CMO Insider's new advisory council includes marketing leaders from Mastercard, Sesame Workshop, Indeed and more

Brayton leads marketing and communications for Bessemer Venture Partners, which made over 200 investments into such companies as Shopify, Wix, and Yelp. She joined the firm in April, 2021 and was previously CMO at LinkedIn. She also serves on the Board of Directors of Vidyard and Quizlet, is an angel investor, and serves on the advisory board at several companies. Brayton said that CMOs need to connect with peers in order to navigate this dynamic period.As if being a CMO was not hard enough already, all CMOs are now also trying to figure out how to incorporate AI into their workflows and get their teams to understand its potential impact, Brayton said. While the practical benefits of AI might be obvious, Brayton said that right now marketers are still assessing what concrete impact it will have on their teams.Over time, it feels like AI can make much of the work easier, less manual and more impactful, but in this in-between period, I talk to a lot of people who are mostly just trying to figure out what end is up.Diezhandino has been Diageo's CMO since July, 2020, having held a range of roles across the company's brands since 2006. Previously, she held senior marketing roles at Allied Domecq and Unilever.At Cannes Lions in 2023, Diezhandino was a panelist on Insider's launch event for CMO Insider, with the session titled Is Your Brand Brave Enough?I was incredibly proud to be able to speak to so much work our brands have done in 'being brave', she wrote afterward. From J&B's work around 'Rural Pride' to Smirnoff's latest 'We Do We' campaign, two pieces of work that truly celebrate inclusivity.Diezhandino wrote that she was encouraged by the focus on data during Cannes Lions compared to years' past.Hearing AI and data being discussed and debated at such length at Cannes, along with hearing how different businesses and industries are adopting tech in so many unique ways demonstrates how much potential there is for us as an industry to still unlock in this space. Tillman joined BlueTriton Brands exactly one year ago. in October 2022. The company produces spring water and purified water brands such as Poland Spring, Pure Life and Saratoga Spring Water.Previously, Tillman was a marketing executive at Harman International, and Heineken USA.Tillman said that the speed of change, and the ubiquity and growing utility of social media, puts extraordinary pressure on consumer brands. The word authentic is overused — but being real to what your brand is, and why consumers want to engage with you will help you create programs that have credibility, she said. We're talking about building a better water company. We've had success in finding our North Star as a brand.Tillman cites advertising legend Ann Fudge, former chairman and CEO of Young and Rubicam, for modeling her approach of continuous learning.I've had longevity in a lot of roles because I was always looking to learn, grow, and gain new responsibilities, she said. That has allowed me to change my perspective, bring new tools to the table, and have an impact.Jensen joined Indeed in March, 2021, with oversight of global brand, communication, product and acquisition marketing. Previously, Jensen had been a marketing leader at KAYAK, and CMO of Open Table, and spent five years at Facebook as head of product, platforms, and insights for business marketing. Jensen is the first member of the CMO Council to contribute a bylined article, where she outlined how she keeps herself and her team on track amid the many complexities of marketing today. The role of the CMO is to bring disparate parts of the organization together to try to tell a cohesive story to customers and the market, Jensen wrote. This is hard work, and the bigger, more global and multi-product a company becomes, the more difficult it is.For complex, multifaceted organizations, it's not enough to keep corporate leadership in the loop. Building relationships at the c-suite is critical, but I also have to ensure that my teams are fully engaging with the right people deeper down in cross-functional organizations.Kramer has led Accenture's global marketing and communications team since 2021, with a remit that extends across brand, advertising, content, digital marketing, social media, and corporate and financial communications. Prior to joining Accenture she held executive roles at creative agencies BBDO and DDB.Kramer cited three interconnected topics that she, and many CMOs, are focused on today —efficiency, data, and automation in the form of generative AI. Marketers and communicators need to continue to become more efficient, not only in the work we do, but also efficiency of message and insight, she said. Data is the key to that efficiency, it's the fuel for curiosity and creativity. Kramer said that digital innovation puts marketers in a wonderful but challenging position.There's so much disruption and shifting that marketing and communications are in the center of, she said. There's also recognition of the toll all that takes on a quite emotional, high-EQ set of people. Lieberman has been at PwC for 23 years, and assumed his current role in 2018. A frequent speaker and writer on marketing topics, Lieberman was interviewed by Insider at Cannes Lions this year, where he said marketing has over indexed on technology focus in recent years. Recently he told Insider that CMOs need to find the right balance between the old and new. The biggest challenge in addition to all the usual issues around budget and workforce constraints —and one that comes up often in CMO discussions-- is around balancing the newer science of marketing with the traditional art of marketing, Lieberman said. Lieberman said marketers should not leave their creativity behind as data and digital innovation continue to surge. Without great creative, successful campaigns can't exist. It's still human creativity that's the essence of marketing. He said that it's critical to take time to indulge in creativity. To fuel myself, I take time each week to spend on the creative process. It's where I started. It's where part of me, and all marketers, will always belong.Maltin is responsible for driving brand engagement across stakeholders for Sesame Workshop the global nonprofit behind Sesame Street. Her role includes global brand management, consumer engagement, strategic communications, events, social media, data strategy, digital, and brand creative.She was named one of Insider's Most Innovative CMOs in 2023. Prior to Sesame Workshop, she held executive positions at Viacom and A+E. During Cannes Lions, Maltin spoke to Insider about how brands are demonstrating their commitment to purpose more than ever before.Brands are understanding that they need to leave society in a better place, she said. We think about our mission and empowering each generation to build a better world, and hearing that from all the brands that are here is powerful.Maltin said the role of CMO has changed to reflect those priorities. My job has become more than just marketing. It's become about driving purpose and culture.Park joined ServiceNow in 2020 and was promoted to CMO in January, 2022. Previously he held executive positions at such companies as Eagle View, HP, and Microsoft. Park spoke to Insider on video about how he came to marketing via a non-traditional path, having run sales and product teams.The marketing profession is by far and away the most complex function I've ever run, he said. The diversity of the skillsets, ranging from the highest order of creative to the highest order of data science and every flavor in between. You've got a number of functions that you've got to align with seamless precision. He also said that marketing leaders have to embrace rapid change, citing how quickly businesses have been forced to ricochet between geopolitical issues, inflation worries, and the frontier of generative AI.One thing that is a certainty right now is the uncertainty of the world. Understand the situation you are in and lean into the change.Rajamannar was named chief marketing and communications officer at Mastercard ten years ago, in September, 2023. He is also president of the company's healthcare business.His book, Quantum Marketing was a Wall Street Journal bestseller, and Rajamannar will be writing a regular column for CMO Insider. In an interview with Insider during Cannes Lions, Rajamannar said that digital innovation and the pace of change has made sourcing and retaining talent more difficult.. It's not easy to attract the best of the talent who are very competent and capable of both right-brain thinking and left-brain thinking, he said. Rajamannar said that more of Mastercard's marketing dollars have been directed increasingly to experiential channels and esports, the kinds of activations that demand a different kind of c-suite presence. If you want to be at the seat of the CEO, you don't behave as the head of marketing, but as an integrated member of the management team of the company, he said. You think bigger than your function.Taparia is responsible for marketing strategy at JLL, the global real estate company. Before joining the company in 2021, he was SVP and global head of brand and experience marketing at SAP, where he held a variety of positions for 15 years. He said that companies are operating in a spirit of unpredictability as to what next year is going to bring, and that his focus is on closely measuring ROI, and optimizing what is working.Taparia is also assessing how AI will change the composition and focus of his teams. He began his career in technology, and he said he believes marketing has experienced more change due to digital innovation than most other corporate functions. Taparia said that CMOs need a peer community during this period of rapid innovation and opportunity. It's a great time to be in the marketing c-suite, he said. There's so much change that's happening that oftentimes marketers have to rely on each other.

CMO Insider's new advisory council includes marketing leaders from Mastercard, Sesame Workshop, Indeed and more

Shannon Brayton, chief marketing officer, Bessemer Venture Partners

Cristina Diezhandino, chief marketing officer, Diageo

Kheri Holland Tillman, chief marketing officer, BlueTriton Brands

Jessica Jensen, chief marketing officer, Indeed

Jill Kramer, chief marketing and communications officer, Accenture

Matthew Lieberman, chief marketing officer, PwC, US and Mexico

Samantha Maltin, chief marketing officer, Sesame Workshop

Michael Park, chief marketing officer, ServiceNow

Raja Rajamannar, chief marketing and communications officer, and president, healthcare, Mastercard

SIddharth Taparia, global chief marketing officer, JLL