The CMO Podcast

Jim's guest this week on The CMO Podcast is Elizabeth Rutledge, the Chief Marketing Officer of American Express. Elizabeth is a unique CMO–she has been at AmEx for her entire career of 35 years, and she has been CMO for seven of those years. AmEx’s stock was about $4 when Elizabeth joined, and it is about $300 currently. More trivia–American Express was founded in 1850–one of the oldest brands in the world.  

Elizabeth graduated from Princeton, and earned her MBA from the Stern school at NYU. Recorded in person at the Deloitte Apartment at the Cannes Festival of Creativity, join the two for Jim's conversation with the CMO of a 175-year-old brand that is certainly not behaving that way.

---

This week's episode is brought to you by Deloitte and StrawberryFrog.

Learn more: https://strawberryfrog.com/jim

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

We had a whirlwind five days in Cannes last week, bringing you our first of many live, in-person episodes recorded as part of the Cannes Lions Festival. And to kick it off, Jim is diving into a topic that was a part of many conversations in the south of France…the Creator Economy. Creators and the space they’ve forged have become one of most transformative forces in marketing. It’s reshaping how brands connect with people, how content is made and consumed, and how influence is earned. 

Joining Jim are three guests who know this world very well: 

• Brandon B, Creator and Founder of StudioB
• Kim Larson, the Global Head of YouTube Creators
• Kenny Gold, the Managing Director, Head of Social, Content and Influencer for Deloitte Digital

We’re going to talk strategy, authenticity, audience building, and where this entire ecosystem is headed. With a little advice sprinkled in! So, tune in as we come to you live from the Deloitte Apartment at Cannes Lions!

---

This week's episode is brought to you by Deloitte.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

You have probably noticed we are getting more provocative with our episodes and their titles. A few weeks ago we released an episode titled “Is Brand Purpose Dead.” Well this week’s episode takes it up a notch: “The Day the Universe Changed: How the last five years have changed us as humans and consumers.”  

Jim's guests are Mike Moynihan, the SVP of Brand, Marketing, Insights and Partnerships at the Lego Group, and George Carey, the founder and CEO of Human-ology, a research company that tracks shifts in values and emotions that shape human attitudes and behaviors.mTheir clients include Google, Nike, McDonalds, and of course Lego. Mike has been at Lego for an amazing 30 years, and George founded his company about 15 years ago.  

George will share how the human inside the consumer has fundamentally changed over the past five years, beginning with the pandemic and then intensifying with the 2024 US elections. And Mike from Lego will talk to how this has changed how they think about their brand, and the initiatives that emanated from that.

---

Learn about the Human-Ology study here: https://tinyurl.com/3thz8knj

---

This week's episode is brought to you by Deloitte and StrawberryFrog.

Learn more: https://strawberryfrog.com/jim

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week Jim's guest on The CMO Podcast is Carrie Palin, the SVP and Chief Marketing Officer of Cisco, the $55 billion by revenue tech leader, whose purpose is to leverage technology, people, and broader networks to solve society’s greatest challenges. Cisco is on quite a roll–its stock is up about 40% in the last year.  

Carrie never took a marketing class in school, and never even imagined she would be a top tech B2B marketer, let alone the CMO of one of the world’s great companies. But serendipity happened, and Carrie said yes to IBM coming out of TCU, and began a tech marketing career that took her to Dell, Box, Splunk, and now Cisco. Carrie has had a remarkable run in her four years as Cisco’s CMO, which we will talk about.

Tune in for a conversation with a CMO, who believes some things in life are simply non-negotiable.

---

This week's episode is brought to you by Deloitte and StrawberryFrog.

Learn more: https://strawberryfrog.com/jim

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

It’s officially summertime here in the U.S., and Jim welcomes a guest whose company truly embodies the spirit of the season. Kelley Puckett is the Chief Marketing Officer of goodr, a high-growth sunglasses brand founded nine years ago in Southern California.

Like many great startups, goodr began by identifying a problem and solving it. The founders—runners themselves—noticed that running sunglasses were expensive and overly engineered. So they created fun, stylish, and functional sunglasses specifically for runners, all priced at just $25. Today, goodr offers sunglasses for a wide range of sports and outdoor activities.

Kelley seems tailor-made for goodr. A UCLA graduate, she went on to work at both Sony Pictures and Paramount Pictures. She’s also a runner—though not just any runner. Kelley is an ultramarathoner who has completed the Badwater 135, often called the toughest ultramarathon in the world.

Tune in to this episode to hear from a CMO who brings unmatched energy to her brand and community!

---

This week's episode is brought to you by Deloitte and StrawberryFrog.

Learn more: https://strawberryfrog.com/jim

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week Jim welcomes Rah Mahtani, the Head of Commercial Strategy US for Alibaba.com, the Chinese multinational technology company founded in 1999 by Jack Ma and 18 colleagues. Alibaba Group operates as a holding company for a wide array of businesses, including online retail, wholesale through Alibaba.com, logistics (Cainiao), cloud computing (Alibaba Cloud), and financial services (Ant Group). Alibaba.com is the world’s largest B2B (business-to-business) platform.

Rah has been at Alibaba for about 2.5 years, and was promoted to head of commercial strategy about two months ago. Before Alibaba, Rah had a career deeply grounded in social media and digital communications, with time at Volvo, Jack in the Box, and BMW’s Mini brand. A graduate of Syracuse University, where he studied Industrial Design, Rah is a self-described lover of dogs, kids and candy.  Tune in for a conversation with a marketer in the middle of the changing global trade landscape!

---

This week's episode is brought to you by

Deloitte and StrawberryFrog.

Learn more: https://strawberryfrog.com/jim

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Do you think brand purpose is a tired idea that never truly had relevance in the world of branding and business? Or do you believe that having a brand purpose—and activating it in everything you do—is the most effective way to run a successful company?

On this show, we've heard compelling arguments on both sides of the debate. So today, we're bringing together four thought leaders to discuss and explore one big question: Is brand purpose dead, or more alive than ever?

Jim is joined by:

• Kory Marchisotto, Chief Marketing Officer of e.l.f. Beauty and President of Keys Soulcare. Kory previously held roles at LVMH, Puig, and Shiseido before joining e.l.f. in 2019.
• Mark Ritson, former marketing professor, Marketing Week columnist, creator of the Mini MBA in Marketing, and advisor to a range of global brands.
• Lisa Materazzo, Global Chief Marketing Officer at Ford Motor Company since 2023, following a 20-year marketing career at Toyota.
• Sara Carter, Global Planning Partner at adam&eveDDB and co-author (with Les Binet) of How Not to Plan: 66 Ways to Screw It Up.

Let us know where you stand in the Purpose debate—right here or on social media!

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

We’re on the verge of summer, so you’re probably dreaming of that ice-cold beer—whether at the beach, the ballpark, or on your back porch. This week, Jim welcomes Sofia Colucci to the podcast. She’s the Chief Marketing Officer for North America at Molson Coors, the fourth-largest brewer in the world, with about $12 billion in revenue.

Molson Coors traces its roots back to 1786, when John Molson founded Canada’s oldest brewery on the banks of the St. Lawrence River in Montreal. Today, the company’s portfolio includes Molson, of course, along with the Miller and Coors families of brands, and a wide range of other beverages, including Peroni, Madri, Pilsner Urquell, ZOA Energy, and Arnold Palmer Spiked.

Sofia has been with Molson Coors for eight years and has served as CMO for about two and a half years. Prior to that, she spent six years at Maple Leaf Foods in Canada—where she met her husband—and nearly eight years at PepsiCo, working in both Canada and the U.S.

Tune in for a conversation with a CMO who brings serious muscle to her marketing strategy!

---

This week's episode is brought to you by

Deloitte and StrawberryFrog.

Learn more: https://strawberryfrog.com/jim

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week's episode is something a little different. Jim returns to the beautiful Miraval Berkshires — a place known for reflection, intention, and growth. And that spirit is exactly what this conversation is all about: Jim's own Reflections on the Journey to Chief Marketing Officer.

We each have our own journey, but today, Jim will take you through his — including an internal viral campaign within P&G that ultimately led to him being offered the role. Then, he walks us through my version of the CMO To-Do List: ten key characteristics to help you ascend the ladder. So whether you're aspiring to the CMO seat, just starting your marketing journey, or simply curious about how leaders grow — this one’s for you. Let’s jump in!

Head over to our LinkedIn to complete your own Marketer’s Self-Evaluation.

---

This week's episode is brought to you by

Deloitte and StrawberryFrog.

Learn more: https://strawberryfrog.com/jim

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.