The Right Braincast

At a time when technology was exploding and young people were being lured to exciting new careers in Silicon Valley and other tech hubs around the country, Eric Poses had a very different vision. Rather than connecting people through hardware and software, Eric’s passion was to bring people together, face-to-face in the same place at the same time, for shared experiences that would deepen their connections. And those shared experiences would focus on the board games he created. When Eric finished college, he hit to road to sell his new game, Loaded Questions, out of the trunk of his car. Twenty-five years later, Loaded Questions is still going strong, one of several successful games Eric has created.

Ken Sadowsky is as close as you come to being a clairvoyant when it comes to beverages. Coming from a family that owned a distribution company just outside Boston, Ken started his career as a local salesman for a small, California-based start-up before coming home to work in the family business, where he eventually took over new division with about $50,000 in annual sales, growing it to over $16 million.  The major milestone in his career to date was his role on the Board of Directors for a new drink called vitaminwater, a brand that was eventually sold to Coca-Cola for $4.1 billion. But he didn't stop there. With boundless energy, curiosity, optimism and what anyone who knows him would describe as great personal warmth,  Ken has continued to discover and nurture brands that have made their way into the spotlight.

Ricardo Marques is the talented and charismatic marketer leading the charge to refresh the Budweiser brand. You might say the opening salvo in the campaign was fired two years ago in the 2017 Super Bowl when Budweiser told the story of Adolphus Busch, an immigrant whose passion, courage and vision allowed him to overcome hardship and discrimination to bring Budweiser to market and establish an enduring a beer empire.Ricardo dropped in to The Right Braincast to  share his personal journey, the story behind this year's Budweiser Super Bowl ad and more.

As Chief Marketing Officer at The United Way Worldwide, Lisa Bowman is a major player in the world of NGO’s, leading the organization's global marketing team and working with more than 1,800 local United Ways in 41 countries and territories. While typical enterprise marketing professionals might need to focus on a single target or a limited number of targets, Lisa needs to inspire an incredibly wide range of people for a wide range of diverse programs, including corporate and individual donors, advocates and volunteers. Lisa stopped by to talk about her work at United Way and a career that's transformed her from a for-profit marketer to a die-hard advocate of helping people transform their own lives. 

Jill Cress has already been honored twice this year for her marketing leadership. Forbes chose her for its "CMO Next 2018" list, a select group of "marketing chiefs who are redefining the role and shaping the future." If that weren't enough, Jill was also named by Business Insider as one of 2018's "25 Most Innovative CMOs."There's much more to Jill than her success in revitalizing a venerable brand. She’s also on a mission to raise awareness of vital issues and change consumer behavior for the purpose, literally, of making the world a better place. After spending 20 years at Mastercard convincing consumers to carry that brand of plastic in their wallets, she’s now fighting to reduce the plastic pollution choking our oceans, helping veterans recover from PTSD, and for other important causes in her role as Chief Marketing Officer at National Geographic Partners.

As the Vice President of Consumer Insights, and before that, her role as Director of Global innovation at brewing giant Anheuser-Busch, Jodi Harris has played an important role in shaping the communications and products consumed by tens of millions of beer drinkers in the United States and across the world. She has seen the rise of craft beer, the struggles of core brands Budweiser and Bud Light to stay relevant, and many other changes roil the market. Now, as Vice President of Marketing Culture & Learning, Jodi has fully transitioned into the role of mentor at Anheuser-Busch, spending her time thinking about how to create the environment and the programs to best help the company’s people flourish.

I first met Jaspar Weir in the summer of 2009, soon after he started TaskUs as a virtual personal assistant service. He was 23 years old, living with his parents, and driving his dad’s car because he couldn’t afford his own. Now, TaskUs has grown into a powerhouse in the outsourcing business with over 12,000 employees worldwide. In addition to many other honors and awards over the past few years, Jaspar has been named to Inc’s "30 under 30" list, and was selected as Ernst & Young’s 2017 Entrepreneur of the Year Award in the Greater Los Angeles Region.

John Rindlaub is that rare breed of marketer who excels both in left-brain and right brain thinking, balancing great common sense analytics with the imagination to innovate and disrupt. John talks to Jeff about an incredible career where he has found himself at the forefront of marketing change, starting with the celebrity, big event based innovation at Pepsi, to his current role in pioneering consumer-focused solutions in healthcare.

Leslie Emmons Burthey drops in on The Right Braincast to share her insights on web analytics, brand building and the artistry behind selling “high-touch,” high involvement products through digital media. Leslie is VP of Marketing at FabFitFun, a women's lifestyle company featuring the #1 full-size subscription box, where she helps people discover brands and products for a life well-lived.

Slate.com has called Bill Hillsman Slate.com, "the world's greatest political adman." Bill joins The Right Braincast to talk about his career, the state of political advertising, and his work formed the foundation for two of the most stunning upsets in political history, Paul Wellstone for U.S. Senate in 1990 and Jesse Ventura for Governor of Minnesota in 1998.

Lori Marcus visits The Right Braincast to discuss her perspective on leadership and marketing innovation rooted in a career that took her from Pepsi to Peloton and beyond. Lori talks about her experience revolutionizing businesses as diverse as coffee (Keurig) and exercise (Peloton) with new delivery systems for established products, and her transition from commercial to cause based marketing.

Jeff talks to Mary about her extraordinary career in advertising, starting as an account trainee at Euro Tatham, rising to CEO, and then going on to become CEO of Saatchi in New York, CMO of Northwestern University and now Vice Chancellor and CMO of her alma mater, Rutgers University.

J.P. talks to Jeff about breaking out on his own in 1989 to form Shikatani Lacroix Design. Starting with a handful of people and no clients, his insights, artistic intuition, eye for talent and business acumen built the firm into an award-winning, global enterprise with offices in his home town of Toronto, Beijing and Chicago. We talk about his passion for design and innovation, and his guiding principle for design, The Blink Factor.

Jeff sits down with Susan Lansing, VP, Global Marketing of Qualcomm, to talk about her inspirations, successful career, how consumer packaged goods and B2B technology marketing are similar and different, the importance of empathy in business management, and more.

Jeff Hirsch, President & Founder of the Right Brain Studio, talks about his new podcast, The Right Braincast, where he will host thought leaders from business and popular culture, including senior executives from top companies in consumer goods, entertainment, non-profits and technology, and key influencers from the worlds of popular culture and academia.