Frontier CMO Podcast by Think with Google

Teams are moving faster than ever, producing more content, running more campaigns, and optimizing everything. But without strategy, it’s mostly noise. 

In this episode of Frontier CMO, Josh travels to London to sit down with Mark Ritson, brand strategist, former marketing professor, and advisor to companies like LVMH, Sephora, and Donna Karan, to talk about the state of marketing, which frankly is a mess. 

Based on new global research, Ritson argues that most marketers don’t actually understand the fundamentals of marketing. In an AI-driven world, that’s about to matter a lot more. 

Drawing on examples from brands like Apple, Nike, Target and Walmart, Ritson shares his hot takes on who’s getting it right, who’s getting it wrong, and why brand building is still one of the most misunderstood and undervalued parts of marketing. 

They also get into what’s coming next and how to position yourself to stand out in an AI-driven marketing world. 

No matter where you are in your career, this is what it takes to not get left behind.

00:00 – The Marketing Knowledge Crisis

04:09 – Has America Lost Its Marketing Edge?

05:31 – Why Creators and Brand Ads Work Together

09:24 – The Most Important Job of a CMO

10:13 – Strategy Before Tactics

13:08 – The Skills Marketers Need in the AI Era

15:43 – AI as a Marketing Superpower

18:10 – Walmart, Target & Great Positioning

21:25 – How to Build a Strong Brand Positioning

24:00 – What Founders Teach Us About Branding

27:19 – Mark Ritson's Biggest Marketing Mistake

37:18 – AI Clones, Digital Twins & The Future of Marketing

On this special episode of the Frontier CMO podcast, host Josh Spanier, VP of AI and Marketing Strategy at Google, sits down with two of the driving forces shaping the future of AI and creative: Robert Wong, head of Google’s Creative Lab, and Josh Woodward, head of Google Labs, Gemini, & AI Studio. 

Together, they tell the story of how their teams of engineers and marketers came together to create Flow, a groundbreaking AI tool that is unlocking creativity and storytelling in marketing, Hollywood and beyond.

Taped at Google Marketing Live, Google’s biggest marketing event of the year, this conversation offers a rare look at how Google is reimagining creativity in the age of AI.

0:00 – AI’s Creative Breakthrough Moment

2:05 – Mind-Blowing AI Projects & Experiences

4:15 – Building Gemini & What’s “Almost Possible”

6:15 – Bringing Soul & Humanity Into AI

7:20 – Staying Ahead in the AI Era

10:05 – Lowering Fear to Unlock Creativity

12:05 – The Frustrations & Limits of AI

15:05 – Why AI Still Needs Human Creativity

16:00 – Building Flow for Creative Professionals

20:05 – The Future of Personalized AI Tools

22:00 – The Best Google AI Tools to Try Now

25:05 – Why Great Creative Still Matters

26:00 – The AI Creative Renaissance Ahead

Most football clubs are built around matchday but not Arsenal. As it enters its 140th year, the team in a lot of ways, is only just getting started. 

In this episode of Frontier CMO, Josh travels to London to meet Juliet Slot, Chief Commercial Officer at Arsenal Football Club, on home turf to go inside the playbook behind one of the most engaged global fanbases in sports. 

From the rapid rise of the women’s league to the clubs’ staying power of “cool,” Juliet shares why serving your fanbase is better than trying to sell them. 

This conversation lands at a historic moment with the club reaching its first UEFA Champions League Final in 20 years and is within reach from capturing the Premier League title. As FIFA tournaments kick off around the globe, this is your front row ticket to exploring how one of the world’s biggest clubs is making its mark across platforms, geographies, and generations.

00:00 Arsenal’s Global Brand Philosophy

02:00 Serving Fans Beyond Match Day

04:10 Building a Modern Global Football Brand

06:00 Fashion, Culture & the Arsenal Identity

07:30 Personalization, Content & AI Strategy

09:40 Understanding Different Types of Fans

10:45 Measuring Real Fan Engagement

12:30 The Viral Women’s Football Dating Campaign

14:00 Fans as Co-Creators of the Arsenal Brand

16:30 Authentic Marketing vs. Over-Selling

18:40 Growing Arsenal Women Into a Global Business

22:45 Choosing the Right Brand Partnerships

24:20 Purpose-Driven Campaigns & “No More Red”

25:45 Creating One Unified Club Culture

27:00 Winning Beyond Trophies

29:20 The Future of Sports, Tech & Virtual Viewing

32:00 Why Arsenal Resonates Around the World

34:00 Final Lessons on Community & Long-Term Growth

Marketing is entering its most complex era yet. AI is accelerating everything—but the real challenge is making sense of a system that is fragmenting faster than ever.

In this episode of Frontier CMO, Josh Spanier sits down with Asmita Dubey, Chief Digital and Marketing Officer at L’Oréal Groupe, who leads digital transformation across the world’s largest beauty company. With more than 90,000 employees and dozens of global brands, Asmita is responsible for navigating how AI, data, and creativity reshape marketing at enterprise scale.

The conversation explores why fragmentation defines modern marketing—from the consumer journey to the marketing organization itself—and how leaders must respond by building systems that scale learning. Asmita shares how L’Oréal has operationalized transformation through massive upskilling, AI-powered content creation, and a culture built around what she calls the “dual muscle” of math and magic: the balance of technology, creativity, speed, and brand building. 

For CMOs and founders navigating a moment where AI is reshaping every layer of marketing—from insight to creation to commerce—this conversation offers a practical blueprint for leading transformation while protecting the creative heart of the brand.

00:00 – The Marketer’s Dilemma: Fragmentation in the AI Era

01:00 – Meet Asmita Dubey & L’Oréal’s “Math + Magic” Philosophy

02:00 – A Global Career & How Background Shapes Leadership

03:30 – Growing Up in a Family of Teachers & Lifelong Learning

04:45 – Leading Through Influence in a Complex Organization

06:00 – Inside L’Oréal’s Massive Marketing Ecosystem

07:30 – Stakeholders Then vs. Now: The Expanding Marketing Universe

09:00 – Marketing Meets Engineering: The Rise of Beauty Tech

10:30 – Staying Ahead: Culture, Curiosity & Continuous Reinvention

11:45 – Building an Entrepreneurial Culture at Scale

13:00 – Upskilling 30,000+ Marketers & Skill-Based Organizations

15:00 – L’Oréal’s Digital Transformation: From 5% to 30% E-Commerce

17:00 – Changing Consumer Behavior & New Operating Models

19:00 – Measurement Matters: Balancing Short-Term ROI & Brand Equity

21:00 – Lessons from China: Speed, Scale & Consumer-First Thinking

23:30 – Agentic Commerce & the Future of Beauty Shopping

26:00 – Why Fragmentation Is the Biggest Marketing Challenge

29:00 – AI’s Role in Rebundling Marketing & Breaking Silos

31:00 – AI-Powered Consumer & Marketer Journeys Explained

33:00 – Inside L’Oréal’s AI Tools: Creaitech & Content at Scale

35:00 – What’s Next: The Future of Marketing in the AI Era

37:00 – Rapid Fire: Signal vs. Noise (AI, Influencers, Innovation)

40:00 – Final Takeaways: Fragmentation, Learning Systems & Dual Muscle

Marketing is no longer downstream from product. It is the operating system.

In this episode of Frontier CMO, Josh Spanier sits down with Emma Grede, founding partner and Chief Product Officer at SKIMS, Co Founder & CEO of Good American, and Co Founder of Off Season, to unpack what it really takes to build durable brands in a culture obsessed with moments. Emma shares why product discipline matters more than hype, how to operationalize cultural relevance, and why speed is the ultimate competitive advantage.

The conversation explores AI adoption inside fast-scaling companies, where automation should power the business, and where it should never touch creative. Emma also reflects on talent partnerships, decision velocity, resilience, and why the best leaders aren’t the ones who make perfect decisions, but the ones who make more of them.

For founders and CMOs navigating growth where culture, commerce, and AI collide, this is a blueprint for building brands that last.