Join Alan B. Hart as he dives into conversations with the world's leading chief marketing officers and business innovators. Tune in to get inspired by the stories and experiences of marketing visionaries—and stay ahead of the curve.
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30: Building billion-dollar brands with purpose: Insights from Mars Wrigley North America & Global Ice Cream President Anton Vincent
Season 1 · Episode 30
Wednesday, December 17, 2025 • Duration 37:02
How can marketing leaders balance rapid change, emerging technology and brand purpose to drive lasting growth and loyalty across a portfolio of iconic brands?
Anton Vincent, president of Mars Wrigley North America & Global Ice Cream, shares what it looks like to lead with purpose across a suite of powerhouse brands spanning confections, pet care and food. He discusses how Mars balances ambitious growth with a real commitment to responsibility, ensuring that business success and positive societal impact go hand in hand. Anton also underscores the strategic value of developing talent and enabling people to move across different business areas to encourage agility and fresh thinking.
He shares why creativity remains essential for brands—especially as technology and analytics redefine what's possible—and highlights the discipline required to uphold quality and brand integrity in a crowded, fast-moving marketplace. Throughout the conversation, Anton stresses that enduring relevance and brand loyalty come from continuous learning and a clear understanding of both consumers and culture.
In this episode, you'll learn:
Why centering business growth with real purpose can create a lasting impact at scale
How ideas supported by data and fueled by originality can capture and hold people's attention in today's crowded market
Ways to build agile teams and nurture authentic brands to stay relevant in a constantly changing world
Key highlights:
[00:00] Introduction
[01:30] Basketball talk
[04:30] Anton's path to Mars
[08:00] The scope of Mars
[10:20] Alan's love to Hubba Bubba
[12:20] Scale versus independence of brands
[14:05] The Mars talent strategy
[15:40] Navigating the evolving marketing ecosystem
[18:20] Marketing that adapts to change
[20:30] Notable recent work
[22:05] An experience that defines you: Top Secret Popcorn recall
[26:00] Advice to your younger self: Slow down
[28:30] A topic marketers need to learn more about: Connecting creativity with technology
[33:45] Largest opportunity or threat to marketers today: Constant learning
29: When a brand film works to shift perception: Insights from Lingokids CMO and COO Mikael Journo
Season 1 · Episode 29
Wednesday, December 10, 2025 • Duration 42:06
Lingokids Chief Marketing and Chief Operating officer (CMO and COO) Mikael Journo shares how he skillfully blends data-driven strategies with intuitive decision-making to strike a perfect balance between brand building and performance marketing. Drawing from his extensive career experience, Mikael discusses the challenges of marketing to modern parents and highlights how Lingokids—the leading interactive app for children ages 2–8—addresses their worries.
When a recent study revealed that 75% of millennial parents feel guilty about their child's screen time, Mikael and his team saw an opportunity to lean in and shift the conversation. They did so by producing "The Trial," a film that directly confronts this issue and aims to ease parental guilt. Mikael also shares the thought process around the risks involved in the film and launch campaign, outlines the production process, and discusses the results that exceeded the brands expectations.
In this episode, you'll learn:
The importance of balancing intuition and brand building with data and performance marketing
Challenges and strategies for marketing to modern parents
Why and how Lingokids created a brand film
Key highlights:
[00:00] Introduction
[01:30] The podcast's first shark wrestler
[02:50] Mikael's path to Lingokids
[08:30] The scope of Lingokids
[11:05] Marketing as a growth driver
[13:35] Balancing the dual roles of CMO and COO
[16:25] Marketing to modern-day parents
[18:30] "The Trial" brand film campaign
20: From BetterBriefs to better results: Insights from Matt Davies and Pieter-Paul von Weiler, co-founders at BetterBriefs
Season 1 · Episode 20
Wednesday, October 8, 2025 • Duration 41:37
In today's episode, Alan sits down with BetterBriefs co-founders Matt Davies and Pieter-Paul von Weiler to discuss why they think marketing briefs are the most important document in the agency-marketer relationship, how approaching briefs as contracts may influence results, and the effect that clarity in briefs has on creativity. Matt and Pieter-Paul also share insights from the BetterBriefs Project, the first-ever global study on marketing briefs, revealing a widespread disconnect between marketers and agencies that can lead to billions in wasted budgets. In addition, they share findings from the follow-on BetterIdeas Project, showing that many brands lack criteria, tools and training to evaluate ideas properly, fueling the trust gap between agencies and marketers.
Matt and Pieter-Paul have won more than 20 marketing effectiveness awards, including two Grand Effies. With decades of experience managing thousands of briefs across global markets, they bring deep expertise and practical insights on how to improve briefs and evaluate ideas more productively. Their company, BetterBriefs, trains marketers worldwide on how to brief better and realize more effective ideas.
In this episode, you'll learn:
Why poorly written briefs can waste large amounts of budget and stall creativity
Ways to write better briefs that lead to more effective ideas
Why treating marketing briefs as contracts improves agency results
Strategies that help build trust between marketers and agencies for better collaboration
Key quotes:
"The more people we get to decide on which idea is right for our business, the more we end up being that child in kindergarten, mixing all the paint together. And we all know what kind of color we end up with." - Pieter-Paul von Weiler, co-founder of BetterBriefs
19: Standing out in a 'sea of sameness': Insights from Tati Lindenberg, chief brand officer at Dirt Is Good
Season 1 · Episode 19
Wednesday, September 24, 2025 • Duration 36:15
In today's episode, Alan wraps up our Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity content series with Tati Lindenberg, chief brand officer at Dirt Is Good. Together, they explore global brand strategy for balancing consistency with local relevance, the origin and evolution of the Dirt Is Good brand, and the brand's deliberate movement through distinct "eras."
Tati discusses the importance of identifying which parts of the brand are "sacred" and must remain unchanged, versus those elements that can be evolved and iterated to stay culturally relevant. She notes the brand's intentional move to highlight women athletes as main characters, showing its response to evolving consumer expectations. Drawing on her experiences as a mother and her life across multiple countries, Tati shares how these perspectives have shaped her approach to global brand strategy and her management of a diverse portfolio of brands across regions. As a highly awarded marketer, she offers insights into the role of industry recognition in building high-performing teams. She emphasizes the importance of maintaining brand distinctiveness while encouraging influencer authorship. Tati also reflects on the future of creativity in an artificial intelligence-driven landscape, her concerns about the growing "sea of sameness" in marketing, the dynamics of superfan culture, and the value of taking life a bit less seriously.
In this episode, you'll learn:
Ways to balance a global brand strategy with local execution
How Dirt Is Good has evolved while maintaining consistency and relevance
The impact advertising awards have on creativity and execution
Key quotes:
"We understand what trends are happening out there, what the company strategy is, and try to combine those two things to maintain the fresh brand." - Tati Lindenberg, chief brand officer at Dirt Is Good
18: The secret to Klarna's AI advantage: Insights from David Sandstrom, chief marketing officer at Klarna
Season 1 · Episode 18
Wednesday, September 17, 2025 • Duration 20:55
In today's episode, we continue our Cannes Lions series as Alan and David Sandstrom, chief marketing officer at Klarna, discuss how embracing change, leveraging artificial intelligence (AI), and balancing data-driven efficiency with creativity are shaping the future of marketing and brand-building.
Klarna is a financial technology company that is well-known for its "buy now, pay later" (BNPL) options. David highlights the macroeconomic trends that he believes are contributing to the continuing growth of BNPL, while also sharing Klarna's efforts to diversify their offerings with digital banking and mobile phone plans. Innovation and experimentation are core to Klarna's culture, and can be seen in initiatives like their interactive customer hotline featuring an AI avatar of their chief executive officer. David also outlines how he and his team encourage employees to use AI internally by actively measuring AI usage, using it as a team on a daily basis, and challenging team members to complete tasks that would be impossible without it. However, despite Klarna embracing AI usage and adopting new technologies, David emphasizes the essential role of human creativity in creating resonant messaging. He also discusses his interest in "anti-trends", like long-form content, as open spaces to build brands and tell stories.
In this episode, you'll learn:
How building an AI-driven culture can boost innovation and efficiency
Why combining technology with creativity can be key to brand success
How expanding and educating beyond your core offering can drive growth
Key quotes:
"We're not doing anything new based on AI. We're only doing the things we used to do, but way more efficiently, way faster, at a way lower cost." - David Sandstrom, chief marketing officer at Klarna
17: Google it: Smarter marketing with AI: Insights from Sean Downey, president of Americas & Global Partners at Google
Season 1 · Episode 17
Wednesday, September 10, 2025 • Duration 33:59
Sean Downey is the president of Americas & Global Partners at Google, overseeing the company's expansive advertising business, including Google Search and YouTube. With a background rooted in the earliest days of digital marketing startups and leadership roles at DoubleClick and Google, Sean draws on leadership lessons learned from his father, particularly the importance of creating a workplace where everyone feels they are contributing to something greater than themselves. He emphasizes authenticity, empathy, and continuous learning as core leadership values.
As part of our Cannes Lions content series, Alan and Sean connect at the International Festival of Creativity to discuss AI's impact on marketing. Sean explains how Google integrates AI and automation into its advertising platforms to help marketers achieve better results while protecting consumer privacy. He notes that marketers today have to be more efficient than ever and highlights how AI-powered tools help them work smarter and adapt to rapidly changing consumer behaviors. Sean also stresses the importance of first-party data, privacy-safe solutions, strong change management, and a growth mindset for teams navigating technological shifts.
In this episode, you'll learn:
The ways Google balances consumer privacy with marketing performance
Why change management and a growth mindset are essential as technology evolves
Strategies Google uses to empower brands and agencies to confidently adopt and leverage AI-powered tools
Key quotes:
"Brands can get caught in the trap of thinking they know exactly who their customer is. When in reality, they're looking for people that they didn't know existed, that are incremental to their business." - Sean Downey, president of Americas & global partners at Google
16: Driving audience engagement with the magic of Disney: Insights from Andrew Messina, senior vice president at Disney Advertising
Season 1 · Episode 16
Wednesday, September 3, 2025 • Duration 20:11
Andrew Messina is a Senior Vice President at Disney Advertising. He began his career on the agency side before moving into daytime sales at ABC, then advancing to a primetime senior account executive role, and ultimately rising to his current position. For the past 17 years, Andrew has led all brand advertising initiatives at Disney Advertising, including linear, programmatic, and addressable campaigns across platforms such as Disney, Disney+, Hulu, FX, and ESPN.
In today's episode, Alan and Andrew connect at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity to discuss the integration, sponsorship, and advertising opportunities Disney offers brands across its many properties. Andrew shares how live events – particularly women's sports – are shaping advertising, highlights the importance of relationship-building in media sales, and explains Disney's approach to reaching diverse audiences. He also reflects on the importance of mentorship and how AI and youth culture are influencing marketing strategies.
In this episode, you'll learn:
How rising viewership of women's sports is creating new advertising opportunities
Why cultivating trust is essential for career growth, plus actionable development tips
Disney's approach to building relationships with brands
Key quotes:
"Relationships really, really matter, and the only way some of these things are going to get done is through making sure you're connected." - Andrew Messina, senior vice president at Disney Advertising
Key highlights:
[00:30] Introduction
[01:10] A nontraditional introduction to the industry
15: Live from Cannes Lions 2025: Candid conversations on the future of marketing
Season 1 · Episode 15
Wednesday, August 27, 2025 • Duration 20:20
Each year, top creative minds gather at the Cannes Lions Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity for a week of innovations, awards, and candid conversations about the future of marketing. Over the next month, you will get exclusive insight into the latest trends and stories shaping the industry through interviews with leaders from some of the world's most influential brands, including Google, Disney, and Unilever.
In this episode, Alan kicks off the miniseries with our "crystal ball confessionals." Unlike our usual one-on-one interview style episode, today you'll hear snippets of Alan's conversations with industry leaders, creators, and innovators at Deloitte Digital's exclusive 'Collaborate with Certainty' and 'Engage with Certainty' brunches. These short, candid conversations explore the future of marketing, focusing on the evolution of the creator economy, the changing landscape of fan engagement, and the role of data and technology in shaping authentic connections.
Beginning at the 'Collaborate with Certainty' brunch, we explore how the creator economy transforms how brands connect with customers and drive growth. First, Celia Salsi, global head of product marketing at YouTube, shares her insights on why attention, relevance, and trust are crucial for brands striving to stand out in a crowded market. Building on this theme, Kaya Yurieff, team leader for the creator economy at The Information, explores creators' complex and evolving identities. Rounding out the conversation, Kenny Gold, Deloitte Digital's head of social and creator, shifts the focus to AI, reminding us that, despite technological advances, the true impact of creators remains grounded in authentic human connection.
Shifting to the 'Engage with Certainty' brunch, we tackle the question: What does the fan of the future expect from their entertainment experiences? First, we hear from Emma Simkiss, associate director of brand and marketing at the International Olympic Committee, on how authentic fan engagement is measured by meaningful interaction and loyalty, not just numbers. Michelle McGuire Christian, chief commercial officer for Converge™ by Deloitte for Sports, explains how leveraging data and AI can unlock deeper personalization and help brands truly listen to their audiences. Finally, David Geisinger, Marketing Technology, Data & Operations offering leader at Deloitte Digital, discusses a future where technology transforms fans from passive spectators into active participants, building vibrant two-way communities.
14: Bridging the gap between marketers and consumers: Insights from Gayle Troberman, executive advisor at iHeartMedia
In today's episode, Alan chats with Gayle Troberman, executive advisor at iHeartMedia, about the gap between marketers and consumers, ways for marketers to bridge this gap, and the marketing principles that stay consistent despite technological advancements.
Gayle emphasizes the importance of balancing new technology with classic marketing approaches and cautions against neglecting potential customers by focusing too narrowly on the target audience. She highlights the power of evoking memories in advertising, primarily through audio, with examples of iconic jingles. She also describes why radio and podcasting are effective tools for mass reach and emotional engagement.
Gayle Troberman is a highly respected marketing industry veteran. She spent 16 years as chief creative officer at Microsoft, then as chief marketing and ideas officer at IPG Mediabrands. She then became chief marketing officer at iHeartMedia for over a decade before moving into her current role as executive advisor. Today, Gayle works across all iHeartMedia businesses to help them connect with consumers in a deeper, more meaningful way. Her "human first, outcome second" approach to life and marketing has kept her consistently in tune with consumers throughout her career.
In this episode, you'll learn:
The inspiration behind "The New American Consumer 2.0" study and insights from the research
How marketers can better understand their audience
Approaches to using AI and targeting to add value from a consumer perspective
13: Ways to nail your product positioning: Insights from Sjoerd Handgraaf, chief marketing officer at Sharetribe
Season 1 · Episode 13
Wednesday, July 16, 2025 • Duration 47:36
How do you determine your product's market value beyond its features?
In today's episode, Alan and Sjoerd Handgraaf, Sharetribe's chief marketing officer (CMO), discuss Sharetribe's origins, product evolution, and how Sjoerd's team identified its ideal product positioning by evaluating the true value it provides to marketplace founders. Sjoerd shares insights into the unique dynamics of building and branding two-sided marketplaces and explains how a "give first, ask later" philosophy has helped Sharetribe develop trust and lasting relationships with its community.
Sjoerd grew up as a do-it-yourself (DIY) punk rocker in a steel town in the Netherlands. He originally planned to become an English teacher, but love brought him to Finland, where he discovered the startup world. With his DIY background, Sjoerd joined Sharetribe as the first marketing hire in 2016 and became CMO in 2020. Sharetribe is a software as a service (SaaS) solution that aims to democratize the sharing economy by empowering marketplace founders with a no-code platform builder.
Key quotes:
"We just put value out in the world, and we hope that convinces people to at least give us a try." - Sjoerd Handgraaf, chief marketing officer at Sharetribe
"Look at what your [product's] unique benefits are compared to those [competitive alternatives] and then try to wrap those [benefits] in value, not features. A lot of tech marketers are quite fond of listing the features, but what is the value that [the feature] unlocks? What is the thing that it gives to customers?"" - Sjoerd Handgraaf, chief marketing officer at Sharetribe
In this episode, you'll learn:
Common pitfalls to avoid when starting a marketplace business
How to conduct an objective self-assessment to clarify positioning
Sjoerd's tips for marketers on navigating AI
[25:45] Navigating challenging subject matter
[29:05] A big bet that paid off
[31:10] An experience that defines you
[34:00] Advice to your younger self
[34:50] A topic marketers need to learn more about
[36:15] Trends and subcultures to watch
[39:40] Largest opportunity or threat to marketers today
"If our strategy [in a brief] is ill-defined, we're not setting agencies up for success." - Matt Davies, co-founder of BetterBriefs
"You commission an artist and let them roam free so they can do their best work. Agencies need to be guided... and they need to be informed on what they need to do and how they apply their commercial creativity." - Pieter-Paul von Weiler, co-founder of BetterBriefs
"Just because you have an opinion [on an idea] doesn't mean that that opinion is informed [or] justified." Matt Davies, co-founder of BetterBriefs
Key highlights:
[00:30] Introduction
[02:30] Why are there two guests here?
[03:20] The brutally honest collaboration origin story
[08:50] Strategies to waste less money
[11:35] The brief is a contract
[14:45] Balancing clarity with room for creativity
[17:55] Briefs versus ideas
[19:00] Tips to improve relationships between markets and agencies
[23:20] Contributing factors for poor idea assessments
[28:00] An experience that defines you: Diversity of experience and getting fired
[33:15] Advice to your younger self: Be a student of the industry and stop trying to outsmart everyone
[35:15] Where marketing science fits in
[38:15] Largest opportunity and threat to marketers today: Tighter budgets and the need to write fewer briefs while being more effective
"I'm really concerned that everybody seems to be doing the same thing... we need to keep asking ourselves, are we modern enough? Are we culturally relevant? Are we compelling enough for consumers?" Tati Lindenberg, chief brand officer at Dirt Is Good
Key highlights:
[00:30] Introduction
[01:25] From São Paulo to the United Kingdom
[03:45] Tati's path to Dirt Is Good
[07:55] The scope of the fabric cleaning business
[09:50] Balancing a global brand strategy with local execution
[12:45] The Dirt Is Good origin story
[15:20] A new way to manage brand portfolio
[17:00] Balancing consistency with fresh ideas
[20:50] In their women's sports era
[22:00] The importance of awards
[24:40] An experience that defines you: Coca-Cola Christmas
[28:10] Advice to your younger self: Take it easy
[29:35] A topic marketers need to learn more about: Availability and affordability of tools
[32:45] Subcultures and trends to follow: Superfans
[33:45] Largest threat for marketers: "The sea of sameness"
"I think our investment in AI culture has been more important than our investment in AI infrastructure" - David Sandstrom, chief marketing officer at Klarna
Key highlights:
[00:30] Introduction
[01:05] What's new for Klarna
[01:50] David's career path
[03:25] The key to David's CMO longevity
[04:00] Growth of BNPL
[05:20] Extending beyond BNPL
[06:15] Moving to digital banking
[08:00] Creating a culture to embrace AI
[11:30] The impact of AI on the creative process
[13:40] An experience that defines you: Being born to a juxtaposing pair
[14:25] Advice to your younger self: Enjoy the ride
[14:55] A topic marketers need to learn more about: How to build a brand today
[16:00] Subcultures and trends to follow: Anti-trends and long-form
[17:30] Largest threat to marketers today: Becoming too data-driven
"Everyone knows when they walk to the doors in my building that they contribute to something greater than that. And that powers innovation, that powers customer orientation, and most importantly, it empowers growth personally and professionally." - Sean Downey, president of Americas & global partners at Google
Key highlights:
[00:30] Introduction
[01:15] Work-life balance
[02:45] Sean's path to Google
[04:20] A North Carolina connection
[05:10] The scope of Google's advertising business
[07:15] Balancing privacy with marketing effectiveness
[09:25] Three tips for brands
[10:45] How AI is influencing Google products
[14:00] Empowering product adoption for brands and agencies
[20:20] Sean's leadership principles
[23:50] An experience that defines you: Learning from the most challenging times
[26:45] Advice to your younger self: Be honest with yourself
[27:35] A topic marketers need to learn more about: Change management
[29:10] Subcultures and trends to follow: What makes people resonate
[31:10] Largest opportunity to marketers today: The pace of ideas
"What we realized through research is that reach alone is no longer enough...They need attention, relevance, and trust. And what we've seen is that creators are best positioned to drive those three." - Celia Salsi, Global head of product marketing at YouTube
In this episode, you'll learn:
The importance of building authentic, long-term relationships with creators
The value of data in measuring creator impact and fan engagement
Ways to leverage AI to create personalized connections with your audience
Key highlights:
[00:30] Episode introduction
[02:50] The 'Collaborate with Certainty' brunch
[03:00] Celia Salsi on the evolution of creator relationships
[06:15] Kaya Yurieff on authentic connections for lasting engagement
[08:15] Kenny Gold on the importance of genuine collaboration
[10:20] The 'Engage with Certainty' brunch
[10:30] Emma Simkiss on driving and measuring engagement
[11:55] Michelle McGuire Christian on the role of data in engagement strategies
[13:55] David Geisinger on how technology is impacting fan engagement
"Every time a new technology comes along... marketers think it's like the world has to change, and it really doesn't. If you know who your brand is and you know where you want to find growth, then it's about telling good stories. It's about being relevant to those consumers." - Gayle Troberman, executive advisor at iHeartMedia
"We sometimes let innovation get in the way of growth, or we get so enamored with the technology or the opportunity that we forget any of these platforms, any of these news tools, whether it's AI or targeting, are only as good as the stories we put out there." - Gayle Troberman, executive advisor at iHeartMedia
"The average marketer may not be as in touch with their consumers as they think they are... I think part of the problem is that we're very often talking to ourselves. Our ads are reflecting this bubble we live in. Our ads are not reflecting the values, the beliefs, the interests, or the passions of the real American consumers." - Gayle Troberman, executive advisor at iHeartMedia
"There's genius out there everywhere if you just talk to humans." - Gayle Troberman, executive advisor at iHeartMedia
Key highlights:
[00:32] Introduction
[01:45] A "muppalucky" life
[02:50] Gayle's career path
[05:50] The secret to a long CMO tenure
[07:45] Enduring truths in marketing
[13:40] "The New American Consumer Report 2.0"
[18:25] How marketers can reconnect with everyday consumers
[22:40] Who has influence?
[24:15] Using AI in a mindful way
[28:30] An experience that defines you: Developing a human-first philosophy
[31:30] Advice to your younger self: A little more patience and empathy
[33:00] A topic marketers need to learn more about: Balancing the new with the classics
[34:15] Subcultures and trends to follow: Young people taking strong stances
[35:35] Largest opportunity and threat to marketers today: Fake performance indicators
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