Podcasts about CMOS

If your board asks “Why is pipeline down?” and your opportunity dashboards only say marketing-sourced vs. SDR-sourced (AKA the four-funnel model), you're stuck with surface-level data and left guessing at fixes instead of diagnosing the problem. The real story lives between engagement and opportunity, the unmeasured factory floor where prospecting happens (or dies). In this episode, Carolyn and Amber show how to rip the lid off that black box, swap vanity volume for "causal" metrics, and find the repeatable patterns that actually manufacture pipeline.Expect blunt takes, practical questions to bring to RevOps tomorrow, and real outcomes from teams who've made the shift (e.g., win rates jumping from ~13% to ~24% and easier budget approvals once the black box is illuminated).What You'll Learn:[02:20] Why “source” reporting hides the truth (and fuels misalignment)[08:00] The Pipeline Black Box: measuring the in-between (triggers → first meeting → opp)[15:00] Pattern-spotting: sequences that create pipeline vs. waste[17:30] Visual walkthrough: opening the black box[20:55] Prospecting as its own lifecycle: timing, activity load, DQs, velocity[26:10] From more leads to more lift (conversion, speed, win rate 13%→24%)[36:00] Turning visibility into stronger board stories & budget wins[38:25] 3 questions to expose your black box this weekWho This Episode ForCROs, CMOs, Demand leaders, and RevOps owners ready to graduate from MQLs/last-touch to a factory-style measurement system.

CMO tenure is a hot topic. Everyone wants to know the secret to staying power.    One proven path is stepping out of the narrow marketing lane and showing up as more than the title suggests. Call it CMO+.  The challenge is figuring out what your “plus” will be and how to put it into practice. To help you understand what CMO+ looks like in action, Nikhil Chawla (Resilience), Isabelle Papoulias (EliteOps), and Ali McCarthy (Amplify Your Voice Studio) share their own pluses, how they discovered them, and what changed when they leaned in. Each story is different, but the theme is the same: Credibility grows when CMOs contribute in ways that extend beyond marketing. In this episode:  Nikhil on adding customer voice as his plus, linking post-sale and product, and feeding live feedback into roadmap and revenue calls.  Isabelle on bringing operations into marketing, using V2MOM to align goals, resources, and execution across sales, enablement, finance, and ops.  Ali on leading with emotional intelligence, coaching leaders to read the room, ease friction, and keep teams focused on the customer journey.  Plus:  How to spot the plus that fits both your strengths and your company's needs  Why credibility comes from saying yes to the right opportunities  The link between curiosity, influence, and long-term career resilience  How CMOs expand their impact without burning out If you're ready to grow your role beyond marketing, this one's for you!  For full show notes and transcripts, visit https://renegademarketing.com/podcasts/ To learn more about CMO Huddles, visit https://cmohuddles.com/

In this episode of Scratch, Eric chats with Lili, the Chief Marketing & Experience Officer of Barclays US Consumer Bank, about how she brought a challenger mindset from the hospitality and entertainment industry into one of the biggest banking players in the world. Lili shares how her experience at MGM shaped her approach to customer experience, and how she's transformed Barclays to be more customer-centric, putting real people at the heart of every journey. Innovation at Barclays doesn't start with technology; it starts with people: Lili introduced live client call listening for executives and designed accountable customer journeys to keep the brand ahead in a fast-changing industryThe conversation also explores the delicate balance between digital efficiency and maintaining the human touch, why curiosity is now an essential skill for marketers, and the ways CMOs can leverage insights from outside their own category. Packed with practical advice and real-world examples, this episode is a must-watch for anyone looking to drive customer-focused growth and bring humanity back into marketing.Watch the video version of this podcast on Youtube ▶️:  https://youtu.be/MgNhEchujRY

This episode of Pipeline Visionaries features an interview with Tamir Sigal, the CMO of Trintech, a company that helps finance and accounting teams simplify and automate the entire financial close process, from reconciliations to reporting. Tamir explans his marketing philosophy of focusing on the customer journey, driving alignment across the organization, and evolving tactics around personalization, in-person experiences, and AI. He also reflects on rebranding challenges, innovative campaigns, and why he encourages his team to experiment—even if it means making mistakes along the way.Quote: “We just get so much information into our lives—whether it's through email, social media, our devices, and how do you differentiate? How do you cut through the noise? So one of our tactics is making sure that we're personalizing the message to the right audience. One of my pet peeves is saying the right message at the right time at the right channel. That's so cliché to say, but it's at the heart of what we want to do—making sure that the message is personalized to the industry, to the persona, and to the topic.”Key Takeaways:Personalization cuts through noise. Tailoring messages by industry, persona, and timing is key to standing out in a crowded digital landscape.CMOs are responsible for creating alignment. Success depends on aligning marketing with sales, finance, partners, and leadership.Encourage experimentation. Tamir fosters innovation by rewarding his team for trying new ideas and learning from mistakes.Episode Timestamps:(04:00) The Trust Tree: Why time is the most valuable currency(10:44) The Playbook: Top uncuttable tactics—personalization, events, and AI(29:06) Dust Up: Rebranding a 100-year-old company against the odds(31:15) Quick Hits: Tamir's quick hitsSponsor:Pipeline Visionaries is brought to you by Qualified.com. Qualified helps you turn your website into a pipeline generation machine with PipelineAI. Engage and convert your most valuable website visitors with live chat, chatbots, meeting scheduling, intent data, and Piper, your AI SDR. Visit https://www.qualified.com to learn more.Links:Connect with Ian on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ianfaisonConnect with Tamir on LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/tamirsigal/ Learn more about Trintech: https://www.trintech.comLearn more about Caspian Studios: https://www.caspianstudios.com Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

CMOs are facing extraordinary expecations — from the enterprise, customers and their own teams. In this episode of ThinkCast, Gartner experts Alex De Fursac Gash and Kristina LaRocca-Cerrone cover a portion of their Opening Keynote from this year's Gartner Marketing Symposium/Xpo. Together, they outline how marketing leaders can navigate heightened demands, avoid strategic dysfunction and embrace what they call the "Epic Journey to Growth." From shifting AI from tool to actor, to building long-term vision and scenario planning muscle, Alex and Kristina reveal how CMOs can stregthen reputations, exceed CEO expectations and transform disruption into opportunity.   Tune in to discover: Why doing nothing in times of disruption is no longer an option How strategic dysfunction undermines growth and what to do about it Practical ways to use scenario planning and AI to build resilience The mindset shifts that turn volatitiliy into enterprise-wide opportunity   Dig deeper: Buy tickets to Gartner Marketing Symposium/Xpo Get started with AskGartner, your new AI-powered tool      

Every CMO wants alignment with their CEO. But all too frequently, things go sideways. It turns into chasing growth at any cost, drowning in acronyms, or scrambling to justify marketing's seat at the revenue table. What if the real secret isn't louder advocacy, but clearer translation, seeing the world the way your CEO does?  That's the perspective Rohini Kasturi brings as CEO of HG Insights. Fresh off two bold acquisitions in just a few months, HG Insights is redefining revenue growth intelligence and giving CMOs a new way to frame growth, retention, and efficiency. Rohini's advice: Stop playing defense on budget lines and start leading with business outcomes. In this episode:  How CMOs can connect their work to the three CEO obsessions: Growth, retention, and efficiency  Why spotting churn signals early matters as much as chasing pipeline  What it takes to balance efficiency with agility… without cutting corners Plus:  The role of revenue growth intelligence in shaping GTM strategy  How acquiring TrustRadius and MadKudu expands HG Insights' platform  Why every marketing move should tie back to revenue, even on a longer timeline  What CMOs gain by learning to speak the language of the boardroom If you want to know how CEOs really think and how CMOs can match them step for step, this one's for you! BONUS: HG Insights it THE Official GTM Partner of CMO Huddles and one of the Founding Sponsors of the 2025's CMO Super Huddle in Palo Alto. Rohini will join for a panel on The Future of GTM. With sharp strategic insight and deep empathy for the CMO's ever-evolving role, Rohini offers a rare CEO perspective on what it takes to drive smarter, more connected growth in 2025 and beyond.  For full show notes and transcripts, visit https://renegademarketing.com/podcasts/ To learn more about CMO Huddles, visit https://cmohuddles.com/

Welcome to your weekly UAS News Update. We have three stories for you this week. DJI has announced the new Mini 5 Pro, a drone pilot has been sentenced for colliding with a firefighting aircraft, and a search-and-rescue drone was shot in Maine. Let's get to it.First, DJI has unveiled the Mini 5 Pro, and the specs are pretty jaw-dropping for a sub-250-gram drone. The headline feature is a 50-megapixel, 1-inch CMOS sensor. This is something pilots have been requesting for years. The camera can shoot 4K video at 60 frames per second in HDR and even does 4K slow-motion at 120 frames per second. For the pros, it supports 10-bit D-Log M and HLG color profiles, with a max ISO of 12,800. The gimbal also got a major upgrade, with a 225-degree roll rotation and true vertical shooting. For safety, DJI is introducing what they call "Nightscape Omnidirectional Obstacle Sensing," which uses a forward-facing LiDAR and multiple vision sensors for better performance in low light. Flight time is rated at 36 minutes with the standard battery, and an optional Intelligent Flight Battery Plus can supposedly push that to 52 minutes! Now for the big catch: the Mini 5 Pro will NOT be officially available in the US market through DJI's store. Other retailers may carry it, but it won't be available through the DJI store. Next up, a drone pilot in California has been sentenced for a mid-air collision with a firefighting airplane. Peter Akemann, a 57-year-old from Culver City, pleaded guilty to a federal misdemeanor for the unsafe operation of a drone. This incident happened back in January 2025, when he flew his drone into the path of a "Super Scooper" firefighting aircraft that was battling the Palisades Fire in Los Angeles. The drone struck the aircraft's wing, causing a 3-by-6-inch hole and forcing the plane to be grounded for repairs. The cost of those repairs? A whopping $65,169.As part of his plea agreement, Akemann has been ordered to pay full restitution to the Quebec government, which owned the plane, and to the repair company. He also has to complete 150 hours of community service supporting wildfire relief efforts. This is a stark reminder for everyone: flying in a Temporary Flight Restriction, especially over an emergency scene, is incredibly dangerous and illegal. In our final story, a real-world drones-for-good story took a bad turn in Maine. A commercial drone operated by 2A Tac Air Services was shot while it was being used to search for two missing dogs. The operator, Rob Russell, was flying the drone at an altitude of 366 feet in Corinth, Maine, when he received a warning. Upon inspection, he found a bullet hole straight through the M30's front sensors. Russell, who uses his fleet of drones for SAR missions across New England, said the damage will cost thousands to repair and takes a critical tool out of service. This incident is now under federal investigation. It's important for everyone to understand that shooting at a drone is a federal offense, legally equivalent to shooting at a manned aircraft. On this topic, the FAA is proposing in the new Part 108 NPRM to add language that would protect remote pilots and their Visual observers from harassment and distraction. This is a welcome addition.It's incredibly important to make your voice heard on the issues with the Part 108 NPRM. If you aren't sure where to start, check out our latest video on our comment for Part 108. Spoiler alert, part 108 as proposed would NOT include current part 107 or recreational pilot. We have a solution to that. Be sure to watch that video next and get your comment submitted before October 6th, 2025! And lastly, if you like our proposal to fix the NPRM, be sure to fill out our form so we can include you and your company as supporters in our joint comment to the FAA.

In this episode, we unpack the insights from the recent IPSeries webinar exploring the evolving landscape of Collective Management Organizations (CMOs) across Africa and the globe. From the challenges of royalty collection and distribution to the legal frameworks shaping copyright enforcement, we dive into a comparative review of global versus local approaches to rights management.Experts from across the creative and legal sectors weigh in on:The role of CMOs in empowering artists and creatorsStructural and policy differences between African CMOs and their global counterpartsThe impact of digital platforms and cross-border licensingStrategies for improving transparency, accountability, and efficiencyWhether you're a creator, legal professional, or policy enthusiast, this episode offers a compelling look at how collective rights management is transforming and what it means for the future of intellectual property in Africa and beyond.So grab your headphones, settle in, and let’s explore how collective rights management is reshaping the future of intellectual property on the continent and beyond.Please leave your thoughts and opinions by commenting via email at ipseriesinfo@gmail.com or by tweeting us at @ipseries1. And don't forget to subscribe to my podcast for more intellectual property (IP) insights and analysis.Thank you for listening, and see you next time on the IP Series podcast!IPSERIES PODCAST- Facebook: https://web.facebook.com/groups/836484013662125/- Instagram: ⁠Instagram⁠- Email: ipseriesinfo@gmail.com=================================SOCIAL MEDIA BY: Rita Anwiri Chindah=================================LOGO DESIGN BY: Rita Anwiri Chindah ⁠ipseries_with_reedah | Twitter, Instagram, Facebook | https://linktr.ee/ipseries_with_reedah?subscribe

How can aligning your marketing strategy with business goals transform your impact and career trajectory?In this episode of The Hard Corps Marketing Show, I sat down with Jennifer Mancusi, CEO and co-founder of Growgetter. Jennifer is a marketing leader, strategic thinker, and passionate advocate for measuring what matters. She brings her real world experience helping businesses cut through vanity metrics and focus on marketing strategies that truly drive growth.Jennifer breaks down why defending the wrong metrics can get CMOs fired and how marketers can shift their focus to data that aligns with revenue. She discusses the critical importance of internal communication, aligning with sales, and using frameworks like OKRs to drive cross-functional success. Jennifer also dives into the evolving role of brand-building in demand generation, and why continuous learning is a must for modern marketers.In this episode, we cover:Why many CMOs fail by focusing on the wrong metricsHow to align marketing with sales and business development using OKRsThe difference between brand-building and demand captureWhy internal communication is key to marketing's credibility and effectivenessIf you're ready to ditch vanity metrics and become a marketing leader who drives real business impact, this episode is full of actionable insights you won't want to miss!

Marketing isn't a vending machine—and Kathleen Schaub wants leaders to stop treating it like one. In this episode of Tomorrow's Best Practices Today, host Clark Newby sits down with Kathleen Schaub, author of Marketing in the Great, Big, Messy, Real World, to unpack why deterministic thinking fails and what modern CMOs must do differently.Kathleen draws on decades of experience advising global marketing leaders and shares insights from her new book, including four key mindset shifts:- Budgeting like an investor rather than an accountant- Planning like a navigator who adapts to changing conditions- Deciding like a statistician who understands probabilities, not certainties- Leading like an ecologist who creates thriving team ecosystemsTogether, Clark and Kathleen explore why the obsession with ROI as a vending machine input-output model is misguided, how marketing metrics should spark dialogue—not dictate it—and why agility at the “edges” of the business is where real progress happens.Order Kathleen's book here: https://www.amazon.com/Marketing-Great-Messy-Real-World/dp/1632999862/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3BSH939U2QNL1&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.QsAFE2-s7Vf4DwX3HtjKPD-5jwgkt-_m9H2efEkaqOg.YKXKMuYL6Vc-3NhSIB4d2LGEsMAmQYvPF6gzhQfuY5U&dib_tag=se&keywords=marketing+in+the+great%2C+big%2C+messy+real+world&qid=1756933798&sprefix=marketing+in+the+great+messy+%2Caps%2C170&sr=8-1-----CONNECT with us at:Website: https://leadtail.com/Leadtail TV: https://www.leadtailtv.com/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/lead...Twitter: https://twitter.com/leadtailFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/Leadtail/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/leadtail/----0:00 – Introduction and Guest Overview1:19 – Why Marketing Is Not a Vending Machine2:24 – Complexity and the VUCA World of Marketing3:16 – Moving Beyond Deterministic Models5:00 – Four Mindset Shifts for Marketing Leaders6:29 – Budgeting Like an Investor6:41 – Planning and Measurement: Think Like a Navigator7:47 – Decision-Making: Think Like a Statistician9:12 – People and Ecosystems: Leading Like an Ecologist17:01 – Rethinking Metrics and Board-Level Conversations22:10 – Overcoming Resistance and Gaining Executive Buy-In26:18 – The Role of Data, Analytics, and AI in Complex Systems29:26 – Structuring Teams for Agility and Integration33:01 – Kathleen's Personal Reading List35:15 – Closing Thoughts and Book Information#b2bmarketing #b2b

Modern marketing is full of challenges, so much so, that leaders in the space often feel as if they are being set up to fail. On this episode of the Performance Marketing Unlocked podcast, Paul Evans, founder and Chief Positioning Officer at V2RSION – a seasoned marketing specialist across brand, agency and client-side – offers marketing leaders a path through all of the industry muck. This podcast was hosted by PMW's Multimedia Editor, Joseph Arthur.~ Episode breakdown ~ How can marketing leaders can succeed in the face of so much pressure? (0:48)What channels do marketers young and old need to be leveraging? (14:50)~ Further reading ~ Havas Market's Alex Walker on navigating adland in a time of ‘information overload'How to demonstrate and increase advertising's impactCMOs losing customers due to martech failures Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How top marketers handle today's changing B2B world. We talk about balancing brand growth with sales, go-to-market (GTM) strategies, working with fractional CMOs, and how AI is changing marketing. You'll also learn about using events to create demand and how better sales-marketing teamwork can speed up growth.If you're in SaaS, tech startups, or a marketing leader, this episode shares practical tips on how to grow with smaller budgets, use influencers in smart ways, and create content based on data.Find out for FREE with our Growth Score Quiz—get custom insights and a roadmap to scale. Take the quiz now!

A CMO Confidential Interview with Shiv Singh, CEO of Savvy Matters, former CMO of Lending Tree and author of AI For Dummies and The 5 Marketing Truths You Won't See at Cannes. Shiv shares why he believes AI is killing marketing jobs, how the CMO Role is breaking down due to overlap with other functions, and how "Big Tech is running marketing." Key topics include: how walled gardens make the job harder; why the optics of Cannes are terrible; and the reason marketers should work to fully understand technology. Tune in to hear how AI is making us less intelligent and why Cannes should move to San Francisco. DescriptionWhat you won't hear on the Croisette. Former LendingTree CMO and Marketing with AI for Dummies author Shiv Singh joins host Mike Linton to unpack his viral “5 marketing truths you won't hear at Cannes”—from AI's real impact on jobs and creativity to why the CMO role keeps breaking under overlapping scopes, walled gardens, and distorted budgets.We dig into the zero-click search era, big tech as the new kingmakers, how to rebuild orgs AI-first, and what practical steps CMOs should take this quarter (hint: learn the tech, ship agents, and embed marketers into tech teams).In this episode • AI is changing performance, creative, and strategy—faster than the hype cycle • The CMO job: too wide, too blurry, and overlapped with the rest of the C-suite • Walled gardens & retail media: measurement theater vs. business impact • Zero-click search & AI Overviews: when your best customers never hit your site • “AI-native” org design: agents, code-as-deliverable, and the marketer-as-technologist • Why Cannes optics can backfire—and what a substance-first festival could look like • Playbook for CMOs: weekly show-and-tells, code literacy, and cross-functional embedsAbout our guestShiv Singh is CEO of Savvy Matters, co-founder of AI Trailblazers, former CMO of LendingTree, and a longtime brand leader (Pepsi, Visa). He writes and speaks widely on AI's impact on marketing, org design, and growth.Sponsor — TypefaceLegacy tools weren't built for AI. Typeface is the first multimodal platform where agentic workflows handle everything from brainstorming to launch across every channel. Transform one idea into thousands of on-brand assets—text, images, and video—at enterprise scale, with security and seamless MarTech integrations. See how brands like ASICS and Microsoft move from brief to personalized campaigns in hours: typeface.ai/cmo.If you're enjoying CMO Confidential, please like, subscribe, and share. New episodes every Tuesday; companion newsletter every Friday.⸻Chapter Markers00:00 – Welcome & Sponsor: Typeface01:45 – Introducing Shiv Singh & “5 Truths You Won't Hear at Cannes”05:10 – Truth 1: AI is changing jobs, creativity, and strategy10:20 – The CMO role is broken: scope, overlap, and alignment15:05 – Walled gardens & retail media: why measurement is broken19:45 – Truth 2 & 3: Big Tech as the new kingmakers24:20 – Zero-click search & the rise of AI-driven discovery28:50 – Truth 4: Cannes optics and why it's “not for everybody”32:40 – What CMOs should do: tech fluency, coding, weekly experiments36:00 – Superintelligence and the AI-native org of the future39:00 – Practical advice & closing thoughts⸻CMO Confidential, Mike Linton, Shiv Singh, Savvy Matters, AI Trailblazers, LendingTree, Pepsi, Visa, Cannes Lions, marketing truths, AI in marketing, agentic AI, AI agents, zero-click search, AI Overviews, walled gardens, retail media networks, big tech kingmakers, Google, Meta, TikTok, YouTube as TV, Performance Max, marketing org design, CMO role, C-suite alignment, measurement, marketing strategy, creative automation, knowledge workers, superintelligence, LLMs, large language models, marketer as technologist, code literacy, AI native organization, marketing experimentation, weekly show and tell, brand building, B2B marketing, B2C marketing, marketing leadership, executive insights, podcast for CMOs, Typeface, Typeface AI, typeface.ai/cmo, ASICS, Microsoft, customer acquisition, CAC, CLV, marketing ROI, retail media, AI transformation, marketing jobs and AI⸻See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The episode explores how marketers can shift their mindset from focusing on content containers to prioritizing storytelling and strategic content creation. Lee Judge and Robert Rose discuss the evolving role of content marketing in the age of AI, the pitfalls of over-measuring, and the importance of valuable friction in marketing processes. Shifting from container-first to story-first content creationThe myth and misuse of marketing measurementAI's impact on content marketing and the resurgence of human-created contentChallenges CMOs face with attribution and proving valueValuable friction and the importance of slowing down to improve content qualityTimecodes00:00 - Get Out of "Container First" Mentality: Start with Story01:00 - Introducing Robert Rose & the Value of Thought Leadership03:08 - Measurement Myths: Marketers Should Measure Less, Do More05:34 - Risk vs. Numbers: Incremental vs. Bold Marketing Moves09:03 - The Cracker Barrel Logo Fiasco & The Value of Attention11:27 - Attention vs. Long-Term Brand Value in Marketing15:35 - CMOs & the Attribution Challenge: Budget, Brand, & Measurement19:12 - Corporate Measurement Culture: Agreement vs. Accuracy24:05 - AI's Impact: Human Content Marketing Renaissance?27:56 - Why Content Marketing Research Still Focuses on Text32:26 - Repurposing Content: Story-First Approach Over Containers34:50 - Valuable Friction: Slowing Down for Better Content Creation40:23 - Where to Find Robert's Book & Closing Remarks Main TakeawaysStart with the story, not the container—content should drive the format, not the other way around.Measurement is often flawed and overemphasized; agreement on what success looks like is more important than accuracy.AI can enhance creativity but should be used to deepen, not replace, human insight and storytelling.Subscribe, share the episode, and visit valuablefriction.com to learn more about Robert Rose's new book.  A. Lee Judge is the creator and host of The Business of Marketing podcast.Please follow the podcast on your favorite podcast listening platform.This podcast is produced by Content Monsta - A leading producer of B2B Content.

Episode web page: https://bit.ly/3K2NcZn ----------------------- Episode summary: In this episode of Insights Unlocked, Joe Chernov, a seasoned B2B marketing leader and Executive in Residence at Battery Ventures, joins host Johann Wrede to unpack the modern CMO's biggest trap—playing out of position. Joe shares the pivotal career moment that pulled him from traditional PR into the world of content marketing, and explores how today's marketing leaders can navigate the pressure to chase pipeline at the expense of long-term brand impact. From understanding your company's true expectations to balancing creativity with accountability, Joe offers hard-earned wisdom on what it really takes to succeed—and stay—in the CMO seat. He also dives into the role AI can play in strengthening personas, removing bias, and ultimately helping marketers become better strategic partners. If you're a marketing leader feeling the pressure to prove value through short-term metrics, this episode will help you rethink your role, and how to future-proof your impact. Memorable quote: “I did my best work when I wasn't afraid of getting fired.” – Joe Chernov What you'll learn in this episode: “Underpaid CROs”: Why many CMOs unknowingly mimic CROs, and how it's limiting their influence Pipeline vs. brand: The need to balance immediate performance metrics with long-term brand stewardship Maslow's hierarchy for marketers: Why predictable pipeline must come first—but can't be the end game AI's new role in marketing: How artificial intelligence can reshape persona development and uncover hidden customer insights The spirit of your role: Why aligning with the reason you were hired—not just your KPIs—matters for lasting impact The power of brand moments: A surprising sneaker story that connects influencer gifting to big revenue wins Resources & Links: Joe Chernov on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/jchernov/) Johann Wrede on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/johannwrede/) Battery Ventures (https://www.battery.com/) Nathan Isaacs on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathanisaacs/) Learn more about Insights Unlocked: https://www.usertesting.com/podcast

Are you worried your competitors are “winning” in AI search results?You're not alone. A lot of marketers, CMOs, and founders are asking the same thing.In this episode of the Grow & Convert Marketing Show, we break down:What AI visibility actually means (and why most tools get it wrong)Why “share of voice” metrics can create unnecessary panicHow to separate meaningful prompts from noiseThe strong connection between SEO rankings and AI overview rankingsA simple framework for deciding which topics actually matter for your brandRather than chasing every metric or competitor mention, we show you how to focus on the right queries, do the SEO fundamentals first, and build a strategy that drives long-term results.If you've ever felt stressed looking at an AI visibility report, this episode will help you filter out the noise and focus on what actually grows your business.

Should you hire BDRs or full cycle sales reps? Mark Niemiec, CRO of Salesloft thinks companies are shifting budgets away from BDR teams. At Salesloft, they already made the switch from sales engagement platform to what they call revenue orchestration.Mark's perspective: AE-generated pipeline converts 3-4x better than BDR pipeline. He predicts the BDR role that became popular around 2012 may not exist by 2026. The economics that created the BDR boom - cheap money and abundant VC funding - are gone.Mark runs revenue for a company that serves 5,000+ customers. Salesloft has captured 5-6 billion sales data points over time. When he talks about fundamental changes in B2B sales process, you listen.Mark answers the questions sales leaders are asking: Should you cut your BDR team? How does AI account planning actually work? What's the difference between sales engagement platforms and revenue orchestration? And why do most cold pitches to CROs fail?What Mark covers:

Putting the customer at the center has been preached for years, yet too often, B2B marketers are told to chase net new logos and leave expansion for someone else. That approach leaves growth on the table. Delighted customers are your advocates, your storytellers, your engine for long-term success. Every company says it listens to customers. In this conversation, Drew and guests Allyson Havener (HG Insights), JD Dillon (Tigo Energy), and Alan Gonsenhauser (Demand Revenue) show how listening turns into concrete action, how feedback becomes a system, and how customer voices drive lasting growth. In this episode:  Allyson on how reviews, surveys, and customer spotlights at TrustRadius feed marketing and influence buying decisions early  JD on how Tigo's Green Glove Program creates loyalty through installer support and a seal of quality  Alan on why retention is a financial driver CMOs must track as closely as revenue  Plus:  Why framing churn as retention keeps teams motivated  How to bring the customer voice into leadership discussions  The metrics that capture customer impact, from adoption to earned growth  How to operationalize cross-functional alignment around the customer  Catch this episode to hear how customer voices shape strategy, culture, and growth.  For full show notes and transcripts, visit https://renegademarketing.com/podcasts/ To learn more about CMO Huddles, visit https://cmohuddles.com/

Neste CMO Playbook, Rapha Avellar recebe Luiz Fernando Musa, Chief Executive do Grupo Ogilvy Brasil.Grande defensor da criatividade como diferencial competitivo, ele passou os últimos 30 anos criando campanhas de sucesso e vendo de perto todas as transformações do marketing das empresas e das agências de publicidade.Musa discute o papel da inteligência artificial, aconselha CMOs a "tirar as muletas" para abraçarem a mudança e ressalta que é preciso agir com humildade intelectual, e estar disposto a reaprender constantemente em um mundo onde "tudo está em cheque".Ainda dá dicas de como mover consumidores, focando na autenticidade e credibilidade, definindo o que a marca realmente acredita e entrega, e o executivo reflete sobre a importância do tempo e da construção de legado, contrastando com a mentalidade de gratificação instantânea.Siga o CMO Playbook na sua plataforma de áudio favorita e acompanhe os cortes dos melhores momentos no instagram: @cmo_playbook

SaaStr 819: Swapping Notes on the AI Revolution in Marketing with G2's CMO Sydney Sloan Welcome to Swapping Notes, a new SaaStr podcast series where we cut through the AI hype and get real about who's doing what with AI in B2B.  Amelia LeRutte, Chief AI Officer at SaaStr, and co-host Guillaume Cabane, Co-Founder and General Partner at HyperGrowth Partners, sit down with AI leaders from the companies to share notes and stories on what's working in AI.  In this episode, we swap notes with G2's CMO, Sydney Sloan. Together, we deep dive into the evolving role of AI in marketing and buyer behavior. We explore how AI is reshaping the buying process, the significance of brand trust, and the future of web experiences. The episode also covers the importance of AI orchestration roles and practical advice for founders and CMOs to adapt to the rapid advancements in AI tools and strategies. Tune in to discover insights on how to effectively integrate AI into your marketing efforts and stay ahead in the dynamic landscape. ---------------------   Fin is the #1 AI Agent for resolving complex queries like refunds, transaction disputes, and technical troubleshooting—all with speed and reliability. See how Fin can deliver the highest resolution rates and highest-quality customer experience at fin.ai/saastr. --------------------- If you're serious about B2B and AI, you need to be in London this December 2nd and 3rd.   SaaStr AI London is bringing together more than 2,000 leaders and founders for two days of practical advice on scaling into the new year.    We'll have speakers flying in from OpenAI, Wiz, Clay, Intercom, and all your favorite SaaS companies, including yours truly with Harry Stebbings for a live 20VC podcast. It'll be fun, and it's all in the heart of London.    Don't miss out: get your tickets with my exclusive discount by going to podcast.saastrlondon.com   ---------------------   Hey everybody, the biggest B2B + AI event of the year will be back - SaaStr AI in the SF Bay Area, aka the SaaStr Annual, will be back in May 2026.    With 68% VP-level and above, 36% CEOs and founders and a growing 25% AI-first professional, this is the very best of the best S-tier attendees and decision makers that come to SaaStr each year.     But here's the reality, folks: the longer you wait, the higher ticket prices can get. Early bird tickets are available now, but once they're gone, you'll pay hundreds more so don't wait.    Lock in your spot today by going to podcast podcast.saastrannual.com to get my exclusive discount SaaStr AI SF 2026. We'll see you there.

Send us a textIn Episode 5 of this season's Digital and Dirt podcast, Ian welcomes Lindsey Scheftic, Founder and CEO of The CMO Sidekick, to explain what inspired her to start her consulting business that helps mid-sized companies without CMOs access strategic marketing support. 

Cookies are out, context is in. People Inc.'s Jonathan Roberts joins The Big Impression to talk about how America's biggest publisher is using AI to reinvent contextual advertising with real-time intent.From Game of Thrones maps to the open web, Roberts believes content is king in the AI economy. Episode TranscriptPlease note, this transcript  may contain minor inconsistencies compared to the episode audio.Damian Fowler (00:00):I'm Damian Fowler, and welcome to this edition of The Big Impression. Today we're looking at how publishers are using AI to reinvent contextual advertising and why it's becoming an important and powerful alternative to identity-based targeting. My guest is Jonathan Roberts, chief Innovation Officer at People Inc. America's largest publisher, formerly known as Meredith. He's leading the charge with decipher an AI platform that helps advertisers reach audiences based on real time intent across all of People Inc. Site and the Open Web. We're going to break down how it works, what it means for advertisers in a privacy first world and why Jonathan's side hustle. Creating maps for Game of Thrones has something for teachers about building smarter ad tech. So let's get into it. One note, this episode was recorded before the company changed its name. After the Meredith merger, you had some challenges getting the business going again. What made you realize that sort of rethinking targeting with decipher could be the way to go?Jonathan Roberts (01:17):We had a really strong belief and always have had a strong belief in the power of great content and also great content that helps people do things. Notably and Meredith are both in the olden times, you would call them service journalism. They help people do things, they inspire people. It's not news, it's not sports. If you go to Better Homes and Gardens to understand how to refresh your living room for spring, you're going to go into purchase a lot of stuff for your living room. If you're planting seeds for a great garden, you're also going to buy garden furniture. If you're going to health.com, you're there because you're managing a condition. If you're going to all recipes, you're shopping for dinner. These are all places where the publisher and the content is a critical path on the purchase to doing something like an economically valuable something. And so putting these two businesses together to build the largest publisher in the US and one of the largest in the world was a real privilege. All combinations are hard. When we acquired Meredith, it is a big, big business. We became the largest print publisher overnight.(02:23):What we see now, because we've been growing strongly for many, many quarters, and that growth is continuing, we're public. You can see our numbers, the performance is there, the premium is there, and you can always sell anything once. The trick is will people renew when they come back? And now we're in a world where our advertising revenue, which is the majority of our digital revenue, is stable and growing, deeply reliable and just really large. And we underpin that with decipher. Decipher simply is a belief that what you're reading right now tells a lot more about who you are and what you are going to do than a cookie signal, which is two days late and not relevant. What you did yesterday is less relevant to what you need to do than what you're doing right now. And so using content as a real time predictive signal is very, very performant. It's a hundred percent addressable, right? Everyone's reading content when we target to, they're on our content and we guaranteed it would outperform cookies, and we run a huge amount of ad revenue and we've never had to pay it in a guarantee.Damian Fowler (03:34):It's interesting that you're talking about contextual, but you're talking about contextual in real time, which seems to be the difference. I mean, because some people hear contextually, they go, oh, well, that's what you used to do, place an ad next to a piece of content in the garden supplement or the lifestyle supplement, but this is different.Jonathan Roberts (03:53):Yes. Yeah. I mean, ensemble say it's 2001 called and once it's at Targeting strategy back, but all things are new again, and I think they're newly fresh and newly relevant, newly accurate because it can do things now that we were never able to do before. So one of the huge strengths of Meredith as a platform is because we own People magazine, we dominate entertainment, we have better homes and gardens and spruce, we really cover home. We have all recipes. We literally have all the recipes plus cereal, seeds plus food and wine. So we cover food. We also do tech, travel, finance and health, and you could run those as a hazard brands, and they're all great in their own, but there's no network effect. What we discovered was because I know we have a pet site and we also have real simple, and we know that if you are getting a puppy or you have an aging dog, which we know from the pet site, we know you massively over index for interest in cleaning products and cleaning ideas on real simple, right?Damian Fowler (04:55):Yeah.Jonathan Roberts (04:55):This doesn't seem like a shocking conclusion to have, but the fact that we have both tells us both, which also means that if you take a health site where we're helping people with their chronic conditions, we can see all the signals of exactly what help you need with your diet. Huge overlaps. So we have all the recipe content and we know exactly how that cross correlates with chronic conditions. We also know how those health conditions correlate into skincare because we have Brody, which deals with makeup and beauty, but also all the skincare conditions and finance, right? Health is a financial situation as much as it is a health situation, particularly in the us. And so by tying these together, because most of these situations are whole lifestyle questions, we can understand that if you're thinking about planning a cruise in the Mediterranean, you're a good target for Vanguard to market mutual funds to. Whereas if we didn't have both investipedia and travel leisure, we couldn't do that. And so there's nothing on that cruise page, on the page in the words that allows you to do keyword targeting for mutual funds.(05:55):But we're using the fact that we know that cruise is a predictor of a mutual fund purchase so that we can actually market to anyone in market per cruise. We know they've got disposable income, they're likely low risk, long-term buy andhold investors with value investing needs. And we know that because we have these assets now, we have about 1500 different topics that we track across all of DDM across 1.5 million articles, tens of millions of visits a day, billions a year. If you just look at the possible correlations between any of those taxonomies that's over a million, or if we go a level deeper, over a hundred million connected data points, you can score. We've scored all of them with billions of visits, and so we have that full map of all consumers.Damian Fowler (06:42):I wanted to ask you, of course, and you always get this question I'm sure, but you have a pretty unusual background for ad tech theoretical physics as you mentioned, and researcher at CERN and Mapmaker as well for Game of Thrones, but this isn't standard publisher experience, but how did all that scientific background play into the way you approached building this innovation?Jonathan Roberts (07:03):Yeah, I think when I first joined the company, which was a long time ago now, and one of the original bits of this company was about.com, one of the internet oh 0.1 OG sites, and there was daily data on human interest going back to January 1st, 2000 across over a thousand different topics. And in that case, tens of millions of articles. And the team said, is this useful? Is there anything here that's interesting? I was like, oh my god, you don't know what you've got because if you treat as a physicist coming in, I looked at this and was like, this is a, it's like a telescope recording all of human interest. Each piece of content is like a single pixel of your telescope. And so if somebody comes and visit, you're like, oh, I'm recording the interest of this person in this topic, and you've got this incredibly fine grained understanding of the world because you've got all these people coming to us telling us what they want every day.(08:05):If I'm a classic news publisher, I look at my data and I find out what headlines I broke, I look at my data and I learn more about my own editorial strategy than I do about the world. We do not as much tell the world what to think about. The world tells us what they care about. And so that if you treat that as just a pure experimental framework where this incredible lens into an understanding of the world, lots of things are very stable. Many questions that people ask, they always ask, but you understand why do they ask them today? What's causing the to what are the correlations between what they are understanding around our finance business through the financial crash, our health business, I ran directly through COVID. So you see this kind of real time change of the world reacting to big shocks and it allows you to predict what comes next, right? Data's lovely, but unless you can do something with it, it's useless.Damian Fowler (08:59):It's interesting to hear you talk about that consistency, the sort of predictability in some ways of, I guess intense signals or should we just say human behavior, but now we've got AI further, deeper into the mix.Jonathan Roberts (09:13):So we were the first US publisher to do a deal with open ai, and that comes in three parts. They paid for training on our content. They also agreed within the contract to source and cite our content when it was used. And the third part, the particularly interesting part, is co-development of new things. So we've been involved with them as they've been building out their search product. They've been involved with us as we've been evolving decipher, one of the pieces of decipher is saying, can I understand which content is related to which other content? And in old fashioned pre AI days when it was just machine learning and natural language processing, you would just look at words and word occurrence and important words, and you'd correlate them that way. With ai, you go from the word to the concept to the reasoning behind it to a latent understanding of these kind of deeper, deeper connections.(10:09):And so when we changed over literally like, is this content related to that content? Is this article similar in what it's treating to that article? If they didn't use the same words but they were talking about the same topic, the previous system would've missed it. This system gets deeper. It's like, oh, this is the same concept. This is the same user need. These are the same intentions. And so when we overhauled this kind of multimillion point to point connection calculation, we drastically changed about 30% of those connections and significantly improved them, gives a much reacher, much deeper understanding of our content. What we've also done is said, and this is a year thing that we launched it at the beginning of the year, we have decipher, which runs on site. We launched Decipher Plus Inventively named right? I like it. We debated Max or Max Plus, but we went with Plus.(10:59):And what this says is we understand the user intent on our sites. We know when somebody's reading content, we have a very strong predictor model of what that person's going to need to do next. And we said, well, we're not the only people with intent driven content and intent driven audiences. So we know that if you're reading about newborn health topics, you are three and a half times more likely than average to be in market for a stroller. We're not the only people that write about newborn health. So we can find the individual pages on the rest of the web that do talk about newborn health, and we can unlock that very strong prediction that this purchase intent there. And so then we can have a premium service that buy those ads and delivers that value to our clients. Now we do that mapping and we've indexed hundreds of premium domains with opening eyes vector, embedding architecture to build that logic.Damian Fowler (11:56):That's fascinating. So in lots of ways, you're helping other publishers beyond your owned and operated properties.Jonathan Roberts (12:02):We believed that there was a premium in publishing that hadn't been tapped. We proved that to be true. Our numbers support it. We bet 2.7 billion on that bet, and it worked. So we really put our money where our mouth is. We know there's a premium outside of our walls that isn't being unlocked, and we have an information advantage so we can bring more premium to the publishers who have that quality content.Damian Fowler (12:24):I've got lots of questions about that, but one of them is, alright. I guess the first one is why have publishers been so slow out of the starting blocks to get this right when on the media buying side you have all of this ad tech that's going on, DSPs, et cetera.Jonathan Roberts (12:42):I think partly it's because publishers have always been a participant in the ad tech market off to one side. I put this back to the original sin of Ad Tech, which is coming in and saying, don't worry about it, publishers, we know your audience better than you ever will. That wasn't true then, and it's not true today, but Ad Tech pivoted the market to that position and that meant the publishers were dependent upon ad Tech's understanding of their audience. Now, if you've got a cookie-based understanding of an audience, how does a publisher make that cookie-based audience more valuable? Well, they don't because you're valuing the cookie, not the real time signal. And there is no such thing as cookie targeting. It's all retargeting. All the cookie signal is yesterday Signal. It's only what they did before they came to your site, dead star like or something, right? The publisher definitionally isn't influencing the value of that cookie. So an ad tech is valuing the cookie. The only thing the publisher can do to make more money is add scale, which is either generate clickbait because that's the cheapest way to get audience scale or run more ads on the page.(13:57):Cookies as a currency for advertising and targeting is the reason we currently have the internet We deserve, not the internet we want because the incentive is to cheap scale. If instead you can prove that the content is driving the value, the content is driving the decision and the content is driving the outcome, then you invest in more premium content. If you're a publisher, the second world is the one you want. But we had a 20 year distraction from understanding the value of content. And we're only now coming back to, I think one thing I'm very really happy to see is since we launched a cipher two years ago, there are now multiple publishers coming out with similarly inspired targeting architecture or ideas about how to reach quality, which is just a sign that the market has moved, right? Or the market moving and retargeting still works. Cookies are good currency, they do drive performance. If they didn't, it would never worked in the first place. But the ability to understand and classify premium content at web scale, which is what decipher Plus is a map for all intent across the entire open web is the thing that's required for quality content to be competitive with cookies as targeting mechanism and to beat it atDamian Fowler (15:15):Scale. You mentioned how this helps you reach all these third party sites beyond your properties. How do you ensure that there's still quality in the, there's quality content that match the kind of signals that makes decipher work?Jonathan Roberts (15:32):Tell me, not all content on the internet is beautiful, clean and wonderful. Not allDamian Fowler (15:36):Premium is it?Jonathan Roberts (15:36):I know there's a lot of made for arbitrage out there. Look, we, we've been a publisher for a long time. We've acquired a lot of publishers over the years, and every time we have bought a publisher, we have had to clean up the content because cheap content for scale is a siren call of publishing. Like, oh, I can get these eyeballs cheaper. Oh, wonderful. I know I just do that. And everyone gives it on some level to that, right? So we have consistently cleaned up content libraries every time we've acquired publishers. Look at the very beginning about had maybe 10 to 15 million euros. By the time we launched these artists and these individual vertical sites were down to 250,000 pages of content. It was a bigger business and it was a better business. The other side is the actual ad layout has to be good,Damian Fowler (16:29):ButJonathan Roberts (16:29):Every time we've picked up a publisher, we've removed ads from the site. Increase, yeah, experience quality,Damian Fowler (16:33):Right?Jonathan Roberts (16:36):Because we've audited multiple publishers for the cleanup, we have an incredibly detailed understanding of what quality content is. We have lots of, this is our special skill as a publisher. We can go into a publisher, identify the content and see what's good.Damian Fowler (16:54):Is that part of your pitch as it were, to people who advertisers?Jonathan Roberts (16:58):We work lots of advertisers. We're a huge part of the advertising market because we cover all the verticals. We have endemics in every space. If you're trying to do targeting based on identity, we have tens of millions of people a day. It'll work. You will find them with us, we reach the entire country every month. We are a platform scale publisher. So at no point do we saying don't do that, obviously do that, right? But what we're saying is there's a whole bunch of people who you can't identify, either they don't have cookies or IDs or because the useful data doesn't exist yet. It's not attached to those IDs. So incremental, supplementary and additional to reach the people in the moment with a hundred percent addressability, full national reach, complete privacy compliance, just the content, total brand safety. And we will put these two things side by side and we will guarantee that the decipher targeting will outperform the cookie targeting, which isn't say don't do cookie targeting, obviously do it. It works, it's successful. This is incremental and also will outperform. And then it just depends on the client, right? Some people want brand lift and brand consideration. They want big flashy things. We run People Magazine, we host the Grammy after party. We can do all the things you need from a large partner more than just media, but also we can get you right down to, for some partners with big deals, we guarantee incremental roas,Damian Fowler (18:26):ActualJonathan Roberts (18:26):In-store sales, incremental lift.Damian Fowler (18:29):So let's talk about roas. What's driving advertisers to lean in so heavily?Jonathan Roberts (18:34):Well, I think everybody's seen this over the last couple of years. In a high interest or environment, the CMOs getting asked, what's the return on my ad spend? So whereas previously you might've just been able to do a big flashy execution or activation. Now everybody wants some level of that media spend to be attributable to lift to dollars, to return to performance, because every single person who comes through our sites is going to do something after they come. We're never the last stop in that journey, and we don't sell you those garden seeds. We do not sell you the diabetes medication directly. We are going to have to hand you off to a partner who is going to be the place you take the economic action. So we are in the path to purchase for every single purchase on Earth.(19:19):And what we've proven with decipher is not only that we can be in that pathway and put the message in the path of that person who is going to make a decision, has not made one yet. But when we put the messaging in front of it of that person at the time, it changes their decisions, which is why it's not just roas, which could just be handing out coupons in the line to the pizza store. It's incremental to us, if you did not do this, you would have made less money. When you do this, you'll make more money. And having got to a point where we've now got multiple large campaigns, both for online action and brick and mortar stores that prove that when we advertise the person at this moment, they change their decision and they make their brand more money. Turns out that's not the hardest conversation to have with marketers. Truly, truly, if you catch people at the right moment, you will change their mind.Damian Fowler (20:10):They'll happily go back to their CFO and say, look at this. This is workingJonathan Roberts (20:15):No controversially at can. During the festival of advertising that we have as a publisher, we may be the most confident to say, you know what? Advertising works.Damian Fowler (20:27):You recently brought in a dedicated president to leadJonathan Roberts (20:30):Decipher,Damian Fowler (20:30):Right? So how does that help you take what started out as this in-house innovation that you've been working on and turn it into something even bigger?Jonathan Roberts (20:39):Yeah, I think my background is physics. I was a theoretical physicist for a decade. Theoretical physicists have some good and bad traits. A good trait is a belief that everything can be solved. Because my previous job was wake up in the morning and figure out how the universe began and like, well, today I'll figure it out. And nobody else has, right? There's a level of, let's call it intellectual confidence or arrogance in that approach. How hard can it be? The answer is very, but it also means you're a little bit of a diante, right? You're coming like, oh, it's ad tech. How hard can it be? And the just vary, right? So there's a benefit. I mean, I've done a lot of work in ad tech over the last couple of years. Jim Lawson, our president of Decipher, ran a publicly listed DSP, right? He was a public company, CEO, he knows this stuff inside a and back to front, Lindsay Van Kirk on the Cipher team launched the ADN Nexus, DSP, Patrick McCarthy, who runs all of our open web and a lot of our trade desk partnerships and the execution of all of the ways we connect into the entire ecosystem.(21:38):Ran product for AppNexus. Sam Selgin on the data science team wrote that Nexus bitter. I've got a good idea where we're going with this and where we should go with this and the direction we should be pointed in. But we have seasoned multi-decade experience pros doing the work because if you don't, you can have a good idea and bad execution, then you didn't do anything. Unless you can execute to the highest level, it won't actually work. And so we've had to bring in, I'm very glad we have brought in and love having them on the team. These people who can really take the beginnings of what we have and really take this to the scale that needs to be. Decipher. Plus is a framework for understanding user intent at Webscale and getting performance for our clients and unlocking a premium at Webscale. That is a huge project to go after and pull off. We have so many case studies proving that it will work, but we have a long way to go between where we are and where this thing naturally gets to. And that takes a lot of people with a lot of professional skills to go to.Damian Fowler (22:43):What's one thing right now that you're obsessed with figuring outJonathan Roberts (22:46):To take a complete left turn, but it is the topic up and down the Cosette this summer. There isn't currently any viable model for information economy in an AI future. There's lots of ideas of what it would be, but there isn't a subtle marketplace for this. We've got a very big two-sided marketplace for information. It's called Google and search. That's obviously changing. We haven't got to a point to understand what that future is. But if AI is powered by chips, power and content, if you're a chip investor, you're in a good place. If you're investing energy, you're in a good place of the three picks and shovels investments, content is probably the most undervalued at the moment. Lots of people are starting to realize that and building under the hood what that could look like. How that evolves in the next year is going to really determine what kind of information gets created because markets align to their incentives. If you build the marketplace well, you're going to end up with great content, great journalism, great creativity. If you build it wrong, you're going to have a bunch of cheap slop getting flooded the marketplace. And we are not going to fund great journalism. So that's at a moment in time where that future is getting determined and we have a very strong set of opinions on the publishing side, what that should look like. And I am very keen to make sure it gets done. You soundDamian Fowler (24:17):Optimistic.Jonathan Roberts (24:19):A year ago, the VCs and the technologists believed if you just slammed enough information into an AI system, you'd never need content ever again. And that the brain itself was the moat. Then deep seek proved that the brain wasn't a moat. That reasoning is a commodity because we found out that China could do it cheaper and faster, and we were shocked, shocked that China could do it cheaper and faster. And then the open source community rebuilt deep to in 48 hours, which was the real killer. So if reasoning is a commodity, which it is now, then content is king, right? Because reasoning on its own is free, but if you're grounding it in quality content, your answer's better. But the market dynamics have not caught up to that reality. But that is the reality. So I am optimistic that content goes back to our premium position in this. Now we just have to do all the boring stuff of figuring out what a viable marketplace looks like, how people get paid, all of this, all the hard work, but there's now a future model to align to.Damian Fowler (25:23):I love that. Alright, I've got to ask you this question. It's the last one, but I was going to ask it. You spent time building maps, visualizing data, and I've looked at your site, it's brilliant. Is there anything from that side of your creativity that helped you think differently about building say something like decipher?Jonathan Roberts (25:42):Yeah. So I think it won't surprise anyone to find out that I'm a massive nerd, right? I used to play d and d, I still do. We have my old high school group still convenes on Sunday afternoons, and we play d and d over Discord. Fantasy maps have been an obsession of mine for a long time. I did the fantasy maps of Game of Thrones. I'm George r Martin's cartographer. I published the book Lands of Ice and Fire with him. Maps are infographics. A map is a way of taking a complex system that you cannot visualize and bringing it to a world in which you can reason about it. I spent a lot of my life taking complex systems that nobody can visualize and building models and frameworks that help people reason about 'em and make decisions in a shared way. At this moment, as you're walking up and down the cosette, there is no map for the future. Nobody has a map, nobody has a plan. Not Google, not Microsoft, not Amazon, not our friends at OpenAI. Nobody knows what's coming. And so even just getting, but lots of people have ideas and opinions and thoughts and directions. So taking all that input and rationalize again to like, okay, if we lay it out like this, what breaks? Being able to logically reason about those virtual scenario. It is exactly the same process, that mental model as Matt.Damian Fowler (27:12):And that's it for this edition of The Big Impression. This show is produced by Molten Hart. Our theme is by loving caliber, and our associate producer is Sydney Cairns. And remember,Jonathan Roberts (27:22):We do not as much tell the world what to think about. The world tells us what they care about. Data's lovely, but unless you do something with it, it's useless.Damian Fowler (27:31):I'm Damian, and we'll see you next time.

AI isn't just transforming marketing — it's reshaping the entire customer experience.In this special crossover episode, Experts of Experience features a conversation from our sister podcast Marketing Trends, hosted by Stephanie Postles.Stephanie sits down with Amber Armstrong, CMO of Salesforce Applications, to explore how AI and LLMs are changing discoverability, customer journeys, and the future of CX. Amber shares how her team is rethinking SEO for generative search, converting 40% of LLM traffic into leads, and rolling out AI agents at scale through Salesforce's Agentforce.If you want to understand how AI is reshaping customer expectations and how leading CMOs are adapting, this episode offers a practical playbook for the generative era. Key Moments: 00:00 How AI and LLMs Are Reshaping the Marketing Funnel03:54 Amber Armstrong's Journey from IBM Intern to CMO at Salesforce06:35 The Expanding Role of AI in Modern Marketing Teams08:52 Inside Salesforce's Guild System: How Amber Aligns Teams Across Four Clouds17:31 Real AI Use Cases from Amber Armstrong's Marketing Team at Salesforce26:40 Amber Armstrong's Playbook for Future-Proofing SEO in the Age of LLMs30:55 How Salesforce's Website Converts 40% of LLM Traffic into Leads35:58 Building AI Agents at Scale: Lessons from Salesforce's Agent Force Rollout37:53 The Ongoing Role of Third-Party Validation in Buyer Decision-Making39:49 Amber Armstrong on Adapting Marketing Metrics for an AI-First Future40:40 How Salesforce Aligns Content Strategy Across Business Units44:56 Amber Armstrong's Advice for Getting Teams Comfortable with AI Tools51:24 Salesforce's Next Big Moves: Account-Based Marketing and Cross-Cloud Growth   –Are your teams facing growing demands? Join CX leaders transforming their AI strategy with Agentforce. Start achieving your ambitious goals. Visit salesforce.com/agentforce Mission.org is a media studio producing content alongside world-class clients. Learn more at mission.org

What really drives business growth today? Gwen Hammes, co-CEO of Cro Metrics, joins me to share how she went from global agency leader to data-driven growth strategist - helping brands like Google, Hyatt, Bombas, and Talkspace unlock next-level success.In this conversation, Gwen reveals what most leaders miss when it comes to AI, martech, and website strategy, and why the human element still matters more than ever. We also talk about customer journey insights that might surprise you, the key to building trust in a digital world, and why hobbies might be the real secret to career fulfillment.If you're a founder, CMO, or curious lifelong learner, Gwen's perspective will inspire you to experiment, evolve, and lean into the joy of building something impactful.

Adopting AI isn't about tools. It's about trust, training, and transformation. And yes, about CMO's getting their hands on the keyboard. In this Huddles Quick Take, GenAI consultants Tahnee Perry and Liza Adams break down the most common mistakes CMOs make when rolling out GenAI—from skipping change management to misunderstanding what “hands-on” really means for leaders.   They also share practical use cases (like reducing a six-week video workflow to two) and explain why a great AI strategy is rooted in empathy, context, and curiosity—not just efficiency.  What You'll Learn:  Why productivity gains mean nothing without training and team buy-in  The difference between thought partnership and bad prompting  What to measure when making the case for GenAI investment   

Many health systems are at capacity, but is that the same as growth? In this episode, Chris Bevolo and Stephanie Wierwille discuss why health systems being “full” might be hiding deeper risks, from missed opportunities to stalled innovation. Plus: we talk about Walgreens' latest restructuring, and the rise of fractional CMOs. Tune in now. Read our blog, "You're Full, But Are You Growing?" here. Subscribe to The No Normal Rewind, our newsletter featuring a mashup of the boldest ideas, sharpest takes, and most rewind-worthy moments from our podcast — right here.

In this episode of The Fractional CMO Show, Casey Stanton takes you inside a real “day in the life” of a fractional CMO—pulling back the curtain on what it actually looks like to serve clients at the highest level without burning out. He explains why Mondays are heavy, Fridays are light, and why designing your week this way gives you both structure and freedom. Casey also digs into the mindset shift that separates successful CMOs from those stuck playing small: delegating everything except leadership, building teams around encouragement and outcomes, and practicing the lost art of predicting the future. He shares why solving bigger problems is the only path to higher pay and deeper impact—and why asymmetric upside deals (equity, phantom stock, revenue share) are often worth more than cash retainers alone. You'll hear why the best Fractional CMOs aren't micromanagers but vision-setters, why niching down unlocks real earning potential, and why this moment—amidst AI-driven marketing shakeups—is the perfect time to step into this role. Key Topics Covered: • What a “day in the life” really looks like for a fractional CMO • Why Mondays should be heavy and Fridays should be free • How to delegate everything except leadership • Building teams through encouragement and outcome-based management • Creating bonus structures that foster collaboration and ownership  •The three pillars of great fractional leadership: solve bigger problems, delegate, predict the future • Why niching down multiplies your value and credibility • How to structure asymmetric upside deals (beyond retainers) • Why now is the best time to enter the fractional CMO space  

In this episode of Executive Conversations, Maeva Cifuentes speaks with Kathleen Booth, Senior Vice President of Marketing at Pavilion. Kathleen shares her perspective on why so many marketers today feel cornered—expected to own revenue without the resources, time, or internal alignment to succeed. She explores the short-termism trap, where overreliance on pipeline metrics erodes brand value and creates long-term risk. Kathleen talks about the limits of “educating up” in VC- and PE-backed environments, and why mindset alignment with the CEO is non-negotiable for long-term success.She also makes a bold case for why CMOs stepping into CRO roles isn't a concession—it's a power move. Kathleen challenges assumptions about marketing's role in revenue leadership and shares how broader executive support, including structural changes like guaranteed severance, can give leaders the freedom to place high-impact bets.

What if your competitors are using PR to drive revenue while you're still chasing headlines? Most B2B leaders still think of PR as press releases and media mentions. But here's the truth: companies winning today are using PR as a strategic growth lever, integrated into sales, marketing, and customer success to drive measurable revenue impact. In this episode of Revenue Boost: A Marketing Podcast, host Kerry Curran sits down with Kristin Hege, Founder & CEO of Convey Communications, to uncover why the future of B2B PR is AI-driven, story-powered, and revenue-focused. Drawing on original research with 300 CMOs, Kristin reveals how growth leaders are twice as likely to embed PR into their GTM engine and why those who don't risk falling behind. You'll learn: Why PR must move beyond press releases to deliver pipeline, trust, and long-term brand equity How to align PR with product marketing, sales, and customer success for faster revenue impact The rising role of AI search and third-party review sites (G2, TrustRadius) in shaping buyer perception How to repurpose thought leadership across formats. From media coverage to TikTok shorts, to do more with less Practical ways to build executive buy-in and prove the ROI of PR This episode is a must-listen for CMOs, B2B tech leaders, and founders who want to strengthen their brand narrative, maximize content ROI, and ensure PR is fueling business growth, not just headlines. Stay tuned to the end, where Kristin shares how brands can start small, prove value fast, and scale PR into a revenue-driving function. Flat or slowing revenue? Let's fix that—fast. Revenue Boost: A Marketing Podcast gives you proven plays, sharp insights, and “steal-this-today” tactics to power your revenue engine.

“When it comes to climate – a brand cannot effectively power growth if it has an albatross around its neck, managing reputational risk is a huge part of a CMO's job today.” In this episode of Can Marketing Save the Planet? we kick off our “CMO mini-series” and catch up with Nick Lembo, Head of Marketing at Isometric, a carbon registry on a mission to reveal trust in carbon markets. Nick provides an expert breakdown of the carbon removal market he's involved in, explaining how organisations can, and are, purchasing scientifically verified credits to offset their unavoidable emissions. We discuss a whole host of areas with Nick, focusing in at times on the role of CMOs and the tensions between ambitious growth targets and authentic, defensible sustainability commitments. From brand and growth, which we know are intrinsically linked, to managing reputational risk, these are a core function of marketing leadership, which as environmental and societal challenges grow, become ever more complex. Nick offers pragmatic advice on building internal partnerships, finding your stories, and communicating progress without falling into the traps of greenwashing. We discuss the situation many have watched unfold this year, with organisations seemingly pulling back from sustainability commitments or at least, pulling back from communicating them. From Nick's perspective he reveals, "The reality that we're seeing on the ground is that organisations are absolutely still committed to climate goals and still making progress, most companies, when you actually dig a layer deeper, still have really aggressive emissions reductions and climate goals." When it comes to communicating what you are doing, Nick explains, “the reputational risk of not meeting your sustainability claims for your stakeholders is really real and can be a real drag on your growth, I think managing that is a huge part of a CMO's role today, if they don't want to dilute their brand.” This episode, along with the others in this mini-series provide food for thought for CMOs and senior marketer. So… Tune in as we talk to Nick about. The reality vs. the headlines – what are organisations doing. Credible carbon removal - the difference between legacy carbon credits and new, scientifically rigorous carbon removal, and why this matters for making defensible marketing claims. Why sustainability is not a trade-off but a critical force multiplier for your brand and a key lever for mitigating reputational risk. How CMOs can partner with sustainability officers as the internal experts, and learn to tell compelling, human stories backed by data. The need for CMOs to understand their organisational (sustainability) commitments, stepping forward to do the work and, communicating the small wins on the road to progress. For more information about Nick and the work he does at Isometric visit https://isometric.com/ . Enjoy - and if you love the podcast, share with your friends, family and colleagues. More to come in this series… and it's great to be back! ________________________________________________________________________ About us… We help Marketers save the planet. 

Is traditional marketing facing an uphill swim? How much money have you lost in marketing that doesn’t work? Join Michelle Martin as she dives into Swimming Downstream by Judd Labarthe, a strategist who’s guided brands like Volkswagen, Mastercard, Nestlé, and Leica. Discover why he believes marketing is “broken,” driven by myth, opinion, and herd mentality - and how businesses can stop wasting money on tactics that don’t drive growth. Explore the evidence-based principles of winning new customers, building brand fame, and measuring true success. Judd also shares why CEOs - not just CMOs - must be part of the marketing conversation, and how AI could help or hurt the industry’s future. Hosted by Michelle Martin.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Law firms continue to struggle with getting their lawyers to cross-sell effectively, leaving significant revenue untapped. The good news is that with the right strategic shift, firms can close the gap between their professionals and cross-selling success. In this episode of the CMO Series, Yasmin Zand is joined by Threshold Advisors Managing Partner, Dr. Karen Kahn, to talk about how firms can do this effectively. Karen is a psychologist, certified coach, and the author of Daunting to Doable.  In this episode, Karen breaks down how law firms can turn relationships into revenue by making cross-selling simple, authentic, and lawyer-focused. She shares the mindset shifts, behaviors, and tech tools that help CMOs and leaders move from broad strategies to personalized, practical business development that actually sticks.   Karen and Yasmin dive into: Karen's career journey in psychology and the pivotal moment she decided to work with law firms The core reasons why cross-selling is central to firms' growth and the barriers stopping lawyers from cross-selling The shift in Business Development from macro to micro and ways firms can better support their professionals The key mindset lawyers need to adopt in order to grow in confidence and successfully cross-sell The role of technology and AI in transforming lawyers' habits into effective cross-selling behaviors Advice for CMOs and marketing leaders wanting to close the cross-selling gap and get their lawyers cross-selling effectively

AI marketing strategies are changing the game for CMOs, agencies, and digital leaders — and in this episode, Tim Peters, CMO of Guideline AI breaks down what's working in 2025 and what's coming next.From managing advertising spend data to leveraging artificial intelligence in advertising, Tim shares decades of experience in B2B marketing, working with startups, global brands, and everything in between.If you're a CMO, founder, or agency owner searching for answers to:“Where should I spend my ad budget next year?”“How do I scale faster without hiring more?”“Which content channels are worth investing in?”“How do I use AI in my sales and marketing efforts?”…this episode delivers clear, insightful, and actionable answers.

Ad Age senior agency reporter Lindsay Rittenhouse goes inside the growing trend of brand-agency marriage counseling. Rather than jumping straight into a costly and time-intensive agency review, consultancies are increasingly suggesting services that evaluate the existing relationship, and potentially improve both the agency and brand's practices. Plus, Group Black is changing its name to Portrait Media Group. In an exclusive interview with Ad Age, co-founder Bonin Bough explained the reason as well as the company's future path. And one change for future CMOs is the rise of test-running roles before committing full-time. Read more on how to get noticed for interim marketing positions. Dig deeper on the topics mentioned in this week's episode: ~Inside brand-agency marriage counselling ~The stats on client-agency tenure ~Google won't be forced to sell Chrome ~What Kraft Heinz's reorganization means for its future ~Keep up with the latest account reviews ~Buy tickets to Ad Age's Business of Brands conference ~Listen to Manscaped's CMO talk unconventional media strategies

Christine Royston is the Chief Marketing Officer at Wrike, an intelligent work management platform that helps teams build, connect, automate, and scale workflows. She joined in June 2024 after more than 20 years in B2B enterprise marketing. Before Wrike, Christine was VP and Global Head of Marketing at Udemy, where she helped grow annual recurring revenue from $100M to over $450M and led initiatives including an IPO and rebrand. She also held leadership roles at Bitly, Dropbox, Imperva, and Salesforce. In this episode… In today's marketing landscape, every dollar spent is under a microscope, and leaders are under pressure to prove impact faster than ever. How can CMOs align their budgets, metrics, and customer strategies to show real business value while navigating constant change? According to Christine Royston, a seasoned B2B marketing leader with global experience, the key is balance. She emphasizes that marketing must be both data-driven and customer-focused, ensuring pipeline and bookings remain at the center of conversations with executives. She highlights how aligning budgets with measurable outcomes builds trust across the business and creates room for innovation. By focusing on efficiency, clear communication, and proactive performance tracking, marketing leaders can demonstrate value early and often. In this episode of the Revenue Engine Podcast, host Alex Gluz sits down with Christine Royston, Chief Marketing Officer at Wrike, to discuss how CMOs can align budgets, metrics, and customer value. She explains why data transparency builds stronger executive relationships, how to balance brand and demand generation, and the role of customer-centric thinking in growth. Christine also shares insights on adapting to AI-driven changes in marketing.

On Brand: Taylor's Version is a 4-episode mini-series exploring Taylor Swift's brand brilliance — from storytelling and community to cultural hitmaking and reinvention. Guests include bestselling authors, top CMOs, and academic experts who break down what businesses and leaders can learn from the world's ultimate hitmaker. New bonus episodes drop every Thursday through October 2nd, leading up to the release of The Life of a Showgirl.

Marketing teams waste 73% of their budget on misdirected campaigns. Eddie Patzsch, marketing strategist at Optimove, explains why data integration outperforms content personalization when resources are limited and shares insights from working with enterprise CMOs who prioritize technical foundations over creative campaigns. The discussion covers frameworks for shifting from perception-based to data-driven marketing decisions and strategies for building technical marketing leadership that drives measurable ROI through accurate audience targeting.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week, Cathy McKnight, Chief Problem Solver at Seventh Bear, makes her monthly visit to the studio, and she and our host Ian Truscott explore whether, in 2025, the term CMS (Content Management System) is still relevant to CMOs with all the other acronyms and buzzwords around content operations today. Some talking points from this week: With the advances in page builder solutions to deliver multi-channel and multi-language websites, do organizations need enterprise solutions? What needs must enterprises have to justify an enterprise solution (like Adobe or Sitecore) versus a simpler solution? Do organizations handle workflow and orchestration within the CMS? Is Headless the natural successor to the content management principles of old? As usual, when Ian and Cathy get together, they dive into their inner content geeks, and as always, we welcome your feedback.  Enjoy! — The Links The people: Ian Truscott on LinkedIn and Bluesky Cathy McKnight on LinkedIn Mentioned this week: LinkedIn post by Gartner Analyst, Irina Guseva Cathy's firm - Seventh Bear Rockstar CMO: The Beat Newsletter that we send every Monday Rockstar CMO on the web and LinkedIn Previous episodes and all the show notes: Rockstar CMO FM. Track List: We'll be right back by Stienski & Mass Media on YouTube You can listen to this on all good podcast platforms, like Apple, Amazon, and Spotify. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

CMO Confidential — “What Your CFO Wants to Tell You (But Won't)” with CNA CFO Scott LindquistWhat does a great CFO really think about marketing? Mike Linton sits down with Scott Lindquist—CFO of CNA Financial and former long-time CFO of Farmers—to decode the finance side of brand building, performance spend, and the politics of the boardroom. They cover how CMOs should onboard a new CFO, why “marketing math” wins over skeptics, mistakes to avoid in board presentations, and how insurers used bold brand bets to become category killers.What you'll learn • The four archetypes of CFOs—and how to work with each • Why CFOs who are “joined at the hip” with the CEO think differently about growth • How to explain cost of capital and present value like a marketer (and win budget) • The insurance playbook: brand investment, DTC distribution, and lifetime value • Why every large marketing org needs a Marketing CFO (and how to set it up) • Boardroom pitfalls: jargon, 100-slide decks for 20 minutes, and “draining the slide” • Practical tips for building trust: bring the data, surface bad news early, and speak in outcomesGuestScott Lindquist — Chief Financial Officer, CNA Financial. Former CFO, Farmers Insurance. Started at PwC and has led finance through growth, turnarounds, and public-company scrutiny.HostMike Linton — Former CMO of Best Buy, eBay, and Farmers; former CRO of Ancestry. Host of CMO Confidential, the #1 CMO show on YouTube.Who should watchCMOs, CEOs, CFOs, board members, founders, and marketing leaders who need tighter finance alignment and clearer ROI storytelling.Brought to you by TypefaceLegacy marketing tools weren't built for AI. Typeface is the first multimodal, agentic AI marketing platform that turns one idea into thousands of on-brand assets—across ads, email, and video—while integrating with your MarTech stack and meeting enterprise-grade security needs. See how brands like ASICS and Microsoft accelerate content at scale: typeface.ai/cmo.—If you're enjoying the show, please like, comment, and subscribe. New episodes every Tuesday; companion newsletter with the top insights every Friday.#CMOConfidential #CFO #MarketingROI #BrandBuilding #B2BMarketingCMO Confidential, Mike Linton, Scott Lindquist, CNA Financial, Farmers Insurance, CFO, CMO, marketing CFO, finance and marketing alignment, cost of capital, present value, marketing math, LTV, lifetime value, CAC, board presentations, brand valuation, insurance marketing, DTC insurance, Geico, Progressive, performance marketing, media spend, marketing ROI, budgeting, enterprise marketing, MarTech, agentic AI, Typeface AI, ASICS, Microsoft, PwC, executive leadership, C-suite, category strategy, growth strategy, B2B marketing, B2C marketing, onboarding a CFO, sponsorships, vendor management, marketing governance, data-driven marketing, brand building, boardroom communication, enterprise security, AI marketing platformSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this episode of The Fractional CMO Show, Casey Stanton gets deeply personal—sharing how his father's passing revealed the true freedom that comes with fractional leadership. He unpacks why building teams around trust, grace, and outcomes—not hours logged—creates a business that keeps moving even when life interrupts. Casey also walks through a counterintuitive client story: why niching down matters for outreach, but why you should never turn away an opportunity when it lands in your lap. And he makes the case for charging based on risk—not just revenue—so you stop underselling your expertise and start playing at the level your clients actually need.   You'll hear why the best fractional CMOs aren't micromanagers but vision-setters, why specificity beats generalism when you're building authority, and why premium pricing is the only way to align yourself with businesses that take growth seriously.   Key Topics Covered:   -The freedom fractional work provides during life's hardest seasons -How absence can force teams to innovate and self-direct -Why outcome-based leadership beats hours-based management -The hidden downside of being a generalist CMO -Why you should niche for outreach but say yes to unexpected opportunities -Pricing based on risk vs. seed funding or revenue numbers -How premium positioning attracts clients who want to win big -The mindset shift that separates high-value CMOs from those stuck playing small

Text us your thoughts on the episode or the show!In this episode of Ops Cast by MarketingOps.com, powered by The MO Pros, Michael Hartmann speaks with Ahmed Datoo, CEO and co-founder of Allgood and a self-described recovering CMO.Ahmed reflects on his time leading marketing teams and shares a candid perspective on why CMOs struggle with attribution, budget allocation for MarketingOps, and the ongoing pressure to justify impact across creative, analytical, and strategic dimensions. The conversation also covers the shift from rules-based to reasoning-based systems and the role of AI in modern marketing teams.In this episode, you'll learn • Why attribution often creates more conflict than clarity • What makes MarketingOps hard to fund and even harder to scale • How AI and digital employees like “Mary” can ease team burnout • The real reason CMOs burn out and what can be done differentlyThis is a must-listen for marketing and revenue professionals who want to understand how marketing leadership views operations, resourcing, and emerging technologies like AI.Episode Brought to You By MO Pros The #1 Community for Marketing Operations Professionals Visit UTM.io and tell them the Ops Cast team sent you. Join us at MOps-Apalooza: https://mopsapalooza.com/Save 10% with code opscast10Support the show

Marketing today should be a team sport. The companies that thrive are the ones who align product and brand around a shared mission. In this week's episode of Growth Talks, Pranav Piyush, CEO of Paramark, joins host Krystina Rubino to share leadership strategies for aligning product, marketing, and finance to drive business success. As a former marketing leader at companies like BILL and Adobe,  Pranav unpacks how to recognize growth plateaus, lead change with clarity, and foster high-trust relationships with finance. From refining your brand-performance connection to activating your community as a true growth engine, this episode provides sharp insights for building a company that lasts.

Sales and marketing teams at war? You're not alone. While most companies treat these as separate functions fighting for resources, the winning businesses have cracked the code on true revenue alignment.In this eye-opening episode, I sit down with A. Lee Judge, author of "CASH" and founder of Content Monster, who reveals the uncomfortable truth about why some companies are eliminating CMO positions entirely and replacing them with Chief Revenue Officers. But it's not what you think.Lee, who uniquely served as both a marketer managing Salesforce and a bridge between warring departments, shares the simple meeting strategy that transformed competing teams into unified revenue machines. You'll discover the specific metrics that keep marketers employed when budget cuts come, and why learning to "speak sales language" isn't just helpful—it's survival.Key Takeaways:Why the traditional marketing "handoff" to sales is dead (and what replaces it)The sports team analogy that will change how you view sales and marketing foreverHow to reverse-engineer closed deals to discover what marketing actually worksThe meeting hack that eliminates silos and creates alignment overnightSpecific revenue-focused KPIs that prove marketing's worth to the C-suiteWhy 80% of the customer journey happens before sales gets involvedWhether you're running a team of 2 or 200, the principles Lee shares about creating feedback loops, shared metrics, and collaborative systems will transform how you think about growing your business. Perfect for marketing professionals, entrepreneurs, business owners, and anyone tired of internal battles hurting their bottom line.Warning: This episode challenges everything most businesses believe about sales and marketing departments. Listen only if you're ready to revolutionize your revenue approach.Guest Resources:A. Lee Judge's book "CASH: The 4 Keys to Better Sales, Smarter Marketing, and a Supercharged Revenue Machine" - Available on AmazonContent Monster (Lee's multimedia content agency) - contentmonsta.comA. Lee Judge's website - aleejudge.comLearn More: Buy Digital Threads: https://nealschaffer.com/digitalthreadsamazon Buy Maximizing LinkedIn for Business Growth: https://nealschaffer.com/maximizinglinkedinamazon Join My Digital First Mastermind: https://nealschaffer.com/membership/ Learn about My Fractional CMO Consulting Services: https://nealschaffer.com/cmo Download My Free Ebooks Here: https://nealschaffer.com/books/ Subscribe to my YouTube Channel: https://youtube.com/nealschaffer All My Podcast Show Notes: https://podcast.nealschaffer.com

Every product launch is a countdown to liftoff. High stakes. High visibility. High chance of failure if systems aren't in sync. Misaligned messaging, unready sellers, vaporware promises. There are endless ways to completely blow it. In this episode, Melanie Marcus (Surescripts), Kevin Brooks (Surescripts), and John Hale (Consilio) join Drew to dig into what it takes to pull off a successful launch. They explain why alignment cannot be assumed, how preparation has to be disciplined and ongoing, and why CMOs need to surface tough truths before the market does. Marketing may set the pace, but lasting success only happens when the entire company rallies behind the story and delivers it together. In this episode:  Melanie shares how to stretch a brand into new markets without losing credibility  Kevin explains the launch-tiering framework that keeps efforts focused and sales-ready  John reveals why the secret weapon is “ours, not mine” and how humble listening drives alignment  Plus:  How to avoid the vaporware trap that kills trust fast  Why one sharp value prop beats a laundry list of features  What leading indicators to track before revenue shows up  Where the real magic happens once a launch hits the market floor   If you want to hear how CMOs line up a launch and deliver when it matters most, this one's for you.  For full show notes and transcripts, visit https://renegademarketing.com/podcasts/ To learn more about CMO Huddles, visit https://cmohuddles.com/

Welcome to episode 294 of Grow Your Law Firm, hosted by Ken Hardison. In this episode, Ken is joined by Stuart Foster, co-founder of Law Firm Fractional CMOs, to explore how law firms can modernize their marketing and stand out in today's hyper-competitive legal landscape. Stuart brings decades of experience leading global marketing for brands like L'Oréal, Moët Hennessy, Hilton, and Topgolf. As a seasoned fractional CMO, he now helps small and midsize law firms develop winning strategies, manage agency relationships, and create sustainable growth—without the overhead of hiring in-house. If you're tired of random marketing tactics and ready to build a system that works, this episode is for you. What you'll learn about in this episode:   Why execution without strategy leads to wasted marketing spend  – Most law firms jump into tactics like SEO or PPC without a clear plan  – A solid marketing strategy must align with business goals and target audiences How to differentiate your firm in a saturated legal market  – Generic messaging like “we win big” no longer cuts through the noise  – Law firms must find unique positioning and voice that resonates with clients The importance of client-centered messaging over firm credentials  – Clients care more about outcomes and empathy than awards or titles  – Speak to what your clients are worried about—not just what you've achieved Simple ways to analyze your client base and adjust targeting  – Data on demographics, case types, and referral sources reveals key patterns  – Many firms are surprised to find they're speaking to the wrong audience What fractional CMOs actually do—and why your firm might need one  – Fractional CMOs provide strategic leadership and manage execution  – They bring executive-level marketing expertise at a fraction of the cost   Resources:  Website: www.lawfirm-cmo.comLinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/hstuartfoster  Facebook: www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61576919995052    Additional Resources:    https://www.pilmma.org/aiworkshop https://www.pilmma.org/the-mastermind-effect https://www.pilmma.org/resources https://www.pilmma.org/mastermind

Thanks to our Partners, Shop Boss and AppFueledIn this no-fluff episode of the Auto Repair Marketing Podcast, Brian Walker is joined by Caroline Legrand, Danni Marks, and J.R. Portman for a candid conversation shop owners need to hear, especially if you're trying to figure out the real difference between a marketing agency, a business coach, and a fractional CMO.They dig deep into the roles each one plays, where responsibilities blur, and how shop owners can avoid the infamous “Spider-Man pointing fingers” scenario. You'll hear the good, the bad, and the straight-up truth about what happens when everyone's doing the work but no one knows who's really driving the results.From strategy gaps to operational blind spots, this episode is a masterclass in understanding who's responsible for what and how to build a team of partners (not vendors) who care as much about your success as you do.If you've ever asked, “Who do I trust?” or “Can I fire my CMO?”, you'll want to hit play, take notes, and maybe even send this one to your leadership team.Show Notes with TimestampsIntroduction and Episode Context (00:00:01): Brian Walker introduces the episode, explains the "fly on the wall" format, and sets up the discussion about marketing roles.Content Creation Process & AI Use (00:01:16): Explains their approach to content creation, use of AI, and the importance of unique, thought-leadership-based content.Episode Format and Sponsor Messages (00:03:31): Describes the episode's unique format, honesty in discussion, and includes sponsor messages.Defining Roles: Marketing Agency, Fractional CMO, and Coach (00:04:40): Breakdown of what each provider (agency, fractional CMO, coach) does for auto repair shops.Shop Marketing Pros: Scope of Work (00:05:36): Details the specific marketing tasks handled by Shop Marketing Pros, including SEO, ads, social media, and website management.Fractional CMO: Strategy and Accountability (00:06:53): Explains the role of a fractional CMO in driving strategy, creating plans, and holding others accountable.Coaching Companies: Business Guidance (00:08:01): Describes how coaches provide business advice, recommend agencies, and review marketing results.Overlap and Blurred Lines Between Roles (00:10:02): Discussion on where marketing agencies, CMOs, and coaches overlap, especially in client consultations.Marketing vs. Operations: Who Does What? (00:10:37): Clarifies the division between marketing services and shop operations, and where coaches step in.Consultative Role of Agencies (00:11:22): Agencies are increasingly expected to provide business advice, not just marketing services.Ongoing Agency-Shop Owner Relationship (00:12:04): Importance of proactive communication and evolving strategies between agencies and shop owners.Responsibility for Results: The "Finger Pointing" Problem (00:13:08): Addresses confusion when multiple providers are involved and how to identify who is responsible for issues.Case Example: Adjusting Marketing Services (00:13:43): Shares a real-world example of shifting marketing tactics based on client needs and results.Shop Owner Time Investment (00:14:19): Discusses the time commitment required from shop owners for effective marketing collaboration.Shop Owner Involvement and Results (00:14:34): Highlights that more involved shop owners see better marketing outcomes.Trust and Choosing Who to Believe (00:16:57): Advice on how shop owners should decide whom to trust when providers disagree.Variability in Provider

This episode is a rebroadcast of host Auren Hoffman's appearance on the CMO Confidential Podcast.Auren shares why he believes vendor management is the #1 skill for future executives—and why most companies should rent world-class capabilities rather than hire executives they can't fully utilize. From “scaffolding” young talent to his provocative views on procurement's negative value, Booz Allen, MBAs, and the transformation of private equity, this episode is packed with contrarian insights for CMOs, CEOs, and founders alike.

On this week's Spin Sucks podcast, Gini Dietrich digs into IBM's new CMO Revolution study and what it means for the future of marketing leadership. The report makes one thing clear: the next decade won't belong to the marketers with the biggest budgets. It will belong to the CMOs with operational courage—those willing to dismantle outdated systems and rebuild for an AI-powered marketplace moving at the speed of a microsecond. She shows you how the PESO Model© has evolved into a full marketing operating system, helping CMOs close the execution gap and deliver: Precision, prediction, and protection at scale Integrated, measurable strategies that strengthen first-party data and customer relationships A perpetual growth engine that balances AI speed with human creativity If operational courage is the price of survival, PESO is the playbook.

If you had to pick one of the biggest challenges facing CMOs today, how high on your list would customer loyalty be? Agility requires a deep understanding of your customer and the ability to adapt to their ever-changing needs and expectations. It also requires a willingness to experiment and learn from failures, quickly iterating on strategies and tactics. Today, we're going to talk about the evolving landscape of travel loyalty programs and how brands can best engage with different generations of travelers, particularly in the face of changing economic conditions and emerging generational trends. To help me discuss this topic and other highlights from arrivia's Loyalty and the Changing Traveler report, I'd like to welcome, Jeff Zotara, Chief Marketing Officer at arrivia. About Jeff Zotara Jeff Zotara is the Chief Marketing Officer of arrivia, a travel technology company providing travel loyalty, booking, and marketing solutions to consumer-facing companies that want to deliver exceptional value to customers, uncover new revenue streams, and drive growth through exciting travel rewards and member benefits. With more than two decades as a strategic and operational marketing leader, Jeff is focused on driving growth and marketing technology across brands and providing the best member experience at the intersection of travel and tech.   Jeff Zotara on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffzotara/ Resources arrivia: https://www.arrivia.com The Agile Brand podcast is brought to you by TEKsystems. Learn more here: https://www.teksystems.com/versionnextnow Get a copy of arrivia's Loyalty and the Changing Traveler report: https://resources.arrivia.com/report-survey-loyalty-changing-traveler Don't Miss MAICON 2025, October 14-16 in Cleveland - the event bringing together the brights minds and leading voices in AI. Use Code AGILE150 for $150 off registration. Go here to register: https://bit.ly/agile150" Connect with Greg on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregkihlstromDon't miss a thing: get the latest episodes, sign up for our newsletter and more: https://www.theagilebrand.showCheck out The Agile Brand Guide website with articles, insights, and Martechipedia, the wiki for marketing technology: https://www.agilebrandguide.com The Agile Brand is produced by Missing Link—a Latina-owned strategy-driven, creatively fueled production co-op. From ideation to creation, they craft human connections through intelligent, engaging and informative content. https://www.missinglink.company

AI isn't magic—most CMOs are still getting it wrong. I break down the most common mistakes CMOs make when trying to plug AI into their marketing—starting with chasing flashy projects instead of real results. We dive into where content creation goes wrong, why clean data and governance matter, and how to build a team that's actually fluent in AI. If you're not managing drift or thinking long-term, you're just playing catch-up. TIMESTAMPS (00:00) Introduction to AI in Marketing (00:57) Avoiding Vanity AI Projects (03:05) Content Creation and AI Missteps (05:50) Establishing AI Governance (08:12) Managing Model Drift and Data Hygiene How to Connect: IG: / ericosiu X: / ericosiu