The CMO Podcast

Few brands define connection quite like AT&T—not just through technology, but through trust. And trust is not a word historically associated with telecom companies.

Jim’s guest this week is at the center of AT&T’s transformation: Kellyn Smith Kenny, the company’s first-ever Chief Marketing & Growth Officer. Since 2020, Kellyn has helped usher in what she calls the “Accountability Era,” part of an ambitious, mult...

Audio has a magic all its own. The power to connect deeply, inspire emotion, and build lasting trust. 

In this week's episode, Jim Stengel sits down with Jenny Nelson, Chief Marketing Officer of Audacy, one of the nation’s leading multi-platform audio content and entertainment companies. Founded in 1968 (then known as Entercom Communications Corporation) and rebranded as Audacy, Inc. in 2021, the company grew from a tr...

From tennis rackets to Beyoncé, Microsoft to Apple…brand legends David Aaker and Marcus Collins have seen it all, and they’re here to close out our series with a masterclass on brand-led leadership.

In the final episode of this season of The Brand Builder’s Playbook, hosts Jim Stengel and Ryan Barker reflect on the journey through our previous seven episodes before welcoming two of the biggest voices in marketing: David Aak...

When you think about brands that have truly reshaped an entire category, few have done it as quickly or as effectively as Chipotle Mexican Grill, a brand that turned fast food into fast casual, and purpose into a powerful growth engine.

Jim’s guest this week is Chris Brandt, the President and Chief Brand Officer of Chipotle and one of the most respected marketers in the industry. Since joining the company in 2018, Chris has...

Brand building or performance? TV or TikTok? Data or gut? Every marketer wrestles with how to spend smarter, not just more.

In the seventh episode of The Brand Builder’s Playbook, hosts Jim Stengel and Ryan Barker, along with guest co-host Kate Lamberton, dig into the art and science of the marketing mix. They explore how brands can cut waste, make every dollar work harder, and balance the short-term demand for results with...

When you think of some of America’s most recognizable household brands: Brawny, Angel Soft, Dixie, Quilted Northern…there’s one company behind them all: Georgia Pacific.
And at the helm of marketing for that incredible portfolio is Jim's guest this week, Laura Knebusch, the Senior Vice President of CPG Marketing and Customer Experience.  

Laura is a seasoned marketing leader and transformation champion who has spe...

What do LEGO, Megan Thee Stallion, and a Ford Mustang have in common? They’re all proof that the right partnership can supercharge a brand.

In the sixth episode of The Brand Builder’s Playbook, hosts Jim Stengel and Ryan Barker, joined by guest co-host Lindsey Wehking, explore why not all partnerships deliver equal value…some enhance brand equity, while others can dilute it.

This week’s guest is Kristen D’Arcy, Chief Marketi...

If you are Canadian, and you hear the words Tim Hortons, you conjure up a wide and deep range of emotions. Few brands inspire the kind of passion that Tim Hortons does in Canada. With nearly 6,000 restaurants in 22 countries, the 60-year-old brand continues to grow like a startup while holding a special place in Canadian culture. In this week's episode of The CMO Podcast, Jim sits down with Hope Bagozzi, Chief Marketing Of...

Every CMO faces the same question: how do you balance long-term brand equity with short-term performance marketing?

In the fifth episode of The Brand Builder’s Playbook, hosts Jim Stengel and Ryan Barker, along with guest co-host Lindsey Wehking, tackle one of the most heated debates in modern marketing: brand versus performance. Is short-term activation enough, or does long-term brand building ultimately win?

This week’s gu...

A repeated theme on this show is the goal of a well-lived life, and one of the ways Jim aims to live well is through working out. Moving your body, building strength, and finding balance are essential to living fully. 

Our guest this week on The CMO Podcast  is helping millions of people do exactly that through one of the most ambitious brand transformations in the industry.

Nicholas “Nic” Berglund is the Senior Vi...

This week on The Brand Builder’s Playbook, Jim, Ryan, and Cait dive into one of marketing’s toughest questions: how do you prove the ROI of a brand? In a world where every dollar spent needs justification, they explore how marketers can connect creative storytelling to measurable business growth.

To help unpack it, they’re joined by Raja Rajamannar, Mastercard’s Chief Marketing & Communications Officer. Raja shares how ...

If you live in Minnesota, you know there are two things that keep you going through the long winters: a good pair of boots, and a great cup of coffee. For years, that coffee often came from Caribou, where Jim's guest this week, Erin Newkirk, most recently served as Chief Brand & Marketing Officer, helping guide a beloved global coffeehouse with more than 850 locations across 11 countries. Erin left Caribou coffee ...

The consumer sets the price. That simple truth reframes how we think about brand strength and its real business impact.

In the third episode of The Brand Builder’s Playbook, hosts Jim Stengel and Ryan Barker, along with guest co-host Cait Lamberton (Professor of Marketing at Wharton), unpack one of the most powerful—and often misunderstood—outcomes of strong brand building: pricing power.

Our guest this week is Sandeep Seth,...

They call it the Land of 10,000 Lakes, we believe it may also be the Land of 10,000 Great Brands.

Welcome to a very extraordinary live roundtable edition of The CMO Podcast. This week Jim is coming to you from the Twin Cities, Minneapolis–St. Paul, to try to answer a big question: what’s in the water here that’s helped so many companies thrive for decades?

He is joined by four powerhouse marketers who are shaping some of the...

Tune in each Friday to enjoy our most recent episode of The Brand Builder's Playbook...

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How do you turn customer love into business growth? In the second episode of The Brand Builder’s Playbook, the team explores how emotional connection fuels measurable results, from loyalty and repeat purchase to long-term enterprise value.

Jim, Ryan, and Lindsey dive into what it really means to build “Brand Love,” using BERA’s Lo...

Whether it’s the Wolves lighting up the court or the Lynx dominating the playoffs, few understand the power of fan passion quite like Jim’s guest this week on The CMO Podcast—Mike Grahl, Chief Marketing Officer of the Minnesota Timberwolves and Minnesota Lynx. The Wolves are one of the NBA’s most dynamic rising franchises, and the Lynx—a four-time WNBA champion—are a powerhouse team that embodies the spirit of the Twin Cit...

We’re kicking off this week’s episode with something special — and in a city that knows a thing or two about creativity, resilience, and great music. For the next five weeks, we’re coming to you from Minneapolis, Minnesota — home of Prince, more than 10,000 lakes, and a vibrant business community. For the very first time, The CMO Podcast is recording on-site at the Best Buy Studios, in partnership with Best Buy Ads.

Jim’s g...

This week we're very excited to share with you an exciting new show we've launched this week! It’s called The Brand Builder’s Playbook…a special 8-part series created in partnership with our friends at BERA.ai.

In a world where CMOs are expected to do more with less—drive revenue, prove impact, and keep pace with accelerating change—The Brand Builder’s Playbook is your guide to what actually works.

Now, here’s the important ...

School is back in session—and so is the CMO Podcast, live from Penn State’s Alumni Leadership Conference. In our annual tradition, Jim welcomes three remarkable Penn State alumni on stage to explore the art and science of decision-making. Together, they dive into the vulnerable moments that shaped their lives, the career pivots that defined their paths, and the lessons learned when decisions didn’t go as planned.

This year’...