How to become an extraordinary marketing leader - John Amaechi

In partnership with NBCUniversal, we sit down with Kory Marchisotto, CMO of e.l.f. Beauty, to unpack a 25 quarters of consecutive growth. From their bold “So Many Dicks” campaign to the $1B Rhode deal with Hailey Bieber, Kory shares how e.l.f. built a culture that fuels growth. We also dive into the power of creators and celebrities in beauty, partnerships with sporting icons like Billie Jean King and racing driver Katherine Legge, and the realities of leading as a high-growth, publicly listed CMO.Timestamps00:00 - Intro00:40 - The last decade of Elf01:35 - The Titanium and Glass Cannes Lions entry03:01 - Elf’s “So Many Dicks” campaign10:01 - The secret to 25 quarters of consecutive growth13:36 - Building a culture that allows growth17:03 - $1b Rhode deal24:26 - How important are creators and celebrities in building beauty brands26:37 - Collaborating with Billie Jean King30:49 - Partnering with Katherine Legge, racing driver34:16 - The realities of being a high growth, publicly listed CMO

9 Jul 39min

Simon Morris is Adobe’s VP of International Marketing, joins us to share how Adobe is empowering creativity at scale. We discuss the impact of AI on marketing, why creativity will always need human skills, and how Adobe partners with brands like Real Madrid to build iconic campaigns. Simon also shares what makes a great marketing leader today, how to launch products successfully, and what’s next for AI and creators.Timestamps:00:00 - Intro00:43 - The size of the Cannes activation for Adobe01:38 - Simon’s marketing career04:21 - Adobe’s CEO named creative champion of the year05:46 - Where has AI had the biggest impact in marketing?08:14 - Will AI replace creativity?09:35 - Where will human skills be most required in the age of AI?14:21 - How Adobe are their own customer15:10 - What campaigns have been made with Adobe’s own software?16:19 - How brands can work with creators?17:59 - Freedom for creators vs sticking to guidelines19:16 - How to successfully launch a new product20:59 - Partnering with sports teams to build their brand (Real Madrid)23:25 - Maintaining trust in Adobe AI products, with potential IP worries26:16 - Whats the next thing in AI we need to pay attention to?28:37 - Building a brand for long term when the world is increasingly short term29:56 - What makes a great marketing leader today?

7 Jul 31min

In collaboration with TikTok, System1 have launched a new research paper called "The Long and the Short Form of It", explaining how brands can navigate and excel in this of this new world of short form content. In this episode I catch up with TikTok's Head of Business Marketing and Partnerships to discuss the research and help brands succeed on the platform.Timestamps00:00 - Intro02:05 - Sofia’s marketing career04:04 - Why B2B marketing needs to be more human05:36 - TikTok’s marketing journey over the past 5 years06:48 - How brands can use TikTok10:47 - How brands can work with creators on TikTok14:20 - How to make a TikTok that captures attention18:18 - The TikTok economy21:18 - Why authenticity pays off on TikTok22:57 - How people can get started creating on TikTok25:30 - Is TikTok just for teenagers?26:51 - TikTok as an entertainment platform, not as a social media platform27:54 - Romancing the creative vs proving the value32:00 - Sofia’s leadership lessons

2 Jul 33min

After 20 unhappy years as a headhunter, it took a near death experience for Sherilyn Shackell to launch The Marketing Academy, a non-profit organisation developing leadership talent in marketing. Launched in 2010, The Marketing Academy now helps marketers become CMOs and CMOs become CEOs. This episode, we focus on exactly how CMOs can get a seat at the table in the boardroom and all the traits they need to do this successfully.Timestamps00:00 - Intro00:53 - How a near death experience led to the creation of The Marketing Academy08:29 - Does trauma help founders?11:27 - What is The Marketing Academy?15:05 - How The Marketing Academy Fellowship helps CMOs become CEOs20:08 - Why there needs to be CMOs on boards27:03 - What CMOs can do to get on boards35:36 - Why CMOs need to build their own profiles39:23 - Why CMOs need to invest in relationships44:16 - Why having a personal brand is a talent magnet45:48 - The biggest fears and anxieties of CMOs54:34 - What marketers can learn from the best CMOs in the world?

25 Jun 59min

In a bonus live episode from Cannes, Professor Scott Galloway joins renowned CMO Kory Marchisotto (e.l.f. Beauty) and advertising legend Rory Sutherland to discuss three big topics: Is brand dead? Are we too risk-averse? And what is the future of the CMO?Timestamps00:00 - Start00:26 - Is the era of brand dead?13:54 - Do we need to make better advertising?20:11 - How CMOs can approach risk31:09 - The demise of the CMO

23 Jun 39min

Ben Branson is the founder of Seedlip, a non-alcoholic spirit brand he started in 2015, and sold 3 years later to Diageo. Jon speaks to Ben about the origins of the brand, how the grew so fast, what makes Ben such an impressive marketer (despite him not liking marketing) and how a brand goes from 0 to exit in such a short space of time. We also talk about Ben's new brands and his Hidden 20% charity.Timestamps00:00:00 - SIntro00:01:01 - Where did the idea for Seedlip come from?00:14:14 - Charging a high price00:18:47 - How to push through the hard times00:21:10 - What led to such large growth in the early days of Seedlip00:24:29 - Planning for success vs making it up as you go00:27:44 - The power of intelligent naivety00:29:30 - Creativity within budget constraints00:31:05 - From innovator to scale up00:38:05 - Why did Ben Branson and Seedlip sell to Diageo?00:40:26 - What Ben doesn’t like about marketing00:41:25 - Why Ben is a masterful marketer00:48:51 - The Hidden 20%: Ben’s autism story and charity01:00:35 - Why Ben wants to close his charity, The Hidden 20%?

18 Jun 1h 2min

The B2B boys Jon Lombardo and Peter Weinberg return to the podcast for a third time, this time wearing their new distinctive assets. They go hard on Professor Scott Galloway, disagreeing with his "brand is dead" statement, suggesting that not only is brand not dead, it's alive, thriving and you need it for your brand to survive. They also give us an update on their synthetic research company, Evidenza, and what the future of brands look like in the age of AI.Timestamps00:00 - Intro02:07 - How is Evidenza going?03:36 - Why Evidenza have embraced distinctive assets08:29 - Why Jon and Peter disagree with Scott Galloway on brand17:20 - The future of brand in the age of AI21:21 - The 95:5 rule reinvented27:48 - Why brand efforts compound30:00 - Why brand matters more in B2B than B2C38:49 - The Evidenza jingle41:03 - What marketing questions can now be answered with AI55:17 - What is the future of AI for research

11 Jun 1h 3min

I speak to Airbnb's CMO, Hiroki Asai, fresh off their 2025 Summer Release, where they announced their brand new "Services" and "Experiences" addition to the platform. This now positions Airbnb as the perfect alternative to a hotel when travelling. Hiroki touches on how they have launched this massive new innovation, why they do all their creative work in-house and rounds off with some poignant advice to marketers.Timestamps00:00 - Intro01:42 - Joining Airbnb at the start of COVID02:44 - Why Airbnb turned off performance marketing but invested in brand04:01 - Airbnb’s origin story as told by their CMO, Hiroki Asai06:31 - The importance of design for Airbnb07:37 - Why all branding and advertising is done in house17:36 - How the new launch helps Airbnb hosts18:33 - What went into such a big launch20:36 - Some of the notable Airbnb experiences21:28 - The big redesign of the Airbnb app23:59 - How Hiroki leads the marketing organisation27:29 - How to launch a big product update29:37 - Revamping the Airbnb host experience31:45 - Hiroki’s advice for aspiring CMOs

4 Jun 37min