Frontier CMO Podcast by Think with Google

How do you transform one of the world's most iconic telecom giants into a modern, customer-obsessed growth powerhouse?

In the latest episode of Frontier CMO, host Josh Spanier welcomes Kellyn Smith Kenny, Chief Marketing & Growth Officer at AT&T, for an inside look at AT&T's multi-year reinvention. Kellyn shares how she bridged creative storytelling with financial accountability, gained unanimous C-suite buy-in to become more customer-centric, and established a sustainable competitive moat in connectivity.

Tune in for a master class about CMOs as the voice of the customer.

00:00 – Rebuilding AT&T Around the Customer

04:00 – Why Moving Faster Mattered

05:00 – The AT&T Guarantee

06:00 – Differentiating in a Commoditized Category

09:00 – Turning Customer Problems Into Loyalty

12:00 – Building a Brand Beyond Advertising

15:00 – Fixing the Story, Not the Storytelling

17:00 – AT&T’s AI Legacy and Future

18:00 – How AI Is Transforming Marketing

20:00 – The Skills Marketers Need in the AI Era

22:00 – Career Lessons From Accenture, Microsoft, Uber & More

26:00 – Signal or Noise + Three Takeaways

Gap Inc. is having a moment and Damon Berger, an SVP who leads marketing shared services across the company’s portfolio of iconic brands, is focused on turning that moment into momentum. Live from Google’s Rethink Retail event in New York, he joins Josh on stage in front of 350 retail marketers to unpack how Gap Inc. is blending entertainment, cultural relevance and AI to drive sustainable business growth.

From viral YouTube campaigns with KATSEYE, Young Miko, Mr Beast and more, to pioneering employee-creator programs, discover how one of retail's most loved brands is transforming relevance into revenue.

👇 Key moments in this episode:

00:00 - Introduction & Gap’s growth

02:15 - "Relevance is Revenue" — Differentiating Gap, Banana Republic, Old Navy, & Athleta

05:10 - Why "Brand vs. Performance" is the wrong question to ask

07:45 - Building best friends with Finance (and why ROAS is a long game)

09:15 - Product at the center: The formula behind Cardi B, Young Miko, and KATSEYE

11:15 - Inside the innovative Employee Creator Program & Creator Affiliate launch

13:15 - Career journeys: From Disney to Barbie's turnaround at Mattel

16:30 - Marketing "Avatar" without showing the blue people 🤫

17:00 - The future of Agentic Commerce & AI Virtual Try-Ons

22:30 - Why AI will never understand the emotional choice of getting dressed

24:30 - Signal or noise

#FrontierCMO #GapInc #RetailMarketing #BrandStrategy #YoungMiko #CardiB #Katseye #MrBeast #MarketingTransformation #AIinRetail #AgenticCommerce

Jo Malone. MAC. La Mer. Tom Ford. Clinique. The Ordinary. These are just a few of the powerhouse brands behind The Estée Lauder Companies. For more than 80 years, the beauty giant has reinvented itself with every era – from the department store counter to the digital storefront. Now it’s making its biggest leap yet: AI.

In the season 3 premiere of Frontier CMO, host Josh Spanier sits down with Chief Digital and Marketing Officer Aude Gandon to explore how one of the world’s most iconic beauty companies is using AI to personalize consumer experiences, reimagine creativity, and build brands that endure.

✨ What you’ll learn in this episode:

How Estée Lauder overhauled its marketing operating model and consolidated global media to react at the speed of culture.

Why your CFO is your most crucial ally and how to prove marketing is an investment, not a cost center.

Navigating C-suite influence, knowing when to compromise, and leading with strategic courage.

Why the AI era demands a return to fundamental brand differentiation and emotional connection.

How Jo Malone and Google built a conversational Scent Finder to personalize fragrance discovery online.

What AI revealed about why MAC’s Ruby Woo and NASA-inspired Crème de la Mer both became timeless icons.

Why 90% hard work beats 10% talent

⏱️ Episode Chapters:

00:00 - Teaser: "Show Me the Money" & CFO Alliances

00:34 - Welcome to Frontier CMO Season 3

01:25 - Change Management & "Beauty Reimagined" at Estée Lauder

02:49 - Restructuring the Global Operating Model & Media Strategy

04:58 - Marketing as a Growth Engine: Getting Buy-In from Finance

07:08 - The CMO as Chief Diplomatic Officer

10:14 - Brand Building vs. Lower-Funnel Performance Marketing

11:42 - Conversational AI in Action: Jo Malone’s Scent Finder

13:43 - Luxury on Scaled Platforms: Short-form Video & Creators

16:23 - Breaking Brand Silos: Creating Global Marketing Communities

18:24 - Feeding 80 Years of Brand Data into AI: MAC vs. La Mer

22:28 - Career Advice: "Just 'Cause You Don't Fit Doesn't Mean You Don't Belong"

23:10 - Estée Lauder’s Legacy: The Pink Ribbon Campaign

24:48 - The 90/10 Rule of Career Success

25:53 - The CMO Download

29:57 - Josh Spanier’s 3 Key Takeaways

👤 About the Guest:

Aude Gandon is the Chief Digital and Marketing Officer at The Estée Lauder Companies, leading global digital transformation, consumer intelligence, media, and marketing strategy across the company's prestigious portfolio of skincare, makeup, and fragrance brands.

🎙️ About Frontier CMO:

Hosted by Josh Spanier (VP of Marketing and AI Strategy at Google), Frontier CMO features candid conversations with the world’s most forward-thinking marketing leaders who are navigating platform shifts, AI innovation, and modern brand building.

🔗 Explore more marketing insights, research, and tools: https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com

#FrontierCMO #EsteeLauder #MarketingStrategy #ArtificialIntelligence #CMO #BrandBuilding #LuxuryMarketing #DigitalTransformation #JoshSpanier #AudeGandon

The future of content and websites isn't about chasing vanity impressions—it’s about driving true digital retention.

Recorded live at New York’s Guggenheim Museum, Knotch CEO and co-founder Anda Gansca joins Frontier CMO host Josh Spanier to unpack how the brand website is evolving in an AI-first world.

In this episode, we uncover the hidden trap of "corrosive content" driving 80% of web traffic to bounce instantly, and outline a strategic playbook for modern marketing leaders.

Because the website remains the definitive front door for customer discovery and high-stakes decision-making, mastering the next era of web content is more than just site refresh;it is a critical growth imperative for today’s CMO.

00:00 Why Most Brand Content Fails

02:00 Cutting Through the AI Hype

05:00 How Brands Can Win in the AI Era

08:00 Impressions vs. Real Relevance

10:00 Rethinking the Website Experience

12:00 What CMOs Need to Learn About AI

16:00 Building a Culture of AI Experimentation

19:00 Getting Your Data AI-Ready

21:00 AI Slop vs. Great Marketing

23:00 How AI Is Changing Agencies

25:00 AI, Jobs & the MarTech Stack

26:30 Signal or Noise + Final Takeaways

Marketing is moving fast, but are we moving in the right direction?

In this episode, legendary strategist Rishad Tobaccowala (former Chief Growth & Strategy Officer of Publicis Group) drops by to deliver some seriously spicy thinking on the state of the marketing industry.

Spoiler alert: He thinks we’ve lost the plot.

Instead of obsessing over technology and optimization, Rishad breaks down why the future actually belongs to talent, human insight, and deep curiosity. We dive into his blueprint for navigating "tectonic times," why you need to stop writing an "AI strategy," and how thinking like an underdog is the ultimate superpower for staying relevant.

In this episode, you’ll discover:

6 keys to organizational change

Why true innovation happens when you step outside your category

Rishad's daily routine: How he uses 66 different resources to learn and stay ahead

The "Company of One" framework and how to articulate your unique craft vs. skill

Rapid-fire "Signal or Noise" on remote work, side hustles, and the future of work