CMO Interviews

Speichert Looks for 'Big Growth Bets' as First CMO of L'Oreal

Speichert Looks for 'Big Growth Bets' as First CMO of L'Oreal

In an interview with Ad Age, L'Oreal CMO Marc Speichert outlines how he sees his new role at the world's biggest beauty marketer and how he's going about making sure the U.S. contributes at least its share of L'Oreal's new consumers over the next decade.

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Old Rules of Marketing Don't Apply in China

Old Rules of Marketing Don't Apply in China

SHANGHAI (AdAge.com) -- Richard Lee, PepsiCo's CMO for Greater China, speaks with Ad Age Editor Abbey Klaassen and Asia Editor Normandy Madden in Shanghai about the changes he's witnessed in China, how Chinese consumers' optimism affects marketing and product-development efforts, and why local competitors are more of a threat than global companies.

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How Skechers Shaped Up Into No. 2 Footwear Brand

How Skechers Shaped Up Into No. 2 Footwear Brand

LOS ANGELES (AdAge.com) -- Skechers President-CMO Leonard Armato caught up with CMO Strategy to discuss more plans for the year ahead, including a new Super Bowl spot with Kim Kardashian.

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Welch's Local-Sourcing Story Is Core to Its Outreach

Welch's Local-Sourcing Story Is Core to Its Outreach

BATAVIA, Ohio (AdAge.com) -- In an interview with Ad Age, CMO Matthew Wohl talked about moving not only from a market leader to a challenger brand, but also from general management back to a marketing role, as well as growth areas for Welch's and why people increasingly want to know where their food comes from.

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U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association CMO Vying for Fans, Sponsor, and Olympic Inclusion

U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association CMO Vying for Fans, Sponsor, and Olympic Inclusion

CHICAGO (AdAge.com) -- Brand-building is hard enough. Now imagine building a brand that's looking for a spot in the next Winter Olympics. That's one of the challenges for Andrew Judelson, the chief revenue and marketing officer for the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association, a nonprofit national governing body of the U.S. Olympic Committee.

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How Florida Bounced Back From the Oil Spill

How Florida Bounced Back From the Oil Spill

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- Will Seccombe arguably has had one of the more challenging marketing jobs in the past year: He's had to promote his state as a vacation destination in the wake of last spring's massive BP oil spill. But the prolific tweeter has taken that challenge in stride, applying to Florida tourism marketing a philosophy inherent in his personal embrace of social media: transparency.

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How a Speeding Baby Is Helping HP Make Printing Relevant Again

How a Speeding Baby Is Helping HP Make Printing Relevant Again

YORK, Pa. (AdAge.com) -- HP's "Happy Baby" ad has reviewers and consumers not only smiling, but also talking -- some about the dangers of putting a baby near a cliff, some about the theme song getting stuck in their heads -- but many others about, well, printing. Mr. Hassan explains its rationale in this Q&A.

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Why 'Zoom-Zoom' Is Staying Put in a Year of Change for Mazda

Why 'Zoom-Zoom' Is Staying Put in a Year of Change for Mazda

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- CMO Don Romano, along with global counterparts Masahiro Moro and John Abel, shared plans for Mazda's new marketing and media strategy in an interview with Ad Age -- including why we might see the brand going Hollywood again sooner rather than later.

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Why Tommy Hilfiger Boosted Ad Budget by 60%, Aired First Branded TV Spot Since 2005

Why Tommy Hilfiger Boosted Ad Budget by 60%, Aired First Branded TV Spot Since 2005

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- Tommy Hilfiger boosted its second-half ad budget by 60% and recently unveiled a new campaign, created by Laird & Partners. Exec VP-Global Marketing and Communications Avery Baker spoke with Ad Age about why now was the right time to unveil a new campaign to drive home a message of "classic American cool."

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British Airways Courts Smaller Companies to Build Business

British Airways Courts Smaller Companies to Build Business

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- Early last year, British Airways took a look at the depressing economic environment -- and the severe slowdown in business travel -- and decided it had to try a different tack to boost revenue. Anne Tedesco, VP-marketing, North America, sat down with Ad Age to explain the strategy and how it turned out.

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Airstream Selling Premium RVs in a Recession

Airstream Selling Premium RVs in a Recession

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- Since Airstream VP-Marketing Sue Dooley joined the company 18 months ago, she is looking to reconfigure its target demographic and elevate the status of the iconic company via partnerships with brands and celebrities such as Mercedes-Benz, Bloomingdale's, Matthew McConaughey and Steve Carrell.

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Subway Keeps It Real to Win the Fast-Food Race

Subway Keeps It Real to Win the Fast-Food Race

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- Tony Pace, Subway Franchisee Advertising Fund Trust senior VP-chief marketing officer shared some of his views on CMO tenure and agency compensation with Ad Age and explained the success behind $5 Footlongs, why endorser Jared Fogle is running in the New York Marathon, and what's keeping him up at night.

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Bolthouse Farms CMO Takes Page From Snack-Food Giants

Bolthouse Farms CMO Takes Page From Snack-Food Giants

The chief marketing and innovation officer of Bakersfield, Calif.-based Bolthouse Farms, Bryan Reese, is leading the charge to market the produce just like potato chips, hoping that the new approach -- backed by an estimated $25,000,000 ad campaign -- will spur carrot sales, which have flat-lined.

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BET Finds New Life in Its Guiding 'Brand Pillars'

BET Finds New Life in Its Guiding 'Brand Pillars'

LOS ANGELES (AdAge.com) -- BET Networks CMO Janet Rollé credits five key tenets on which everything at BET was measured against, from programming to marketing messages to talent for network's recent success. Ad Age recently caught up with Ms. Rollé at BET Networks' Times Square headquarters to discuss how the network's five brand pillars are driving its ratings renaissance and why BET is more than just a niche network today.

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HP's Gerstein Talks Frankly About Consumers, Competition and Compensating Agencies

HP's Gerstein Talks Frankly About Consumers, Competition and Compensating Agencies

YORK, Pa. (AdAge.com) -- Hewlett-Packard Senior VP-Strategy and Worldwide Marketing Richard Gerstein shared his unique perspective on the current consumer electronics and mobile technology industries in a recent interview with Ad Age.

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Why Mitsubishi Is Taking an Online Test Drive for a Spin

Why Mitsubishi Is Taking an Online Test Drive for a Spin

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- For the launch of the Outlander Sport, Mitsubishi Motors North America is hosting what it claims is the first online test drive. VP-Marketing Gregory Adams talked with Ad Age about why that was the best route for the automaker's brand.

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How to Stop a Rebrand, Only to Rebrand Again

How to Stop a Rebrand, Only to Rebrand Again

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- In an interview with Ad Age, Chief Marketing Officer Don Boerema talked about why you won't see ADT on "SNL" anytime soon, marketing a new type of security and how he keeps his nearly 12-year partnership with Doner on track.

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Building a Marketing Strategy for a Song

Building a Marketing Strategy for a Song

LOS ANGELES (AdAge.com) -- At a time when consumers are arguably paying closer attention to their credit scores, Experian Consumer Direct, the consumer-product division of one of the nation's largest credit bureaus, has been orchestrating a marketing strategy under the watch of Senior VP-CMO Chris Moloney that imparts accessibility and clarity to something formerly left to financial advisers to understand. And for this direct marketer, the cornerstone of the campaign is a decidedly branding-based tool: the jingle.

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Recycled Fiber a Buried Treasure for Marcal

Recycled Fiber a Buried Treasure for Marcal

BATAVIA, Ohio (AdAge.com) -- In an interview with marketing chief MJ Jolda explained why "light"-green consumers -- those who consider the environmental impact important, but give as much or more weight to other factors such as price and performance -- and an appeal to value, along with environmental concern, are making a difference for Marcal.

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How SunTrust Bank Worked to Build Trust Among Distrustful Consumers

How SunTrust Bank Worked to Build Trust Among Distrustful Consumers

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- Believing in a consumer-driven marketing approach, SunTrust CMO Rilla Delorier knew that to really bring the concept to life, and secure connectedness with consumers, the bank needed to aggressively leverage social media, centering efforts on its "Live Solid. Bank Solid" theme.

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