The CEO’s Guide to Marketing
The CEO’s Guide to Marketing offers a no-nonsense take on the business of marketing and the marketing of business. Hosted by Seth Matlins, Managing Director of the Forbes CMO Network, this series provides a master class in raising the C-suite's marketing IQ through candid conversations with renowned marketers and executives.
Latest episodes
Jul 16, 2025 • 51min
The one with Meta’s CMO and VP Analytics Alex Schultz about timeless truths, and measuring for incrementality and impact.
In this engaging discussion, Alex Schultz, CMO and VP Analytics at Meta, shares his rich marketing insights gained over a decade shaping the industry. He argues for the death of performance marketing, stressing the need for a full funnel approach. The conversation dives into timeless marketing principles, the balancing act between creativity and data, and the importance of aligning long-term brand vision with immediate marketing efforts. Alex also explores the evolving role of AI in marketing and the significance of effective, concise communication in crafting marketing briefs.
Jul 9, 2025 • 50min
The one with Rare Beauty CMO Katie Welch on paying attention to attention, ensuring a lipstick is more than a lipstick, and the fine arts of getting someone to do something.
In this episode I talk with Rare Beauty CMO Katie Welch about CEO’s who give CMOs the permission to do what they do best, the lessons beauty-category marketing has for others, and why you have to avoid “tactic soup.”See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Jul 2, 2025 • 51min
The one with the founder and CEO of Alembic Technologies, Tomás Puig, about what to do when you just don't know, cause and effect correlation, and what may be the most advanced marketing attribution model today.
When I first heard Tomás speak at a conference about problem-solving and attribution, I knew I wanted to have him on the show. In this conversation, we talk about marketing's deep hunger for actual solutions, the cost of vanity metrics, and among other things, the difference between certainty and statistics.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
May 8, 2025 • 51min
The one with...um, me, Seth Matlins, about the nature of marketing influence and other things CEOs (and CMOs) might consider.
In this bonus episode, the tables turn and Seth goes from interviewer to interviewee as he sits with Jon Evans, on his Uncensored CMO podcast.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Apr 30, 2025 • 50min
The one with Hasbro CMO Jason Bunge about resetting marketing muscle memory, how to feed the appetite for investment, and his favorite metric to hate.
In this episode I talk with Hasbro‘s first-ever CMO Jason Bunge about working with the c-suite to build marketing capabilities in a 104-year-old-company, the different strategic roles marketing plays across different parts of the business, and the possibilities that can live within constraints.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Apr 23, 2025 • 45min
The one with NFL CMO Tim Ellis on future-proofing the league, Monday Morning Marketing, and why the short-term must always support the long-term.
In this episode, I talk with Tim about creative courage, marketing to and with the Commissioner and owners, and how to both focus on and transcend the game. Note:In the episode, Tim tells us the story of how Volkswagen’s 2011 Super Bowl ad, Darth Vader, came to be. And how it almost didn’t. See the spot that’s been credited with changing Super Bowl advertising here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpL_DcT6ko8See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Apr 17, 2025 • 45min
The one with Fundamentalco founder and CEO Jonny Bauer about how to make a company more valuable.
In this episode, I talk with Jonny Bauer about his thesis on enterprise value creation, one formed by his years as Droga5’s Chief Strategy Officer and Blackstone’s Global Head of Brand Strategy and Transformation. Now, the founder and CEO of Fundamentalco, Jonny’s insights into the upstream role of brand in driving business strategy and not just downstream marketing outputs are well worth every CEO, CFO and Board considering.In the episode, Jonny refers to one of the earliest pieces of work to come from then new agency, Droga5. The 2006 spot for streetwear brand ECKO is known as “Tagging Air Force One.” See it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eP0iSJQLfJ4See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Apr 9, 2025 • 47min
The one with legendary CMO Linda Boff on the path from Thomas Edison to the present, making the invisible visible, and the lessons CEOs can learn from getting dressed in the morning.
In this episode, I sit down with Linda Boff, now CEO of Said Differently, and the long-time CMO of GE. I wanted to talk with Linda about her experience working with three different CEOs (at GE alone), humanizing an industrial monolith, and her legacy of firsts.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Apr 2, 2025 • 48min
The one with Walmart CMO William White about the essential strategic importance of remembering you can do anything but not everything.
In this episode, Seth sits down with Walmart CMO, William White, to talk about the commercial value of brands even when you’re selling every-day-low-prices, how every touchpoint connects—or doesn’t, and using the emotional to drive the transactional.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Feb 27, 2025 • 44min
The one with HP Chief Marketing and Corporate Affairs Officer Antonio Lucio about following the money, the relationship between numbers and ideas, and the bottom-line consequences of defining marketing too narrowly.
In this episode, Seth sits with Antonio Lucio, Chief Marketing and Corporate Affairs Officer at HP, to talk about Antonio’s advice to CEOs and CMOs, what marketing is in service to, the consequences of isolating and not integrating marketing, and pitching an idea to Mark Zuckerberg.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
