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Icons in the Making is an award-winning podcast hosted by Heather Stern, Global CMO of Oliver Wyman Group, parent company to Lippincott. In each episode, you’ll hear from the leaders and change agents at today’s most innovative, purpose-driven, and disruptive brands. Tune in for honest and insightful conversations on the brands shaping our world and the people behind them.
42 Episodes
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Dr. Athina Kanioura knows a thing or two about shaking things up. Under her leadership as chief strategy and transformation officer, global giant PepsiCo has evolved how they deliver products, manage their portfolio, leverage technology, and create experiences for consumers, faster than anyone else. Tune into this special episode, recorded live from Davos, to hear more about how Athina has utlilized the power of AI to promote cross-functional teamwork and how she's put her people at the center of the brand.
1Whether serving as CEO, CMO, or Chairman of the Board, Dawn Hudson has led a groundbreaking career that has spanned industries. From “Super Bowl Babies” at the NFL to the return of the “Pepsi Challenge” at Pepsi North America, she's no stranger to groundbreaking ideas born of an ability to see what’s around the corner. Now, she's on the board of NVIDIA, a company leading the globe in artificial intelligence computing. In this far-ranging conversation, Dawn gives a peak inside NVIDIA's rapid success, what she's learned throughout her iconic career and what marketers should focus on in 2025.
Brands are often taught to color within the lines—but that's never been Kory Marchisotto's MO. So, it was only fitting when she joined e.l.f. Beauty as CMO, a brand with a penchant for disruption and a renegade spirit to match. Five years into her role and she's blown past industry benchmarks, broken records across digital platforms, and brand awareness has doubled. Tune in to this e.l.f.ing fun and inspiring conversation to hear how Kory's drive to disrupt has guided her throughout her career, how e.l.f. has become a billion-dollar brand, and why more women need a seat at the table.
Note this episode was recorded in July 2024.
Soda and its high-sugar content have long had a bad rap. But OLIPOP is shaking things up with its better-for-you sodas and fun, nostalgic branding. And consumers are taking note; the brand is set to hit $500 million in sales this year and was recently named one of Time's 100 most influential brands. Join us for this refreshingly honest conversation with David Lester, Co-Founder & President of OLIPOP as he shares the inspiration behind the brand, the importance of embracing failure throughout your career and how he leads by example.
Liquid Death isn’t just in the business of beverages. It’s on a mission to get more people to drink healthier beverages while helping kill plastic pollution. Not to mention bring humor and wildly entertaining content into the world. In this episode, we sit down with Andy Pearson—writer, director, ultra-marathon runner and VP of Creative at Liquid Death. Under Andy’s creative direction, the brand has mastered the art of subversive marketing and attracted a cult-like following along the way. This wide-ranging conversation features stories behind the brand’s edgy and out-there marketing campaigns and the importance of finding meaning in your work.
In the world of business aviation, the Bombardier customer experience exists on a higher plane. Loved by the most influential, the brand has redefined industry standards through relentless innovation, purposeful craft and a passion for precision. But at the heart of this Canadian icon are the people behind it, most notably, Ève Laurier, Vice President of Communications, Marketing and Public Affairs. In this episode, Ève discusses spearheading the brand’s recent transformation and gives us a peek inside the brand’s iconic jets.
When it comes to golf, country club memberships and strict dress codes are par for the course. But Topgolf is on a mission to change that. As Chief Brand Officer, Geoff Cottrill is pushing the boundaries of marketing innovation and cultural strategy to make golf more accessible—and fun. In this episode, Geoff shares how Topgolf is reinventing the sport as well as lessons from his storied career at Converse, Coca-Cola and Starbucks.
Fortune favors the bold—especially when it comes to brands willing to take risks, embrace challenges and lean into culture. Take it from Michelle Poole; as the President of Crocs, she's led the polarizing brand to icon status with record-breaking sales in 2023, global expansion, and a spot on Time's 100 Most Influential Companies list. In this episode, we sit down with Michelle to talk her three decades of experience in brand building for global fashion and lifestyle companies, how she embraced the love-hate for Crocs to supercharge growth, and her approach to building teams that deliver in challenging times.
Michelle Peluso likes a challenge. Throughout her cross-industry career, she’s steered some of the world’s best brands in banking, fashion and travel through successful digital transformations. Now, she’s taking on healthcare at CVS Health where she’s revolutionizing the end-to-end patient experience across all of the company's care delivery and customer service channels. In this episode, Michelle shares what most companies get wrong about customer-centricity, what she’s learned throughout her cross-industry career, how she stays on the cutting edge of technology and the core principles she lives by.
When SXSW, arguably the world’s most iconic conference, expanded from North America for the first time with a new event in Sydney, it was the perfect opportunity to explore future trends and fundamental truths with the CMOs of the biggest brands in Australia. In this panel discussion, live from SXSW Sydney, we sit down with Zach Kitschke from Canva, Jo Boundy from Commonwealth, and Brent Smart from Telstra for a no-holds-barred conversation on what it takes to build an iconic brand.
Fernando Machado has never been one for resting on his laurels. From brand guru at Unilever, to global CMO at Burger King, to CMO at Activision Blizzard, Fernando’s career has been built on the desire to never stop learning. Now, this brand genius is taking on his boldest role yet as CMO of NotCo, a Chilean-based startup that uses AI power technology to develop plant-based foods. In this episode, Fernando pulls back the curtain on his most celebrated creative campaigns, and shares why AI isn’t a threat, why more marketers should be the CEO and the importance of staying present.
Barbie’s journey from iconic toy to cultural phenomenon has been a master class in marketing. But this branding triumph started well before there was Barbiecore and Kenergy—in fact, it has been a decade in the making. At the center is Lisa McKnight, Chief Brand Officer of Mattel and a 25-year veteran of the brand. In this episode, Lisa shares the genesis of Barbie’s transformation, how the movie came to be and how Barbie stays top of mind with 165 partnerships and counting.
With a career that has spanned 35 years, travel to over 54 countries and iconic projects such as Starbucks, Delta and PBS, Global Creative Director Connie Birdsall has left an indelible mark on the design industry. As a leader, she built Lippincott's design practice to be what is it today: a powerhouse of creativity that touches all facets of brand expression, from digital and social media to video and voice. In this live-recorded conversation on the eve of her retirement, Connie reflects on what has and hasn’t changed in the industry and her lessons for the next generation of designers.
How do you transform an 87-year-old financial institution into a modern brand? Through grit and vision—both which come to life in Morgan Stanley’s new, buzz-worthy campaign. At the helm of this evolution is Alice Milligan, Chief Marketing Officer of Morgan Stanley. Not just a believer in the vision, she embodies it: she’s paved her own path from a young age, putting herself through undergraduate and graduate school while working a full-time job. In this powerful conversation, Alice shares how she’s challenging what it means to be a modern bank while staying authentic to the brand, how she engages employees to be the brand’s best advocates, why you should own what makes you different, and more.
For most brands, culture-defining moments can be hard to come by. For iconic brands like Airbnb, it’s in their DNA. And as its VP of Marketing, Nancy King has been instrumental in helping the brand achieve that status, disrupting the face of tourism as we know it and with initiatives like the “Made Possible by Hosts” campaign. In this episode, Nancy shares the importance of integrating marketing and product within an organization, why brand purpose is more than a business opportunity, what she sees for the future of Airbnb, and more.
There are more brands across more categories than ever before, and a seemingly unlimited supply of reviews, recommendations, likes, aggregators, and now chatbots to help us choose. In a world of endless options, why be loyal when there’s so much to explore? In this panel discussion live from SXSW, Heather Stern unpacks this and more, alongside Ari Levin, Vice President of Strategy and Partnerships at Hyatt Hotels, Jonathan Clarkson, Vice President and Head of Marketing at Southwest Airlines, and Georgie Jeffreys, Director of Marketing for Uber Eats North America.
Joanna Peña-Bickley knows what it takes to create a magical brand experience. As both the former global Chief Creative Officer of IBM and the Head of Research and Design for Alexa devices at Amazon, she has imagined and launched some of the world's most transformative inventions used by millions of customers every day. Now, as Director of Product Design at Uber Eats, she's reimagining what mobility means for the brand and for the world. In this powerful conversation, Joanna discusses how she approaches design management with a human-centered mentality, the importance of re-skilling our workforce, why Earth's problems and business problems are inherently linked, and why creating magic and making mistakes come with the territory.
Known for its vintage clothing, streetwear and fresh cohort of online influencers, Depop, the peer-to-peer social marketplace, is the epitome of cool. So, it’s only fitting that its Chief Brand Officer, Peter Semple, would be too. In this episode, the self-acknowledged sneakerhead and passionate brand builder shares how he's leading Depop's global efforts to drive cultural influence at scale. You’ll hear how he and his team maintain an always-on dialogue with the brand's Gen Z consumers and why secondhand fashion is becoming the most credible and viable choice for shopping new.
A seasoned marketer with over 20 years of experience, Roxy Young has perfected the art of using the power of brand to inspire connection. Now, as Reddit's Chief Marketing Officer, she has the unique role of doing just that for over 100,000 communities across the platform. In this episode, Roxy shares how Reddit's brand attributes come to life in the experience; the strategy behind going all-in on a winning Super Bowl ad and how brands can benefit by engaging with Reddit users authentically.
What it's like to work for the crown jewel of the streaming world? For Fonz Morris, Netflix's Lead Product Designer, Global Conversion, it's the confluence of everything he's passionate about: Design. Engineering. Finding out what makes customers tick (and click). In this episode, we sit down with Fonz to discuss his career, the Netflix culture and approach to streaming competition, harnessing the power of your own voice, and more.
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