Erika White is the Vice President of Marketing and Communications at Affirm. While she has experienced great success in her career, as a child, she was a rambunctious and highly social student who was told she was wasting her potential. However, one special teacher believed in her, challenged her, and got her to see the potential in herself. That lesson stuck with Erika as she obtained both her bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Southern California and began to build an impressive resume. Erika got her start in marketing at Hilton, where she says another person saw her potential and took a chance on her. From there, she moved on to Director of Global Corporate Relations and Corporate Marketing at Visa, then to Pandora as their Corporate Communications Director, then to Director of External Affairs at TPG, a large private equity firm, before landing at Affirm. In her role at Affirm, she oversees the core functions of building the brand, including brand and partner marketing, creative, paid activations, social media, and communications. On the show today, Alan and Erika talk about Affirm’s place in the ever-growing buy now, pay later market as a more honest, transparent, and flexible alternative to credit cards for over 17 million active consumers and over 290,000 merchants. Erika tells us about the role buy now, pay later has in the overall marketplace and where she believes the industry is headed. She also gives us an overview of how she and her team are driving growth and customer acquisition for their retail partners, what she sees as the role of marketing as a whole, and why marketers have to always be adapting, changing, and embracing fluidity. She drives this point home by identifying those as the same attributes she looks for in new hires and telling us how her team embraces those qualities to continuously find new opportunities for value creation. In this episode, you'll learn about:The key attributes that set Affirm apart and how they benefit merchantsWhat is next in the buy now, pay later category?The role of brand and cross-functional partnerships in marketingKey Highlights:[01:45] A special teacher that impacted Erika[06:35] The peak and valleys in her career path[11:30] The state of Affirm's businesses today[12:55] What is unique about Affirm?[15:45] How is this similar to and different from layaway?[17:45] What is next in the buy now/pay later category?[20:15] The value proposition for merchants [22:20] The role of marketing [24:45] How she learned smart risk-taking [27:15] The role of brand and last year's refresh[30:15] Speed, precision, and fluidity[32:25] Read more books and nurture relationships. [33:55] AI is a mandatory consideration. [37:55] A decline in the desire for 4-year degrees [41:25] The threat of lacking agilityLooking for more?Visit our website for the full show notes, links to resources mentioned in this episode, and ways to connect with the guest! Become a member today and listen ad-free, visit https://plus.acast.com/s/marketingtoday. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Elina Vilk has been the Chief Marketing Officer at Hootsuite since August 2023. She has more than two decades of experience in the industry, but her love of marketing started years before that, when she was a 12-year-old refugee immigrant who had to raise money to get to her 8th grade graduation by being the top candy salesman at her school. Elina says this taught her a lot about marketing and gave her the first insights into consumer-based selling and asking the right questions that have continuously developed throughout her career. Prior to joining Hootsuite, Elina led marketing at WooCommerce, Small Business Marketing at Meta, spent nearly a decade at PayPal/eBay, and ran consumer and digital advertising at Visa. On the show today, Alan and Elina talk about Hootsuite's new Social Media Consumer Report, key takeaways and insights markets should be thinking about in terms of making their brands more relevant and authentic, and the biggest mistakes brands make on social media. They also talk about the design thinking and human-centered marketing philosophy she utilizes to solve consumer's real pain points, what it was like to be a digital marketer and social media manager before those terms even existed, and where social media is going in the future.In this episode, you'll learn about:How human-centered design thinking helps marketers ask the right questions The purpose of the Hootsuite Social Media Consumer Report and key takeaways The future of social media and the biggest mistakes brands make onlineKey Highlights:[01:30] An entrepreneur at 12[04:15] The career path from selling candy to CMO[08:15] Things Elina learned along the way that she uses most now[10:45] How design thinking fits into marketing[13:00] The brilliance of “Got Milk”[15:15] The purpose of the Hootsuite Social Media Consumer Report[17:05] Report key takeaways [18:40] Beyonce released a country album, so Hootsuite did too.[20:20] The worst social media brand sins[22:25] What Hootsuite is doing on social [25:50] The future of social media[27:00] How the immigrant mentality shapes who she is [28:30] Advice to her younger self[30:45] Two things CMOs have to think about[31:35] Specific subcultures of community building [33:35] How business levers map to the business impactLooking for more?Visit our website for the full show notes, links to resources mentioned in this episode, and ways to connect with the guest! Become a member today and listen ad-free, visit https://plus.acast.com/s/marketingtoday. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Christine Moorman is the T. Austin Finch Senior Professor of Business Administration at the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University, where her research explores how consumers, managers, organizations, and financial markets learn about and use marketing knowledge. Christine tells us she didn't set out to become a professor, but through the encouragement of her mentors, she came to see it was the best path for her to pursue. After she received her Bachelor of Science in Marketing and Political Science from Northern Kentucky University, she immediately went on to the University of Pittsburgh, where she got her Ph.D. and MBA in Marketing.In 2008, Christine saw the need for something in her field that would provide benchmarks and elevate the voice of marketers. This led her to found The CMO Survey, which she manages to this day, which gathers and shares insights from marketing leaders to forecast market trends, measure marketing excellence, and enhance marketing's impact on organizations and society.On the show today, Alan and Christine talk about some of the key findings of the survey, including how budgets are moving, the percentage of revenue for marketing spent at different kinds of companies, and the percent of sales versus the percent of the overall budget. They also discuss the types of metrics marketers are tracking and what implications those choices have for being able to communicate the value of marketing. This leads them into a conversation about the rise of technology and martech spending, as well as some important findings around the utilization of these tools and what could be causing gaps in anticipated value. The ROI question continues as Christine outlines her findings on trends of decreased DEI spend and ways companies could address the effectiveness of important DEI efforts. In this episode, you'll learn about:Top-level trends in marketing spend and percentage of revenue allocated What metrics best communicate marketing value? Why DEI investments are decreasing and how we can increase the efficiency of spend Key Highlights:[02:24] Becoming a “cracker-jack” event ticket salesperson[05:45] Why Christine became a professor [06:50] Why start the CMO Survey?[07:35] Where is the budget going? Top-level trends around spending[10:35] Marketers ability to communicate value [15:45] Martech challenges and how they're impacting marketing efforts [19:20] Experiences with failed CRM implementations [22:20] Why has DEI spending dropped?[28:30] Trends Alan has seen through these interviews[30:30] An experience of her past that defines who she is today: mentorship [34:10] Advice to her younger self: worry less and believe more.[34:40] Learning how to ask better questions and interrogate theories [38:30] Trends to watch: marketing for a better world and a base of disciplinary training [40:50] A big opportunity: cross-industry idea sharingLooking for more?Visit our website for the full show notes, links to resources mentioned in this episode, and ways to connect with the guest! Become a member today and listen ad-free, visit https://plus.acast.com/s/marketingtoday. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Liz Carter has been in marketing for over 20 years and has been a CMO for the past four years. First at ServiceMax and now at Reputation. Liz grew up in a small town in North Carolina, where her family runs a hosiery manufacturing company. Eager to venture out, she moved to Atlanta, where she began doing gig work to pay the bills. Eventually, in 2001, she began doing event marketing for Internet Security Systems, where she began to learn the ins and outs of the software business. From there, she escaped the South to California for a job with SuccessFactors, where she realized there was a real career path for her in the software industry.On the show today, Alan and Liz talk about her life as a kid growing up in North Carolina, her path to becoming CMO at Reputation, and how the CMO role is evolving. We also discuss why it's important for marketing to harness reputation data through a couple real-world examples and how understanding that data can drive M&A decisions as well as product and service changes. Reputation helps their customers understand their reputation, manage it, get insights from that information, and take action that provides trust and transparency back to the consumers, which will help them understand what to expect. Liz tells us that as more reputation data becomes available online, consumers are buying primarily based on reviews, star ratings, and what they see on their social feeds. In this episode, you'll learn about:What are consumers trying to understand with online reputation data? How have CRMs changed marketing and the CMO role?How can marketing teams harness reputation data?Key Highlights:[01:40] How Liz got into software[04:05] From ISS to Reputation[07:00] What does Reputation do, and who do they serve?[08:30] The Wide World of Reputation data[10:10] The evolution of the CMO role[16:15] How can marketing teams harness reputation data?[22:25] The future of reputation data[26:30] Noteworthy experiences from her past[28:00] Advice to her younger self [28:30] Something Liz is trying to learn more about [31:30] Trends and subcultures to watch [33:05] The largest opportunities and threats facing marketers todayLooking for more?Visit our website for the full show notes, links to resources mentioned in this episode, and ways to connect with the guest! Become a member today and listen ad-free, visit https://plus.acast.com/s/marketingtoday. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mark Miller is a Wall Street Journal and international best-selling author with over one million books in print in more than twenty-five languages. He is a storyteller, photographer, lifelong learner, and the embodiment of a servant leader. For almost 45 years, he was the Vice President of High-Performance Leadership at Chick-fil-A, and today, Mark serves as the Co-Founder of Lead Every Day, an extension of his life-inspired mission to encourage and equip leaders with the tools they need to be successful. On the show today, Alan and Mark talk about his path to becoming a leadership expert, which he describes as less of a ladder and more of a rock wall. Since the start of his career, Mark has prioritized serving others and adding value. His willingness to do anything to those ends carved his path from the Chick-fil-A warehouse to the Vice President's seat and drives his work today in leadership development. We also talked about his new book, Uncommon Greatness: Five Fundamentals to Transform Your Leadership, the number one challenge facing leaders globally, why greatness should not be our goal as leaders, how leaders build followership, and much more!“The trying transforms us, not the destination.”In this episode, you'll learn about:The “quicksand” issues all professionals are facing How to develop a following as a leaderNavigating the difficulty of leading through the WFH and hybrid setup Key Highlights:[01:45] Storytelling through photography [03:20] Serving and adding value[08:25] How Mark became a leadership expert [10:18] The value of having a teachable point of view[11:50] Why this book? Why now?[13:40] CMO leadership stats[15:00] How is this book different?[16:40] The number one problem leaders are facing[19:05] “Greatness is not the goal.”[22:10] How to build followership[26:20] Reinvent continuously [29:05] The impact of the return to office and hybrid work on leadership[32:30] The power of lifelong learning [36:10] Advice to his younger self [37:55] The way we learn is changing. [39:55] Loneliness is trending. [41:30] Beware of marketing quicksand.[43:00] Free assessmentLooking for more?Visit our website for the full show notes, links to resources mentioned in this episode, and ways to connect with the guest! Become a member today and listen ad-free, visit https://plus.acast.com/s/marketingtoday. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jeremy King is an ocean creature enthusiast as well as the founder and CEO of Attest, a highly successful consumer research SaaS company. Jeremy started his career as a scientist, focusing on genetics, ecology, and animal behavior. He worked for McKinsey & Company for nine years and holds an MBA from Harvard Business School. Attest has headquarters in New York and London, but they serve customers across the world and currently run research in 59 countries. Some of their customers include Unilever, Santander, Walgreens/Boots, Bloomberg, and Trustpilot. To date, Attest has raised close to $75 million in funding, with backing from global venture capital firms NEA and Schroeder’s. On the show today, Alan and Jeremy talk about the mimic octopus, zero-party data, and what he sees as the biggest threat facing marketers today. Up until recently, third-party cookies have been used to make digital advertising and tracking individuals online extremely easy. However, third-party cookies are going away, consumers are more conscientious about being tracked, and people are more open to paying for ad-free experiences. As the power to track is disappearing, marketers need to use new and old-school methods to adapt. In this new landscape, if marketers want the data, they have to give something for it. Jeremey outlines some of the findings from Attests recent zero-party data report to help us understand these new consumer behaviors and what consumers want in return for their data. He also talks about shifts in consumer expectations regarding how data will be treated, shifting cookie-blocking behavior, and who he expects will win and lose as we transition away from third-party data. “Inform every intuition to dissolve any doubt.” In this episode, you'll learn about:How is consumer behavior changing around cookie tracking?How do marketers need to adjust in a world with no third-party data?What do consumers want in exchange for their data?Key Highlights:[02:15] Do not be fooled by the thaumoctopus mimicus.[05:25] What is Attest up to today?[08:25] Zero-party data research [10:00] Third-party cookies are dying. Now what?[12:15] Americans' relationship with their data is changing. [14:25] More people are habitually opting out of cookies and mailing lists. [18:20] If we can't collect data, how can we place advertising?[20:45] Third-party data is done. So what should marketers do?[23:30] What do consumers want in exchange for their data?[26:20] Gordon Ramsay Data Nightmares[28:20] Winners and losers in the zero-party data future [31:40] What impact has entrepreneurship had on Jeremy?[35:55] Trends in venture investment [40:05] The biggest threat facing marketers todayLooking for more?Visit our website for the full show notes, links to resources mentioned in this episode, and ways to connect with the guest! Become a member today and listen ad-free, visit https://plus.acast.com/s/marketingtoday. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Spencer Burke is a girl dad to two young daughters, an experience that has helped him hone the patience and listening skills he needs as the senior vice president of growth at Braze. Spencer got his master's degree in information systems from the London School of Economics and started his career at PwC as a management consultant before joining Braze in 2011. Back then, it was still a small company in the early days of the mobile ecosystem. Over the past 12 and a half years, Spencer has held many different roles across the company, and today he is leading their data team in consulting with customers and managing their go-to-market strategy.Braze is a customer engagement platform that helps its clients communicate with customers through push notifications, email, SMS, WhatsApp, and more, as well as in product messaging channels like surveys. Braze powers cross-channel marketing for the world's largest enterprise and digital-first brands in 40 countries across six continents. They are at the center of all cross-channel orchestration for companies like Bombas, Wendys, Nestle, and Papa John's, helping them with cutting-edge marketing strategies and empowering them to use technology to harness their creativity. On the show today, Alan and Spencer talk about customer engagement and experience best practices and common pitfalls by highlighting some of the recent findings from their 2024 global customer engagement review. Spencer also gives us some actionable items that marketers can be doing right now as many of us are reentering the workplace after the pandemic, and he outlines how brands should think about moving into new channels like messaging apps or push notifications. Of course, we also talk about how marketers are using AI technology based on survey results and how to experiment with the technology effectively and efficiently.In this episode, you'll learn about:Key takeaways from Braze's 2024 Customer Engagement Report Common challenges marketers face in achieving great customer experience and action items all marketers should implement to overcome themHow Braze is helping brands optimize their channel mixHow to best experiment with AI Key Highlights:[01:50] Learning patience and listening skills as a #GirlDad [05:05] Spencer's path to Braze and his current role[06:50] What Braze does and who they serve [07:45] Common challenges in achieving great customer experience [10:20] Key takeaways from their 2024 Customer Engagement Report [12:30] What do marketers need to focus on? [16:00] How to get started on returning to the basics [17:30] How Braze is helping brands optimize their channel mix[19:30] A case study with WhatsApp [21:30] How to be effective AND save money [23:50] How are the 99% experiment with AI[27:15] How the debate team shaped his life[29:50] Advice to his younger self [31:05] What is Spencer trying to learn more about [33:10] Trends to take notice of [36:20] Let’s get better at storytellingLooking for more?Visit our website for the full show notes, links to resources mentioned in this episode, and ways to connect with the guest! Become a member today and listen ad-free, visit https://plus.acast.com/s/marketingtoday. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mauro Porcini is a widely known design thought leader, author, and first-ever Chief Design Officer at PepsiCo. He is also a presenter and judge on the TV shows New York by Design and America by Design on CBS and Amazon Prime Video. Mauro is from Italy, where he studied design in Milan and did his thesis on wearable technology with Philips Design. After opening and closing an agency with music artist Claudio Cecchetto, he spent 10 years at 3M, then was hired at PepsiCo as Chief Design Officer in 2012 to help them gain a competitive edge over their main competitors at Coke. In this role, he is infusing design thinking into PepsiCo’s culture and is leading a new approach to innovation by design that impacts the company’s product platforms and brands, which include Pepsi, Lay’s, Mountain Dew, Gatorade, Sodastream, Doritos, and many other brands. He leads teams based in cities all over the world, including but not limited to New York City, Dallas, Los Angeles, Miami, London, Moscow, New Delhi, Shanghai, Mexico City, and Cape Town. On the show today, Alan and Mauro talk about what it means to be a Chief Design Officer and how the role came about at PepsiCo. They also talk about the scope of design in an organization like Pepsico today, how design manifests in the work they do, and some examples of the type of work he is doing. Mauro tells us design is not about working with an outside agency; it is about the culture around everything in your company, from finance to branding to shipping and everything in between. PepsiCo realized they needed an outsider who could design their culture and found the perfect candidate in Mauro, who brought the five phases of design culture to their organization. In this episode, you'll learn about:What advice from Steve Jobs inspired PepsiCo to create the Chief Design Officer role? The five phases of redesigning culture What has changed over the past 15 years that is completely changing the business world? Three recent design examples to highlight three business goalsKey Highlights:[02:20] Shoes as a source of love and pain (and business)[05:50] How Mauro learned about innovation and timing[10:45] Why PepsiCo created the Chief Design Officer position [24:24] Being understanding but still calling out bad behavior [25:30] How does design manifest at PepsiCo?[33:15] Innovation is not just about a great idea; it's about being able to take it to market. [36:10] 3 recent design examples to highlight 3 business goals [41:30] Pushing businesses forward through design rather than innovation [44:00] There are two different types of projects. [46:20] Divorce, depression, and the importance of a community that cares[51:20] The barriers to entry are changing, and we need to change with them.Looking for more?Visit our website for the full show notes, links to resources mentioned in this episode, and ways to connect with the guest! Become a member today and listen ad-free, visit https://plus.acast.com/s/marketingtoday. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On the show today, Alan and Michelle talk about her career journey, the ETS rebrand, the uniqueness of her current role, and why more organizations should be thinking of a similar structure at the leadership level. ETS's focus on people and mission of driving human progress forward is what drew Michelle to the company. As Chief Marketing and Innovation Officer, she is responsible for internal and external communications, customer insights and analytics, branding and marketing, e-commerce, philanthropic impact, global demand generation, and product innovation and development. Michelle Froah is currently the Chief Marketing and Innovation Officer at ETS, but when she was younger, she had aspirations to become an astronaut. While that dream never came to fruition, it did lead her to study mechanical engineering, which unexpectedly shaped her into the perfect person for the complex role she has now. Michelle started her career at Procter & Gamble, where she learned problem-solving under pressure and the value of a well-managed team. She then moved to Singapore and became the Asia Pacific Regional CMO for Kimberly Clark, where she developed a global perspective and understanding of local execution. She then founded Brandable before moving on to Samsung and serving as SVP of Global Brand and Marketing at MetLife before joining ETS in 2023, where she is focusing on transforming it into an organization that empowers human progress. As ETS enters a new category of future readiness, the CMO role itself is changing as well. While it is still about marketing, it is also about sorting through insights, perspectives, and growth strategies to apply them most effectively, which is where the innovation title comes in. Michelle's combination role allows her to work with all of their partners to serve customers in new ways and communicate that ETS is delivering real-time insights and solutions to help people enhance their skills. Michelle wraps up by talking about how her time as an engineer unexpectedly shaped her as a leader, team member, and well-rounded marketer, how shared goals empower marketers to tackle increased complexity and help the consumer win, how data can improve personalization, and the ways consumers benefit by melding marketing and innovation leadership roles.In this episode, you'll learn about:How being trained as an engineer made Michelle a more well-rounded marketerWhy ETS decided to rebrand and how they are launching it How ETS has been using AI for 20+ years and how they are evolving with the landscapeKey Highlights:[01:50] Always looking for the road less traveled by[03:45] What drew Michelle to ETS, and what does she do there?[05:30] It all comes together over time.[08:00] Michelle’s career path: a global perspective and local execution[10:30] CMOs trained as engineers are just built differently.[13:10] What is ETS up to today?[15:30] Skills needed to be effective in the future[17:00] The future of CMO innovation [19:55] The AI portion of the show[25:20] Rebranding: why and how[30:30] Characterizing the new brand promise[33:15] The importance of her time as an engineer[36:10] Advice to her younger self [37:10] The increased complexity of marketing [39:10] Personalization supported by data[42:05] Thinking about how marketing and innovation can meld to improve customer outcomesLooking for more?Visit our website for the full show notes, links to resources mentioned in this episode, and ways to connect with the guest! Become a member today and listen ad-free, visit https://plus.acast.com/s/marketingtoday. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, Alan and Jessica talk about Bubble Goods, who it serves, and how they are helping emerging food brands and unique consumers alike. Jessica Young is a fan of Fufu and the founder and CEO of Bubble Goods. With 10+ years in the food and wellness industry, Jessica saw a gap in the market: food brands were innovating (specifically in the health foods sector), but they didn’t have the digital know-how or right platform to launch and scale on. It was becoming harder and harder for these brands to get onto Whole Foods, launch and scale within Amazon, and drive customers into their singular e-commerce channels. Jessica saw an opportunity to launch something similar to what Etsy has done in the handmade goods space by creating and curating a marketplace for innovative, truly strict-label, independent food brands. When she was starting her career, she didn't intend to enter the food industry, but her passion for cooking triggered an evolution that led her to it, and she never looked back. After going to culinary school, she worked as a chef in NYC in Michelin-starred restaurants for a while before she became burned out and began exploring the online food space. She transitioned to the food startup scene in 2013 and eventually became the first employee and Head of Product and Operations for Daily Harvest in 2015 before launching Bubble Goods in 2019.Bubble Goods is a drop-ship marketplace that curates brands for their users and gives small independent food and beverage brands the ability to market nationally. Jessica tells us they have a strict vetting process to make sure they are only delivering the best to their customers, but there is no order minimum so they can remain start-up friendly and keep their finger on the pulse of emerging trends. Bubble Goods has two main groups of customers: one is interested in discovering innovative foods, and the other is searching for foods that adhere to lifestyle and dietary restrictions. Bubble Goods prides itself on being low-lift and high-impact for the brands it partners with, and for many of its brands, Bubble Goods is their first retailer. To help brands succeed, Jessica and her team work hard to be good partners by putting brands in front of the right customers and giving them resources when they onboard for everything from legal resources to marketing partners. In this episode, you'll learn about:What inspired Jessica to start Bubble Goods?What benefits do brands get when they partner with Bubble Goods? Who is the target consumer, and how are they targeted? Key Highlights:[02:00] The first professionally trained chef on the show[03:40] Fufu is having a moment.[06:15] Bubble Goods: what they do and who they serve[08:00] Who is buying from Bubble Goods? [10:00] Bubble Goods role in helping newer brands [11:30] The importance of transparency[15:10] Who is making the food, and does it matter?[17:30] How marketers should leverage Bubble Goods[19:20] What is coming next?[20:15] Lessons from the kitchen [22:30] Advice to her younger self [24:30] New-school and old-school tactics[26:00] Snaxshot and CPGD[26:45] The AI portion of the showLooking for more?Visit our website for the full show notes, links to resources mentioned in this episode, and ways to connect with the guest! Become a member today and listen ad-free, visit https://plus.acast.com/s/marketingtoday. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.