Your CMO Mentor
Your CMO Mentor is a weekly interview show hosted by The Marketing Meetup in which a senior marketing leader takes on real questions submitted by listeners. Guests come from companies such as Meta, Samsung, LinkedIn and Barclays, and each episode blends quickfire lessons with deeper conversations about their craft. The focus is on honest, practical advice for problems marketers are facing right now, rather than stage-ready anecdotes or nostalgia. Episodes run around half an hour, making it an easy way to borrow the thinking of an experienced chief marketing officer.
Episodes
Creative boundaries: how to build a brand playground
How do you keep a brand consistent without holding your creatives back? In this one, Jason Wood, Brand & Creative Lead at BT Group, joined us to talk about creative boundaries and how to build a brand playground.We got into how brand consistency works across the brands in BT Group, brand modes that give creatives generous boundaries to colour in, how to dial a brand up or down for a sports cro
Rebranding Lloyds, stories from a 260-year-old brand with Vish Kapoor
Your rebrand is live, but the app still looks like the old brand. In this one, Vish Kapoor, Design Language and Visual Design Lead at Lloyds Banking Group, joined us to talk about how to run a rebrand across brand, design, and product teams.We got into what it took to reimagine a 260-year-old brand, including why the digital team worked alongside the branding agency while the new brand was still b
How to convince your skeptical board by using research
Most of us know market research matters, but how many of us actually make time for it? In this one, Johann Wrede, CMO at UserTesting, joined us to talk about market research across the funnel.We got into why curiosity might be the one trait every good marketer needs, why going slow can actually help you move faster, and the surprisingly small number of people you need to talk to before you properl
Stop telling people what to do. Tell them why to do it.
How do you build a marketing team from scratch? Nathan Rawlins, CMO at Lucid Software for over nine years, joined Joe to share exactly how he'd approach it, along with the leadership lessons that have kept him in the same role well past the average three-year CMO tenure.What Nathan covers:How to build a marketing team from scratch in your first 90 daysHow to prove marketing's worth to your
Pip & Nut | AI won't replace great marketers - but it will change how they work
Everyone's talking about AI. Far fewer people are talking about how to actually use it well.In this episode of Your CMO Mentor, Joe sits down with Jacq, CMO of Pip & Nut, to explore where AI genuinely creates value and where human judgment, strategy, and creativity remain irreplaceable.Fresh from launching Pip & Nut's standout AI-assisted TV campaign, Jacq shares what really happen
THIS is how you grow a brand | Jodie Gillary, Kantar
When times get tough, the temptation to discount is almost irresistible. A quick promotion, a short-term volume spike, a CFO who's happy for five minutes. But what's it actually costing you?In this one, Jodie Gillary, Head of Brand Activation at Kantar, joined James to talk about why discounting is one of the most damaging things a brand can do, and what marketers should be doing instead t
Measuring what Matters with the MD of Data, Measurement and Analytics at Google UK
Biren Kalaria, Managing Director of Data, Measurement and Analytics at Google UK, joined us to talk about one of the most requested topics in the community: how to prove the value of marketing to a sceptical boss. It's a question that came up again and again in our State of Marketers research, and if you've ever had a brand campaign killed because it "didn't convert," this one's for you.We got int
The illusion of productivity in the AI era | Duarte Garrido - DOJO AI
Duarte Garrido, co-founder of DOJO AI joined us to explore the capabilities of large language models, highlighting their significant role in boosting workplace efficiency. We discussed how these ai tools are primarily designed for ai content creation, facilitating more output at a faster pace.Duarte emphasises their importance in the future of work, focusing on how they contribute to productivity
The cost of constant organisational change | Patrick Brown, Adobe
Joe sat at the Adobe Summit in Las Vegas with Patrick Brown, VP of Marketing at Adobe, to discuss the pervasive issue of "change fatigue", emphasising its impact on team management across various company sizes. Patrick shares important leadership insights on how to navigate this common experience, highlighting its relevance to effective management. This business podcast segment offers valuable per
The ecosystem that makes high performers thrive | Naomi Walkland
Most marketers are told to project confidence even when they don't feel it. But what if the better move is just being honest about what you don't know?Naomi Walkland, CMO at Motorway and formerly VP of Marketing at Bumble, joined us live at The Marketing Meetup conference for a live episode of Your CMO Mentor to share the leadership lessons she's picked up leading high-performing teams across some
How great CMOs think about brand, risk and leadership with Jon Evans
Jon Evans, host of the Uncensored CMO podcast, joined us to share what seven years of interviewing marketing leaders has taught him about what great CMOs actually do differently. Jon has spoken with hundreds of senior marketers and been a CMO himself, which makes his perspective genuinely rare — part practitioner, part observer, all practical.Whether you're a marketing manager working towards lead
How to build a brand with real purpose, with Bronwen Foster-Butler, CMO of Finisterre
In this webinar, Bronwen Foster-Butler, CMO of Finisterre, joined us to talk about what brand purpose actually means in practice, how it went so wrong in 2018, and what a more grounded, commercial version of it looks like today.Bronwen is one of the clearest thinkers on this topic we've had on the podcast. She doesn't shy away from the messy parts, the pressure to chase growth at the expense of me
How marketers can use consumer testing to make braver, smarter decisions
In this webinar, Anna Henwood, CEO of Stickybeak, joined us to talk about something a lot of marketers quietly struggle with: how to make confident decisions when you’re working with limited time, noisy opinions, and a gut feeling you can’t quite back up.Anna brings a rare mix of perspectives. She ran marketing at Les Mills International as CMO before moving into the CEO seat at Stickybeak, a cons
The new science of TV advertising with Kate Waters from ITV
Performance marketing can feel like you’re squeezing harder and harder for the same results. CPAs creep up. Growth slows. And suddenly, the next move isn’t about optimisation — it’s about expansion.In this episode, James and Joe sit down with Kate Waters, Commercial Director at ITV, to explore what TV advertising really offers modern marketers. From protecting price sensitivity and lowering CPAs a
How to run smarter marketing experiments (behavioural science explained)
What if half of advertising’s problems come down to this: we keep asking people why they do things… and they genuinely don’t know?In this episode of Your CMO Mentor, we’re joined by Richard Shotton (behavioural science author of The Choice Factory and The Illusion of Choice) to unpack what actually changes behaviour and why small experiments often beat confident opinions, focus groups, and “what c
How marketing can lead AI transformation in your company
When we spoke to Jessica Cobarras, CMO of Asana, her passion for people really came through. In this podcast episode, we talk about how centring people at the heart of what she does has allowed Jessica to create an environment where teams can do their best work, grow their careers, and feel connected to the mission they're building together.Thanks Weglot for sponsoring this episode. This is th
How to justify brand marketing spend (and build trust with leadership)
Brand is one of the hardest things for marketers to justify, especially when budgets are tight, pressure is high, and leadership wants results now.Today, we’re joined by Matt Herbert, Co-Founder of Tracksuit, to talk about how marketers can make more confident cases for brand and use measurement to build trust, not just dashboards.This is a grounded, mentorship-led conversation aboutwhat “brand” r
How to balance brand and demand without wasting budget or credibility
Many marketers are told they have to choose: brand or demand.More leads now, or long-term impact later.In this episode of Your CMO Mentor from The Marketing Meetup, Jessica Shapiro (CMO at LiveRamp, former marketing leader at Starbucks and SAP) explains why that framing is broken and what actually works instead.We get into how brand and demand feed each other, not fight for budget. Jessica shares
How to Measure Creator Marketing (Without Follower Count)
Creators aren’t a channel to buy. They’re people to partner with.In this episode of Your CMO Mentor, we’re joined by Brit Starr, CMO at CreatorIQ, to break down what marketers need to understand about the creator economy and how to build creator programs that drive brand love + measurable business outcomes at the same time.We talk about: • Why follower count is “out” (and what matters more) • How
How to build a data-driven marketing strategy
How do you build a marketing strategy that your CEO and CFO can actually get behind, without turning marketing into a spreadsheet hobby?In this episode of Your CMO Mentor, we sits down with Jamie Jamie Domenici, CMO of Klaviyo, to unpack how she uses data to set clear goals, run smarter experiments, and make big strategic calls (even when the “safe” data path says otherwise).You’ll hear Jamie’s pr
How to push back when everyone wants to copy competitors
Short-termism. AI slop. “Can we just copy our competitors?” If you’re a senior marketer wrestling with all of that, this one’s for you.In this episode of Your CMO Mentor, Ben Moore, US MD at BeReal (ex-TikTok, Walmart, Havas), breaks down how to grow without losing your soul – or your brand.You’ll hear Ben on:- Why “the world remembers the brave, not the perfect”- How to balance performance and br
Samsung's CCO reveals: what really makes customers stay
How do you shift from a product-first mindset to a genuinely people-first organisation?In this episode of Your CMO Mentor, Deborah Honig, Chief Customer Officer at Samsung UK and Ireland, shares how the world’s biggest brands stay close to their customers, build trust and turn real human insight into better products.Deborah explains why curiosity is the most important skill in modern marketing, ho
The Visibility Playbook: PR, SEO, content, and brand aligned
AI is reshaping search faster than anyone expected, but according to Semrush CMO Andrew Warden, this isn’t the end of SEO. It’s the biggest opportunity marketers have seen since Google was founded.In this episode of Your CMO Mentor, Andrew breaks down what’s actually happening with AI search, how marketers should respond, where traditional SEO still dominates, and how to prepare your team for cons
How this VP turned a failing fitness brand around with no budget
Big-brand impact. Tiny marketing budget. VP of Marketing at Freeletics, Ellie Hughes, shares the story of how she turned around a flatlining fitness brand in one of the most competitive categories in tech.In this episode of Your CMO Mentor, Ellie shares honest lessons on:- Why brand repositioning is a growth lever- Spotting the signals it’s time to pivot- How to win internal buy-in from numbers-ob
How to lead marketing that drives growth, with the CMO of Meta
To help you level up, we get marketing’s biggest brains to open up!What’s it really like being the CMO of Meta? And what lessons can we steal for our own day-to-day?In this episode of Your CMO Mentor, we sit down with Alex Schultz, Chief Marketing Officer at Meta, for a no-nonsense deep dive into measurement, leadership, creativity, and how to actually get marketing taken seriously at the top tabl
How to build brand on LinkedIn, with their VP of Marketing
To help you level up, we get marketing’s brightest brains to open up!What’s the real secret to building a brand on LinkedIn, from someone running it?In this debut episode of Your CMO Mentor, we sit down with Andrew Monu, VP of Marketing at LinkedIn, to explore how modern B2B brands build trust, show up with personality, and win attention on the platform.Andrew goes deep into:- Why video isn’t just
Your CMO mentor: real-world marketing advice from the brightest brains in the game
Welcome to Your CMO Mentor, a podcast series from The Marketing MeetupTo help you level up, we get marketing’s brightest brains to open up! In this new series, we bring you honest, practical marketing mentorship from the people running the world’s biggest brands. From Meta to LinkedIn, Adobe to Formula E, these leaders share insights, tactics, and real answers to your marketing challenges.This pod
