done it, at brands like Verizon, Sirius XM, Amazon, Southwest Airlines. She's also held senior management positions at HBO, Paramount, and Cirque du Soleil. She's currently a senior client partner at Korn Ferry.

Links

• Alma's LinkedIn
• Steve's LinkedIn

My guest today is Jeanniey Walden. Jeanniey is the senior vice president and CMO of Rite Aid and Thrifty Ice Cream. Her decades of experience span Fortune 500 companies and startups across a whole host of industries, including retail, health and wellness, consulting, ad agencies, fintech. Everything. If that weren't enough, she's also the host of her own network TV show called Liftoff.

My guest today is David Edelman. David's the former CMO of Aetna, and he's currently a senior lecturer in marketing at Harvard Business School. I've known David well over 10 years and we had an absolutely fascinating conversation focussing initially on AI and and the customer experience.

One of David's recent HBR articles was "Customer Experience in the Age of AI" which are two topics that are very near and dear, at least they should be, for every marketer of the world. I hope you enjoy my conversation.

Links

• David's LinkedIn
• Steve's LinkedIn

My guest today is Evan Greene. Evan's the former CMO of the Recording Academy, which you probably know better as the Grammy Awards. Evan and I've known each other well over 10 years, and we had a truly fascinating conversation. We talked about everything from making the complex look simple to what initially drew him to the world of marketing in the first place, and if he was ever starstruck during his time at the Grammy awards. Just wait until you hear who sat right next to him at a rehearsal.

Links

• Evan's LinkedIn
• Steve's LinkedIn

My guest today is Doug Zarkin, former CMO of Pearl Vision. Doug's won Effie Awards and Cleo Awards and countless other awards that I can't even think of. I've known Doug for well over 10 years, and he is absolutely one of the brightest minds in all of marketing that I've ever met. Our conversation ranges from his thoughts on why emotions are so important when it comes to advertising, to what he deemed his most successful failure, to what it was like to be an Avon lady. I am beyond honored, beyond humbled to a call him my friend, and to have him a guest on my show.

Links

• Doug's LinkedIn
• Steve's LinkedIn