The 25 most innovative CMOs of 2025

CMOs have a tough job.

They have to show business results by capitalizing on trends and reaching new audiences like Gen Z, while harnessing data and emerging tech like generative AI responsibly. And they have to do it all while navigating an increasingly polarized political landscape.

Business Insider's annual list of the "Most Innovative CMOs," in its 10th year, spotlights the top marketers rising to these challenges. This year's 25 CMOs came from 117 nominations from their peers and other industry insiders.

The CMOs represent big brands like Walmart and the NFL, challengers like Milani Cosmetics, and tech companies like Lenovo.

There's Klarna's David Sandström, who bucked controversy and doubled down on using AI to improve efficiency, cutting costs by $10 million a year. Then there's Jennie Platt of TD, who leaned into DEI-themed messaging to rebuild the bank's reputation while some other companies backed away, helping increase the bank's awareness by 20%.

Here are Business Insider's 2025 "Most Innovative CMOs," listed in alphabetical order by last name.

Brad Audet, Mazda's chief marketing officer for North American operations

In September, Audet led the relaunch of Mazda's brand platform, which carries the tagline "Move and Be Moved."

The new platform anchors Mazda's marketing around the role the brand plays in people's lives. One example of the brand platform in action included the release of the "First to the Finish" Amazon Prime Original series, which spotlights women in motorsports. Season 2 is in production, and Mazda said the show is already converting interest into sales.

Last year, Mazda forged a partnership with Tribeca Film Festival to champion up-and-coming filmmakers, building a festival within the festival to showcase seven shortlisted but overlooked films. Keeping with the movie theme, Mazda ran a TV ad during the Oscars that showed everyday people giving thanks to important people in their lives. Mazda said the campaign led to the highest spike in new website visits it had recorded all year.

Mazda ran research studies that found the overall brand platform relaunch has led to a 15% increase in brand consideration, a 20% lift in purchase intent, and a rise in consumer perception that Mazda "was the brand for them."

Priscilla Barolo, Neat's VP of marketing

Barolo joined Norway-based Neat, which makes software and devices for videoconferencing, in 2023 to reposition the company as many employers call staff back to the office. Since then, she's doubled Neat's marketing and business development team head count. Under her leadership, marketing contributed to over 40% growth in sales from October to December 2024.

Barolo, a 12-year Zoom veteran, did it in part by launching sponsorships with the Formula 1 Oracle Red Bull Racing team and the Los Angeles Clippers. These went beyond the usual partnerships and were geared toward the relationship-building essential for enterprise sales. In addition to having its logo displayed on race cars and in the Clippers' home arena, Neat had its products used by both teams' staffs and in their hospitality suites so that Neat could invite prospects to sporting events.

Taking a page from how companies build relationships with influencers, Barolo also spearheaded a customer advisory board initiative, where Neat's largest customers gather once a quarter to share insights and review Neat's road map. The initiative is already starting to bear fruit: Neat plans to release its first product later this year created in partnership with the advisory board.

Leslie Berland, Verizon's chief marketing officer and executive vice president

Berland joined Verizon in January 2024 and six months later spearheaded the company's first brand refresh in almost a decade. She worked on a plan to embed a message among consumers that Verizon powers their lives.

The work included the introduction of the Verizon Access loyalty program, tying Verizon more closely to entertainment by offering members access to live events like the Super Bowl and Live Nation festivals.

Connecting brands to culture is Berland's specialty. After seeing the rise of TikTok beauty creator Jools Lebron, Berland's team moved quickly and in three days had tapped up the "very demure, very mindful" meme for a Verizon-sponsored video.

"I think if we had even lost a day, it would have been too late; there's no room for committees and reviews upon reviews or hierarchy," Berland said in an interview earlier this year.

Berland also forged a partnership between Verizon Home internet and Mattel to create the "Barbie Streamhouse" holiday attraction in New York City.

Berland flipped the switch on the Super Bowl this year, leaning more into local marketing efforts. Rather than buying a 30-second spot like many brands, Verizon instead delivered the Super Bowl FanFest watch parties at stadiums and other venues in 30 cities across the US, offering live music and celebrity meet-and-greets.

"Leslie relaunched our brand and that's gone very well," Sowmyanarayan Sampath, CEO of Verizon's consumer unit, said onstage last month at the Bernstein Strategic Decisions conference. "It's given us more traction in social. We are getting picked up in social a lot more, and we are part of everyday life."

Chris Brandt, Chipotle's chief brand officer

Brandt's marketing mantra is, "Ideas always win." This fuels his mission to transform Chipotle into a lifestyle brand, shifting the restaurant chain into unexpected venues, from beauty to pop culture.

This past summer, Chipotle teamed up with Gen Z beauty favorite Wonderskin to create a "burrito-proof," guacamole-inspired metallic green peel-off mask that revealed a nude-pink lip stain. It built on a popular TikTok trend and aimed to solve a key frustration: lipstick leaving smudges on food.

Not only did "Lipotle" sell out almost instantly, but it generated hundreds of headlines and videos created by social media users, earning 1.2 billion global press impressions.

Later in the year, Chipotle built on the social media trend of users creating their own Halloween costumes using the recognizable Spirit Halloween costume bag. Chipotle partnered with Spirit Halloween to turn the memes — like "Chipotle Fork" and "Chipotle Napkin" — into real Halloween outfits. The stunt earned more than 13 billion press impressions, boosted weekly sales, and drove signups to the Chipotle Rewards loyalty program.

Chipotle grew revenue by 14.6% and widened its profit margins last year. Digital sales now account for more than a third of total transactions, and the company's return on ad spend has grown to more than 35%.

In 2025, Brandt aims to continue his culture-first marketing approach and help expand Chipotle's footprint in physical locations and digital channels, while building more consumer love for the brand.

Phil Cook, WNBA's chief marketing officer

The WNBA had a transformative year in 2024, with attendance up nearly 50% and record-breaking viewership and merchandise sales. Cook, a Nike vet who became the league's first CMO in 2020, has been helping build the brand around the W. Cook's 2024 campaign, "Welcome to the W," by longtime Nike agency Wieden+Kennedy, introduced the league to new fans with humorous spots that poked fun at rookies. He followed that up with "Viewer Discretion," a series of vignettes to kick off the 2025 season that highlight the top stars like Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese and their key attributes.

Cook has also worked to keep the WNBA, which is majority owned by the NBA, top of mind throughout the year and on social media. Players appear at cultural events beyond sports, like the Met Gala. At this year's draft, athletes donned Coach and other high-fashion brands, turning heads on the orange carpet. All the while, Cook's social team makes sure to capture it all: The league garnered nearly 2 billion views across platforms in its 2024 regular season, more than four times the year before.

Kristen D'Arcy, True Religion's chief marketing officer

D'Arcy became True Religion's first chief marketing officer in 2023. She set about transforming the apparel company into a primarily digital brand. E-commerce now accounts for 50% of the company's total revenue, up from 35% three years ago.

True Religion has increased its marketing budget from 3% to 10% of its total revenue since D'Arcy joined, a signal of confidence in her strategy. The company is forecasting sales of $450 million in 2025 — double that of 2021 — and has set its sights on hitting a $1 billion revenue target in the next three to five years.

D'Arcy has helped the brand stay true to its hip-hop and streetwear roots while introducing it to a new cohort of customers, marketing at the intersections of fashion, music, sports, and entertainment.

Her team launched the "Own Your True" brand platform and ad campaign during Super Bowl week this year, featuring the Brazilian pop star Anitta and an event in New Orleans cohosted by Sports Illustrated that was attended by 4,000 people.

"Own Your True" extended through Coachella with its "Buddhafest" activation, which contained a True-Religion-branded Ford Mustang. On-site sales at Buddhafest this year were 65% up on the previous festival. True Religion also created custom looks for Megan Thee Stallion and her dancers for their headline show, and partnered with her tequila brand, Chicas Divertidas, to give out samples to festivalgoers.

In November, D'Arcy revamped True Religion's loyalty program, boosting it with in-person experiences and other rewards designed to feel less automated than the previous version. True Religion is targeting 40% annual growth in its membership numbers this year.

Esi Eggleston Bracey, Unilever's chief growth and marketing officer

The consumer packaged goods industry has been navigating uncertainty in recent months amid global trade wars that impact multiple supply chains. Unilever said in April that it's considering price increases, which will mean the company will be looking to Eggleston Bracey to have built a strong foundation for the strength of its brands to ensure that consumers don't choose cheaper options.

Despite the chaos, Unilever started the year well, reporting underlying sales growth of 3%, which the company attributed to the strong investment in its brands and the quality of its product innovation.

Eggleston Bracey took Unilever's Dove and Hellmann's brands to the Super Bowl this year with two memorable spots. The "It Hits the Spot" ad for Hellmann's featured Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan humorously recreating their classic deli scene from "When Harry Met Sally." Dove had a social media-first campaign that sparked a conversation about how girls are spoken to ahead of its "#KeepHerConfident" game-day ad.

Eggleston Bracey led a 4% increase in Unilever's social media spending last year, and a further 4% increase is planned for 2025. She's also been investing in new data analytics and other tools that better enable the marketing team to optimize campaigns for the best performance.

AI has been another key focus for Eggleston Bracey. Unilever has been integrating AI tech like Nvidia Omniverse to cut down the time it takes to do product shoots, resulting in 55% cost savings and a 65% faster turnaround time for its beauty and well-being brands. What's more, early results show these images hold people's attention for three times longer than the previous assets, Unilever said.

Tim Ellis, the NFL's chief marketing officer

The NFL is bigger than ever, and its reputation has gone up as Ellis has pushed a message emphasizing its humanity and connection to culture. The league has been working to broaden its audience, an effort that accelerated last year when Taylor Swift became its newest fan, bringing women and young viewers into the fold. The NFL quickly seized the moment, promoting her on its social channels and working with brands to promote product tie-ins. Ellis continued to press the inclusion message with 2025's Super Bowl ad, "I Am Somebody," which placed fifth in USA Today's Ad Meter for 2025.

Under Ellis' leadership, NFL viewership continues to dominate the media landscape, with 72 of the 100 most-watched broadcasts in 2024. The league also claims its most diverse fan base ever, with growth driven by kids, women, and the Latino community. As of 2024, the NFL ranks as the No. 1 sports league in the US for brand sentiment, per YouGov's Brand Index.

Ellis joined the NFL in 2018 from Activision Blizzard. Earlier, he worked at Volvo and Volkswagen, where he created "The Force," which Time called "the ad that changed the Super Bowl forever."

George Felix, Chili's chief marketing officer

Casual dining chain Chili's is having a moment, and there was an unlikely trigger: inflation.

As dining out at fast-food restaurants became more expensive in recent months, Chili's began promoting the value of fare like its "3 for Me" meal deal — and the fact you get served at a table, with cutlery — in direct contrast to that of McDonald's. The "Chili's Better Than Fast Food" campaign is continuing this year.

For a brand that recently marked its 50th anniversary, Felix has helped Chili's stay fresh and modern on social media, particularly TikTok, where consumers often take to vent about the rising cost of food. Videos where creators show off their best "cheese pulls" while eating Chili's fried mozzarella have garnered more than 200 million views.

The brand has also tapped into nostalgia in its marketing. This year, it opened its first restaurant in Scranton, Pennsylvania, which is themed on "The Office." It enlisted stars from the sitcom to feature in a campaign for the Scranton Branch's opening, notching up more than 9 million impressions.

Elsewhere, it partnered with Lifetime Television to create a 15-minute rom-com film starring Maria Menounos and Taye Diggs to celebrate National Margarita Day in February. The same month, it created a country music track and video, "Ride the Dente," to court NASCAR fans. And it created its own online version of the '80s arcade game "BurgerTime," where players competed to win a lifetime of burgers.

The efforts have resulted in a big comeback from the brand, driving visits to Chili's restaurants. Parent company Brinker said in April that top-line sales growth was up 31.6% year over year in its fiscal third quarter, with traffic up 20.9%, all amid a turbulent period for the wider restaurant industry.

Carla Hassan, JPMorganChase's global chief marketing officer

Brands are increasingly bringing their marketing operations in-house, which can be hard to do well even for small and mid-sized companies. One of Hassan's biggest moves has been to bring JPMorganChase's media work in-house. That's no small feat for one of the world's largest marketing organizations. 70% of the bank's paid media is now handled internally, which has reduced costs and helped the company move faster while meeting its standards for brand safety.

Hassan has also made Chase's marketing more efficient, reducing its message delivery time by almost 50% and using generative AI tools to cut the content briefing process time by 70%.

Hassan, who is in her fourth year in the role, spearheaded a new global slogan, "Make dreams possible for everyone, everywhere, every day." It was underpinned by a new ad campaign, "Make Happen," that showed how Chase is enabling people in underserved communities in cities from Detroit to Paris to bring about positive economic change.

Hassan has also introduced a series of educational sessions called "Marketing Mixes," where marketers learn about topics like revenue generation, and created the role of CMO for employee experience to improve internal communication and culture-building.

Laura Jones, Instacart's chief marketing officer

Jones has had a busy year helping Instacart stay in the conversation by leveraging big media partnerships and iconic brands, and it shows: Instacart's awareness has increased over 140% and its consideration by 66% under her leadership. Jones' team worked with The New York Times to make its popular recipes shoppable and launched NBCUniversal's "virtual concessions" feature that encouraged TV viewers to order snacks from their TV screens while watching the Summer Olympics.

She also led Instacart's first Olympics ad buy. Based on its success, Instacart aired its first Super Bowl ad in a popular spot that starred mascots from 11 brands like Mr. Clean and the Jolly Green Giant. (That let Instacart save on actors' fees but still required getting permission from all those brands.) New user traffic to Instacart soared 72% after the ad aired, and it was one of the company's biggest press drivers in its history. It just followed that up with a new ad that nods to 90s nostalgia by featuring brands like Capri Sun and Bagel Bites.

Jones also carried out more than 70 co-marketing campaigns with grocery companies, including Kraft Heinz and PepsiCo, contributing a key source of ad revenue for the company in 2024.

At a politically polarized time, Jones has emphasized Instacart's mission of providing food to all. When wildfires devastated Los Angeles, she helped Instacart deliver 45,000 items to help those affected by the fires and create a school donation program, Classroom Carts.

Emily Ketchen, Lenovo's SVP and chief marketing officer of Intelligent Devices Group and International Markets

Artificial intelligence features are coming to personal computers, and Ketchen helped Lenovo beat its sales expectations in the nascent category with the launch of its first AI PCs. Ketchen took a multipronged approach to the rollout, helping Lenovo capture 20% of the global market.

She spearheaded "AI for You," a campaign that promoted Lenovo's PCs as a natural extension of people's lives rather than an unwelcome tech intrusion. She also leveraged industry events such as IFA, CES, and Mobile World Congress, and influencers to drive demand for AI PCs.

Ketchen also used partnerships with Formula 1 and FIFA to show the real-world value of its products — testing its AI PCs at the Chinese Grand Prix, for example. The company credits the F1 partnership with a 31% year-over-year increase in total media value, 88% year-over-year growth in digital and social engagement, and an increase in brand favorability among F1 fans.

Next, Lenovo plans to integrate its devices, IT services, and more at the FIFA World Cup in 2026 and the FIFA Women's World Cup in 2027 to improve the fan experience and make data more accessible to fans and teams.

Jeremy Lowenstein, Milani Cosmetics' chief marketing officer

To grow Milani Cosmetics, an independent brand in a category dominated by big, public companies, Lowenstein has had to adopt a challenger mindset.

To reinforce Milani's positioning as prestige yet affordable, he tapped into the popularity of women's sports, enlisting four top female athletes, including Olympic gymnast Jordan Chiles and the WNBA's Sabrina Ionescu. The "Face Set. Mind Set." campaign helped boost sales of Milani's Make it Last setting spray by nearly 20% in 2024, according to Nielsen, and got widespread media coverage.

Lowenstein followed that up with America's Next Top Primer, a campaign inspired by the nostalgia for 2000s reality TV (also the era of Milani's founding) that pitted primers against each other for the top title. Lowenstein drafted Molly Mitchell, a former writer of "The Late Late Show with James Corden," to write the script, then pulled together a diverse cast of entertainers, including Zainab Johnson and Ele Woods to play the "host," "contestants," and "judges." The campaign generated more than 30 articles and helped make Milani one of the fastest-growing brands in face primers, per Nielsen.

Don McGuire, Qualcomm's chief marketing officer

McGuire has been instrumental in helping chip maker Qualcomm expand beyond its business-to-business roots into two distinct brands: the Dragonwing industrial-focused portfolio and Snapdragon, its consumer offering.

2024 was a big year for the Snapdragon brand, which launched its Snapdragon X series chips for the PC market. McGuire and the team helped boost awareness of Snapdragon through partnerships, principally its sponsorship of the Manchester United soccer team. It pulled out all the stops to promote its front-of-shirt sponsorship, with the launch achieving more than 3 billion brand exposures for Snapdragon. It also became the club's first-ever back-of-shirt sponsor. More than 80% of Man U fans "deeply trust and love" the Snapdragon brand, while 91% see Snapdragon as a leader in smartphone processors, Qualcomm said.

McGuire also led Snapdragon's sponsorship of the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team, announced last September. And he's been instrumental in helping the Snapdragon Insiders program — which gives members access to competitions, giveaways, and events — grow to 18 million members.

Nicole Parlapiano, Tubi's chief marketing officer

Parlapiano's unconventional approach to marketing has helped give Fox's Tubi free streaming legitimacy — and put more established players to the test.

As paid TV streamers have hiked their prices, Tubi, free and with a massive library of movies and shows, has been having a moment, along with other free alternatives. Last year, it became the fastest-growing streamer in TV viewership, up 60% year on year, according to Nielsen.

Parlapiano has made sure people know what Tubi is, with a stunty approach to marketing, starting with a 2023 Super Bowl ad that made many people think that someone had sat on the remote. She turned viewers into promoters, with Stubios, a platform she spearheaded that uses fans to help select filmmakers, and a gifting program that surprises fans on social media with tokens of appreciation like popcorn makers. As Hollywood tries to figure out how to compete with YouTube, she's also been a champion of social-born creators, getting influencer Noah Beck cast in the young-adult movie "Sidelined: The QB and Me." The film ranks as Tubi's most-watched original.

When Tubi simulcast the Super Bowl LIX alongside Fox this year, Parlapiano seized the moment to boost its awareness and credibility. This time, with a less stunty (but still memorable) campaign, Tubi ran an ad to promote its library and new licensed offerings like "Dune" and originals like "The Z Suite." It also ran shoulder programming to bring in those who weren't sports fans. Along with helping push the game to a new record of 127.7 million average viewers, Tubi signed up 8 million new registered viewers to its own platform. And after the game, people were more likely to have heard of Tubi when asked to identify it among streamers, with a 36% lift in awareness with viewers ages 18 to 34, per new stats Tubi shared with Business Insider, citing YouGov.

Jennie Platt, TD Bank's chief marketing officer

TD Bank needed a reputation fix after a money laundering scandal in 2024. Platt swung into action with a new marketing and communications blitz to show how TD was there for customers.

As much of corporate America backed away from DEI, TD leaned in, hitting on four areas: TD's support of Black-owned and -led businesses; access to affordable housing; digital tools like the TD Accessibility Adapter, which lets customers customize their online experience; and welcoming of LGBTQ+ customers. Under Platt, who is active in TD's efforts to support the LGBTQ+ community, the bank launched a Chosen First Name feature in 2024, which lets people choose a name other than their legal or given name on their accounts or cards. Overall, the strategy helped people become more aware of and likely to consider TD for their banking, with a 20% lift in awareness when people are prompted to identify it.

Platt also increased marketing-driven sales through a number of initiatives, including sending customers cash incentives, financial advice, and personalized communications. As a result, marketing-driven sales doubled from 2022 to 2024, and marketing's contribution to sales roughly doubled, to about 19%, in the same time period.

John Rudaizky, EY's global chief brand and marketing officer

Rudaizky is applying the B2C approach to B2B marketing, harnessing techniques like creative campaigns, hero films, and marketing designed to make people actually feel something. Known as Ernst & Young until a rebrand in 2013, EY is one of the "big four" accounting firms and also offers other professional services like consulting. Recently, it launched EY Studio+, a new design, marketing, customer experience, and sales offering that specifically targets marketers.

Rudaizky was influential in the July launch of EY's new global strategy, dubbed "All In" — the company's equivalent of Nike's "Just Do It" tagline. The plan is to position the company, which has doubled in size in the last decade to reach annual revenue of $50 billion, to find its next $50 billion opportunities in areas like transformation, managed services, and sustainability.

The new strategy was supported by three big campaigns.

EY's brand refresh, "Shape the future with confidence," was its biggest in more than a decade.

"Transformations" nodded to the global economic uncertainty in the market by tapping into real-world, high-stakes decision-making moments. The multi-pronged campaign reached 15 million people in airports, 5 million impressions on digital billboards, and 3 million viewers on digital and TV.

Lastly, "Generations," a film that debuted at the World Economic Forum in Davos, used the voices of children from diverse backgrounds to urge business leaders to consider the lasting impact of their decisions. The company said the campaign drove a seven-point uplift in brand favorability among C-suite audiences and an 83% increase in its content being shared on social media platforms like LinkedIn and Instagram.

The company said the impact of all this work is that EY is recognized as one of the top 25 brands in the world, per Brand Finance, and the strongest brand in the UK.

David Sandström, Klarna's chief marketing officer

Klarna has sparked fervent industry conversations about how it's using AI to make its marketing more efficient. Sandström has doubled down on integrating tools like Midjourney, Firefly, and DALL-E across its marketing operation. The technology has cut Klarna's creative production costs by $10 million annually and its overall sales and marketing spend by 11%, the company said.

One of Sandström's big achievements last year was creating Klarna's AI shopping feed, an effort that spanned the company's marketing, product, and engineering teams. He's been vocal on industry podcasts and at events about Klarna's flat structure and on topics like AI ethics.

Sandström enlisted Shaquille O'Neal for its most recent holiday campaign — renaming him "Shaquille O Deal" — as part of his efforts to differentiate the brand in the crowded US buy-now-pay-later market. Sandström has also played a pivotal role in inking partnerships with big platforms like Apple Pay, Uber, Walmart, Airbnb, and eBay — moves that aim to make Klarna more accessible.

Efforts like these helped Klarna grow to more than 100 million active users and 724,000 merchant partners, as of May this year.

Jennifer Storms, NBCUniversal Television & Streaming's chief marketing officer

Storms, who goes by Jenny, uses NBCUniversal's sprawling TV and streaming assets to get NBCUniversal's famous sports and entertainment properties the biggest audiences possible.

Working with her counterparts at Universal Film, she helped make "Wicked" a streaming event with a marketing campaign that included partnerships with NBCU's entertainment properties, stunts, and buzzy social initiatives. "Wicked" wound up being Peacock's biggest film in the Pay 1 window, the first period following its theatrical run, in the streamer's history, with close to 1 billion minutes viewed in its first week.

She tapped creators and celebrities to promote the Paris Olympics, helping score a 77% increase in viewership over the Tokyo Games and a massive amount of social media impressions. Now, Storms is preparing for 2026, when NBCU will host a trifecta of famous sporting events in the Super Bowl, NBC All-Star Game, and Winter Olympics.

Storms, who was promoted to her role in January, has also put a big focus on fan engagement by leaning into real-life experiences. For "Saturday Night Live's" 50th anniversary special, her team orchestrated "Live from New York: The SNL Experience," a four-day pop-up that recreated the program's iconic studio and drew over 1,000 fans each day. For the 25th anniversary of "Law & Order: SVU," she created activations in New York and Boston that let fans celebrate the iconic crime show.

Doug Sweeny, Oura's chief marketing officer

Sweeny joined the company in 2022 at a time when demand for wearable devices like Oura was slowing. He revamped Oura's marketing, cutting customer acquisition costs by more than half and launching Oura in over 6,000 retail locations and expanding to 32 new markets.

Sweeny made Oura part of the cultural conversation, leaning into the national election when other brands shied away by sponsoring CNN's Magic Wall of election results. Sweeny's team also led partnerships with "Mission: Impossible," using Tom Cruise to show off Oura's stress-monitoring feature, and with England Football in the World Cup. He led the global campaign for Oura Ring 4, which included takeovers in New York, London, and Los Angeles, and expanded the brand to include women's health features.

The proof is in the numbers: People's awareness of Oura when they're prompted to identify it has grown more than fivefold in the US during his tenure, according to the company, citing YouGov. Revenue has doubled for two years in a row, and the company reached profitability a year ahead of schedule. This heightened awareness and growth helped the company raise $200 million in investment in December, which valued it at $5.2 billion.

Up next, Sweeny looks to keep expanding awareness and distribution while keeping an eye on economic uncertainty caused by tariffs, helping minimize their cost and impact on the company's supply chain.

Dara Treseder, Autodesk's chief marketing officer

In her three-year tenure as Autodesk's marketing chief, Treseder has been propelling the technology company into the mainstream through smart partnerships and activations that bring the purpose of its software to life. Autodesk makes software products used across industries like construction, engineering, film, and architecture.

For May the Fourth — Star Wars Day — Autodesk invited Star Wars fans to enter a droid-maker contest using its software, ahead of the launch of the new Disney+ series "The Acolyte." The competition and a TV commercial that aired during the show's premiere showcased how Autodesk played a role in designing characters from "The Acolyte," like Pip.

This past summer, Autodesk became a supporting partner of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, its first-ever Olympics sponsorship and a large new business opportunity. Autodesk's software is being used to help adapt venues and design temporary buildings for the LA28 Games. Treseder and team also ran a huge push later in the year to highlight how Autodesk's technology played a big role in restoring the Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris, after the landmark was damaged by fire in 2019.

This year, having appointed Giant Spoon as its first-ever creative agency, Autodesk ran its biggest campaign to date. The campaign featured the actor and comedian Tony Hale playing God. His role was a play on a quote from Autodesk's former CEO Carol Bartz: "If it wasn't made by God, it was made by an Autodesk customer."

Autodesk said Treseder's marketing efforts have helped the company achieve a 25% lift in annual revenue through its direct digital channels. Treseder has also helped Autodesk fulfill its commitment to prepare young people for the world of work. More than 100 million students and educators accessed the free version of its software in 2024, a usage figure that was up 18% year over year.

Sherry Weiss, Dow Jones and The Wall Street Journal's chief marketing officer

It's debatable how much legacy news outlets, especially iconic ones like The Wall Street Journal, can shift perception and broaden their audiences. That makes Weiss' accomplishments all the more notable. Last year, she led the effort with "It's Your Business," the paper's first major marketing campaign in several years, to grow its readership beyond its finance base to reach younger, more diverse readers. The campaign included out-of-home ads in key markets like New York, Miami, and Dallas.

In concert with the Emma Tucker-led newsroom's work to make coverage more lively and enterprising, the campaign drove additional site traffic in nine out of 10 markets, increased people's likelihood to recommend the Journal to others by 19%, and boosted people's likelihood to subscribe, especially women ages 35 to 44, according to the company, citing external research. Total subscriptions to The Wall Street Journal grew 3% year over year in the quarter ended March 31, to over 4.3 million on average; digital subs represented 90% of those and grew 5% in the quarter, to over 3.9 million on average.

Working with the newsroom, Weiss also helped draw attention to the plight of Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich. One striking campaign, "Missing Articles," featured blank front page spaces of the Journal to signify where Gershkovich's reporting would have appeared had he been free, topped with headlines like "His Story Should Be Here." Gershkovich was released in August after a year and a half in Russian detention.

William White, Walmart's SVP and chief marketing officer

White has helped keep Walmart a step ahead of rivals with campaigns that associate the retail giant with cultural touchstones, not just low prices.

For its last holiday campaign, "Gifts that Show You Get Them," the retailer featured cast members from popular series like "Gilmore Girls" and "SpongeBob SquarePants" giving gifts to their loved ones. It followed Walmart's Black Friday campaign "Deals of Desire," a 10-part series starring actors like Walton Goggins and TikToker Jake Shane that spoofed popular TV shows like "Bridgerton" and "Yellowstone." (Goggins also stars in Walmart's latest campaign, tagline "Walmart: Who Knew?", which drafted a bunch of celebrities to show that the retailer sells more things than people might have thought.)

As retailers try to crack the code on shoppable TV, White and his team have been bold about trying new approaches. In their latest effort, Walmart sponsored its first feature-length holiday film, Roku Original "Jingle Bell Love," that prompted viewers to buy items relevant to the film during shoppable breaks.

At a time when CMOs are being required to do more with less, White's ability to demonstrate marketing's financial value has enabled him to expand his budget as Walmart has outperformed rivals like Target and Costco.

Next up, look for him to expand Walmart's three-year-old Creator Platform and use AI to personalize marketing messages to customers.

Katie Williams, Haleon's US chief marketing officer

Williams has seized on IRL experiences, beauty, and inclusivity trends to drive business for Haleon, the consumer healthcare company that contains household brands like Advil, Tums, and Sensodyne.

To launch Emergen-C Immune+ Crystals, she created a campaign that included a product giveaway and a pop-up at JFK airport. The pop-up gave cold-susceptible travelers a sensory experience that mimicked the effect of the supplement. The campaign exceeded Haleon's product distribution goals by 114%. She also launched Sensodyne Clinical White, a teeth whitening paste aimed at beauty consumers, which Haleon credited with helping grow sales revenue of the Sensodyne portfolio by 14%.

With concern about fake ads on the rise, Williams adopted a digital watermarking system to ensure the authenticity of Haleon's ads.

Williams has also embraced the brand-supported entertainment trend. She helped develop a feature-length documentary called "Sensory Overload" about the needs of neurodivergent and sensory-sensitive people in places like the dentist's office. The documentary is available to stream on Hulu as paid content.

Mike Zeman, Life360's chief marketing officer

Zeman has been working hard to ensure Life360, a family safety app, can earn the trust of Gen Z, and not just their parents.

TikTok has become a breakout channel for Life360, which has more than 1.5 million followers on the app. Rather than being overly promotional, the brand gets sassy in the comment sections and regularly posts memes. The approach helps build the legitimacy of the brand by leaning into trends like teens using the app to follow their parents around the map while they're out of the house.

Zeman has also applied the edgy TikTok energy to Life360's ads. Its "Back to School" spot utilizes UGC-style videos and humor to emulate the chaos families often experience during the back-to-school period. Its "Family-Proof Your Family" series of ads uses funny examples of exaggerated family miscommunications to convey the message that Life360's recently acquired Tile brand can prevent small misunderstandings from becoming major problems.

Under Zeman's leadership, Life360 has reached about 80 million monthly active users, including 2.3 million paying Circles — the private groups where members share their locations and chat with each other. Zeman plans to scale his team's marketing efforts in 2025 as Life360 launches new product categories like pet tracking.