Andy Donkin

Chief Marketing Officer, Under Armour

Donkin comes to Under Armour from Amazon, where he served as head of worldwide brand and mass marketing. As Under Armour’s new chief marketing officer, Donkin has assumed the oversight of all of the brand’s global marketing initiatives. A heavily data-driven marketer, Donkin has led several impressive campaigns while working for Amazon, most notably the company’s first Super Bowl campaign in 2016. The campaign focused on shedding Amazon’s corporate image and replacing it with a genuinely emotional connection to its customers. Instead of focusing on activities on the bottom of the marketing funnel, Donkin prefers to focus on activities at the top of the funnel, saying:

“There is a place for both functional and emotional advertising within your portfolio. As a group, we look across Amazon businesses and say ‘Which are the products that connect best with the targets that we have?’ TV advertising doesn’t have to be the only answer. Online advertising can be very powerful.”

This vision will prove to be valuable to Under Armour’s digital expansion efforts. The retailer has spent $560 million on apps like MyFitnessPal, a fitness app that tracks eating and exercise habits, and Endomondo, a personal training app. These platforms combined have over 140 million users, a valuable customer base that Under Armour is hoping to use as a platform for communicating with athletes and gathering large-scale consumer insights. With this wealth of information, combined with Donkin’s significant experience with data-driven marketing, his appointment will bring about exciting developments to Under Armour’s brand.

Donkin’s work in the industry hasn’t gone unnoticed – in 2016 alone, he was named one of Business Insider’s 50 most innovative CMOs in the world, and one of the 100 most innovative CMOs in the world in 2016 by Hot Topics.

You can connect with Donkin on LinkedIn.

Julia Mee

Chief Marketing Officer, Goodby, Silverstein & Partners

Goodby, Silverstein & Partners (GS&P), a full-service advertising agency based in San Francisco, recently named former client Julia Mee to serve as the agency’s first chief marketing officer. Mee comes from an impressive background building recognizable brands, including Cisco, Hewlett-Packard, and Yahoo!, and is responsible for overseeing GS&P’s overall marketing and strategic communications with employees and clients, both current and prospective.

Mee previously served in client-side positions, most recently as Cisco System’s senior director, global advertising, media and sponsorships. She collaborated with GS&P on Cisco’s “Internet of Everything” campaign, with notable ad “The Last Traffic Jam.” Mee has spoken highly of her relationship with GS&P:

“For 15 years at three different companies, GS&P was my trusted agency partner. They listened closely, dug into the business, gathered deep customer insights and provided strategic thinking that went far beyond what many expect from an ‘advertising agency.’

We built global campaigns together that made significant contributions to the business, and, along the way, they made me and my teams look really good. Now it’s my turn to help contribute to their business. I’m honored to join their ranks.”

The University of Oregon graduate has made a name for herself in the marketing industry, and with her experience and vision, she is sure to make impressive moves in the upcoming year.

You can follow Julia on Twitter at @juliammee and connect with her on LinkedIn.

Naureen Hassan

Chief Digital Officer for Wealth Management, Morgan Stanley

Earlier this year, Morgan Stanley announced Naureen Hassan as the global investment bank’s new Chief Digital Officer for Wealth Management, a new position that puts her in charge of leading the strategy and marketing of digital tools and platforms that serve Morgan Stanley’s 16,000 financial advisors and 3.5 million clients. She brings a fresh perspective to the team, with a goal of using digital tools to streamline processes so that advisors can spend more time with their clients. During an interview, she said:

“Why not let technology do what it does best? Modern technology has the power to simplify advisors’ lives by automating mundane tasks — opening accounts, rebalancing portfolios — freeing them up to spend more time with their clients.”

Previously, Hassan served as Executive Vice President, Investor Services Strategy, Segments and Platforms for Charles Schwab, where she drew attention with the success of her leadership of the Schwab intelligent Portfolios and the Institutional Intelligent Portfolios platforms. Morgan Stanley COO Jim Rosenthal says that the firm is delighted to bring Hassan to the team:

“Her record of successful innovation bringing exceptional digital resources to financial advisors and clients will sharpen our ability to compete for today’s high-net-worth individuals as well as those emerging in the next generation.”

The Princeton and Stanford Business School graduate has been recognized on San Francisco Business Times’ list of Influential Women of 2015 and continues to bring her expertise to each challenge set before her.

You can find Naureen on LinkedIn.

Greg Hoffman

Chief Marketing Officer, Nike

In April of 2015, Greg Hoffman was named as Chief Marketing Officer for Nike, where he is responsible for developing a unified brand voice across the company. Hoffman originally joined Nike in 1992 as a design intern, and has worked his way through the ranks, with the roles Vice P resident, G lobal B rand C reative and E xperience and V ice P resident, G lobal B rand D esign under his belt prior to his promotion. Hoffman works hard to cultivate the brand’s global image consistently through various platforms and mediums.

Hoffman oversaw the unveiling of Nike’s “Unlimited” campaign at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, which Nike sponsored for the first time in 16 years. A series of films, including “Unlimited You” and “Unlimited Together,” features everyday athletes alongside famous athletes, and is centered around the idea that any athlete can push past their limits into an “unlimited” mindset. Hoffman says:

“Our Nike Unlimited Campaign celebrates both the everyday athletes and the champion athletes who push their limits daily and who are proving their unlimited potential, whether that’s on the world’s greatest stage this summer, or just in a pickup game in the park.”

The campaign left an impression, with over 480 million views across social media channels and over 1 billion TV impressions. Adweek reported that over 34% of consumers remembered the campaign, beating out Coca Cola. Other campaigns that Nike has rolled out this year include “Come Out of Nowhere” and “The Conductor.” The creativity and innovation involved in these campaigns have earned the brand Marketer of the Year 2016 from Footwear News. Hoffman himself was named as one of the 50 most innovative chief marketing officers by Business Insider.

You can connect with Hoffman on LinkedIn.

Thomas (Tom) Garzilli

Chief Marketing Officer, Brand USA

In July 2016 Tom Garzilli was announced as Brand USA’s new Chief Marketing Officer. With a very impressive 35-year track record in the travel industry, he has been hailed as one of its most well respected members . With his entrepreneurial attitude and partner-focused approach to marketing destinations, that title is hardly surprising.

Garzilli led Brand USA’s first major initiative behind the great outdoors in the form of the giant-screen film National Parks Adventure. The film serves as a showcase of the majesty and grandeur of United States’ national parks, aimed to attract international visitors to US national parks. Currently showing in 100 theatres in 18 different countries, the film continues to receive positive reviews at its worldwide premieres. Of the film, Brand USA says that the project “supports each of our strategic foundational elements to create innovative marketing, market the welcome, build trusted relationships, add & create value, and drive results.”

Garzilli first joined Brand USA in 2013 as a Senior Vice President, Global Partner Marketing until he was promoted to Senior Vice President, Global Sponsorships in 2015. Under these positions, Brand USA has raised over $350 million in contributions from over 500 partners, and has developed award winning partner programs, including partnerships with The BBC, The Travel Channel and Food Network, and National Geographic. He is an integral part behind the team driving Brand USA’s storytelling, content-driven platforms, and digital marketing initiatives.

You can connect with Garzilli on LinkedIn.

Charisse Ford

Chief Marketing Officer, PANDORA Americas

Charisse Ford joined the PANDORA Jewelry team in 2015 as Chief M arketing Officer of the Americas, where she is responsible for all aspects of integrated marketing across the Americas Region. Since joining, she has introduced a high level of marketing analytics to the organization, increasing marketing effectiveness and efficiency and yielding double-digit savings for the organization within her first year.

Ford was instrumental in PANDORA’s transition from a simple “charm bracelet” company to a popular affordable luxury brand with Grey’s “The Art of You” campaign. This integrated marketing campaign, which highlighted PANDORA’s affordable luxury collections, helped shift the perception of the brand across key purchasers, drove increased engagement in social, and tripled PANDORA’s earned media expectations. In 2016, she oversaw the launch of PANDORA’s US e-commerce platform, which saw 12 million unique visitors, and continues to drive business growth for the organization in consumer, retail and digital brand marketing.

Ford has been a force in the marketing industry, and shows no sign of slowing down anytime soon. She was recently named one of Baltimore Business Journal’s Bizwomen’s Women to Watch of 2016. In 2015, she was named an Internationalist of the Year, a list that recognizes innovative marketers around the world. She’s also been named as one of the most influential women in corporate America by Savoy Magazine and has been honored as a trailblazer in the beauty industry by More Magazine.

You can follow her on Twitter at @charissekay or connect with her on LinkedIn.

Heidi Browning

EVP Chief Marketing Officer at National Hockey League

In September, Heidi Browning was announced as the new Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer for the National Hockey League (NHL), where she is responsible for executing the League’s marketing campaigns, with a special focus on digital and social initiatives. She also leads the NHL’s environmental and social initiatives, including NHL Green and Hockey Fights Cancer. This announcement marks a significant milestone within the sports industry, as Browning is now one of four women who hold the CMO position in major sports leagues:

“It is a great honor and privilege to join the NHL for their centennial year as a powerful, passionate, and enduring brand,” Browning said. “This is also a milestone for women leaders. Three women now sit in chief marketing officer roles at three of the major sports leagues.”

Browning joins the team from popular music streaming service Pandora, where she served as Senior Vice President, Strategic Solutions. She built Pandora’s B2B brand into a leading industry force in the digital audio and mobile advertising field, and leveraged marketing data insights in order to create a personalized, customer-first approach to marketing. She brings this experience to NHL, where she plans to incorporate marketing technology into the NHL’s current campaign strategies and broaden the brand’s reach across traditional and digital channels.

You can follow her on Twitter at @Heidi_Golightly or connect with her on LinkedIn.

Daniel Kerzner

Vice President Marketing, Digital, Loyalty, & Partnerships, Starwood Hotels/Marriott International

Daniel Kerzner is a global marketer based in Belgium with over 15 years of experience in the travel and hospitality industry. Currently, Kerzner leads digital, loyalty, and partnership marketing for Starwood Hotels for nearly 300 properties in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. With such past successful initiatives as Starwood Hotel’s Ambassador program, and the more recent “LetsChat” Starwood messenger platform, Kerzner is experimenting with modern technology to provide targeted content and personalized experiences for guests all over the world. He believes that technology is the key to “loyalty beyond reason,” constantly asking, “What are those small things, what are those intrinsic touch points that we have with our guests that make them so loyal to Starwood that they always want to come back[?]”

This level of personalization is apparent throughout the initiatives that Kerzner oversees. As a marketer, Kerzner understands the value of customer data and how to use it effectively to provide guests with the best experience possible at any one of the Starwood Hotels properties. In an article by CMO.com, Kerzner describes how managing customer expectation and customer experience is about putting “credit into a bank account,” and how Starwood builds its credit with its customers using customer data and social media channels in order to drive personalized experiences:

“It’s not so much transactions, but how to find opportunities to have interactions with our guests,” Kerzner said. “Data allows us to understand that it’s a guest’s birthday, for example, and then use that information about the customer to wow them.”

While it’s nearly impossible to provide a guest with a perfect experience every time, Kerzner understands that the key is for brands to maintain a consistent core experience that is great every time:

“Each opportunity puts some credit into the account,” he said. “We know our guests aren’t coming to us for that ‘shoe’ experience every time, so it’s about how we give you a great stay every time, then one experience in the customer lifecycle journey that wows you.”

Along with these personalized efforts, Starwood is building partnerships with apps such as Uber to provide guests with even more targeted services. Kerzner, the mind behind these data-driven marketing campaigns, remains as open to change as ever. He was just named one of Hot Topics’s 100 most innovative CMOs in the world in 2016, and continues to innovate the hospitality marketing space by taking advantage of the data-driven technologies available today.

You can follow Kerzner on Twitter @DanielKerzner or connect with him on LinkedIn.

Marc Mentry

Senior Vice President of Brand Marketing, Capital One

If you hear the phrase “What’s in your wallet?” and think of Capital One, you have Senior Vice President of Brand Marketing Marc Mentry to thank for that. The campaign, which has been running since 2000, has pushed universal brand recognition to 99%. Nowadays, Mentry is focusing on keeping the Capital One brand integrated across various channels, including social media, TV, and sponsorships.

Capital One’s efforts included a live-streamed concert from the Capital One Orange Bowl on the WatchESPN app. The concert featured musical artists Macklemore & Ryan Lewis and Imagine Dragons, and was the second most live-viewed event on the app at the time, second behind ESPN’s World Cup Coverage.

Most recently, Capital One has turned its attentions to Facebook for its new campaign #DefineYourDream, which features uplifting stories from Capital One customers. The company has not ignored traditional media, recently airing a TV campaign starring celebrity Samuel L. Jackson.

Mentry was named as one of the 50 most innovative chief marketing officers in the world by Business Insider and as one of the 100 most innovative CMOs in the world in 2016 by Hot Topics.

You can follow Mentry on Twitter at @MarcMentry or connect with him on LinkedIn.

Maureen Waters

Chief Marketing Officer, Ten-X

Maureen Waters, a veteran commercial real estate executive with over 25 years of experience, was announced as Ten-X’s new chief marketing officer of its commercial division in August 2016 year. Ten-X, an online real estate transaction marketplace, leverages desktop and mobile technology to allow people to complete real estate transactions safely and easily online. Waters will be responsible for aligning the company’s marketing efforts with its overall business strategy, as well as providing insight into the company’s core customer segments.

Waters has the honor of holding executive roles in almost every area of real estate, from marketing to research to sales. Before joining the Ten-X team, she served as head of real estate and asset management at Bill Gates Investments. Prior to that, she served as chief marketing and strategy officer at Cushman & Wakefield, and spent six years at CBRE directing regional marketing, communications, technology, and research. Waters brings this unique mix of experience to Ten-X, saying:

“Over the course of my career, I have had the unique privilege of working in various capacities where I’ve been exposed to all aspects of the transaction process. I look forward to employing that valuable knowledge with Ten-X as the company continues to position itself at the technological forefront of this ever-evolving industry.”

Waters has established herself as a titan in the marketing industry and has been named a “Women of Influence” by Real Estate Forum and a “Star to Watch” by Commercial Property News. She has also received recognition for her accomplishments from the YWCA’s Academy of Women Achievers. She also is a national board member of Girls, Inc.

You can connect with Waters on LinkedIn.