In this episode of Scratch, Eric chats with Lili, the Chief Marketing & Experience Officer of Barclays US Consumer Bank, about how she brought a challenger mindset from the hospitality and entertainment industry into one of the biggest banking players in the world. Lili shares how her experience at MGM shaped her approach to customer experience, and how she’s transformed Barclays to be more customer-centric, putting real people at the heart of every journey. Innovation at Barclays doesn’t start with technology; it starts with people: Lili introduced live client call listening for executives and designed accountable customer journeys to keep the brand ahead in a fast-changing industry

The conversation also explores the delicate balance between digital efficiency and maintaining the human touch, why curiosity is now an essential skill for marketers, and the ways CMOs can leverage insights from outside their own category. Packed with practical advice and real-world examples, this episode is a must-watch for anyone looking to drive customer-focused growth and bring humanity back into marketing.

Watch the video version of this podcast on Youtube ▶️:  https://youtu.be/MgNhEchujRY

📚 Chapters:

• (00:00:00 ) – Intro 🎙️
• (00:02:27 ) – Favorite Challenger-brand 🥤
• (00:06:04 ) – Barclays US brand overview 🏦
• (00:07:56 ) – Lili’s journey from Hospitality to Banking  🎰
• (00:16:41 ) – “Make It Better” and mindset shifts 🚀
• (00:18:43 ) – Customer journeys and accountability 🔑
• (00:22:56 ) – Restoring humanity in marketing 🤝
• (00:27:11 ) – Balancing AI efficiency with loyalty 🤖❤️
• (00:33:11 ) – Lightning Round ⚡

🖊️Mentioned in the show:

• Poppi Soda
• Tony’s Chocolonely – Scratch
• Nationwide (UK) report - Customer journey organizational model

Scratch is a production of Rival, a marketing innovation consultancy that develops strategies and capabilities that help businesses grow faster. Scratch is hosted by Eric Fulwiler, and he’s joined by Lili Tomovich, the Chief Marketing & Experience Officer of Barclays US, in this episode.

Find Rival online at www.wearerival.com & LinkedIn

Find Eric on LinkedIn

Find Lili on LinkedIn

Say hi at media@wearerival.com, we’d love to hear from you.

Rival is a marketing consultancy for brands that want to challenge convention in their category. We’re on a mission to understand what challenger brands do differently to grow in categories that are being disrupted, and use a challenger playbook to deliver outsized impact through an integrated, tech-enabled approach. Past guests include CMOs from Mastercard, GE, Shell, Hyperloop, Adobe, PepsiCo, and Papa Johns.

If you’re interested in learning more about marketing from successful CMOs, we compiled a list of the top 5 CMO podcasts to listen to in 2024; check it out here 🔗  https://www.wearerival.com/content-hub-articles/cmo-podcasts-you-cannot-afford-to-miss-in-2024