Choice Words

In this episode, Riccardo Zacconi shares his experience as co-founder and CEO growing the gaming company King from a 100-person startup to a 2,000-person global leader in mobile gaming, steering Candy Crush Saga to over 2.7 billion downloads and a $6 Billion sale of the company to Activision.Riccardo Zacconi is a co-founder and former CEO of gaming company King. He was instrumental in the growth of its blockbuster game Candy Crush Saga and is now a partner at Sweet Capital.

In this episode, McKinsey Senior Partners Jesko Perrey and Brian Gregg share their perspectives working with global business leaders on navigating the return to growth in 2021 -- and beyond. Jason, Jesko, and Brian dive deep into agile marketing, who is winning with AI, and the strategic imperative for leaders to adopt the mindset needed for a digital-first future.Jesko Perry is a Senior Partner in McKinsey’s Dusseldorf office and helps clients deliver above-market growth by transforming their marketing and sales capabilities. Jesko leads McKinsey’s Marketing and Sales Practice globally. Brian Gregg is a Senior Partner in McKinsey’s San Francisco office and has deep expertise in digital marketing, e-commerce, multichannel excellence, customer experience, and customer-relationship management/loyalty. Brian co-leads McKinsey's Marketing and Sales Practice in North America.

In this episode, Rishad Tobaccowala–thought provocateur and strategic advisor to leaders around the world–pushes our thinking on what it means to compete and lead in the 21st century. Drawing from his wealth of experience with agencies and clients, Rishad shares stories from his book Restoring the Soul of Business and offers advice on how to balance spreadsheets and storytelling.Rishad Tobaccowala spent over 35 years at Publicis Groupe in various leadership positions, including Chief Strategy Officer and Chief Growth Officer. Rishad has deep experience across digital transformation, advertising, marketing, and business strategy. Rishad’s key skill is getting people to see, think, and feel differently about how to grow themselves, their teams, and their company. You can find Rishad's latest thought leadership in his newsletter on Substack.

In this episode, Raja Rajamannar draws on his 25+ year career to go behind the scenes on what it takes to transform marketing into an agile driver of business growth. From engaging C-Suite peers to embedding data throughout the organization, Raja details how to design and scale a marketing organization with gravitas.Raja Rajamannar is Chief Marketing & Communications Officer for Mastercard and President of the company’s healthcare business. He is an accomplished global business executive with more than 25 years of experience. Raja has been named Global Marketer of the Year by the World Federation of Advertisers, top 5 “World’s Most Influential CMOs” by Forbes, top 10 “World’s Most Innovative CMOs” by Business Insider, and is an inductee to The CMO Club Hall of Fame.

In this episode, Jeff Maggioncalda shares his growth CEO playbook and the magic behind a platform business model. Under Jeff’s leadership, Coursera is transforming learning and education across the globe. Jeff and Jason go into detail about how to build a data-driven company that has a laser focus on product-market fit.Jeff Maggioncalda is the CEO of Coursera, having joined the company in June 2017. He previously served for 18 years as the founding CEO at Financial Engines Inc, a company co-founded by economist and Nobel Prize winner William Sharpe. Jeff also worked as a consultant at McKinsey & Company and Cornerstone Research and holds an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

In this episode, Noam Paransky explores the art and science of leading digital transformation in the retail space. Noam and Jason cover topics such as personalization in retail, the importance of quick wins, the role of perseverance in change efforts, and how to evaluate AI for business impact.Noam Paransky is the Chief Digital Officer of Tapestry, where he leads the company’s digital innovation agenda and ensures the company delivers an inspiring omni-channel experience through all digital touchpoints. Prior to Tapestry, Noam was SVP of Digital at Gap, Inc. where he led digital programs for all Gap, Inc. brands. Noam spent nearly two decades as a retail, digital and marketing consultant.

In this episode, Jim McCann shares stories of his fascinating and successful career as an “accidental entrepreneur” guiding 1-800-Flowers.com from a single flower shop in Manhattan to one of the world’s leading gourmet food and floral gift providers -- all built on a foundation of making people smile. Jim and Jason talk about what it takes to be truly customer-centric and how to focus on customer relationships while embracing technology that builds competitive advantage.Jim McCann is the Founder and Executive Chairman of 1-800-Flowers.com as well as a respected author and philanthropist. Jim’s strategy for growth included an effective combination of building and buying new businesses and brands that resonate with customers.

In this episode, Darren Herman shares stories and examples of growth and innovation from the vantage point of an experienced private equity operating partner. Darren and Jason unpack the winning formula of talent + data + digital maturity as key enablers to be “on the right side of history.”Darren Herman is an operating partner across the North American private equity team at Bain Capital and joined the firm in 2016. Darren has worked in both the Boston and New York offices and focuses on growing the portfolio of investments through advertising, marketing, e-commerce, CRM, and innovation. Prior to joining Bain Capital, Darren was an executive at Mozilla Corporation and at multiple companies within the MDC Partners group of advertising and marketing agencies.

In this episode, Bob Liodice explains how marketing leaders are pivoting–and performing–amidst disruption. Sharing examples from Anheuser-Busch, Tesla, Lyft and others, Bob and Jason discuss what it means to deliver true customer-centric engagement and why brand purpose is all about usefulness.Bob Liodice is chief executive officer of the Association of National Advertisers and previously served as executive vice president, responsible for member relations and business development.Prior to the ANA, Bob was vice president of global marketing and sales for Grupo Televisa, a major worldwide broadcaster and spent more than 15 years in marketing and financial management at Kraft General Foods.

In this episode, Jason and Paul discuss how brands can evolve to deliver exceptional experiences such as the Nutella Cafe and what it takes to build a brand today. Jason and Paul dive into the power of customer-centric brand building and Paul shares his leadership experience making the transition from finance to marketing to the CEO role. Paul Chibe is President and CEO of Ferrero North America and leads Ferrero Group’s US, Canada, and Caribbean businesses including iconic brands such as Nutella, Tic Tac, and Ferrero Rocher. Before Ferrero, Paul was US Chief Marketing Officer for Anheuser-Busch InBev and spent 11 years running the US Gum and Mints business for Wrigley.

In this episode, Kellogg Company Chief Growth Officer Monica McGurk discusses the CGO role and how leaders can drive growth, covering topics ranging from capturing customer insights in a matrix organization to the role of AI and how to deliver impact across functions and geographies.Monica McGurk is the Chief Growth Officer for Kellogg Company and is a member of the Company’s executive committee. Prior to Kellogg, Ms. McGurk served as Chief Growth Officer at Tyson Foods and was Senior Vice President, Strategy, Decision Support and eCommerce for Coca-Cola North America. Ms. McGurk holds MBA and Education degrees from Stanford University and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Harvard University.

In this episode, media expert Michael Kassan shares stories of flexibility, agility, and the new partnership models that highlight how leaders are rising to meet the challenges of the current environment. From Zoom calls drowned out by the lawnmower to the demise of business travel, Michael and Jason pull no punches showing how it's no longer “a multiple choice exam for leaders.”Michael Kassan is the founder, Chairman, and CEO of MediaLink. He has been described as the “ultimate power broker” and is a trusted advisor to Fortune 100 chief marketing officers, media moguls, Hollywood visionaries, technology pioneers, advertising holding company heads, and Wall Street investors.

In this conversation, Philip Thomas, Chairman of Cannes Lions, discusses the evolution of data-guided creativity and how marketing leaders can use this new reality to deliver on their mandate as Chief Creative Officers for the brand. Philip and Jason also go inside what it’s like to pivot and adapt a world-class event like Cannes Lions, seemingly overnight.Philip Thomas is Chairman of Cannes Lions and President of Ascential's Marketing Division, which comprises Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, WARC, and MediaLink. He was CEO of Lions Festivals for ten years, between 2006-2016.

In this provocative conversation, Sir Martin Sorrell outlines the future of marketing and advertising and how the holy trinity of first party data, digital content, and programmatic advertising will supercharge the next wave of growth. Jason and Sir Martin discuss the true meaning of faster, better, cheaper and how to deliver on that promise through a new-era, tech-led advertising and marketing services model.Sir Martin Sorrell is Founder and Executive Chairman of S4 Capital, a purely digital advertising and marketing services business totally focused on growth. Before founding S4 Capital, Sir Martin was CEO of WPP for 33 years, building it from a £1 million “shell” company in 1985 into the world's largest advertising and marketing services company, with a market capitalization of over £16 billion when he left.

In this lively and wide-ranging conversation, retail expert Veronika Sonsev discusses how retail leaders can both respond and adapt to the fundamentally changed landscape brought about by COVID-19. Jason and Veronika share stories and insights on the new realities of omnichannel retail, segmentation, personalization, content, and merchandising with examples from Hugo Boss, Patagonia, and more.Veronika Sonsev is Co-founder of CommerceNext and a Retail Practice Lead and Partner at Chameleon Collective. Veronika has worked with some of the largest retailers and has deep knowledge of the challenges facing retail and e-commerce today. Veronika helps retail leaders to develop strategies for growing their businesses and telling their stories in ways that get attention.

In this conversation, guest speaker Alyson Clarke from Forrester discusses key takeaways from her research on customer experience and personalization in the financial services industry. Jason and Alyson detail just what it takes to build a customer-centric organization that delivers business impact, touching on topics such as measurement, differentiation, and how to communicate effectively on the journey to a new normal.Alyson Clarke is a Principal Analyst with Forrester serving the financial services industry by helping leaders understand and prepare for the future. She works closely with retail banking and other financial services executives to develop and execute on strategy, deliver superior customer experiences, and digitally accelerate their business.

In part two of the conversation, Jason and Jim continue their brand purpose deep-dive by exploring how to unlock the energy that’s been lying dormant in your brand. They discuss how the entire concept of segmentation has changed and share stories of retailers, banks, and insurance companies responding to COVID-19 with agility and authenticity.Jim Stengel is the former global CMO of Procter & Gamble and founder and CEO of The Jim Stengel Company which helps brands discover and activate their true purpose. Jim and his team have helped over 90 companies in 20+ countries achieve sustained growth. Jim also hosts The CMO Podcast.

Persado President Jason Heller talks with expert guests to explore the stories, data and insights that business leaders need to communicate with their customers more effectively and unlock the hidden value in customer engagement.

In this conversation, Jason and Jim discuss how brands can live their brand purpose by putting their customers’ needs first during the early stages of responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. Jim shares examples of companies leading the way and they discuss how to unlock the hidden value of language as a concrete way to engage customers in meaningful ways that impact the business.Jim Stengel is the former global CMO of Procter & Gamble and founder and CEO of The Jim Stengel Company which helps brands discover and activate their true purpose. Jim and his team have helped over 90 companies in 20+ countries achieve sustained growth by enhancing the capabilities and confidence of CEOs, CMOs, and senior leadership teams.