Taking risks and having them pay off in an industry as regulated as fintech can seem like an impossible task. But Coinbase’s success in bold and unique marketing proves it isn’t. In this episode of Marketing Vanguard, Coinbase CMO, Catherine Ferdon, reveals why bold creativity matters when it comes to marketing intangibles, how to build financial brands that don't feel sterile and the key strategies behind Coinbase's high-profile Super Bowl and Oscars campaigns.

Catherine Ferdon is the Chief Marketing Officer at Coinbase, bringing nearly fifteen years of fintech expertise to one of crypto's most established brands. With a background spanning Square, Cash App and Afterpay, she has built her career giving voice to complex financial products through bold, unconventional creativity. Her work exemplifies how CMOs can translate intangible, complex products into compelling narratives that drive mainstream adoption - a critical lesson for marketers navigating emerging technologies and regulatory constraints.

What You'll Learn:

• Why understanding intangible products in depth is the key to marketing them successfully
• The risk-taking framework for breakthrough creativity
• Why educational complexity requires participatory, not didactic marketing
• How to design media moments for their environment
• The leadership principle of strong opinions, softly held
• Why AI amplifies human creativity rather than replacing it

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Atlanta, a paradise for CMOs with 70% of Fortune 500 companies, thousands of startups, and immense talent, is often underestimated. Live from Brandweek, Alex Gonzalez, Metro Atlanta Chamber's Chief Innovation and Marketing Officer, explains why Atlanta is a top marketing hub and how brand positioning can shape a city's economic future on this episode of Marketing Vanguard.

Alex Gonzales is the Chief Innovation and Marketing Officer at the Metro Atlanta Chamber, leading efforts to brand Atlanta as a premier destination for talent, business and innovation. With a background spanning finance, business development and corporate marketing at industry leaders like GE, Chubb Insurance and Equifax, Alex brings deep expertise in transforming marketing strategies for Fortune 500 organizations and emerging tech ecosystems. His work establishing the "Atlanta Where You Belong" brand and fostering the Atlanta Growth Collective has positioned the region as a model for regional marketing and innovation ecosystems.

What You'll Learn:

• How to leverage a CMO advisory council to build authentic city branding by assembling chief marketers
• Why "place branding" requires defining emotional belonging, not just economic benefits
• The talent flywheel strategy and making the most of the city’s academic ecosystem
• How to position B2B companies as part of your city's DNA
• Why the startup ecosystem infrastructure (Atlanta Tech Village, Russell Innovation Center, South Downtown development) should be central to city marketing
• The multi-geography branding challenge and how to solve it 

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Financial services marketing is one of the hardest kinds of marketing to crack. But John Brockelman and his team at State Street Investment Management have proven, campaign after campaign, that it can be done well and done right. Tune in for his playbook on how financial services marketers can drive growth, connection and culture.

What You'll Learn:

• How to align marketing with sales and business objectives
• The importance of simplifying brand architecture for market expansion
• How to build intentional talent strategies by mixing specialized and generalist expertise
• Why guerrilla marketing and experiential activations outperform traditional advertising in regulated industries
• How to use strategic partnerships to reach new audiences
• How to scale AI adoption across marketing operations without replacing human creativity

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The Super Bowl is one of the biggest stages in the world - not just for the game and its players, but for marketers too. So, how do you make sure you win the game? In this episode of Marketing Vanguard, four industry-leading CMOs - Gabrielle Wesley (Mars Wrigley), Stephanie Rogers (San Francisco 49ers), John Gieselman (Comcast) and Stacy Andrade-Wells (Liquid I.V.), reveal their personal playbooks on making the most of the Super Bowl opportunity, cutting through the hype and executing at the highest level. 

What You'll Learn:

• How to build a solid business case for Super Bowl marketing investment
• Why you should capitalize on the intersection of creative disruption and brand strategy
• How to activate beyond the 30 or 60-second spot through ecosystem thinking
• Why simplicity and cultural relevance are your competitive advantages
• The "uncomfortable gut reaction" test for evaluating creative readiness
• How to measure impact across different time horizons without becoming paralyzed by metrics

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Wine was a gatekept category, suffering from the dreaded perception of being "boring." That is, until Archer Roose, the canned wine company, redefined the category and made it fun for Gen Z. In this episode of Marketing Vanguard, CMO of the brand, Conley Downing, unpacks how they leveraged “fun” marketing (instead of educational marketing) to make wine accessible and interesting again. 

What You'll Learn:

• How to reposition a legacy category by identifying and eliminating barriers to entry
• Why product format innovation creates distribution and occasion expansion beyond traditional compete sets
• The strategic value of celebrity partnerships rooted in authentic brand alignment and commercial acumen
• How to build sustainable growth through data ownership and omnichannel funnel strategy
• Why founder-led startups must balance rapid scaling with long-term positioning and acquisition readiness
• How transparency and ingredient clarity are becoming table stakes in beverage marketing

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Staying authentic and mission-driven while scaling aggressively may be the toughest problem in marketing to solve. But Sarah Leinberger, VP and Head of Marketing, Yoobi, has a pretty solid take on how to do it. In this episode of Marketing Vanguard, recorded during Brandweek in Atlanta, Sarah reveals how CMOs can build authentic brand equity through strategic collaborations, why agility trumps budget in today's market, and the key strategies to balance rapid iteration with meaningful purpose. 

What You'll Learn:

• How to leverage borrowed equity without diluting brand identity
• Why speed and flexibility are competitive advantages for challenger brands
• The foundational framework for retail media success
• How to build meaningful retailer partnerships that go beyond “exclusive.” 
• The key strategies to optimize high-impact small teams
• Why authentic leadership accelerates team performance and trust

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In this episode of Marketing Vanguard, live from the 2026 World Economic Forum in Davos, Nic Brandenberger, CMO of Mammut, the 164-year-old Swiss mountaineering gear company, unpacks why Davos represents a unique opportunity for C-suite marketers and how the experiences brands create matter far more than the products they sell.

What You'll Learn:

• How to shift the definition of “brand” from product provider to experience giver
• Why breaking out of the marketing silo is a critical competitive advantage 
• The strategic advantage of being a part of Davos
• How to balance wholesale and direct-to-consumer channels
• How consumer-centric foundation separates great marketing from mediocre execution 
• Ways to identify and penetrate niche communities in fragmented markets like US mountaineering

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Podcasting live from the 2026 World Economic Forum in Davos, Karin Timpone, CEO and Founder of ClearPrompt, unpacks how to implement AI with focused, phased approaches rather than sweeping transformations and staying in the center of business strategy. 

What You'll Learn:

• Why CMOs are perfectly positioned to lead AI strategy across organizations
• How to break down AI implementation into focused, phased pilots instead of betting the entire farm
• The difference between technology adoption and strategic impact
• How to build cross-functional alignment in the C-suite around technology and strategy
• Pick one lane and go deep rather than trying to master all of AI
• Why it’s important to lean into industry moments that connect you with peers facing similar challenges

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From $0 confidence to CEO of one of the most well-known brands in the world, Sharon Price John’s story is nothing short of inspiring and we’re unpacking it on the latest episode of Marketing Vanguard. In this conversation, straight from the Brandweek 2025 stage in Atlanta, Sharon, CEO of Build-A-Bear, reveals her unconventional career journey and how that evolution directly shaped the turnaround and reimagining of an iconic experiential brand.

What You'll Learn:

• How to transition from functional expertise to CEO-level thinking
• Why CMOs must adopt a "business-first" mindset to advance
• The confidence gap that holds high-potential women back from applying for stretch roles
• How to unlock brand equity by understanding feeling over function
• The critical role of authentic leadership in driving organizational transformation
• How to pivot a single-location retail concept into an IP-driven, multi-vertical business

In an era where the marketing playbook is being rewritten daily, how can brands stay ahead? Joshua Spanier, Google’s VP of AI and Marketing Strategy, pulls back the curtain in “Frontier CMO,” his new podcast and weekly insights letter featuring the marketers, thought leaders, and industry pioneers who are reinventing marketing.

Josh previews the tough questions and unfiltered conversations featured on Frontier CMO, including:

• AI as a leadership test: exploring the "human" side of the AI revolution. As technology and tools advance the challenge becomes equipping marketing teams to leverage these technologies
• Brand relevance and connection: writing the next playbook for brand relevance by showing up as a main character in the places and spaces that connect with your audience
• Agentic Commerce: understanding the transition from "speed vs. certainty" to a world where shopping is fast and smart
• The new marketing organization: knowing where AI makes work faster and smarter and restructuring teams to keep up. Redefining agency partnerships to elevate insights and creativity in real time

Each episode of Frontier CMO features tactical, practical steps all leaders can take to navigate the future of marketing. Find it wherever you get your podcasts: YouTube | Apple | Spotify

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More than ever before, CMOs belong in the C-Suite. And, Sumit Virmani, CMO of Infosys, has a strong case to back this stance up. In this episode of Marketing Vanguard, live from the 2026 World Economic Forum in Davos, Sumit breaks down the necessary evolution of the CMO, what AI has to do with it, and the strategic imperative of aligning with C-suite priorities. 

What You'll Learn:

• Why CMOs need to operate within the full C-suite context, not just marketing bubbles
• How to position yourself as a transformation partner, not a marketing operator
• The critical difference between using AI to do marketing better versus using AI to expand your business influence
• Why advocating for marketing's "seat at the strategy table" requires complementing creative genius with AI-powered analytics
• How to build an undeniable business case for attending high-level forums like Davos

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CMOs can drive business revenue - this is an established fact. But how can they do it better, bigger, and stronger in the age of AI? We’re unpacking this in the latest episode of Marketing Vanguard, live from the 2026 World Economic Forum in Davos. Tune in as Emma Chalwin, CMO at Workday, breaks down the evolving strategic role of CMOs at major enterprises, the intersection of AI and human-centered marketing, and how chief marketing officers can become essential drivers of business growth. 

What You'll Learn:

• How to position CMOs as strategic business leaders in the age of AI
• The "Art and Science" Framework for modern CMOs to thrive 
• Why AI adoption requires a human-centered brand narrative
• How to reframe customer relationships from acquisition to retention
• The "B2B to B2H" (Business to Human) messaging approach and why it’s critical 
• How to embed brand values as competitive differentiation

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