Jim Stengel's Reflection from a Trip to Cuba

We're still feeling that party energy of the holidays as Jim welcomes Taylor Berry, the VP of Brand Marketing at Tito’s Handmade Vodka, to The CMO Podcast. Austin-based Tito’s may be handmade, but it is no small brand. Tito’s is the number 1 best-selling vodka brand in the US, with revenue in the $2 billion range. Its story is a classic American Dream saga. Bert “Tito” Beveridge–yes Beveridge is his real last name–founded the brand in 1995 after failed ventures in the oil and drilling industry, and in mortgage lending. Taylor has worked at Tito’s about 5 and a half years, with four years as the head of brand marketing. An LA native and graduate of USC, Taylor now makes Austin his home. Interestingly, Tito’s is Taylor’s first time on the client side; he spent the first several years of his career on the agency side, working with the creative powerhouses TBWA/Media Arts, Droga 5, and SS+K. So, pour yourself a Tito’s cocktail, and listen up as Taylor takes us behind the scenes of one of the great brand stories of our times. Plus, he announces the “With Tito’s” brand platform and the Tito's Spokescart.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

10 Jan 202452min

Ring in the new year with the CMO Podcast as Jim welcomes Jonathan Knight, the SVP, Head of Games for The New York Times. The Times Games include the famous New York Times Crossword Puzzle, The Mini Crossword, Wordle, Spelling Bee, Connections, and Tiles. Founded in 1851, The New York Times is one of the oldest and most respected brands in the world, with nearly 10 million subscribers. Jonathan knows a lot about building brands with high and lasting consumer engagement and loyalty. He has worked in the gaming industry for nearly 30 years, holding roles at Activision in the early days, then Electronic Arts as the senior leader on the Sims franchise. Jonathan then moved to Zynga and Warner Brothers Games before joining the New York Times Games in the fall of 2020. Tune in for a thoughtful conversation about how brands can learn from the high-growth gaming category, and what leaders at large could learn from popular and lasting game brands. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

3 Jan 202453min

Join us for one final episode to wrap up the year as Jim welcomes MJ DePalma, the Global Director of Cultural & Inclusive Business Impact at Microsoft. Founded in 1975 by Bill Gates, Microsoft is now a $200 billion by revenue–and growing–company with 220,000 employees. The company has also made headlines more than usual this year with its investment in OpenAI.MJ is a UCLA graduate with a psychology degree, and has worked at Microsoft twice in her career–once for four years, and now going on 10 years in her current stint. She has held her role as Global Director for more than five years. MJ has a gift for inspiring and motivating people, and looks to the Microsoft Purpose Playbook as the best tool to drive herself and her team to be more welcoming and inclusive.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

20 Dec 202347min

Today's guest on The CMO Podcast is Shira Feuer, the Chief Marketing Officer of Trinny London, the seven-year-old, digital-first, global beauty brand founded by Trinny Woodall. Founder Trinny Woodall has been an influential personality on the fashion and beauty scene since the 90s, when she started a Daily Telegraph Ready-to-Wear column with Susannah Constantine. The column morphed into the BBC series What Not to Wear. Since its founding in 2017, Trinny London has succeeded within the beauty space, leaning on its number one purpose – to give everyone the tools they need to feel their best.Shira hails from Canada, where she attended McGill University, but had always felt a calling overseas. Shira began her career in banking, which allowed her to move to London...where she discovered quickly that a career in finance was not for her. From there, she dove into marketing, making her way to a seminal experience at Burberry, before joining the team at Trinny London in 2019. She recently celebrated five years as CMO of the company.With the holidays upon us, join Jim as he welcomes a CMO who can find inspiration from everywhere, and tease a few great gift options for your loved ones!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

13 Dec 202347min

Jim's guest today on The CMO Podcast is Tamara Mendelsohn, the Chief Marketing Officer for Eventbrite. The 17-year-old global self-service ticketing platform for live experiences allows anyone to create, share, find and attend events. The app showcases music festivals, marathons, conferences, community rallies, fundraisers, gaming competitions–and even air guitar contests. 12 years after its founding, Eventbrite went public. The company’s purpose is simple: to bring the world together through live experiences. The company certainly delivers that purpose, with five million events last year, nearly 300 million tickets, 800,000 creators using the platform, and a yearly revenue approaching $300 million.Tamara joined Evenbrite in 2009, when the company was only three years old, and she was appointed Chief Marketing Officer about 3 and a half years ago. Before Eventbrite, Tamara spent four years as a Senior Analyst at Forrester, where she specialized in ecommerce and multichannel retail. Tamara studied comparative literature and economics at Wellesley College, and earned her MBA from the Sloan School of Management at MIT. Tune in for a conversation with a CMO who loves connecting and community!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

6 Dec 202354min

Jim's guest this week on The CMO Podcast is Derek Yarbrough, the Chief Marketing Officer at the J.Crew Group, where he looks over the J.Crew and Madewell brands. J.Crew began in 1983–40 years ago–with its first catalog. Since then it has grown to a multi-billion dollar clothing and accessories business, with hundreds of specialty retail stores, about 150 outlet stores, and a thriving on-line business. With its sister brand Madewell launching in 2006.Derek has been at J.Crew for about 13 years, and most of those years on the Madewell brand, before being promoted to CMO of the J.Crew group in 2021. After graduating from Stanford with an Urban Studies degree, Derek worked briefly as a consultant before joining the startup WalMart.com as employee #33. From there Derek worked in direct-to-consumer marketing at several companies with memorable names including, Hips&Curves.com, Flirtcatalog.com, and Abbey Roads Programs.As the J.Crew celebrates their 40 year anniversary, Derek joins Jim to talk his entrepreneur career which led to the brand, and how inspired he is by the fans who have stayed true through all these years.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

29 Nov 202351min

How do you prepare to join the C-Suite after years of working as a marketing leader? Jim wraps up the final episode from the 2023 Deloitte University Next Generation CMO Academy with a roundtable panel discussion featuring Brad Hiranaga (Chief Brand Officer of Cotopaxi), Erica Taylor (Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer of Genentech), and Lisa Materazzo (Group Vice President of Marketing at Toyota Motor North America). Brad Hiranaga is a returning guest to the podcast. He spoke to Jim in 2021 as Chief Marketing Officer at General Mills, where he spent 18 years. Now a year into his new role as CMO for Cotopaxi, a sustainable outdoor apparel brand, Brad looks to build on the mission of the founder, who–fun fact–named the company after a volcano in the Andes in central Ecuador. Erica Taylor is Genentech’s first CMO. Erica actually worked at Genentech for 10 years before leaving to join another pharmaceutical giant, Gilead. Erica returned to Genentech in 2021 and was promoted to CO in 2022. She is also the first CO on our show with a PhD in Immunology.Lisa Materazzo has spent over two decades at Toyota, with a brief intermission at AOL and Build-a-Bear, before returning to the company and ultimately becoming the Group Vice President of Toyota Division Marketing at Toyota Motor North America in 2021. Raised in a car-fanatic family, it’s extremely fitting that Lisa finds herself leading marketing for one of the most prominent motor companies in the world. Tune in as these guests share how they prepared for the C Suite, what they got right and wrong in their career, and how they deal with imposter syndrome. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

15 Nov 202349min

The guest this week on The CMO Podcast is Carrie Ruddy, the Senior Vice President, Chief Communications & Marketing Officer of Trane Technologies–a 17 billion dollar by sales company focused on heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration systems. But this is no ordinary HVAC company–they are 100% focused on helping solve the climate change crisis through innovative new products and services. Trane’s CEO attributes their strong business results to “a focused execution of our purpose driven strategy.” We’ll talk about that.Carrie first discovered her passion for communications at the non-profit United Way, after completing her Bachelors at Colgate University, majoring in English and Philosophy. From there she made stops in several industries, including financial services and grocery/retail, before joining manufacturer Ingersoll Rand in 2014. In 2020 the tools business of Ingersoll Rand was spun off, and the remaining company was named Trane Technologies. In January 2022 Carrie was named Chief Communications and Marketing Officer of Trane Technologies. Recorded at the Next Gen CMO Academy at Deloitte University, during a Texas heatwave, (it was 105 degrees!) It's only fitting that Carrie joined Jim in the crisp AC for her first ever podcast interview. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

8 Nov 202352min