Ad Age Marketer's Brief

Fewer media dollars, bigger rivals: how to compete, with Firehouse Subs CMO

Firehouse Subs is the fourth-largest sub chain in North America, competing against rivals with bigger media budgets and a larger share of voice. Its guests visit for occa

Why Ally Financial combined tech, PR and marketing under one leader—and how it enables new speed to market

Ally Financial underwent a major reorganization in the last year to support its strategic pivot toward positioning the consumer bank as an everyday banking brand, while a

Coterie's playbook for growing a mid-size brand without losing its edge, with marketing VP Lindsey Kling

Coterie has surpassed $200 million in annual sales while taking a deliberately selective approach to growth. The baby care brand has expanded beyond its direct-to-consume

How one marketer now owns CX, creative and growth, with SharkNinja's brand chief

Most marketing leaders get involved after a product is built. SharkNinja Chief Brand and Experience Officer Michelle Crossan-Matos says her role exists because that's too

This packaging switch tripled sales velocity, with Saint James Co-Founder

Saint James Tea Co-Founder and CEO Brad Neumann says a single packaging switch—from cardboard cartons to resealable aluminum bottles—nearly tripled the three-year-old, be

Why marketers chase active demand and miss the passive majority, with Indeed's CMO

Most marketing budgets are built to capture demand—people already searching—but Indeed CMO James Whitemore says that's leaving future demand on the table. He explains why

Turning consumer signals into campaigns that work, with Kayak's senior VP of brand marketing

An idea isn't a strategy. Kayak's marketing team gets plenty of raw material—search behavior, trending topics, notions floating around a meeting room—but treats none of i

Meet the Calvin Klein CMO using 'entertainment mentality' to turn culturally resonant campaigns into sales gains

As brands try to make their campaign dollars stretch farther, they're looking to culturally resonant marketing that creates engagement—comments, likes and shares—and resu

Lessons from America's Hottest Brands

What does it take to be one of America's Hottest Brands? We comb through our annual list of 20 brands having a moment to discern marketing lessons applicable to brands of

The key to making sports partnerships pay off, with PepsiCo's Jonnie Cahill

Too often, brand sponsorships stop at awareness when they could offer consumers something more. Jonnie Cahill, chief marketing officer of PepsiCo International Foods, say

Why data, not AI, is driving local travel marketing decisions, with Vrbo's VP of marketing

As marketers reach for AI to explain every new capability, it's easy to overstate its role. Helen Melluish, VP of marketing at Expedia-owned Vrbo, says the hyperlocal tar

Why retailers should sell experiences, not products, with Macy's CMO

Shoppers don't remember what they bought—they remember the experience around it. Macy's Executive VP and Chief Marketing Officer Sharon Otterman explains how the retailer

What brands are missing in sports sponsorship, with Just Women's Sports Founder

Haley Rosen of Just Women's Sports breaks down why the biggest opportunities in women's sports may lie beyond the games themselves. The founder and CEO of the sports-firs

From instinct to evidence: Solving marketing's growth paradox

The volume of creative content has never been higher, and the pressure to prove every piece of it works has never been greater. In this sponsored episode of the Marketer'

CMOs on CMOs: Hippo and Solo Stove on AI and grassroots marketing tactics

Watch this episode and see additional resources for marketers at AdAge.com/cmo. In the first episode of the Ad Age CMOs on CMOs series, Andrea Collins, CMO of Hippo, an

How the Cadillac F1 team is racing to define its brand and fan strategy

Formula 1's newest team is building more than a racing operation as it prepares for Silverstone—it's building a high-speed media company designed to keep fans engaged yea

Evolving a media network to meet growing advertiser demands with Marriott's Chris Norton

Marriott Media Network's Chris Norton discusses how the hotelier is differentiating itself in the crowded field of retail media networks, including through partnerships w

How agentic AI is reinventing brand customer experience, with Adobe's CMO

Customer experience is changing rapidly in the era of AI, in large part thanks to agentic tools from tech providers like Adobe. Lara Balazs, chief marketing officer of Ad

Why Cannes awards and creativity still matter for CMOs, with Unilever's top marketer

Unilever CMO Leandro Barreto unpacks how he gets the most out of Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity every year and why awards and creativity still matter f

Capitalizing on the women's sports boom with NWSL CMO Rachel Epstein

Rachel Epstein, the newly named chief marketing officer of the National Women's Soccer League, discusses her strategy to make the most of booming interest in women's spor