Building Better CMOs and Marketing Leaders

Full transcript "The strongest brands aren't built by chasing culture," says Alex Tomlin, regional CMO of Bacardi North America. "The strongest brands are built by earning a place within culture." For example, Alex says, look at the story of the Grey Goose Honey Deuce. It's been the U.S. Open's signature cocktail since 2007, and the recipe has never changed, but a sharper brief helped turn it into what Alex calls "a 19-year overnight success story," with more than 873,000 sold at this year's tournament. And he's more convinced than ever that activations at music festivals and other events are worth doing. "In a world where digital content is limitless, it's flawless, and it's hard to verify what's real ... I think there's going to be a premium value applied to real-life experiences," Alex says. Today on Building Better CMOs, Alex and Greg talk about how marketers can show up when consumers ask AI chatbots for recommendations; why Bacardi "will not buckle" on using real people in its ads, including Patrón's new spot from Guillermo del Toro; and how the company joined the celebration around Bad Bunny's Super Bowl halftime show. Plus: The three questions that, for Alex, add up to a high-performing team. Chapters 00:00 Introduction 1:10 Bacardi's Legacy and the Iconic Bat Logo 4:55 Grey Goose and the U.S. Open Honey Deuce 7:39 The Marketing Brief That Drove Explosive Growth 15:23 Marketing to Bots and AI Search Algorithms 23:16 Leadership, Team Culture, and Proving Marketing Impact 32:53 Earning a Place in Culture Through Experiences 38:19 Social Connection and the Loneliness Epidemic 39:58 Marketing Lessons for Other Product Categories This episode was produced and edited by Eric Johnson from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LightningPod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠: https://lightningpod.fm/ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Follow Building Better CMOs in your podcast app⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠: https://pod.link/1689135815 ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Rate and review the podcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠: https://bettercmos.com/review?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=description

Full transcript "Any organization, any team, is going to have inherent conflict," says Dave Steer, CMO of Webflow. "The question is... Do you bring it into the room and have discussion about it, or do you not talk about it in the room, and then around the water cooler you're having that kind of conversation?" Dave learned how to "mine" conflict in this way from an executive team coach, and he says it's "bananas for anyone to not have a coach at any level of their career." And conflict is just one of the lenses through which he has tried to zoom out and think of his role as a marketing leader in terms of systems, rather than small projects. Today on Building Better CMOs, Dave and Greg discuss the ROI of personalized marketing, how Webflow has embraced agentic marketing to help brands level up their online presence, and why "we're in the Moneyball moment for the marketing industry." Plus: The unrealistic expectations of everything marketers are supposed to be able to do in 2026. Chapters: 00:00 Introduction 00:21 Webflow and the Modern Marketing Team 5:24 The Promise of Personalization 10:54 The ROI of Personalized Marketing 15:24 Moneyball Marketing Mindset 22:54 The Trust Framework and Team Coaching 27:22 Mining Conflict Together 32:01 Shifting from Campaigns to Systems 36:24 The Modern Marketer Skill Stack Dave's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davesteer Webflow: https://webflow.com/ This episode was produced and edited by Eric Johnson from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LightningPod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠: https://lightningpod.fm/ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Follow Building Better CMOs in your podcast app⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠: https://pod.link/1689135815 ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Rate and review the podcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠: https://bettercmos.com/review?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=description

Full transcript Marketing a traditional brand is one thing. Marketing an entire city — specifically, Las Vegas — is something else altogether. For Kate Wik, CMO of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA), executing a massive campaign means getting hotel owners, elected officials, and local stakeholders to completely buy in. When making cultural waves, like turning the city's casinos purple for the K-pop group BTS, collaboration is everything. "That's not my building or my assets," Kate explains. "It's bringing others along with you. That's what drives the scale of a great idea." Today on Building Better CMOs, Kate and Greg discuss the complexities of serving Las Vegas' distinct audiences, spanning luxury, leisure, budget, and convention travelers. They dive into the unique challenges of destination marketing organization (DMO) attribution when you don't actually own the transactions, as well as how the LVCVA approaches brand health tracking, PR, and digital targeting. Plus, why Vegas has moved away from the iconic tagline "What happens here, stays here," and what it takes to produce massive recent events, such as Super Bowl LVIII and the Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix. Chapters: 00:00 Introduction 02:05 How the LVCVA Markets Las Vegas 08:26 Data, Attribution, and Marketing Complexity 15:20 Evolving "What Happens Here Stays Here" 19:23 Driving Demand for a Category of One 25:13 The Best Marketing Advice Kate Ever Received 28:01 Experiential Marketing: F1, Shoeys, and BTS 36:26 Measuring Long-Term Brand Value vs. ROI 39:48 The Brand Impact of Hosting the Super Bowl 43:09 Brand Health Tracking and the "Pack for Vegas" Campaign Kate's LinkedIn LVCVA This episode was produced and edited by Eric Johnson from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LightningPod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow Building Better CMOs in your podcast app⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Rate and review the podcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠

Full transcript CMOs are " really good at the M part," says Bennie Johnson, the CEO of the American Marketing Association. "We're really good at the marketing part. We struggle with the 'Chief' and the 'Officer.'" Why is that? Some possible reasons include the lack of professional certification for great marketers, the short tenures CMOs often have before moving on to the next job, or the fact that — according to the Marketing + Media Alliance's research — 30 percent of marketing capabilities sit outside the role of CMO. "We need to take a full push that we are unapologetically leading the business," Bennie says. "An organization's marketers are driving growth. We don't get credit for the money, but we get credit for the expense." Today on Building Better CMOs, Bennie and Greg talk about bridging research and practice through executive–academic collaboration, emerging trends from the AMA's own research, and why Bennie believes "adjectives matter" when you talk about marketing. Plus: Why you are never the target audience. 00:00 Introduction 03:47 Inside the AMA's Big Tent 08:22 Future Trends in Marketing 10:58 Portfolio Careers and Fractional CMOs 22:07 Career Advice and Collecting Art 29:20 You Are Not the Target Audience 31:25 Where Academic Research Meets Practice 36:05 The Boardroom Leadership Gap 38:16 Why Marketing Loses Control 48:23 No Licensure, No Gatekeepers Bennie's LinkedIn American Marketing Association This episode was produced and edited by Eric Johnson from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LightningPod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Follow Building Better CMOs in your podcast app⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Rate and review the podcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠

Full transcript Helping families navigate senior care at A Place for Mom requires constant cross-functional alignment. For marketing veteran Chris Milone, leadership extends far beyond his own department. "You have to be a thought partner to the CEO," says the CMO. That philosophy was forged the hard way during his first stint as a chief marketer, when his boss pulled him aside to express disappointment. "He said, 'When I hired you, I didn't hire someone to run the marketing department. That's table stakes, that's a given,'" Chris says. "'I barely hear from you in our leadership meetings. I don't know if you even care about what's going on in the rest of the company.'" Today on Building Better CMOs, Chris and Greg talk about working with CEOs who used to be the CMO; why AI makes everyone think they’re an expert; and how to balance what your customer wants with what the business needs. Plus: Why new executives have to "talk to every single person in their organization." 00:00 Introduction 01:22 What A Place for Mom Does 04:51 The CMO Onboarding Playbook 10:46 Some Bad Marketing Advice 16:02 Becoming a Four-Time CMO 20:31 When Your CEO is a Former CMO 23:10 Performance, Teams, and Go-To-Market Strategies 31:17 Brand Building in the AI Search Era 35:25 Being a Thought Partner to the CEO 40:45 Why Marketers Must Prove ROI 44:57 Incrementality Testing and Measurement 50:35 Defending Marketing Decisions Against AI Chris' LinkedIn Greg's LinkedIn This episode was produced and edited by Eric Johnson from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LightningPod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Follow Building Better CMOs in your podcast app⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Rate and review the podcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠