Doug Zarkin is the VP and Chief Marketing Officer at Pearle Vision, the $600 million global optical franchise. In 1961, Dr. Stanley Pearle opened his first store in Savannah, Georgia, and in 2004, Luxottica (the giant Italian eye-care conglomerate) acquired Pearle Vision.

Doug has been the CMO of Pearle Vision for 10 years – about three times the average tenure of a CMO. He has returned Pearle Vision to Stanley Pearle’s original brand inspiration, thereby inspiring his organization and accelerating the brand’s growth.

Doug is a seasoned marketer. He began his career in the advertising industry, working at Lintas, Saatchi, and Grey Advertising, before moving to the client side. He has worked at Avon, Victoria Secret’s PINK, Warnaco (famous for the Calvin Klein brand), and the Kellwood Company.

In this episode, Doug talks to Jim about the most challenging brand he has worked on and what he learned from that experience. Plus, he explains the importance of staying close to the consumer and why you need to think small to win big.

Check out the first edition of The CMO Podcast Magazine.In it, host Jim Stengel talks to marketers and executives about how to become an inclusive leader and the ways they're promoting DE&I (Diversity, Equity & Inclusion).This includes discussions about initiatives they're implementing in their company, how they're succeeding, and why DE&I is vital to their bottom line.

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