The 2025 Marketing Vanguard: Succeeding in Uncertain Times

To continue the tradition of making memories that last a lifetime, Asad Ayaz must consider every aspect of the Disney ecosystem. From social and streaming to theatrical and theme parks, from gaming to short form content, the brand storytelling for one of the most recognizable companies in the world needs to be immersive and seamless.

It’s a tall order, but in the last year Ayaz has unified Disney’s digital creative and content production, and leaned into a consumer-first approach that led to Disney becoming the first studio post-pandemic to surpass $5 billion in worldwide revenue.

“The role of a marketing leader at Disney,” he said, “is to push for innovation and new ideas, while balancing authenticity and never losing sight of what our brand means to the fan and the consumer.”

Shining the Spotlight: Ayaz’s next leader is Joanna Balikian, svp of brand management. In the year since she took on the role, Balikian has been charged with transforming and modernizing Disney’s approach to franchise management and data. Pulling from her background in CPG, gaming and publishing, Balikian has elevated Disney’s brand work to drive growth. 

When Sofia Colucci became lead marketer of Molson Coors’ North American operations, she recognized that directly connecting marketing efforts to sales through data was paramount. But depending solely on the science stunted the art of marketing.

Enter Colucci’s MUSCLE framework. Designed to help teams evaluate their creative work, MUSCLE has led to stronger campaigns—such as “Start Your Legacy” for Coors Banquet and “Case of the Mondays” for Super Bowl 59—that yield measurable results and are creative from start to finish.

“My role as a leader is to help turbocharge this creativity, not just in traditional media but across all touch points from social to shopper marketing to packaging,” said Colucci. 

Shining the Spotlight: Colucci’s next leader is Marcelo Proenca Pascoa, vp of marketing for Coors brands. Pascoa is a creative thought leader and coach across Colucci’s team, leading to effective campaigns including “Case of the Mondays” for Coors Light. “Marcelo is leading the way, championing MUSCLE and driving creatively effective work.”

Greg Fass runs Liquid Death’s marketing team like an SNL writers room, which is no surprise to anyone who has seen the brand’s work. “We acknowledge internally that marketing sucks and that most people hate marketing,” he said. “It’s why most brands create advertising that they then need to spend millions in media to force you to watch.”

Instead, his team leans into unexpected brand partnerships to build awareness through earned media and social virality. Collaborations have spanned food and beverage, entertainment, wellness and beyond, with one product drop even becoming one of the best performing grocery limited time offers ever launched on Amazon.

Shining the Spotlight: Fass’s next leader is Tia Sherwood, director of brand marketing at Liquid Death. Sherwood executes all of Liquid Death’s campaigns, thinking through every detail and organizing her team and partners to get the job done, Fass said. “Doing something that’s never been done before is really hard, and it’s the reason other brands don’t even attempt to put out the type of work we do. It’s all possible because of Tia.” 

When Alex Griffin started working with Swiss athletic brand On in 2017, the company was a nascent disruptor among the giants of the sportswear field. It also only sold sneakers.

That changed in 2024 when On expanded into apparel, with Griffin building on the brand’s foundation of performance and innovation by merging it with lifestyle—particularly strategic partnerships and activations—to better connect with modern consumers.

Last year, On opened a Paris store in time for the Olympics, launched a campaign with brand ambassador Zendaya, and released a fifth collection in partnership with Spanish luxury brand Loewe.

Carla Hassan runs her global marketing teams with a “heart and science approach” that blends empathy and insights to resonate with audiences. That starts internally, where her marketers attend Marketing Mixers that educate them on relevant business topics and highlight their work to the larger organization.

In the last year, Hassan also brought search in-house: With nearly 70% of Chase paid media being handled internally, her teams can identify opportunities, stay brand safe and reduce cost.

“Our data-driven and measurement-focused approach builds credibility, positioning marketing as a key driver of business success and a solution to business challenges,” she said.

With a background in creative development and digital analytics, Gail Horwood sees effective marketing as equal parts art and science. At Novartis, that means prioritizing a creative excellence that is often lacking in the pharmaceutical space. This thinking propelled Novartis to debut its first Super Bowl ad for the “Your Attention, Please” campaign to drive awareness about regular breast cancer screenings.

“The goal was not only to show up at the game; we wanted to start a discussion and to take action,” Horwood said. The spot, which featured Wanda Sykes, Hailee Steinfield and a “barrage of boobs”, did just that, making the 2025 New York Times Best Super Bowl Commercials list.

Jackie Jantos has always believed brands can have a positive impact, from listening to customers to nurturing their employees. To that end, Hinge brings diverse voices to the table by supporting groups such as TransTech Social Enterprises, an incubator for LGBTQ+ talent; implementing safety features; and creating the One More Hour program, which supports Gen Z-founded organizations that combat loneliness.

“The most enduring brands are the ones that focus on serving people and culture, not just driving engagement,” said Jantos. “We take a long term view rather than chasing metrics.”

That work has paid off: Hinge is the only mainstream dating app with double-digit growth, and Jantos added the title of president to her nameplate this year. 

After nearly 18 years at PepsiCo, Todd Kaplan joined Kraft Heinz as CMO in 2024 excited to help shape the future of food culture. The challenge became building marketing around Kraft Heinz’s broad stable of brands that connects authentically to consumers in contextually relevant ways.

To do so, Kaplan instilled an “intrapreneurial” mindset across brand teams, viewing each one as small start-ups within the walls of the larger parent company.

“Sometimes big companies can inadvertently add layers or risk aversion that can slow down a really big idea—so I like to tell my teams to take ‘no’ as a request for more information,” Kaplan said. 

Under the direction of Marian Lee, Netflix’s marketing efforts have leaned into its creative bedrock, taking risks to create moments that leave fans buzzing. Lee and her team curated campaigns that built global brand profiles while remaining true to the values of regional audiences, such as for Season 2 of the hit South Korean drama Squid Game.

“It was very important for me that the Korea team retained the strategy for how global teams were going to execute against it,” Lee said. “This allows for a single global strategy but allows for local teams to execute in a way that will resonate with their audiences and fans.”

Netflix also leaned into live programming in 2024, including the Tyson vs. Paul fight, WWE, and the NFL Christmas game halftime show featuring Beyonce. 

Kory Marchisotto’s approach to her role as chief marketer is being as close to the e.l.f. Beauty community as possible while blurring the lines between marketing, culture, and commerce. That means leading tough social conversations, such as championing diversity and equity in C-suites across America with the “Change the Board Game” and “So Many Dicks” campaigns.

Democratizing access is what e.l.f. does best, according to Marchisotto. “With a board that is 78% women and 44% diverse, and 24 quarters of consecutive growth behind us, we had the receipts to prove that diversifying the boardroom is good for business.”

Jonathan Mildenhall began his tenure as Rocket’s first chief marketing officer with a new brand strategy that positioned Rocket as a “compassionate trailblazer” to ease the path for American homeowners.

“We meet our clients with compassion, and we offer trailblazing solutions to nudge them along their journey toward prosperity,” Mildenhall said.

He took that message to the largest advertising stage in America at Super Bowl 59. Rocket held an activation in the Superdome and launched the “Own the Dream” campaign, which transformed Rocket’s social media sentiment from 50% positive to 92% positive and helped Rocket’s stock rise 6.81% since February despite the market in general taking a dive. 

Shining the Spotlight: Mildenhall’s next leader is Jeff Hughes, chief performance marketing and media officer. After 21 years at Rocket, Mildenhall brought Hughes into a role that oversees all $800 million of the company’s performance and brand marketing media spend. “I couldn’t be more delighted with his professional growth over the last 15 months,” said Mildenhall, crediting Hughes with “steering the innovation agenda that will create a step change in the way Rocket approaches our media investment.”

Believing that today’s marketing is a blend of psychology and anthropology, Karen Riley-Grant considers the people Vuori is selling to before thinking about the product. To that end, Riley-Grant and her team have spent the last year deeply understanding Vuori’s consumers and crystallizing its target segments to create personalized experiences, effective full-funnel messaging and sharp media targeting.

“Our job is to understand what’s on the minds of our consumers so we can connect with them in powerful and motivating ways that add real value to their lives and give them a reason to fall in love with the brand,” she said. 

Shining the Spotlight: Riley-Grant’s next leaders are Jason Yau, senior director of consumer insights, and Lauren Uchrin, vp of brand activation. Since Yau joined Vuori in July, he has created trackers, tools, and testing protocols to make strategic marketing decisions and inform early product development. Uchrin’s integrated approach has set the course for Vuori’s partnership strategy, deepening connections with consumers. 

Like many modern marketing leaders, Sandeep Seth knows the importance of consumer insights to building effective strategies. But by leading with purpose and taking care to make authentic connections, Seth is reaching the next generation on a deeper level.

Unearthing consumer insights led his team to the knowledge that Gen Z want to build their confidence in an uncertain world. That’s how Coach’s “Courage to Be Real” campaign was born.

“By prioritizing consumer-centricity and leveraging technology to make data-driven decisions, we are able to stay on top of the consumer pulse and lead with purpose and values,” Seth said.  

Shining the Spotlight: Seth’s next leader is Joon Silverstein, who succeeded Seth as CMO of Coach. Silverstein works to impactfully engage with Gen Z consumers and even founded the luxury design house’s sustainability sub-brand Coachtopia. “She knows the business, she’s creative, strategic, and most importantly, has a great team behind her,” Seth said. “I can’t wait to see what she does next.”

Daniel Shlossman has a knack for building things. At the NFL, it was the Fantasy Football business. At Sweetgreen, it was national retail expansion. Now at Wonder, he’s expanding the company’s national at-home dining and food delivery footprint.

As chief marketing and growth officer, Shlossman considers all paths of growth, from building a new digital product to creating a new business line or even acquiring a company.

“The most impactful ownership of revenue and consumer starts with, but may not always end with, marketing alone,” he said. In the last 18 months, that means building more than 35 brick-and-mortar locations with 30 unique restaurant brands, and acquiring Blue Apron, Grubhub, and Tastemade.

Shining the Spotlight: Shlossman’s next leader is Raina Enand. Hired before Wonder’s launch, Enand built the company’s marketing from the ground up. “From acquisition strategy to CRM flows to the martech that powers it all, Raina’s fingerprints are all over everything marketing at Wonder,” he said. Recently, Enand took on a new role leading full stack marketing for Blue Apron.

In her five years at AT&T, Kellyn Smith Kenny has used her marketing efforts to drive growth by making every one of the more than 100,000 employees part of the team. “Every decision they make has the potential to polish or tarnish our brand, and we want to ensure they are obsessed with making a positive impact,” she said.

Marketing teams also moved away from demographics-based marketing in favor of a needs-based model for segmentation and targeting, which allows the company to be more customer-centric and has made AT&T a leader in retention and loyalty.

“Our new approach is shaping our product roadmaps, guiding our pricing and offer strategy, and informing our marketing communications,” she added. “It’s allowing us to unlock our next great wave of growth by attracting entirely new sets of customers.”

Two years into her tenure as chief marketing officer of Sephora, Zena Srivatsa Arnold exemplifies how CMOs can be key growth drivers by integrating marketing efforts with the beauty giant’s wider business goals.

“One thing I’ve done differently that had a significant impact is to bring more people in the marketing organization closer to the business,” Arnold said. “When everyone touching the marketing work is incented on outcomes of growth, we are able to do more faster and have more impact.”

In Sephora’s “Don’t Overthink It” holiday campaign, Arnold urged her team to move beyond the typical retail ad format of “give a gift, give a hug” to find real insights around beauty gift giving. The campaign delivered a 40% increase in return on ad spend compared to 2023. 

Shining the Spotlight: Arnold’s next leader is Emeline Berlind, svp and general manager of loyalty, who approaches her role with a client-first mindset. “She is a highly respected leader not only within marketing but across the broader organization, and I’m grateful to work with her every day as we continue to build our team and drive our business forward.”

Coming from the world of fintech and startups, it’s no surprise that Alicia Tillman’s approach to marketing at Delta is supported by data, connecting marketing to business outcomes and a staunch belief of taking risks in the spirit of innovation.

In the last year, she has invested in data, analytics and the centralization of planning to ensure that her team’s goals are aligned with the business and everything is measurable.

“Marketing is in high demand for support in any organization,” Tillman said. “Building this foundation has allowed us to demonstrate our value and make pivots to ensure every dollar and effort counts.”

Shining the Spotlight: Tillman’s next leader is Emmakate Young, managing director and head of brand. Young leads several of Delta’s marketing initiatives, including its Olympic activation and Team USA partnership. “Emmakate is a champion for the health of our brand, working to define the values of Delta and bringing that to life in meaningful ways.”

Over the last year, Dara Treseder has worked to change Autodesk from “one of the most important companies people don’t know” to redefining the Design and Make category by focusing on aligning marketing with product, sales, and customer experience teams.

Treseder and her team tapped into culturally relevant moments to build the Autodesk brand, including showcasing the platform’s critical role in the restoration of Paris’ Notre-Dame Cathedral, launching Autodesk AI, and becoming the Official Design and Make Platform of the LA28 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

“By anchoring our brand in these ownable spaces, we’ve not only increased awareness—we’ve driven measurable business outcomes,” she said.

Shining the Spotlight: Treseder’s next leader is Mary Hope McQuiston, vp of education experiences. McQuiston has helped shape the future of design by bringing Autodesk tools to more than 100 million students and educators across 160,000 schools globally. “By introducing Autodesk software early in educational journeys, Mary Hope ensures Autodesk becomes synonymous with innovation and creativity for future professionals.” 

Driven by the potential to create meaningful connections with customers, William White approaches his role as chief marketer at Walmart holistically by integrating marketing with other business functions. The method was most recently applied when White led Walmart’s brand refresh in January, which highlighted White’s conviction that marketing drives business growth.

“I advocate for marketing as an investment rather than an expense, highlighting its impact on revenue, customer engagement, and brand equity,” he said.

To that end, White also focused efforts on the Walmart Creator platform, which increased the retailer’s presence in the social commerce space, boosting revenue and customer loyalty. 

Shining the Spotlight: White’s next leader is David Hartman, vp of creative design, who oversees the Walmart Creative Studio and was integral to the brand’s recent refresh. “David is an exceptional leader who has significantly contributed to Walmart’s success through his visionary approach to creative storytelling and design.”

Roxy Young took the helm of Reddit’s marketing just as it was needed most: during the pandemic. Since then, she has positioned the social platform at the center of cultural conversations, across topics as broad as stock market dramas and AI partnerships.

A year on from leading Reddit through its IPO, much of the company’s success comes from her determination to keep the platform true to its community-centered business model and vintage message board roots.

Just ahead of its 20th anniversary in June, Reddit has cemented itself as the place where users go for answers from real people, a position that’s only growing more valuable amid the rise of artificial intelligence.