The World's Most Influential CMOs 2018: Understanding How Top Marketers Build Impact

The World’s
Most Influential CMOs
2018

Introduction
Report at a Glance
The World’s Most Influential CMOs 2018
Understanding Influence
The Top CMOs of 2017
The Evolution of Influence
The Value of Influence
Social Engagement on the Rise
Who Influences the Influencers?
Getting to Know the CMOs
Methodology
Endnotes
Acknowledgements
3
4
5
6
7
9
12
14
17
18
45
47
48
Table of Contents
TABLE OF CONTENTS FORBES: THE WORLD’S MOST INFLUENTIAL CMOS 2018 // 2

Introduction
The World’s Most Influential CMOs 2018 is more than a list of talented, innovative
marketers: It’s a revealing snapshot of the tectonic shifts Chief Marketing Officers
face today and a portrait of the most effective strategies for addressing
these challenges.
This year’s report shows how forward-thinking marketers are grappling with three
profoundly intertwined questions:
HOW HAS THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN BRANDS
AND CUSTOMERS CHANGED?
Leading CMOs know that it’s increasingly what customers say (not what the
company says) that defines a brand’s reputation. As Michelle Peluso, CMO of IBM,
noted last year, “social has completely flattened the relationship and empowered
customers in previously unimaginable ways.” CMOs recognize this and are using
these new channels to reimagine their marketing strategies and become
more customer-centric.
From Kristin Lemkau’s selective approach to online ad placement for JPMorgan
Chase to Julia Goldin launching LEGO Life, a social network for kids to share
their creations, the most influential CMOs lead digital transformation with
a customer-first mindset.
HOW CAN BRANDS OFFER THE VERY BEST
CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE?
Customer experience is now a core part of the CMO role, and no wonder: According
to Gartner, 89% of companies now compete primarily on customer experience.
“The CMO plays a critical role in shaping the customer experience because it is part
of the brand-building process,” Verizon’s Diego Scotti told Forbes last year. “Getting
the brand and customer experience right is truly a team effort across the board.”
From Dean Evans’ reimagining of car buying at Hyundai to Marc Mathieu’s
bold bid to get Samsung customers to use their phones less, top CMOs are
championing the voice of their customers and aligning their organizations
around better customer experiences.
HOW CAN BRANDS BECOME MORE HUMAN
AND APPROACHABLE?
Customer expectations have changed. Four billion people are now online,
connected like never before, sharing their likes and dislikes in real time. Brands
need to function at that same speed, making one-to-one human connections —
and doing it on a massive scale. Top CMOs have responded to that challenge
by embracing customer care, leading values-driven campaigns, and developing
their own distinctive voices.
From SAP’s Alicia Tillman partnering with UN Women to encourage female
tech entrepreneurs to Tom Herbst championing accessible outdoor spaces at
The North Face, CMOs aren’t afraid to raise their voice or take a stand —
because that’s how they connect and build trust with their customers.
The roles and responsibilities of modern marketers are evolving faster than
ever, but where some see a challenge, the world’s most influential CMOs see
an unprecedented opportunity to push their organizations forward.
The leaders and insights in this report tell the story of how companies can
do things differently. The world’s most influential CMOs recognize that
customer experience is the new brand, and inspire marketers everywhere
to ask: How can we better know and serve our customers — not as a
collection of data points, but as people?
INTRODUCTION FORBES: THE WORLD’S MOST INFLUENTIAL CMOS 2018 // 3
1
2
3

REPORT AT A GLANCE
THE EVOLUTION OF INFLUENCE
Today’s top CMOs are taking on significant responsibility for business
growth. The report takes a close look at two of the key business areas
where CMOs have stepped onto the larger stage: the closely related
terrains of customer experience and digital transformation.
THE VALUE OF INFLUENCE
CMOs are making their influence felt well beyond the boardroom.
This year, we take a closer look at a growing phenomenon in business
and marketing: senior executives who use their influence to speak
out on social issues like diversity, gender, and sustainability.
FORBES: THE WORLD’S MOST INFLUENTIAL CMOS 2018 // 4
Report at a Glance
UNDERSTANDING INFLUENCE
Social media remains a key lens for understanding the influence
of today’s leading CMOs. The vast majority of CMOs are on LinkedIn,
while top CMOs are more likely to be on Twitter than their less
influential colleagues.
76%
96%
98%
47%
Other CMOs
-5%
-2%
2%
26%
24%
22%
20%
18%
16%
14%
12%
10%
8%
6%
4%
0
0 5% 10% 15% 20% 25%
CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE
DIGITALTRANSFORMATION
Percentage of influential CMOs’ 2017/18 media mentions that reference
customer experience or digital transformation. Dataset excludes extreme outliers.
22% of stories mentioning
Deloitte’s Diana O’Brien
are related to digital
transformation, and 9%
to customer experience.
29% of stories mentioning
LinkedIn’s Shannon Brayton
also talk about customer
experience; 24% of her
coverage touches on
digital transformation.
SUSTAINABILITY DIVERSITY
7%
2%
GENDER
9%
22%
3%
17%
Most Influential CMOs Other CMOs
Percentage of CMOs who drive engagement on each topic
through their LinkedIn posts and shares.

The World’s Most Influential CMOs 2018
THE WORLD’S MOST INFLUENTIAL CMOS 2018
RANK NAME BRAND RANK NAME BRAND
1 Keith Weed Unilever 26 Tim Mapes Delta
2 Linda Boff GE 27 Julia Goldin LEGO
3 Leslie Berland Twitter 28 Enrico Galliera Ferrari
4 Antonio Lucio HP Inc. 29 Alicia Tillman SAP
5 Raja Rajamannar Mastercard 30 Tony Weisman Dunkin’ Donuts
6 Ann Lewnes Adobe 31 Rick Gomez Target
7 Phil Schiller Apple 32 Carolina Martinoli British Airways
8 Dean Evans Hyundai 33 Jack Hollis Toyota
9 Kristin Lemkau JPMorgan Chase 34 Michelle Peluso IBM
10 Marc Mathieu Samsung Electronics America 35 Aimée Lapic Pandora
11 Chris Capossela Microsoft 36 Diego Scotti Verizon
12 Magali Noé CNP Assurances 37 Morgan Flatley McDonald’s
13 David Edelman Aetna 38 Wanda Young ESPN
14 Karen Walker Cisco 39 Pierre Barrard Michelin
15 Diana O’Brien Deloitte 40 Joy Falotico Ford
16 Bozoma Saint John* Uber 41 Emily Culp Keds
17 Deborah Wahl Cadillac 42 Terrance Williams Nationwide
18 Marisa Thalberg Taco Bell 43 Nina Bibby O2
19 Dietmar Voggenreiter Audi 44 Chris Leong Schneider Electric
20 David Roman* Lenovo 45 Tom Herbst The North Face
21 Chris Tung Alibaba 46 Roger Sole Sprint
22 Alicia Hatch Deloitte Digital 47 Heather Malenshek Harley-Davidson
23 Kelly Bennett Netflix 48 Marc Pritchard Procter & Gamble
24 Shannon Brayton LinkedIn 49 Susan Vobejda The Trade Desk
25 Seth Farbman Spotify 50 Karin Timpone Marriott
*Departed position June 2018.

Understanding Influence
As the role of the CMO evolves and broadens, so does the nature of CMO influence.
But what do we mean by influence? In this report, CMO influence is defined as the impact a chief
marketer’s actions and words have on…
• their internal organization’s motivation and performance
• corporate brand perception
• broader marketing and advertising industry trends, and
• corporate financial performance, including stock price.
If all effective CMOs are influential to the extent that they shape their organization, brand, industry,
and corporate performance, that doesn’t mean they all build or exert influence in the same way.
There are striking differences in the way CMOs balance the role of brand spokesperson with the
expression of their own personal knowledge and perspective: Some CMOs (including some of those in the
top 50) are visible only in association with their corporate role, while others have an independent
voice, reputation, and audience that would likely follow them even if they left their current position.
CMOs exert their influence on a wide range of subjects. Some speak largely to the vertical in which
they work: Aetna’s David Edelman, for example, tweets about a wide range of healthcare topics. Others
are influential voices on marketing trends and best practices, like Mastercard’s Raja Rajamannar, who
not only shares a variety of marketing articles, but usefully distills key marketing insights into
280-character bites. And then there are the CMOs who use their platform to speak out on social issues
within business and beyond: Kristin Lemkau of JPMorgan Chase is not only vocal about diversity in
marketing, but has also become a compelling voice on gun reform.
While there are many ways to build and use influence, there is no mistaking the overall impact of the
CMOs on this year’s list. Indeed, the more we dig into variations in what influence looks like across
different companies, industries, and leadership styles, the more we recognize the innovative thinking,
generous knowledge sharing, and relentless business focus that characterize all influential CMOs.
UNDERSTANDING INFLUENCE
Our CMO ranking is based on a range of
indicators gathered through Sprinklr’s social
media listening and benchmarking platforms,
as well as on engagement and influence metrics
from LinkedIn. Here are the factors that
went into our scoring model:
Impact on brand performance
Measured by brand engaged audience
rate (percentage of audience taking
action on branded content) and brand
engaged followers (volume of followers
actively engaging with the brand).
Impact on brand awareness
Measured by mentions of the CMO
in association with his or her brand
across Twitter, blogs, websites,
and in the news.
External and internal influence
Measured by LinkedIn connectedness
(volume of connections), LinkedIn
external visibility (views from outside
the company), LinkedIn internal visibility
(views from inside the company), and
LinkedIn engagement (impressions
and engagements with shares).
Influence on peers
Measured by engagement and
connectedness within the community
of big-brand CMOs.
For more details on our methodology,
please see the appendix.
MEASURING INFLUENCE

THE TOP CMOS OF 2017
The Top CMOs of 2017
As we reviewed the 15 months of news and social media coverage that helped us measure CMO
influence, one truth rapidly became clear: Influence is self-reinforcing. When The World’s Most
Influential CMOs 2017 was released last June, the 50 featured CMOs enjoyed a surge in media and
social media attention that lasted nearly to the end of the year.
Many of the CMOs on last year’s list used that attention to acknowledge their colleagues and team —
a great example of how influential CMOs look for opportunities to fortify relationships and build up
the networks around them.
The attention last year’s top CMOs earned didn’t prevent a fresh crop of contenders from making this
year’s list, however, with the top 50 for 2018 almost evenly divided between new and returning CMOs.
The Impact of The World’s Most Influential CMOs 2017 List
CMONEWSANDBLOGMENTIONS
COVERAGE BY MONTH
Released June 22nd, 2017
Aggregate volume of news and blog coverage of CMOs on
The World’s Most Influential CMOs 2017.

THE TOP CMOS OF 2017
For the most part, CMOs who dropped down or off the list received significantly less media or social
media attention in 2017/18 than the year before. Meanwhile, it took even more attention to get to
the top of the 2018 list. For example, while 2017’s top 50 received roughly four times as much media
coverage as the average CMO, this year our top 50 received five times as much coverage.
Conversely, the influential CMOs making their debut on this year’s list are a mix of CMOs relatively
new to their roles (enjoying something like a rookie glow) and those who have enjoyed a substantial
boost in their brand or personal media and social media attention. If these rising stars displaced
some former members of the list, it’s not because last year’s influencers shine any less brightly.
returning
27new to list
23
New and Returning Top 50 Influential CMOs
2018

THE EVOLUTION OF INFLUENCE
The Evolution of Influence
Influential CMOs recognize that their ultimate job is driving business growth. To deliver on that
mandate, effective CMOs play a larger role, taking on additional responsibilities in areas as diverse
as internal culture, talent, tech purchasing, and customer engagement.
Leading CMOs support that broader mandate by creating a virtuous circle between their corporate
brand and their personal influence. For some CMOs that means speaking, writing, and sharing their
voice in the larger world — so that they build up capital that can help them influence crucial decisions
on customer experience or other core aspects of their business. Other CMOs have little interest in
cultivating a reputation beyond their own company; they focus on building internal influence as a way
of shaping the larger business. Strengthening the company’s growth trajectory naturally enhances
the CMO’s own influence, further contributing to their capacity to drive key business decisions.
The Growing Mandate of Influential CMOs
Percentage of CMO coverage that includes references to broader responsibilities like digital
transformation or customer experience. Broader Mandate: All consists of media mentions that include
one or more of: human resources, internal culture, organizational development, customer experience,
customer engagement, digital transformation, CX, chief experience officer, and/or product development.
Most Influential CMOs Other CMOs
A bold projection on the ceiling at Grand Central Terminal
showcased GE’s commitment to female scientists.
BROADER MANDATE: ALL
42.6%
16.4%
DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION
17.6%
7%
CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE
9%
3.3%
GE’S
UNSEEN STARS
Source: ge.com

INFLUENTIAL CMOS PLAY A LARGER ROLE IN THE ENTERPRISE
CMO influence is hard at work across the enterprise. To drive business growth, CMOs have taken on
responsibilities ranging from talent, culture, and organizational structure to technology investment
and the use of customer data.
To understand how CMO influence both drives and enables the execution of this broader mandate,
we took a closer look at two related areas that have become more common parts of CMO responsibility:
customer experience and digital transformation.
In today’s businesses, customer experience is the brand — so stewarding customer experience is
inextricable from the CMO’s role as brand guardian. For many leading CMOs, customer-experience
transformation has necessitated digital transformation: Technology (and especially social media)
drives demand for better customer experiences, raises the risks of getting customer experience
wrong, and provides a new set of tools for making customer experience better.
One need only look at how CMOs are covered in the press to see that influential CMOs are more
likely to be recognized for their engagement with the twin challenges of customer experience and
digital transformation. Searching news and blog mentions showed that the most influential CMOs
shape the conversation on customer experience and digital transformation, as well as on other
topics that reflect their growing mandate.
INFLUENTIAL CMOS BALANCE THEIR CORPORATE AND INDIVIDUAL INFLUENCE
Some CMOs are inseparable from their company: Their media/public profile consists exclusively
of their role as chief brand spokesperson. Other CMOs have a personal reputation that extends
or complements their corporate role, and get some measure of recognition for speaking to broader
issues in marketing, business, or society at large.
THE EVOLUTION OF INFLUENCE FORBES: THE WORLD’S MOST INFLUENTIAL CMOS 2018 // 10
“Customer experience can no longer be the domain of any
one department; it’s everybody’s job...This is the experience era
and customer expectations have never been higher. Businesses
who don’t step up will be left behind.”
Ann Lewnes, Adobe
Many CMOs take on responsibility for customer
experience, digital transformation, and other areas of
enterprise leadership — responsibility that is often
communicated in their very job titles. Examples include:
THE WORLD’S MOST INFLUENTIAL
CMOS BY TITLE
Chief Digital Officer
Magali Noé, CNP
Chief Brand Officer
Marisa Thalberg, Taco Bell
Marc Pritchard, Procter & Gamble
Director of Brand and Customer Experience
Carolina Martinoli, British Airways
Chief Marketing Officer and President
of Emerging Business
Terrance Williams, Nationwide
Senior Vice President of Marketing
and Consumer Engagement
Wanda Young, ESPN
The World’s Most Influential CMOs By Title
BROADER ROLE
CMO
OTHER
MARKETING
TITLE

Top CMOs tend to balance these two roles, speaking both for themselves and for their company. Bozoma
Saint John has become a powerful voice for women of color in the business world, garnering recognition
as a member of the EBONY Power 100, speaking at events like the 2018 Girlboss Rally, and regularly
earning features in outlets like The New York Times. Deloitte’s Alicia Hatch is a go-to expert on digital
transformation. HP’s Antonio Lucio is constantly in the news for his leadership role in marketing and
advertising diversity. Michelle Peluso is regularly quoted in stories about working from home thanks to
her leadership role in bringing IBM’s marketing team back into the office after years of company support
for remote work.
In contrast, media coverage of lower-ranked CMOs was more likely to be entirely brand-related: While
top-ranked CMOs appeared in a mix of stories, only some of which are brand-led, the vast majority of
stories about lower-ranked CMOs referenced their company in the title.
An influential CMO will always be a key spokesperson for their company. But today’s most influential
CMOs are no longer limited to the role of corporate mouthpiece.
THE EVOLUTION OF CMO INFLUENCE
The car maker reinvented the car buying experience
with a customer-friendly process that includes the
option to book your test drive online.
Coverage Volume: Volume of English-language media mentions
scaled to a 100-point scale.
Brand Identification: Percentage of mentions leading with
brand affiliation.
Dataset excludes outliers with very high or very low coverage.
BRAND IDENTIFICATION
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
110
COVERAGEVOLUME
Influential CMOs: Brand Identification
HYUNDAI’S
SHOPPER ASSURANCE
Some CMOs, like Linda Boff and Raja Rajamannar,
appear frequently in broader business or marketing
coverage, as well as in stories driven specifically by
their company’s latest news.
The CMOs who get the most coverage tend to be highly
identified with their brands, appearing primarily
in stories that reference major brand news or
announcements. Taco Bell’s Marisa Thalberg is one
of the most-covered CMOs, and 77% of the time she’s
mentioned in stories that have Taco Bell in the title.
Volume isn’t the same as influence. CMOs often
drive media attention with industry coverage, even
if they aren’t the brand spokesperson that appears
in every company-related story. Marc Mathieu, Tony
Weisman, and Antonio Lucio all earn significant
press through their industry reputations.
3
2
1
Source: hyundainews.com

The Value of Influence
As CMO influence has grown, so has the range of ways in which CMOs deploy that influence. CMOs are
no longer just influential in marketing: They are sought-after experts on larger business and industry
trends. And where executives once hesitated to speak publicly on anything remotely political, lest they
alienate their customers, the members of today’s C-Suite recognize that engaging with social issues is
part of living their brand’s values — or representing their own.
Here, too, customer experience and digital transformation provide a window into how CMOs have
extended both their mandate and their influence. We took a closer look at how CMOs are building
and wielding influence in these key areas.
THE VALUE OF INFLUENCE FORBES: THE WORLD’S MOST INFLUENTIAL CMOS 2018 // 12
What are the marketing topics and trends that CMOs pay
attention to? We looked at the topics that CMOs engage with
the most on LinkedIn to get a snapshot of the key themes on
the minds of leading marketers.
Topic list based on all CMOs on LinkedIn, not just those
evaluated for The World’s Most Influential CMOs 2018. The
relative importance of each topic was scored based on an
index calculated using the number of people who engaged
with it and on the volume of engagements.
“People now have rich digital lives on top of their physical lives.
We as a brand need to be able to be present in the moment.
In this new world, timeliness, agility and humanity are critical.”
Michelle Peluso, IBM
The company earned kudos for a playlist and video
series that showcased artists from countries affected
by the US government’s travel ban.
LinkedIn Engagements: CMOs’ Favorite Topics
SPOTIFY’S
I’M WITH THE BANNED
Source: spotify.com

THE VALUE OF INFLUENCE FORBES: THE WORLD’S MOST INFLUENTIAL CMOS 2018 // 13
experience
customer
customers
marketing
businessbrandyears
time access
2018
2018
product
network
media
chief
2017
director
view
delivering
named
work
ceo
tim
air
50
lines
pr
Key themes related to customer experience in news and social media conversations
citing CMOs on The World’s Most Influential CMOs 2018.
media
chief
marketingdigital
cmo
company
years
news
ceo
big
2018
market
tech
video
view
time
googlecontent
2017brand
global
consumer
apple
keith
data
tv
ad
vice
key
sales
Key themes related to digital transformation in news and social media conversations
citing CMOs on The World’s Most Influential CMOs 2018.
CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE
Many leading CMOs now articulate customer experience as central to their role — British Airways'
Carolina Martinoli even has it baked right into her title. But the term “customer experience” can
represent very different kinds of initiatives and interests, depending on the CMO, which is why we
used coverage of our top 50 CMOs to discern key themes in what customer experience means today.
DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION
Digital remains a crucial and growing area of focus for CMOs — especially for the many who see it as
foundational to the transformation of customer experience. “Digital transformation” has emerged as the
preferred umbrella for describing how current and emergent technologies like social media, Internet
of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence, and big data can be used to power stronger businesses and
more compelling customer experiences.
The streaming service amped up excitement about the
second season of its popular series with a Snapchat lens
that immersed viewers in the show’s eerie setting.
FORBES: THE WORLD’S MOST INFLUENTIAL CMOS 2018 // 13THE VALUE OF INFLUENCE
NETFLIX’S
STRANGER THINGS ON SNAPCHAT
Source: madeinhaus.com

SOCIAL ENGAGEMENT ON THE RISE FORBES: THE WORLD’S MOST INFLUENTIAL CMOS 2017 // 14
More and more, CMOs are speaking out on major social issues, ranging from gay rights to immigration
to gun safety. More than half (54%) of the 438 CMOs we evaluated have used LinkedIn to click, like,
share, or comment on content related to gender, diversity, sustainability, youth, or social responsibility.
While only 13% of the 438 actually posted or shared about these issues on LinkedIn, those who did
saw significant engagement with their posts.
While engagement with social issues is increasingly common in the C-suite, we see that unfold in
three very different ways:
As a business initiative
From Keith Weed’s focus on sustainability to Raja Rajamannar’s Start Something Priceless campaign,
CMOs recognize that values-aligned projects can be business winners.
As an industry voice
When CMOs speak up, the marketing industry listens. CMOs put gender on the CES agenda this year,
and Antonio Lucio has made diversity table stakes for agencies that want to do business with HP.
As engaged humans
CMOs are no longer shy about making their personal views public knowledge. Kristin Lemkau
champions gun reform without reference to her role at JPMorgan Chase, and Bozoma Saint John
has become a high-profile beacon for women of color.
Social Engagement on the Rise
FIVE TO FOLLOW: GENDER
Marisa Thalberg Taco Bell
@ExecutiveMoms
Women have every right to be seething.
Yet part of sexism is we still are judged if
we dare to show it.
Emily Culp Keds @emilyculp
Keds brought together female execs from
companies like S’well and SoulCycle to talk
gender equality.
Diana O’Brien Deloitte @dianamobrien
Millennials get a lot of press, but women
>50 = an important workforce segment.
Acknowledge their value, hire them.
Kristin Lemkau JPMorgan Chase @KLemkau
Um, if “CES stands for innovators and the
promise and power of technology” why are
there zero women as keynote speakers? Happy
to offer names of amazing women innovating.
Karen Walker Cisco @KarMWalker
#SeeHer is a campaign started by the @ANA,
of which I am a proud board member. Their
mission is to lead the movement to accurately
portray all women and girls in the media, so
that by 2020, they see themselves reflected
as they truly are.
We looked at which CMOs have been the most influential,
outspoken, and consistent voices on several key social issues.
There are five to follow on each issue, along with tweets that
represent the kinds of insights and news they share.
“The top 20% of best performing companies have 27% of women
in key leadership roles. Imagine where they’d be with 35%, or 50%.
Time to empower more young women!”
Alicia Tillman, SAP

To understand how these three different approaches can play out when CMOs engage with social issues,
we looked at three major issue areas:
GENDER
In the year of #MeToo and #TimesUp, CMOs did not hesitate to talk about gender issues in the worlds
of business and marketing. From sharing International Women’s Day greetings to persistently
challenging an all-male speaker list at CES, many of the women and men on the list put gender
issues on their personal and corporate agenda.
SUSTAINABILITY
As a growing number of consumers factor sustainability and carbon footprint into their purchasing
decisions, CMOs have stepped up to ensure that their brands deliver not only green messaging, but
greener products. “Sustainability is good for the planet and good for business,” as Antonio Lucio put it.
DIVERSITY
From the Black Lives Matter movement to Latino immigration activists, social media has been
a key channel for raising awareness and engagement with diverse communities — and CMOs have
plunged right into these conversations. While the C-suite remains disproportionately white, some
CMOs of color have taken on the mantle of advocating for diversity within the enterprise, while
others use their position to bring attention or resources to specific communities. Many white CMOs
have also made diversity a key part of their leadership strategy, advocating on race and LGBTQ issues
by amplifying rather than appropriating community issues and voices.
FIVE TO FOLLOW: SUSTAINABILITY
Alicia Tillman SAP @aliciatillman
Our mission has always been to improve
lives. Today, we will use our brand’s story
to transform industries, grow economies,
empower societies and promote sustainability.
#TheBestRun businesses run @SAP
Linda Boff GE @lindaboff
30% of the world’s electricity comes from GE.
Let that sink in! @generalelectric #GEPride
Chris Leong Schneider Electric
@ChrisLeongSECMO
We’re proud to take proactive steps to
transition to a carbon neutral reality by 2030.
#OnePlanetSummit #LifeIsOn
Keith Weed Unilever @keithweed
Sustainability & purpose can’t be brushed over
in advertising. @Unilever’s Sustainable Living
brands delivered 60% of our growth last year.
Seth Farbman Spotify @sethfarbman
Scott Pruitt denies climate change. Glad he’s
not head of the EPA. Oh, wait. Guess I’m in
denial about that.
“Proud of our contribution to #Sustainability at #Schneider. As part
of our commitment to achieve #CarbonNeutral by 2030, we commit
to 100% #Renewables and double our #EnergyProductivity by 2030.
#RE100 #EP100 #LifeIsOn”
Chris Leong, Schneider Electric
FORBES: THE WORLD’S MOST INFLUENTIAL CMOS 2018 // 15SOCIAL ENGAGEMENT ON THE RISE

It’s notable that the CMOs who lead the pack on one issue are often leading voices on other major
social issues, too. Keith Weed is enormously influential on sustainability — but he’s also a leading
voice on gender and diversity. HP’s Antonio Lucio remains the industry leader on diversity, and
he uses his platform to address both gender and race. And in many cases, CMOs show their social
commitments not through what they say, but through what they amplify: Twitter’s Leslie Berland
is influential on diversity issues not through her own voice, but because she shares a wide range
of tweets, photos, and links from activists of color.
But influence isn’t just about voice — it’s also about action. Tom Herbst (The North Face) invested over
$1 million in programs that address social inequality and strengthened the brand through politically
daring messages like Walls Are For Climbing. Emily Culp (Keds) partnered with women entrepreneurs
to promote female empowerment. Morgan Flatley made one of her first moves recruiting black executives
at McDonald’s. Alicia Tillman (SAP) partnered with the UN to address social inequality and poverty.
Together, these CMOs show that personal conscience and corporate success are far from incompatible.
On the contrary, social engagement is now an essential component of CMO influence. What remains
unclear — so far — is whether and how these initiatives affect the bottom line.
FIVE TO FOLLOW: DIVERSITY
Chris Capossela Microsoft @chriscapossela
“I bet I know more black women than you do Brad.”
@MichelleObama to @BradSmi on why it’s key to
have a diverse leadership team. #MSEnvision
Diego Scotti Verizon @diegoscotti
This week our Adfellows participated in VZ’s
2018 Marketing Kick Off & experienced all of
the challenges & opportunities that we have
ahead of us in 2018. We need more diverse
youth to get real-world marketing experience.
DM me to learn more about bringing Adfellows
to your org.
Antonio Lucio HP @ajlucio5
If changing hearts and minds is hard,
driving behavioral change is harder.
Leslie Berland Twitter @leslieberland
Instead of giving away, we’re giving back.
@BlackGirlsCode @girls_inc and the Las Vegas
Victim’s fund. #HereWeAre #CES2018
Bozoma Saint John Uber @badassboz
Although, we could use more 6’ tall black
women here, so by “us” I don’t really mean
“me.” I know, that’s contradictory af.
#inclusivity
“Tide is a brand of the people, built by a diverse team who serve
people of all ages, genders and races, while staying true to its core
benefits, character, beliefs and values.”
Marc Pritchard, Procter & Gamble
FORBES: THE WORLD’S MOST INFLUENTIAL CMOS 2018 // 16SOCIAL ENGAGEMENT ON THE RISE

WHO INFLUENCES THE INFLUENCERS? FORBES: THE WORLD’S MOST INFLUENTIAL CMOS 2018 // 17
SOCIAL INFLUENCERS
As CMOs speak up on social issues, they’re also tuning in to other voices. Here are some of the key
Twitter influencers that CMOs follow on sustainability, diversity, and gender.
Who Influences the Influencers?
MARKETING INFLUENCERS
Who shapes the way CMOs think about core marketing challenges like social media, digital
transformation, and customer experience? These are the Twitter users who have the biggest
impact on how the CMO community understands these crucial subjects.
Marketing, Content Marketing, and Social Media
Tamara McCleary @TamaraMcCleary
Ann Handley @MarketingProfs
Charlene Li @charleneli
David Aaker @DavidAaker
Jay Baer @jaybaer
AI, Blockchain, and Technology
Marc Andreessen @pmarca
Brian Solis @briansolis
Satya Nadella @satyanadella
Michael E. Porter @MichaelEPorter
Clayton Christensen @claychristensen
Customer Experience
Kent Huffman @KentHuffman
Ted Rubin @TedRubin
Alan See @AlanSee
R Ray Wang @rwang0
Warren Whitlock @WarrenWhitlock
Gender
Padmasree Warrior @Padmasree
Melinda Gates @melindagates
Christine Lagarde @Lagarde
Sallie Krawcheck @SallieKrawcheck
Claire Cain Miller @clairecm
Sustainability
Bill Nye @BillNye
Simon Mainwaring @simonmainwaring
Christiana Figueres @CFigueres
Connie Hedegaard @CoHedegaard
Kees van der Leun @Sustainable2050
Diversity
Lin-Manuel Miranda @Lin_Manuel
Fareed Zakaria @FareedZakaria
Soledad O’Brien @soledadobrien
Sree Sreenivasan @sree
Shaun King @ShaunKing
The relaunch of the brand’s classic tagline included
interactive billboards that invited Parisians to donate
school meals by holding up their phone or credit card.
MASTERCARD’S
START SOMETHING PRICELESS
Source: mastercard.com

Getting to Know
the CMOs

GETTING TO KNOW THE CMOS FORBES: THE WORLD’S MOST INFLUENTIAL CMOS 2018 // 19
WHAT THE WORLD SAID ABOUT KEITH WEED AND UNILEVER#1
If Keith Weed wasn’t already poised to hold onto his first-place crown on
The World’s Most Influential CMOs 2017, his keynote to the International
Advertising Bureau’s Annual Leadership Meeting this year probably clinched
it. His rallying cry to protect brands from being associated with damaging
or inappropriate content via online services like Facebook and Google, and
his threat to boycott them, resonated across the industry.
His call to do better is by no means limited to the Facebooks and Googles
of the world. Weed has pruned the number of agencies Unilever works with,
and called for a rethink of the traditional advertising agency model and
pricing structure.
There’s a consistent thread of social responsibility running through many
of Weed’s initiatives. Just as he called on social platforms to stop promoting
social division and hateful discourse, he has used his reach and influence
to push for greater sustainability in manufacturing and a greater commitment
to combating stereotypes in advertising and branded content. Unilever is
a co-chair of the Unstereotype Alliance, which has an agenda that includes
gender-balanced leadership and inclusion training across the industry.
Honored this past February by the World Federation of Advertisers as their
Global Marketer of the Year, expect Keith Weed to continue shaping many
of the conversations marketers are having — while keeping agencies and
platforms alike on their toes.
Keith Weed has served notice: If the world’s biggest digital platforms want ad dollars from the world’s
biggest brands, it’s time for them to clean up their act. During a 2018 keynote to the Interactive
Advertising Bureau Annual Leadership Meeting, Weed announced that Unilever will be expecting
platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Snap to reduce fake news and objectionable content.
Coming out swinging around objectionable content and brand protection on social platforms was
hardly uncharacteristic: Weed has consistently advocated the “three Vs” — viewability, verification,
and value — while challenging online platforms to do better on all three counts.
“[U]ltimately, these are table stakes,” he told the IAB. “As one of the largest advertisers in the world,
we cannot have an environment where our consumers don’t trust what they see online.”
But along with the stick of a boycott, Weed has offered a carrot by pledging Unilever will work
with platforms and do its part to ensure a more positive, productive online world — including
a commitment to generating inclusive, stereotype-breaking content.
SPOTLIGHT ON: Making Digital Content Safer for Brands
U
N
ILEVER’S
W
EEK
CANNES LIO
N
S
VIDEO
SOCIAL M
ED
IA
K
EITH
WEED
NEWYORK
A
DVERTISING
objectionable
content
adfraud
Advertising
W
eek
Europe
brand
safety
NorthAmerica
IAB
New York
Times
view
ability
standards
Group M
Church &
Dwight,
Newsfeed
video
extremistcontent
accountability
women
Marc
Pritchard
SirMartinSorrell
Johnson
&
Johnson
Unstereotype
Alliance
blockchain
techgiants
consumergoods
keith weed
CHIEF MARKETING AND COMMUNICATIONS
OFFICER, UNILEVER
Topics represent clusters of conversations about the CMO in association
with the brand across Twitter, news, blogs, and websites.

WHAT THE WORLD SAID ABOUT LINDA BOFF AND GENERAL ELECTRIC#2
Generating excitement isn’t easy for a brand that is more than a century
old. (That’s certainly a theme in Boff’s early TV campaign, What’s the matter
with Owen?, where a freshly-hired GE developer struggled to convince
friends and family that he’ll be doing cool things with his new employer.)
But Boff keeps nailing that sense of “wow,” whether it’s with a podcast
drama series that pits GE technology against a rogue computer program
threatening humanity, three yearly Droneweek series that pair jaw-dropping
drone video with GE technological tours de force, or a sensor project that
wired up an active volcano.
Boff’s passion both for technology and diversity has aligned squarely with
the zeitgeist, as evidenced by campaigns like Unseen Stars, which took over
Grand Central Terminal’s ceiling for four days with a projection of great
female engineers and scientists as constellations — depicting them literally
and deservedly as stars. And this year she was one of the six women who
appeared on the Twitter stage at CES for #HereWeAre, which served as a
rejoinder to CES’s all-male keynote lineup.
Taking on the additional title of Chief Learning Officer in February, Boff
has an ambitious agenda for the coming year. And marketers everywhere
will be watching to see the latest ways she brings the GE brand to life.
Droneweek is quickly becoming a GE institution. It ran for its third season last October, dazzling
viewers by taking them soaring through a wind farm in British Columbia, a mammoth hydroelectric
facility in the Swiss Alps, a mobile gas-fueled power plant in Indonesia, and the surprisingly
smart (in the Internet-of-Things sense) streets of San Diego.
This year’s Droneweek was a partnership with Viceland, Vice Media’s millennial-targeted TV
channel. The campaign stood out for its ability to capture both the vast scope of GE’s solutions
and the human-scale impact they have. And it landed Linda Boff’s team a coveted Webby
award for best integrated campaign.
SPOTLIGHT ON: Droneweek
CONTEN
T
DEIRDRELATOUR
MARKETIN
G
BO
STON
CELTICS
NEWYORKCITY
K
EITH
WEED
INTERVIEW
SIMPLIFIER
S
Casey
N
eistat
Henry
Blodget
CMOClub
Farnsworth
Street
Forbes
JP Morgan
CMO Club,
senior
marketing
Shorty
Awards
Celtics
players
partnership
GELogo
traditionalCelticscolors
General
Electric
Company CCO
vice chair
interimhead of
communications
human
marketers
Maggie
ChanJones
Ragy
Thom
as
healthcare
painpoints
CM
O
Talent
Playbook
linda boff
CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER AND CHIEF
LEARNING OFFICER, GENERAL ELECTRIC

WHAT THE WORLD SAID ABOUT LESLIE BERLAND AND TWITTER#3
Berland’s team ran some of 2017’s most-discussed ad campaigns, winning
the Cannes Lions’ Outdoor Grand Prix award for billboards featuring iconic
hashtags and images — all created in-house.
It’s more than a creative success: Earlier this year, Twitter announced that
Q4 2017 was its first profitable quarter. If platform changes have helped
make Twitter content more relevant to its users, Berland has also made
Twitter a player to watch in the marketing world. When CMOs like Kristin
Lemkau and Antonio Lucio drew attention to the lack of female keynote
speakers at the 2018 Consumer Electronics Show (CES), it was Berland
who came up with a solution: a Twitter-sponsored lineup featuring
distinguished women in marketing and beyond. It’s a move that fit with
women-oriented campaigns like #SheInspiresMe and #HereWeAre;
the latter included the company’s first-ever TV spot in an Oscar-linked
ad showcasing women in film.
Berland’s influence on Twitter’s evolution continues to grow. She assumed
the additional title of “Head of People” earlier this year, reflecting the
company’s desire to align its employer brand and experience with its
overall branding and marketing. A frequent Twitter user herself, Berland’s
tweets give the entire marketing industry a front-row seat for her distinctive
approach to making social engagement a winning strategy for her brand.
As Twitter’s CMO, Berland has faced one of marketing’s most public challenges: How to
position Twitter as the go-to platform for breaking news at a moment when online news
is under scrutiny as never before.
While the platform worked to address hate speech and trolling with new rules, Berland’s
flagship 2017 campaign uncovered the upside to being a hotbed of controversy. In TV spots
featuring Chance the Rapper, Shaquille O’Neal, and popular physicist Michio Kai, #SeeEverySide
presented Twitter as the place people come together to exchange ideas and perspectives.
SPOTLIGHT ON: #SeeEverySide
THE RAPPE
R
G
ENDER
CHANCE
KEYNOTE
ADDRESSES
LINDA BO
F
F
JACKDORSEY
N
EW
YORK
#HereW
eAre
CES
male
panelists
Twitter
all-female
panelists
TicToc byBloomberg
Wall Street
apps and
software
CES
2018
GinaGlantz
RSA
Conference
Karen
Chupka
KristenLemkau
Coca-Cola
Company
JulieDash
m
obile
m
arketing
Cannestime
brandidentity
Chicago
leslie berland
CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER AND HEAD OF PEOPLE,
TWITTER

WHAT THE WORLD SAID ABOUT ANTONIO LUCIO AND HP#4
Antonio Lucio doesn’t take his ad budget for granted: He proves
the relevance and impact of advertising with campaigns that have
a demonstrable impact on revenue.
That focus on measurable return is what landed Lucio in our top ten
for the second year in a row. His influence extends well beyond HP’s
bottom line, however: The approach he’s taken to HP’s diversity goal,
for example, has shaken up some of the world’s leading ad firms.
That focus on metrics never stops Lucio from thinking big. In the wake
of the 2016 election, HP undertook research aimed at broadening its
understanding of American consumers, leading to a 2017 Christmas spot,
Togetherness, addressing the gap between red and blue voters. To pique
interest in printed photo products, HP used product placement in Club
Mickey Mouse, where it could reach millennials through their kids. More
recently, the company has sponsored the Girls Rising Creative Challenge
to highlight stories of young women making change.
A year after Lucio challenged HP’s advertising agencies to diversify, the company reported
that its agency teams were now 61% women, up from less than 40%. This initative reached
all the way up to creative leadership roles as well, with 51% now held by women even though
two of HP’s partner agencies had no women in such positions when HP issued its challenge.
Agencies made progress on minority participation, too, with one agency reporting that 44% of the
members of its HP account team were now from underrepresented groups, up from 21% before
the challenge.
Lucio recognizes that his work is far from done. HP is funding a range of groups and initiatives
focused on promoting diversity in the ad industry — and continues to work with agency
partners to set, track, and achieve goals for diversifying their teams.
SPOTLIGHT ON: Diversifying the Advertising Industry
CHRISTIAN
KEITH W
EED
GIRLRISING
NEW
YORK
LES
LIE
BERLAND
SLATER
F
RED
& FARID
HewlettPackardEnterprise
HP
web series
cyber
security
CES
organizers
MásMujeres
male
panelistswomen
directors
people
ofcolor
President
and
CEO
Aida
Alvaraz
ad
agencies
Karen
Walker
DiegoScotti
Chris
Capossela
Tam
ara
M
ellon
people
of color
GLOBE
Newswire
March 8th
International
Women’s Day
Lori
Adelm
an
number
ofwomen
CMOClub
antonio lucio
GLOBAL CHIEF MARKETING AND
COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER, HP INC.

WHAT THE WORLD SAID ABOUT RAJA RAJAMMANAR AND MASTERCARD#5
At a time when more and more marketers are focused on data and
technology, Mastercard’s Raja Rajamannar has boldly made the case
for the importance of human emotion in marketing. “[Consumers]
do not want to be interrupted with annoying ads,” Rajamannar told
Forbes earlier this year. “We’ll continue to invest in our experiential
platforms like Priceless Cities and develop even more ways to bring
experience and emotional connection to the forefront of all our efforts.”
You can see that vision at work in innovative marketing partnerships
showcasing how Mastercard can facilitate seamless customer experiences.
For example, Mastercard partnered with Swarovski on a virtual reality
shopping experience that allows consumers to view chandeliers and
then buy them from within the VR environment.
Now in his fifth year as Mastercard’s CMO, Rajamannar’s influence
reverberates throughout the industry. He is a member of the Board
of Directors for the Ad Council and for the Association of National
Advertisers, and a member of PTTOW!, an invitation-only summit
that convenes marketing and business leaders for conversations
about how to improve the world.
For twenty years, Mastercard has been tied to the notion of “priceless” experiences. This year,
Mastercard brought that concept into the social media era with Start Something Priceless,
which invites people to make pledges that improve their lives or communities.
Mastercard mapped out an inclusive vision for the campaign: “Commitments can be anything
that enriches your life, from reading a book every night with your child to adopting a dog from
a shelter — just use the hashtag to start something today.”
Start Something Priceless integrates with a wide range of Mastercard’s sponsorships, including the
Grammy Awards, the Rugby World Cup, and the Cannes Film Festival. By bringing social values
into Mastercard’s long-standing “priceless” positioning, Start Something Priceless reflects the
growing role of social values in effective marketing.
SPOTLIGHT ON: Start Something Priceless
GRAM
M
Y
MCCANN
TRAN
SFORMATION CES
KEITHWEED
AWARDS
WORLDGROUP
DIGITAL
START
S
O
M
ETHING
PRICELESS
CannesLions
chief
marketing
Marc
Pritchard
LindaBoﬀ
CM
O
Awards
Beth
Com
stock
Glory Zhang
Phil Schiller
New York
brand safety
M
asterpass
ThankTheFans
House
watchthe
teaser
60thAnnual
Grammy
AwardsJustinSiraj
numberone
CM
Os
prioritizing
diversity
M
astercard
et Pelé
Rugby
W
orld
Cup
fullrelease
Jennifer
Stalzer
raja rajamannar
CHIEF MARKETING AND COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER
AND PRESIDENT OF HEALTHCARE, MASTERCARD

WHAT THE WORLD SAID ABOUT ANN LEWNES AND ADOBE#6
Ann Lewnes may be new to our top 10, but she’s amassed plenty of
industry accolades. Last year, in addition to making The World’s Most
Influential CMOs 2017 (at #14), she landed on the Adweek 50 and was also
named one of Business Insider’s 50 Most Innovative CMOs in the World.
As one of the industry’s most recognized and influential figures, Lewnes
is not one to shy away from thinking big. As she said at the Forbes CMO
Summit, the role isn’t just about marketing: The CMO must also be a Chief
Experience Officer, Chief Digital Officer, and Chief Growth Officer.
Her strategic emphasis on customer experience is particularly evident
from the way Lewnes talks about her team’s work. As she told Forbes
earlier this year, “we’re focused on developing engaging and personalized
experiences across all digital channels and live events, creating helpful
learning content that enables customers to get the most value out of our
products, and responding to customer needs around the clock, in every
region, and across every customer touchpoint.”
What’s the right birthday gift for a software title that’s still going strong after a quarter century?
How about a fun and engaging social media campaign tailor-made for the video editing tool
that helped bring filmmaking to the desktop? To the delight of teenagers everywhere, Lewnes
and the Adobe team partnered with the band Imagine Dragons to celebrate the 25th birthday
of Adobe Premiere Pro by releasing the band’s latest music video as raw footage alongside an
open invitation to all Premiere Pro users to edit it themselves.
This inspired contest elicited more than nine thousand entries from 28 countries, 60% of which
came from people under 25. Most significantly, the event cleverly reminded the market what
made Premiere so revolutionary in the first place. By placing professional-grade creative in the
hands of consumers, Adobe birthed a new generation of creators.
SPOTLIGHT ON: 25 Years of Adobe Premiere Pro
GROUP
ZACKSD
IGITAL
ADOBE SYSTE
M
S
INCORPORAT
ED
CREDITSUISSE
INVESTM
EN
T
RESEARCH
M
ARKETING
2NDQUARTER
RO
BERT W. BAIRD
Morgan
Stanley
Goldman
Sachs
Adobe
System
s
LedgerGazette
Additional
567 Shares
July 31st
CreditSuisseGroup
Oppenheimer
Holdings
Sum
itom
o
M
itsui
Financial
Group
day
m
oving
average
socialmedia
Adobe
Summit
stock
rating
reaﬃ
rm
ed
JP Morgan
Morgan
Stanley
Goldman
Sachs
S&P 500
PEGRatio
Quantitative
Systemic
Strategies
ann lewnes
EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT AND CHIEF
MARKETING OFFICER, ADOBE

WHAT THE WORLD SAID ABOUT PHIL SCHILLER AND APPLE#7
There’s a growing appreciation for Phil Schiller’s track record not only in
terms of marketing but also in product strategy — which should come as
no surprise given how closely the two are intertwined at Apple. Schiller’s
accomplishments this year shed light on the company’s emerging post-
Steve-Jobs identity: The release of the iPhone X and HomePod showed
a company eager to reclaim its lead at the high end, while the new low-
cost iPad suggests it won’t be ceding its broader audience any time soon.
(Meanwhile, Schiller is thinking about other legacies, too, donating $35
million to two universities last September.)
One theme gaining momentum: privacy. Apple has made a big push in
the area after a showdown with the FBI in 2016 over encryption, and
Schiller joined CEO Tim Cook to promote the company’s new privacy page.
More recently, Apple announced that the next version of its Safari browser
will allow users to block the trackers that gather their data as they surf the
web. With moves like these, the company has set itself apart from Facebook
and Google, laying a promising foundation for Schiller’s marketing and product
strategy in the year to come.
The inaugural event at Apple’s new Steve Jobs Theater was inevitably going to bear the paradoxical
weight of both honoring the iconic leader’s legacy and moving past it. Apple chose the iPhone X
product launch as that event, highlighting new technologies like face recognition and a rounded
edge-to-edge “Super Retina” OLED screen.
As with previous Apple launches, initial shortages had a silver lining, helping to stoke user
excitement. Advertising for iPhone X played up creative applications — particularly its high-
end camera. And while Apple shrugged off a spate of snarky comments about the notch cut
into the top of the display (where the facial sensors live), Schiller moved quickly to reassure
users about the privacy of their facial recognition data.
SPOTLIGHT ON: iPhone X
STEVE JOBS
KUO
MING-CHI
SAN JOSE
H
O
M
E POD
APPSTORE
M
AC OS
M
cEnery
Convention
Center
augmented
reality
June
5th–9th
voice
com
m
and
augmented
reality
iOS11
Apple Pay
iTunes
iOS 11
touch bar
iPhone 8
MacBookPros
iTunesU
OSX
watchOS4
Apple
TV
worldwide
developers
conference
third-party
apps
phil schiller
SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT OF WORLDWIDE
MARKETING, APPLE

WHAT THE WORLD SAID ABOUT DEAN EVANS AND HYUNDAI#8
Dean Evans saw an opportunity to radically improve one of the most notoriously stressful
customer experiences: buying a car.
In 2017, Hyundai piloted its new approach to car buying, Shopper Assurance. The program
posts car prices transparently online and allows would-be shoppers to book test drive vehicles
— delivered where and when they want. Buyers can complete the bulk of their paperwork
online and even return their new car within three days of purchase.
The process has been a hit with Hyundai customers: 94% said they liked or loved buying
through Shopper Assurance, and 65% said it was an improvement over past car-buying
experiences. Most crucially, 56% said it contributed to their decision to buy a Hyundai.
Sales in the four test markets outperformed other dealerships, so Hyundai is now rolling
out the program nationwide.
SPOTLIGHT ON: Rethinking Customer Experience with Shopper Assurance
NEW
YOR
K,
O
FFICIAL
VELOSTER
HYUNDAI SUP
ER
SHOPPER
AMY SM
ILE
Y
N
FL
SPONSOR
SUPERBOWLLII
HYUNDAI BOWL FOR
T
HE
SOLDIERS
ASSURANCE
teaser spot
Hyundai
owners
Hyundai
I30N
PirelliWorld
Challenge
Forza
M
otorsport7
M
arvel
Studio’s
Ant-M
an
SuperBowl2017
H
yundai
vehicles
full refund
three days
Kelley
Blue Book
Santa Fe
Giants
‘Dirty
Dancing’
SuperBowl51
SuperBowl50
Houston
Texans
Joe
M
ontana
emotional
surprise
HyundaiHopeonWheaties
At a time when it’s harder than ever to get eyeballs on ads, Dean Evans and
team have embraced an eclectic range of opportunities to create branded
content that people actually want to watch. In the past eighteen months
Hyundai partnered with Buzzfeed to present a video series spotlighting
young entrepreneurs who are giving back to their communities; lined up
a starring role in the upcoming Marvel summer movie Ant-Man and the Wasp
for its Veloster coupe; and drew attention (as well as some criticism) for a
Super Bowl ad showcasing its fight against pediatric cancer.
Evans continues to chart an innovative path to consumers with the launch
of Hyundai’s new Kona SUV this year. Drawing on insights garnered through
social media intelligence, his team has plotted a product launch targeting
specific characteristics of their likely buyers, including a multi-city concert
tour that will offer a chance to see Hyundai’s latest vehicle up close.
It’s all part of Evans’ strategy to get beyond the limitations of TV advertising
and reach a new generation of consumer. As he recently explained to Variety:
“To really make an impact on your brand and really develop a brand with
great strength you’ve got to at some point meet the people.”
dean evans
CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER, HYUNDAI
MOTOR AMERICA

WHAT THE WORLD SAID ABOUT KRISTIN LEMKAU AND JPMORGAN CHASE#9
Named an AdAge Power Player two years in a row, Lemkau’s willingness
to challenge the ad industry’s standard practices has helped address
persistent complaints about the ad experience for online video. She has
also become a leading example of how CMOs can use their platform to
drive change not only in marketing but in the larger world. She consistently
uses her social media presence to elevate the stories of women and people
of color, and has also become a vocal advocate of gun safety reforms.
Earlier this year, Lemkau joined with fellow CMOs Leslie Berland, Linda
Boff, Antonio Lucio, and others to critique the influential Consumer
Electronics Show for the lack of women on its keynote speaker list —
garnering extensive coverage and ultimately generating a last-minute
diversification of the conference program. Even smarter, Lemkau ties her
engagement on issues like gender diversity back to her core mission at
JPMorgan Chase, noting in a Forbes interview that her outspoken position
on the CES program was “consistent with JPMorgan Chase’s values,” and
pointing out that “JPMorgan Chase’s Operating Committee is close to half
women and the management team for Chase is 50% women, including
the CEOs of the Consumer Bank and the Credit Card businesses.”
The rise of fake news and offensive online content has worried a lot of marketers who
depend on channels like YouTube to reach their target audiences. Kristin Lemkau didn’t
just worry, however — she took action. When YouTube failed to respond to the company’s
concerns about ads appearing next to questionable content, JPMorgan Chase created its
own tech for determining where its content would appear.
Lemkau’s team built 17 filters that allowed it to narrow five million potential ad channels down
to 3,000 that were deemed “safe” for its ads. Noting that the company achieved these results
without reducing the effectiveness of its ads, Lemkau arguably deserves credit for helping catalyze
YouTube’s subsequent decision to introduce a “preferred” advertising program for brands that
want more control over where their content appears.
SPOTLIGHT ON: Reinventing YouTube
EL
ECTRONICS
SHOW
MARC PRITCHA
RD
OCTOBER2017
NEW
YORK
LES
LIE
BERLAND
CO
NSUMER
WALLSTREET
JOURNAL
demanding
change
equality
#CESSoM
ale
keynote
addresses
N
ew
York
Tim
es
IAB
Leadership
Dialogues
Paley
International
Council
SummitNewYork
Times
ArthurSadoun
PK4MediaAntonio
Lucio,
Diego
Scotti
Johnson
&
Johnson
display ads
social media
President
Donald
Trump
CES
Sponsor
#HereWeAre
male
panelists
YouTube
JPMorganChase
kristin lemkau
CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER,
JPMORGAN CHASE

WHAT THE WORLD SAID ABOUT MARC MATHIEU AND SAMSUNG#10
Mathieu brought Samsung back to the front of the pack this year with
campaigns and product launches that emphasized the company’s
position as a technology innovator. In addition to successfully releasing
the company’s latest generation of Galaxy phones, Mathieu launched
Bixby, Samsung’s new AI-powered voice assistant.
Mathieu and Samsung have increasingly focused on empowering content
creators, using partnerships with leading social media influencers to
demonstrate how the company’s VR and 360 technology can be used to
create innovative content. “If you have a phone and a signal, you are a
creator,” Mathieu noted at the 2018 Digital Media NewFronts event hosted
by the Interactive Advertising Bureau.
When Mathieu joined Samsung as its US CMO in 2015, he already had
significant experience leading marketing for other global brands: He spent
4 years as SVP of Marketing for Unilever and 12 years in senior marketing
roles at Coca-Cola. (He also served on the executive committee of the World
Federation of Advertisers.) His embrace of digital innovation at Samsung
shows that you don’t have to come from the tech industry to take a leading
position in the marketing of tech brands.
Who runs a marketing campaign that encourages customers to use your products less?
That’s exactly what Mathieu’s team did through Samsung’s innovative partnership with
Arianna Huffington. Together, they launched THRIVE, an app that invited smartphone users
to make thoughtful choices about when to go online — and when to turn off their devices
and take a break. By putting their phone in THRIVE mode, Samsung Galaxy users can shut
out notifications and distractions for a specified number of minutes or hours; anyone who
reaches out during that time is notified when the user will be back online.
For Mathieu, THRIVE was a great fit with Samsung’s brand-defining focus on human-centered
technology. Mathieu didn’t just deliver a campaign tied to that message — he delivered a
technology that embodies it.
SPOTLIGHT ON: THRIVE
GALAXY
SAMSUNG
KEITH W
EED
SAMSUNG
ALISON
LEW
IS
N
E
W
YORK CITY
GEARVR
SA
N
FRANCISCO
NorthAmerica
Cannes
w
ertvollen
Neukontakten
Germany
DMEXCO2017
Customer
Experience
BradleyJohnson
roller
coasters
NYX
professional
makeup
CM
O
Club
CMO
Awards
Fortune
Global
Forum
Facebook
virtual reality,
Samsung Pay
Wunderman
StanLee,
DJKoh
roller
coasters
Fortune
Brainstorm
Tech
International
marc mathieu
CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER, SAMSUNG
ELECTRONICS AMERICA

Pronouncing the legendary rivalry with Apple
dead, Chris Capossela has shifted Microsoft’s
marketing emphasis toward focusing on brand
fans and collaboration — all while promoting
internal change and embracing some tough
conversations about diversity on his team.
And as proof that Capossela and team are on
the right track, Microsoft’s April 2018 revenue
report beat the company’s own projections,
further bolstering an impressive two-year
climb in share price. No wonder Capossela is
staying put: He is now entering his fifth year
as Microsoft’s CMO, and has been with the
company for 25 years.
#11
chris capossela
CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER AND EVP OF
MARKETING AND CONSUMER BUSINESS,
MICROSOFT
Magali Noé is entering her second decade
making good on the mandate to accelerate
digital transformation as CNP Assurances’
Chief Digital Officer. She’s got plenty to show
for it: As the leader of the firm’s partnership
program for startups, Open CNP, she recently
made waves with an investment in blockchain
innovator Stratumn, and she also led the launch
of CNP’s new all-digital insurance provider,
Youse, CNP’s first B2C endeavor.
#12
magali noé
CHIEF DIGITAL OFFICER,
CNP ASSURANCES
Hired as Aetna’s first CMO for the whole
company, David Edelman has worked since
2016 to integrate its several business lines
under a single brand — and to unify the
customer experience across the insurance
company’s products. He aims to position
Aetna as not just an insurer, but a customer’s
partner in health, seeing wearable health
technology as one of several promising avenues.
But he’s also attending to the nuts and bolts of
customer experience with such improvements
as a streamlined process for welcoming new
Medicare members to the company’s care.
#13
david edelman
CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER, AETNA

In Diana O’Brien’s three decades of nearly
unbroken service at Deloitte, the company
has grown to become the world’s largest
professional services firm. As Deloitte’s
Global CMO, O’Brien has declared customer
experience to be her top priority. And she
has led a transformation that resulted in
an in-house agency uniting the company’s
marketing functions under one roof. In
recognition of her industry leadership, O’Brien
was recently named to the Ad Council’s
Board of Directors.
#15
diana o’brien
GLOBAL CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER,
DELOITTE
Named Cisco CMO in 2015, Karen Walker
set to work creating a more integrated
marketing team — all while she led a global
repositioning of the tech brand under the
slogan “There’s never been a better time.”
Among her signature pieces in that campaign:
underwriting a project that tagged thousands
of endangered rhinos using Cisco tech and
released them in a reserve. It won worldwide
goodwill, and no shortage of attention for the
company’s optimistic technological vision.
#14
karen walker
SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT AND CHIEF
MARKETING OFFICER, CISCO
A campaign concept to showcase examples
of digital transformation has proven its
staying power.
CISCO’S
THERE’S NEVER BEEN A BETTER TIME
Source: cisco.com

Marisa Thalberg joined Taco Bell in 2015,
became CMO at the beginning of 2016, and
expanded her responsibilities globally as
Chief Brand Officer at the beginning of this
year. She kicked off that role by teasing a new
product — Nacho Fries — with a faux movie
trailer starring Josh Duhamel. Named She
Runs It’s 2017 Woman of the Year, Thalberg is
a veteran consumer marketer whose résumé
includes senior roles at Estée Lauder, Unilever,
and Revlon.
#18
marisa thalberg
CHIEF BRAND OFFICER,
TACO BELL
A recent addition to the Cadillac team, Wahl
has given the company the data-driven,
talent-forward approach that distinguished
her tenure at McDonald’s. As McDonald’s
CMO she created the “Agency Of The Future”
model and led the successful launch of
an all-day breakfast menu based on years
of social media asks, helping to rouse the
fast-food giant out of a multi-year slump.
Cadillac has signalled that they’re setting
their sights on younger Chinese and North
American markets, so expect to see luxury
SUV offerings marketed in Wahl’s trademark
transparent and well-researched style.
#17
deborah wahl
GLOBAL CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER,
CADILLAC
Bozoma Saint John’s social-media savvy
approach to branding was a key asset
when she joined Uber as its first-ever
Chief Brand Officer during a period of
unprecedented crisis. Her first campaigns
for Uber used sports tie-ins to rebuild public
affection, linking up with the NFL and NBA
and featuring sports journalist Cari Champion
as an Uber driver posing questions to rising
basketball stars. Before joining Uber, Saint
John was the head of global consumer
marketing for Apple Music, and the head
of music and entertainment marketing
at Pepsico.
#16
bozoma saint john
CHIEF BRAND OFFICER, UBER
Note: Shortly before this report was released, Saint
John announced that she was leaving Uber for a new
role as CMO of Endeavor.

Voggenreiter’s most recent Audi campaigns
have been based on getting customers to
rethink the way they understand their cars
— literally. His work on Audi’s new approach
to naming helps consumers transition to cars
labeled by power output instead of engine size.
He also introduced the newly branded Audi AI,
a semi-autonomous system that offers hands-
free driving at speeds up to 37 mph. Previous
to his position as Member of the Board of
Management for Sales and Marketing, he
worked as Head of China Business and Head
of Strategic Corporate Planning at Audi AG.
#19
dietmar voggenreiter
MEMBER OF THE BOARD OF MANAGEMENT
FOR SALES AND MARKETING, AUDI AG
In his eighth year as CMO for the world’s
largest PC vendor, Roman focused on driving
internal change aimed at making Lenovo’s
commitment to customer-centricity much
more than rhetorical. A recent restructuring
organizes the company’s business units
around classes of customers, not product
lines, and features an expanded offering with
services as well as devices. Roman’s approach
reflects Lenovo’s internal catchphrase —
“fewer, bigger, bolder” — and focuses his
marketing team on the key initiatives that
they can execute in a big way.
#20
david roman
MARKETING OFFICER, LENOVO
Note: Shortly before this report was released,
Roman announced his retirement from Lenovo.
To help customers compare performance
across vehicles, the car company
introduced a new naming system linked
to power output; 55 signals an output
of 328 to 368 hp (245 to 275 kW).
AUDI’S
NEW NAMING SYSTEM
Source: audi.com

GETTING TO KNOW THE CMOS
Alicia Hatch credits her early experiences
in leadership at Microsoft’s Xbox with
influencing her agile approach to tech
innovation. Recently winning a spot on
AdWeek’s list of tech savvy CMOs, Hatch’s
work with Deloitte Digital combines her
ease with analytics and her creative thinking.
Working with clients like TransAmerica,
Hatch has used a strategic, research-based
approach to deliver successful campaigns
that are seen as industry disruptors for their
focus on customer-centric performance.
Year over year, Deloitte Digital has boosted
global revenue 32% to $3.1 billion. Prior
to Deloitte Digital, Hatch was Prinicipal of
Banyan Digital, her own agency.
#22
alicia hatch
DELOITTE DIGITAL
Armed with a $2 billion marketing budget
this year — up from an already-hefty $1.28
billion in 2017 — Kelly Bennett’s marketing
shop is quickly becoming known for innovative,
memorable campaigns that let viewers
experience the world of Netflix’s growing
stable of content. They’ve ranged from a
Snapchat filter that took users into the Byers’
living room to promote a new season of
Stranger Things, to a fake buy-yourself-a-new-
body pop-up shop at CES promoting sci-fi
series Altered Carbon.
#23
kelly bennett
CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER, NETFLIX
Since 2016, Tung’s mission has been to show
how Alibaba’s cloud computing and rich
consumer data can be used to help both large
and small businesses go global. To tell this
story, he leveraged the PyeongChang Olympics
with To The Greatness Of Small, a campaign
aimed at showing how Alibaba supports small
businesses and young people. Focusing
on stories like Kenya’s unlikely ice hockey
players (five of whom Alibaba brought to the
Games), Tung’s campaign hearkens back to
the company’s beginnings as a digital platform
for small business, while positioning them to
form new relationships with Western markets.
Tung previously held leadership positions at
VML China, PepsiCo, and L’Oreal.
#21
chris tung
ALIBABA GROUP

Competition is fierce between streaming
music’s contenders, and the job of keeping
Spotify in the lead falls to Seth Farbman.
His not-so-secret sauce: Spotify’s wealth
of listener data, which gives the company
rich insights into user behavior and mood.
Spotify’s marketing has also stood out
by taking bold stands — such as their I’m
With The Banned series of videos, pairing
American musicians with artists from countries
covered under the US government's travel ban.
#25
seth farbman
SPOTIFY
In an industry that has been challenged by
social media’s capacity to channel customer
dissatisfaction, Tim Mapes is striving to win
customer love. Steady improvements — from
better food in economy class to a wider
selection of movies — underline Delta’s
efforts to improve customer experience;
more out-of-the-box ideas like Innovation
Class (where flyers could find themselves
beside fascinating thought leaders) have
helped spur word of mouth. And most
recently, Delta has targeted under-35
travelers, seeing them as tomorrow’s high-
value customers.
#26
tim mapes
MARKETING OFFICER, DELTA
In a highly competitive environment, Shannon
Brayton is encouraging LinkedIn’s users and
advertisers to think of the platform as a safe
place for professionals to connect and share
content. As LinkedIn’s power as a place to
publish and advertise continues to expand,
Brayton’s leadership has driven growth by
showcasing the ways the platform gives users
the insight and information they need to work
smarter. Before LinkedIn, Brayton worked at
Intuit, Yahoo!, eBay, and OpenTable.
#24
shannon brayton
CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER AND SENIOR VICE
PRESIDENT OF COMMUNICATIONS, LINKEDIN

Enrico Galliera dropped jaws when he
demonstrated Ferrari’s closeness with its
customers — and the brand’s legendary
exclusivity — through a simple mailout: 200
keys were sent to Ferrari’s top clients with
a note asking if they wanted to buy the $1.2
million 2017 Aperta sight unseen. All of them
said yes to the world’s fastest open-top road
car, instantly selling out the run. His global
celebrations for Ferrari’s 70th anniversary
this year include 70 unique cars inspired by
each year of Ferrari’s design history, design
partnerships with top luxury brands like
Hublot, and funding partnerships with Save
The Children.
#28
enrico galliera
CHIEF MARKETING AND COMMERCIAL
OFFICER, FERRARI
A social network for sharing LEGO builds
has brought young customers even closer
to the iconic brand.
LEGO’S
LEGO LIFE
In 2017, Julia Goldin made headlines with two
products when she steered the launches
of both LEGO Boost (a LEGO set that teaches
children to program their creations) and
LEGO Life, an award-winning social media
platform that has so far attracted five
million children from 26 countries. During
her time at LEGO she has expanded the
brand’s content marketing, releasing two
successful LEGO movies as well as growing
its powerful branded social channels. LEGO’s
YouTube account alone has over five million
subscribers. Prior to her work at LEGO, she
was Global CMO at Revlon and Deputy CMO
of Coca-Cola Japan.
#27
julia goldin
LEGO GROUP
Source: lego.com

At the end of his first year as CMO, Rick Gomez
can take pride in being part of the team that
delivered Target’s strongest quarterly sales
growth in a decade. This year, the consumer-
goods veteran has coupled Target’s tried-
and-true campaigns (like its mid-Grammy
show-stopper ad) with innovations ranging
from a new cardless loyalty pilot program
to a full-episode partnership with TV hit
Superstore. Gomez, whose portfolio includes
the company’s social responsibility efforts,
has helped keep Target at the forefront of
LGBTQ issues, and serves on the board of
GLSEN (formerly the Gay and Lesbian Student
Education Network).
#31
rick gomez
EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT AND
CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER, TARGET
With the aim of refreshing Dunkin’ Donuts’
brand, Tony Weisman has made a number
of customer experience changes in his first
year with the company, including value-based
deals in the form of all day “Go2” menu
options; better coffee options; and pledging
to purge the company’s food of artificial flavors
and colors. In a potential game-changer for
the brand, he’s also launched a “NextGen”
concept store known simply as Dunkin’ that
experiments with digital displays. Weisman
comes to Dunkin’ Donuts from over a decade
of leadership at DigitasLBI.
#30
tony weisman
DUNKIN’ DONUTS
Purpose-driven marketing strategy is the
heart of Alicia Tillman’s work for enterprise
software giant SAP. Focused on customer
experience and a higher goal of doing good
in the world, Tillman has told this story in rich
ways, like partnering with the UN to address
the world’s biggest economic, environmental,
and societal issues. Just as important is her
role in shifting the company from a product-
centric mindset to a more customer-centric
one: She recently announced the goals of
disrupting B2B marketing, and making SAP
one of the top 10 Most Valuable Brands.
#29
alicia tillman
CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER, SAP

In more than 25 years of service, Jack Hollis
has seen Toyota at its peak — and also in
its toughest times, taking on his current
role shortly after a series of high-profile
recalls. He overhauled his marketing team
around individual product lines and took
innovative steps in digital advertising. He
made Toyota an early adopter of Snapchat
ads and launched customized banner ads
through Google in 15,000 cities. And this year,
the Winter Olympics showcased Toyota’s new
global Start Your Impossible campaign, which
included a web site specifically designed to be
fully accessible to all — including people with
vision or hearing impairments.
#33
jack hollis
GROUP VICE PRESIDENT AND GENERAL
MANAGER, TOYOTA DIVISION, TOYOTA
MOTOR NORTH AMERICA
This global Olympic campaign paid tribute to
the power of mobility with inspiring stories
of Olympic and Paralympic athletes.
TOYOTA’S
START YOUR IMPOSSIBLE
Tasked with strengthening British Airways’
brand and customer experience while
maintaining the legacy airline’s edge over
budget competitors, Carolina Martinoli served
up a welcome change: better food options
for economy passengers on long-haul flights.
She’s also strategically pursued stories that
make customer experience more magical,
recently helping a Royal Navy Officer pull off
an unforgettable proposal to his partner in
the Caribbean — a move that may get more
customers saying “I do” again to the brand.
#32
carolina martinoli
DIRECTOR OF BRAND AND CUSTOMER
EXPERIENCE, BRITISH AIRWAYS
Source: pressroom.toyota.com

Scotti, a former J. Crew CMO and 20-year
marketing veteran, joined Verizon in October
2014. Facing a saturated mobile market,
he shifted course with a new campaign,
dubbed Humanability, that evokes a range
of Verizon technologies — including areas
such as IoT and smart cities — to highlight
how they improve society. He has also
made a major push on diversity, calling on
Verizon’s marketing partners to increase
the number of women and people of color
in their ranks. Scotti has led by example
with the in-house agency he created last
year, which has a roughly even split between
white employees and people of color,
and between women and men.
#36
diego scotti
CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER, VERIZON
Hired at a pivotal time in Pandora’s history,
Lapic brings a track record of driving
significant growth for brands like the Gap.
You can see her fingerprints on bold new
moves for the music discovery service, like
acquiring AdsWizz to scale up its ad tech.
It’s part of Pandora’s strategic positioning
as an expert on audio advertising, which has
also included a major marketing study on
35 million of their users, and a partnership
with Linkfire that gives artists new marketing
tools and analytics. As Pandora looks to the
future, Lapic has also carefully maintained
beloved events like Pandora’s SXSW musical
showcase of emerging musicians.
#35
aimée lapic
CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER, PANDORA
Michelle Peluso is IBM’s first-ever CMO,
and the principles of agile marketing that
she pioneered as Travelocity’s CEO are on
full display in her approach at the venerable
tech company. An evangelist for radical
transparency — so teams can see how their
counterparts are performing — she has
embraced flat hierarchies in IBM’s marketing.
And she’s bullish on AI as a game-changer,
allowing data to inform a far more nuanced
view of the customer than ever before.
#34
michelle peluso
MARKETING OFFICER, IBM

Describing ESPN’s digital transformation
journey, Wanda Young asserts that work
culture and the network’s approach to
consumers both need to become more
diverse and flexible. Focused on enhancing
the ESPN fan experience, her global Life
Needs Sports campaign celebrates the
powerful role sports play in customers’
lives, targeting customers across channels
by keying into culturally relevant moments
from the NBA, WNBA, and MLB — along
with quirkier competitions, like the Scripps
National Spelling Bee. Prior to ESPN, Young
held leadership positions at Walmart and
AllTel Wireless.
#38
wanda young
SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT OF MARKETING
AND CONSUMER ENGAGEMENT, ESPN
With a reputation for driving growth and
a deep curiosity about consumer behavior,
Morgan Flatley kicked off her tenure with
McDonald’s by working a drive-thru for an
afternoon, just to better understand customer
experience. Moving on to announce a powerful
partnership with Disney that positions the
brands as keeping families healthier and
happier together, Flatley has also shown
industry leadership by making a hiring push
for diversity in the executive ranks. Prior to
McDonald’s, Flatley was best known for her
award-winning work on PepsiCo’s Gatorade.
#37
morgan flatley
MCDONALD’S
The sports network’s latest global ad
campaign juxtaposes pro players with fan
footage to celebrate the impact of sports
on the lives of everyday fans.
ESPN’S
LIFE NEEDS SPORTS
Source: espnmediazone.com

Emily Culp’s track record as CMO of
102-year-old sneaker brand Keds shows
impressive customer engagement numbers
from the past two years: 30% e-commerce
growth and 20% email growth annually.
With a mission that’s firmly based on female
empowerment, Culp recently rolled out the
online Ladies for Ladies campaign, a project
that highlights partnerships and products
with female entrepreneurs and designers,
starting with Alice Saunders of Forestbound.
Culp’s previous leadership positions in digital
marketing include brands such as Rebecca
Minkoff, Unilever, and Clinique.
#41
emily culp
KEDS
This year, Falotico became the CMO for
Ford and the head of Lincoln, in addition
to continuing her work as chairman of the
board at Ford Credit, where she worked her
way up to CEO over 29 years of service. Her
deep knowledge of financing and leasing,
and extensive experience tackling tough
problems — she led the US/European market
restructure during the 2008 financial crisis —
put the company in a strong position as she
steers multiple divisions to a more connected
future. Leading campaigns based on creating
exceptional personal experiences, Falotico
aims to expand Lincoln’s click-to-purchase
offering and the ongoing transformation
of the Ford brand to smart vehicles and
electrification across its product line-up.
#40
joy falotico
GROUP VICE PRESIDENT, LINCOLN
MOTOR COMPANY AND CHIEF MARKETING
OFFICER, FORD MOTOR COMPANY
After 19 years at Michelin, Barrard’s marketing
leadership has seen him refresh the public’s
enduring relationship with Michelin Tires
through new customer experiences. That
includes partnering with Porsche on Porsche
Experience Centers, one-on-one test track
modules, and off-track courses that put
consumers in the driver’s seat. Leveraging
Bibendum (aka The Michelin Man), Barrard’s
recent campaigns in London and Shanghai
reinforce the brand’s message of safety and
reliability with the public in a visually smart
way — literally wrapping transportation in
the comforting arms of an iconic mascot.
#39
pierre barrard
SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT AND GLOBAL
MARKETING DIRECTOR, PASSENGER CAR AND
LIGHT TRUCK BUSINESS, MICHELIN

Chris Leong joined Schneider at the
beginning of 2012, and has been CMO
since March 2015. She has set a strategy
for the company’s global marketing teams
that brings them closer to the rest of the
business — and to the goal of delivering
best-in-class customer engagement. Leong
is a believer in constant innovation and
evolution, as evidenced by the company’s
embrace of IoT capabilities. Leong previously
held senior marketing positions with Nokia
and worked with several agencies in Asia
and the UK.
#44
chris leong
SCHNEIDER ELECTRIC
Nina Bibby has served as CMO for O2 for five
years, overseeing marketing and consumer
functions for Telefónica’s United Kingdom
telecom operations. She has focused on
bolstering O2’s data and personalization
capacity, and making the most of the firm’s
high-profile sponsorships to reinforce
customer loyalty. Before joining the Spanish-
owned subsidiary, she led marketing for a
range of brands in the finance, hospitality,
and beverage sectors. Bibby also chairs
British Airways’ International Business
Advisory Board.
#43
nina bibby
CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER, O2
A life-long insurance industry veteran,
Terrance Williams rose through the ranks from
Nationwide claims manager to CMO. With a
major brand reboot under his belt — including
a playful ad series with Peyton Manning,
jazz performer Leslie Odom Jr., and country
star Brad Paisley promoting Nationwide’s
revamped jingle — Williams has taken on the
added role of President of Emerging Business.
The position, which includes Nationwide Bank
and several specialty insurance lines, comes
with a $100 million investment portfolio,
targeting startups in insurance, financial
services, and consumer protection.
#42
terrance williams
CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER AND PRESIDENT
OF EMERGING BUSINESS, NATIONWIDE

To re-energize the Sprint brand, Sole combined
a serious commitment to tech with a hilarious
ad campaign. He led a CRM and martech system
overhaul that changed how Sprint works
for 13,000 service reps, 22,000 stores, and 60
million customers. Meanwhile the brand’s
Switch And Save 50 campaign won awards for
the way it poached Verizon’s old pitchman,
Paul Macarelli, for a series of commercials
called Paul Switched. Sole has also launched
innovative programs such as the $1 iPhone
promotion and Sprint Open World, which
allows Sprint customers to roam for free in
most countries in Latin America. Before
Sprint, Sole was CMO at TIM Brasil.
#46
roger sole
SPRINT
In his year and a half at The North Face, Herbst
has launched two ambitious campaigns, both
focused on purpose-driven marketing. Walls
Are Meant For Climbing centered on Global
Climbing Day, raising funds for accessible
climbing with free climbs at 40 gyms while
committing $1 million in funding to the
Public Land Trust and establishing an outdoor
climbing wall in one of Denver’s poorest
neighborhoods. Move Mountains reflected
the brand’s commitment to gender parity
in its advertising by sharing stories of female
athletes, opening two women-focused stores,
collaborating with the Girl Scouts on 12 new
outdoor adventure badges, and expanding
its female grants program. Beyond all that,
Herbst can also claim at least partial credit
for the brand’s growing revenue.
#45
tom herbst
GLOBAL VICE PRESIDENT OF MARKETING,
THE NORTH FACE
To make the case that walls should unite
people, not divide them, this campaign
combined traditional advertising with a $1
million donation to build public climbing
walls across the US.
THE NORTH FACE’S
WALLS ARE MEANT FOR CLIMBING
Source: thenorthface.com

In a surprise move last year, Marc Pritchard
announced that Procter & Gamble — the
company with the world’s largest ad budget
— would be slashing inefficiency and waste in
agency digital ad spends, while finding new ways
to bring work in-house to increase creativity
and target audiences. Since then, he’s gone on
to champion transparency and slash budgets
(especially for digital), instead using a real-time
proprietary measurement system to pinpoint
customers. In an even bolder move, he’s also
reinventing the agency model with a “People
First” approach that assembles talent from top
agencies to work together on P&G’s top sellers.
Piloted at the Superbowl, the model’s disrupting
the accepted approach, and giving P&G the
means to exert greater control over brand safety.
#48
marc pritchard
CHIEF BRAND OFFICER,
PROCTER & GAMBLE
Malenshek revved up 2017 with All For
Freedom, Freedom For All, a social media
campaign that appeals to individual spirit
— and which boldly rejects the concept
of marketing to millennials or any other
generational segment. Harley-Davidson’s
ten-year strategy to grow riders globally
is aimed at making the Harley-Davidson
community more welcoming and inviting,
teaching people to ride through offerings
like Ride Academy, and creating safer
spaces for women in moto-culture. Steering
the company’s marketing into its 115th
anniversary, Malenshek brings experience
from previous leadership positions as
Director of Consumer Insights at Harley-
Davidson, as well as at DDB.
#47
heather malenshek
VICE PRESIDENT OF MARKETING,
HARLEY-DAVIDSON
This celebration of motorcycling invited bikers
to share their stories of the open road with
the hashtag #FindYourFreedom.
HARLEY-DAVIDSON’S
ALL FOR FREEDOM, FREEDOM FOR ALL
Source: youtube.com/harleydavidson

One of several high-profile marketing
execs to join ad tech companies in recent
years, Vobejda comes to ad-buying platform
The Trade Desk from her work leading digital
transformation at fashion brand Tory Burch.
In her new home, Vobejda continues to make
the case for data-driven approaches that
reach customers through the right channel
and at the right moment in the buying process.
She’s passionate about mentoring, so watch
her team for the next generation of smart,
tech-savvy marketers.
#49
susan vobejda
THE TRADE DESK
It isn’t hard to see Karin Timpone’s
entertainment background in her work with
Marriott International. An alum of Universal
Studios and Disney ABC TV Group, Timpone
often brings a playful sensibility to Marriott’s
marketing. That applies to everything from
jumping on the Pokémon GO craze in 2016
with digital monsters popping up in swimming
pools and guest rooms, to creating the Cannes
Lions-winning social media monitoring
command center, M Live, which alerts hotel
managers to opportunities to surprise
and delight guests. One big question: how
Marriott’s message and strategy will change
as Timpone shifts from longtime agency
MEC to Publicis in the wake of Marriott’s
acquisition of Starwood.
#50
karin timpone
GLOBAL MARKETING OFFICER,
MARRIOT INTERNATIONAL
The hotel chain uses its social media
command center to scan for opportunities
to thrill its guests based on their latest
tweets, Instagram posts, or other social
media shares.
MARRIOTT’S
M LIVE COMMAND CENTER
Source: news.marriott.com

METHODOLOGY FORBES: THE WORLD’S MOST INFLUENTIAL CMOS 2018 // 45
Methodology
The Top 50 CMOs profiled in this report were selected through a rigorous
process grounded in the following definition of CMO influence:
CANDIDATE SELECTION
The above definition drove our focus on ranking the CMOs of major global
brands: companies (and leaders) with an international footprint. We started
by looking at the 500+ brands that appeared on the Brand Finance 2016 List
and Forbes Most Valuable Brands List 2016. We then identified the CMOs (or
equivalents) for these brands, skipping brands that did not have a CMO. This
yielded a total of 438 candidates selected for evaluation.
METRICS FOR EVALUATION
We followed the same basic methodology used in the 2017 report, selecting nine
different metrics that together represent three aspects of CMO influence. All data
on brand performance indicators and personal impact on brand awareness are
based on a January 1, 2017-March 15, 2018 evaluation period.
In addition to the metrics used in our core ranking we used additional LinkedIn
data, news mentions, and social media influence variables to construct our lists
of key topics, social engagement influencers, and other charts featured in the
front section of the report.
SELECTING THE TOP 50 GROUP
The indicators we selected to reflect different dimensions of influence were
combined into a single score. The variables were weighted to balance the
score across the three variable categories, and represent the variation in how
much each varible reflects CMO influence and brand performance. Using this
weighting scheme, we developed a composite score for all 438 candidates, then
assigned the highest scoring CMOs to a Top 50 group. The Top 50 group was
then reviewed to ensure that all CMOs were still in their roles as of June 1, 2018.
RANKING THE TOP 50 CMOS
To create our final Top 50 ranking, we combined the nine variables of the
composite score used to select our Top 50 group with an additional factor: how
influential each CMO is within the overall community of global brand CMOs.
Since the vast majority of our Top 50 CMOs are on Twitter, we used Twitter data
to rank their influence based on an “Insider Score” reflecting how many peers
in the CMO community followed their updates. For the handful of Top 50 CMOs
not on Twitter, their ranking was based on their composite score alone.
CMO influence is defined as the impact a chief
marketer’s actions and words have on his or her
internal organization’s motivation and performance;
corporate brand perception; broader marketing and
advertising industry trends; and, ultimately, corporate
financial performance, including stock price.

METHODOLOGY FORBES: THE WORLD’S MOST INFLUENTIAL CMOS 2018 // 46
*
Made possible through Sprinklr’s Benchmarking Insights capability, which indexes the social
performance of 30,000+ brand accounts to surface top performers across industries, competitive
sets, and best-in-class brands.
**
Made possible through Sprinklr’s Listening Insights capability, which captures and analyzes
conversations across the web (social networks, news, blogs, websites, and more) historically and in
real time to surface key trends, demographics, sentiment, and conversation drivers.
***
Made possible through Sprinklr’s Influencer Marketing capability, which analyzes interpersonal
connections to surface contextual and credible influencers, identify subgroups of influencers
within a network, and reveal trends across different subgroups.
VARIABLES AND INDICATORS
VARIABLE TYPE INDICATORS
Brand performance
indicators*
Engagement rate on brand posts
Volume of engaged followers
for the brand
Personal impact on
brand awareness**
Total direct (@) and indirect (CMO
+ brand name) Twitter mentions
Online and blog mentions of the CMO
(in context of brand)
News mentions of the CMO
(in context of brand)
Industry and
internal influence
CMO’s volume of LinkedIn connections
External views of CMO’s LinkedIn profile
(from outside company)
Impressions and engagements on CMO’s
LinkedIn shares
Internal views of CMO’s LinkedIn profile
(from within company)
Peer-based
influence***
“Insider Score” reflecting how many peers in the
global CMO community followed the CMO’s updates

The World's Most Influential CMOs 2018: Understanding How Top Marketers Build Impact

The World's Most Influential CMOs 2018: Understanding How Top Marketers Build Impact

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

What's hot

What's hot (18)

Similar to The World's Most Influential CMOs 2018: Understanding How Top Marketers Build Impact

Similar to The World's Most Influential CMOs 2018: Understanding How Top Marketers Build Impact (20)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

The World's Most Influential CMOs 2018: Understanding How Top Marketers Build Impact