The CMO Podcast

Six Oscar Mayer Wienermobiles racing around the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. It may sound like a publicity stunt, but for Todd Kaplan, it was something much bigger: a reminder that great marketing should surprise people, spark conversation, and create joy.
This week, Jim welcomes Todd Kaplan, Chief Marketing Officer of Kraft Heinz North America. Since joining Kraft Heinz in 2024 after nearly two decades at PepsiCo, Todd has been leading one of the industry's most ambitious brand transformations, helping modernize more than 70 iconic brands while building a culture rooted in creativity, collaboration, and consumer insight.
Recorded live at Cannes Lions in the Infillion Café, Todd shares why marketing should be more like jazz than classical music, how his philosophy of "collaborativity" helps teams move at the speed of culture, and why even the biggest organizations need to leave room for improvisation. From the Oscar Mayer Wienie 500 to Heinz's award-winning creative work, Todd explains how great ideas are born, why creativity still drives growth, and why the strongest brands never lose sight of the fundamentals.
Whether you're leading a global organization or building your own brand, this conversation is full of practical lessons on creativity, leadership, and finding new energy in iconic brands.
—
This week’s episode is brought to you by Infillion.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Some marketing ideas capture attention for a moment. The very best ones become part of culture. And you could say...that's priceless.
Recorded live at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, Jim sits down with Jill Kramer, Chief Marketing and Communications Officer at Mastercard, to discuss what it's like to lead one of the world's most iconic brands. Mastercard, known globally for its “Priceless” platform and its role at the center of everyday commerce, has spent decades building trust, emotional connection, and cultural relevance across markets.
After nearly a decade as Chief Marketing and Communications Officer at Accenture, where she led the company's "Let There Be Change" brand transformation, and earlier leadership roles at BBDO and DDB, Jill stepped into one of marketing's most influential positions with the responsibility of guiding Mastercard's next chapter.
In this wide-ranging conversation, Jill shares her approach to earning trust as a new leader, building creative cultures where ideas can thrive, and why her philosophy of "early, ugly, often" has helped teams create better work. She also discusses how Mastercard is evolving its brand beyond payments, leaning into experiences, partnerships, and technology, and how the company is approaching AI, creator collaborations, and innovation while staying true to the timeless principles that have made it one of the most respected brands in the world.
Whether you're leading a global organization or a small team, Jill offers thoughtful lessons on curiosity, creativity, change, and why the best leaders never stop learning.
—
This week’s episode is brought to you by Infillion.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

How do you reinvent one of the world's most iconic brands without losing what made it iconic in the first place?
Recorded live on the Tubi Stage at Cannes Lions, Jim sits down with Fabiola Torres, Chief Marketing Officer of Gap, to unpack one of the most compelling brand turnarounds in retail. Drawing on leadership experience at Nike, Apple, PepsiCo, and now Gap, Fabiola shares how the team rebuilt the brand by focusing on marketing fundamentals, embracing creativity, investing in culture, and reconnecting with consumers across generations.
They discuss why every brand should be treated like a living persona, how partnerships with talent are built on trust rather than transactions, and why the best marketing doesn't chase relevance—it earns it.
—
In partnership with Tubi.
Brought to you by Infillion.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Great brands do more than meet a need. They transform that need into desire. But in an increasingly crowded and fragmented media landscape, how can brands earn attention, turn that attention into affection, and ultimately inspire people to act?
Recorded live at the Havas Café during the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, this special roundtable is the first in a three-part series exploring the many dimensions of desire.
Jim is joined by three marketing leaders approaching that challenge from very different industries:
Manu Orssaud, Chief Marketing Officer at Duolingo;
Benoit Vatere, Chief Media and Digital Commerce Officer at Liquid Death;
and Oliver Walker-Jones, who leads Marketing, Communications and Brand at Joby Aviation.

Together, they explore how modern brands use media to create lasting desire. Manu shares how Duolingo combines planned cultural moments with the flexibility to build stories alongside its community. The conversation explores why fun is an underrated business advantage, how brands can move quickly without chasing every cultural moment, and where AI can strengthen a company without replacing the human creativity behind great marketing.
—
This week’s episode is brought to you by Havas and Infillion.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Artificial intelligence is reshaping marketing at a pace unlike anything we've seen since the birth of digital. But as today's guests remind us, the fundamentals of great marketing haven't changed.
Recorded live at the Infillion Café during Cannes Lions 2026, Jim sits down with Marie Gulin-Merle, Global Vice President of Ads & Commerce Marketing at Google, and Anda Gansca, Co-Founder and CEO of Knotch.
Marie has spent her career leading marketing for some of the world's most iconic brands, including L'Oréal, Calvin Klein, and PVH, before joining Google to help shape the future of advertising, commerce, and AI-powered marketing on a global scale.
Anda founded Knotch more than a decade ago with a vision of making digital experiences more personalized and measurable. Today, Knotch helps many of the world's leading brands optimize content performance and customer experience, and Anda has become one of the industry's leading voices on the intersection of marketing, data, and AI.
Just days before this conversation, Google and Knotch announced the launch of ACE (Agentic Content Engine), a new AI-powered experience platform built with Google Cloud, Vertex AI, and Gemini. Designed for the emerging "AI-native consumer," ACE enables brands to create dynamic, personalized digital experiences that adapt in real time to each customer's needs.
Together, Jim, Marie, and Anda explore what this next era of marketing means for brands, why relevance has become the industry's most valuable currency, how AI can amplify rather than replace creativity, and why the future belongs to marketers who can unite technology, data, and human insight to create better customer experiences.
—
This week’s episode is brought to you by Knotch and Infillion.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.