When we spoke to Jessica Cobarras, CMO of Asana, her passion for people really came through. In this podcast episode, we talk about how centring people at the heart of what she does has allowed Jessica to create an environment where teams can do their best work, grow their careers, and feel connected to the mission they're building together.Thanks Weglot for sponsoring this episode. This is the event Joe mentioned: https://www.youtube.com/live/XUs5WFZBL5YKey takeaways from the episodeReframe AI from tools to outcomes.Jessica emphasises that AI transformation should not start with adopting more platforms or features. Instead, marketing leaders should begin with the outcomes they want to improve (impact, effectiveness, customer value) and then use existing tools and capabilities more intelligently to get there. Human barriers matter more than technical ones.A recurring theme is that change around AI is often slowed by very human challenges—imposter syndrome, fear of getting it wrong, and uncertainty about how roles might evolve. Addressing these emotional and psychological barriers is critical to successful adoption. Soft skills are becoming a core marketing capability.Jessica highlights communication, empathy, and the ability to navigate ambiguity as essential skills for marketers today—especially in fast-changing environments driven by AI and automation. Psychological safety enables innovation.Leaders need to actively create an environment where teams feel safe to experiment, ask questions, and make mistakes. This safety helps marketers remain curious and creative rather than becoming defensive during periods of rapid change. AI adoption should be cross-functional and collaborative.The conversation stresses the importance of strong alignment between marketing, sales, and technology teams. AI initiatives work best when they are built together rather than owned by a single function in isolation. The real opportunity is role evolution, not replacement.Jessica shares how AI can augment marketers’ work and reshape responsibilities, allowing teams to focus more on strategic thinking and higher-value contributions instead of routine or manual tasks.

Brand is one of the hardest things for marketers to justify, especially when budgets are tight, pressure is high, and leadership wants results now.

Today, we’re joined by Matt Herbert, Co-Founder of Tracksuit, to talk about how marketers can make more confident cases for brand and use measurement to build trust, not just dashboards.

This is a grounded, mentorship-led conversation about

what “brand” really means inside a business

how brand and performance work together rather than against each other

choosing brand metrics leadership actually understands

using data as career currency, not just reporting

staying confident when measurement reveals uncomfortable truths

If you’ve ever struggled to get buy-in for long-term work, felt nervous about what measurement might uncover, or wanted to be taken more seriously in strategic conversations, this episode is for you.

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Huge thanks to our sponsor, Weglot! Weglot makes website translation feel human, helping brands grow into new markets without losing their tone of voice.

This week we're excited to share access to Weglot’s Next Market Live replay, packed with real stories and practical insights on expanding into Spain.

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CHAPTERS

0:00 Intro

4:31 The skill marketers need now

6:03 Existing vs future demand

8:22 Mentors, growth, and good advice

11:45 The mistake marketers make early

14:13 What brand tracking really solves

16:56 Why brand is everyone’s job

18:21 The brand metrics that matter

22:14 Making the case for brand under pressure

25:00 Balancing short-term and long-term

29:28 Using insight as career currency

32:02 How fast brand actually moves

37:25 How to start even with limited budget

43:20 Building trust with brand data

47:03 One thing to do tomorrow

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GUEST

Matt Herbert, Co-Founder and CCO at Tracksuit

https://www.linkedin.com/in/herbertmattj

https://www.gotracksuit.com/uk

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STAY IN THE LOOP

This podcast is brought to you by The Marketing Meetup.

Get thoughtful marketing ideas, upcoming episodes, and community conversations in your inbox.

https://themarketingmeetup.com/newsletter

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WHAT SHOULD WE COVER NEXT?

We shape Your CMO Mentor around the questions marketers are actually asking.

If there’s a challenge you’d love us to tackle, let us know. We’re listening.

Many marketers are told they have to choose: brand or demand.More leads now, or long-term impact later.In this episode of Your CMO Mentor from The Marketing Meetup, Jessica Shapiro (CMO at LiveRamp, former marketing leader at Starbucks and SAP) explains why that framing is broken and what actually works instead.We get into how brand and demand feed each other, not fight for budget. Jessica shares real examples from global brands, honest lessons from leadership, and clear advice for marketers trying to get buy-in from CEOs and CFOs who want results now.You’ll hear: • Why brand and demand are a symbiotic system, not competing channels • What’s different (and what isn’t) between B2B and B2C brand building • How Starbucks used brand experience to unlock real demand growth • How to make the case for brand when leadership only asks for leads • What strong marketing teams do differently to align brand, demand, and salesThis episode is for marketers at any level who want to do thoughtful work, build credibility, and stop feeling like they’re fighting the same internal battle every quarter.Timestamps00:00 – Why brand and demand aren’t opposites06:38 – The skill every marketer should build early07:31 – Why storytelling separates good marketers from great ones10:02 – The truth about mentors12:13 – Career advice from Microsoft16:13 – Why failure matters more than early wins18:53 – Brand vs demand26:40 – How to get CEOs and CFOs on board29:17 – Starbucks brand experience → demand growth32:29 – How to structure teams35:02 – How to fuel everyday collaboration36:29 – Budgets & 60/40 rule41:13 – “My CEO only wants leads”: how to navigate that conversation43:59 – One thing every marketer should practice more👉 Follow us for thoughtful marketing conversations @themarketingmeetupSubscribe to borrow the brain of one of marketing's brightest brains every week!

Creators aren’t a channel to buy.

They’re people to partner with.In this episode of Your CMO Mentor, we’re joined by Brit Starr, CMO at CreatorIQ, to break down what marketers need to understand about the creator economy and how to build creator programs that drive brand love + measurable business outcomes at the same time.

We talk about:

• Why follower count is “out” (and what matters more)

• How to pick creators using brand suitability + content performance

• Why creator retention is the biggest lever for sustained growth • How to report creator impact to leadership (from share of voice to revenue)

• Where AI helps and which “messy human bits” you should never automate

If you’re trying to balance CFO pressure with long-term brand building, this one’s for you.

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About the series - Your CMO Mentor

To help you level up, we get marketing’s brightest brains to open up! In this new series, we bring you honest, practical marketing mentorship from the people running the world’s biggest brands.

From Meta to LinkedIn, Adobe to Formula E, these leaders share insights, tactics, and real answers to your marketing challenges.

This podcast is designed for marketers at any level who want to grow, with real-world takeaways, not war stories.

Whether you’re solo in your role, scaling a team, or navigating your first CMO gig we’ve got your back.

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Thanks to our sponsor: Weglot: website translation that helps you keep tone of voice consistent across languages.

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00:00 Intro

04:26 Q1: If you started marketing today, what skills first?

05:37 Q2: What trait do you admire in marketers?

08:02 Q3: Dream mentor / biggest lesson

11:12 Q4: Advice to younger self

13:49 Creators as people, not channels

16:33 Stop treating creators like a media buy

21:15 Measuring creator work + reporting 24:49 Trust signals + why follower count is “out”

27:39 Top factors for choosing creators

30:23 AI + safety/suitability by brand + by market

37:07 What should not be automated?

44:18 Listener scenario

How do you build a marketing strategy that your CEO and CFO can actually get behind, without turning marketing into a spreadsheet hobby?In this episode of Your CMO Mentor, we sits down with Jamie Jamie Domenici, CMO of Klaviyo, to unpack how she uses data to set clear goals, run smarter experiments, and make big strategic calls (even when the “safe” data path says otherwise).You’ll hear Jamie’s practical framework for strategy vs tactics, how she thinks about always-on momentum vs big launch moments, and the leadership rhythms she uses to keep a fast-moving team aligned.What you’ll learn:- Where to start if you’re early in your marketing career- Why strategy should make your CFO happy - How to avoid doing “too many things” with not enough impact- What to do when your gut disagrees with the data- How to build a culture where experiments don’t feel like career risk00:00 Data → action plan06:33 Skills to build first07:15 Traits of a top marketer10:42 Dream mentor + lesson14:21 Advice to younger self15:51 Urgency vs long game18:58 Strategy vs tactics23:54 Where to start strategy26:46 Where strategy goes wrong28:54 Always-on vs big launches32:56 What data matters37:35 Gut vs data44:13 How often to revisit strategy47:28 Keeping teams aligned50:23 Messy data scenario55:37 Culture: evidence + experiments

Short-termism. AI slop. “Can we just copy our competitors?” If you’re a senior marketer wrestling with all of that, this one’s for you.In this episode of Your CMO Mentor, Ben Moore, US MD at BeReal (ex-TikTok, Walmart, Havas), breaks down how to grow without losing your soul – or your brand.You’ll hear Ben on:- Why “the world remembers the brave, not the perfect”- How to balance performance and brand (the “lighthouse vs lightbulb” analogy)- BeReal’s anti-AI stance and what “keeping it real” looks like in practice- Knowing when to kill successful features that clash with your values- How to push back when your CEO wants to copy the competition- The one skill he’d build first if he were starting in marketing again (hint: it’s not AI prompts)If you care about connection, long-term brand building and staying human in an increasingly synthetic feed, you’ll get a lot from this conversation.

How do you shift from a product-first mindset to a genuinely people-first organisation?

In this episode of Your CMO Mentor, Deborah Honig, Chief Customer Officer at Samsung UK and Ireland, shares how the world’s biggest brands stay close to their customers, build trust and turn real human insight into better products.Deborah explains why curiosity is the most important skill in modern marketing, how to integrate customer insight into big organisations, and why community matters more than audiences.This episode is perfect for CMOs, brand leaders and marketers who want to build products customers actually care about.00:00 – Why customer insight beats product obsession00:40 – Welcome to Your CMO Mentor00:52 – Meet Deborah01:52 – What a CCO really does05:18 – The most important skill for marketers08:07 – Curiosity as a superpower09:59 – The role of mentorship13:06 – Community vs audiences17:20 – What “people-first” means at Samsung23:29 – How Samsung understands customers30:00 – Turning insight into innovation37:04 – AI, trust and customer expectations41:13 – Why communities drive long-term brand growth51:09 – Practical lessons smaller businesses can borrow56:00 – Community question: how to influence a sales-led culture1:01:34 – Final advice for marketers

AI is reshaping search faster than anyone expected, but according to Semrush CMO Andrew Warden, this isn’t the end of SEO. It’s the biggest opportunity marketers have seen since Google was founded.In this episode of Your CMO Mentor, Andrew breaks down what’s actually happening with AI search, how marketers should respond, where traditional SEO still dominates, and how to prepare your team for constant change without burning out.If you’ve been wondering whether AI will replace search, how to speak to leadership about these shifts, or how to align PR, SEO, content and brand around one visibility strategy, this is your roadmap.00:00 - Intro04:45 – What skill should you learn first?05:52 – What traits matter most in marketers?06:54 – Who would be your dream mentor?07:50 – What’s the biggest lesson a mentor taught you?13:06 – What advice do you wish you had earlier?15:33 – What does AI search actually mean?22:05 – How do you convince leadership about AI?28:04 – How do you balance LLMs with brand?33:32 – How do you break marketing silos?40:13 – How do you keep teams adaptable?45:29 – How do you align teams for AI visibility?51:19 – What’s the one action marketers should take?

Big-brand impact. Tiny marketing budget. VP of Marketing at Freeletics, Ellie Hughes, shares the story of how she turned around a flatlining fitness brand in one of the most competitive categories in tech.In this episode of Your CMO Mentor, Ellie shares honest lessons on:- Why brand repositioning is a growth lever- Spotting the signals it’s time to pivot- How to win internal buy-in from numbers-obsessed stakeholders- Using emotion and data to make marketing that actually worksShe also opens up about leadership, mentorship, and what she wishes she knew at the start of her career.00:00 – Big marketing, small budgets00:25 – Meet your CMO Mentor00:36 – Takeaways from Ellie’s episode05:04 – Must-have skills for marketers08:06 – What great marketers do differently10:27 – Dream mentor (and why)14:00 – Advice to younger self20:26 – What does your role involve?21:57 – Signs it’s time to reposition27:00 – Bringing others on the journey30:50 – Balancing data and emotion34:52 – When the data says no36:58 – Going global, staying local40:34 – Ditching the polished ad speak48:03 – Repositioning when only ROI matters

To help you level up, we get marketing’s biggest brains to open up!What’s it really like being the CMO of Meta? And what lessons can we steal for our own day-to-day?In this episode of Your CMO Mentor, we sit down with Alex Schultz, Chief Marketing Officer at Meta, for a no-nonsense deep dive into measurement, leadership, creativity, and how to actually get marketing taken seriously at the top table.Alex shares hard-earned lessons on:- The single most important thing to measure in digital marketing (and why we’re all doing it wrong)- How to win over your CFO and CEO without losing your soul - What a North Star really is and why it’s not just a KPI in disguise- Why your number two priority is probably ruining your number oneTimestamps below ↓00:00 – Intro00:36 – The challenge with goal setting1:18 – The threat to your top priority2:07 – A mindset shift in the boardroom2:34 – How Click Here changed TMM5:05 – Why incrementality matters9:51 – Proving impact with lift studies16:50 – Presenting to senior leaders23:10 – Making the case for brand30:03 – What makes a great North Star34:05 – When to change your North Star37:02 – Leading through a crisis39:52 – The pressure of being Meta’s CMO42:12 – Is AI changing everything again?48:49 – New in post: where to start?💬 Got a question or scenario for a future episode? Leave it in the comments we’d love to hear from you.👥 Special thanks to our sponsor, Censuswide, whose CMO Report you can download free here →#YourCMOMentor #TheMarketingMeetup #MarketingLeadership #CMOPodcast #DigitalMarketing #MarketingStrategy #Incrementality #MarketingMeasurement #BrandMarketing #AlexSchultz #MetaMarketing #B2BMarketing