Leading a brand was never for the faint of heart. But the opportunities posed by artificial intelligence require marketers to be savvy enough to seize the right moments rather than chasing endless hype cycles.
What remains true, and what distinguishes our 2026 Marketing Vanguard Awards honorees, is their commitment to their teams as well as the customers who trust their companies. Keeping up with the pace of change is one thing—ensuring that people don’t get left out of the conversation is what elevates their work.
Lara Balazs
At a moment when AI is reshaping everything, Adobe’s top marketer has the practical knowledge to go from theoretical ideas to real-world applications. Drawing on early hands-on experience with applied AI at Intuit, Lara Balazs helped embed AI tools across the organization to supercharge the creative process from ideation to execution at scale. Internally, she ensures marketing’s impact remains visible by tying campaigns to product adoption, engagement, and revenue, which shifts budget conversations from defense to growth. She also champions upskilling through Adobe Digital Academy, which has trained thousands since 2016, building a team that can keep up with a fast-changing tech landscape.
Next leader: Chief communications officer Stacy Martinet consistently shapes the future of Adobe, both its internal culture and external brand perception, with authenticity and courage. Martinet has elevated Adobe’s communications from a support function into a strategic driver of trust, with the decisiveness to navigate complex global conversations while staying true to its values.
Leandro Barreto
Now in the lead marketer role overseeing all Unilever campaigns, Leandro Barreto has spent 23 years guiding the CPG giant’s brands—most notably Dove, which has grown past $2 billion in sales in North America. Barreto has built a reputation for reshaping how brands connect with online communities, tapping into organic chatter and partnering with influencers to create “Vaseline Verified,” which earned a Titanium Lion and lifted sales 43%. Having launched two brands himself, Barreto brings a founder’s mentality, expertise in operations, and P&L ownership to take creativity beyond abstract concepts and turn them into bottom-line solutions.
Next leader: Senior global brand VP for Dove Bérengère Loubatier leads category‑disrupting innovation rooted in real consumer tensions. She championed Dove’s expansion into facial skincare with work blending creativity with cultural understanding, underpinned by the philosophy that beauty brands should have a positive influence on society.
Charlotte Blank
A background in behavioral science shaped how Charlotte Blank led creativity and growth at luxury automaker Jaguar Land Rover. With a test-and-learn mindset rooted in establishing consumer trust, Blank helped lift performance for Range Rover Sport, while new marketing mix models guided smarter budget allocation. Her every marketing move stems from C-suite goals, linking each step of a campaign to commercial outcomes and KPIs. She also participates in the broader industry through the Advertising Research Foundation as a board member and organizational advisor on brand psychology, as well as sharing her knowledge through a TEDx talk, “Lead Like a Scientist.” Blank announced her departure from Jaguar in April.
Next leader: An “exceptionally dynamic and forward-thinking talent,” Danny Zhu has made a remarkable impact in just two years as director of media, digital experience, and performance marketing. “He is always pushing the team toward smarter, more innovative approaches, experimenting with new technologies, exploring fresh measurement techniques, and elevating our digital experience with both rigor and creativity,” Blank said.
R. Ethan Braden
At one of the nation’s largest public universities, marketing has become as foundational as its infrastructure. Over the past year, R. Ethan Braden’s disciplined communications leadership at Texas A&M University has driven an 8,000% surge in digital reach, topping 80 million YouTube views alongside a 72% jump in earned media. The school climbed from No. 6 to No. 2 in national visibility among public institutions, while brand favorability rose 20%. With increased investment and a more strategic approach to brand building, Braden’s approach to the school as a multibillion-dollar brand ecosystem has boosted not just enrollment but attracted research capital and top-tier talent, ensuring institutional resilience for years to come.
Next leader: After spending two decades at ESPN, launching the SEC and ACC networks, Michelle Berry is now the operational architect of Texas A&M’s messaging as assistant VP of marketing. Personally recruited by Braden for her media savvy, Berry “possesses an infectious care for our people and a bold vision for the brand,” which he says “has transformed our operational velocity.”
Krista Dalton
Making Western wear mainstream has been a true feat of marketing by Krista Dalton. Over the past year, Tecovas has notched more than 30% year-over-year growth while staying profitable, an impressive achievement for a DTC brand. Applying her lessons from roles at Target and Overstock, Dalton leads a 22-person in-house team that has doubled unaided awareness in two years and increased market share by 20%. Scrappy moves like remnant TV buys and geo-targeted rodeo campaigns drove triple-digit lifts in key markets, while earned and owned media gains lowered acquisition costs. The marketing team is also integrated into product development, all guided by companywide OKRs, creating a tightly run organization that punches above its weight.
Next leader: Combining strategic vision with the ability to actually get it done, SVP of brand and product marketing Samantha Fodrowski inspires the entire creative team. Since starting at Tecovas in November 2024, she has overhauled the campaign process and further integrated marketing with product development. “She’s elevated the entire company’s storytelling,” Dalton said. “She doesn’t just have ideas; she builds systems that make them scalable.”
Sean Gilpin
Beginning his Hyundai career at the automaker’s agency of record, Innocean, Sean Gilpin had enterprise-level visibility into the creative and media strategies he’s employed to propel the Korean carmaker to its third-in-a-row record sales year in 2025. A bold partnership with Amazon Autos reshaped the car-buying journey, while a social series focused on safe driving for teens drove a 429% engagement lift and landed among YouTube’s Top 5 auto videos. He also led Hyundai into an entirely new brand category with the Ioniq 9 through a lean, influencer-led marketing plan that helped achieve a 25% retail sales mix in the model’s first year. Through it all, Gilpin maintains visibility, standing behind ideas others see as risky with data, transparency, and financial acumen.
Next leader: Having spent over 10 years at Hyundai Motor America, Kate Fabian has risen to director of marketing communications. In the rollout of Hyundai’s luxury division serving its Genesis model, Fabian led the strategic direction, brand development, national and regional advertising, experiential marketing, digital and social media, brand partnerships, and lead generation.
Attica Alexis Jaques
Google taught Attica Alexis Jaques that technology can be a bridge to inclusion; now at Ancestry, she’s living that mission. The “You’ve Got Questions, We’ve Got Ancestors” platform blends AI, data and culture, fueling engagement across 145 million family trees and 1.4 trillion DNA matches. That full-funnel mindset shows up in a new marketing mix model that has helped reallocate spend to higher-ROI channels, driving consistent quarterly growth. Beyond her title, Jaques is shaping the industry through professional organizations Chief and Pttow!, advocating for sustainability through Brilliant Earth, and backing women and Black founders through Untapped Investing.
Next leader: The star on Jaques’ team is vice president of brand and creative Paige Grossman, who has had a transformative impact on the Ancestry brand through her unique storytelling. As campaign lead, she combines strategic clarity, cultural relevance, and emotional resonance that has driven brand awareness to over 90%.
Emily Ketchen
Overseeing marketing for the business group driving more than 75% of Lenovo’s $69 billion in annual revenue, Emily Ketchen has turned the function into a disciplined growth engine with a human heart. She drove a data-led reorganization that introduced tighter ROI metrics, co-founded the Lenovo AI Council, and established global Centers of Excellence. Meanwhile, Ketchen was also creating market demand for completely new product categories with Lenovo’s AI-powered innovations—the device maker now leads in Windows AI PC share, while Motorola AI smartphone revenue tripled year-over-year. Sports marketing also became more focused, with hospitality experiences for F1 fans and Lenovo Yoga entering the realm of influencers, turning the luxury product into a relatable brand for Gen Z.
Next leader: In more than 30 years in marketing, Rick Corteville is “simply one of the best paid media strategy leaders” Ketchen has met. The executive director of Lenovo’s Global Media Center of Excellence is “both left-brained and right-brained—a natural storyteller who embraces data and analytics.” He worked with Ketchen to establish Lenovo’s Paid Media Center of Excellence, in-housing core paid media strategy.
Kelly Mahoney
After 10 years with Ulta Beauty, Kelly Mahoney became the brand’s creative voice in February 2025. Her hands-on leadership of growth marketing, loyalty, omnichannel strategy, and customer service established her holistic understanding of how Ulta can show up in modern culture and commerce, fusing it all with a state-of-the-art retail media network. Ulta Beauty’s loyalty program now numbers 46 million strong and drives roughly 95% of sales, turbocharged by Mahoney’s push into AI-powered personalization to enhance the customer experience. From Super Bowl moments to Coachella activations, she understands where the brand’s biggest fans are and how to speak their language.
Next leader: Leading Ulta Beauty’s connected media ecosystem as VP of media, CRM, and personalization, Erin Houg has guided the rapid evolution of the UB Media retail media network, now working with more than 300 advertising partners. “Erin represents the next generation of marketing leadership,” Mahoney said. “Data-led, guest-obsessed, and relentlessly focused on growth.”
Heather Malenshek
A legacy brand’s second century doesn’t run on nostalgia alone. Since stepping into the CMO role, Heather Malenshek has unified a 100-year-old cooperative around a single purpose—“Rooted in Tomorrow”—aligning four businesses and their farmer-owners under one story. The resulting campaigns have driven between 3% and 6% lifts in key brand metrics. Beyond the business, her Modern Rural Collective, created with outside partners to change perceptions about rural America, is shaping culture through Getty’s Repicturing Rural collection and Imagine Entertainment, promoting purpose while driving growth. Within Land O’Lakes, Malenshek has also boosted growth with a marketing team realignment that saw 75% of staff stepping into new roles better suited to their strengths, and clarified career paths.
Next leader: Malenshek’s right hand at Land O’Lakes is Catherine Fox, VP of enterprise marketing. Having come from a business and P&L leadership role, she brings a combination of commercial discipline and creative rigor. “Catherine exemplifies the kind of modern, multidimensional leader our discipline needs,” she said. “Her unique experience has made her an exceptionally well‑rounded marketer who understands how to translate brand purpose into business outcomes.”
Marcel Marcondes
Global scale can only be achieved by many small and highly customized campaigns that feel local. AB InBev global CMO Marcel Marcondes sees marketing as building the bridge between consumer insight and business growth, powering results across more than 50 markets. In 2025, his megabrands strategy delivered 4.1% revenue growth and now accounts for 57% of total revenue, Beyond Beer climbed 23%, and no-alcohol offerings surged 34%—and secured an unprecedented beer sponsorship at the Olympics. Internally, Marcondes’ One ABI Way of Marketing playbook keeps creativity consistent and accountable; he also helps his team hone their skills through competitive programs such as CreativeX and the upskilling Marketing Academy platform.
Next leader: Global VP of communications at AB InBev Matt Kohan “immediately strengthened the connection between communications and marketing through his understanding of consumers, culture, and our business,” Marcondes said. His campaign strategy for Corona Sun Reserve in Brazil earned a Gold PR Lion at Cannes; he also leads key partnerships, including the beverage giant’s first-of-its-kind deal with Netflix.
Thomas Ranese
At Google, Thomas Ranese centered “helpfulness” as his north star. He carried Uber through the depths of the pandemic. Now, he’s putting that people-first philosophy to his work at Intuit, helping shift the company from a house of brands to a unified platform that promises to make life’s unpleasant tasks easier. This marketing pivot combined with powerful AI tools and insights has produced clear results: Bidding improved CPA and CPC by 10%, TurboTax unlocked $15 million in incremental revenue, and Mailchimp improved cost efficiency by 10%. Internally, automation has cut content planning time by 90% and reduced production cycles from weeks to minutes, guided by Ranese’s clear division of labor: AI handles the “what,” while humans provide the “so what?”
Next leader: VP of consumer marketing Trevor Kelly spearheaded the transformative “This Is Taxes” campaign and Intuit’s 2026 Super Bowl initiative, instrumental moves in the strategic repositioning of the company’s DIY software. Meanwhile, VP of creative Katie Potochney is solving for how to engage with customers in the AI era as the leader of Intuition, Intuit’s future-looking internal creative studio.
John Rudaizky
A market-stall pitchman turned global brand chief, John Rudaizky operates on three hard-won truths: Resilience matters, you are only as good as your team, and courage gives creativity its power. Over a decade at EY, that belief has helped grow revenue from $28.7 billion to $53.2 billion and lift brand value 281% to $30.84 billion, while bringing a more human side to B2B marketing with emotion-centric work. Campaigns like “The Face of the Future” generated a billion-dollar pipeline, while the purpose-driven “Generations” work received 30 million earned impressions. Last year the organization expanded its offerings with the splashy Cannes debut of EY Studio+, built from acquiring and integrating 37 specialist agencies since 2015.
Next leader: Rudaizky hired global brand and creative director Sian Brigg in 2014 to lead what became the disruptive “Women. Fast forward” ice wall campaign in Davos. She’s since had a hand in most of EY’s significant initiatives, from brand expansion and repositioning to major global campaigns. “What sets Sian apart,” Rudaizky said, “is her strategic clarity, creative instinct and the ambition and heart she brings to every challenge.”
John Solomon
Taking on the tech category at a moment of AI-fueled change, Mozilla’s new CMO John Solomon is filtering out the noise to find a new clarity of purpose for the browser. “Having led global marketing teams at Therabody, Apple, and Beats by Dre, I have seen firsthand that brands win when they define the conversation rather than react to it,” he said. Since stepping into the role in December, he’s prioritized sharper audience strategy and tighter integration across product, narrative, and growth. His track record supports that strategy: Most recently at Therabody, he helped grow the core wellness category 40% year-over-year on a flat budget, and launched the AI-driven Coach by Therabody platform at CES with clear differentiation amid endless hype.
Next leader: Given his recent move to Mozilla, Solomon wants to recognize Therabody marketing lead Joel Godfrey, who has a “rare ability to pair operational rigor with creative ambition.” A true double threat, “he can sit with a CFO and confidently defend how every dollar drives impact, while also inspiring teams to produce culturally resonant work that meaningfully advances the business.”
Allison Stransky
Allison Stransky’s path to chief of U.S. marketing at Samsung took her through both brand-first (Unilever) and data-driven (Google) environments, becoming a strategist who blends emotional storytelling with analytical rigor. Her campaigns have shifted Samsung from feature-led to human-first messaging, building brand affinity by showing how AI and connectivity simplify life and support wellness with “SmartThings Meets AI Home.” Internally, she’s restructured Samsung’s marketing team for the AI era and modernized media planning, measurement, and optimization, boosting ROAS by 20% year-over-year and reducing CPC by 23%. Externally, you’ll find Stransky on the stages of events such as CES and SXSW, advocating for creativity powered by responsible innovation.
Next leader: As head of brand marketing at Samsung Electronics America, Salman Taufiq brings a strategic mindset with executional excellence and long-term vision. “His leadership ensures alignment across channels, drives differentiated storytelling, and elevates the impact of our work with partners and consumers alike,” Stransky said. “Salman’s ability to think both strategically and creatively makes him an invaluable mentor and collaborator.”
Doug Sweeny
Ōura CMO Doug Sweeny brings over 15 years of marketing experience to the role, with agencies as well as fellow wellness brands including One Medical and Nest. Overseeing global DTC, retail, and membership, his marketing has helped to double revenue year-over-year while cutting customer acquisition costs by more than 65%. Under his watch, Ōura expanded into 4,000 stores across more than 45 countries and surpassed 5.5 million rings sold, with more than half in the past year alone. Campaigns like “Give Us the Finger” generated over 125 million impressions, while the wearable ring has shown up everywhere from a Mission Impossible tie-in campaign to the CNN Magic Wall during the presidential debate, and will be worn by Olympians heading to the LA28 Games.
Next leader: Ōura’s VP of marketing Lindsey Belknap is Sweeny’s day-to-day partner in shaping the brand and product agenda, translating product vision into sharp positioning, clear go-to-market plans, and cohesive stories across every channel. With bold creative instincts and a measurement-first mindset, Belknap uses experimentation and performance data to focus the team on what actually moves the needle.
Najoh Tita-Reid
Having worked across the entire gamut of CPG, from Procter & Gamble to Logitech and now Mars Petcare since 2023, Najoh Tita-Reid has distinguished herself by building impactful and inclusive teams. During her tenure at Mars Petcare, Tita-Reid helped scale the business with a revamped, data-driven growth model and introduced an AI-centric marketing skills framework focused on people, products, and services. She also helped lead an overhaul of Marsʼ agencies roster, leading to purpose-led work such as Pedigree’s “Caramelo” to spotlight mixed-breed dogs, which earned a Titanium Lion at Cannes, and a co-branded mental health-focused campaign with Calm starring Shailene Woodley on the benefits of pet adoption.
Fabiola Torres
Fabiola “Faby” Torres leads global marketing, creative, visual merchandising, and retail marketing across stores and online for Gap—a brand that hasn’t been so culturally relevant since the ‘90s. Torres is the Gen Z-savvy mind behind campaigns and collaborations including “Get Loose” with Troye Sivan, the joyful Spring ‘25 “Feels Like Gap” dance party with Parker Posey, and the recent “Sweats Like This” with Young Miko—each with a distinct vibe inspired by its stars. Most notably, “Better in Denim” with girl pop group Katseye became a cultural force, generating over 400 million views and 8 billion media impressions. Beyond campaigns, Gap returned to the global stage with music-driven activations at festivals like Outside Lands and as the exclusive apparel sponsor of Coachella.
Sumit Virmani
Having shaped the fates of global brands across industries for more than three decades, Sumit Virmani has stayed relevant by focusing on the fundamentals: purpose and performance. As global CMO of Infosys, Virmani prioritizes digital transformation—but never at the expense of trust—making it the fastest growing IT services brand globally, according to Brand Finance. To become one of the world’s Top 100 most valuable brands, Infosys has leaned on partnerships with Madison Square Garden’s New York Knicks and Rangers to bring immersive AI-enabled fan experiences to the Infosys Theater. Virmani has also been transforming the sport of tennis for over a decade through innovative digital partnerships with Grand Slam tournaments including the French and Australian Opens, recently implementing AI-powered insights and real-time analytics, reinvigorating interest in the sport among younger fans.
Mark Weinstein
When Mark Weinstein joined Hilton in 2010, the hotelier operated just 10 brands, each with its own marketing and sales teams. Weinstein, who learned structured problem-solving at PwC and MarketBridge, brought together these practices with a single customer view across a portfolio that’s grown to 26 brands. Under his watch, the Hilton Honors program surged from 25 million to more than 240 million members, with loyalty driving up to 75% of occupancy for new brands. He was the architect of Hilton’s first-ever unified brand platform, “Hilton. For The Stay.,” and has partnered with the likes of the Grammys, F1 driver Lando Norris, and Bollywood star Deepika Padukone to create cultural moments beyond traditional advertising.
Next leader: Hilton’s SVP of global marketing Dan Reynolds is a people‑first leader whose business instincts were honed through more than a decade at Disney. He helped launch “Hilton. For The Stay.” and shaped breakthrough work such as “It Matters Where You Stay,” which has amassed more than 5 billion views across platforms. A connector and talent magnet, he builds high‑trust teams that deliver.
Andrea Zaretsky
Overseeing marketing across a portfolio that spans 20 million clients, Andrea Zaretsky leads an integrated marketing machine responsible for brand strategy, accelerating new client acquisition, and deepening engagement across the client lifecycle. After the Morgan Stanley acquisition of E*Trade, she tackled low awareness and negative sentiment with an education-first strategy and revived the E*Trade Baby for three straight Super Bowls to build affinity. Her marketing GPT trainings have cut content creation time by 50%. To make organizational gains visible, Zaretsky launched a monthly Marketing Scorecard to quantify her team’s financial impact and a Brand Health tracker to measure consumer sentiment. She’s also paying it forward by returning to lecture at her alma maters, Tufts University and Columbia Business School.
Next leader: Bringing a scrappy builder mindset to integrated marketing, Lauren Gimlett has accelerated Morgan Stanley’s growth by creating scalable marketing programs across client segments and building high-performing teams. An exceptional cross-functional leader, she mentors rising talent and fosters an inclusive environment where people can bring their authentic selves to work.
Doug Zarkin
Challenging category conventions has been a throughline for Doug Zarkin, who treats most growth issues as misdiagnosed marketing problems. At Pearle Vision, that mindset helped shift the brand from discount-driven to care-led, delivering consistent double-digit growth alongside rising customer satisfaction. Earlier, he built Avon’s Mark. into a $118 million business in just 18 months and helped grow Victoria’s Secret Pink into a $400 million brand. Now at Take 5 Oil Change, he’s centering strategy around human insight while rejecting assumptions, combined with measurable goals and loyalty signals that predict long-term growth, not just short-term wins.
Next leader: SVP of Take 5 franchise operations Phil Hoblet embodies operational excellence and people-first leadership. His six years at Driven Brands have been marked by consistently stepping into complexity, prepared by his background at McKinsey & Company and service as a U.S. Navy helicopter pilot. Simply put: “He makes everyone around him better, and he does it consistently.”
This story appeared in the May 5, 2026, issue of ADWEEK magazine. Click here to subscribe.
This story appeared in the May 5, 2026, issue of ADWEEK magazine. Click here to subscribe.
