The CMO Podcast

It’s election season in the U.S., with some brands taking on a special responsibility and role at this time. Among them is The Wall Street Journal, and this week Jim speaks to Sherry Weiss, the Chief Marketing Officer of Dow Jones–the parent company of The Wall Street Journal, Barron’s, MarketWatch, Investor’s Business Daily, and a portfolio of business intelligence assets, including Factiva. Sherry has worked as CMO of Dow Jones for about two years, following a career path seemingly built for her current role. With a double degree from Georgetown University, a Bachelors in Foreign Affairs, and a Masters in Business, Sherry worked at Citi at two different times in her career, for a total of about 12 years. With just two weeks until the United States Presidential election, tune in for a conversation with a leader who is ready to lead her team through and beyond.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

It's the spookiest time of the year! For this Halloween-themed episode of The CMO Podcast, Jim welcomes Gabrielle Dallas Wesley, the Chief Marketing Officer of Mars Wrigley North America. Privately held since its founding in 1911, Mars Wrigley is a giant in the consumer goods industry. The company boasts about $50 billion in sales and includes famous brands like M&Ms, Snickers, Orbit, Pedigree, Whiskas, Ben’s Original, and MasterFoods. In August 2024, Mars Wrigley announced the purchase of Kellanova–the Kellogg’s spinoff–with brands such as Pringles, Pop Tarts, and Nutrigrain. Gabrielle has worked with Mars Wrigley for about seven years and stepped into the North America CMO role about fifteen months ago. Before Mars Wrigley, Gabrielle worked at Conagra for three years, and General Mills for eleven years. Before she became a food and snack marketer, she spent eight years in financial services before jumping to CPG, using her MBA from Michigan Ross. Tune in for Jim's Halloween Trick or Treat chat with a CMO who is all about a united team!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Jim Lecinski, a Clinical Associate Professor of Marketing at Northwestern Kellogg and former Google VP, shares insights on the blend of AI and marketing. He discusses his transition from a corporate giant to academia, driven by a passion for teaching. The conversation dives into the importance of diversity in business education and the evolving landscape of SEO into generative engine optimization. Jim also reflects on his love for jazz, illustrating unexpected connections between music and AI, while emphasizing the need for strategic engagement with AI in marketing.

Today's guest on The CMO Podcast is Emily Silver, the SVP and Chief Marketing & Athlete Experience Officer at Dick’s Sporting Goods, the $13 billion-by-revenue retailer. Dick’s was founded by Dick Stack in 1948 with his first product line, a bait and tackle. Today, Pittsburgh-based Dick’s Sporting Goods has more than 850 stores and a variety of other experience centers and platforms, all focused on sports. Think Golf Galaxy, Public Lands, Moosejaw, and others. Emily has worked at Dick’s for about 18 months, after spending over 16 years at PepsiCo, in about nine different roles. This is Emily’s first CMO role; her CEO, Lauren Hobart, was appointed Dick’s CMO in 2011 and previously held that role for a few years. Emily graduated from Brandeis University with an MBA from Yale, before starting her career working on political campaigns. On this episode, she speaks to the incredible lessons from those early experiences and much more. Tune in for a conversation with a CMO that believes in the athlete in all of us! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The guest today on The CMO Podcast is Emily Ketchen, the Chief Marketing Officer and VP of Intelligent Devices Group and International Markets for Lenovo. The Intelligent Devices Group–as you might expect–is Lenovo’s division with Personal Computers, Smartphones, and AR/VR solutions. Lenovo is a $57 billion global technology company–the largest PC company–with business in 180 countries. It also markets infrastructure, software, solutions and services. Emily has worked at Lenovo since September 2020. She joined Lenovo after nearly 11 years at HP, in a variety of roles in the Americas and Asia. Emily has forged an unusual path to CMO; she spent about 14 years of her career on the ad agency side, with storied agencies like Publicis, Grey, and McCann Erikson.Emily is indeed a global citizen; she spent part of her childhood in Europe, speaks Spanish and French fluently, studied at Pitzer College in California and two universities in France, and has just returned from a lovely family holiday in Scotland. Tune in for an interview with a CMO who believes kindness in the business world is a win-win.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Kate Cronin, Chief Brand Officer at Moderna, discusses the revolutionary impact of mRNA technology in medicine, emphasizing how it helped reshape public health and vaccine branding during COVID-19. She explores the challenges linked to vaccine hesitancy, advocating for community-focused messaging. Cronin's career journey from leading Ogilvy Health to Moderna reveals insights into effective scientific communication. Off the mic, she shares her passion for restoring historic homes, blending personal anecdotes with professional reflections.

This week on The CMO Podcast, Jim welcomes Ramon Soto, Chief Marketing and Communications Officer at Northwell Health, Based in New York, Northwell Health is one of the largest health-care providers in the US, with 21 hospitals, 900 outpatient facilities, 12,000 affiliated physicians, 87,000 employees, and 2 million patients a year. The Wall Street Journal recently featured the nonprofit company for its radically different approach to marketing their brand. Spoiler alert: it includes partnerships with Netflix, HBO and Hulu. Ramon has held his role for nearly 10 years–about triple the tenure of an average CMO. Ramon tried a variety of roles earlier in his career at ad agencies, a home-improvement retailer, and at GE. He landed at Aetna–now owned by CVS–in 2002 and has largely remained in health-care roles since then. Tune in for a conversation with a healthcare CMO who gleans a lot of inspiration from the Marvel Cinematic Universe!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The guest this week on The CMO Podcast is Maya Wasserman, the Head of Marketing for Personal Entertainment, Home Entertainment and Brand Marketing for Sony Electronics. Maya oversees a large scope of products–from TVs, soundbars, headphones, and more. Founded in Japan in 1946 by Masaru Ibuka and Akio Morita, Sony has been a fixture in popular culture for the better part of eight decades–think WalkMan, Playstation, and Watchman. Today, Sony does about $90 billion in revenue globally, with 109,000 employees. It holds an incredible 95K patents, but it had humble beginnings; Sony’s first product was a rice cooker. Maya has worked at Sony for the past 13.5 years, with about six months in her current role as Head of Marketing. After earning a degree from UCLA, Maya started her career in a talent agency before going to Sony Pictures for three years. From there, she had stints in two PR agencies, and ultimately returned to Sony in 2011. Maya joins Jim to talk about her career so far, including her most recent promotion, and a love of yoga and the outdoors. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

We're entering the beginning of a new school year and the American College Football season begins this weekend! For the first time in this podcast's history, Jim welcomes a CMO of sorts from a large University: Pedro Ribeiro, the VP of Public Affairs and Communications for the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana. When it comes to strong University brands, Notre Dame represents one of the best. Notre Dame was founded in 1842 by Reverend Edward Sorin, a priest of the Congregation of the Holy Cross, a French Missionary order. The school now boasts nearly 15,000 undergraduate and graduate students, with 77 undergraduate majors. Pedro has worked at Notre Dame about a year, following a career of 20 plus years working in Washington, D.C. Pedro worked in communications for two different members of Congress, spent three years in the government of the District of Columbia, and served two roles in the Obama Administration. He was also the senior VP for Communications for the American Association of Universities before moving to the midwest and joining Notre Dame last October. Tune in for a conversation with a guest who's all in for the Fighting Irish. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Dana H. Born is a retired Brigadier General of the US Air Force and now Faculty Chair at Harvard Kennedy School. Wanda Bryant Hope serves as the Chief Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Officer at Johnson & Johnson, while Paula Garcia Todd works as an executive at IFF. Together, they tackle imposter syndrome and share insights on mentorship, personal legacies, and the emotional ties to their alma mater, Penn State. Their discussion also emphasizes the necessity of empathy in leadership, along with transformative lessons learned through parenting and fostering women's participation in STEM.