Your CMO Mentor

The cost of constant organisational change | Patrick Brown, Adobe

Joe sat at the Adobe Summit in Las Vegas with Patrick Brown, VP of Marketing at Adobe, to discuss the pervasive issue of "change fatigue", emphasising its impact on team management across various company sizes. Patrick shares important leadership insights on how to navigate this common experience, highlighting its relevance to effective management. This business podcast segment offers valuable perspectives for anyone interested in leadership skills and the challenges of organisational change. He also shares how Adobe approaches change from the inside, why the specificity of your solution signals your level of understanding, and how to find the bedrock of first principles when everything else feels fluid. ___________________ Key topics include: Why change fatigue is real and what leaders can do about it How Adobe's customer zero model shapes internal product and marketing decisions Using the DMAIC process to scale what works instead of running in every direction Why AI search traffic collapsed and how marketers are now thinking about it differently The access and encouragement finding behind AI adoption rates in teams Finding first principles that stay constant when the tools and tactics keep shifting ___________________ Timestamps: 00:00 - Introduction 01:22 - Quickfire round 02:20 - Delegate sooner 04:37 - AI adoption cycles 07:05 - Customer zero at Adobe 09:00 - Stages of AI adoption 12:22 - Change fatigue 15:10 - Tech industry vs traditional 17:08 - Case study scenario 19:26 - Closing thoughts ___________________ Big thanks to Weglot for sponsoring this episode: https://www.weglot.com/t/lp?utm_source=Podcast&utm_medium=media&utm_campaign=TMM ____________________ The full episode is now live on:  Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0cpW4Tsm2YuKJj488cNX1s?si=f0e962b481b74c80 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/your-cmo-mentor/id1850910303

The ecosystem that makes high performers thrive | Naomi Walkland

Most marketers are told to project confidence even when they don't feel it. But what if the better move is just being honest about what you don't know?Naomi Walkland, CMO at Motorway and formerly VP of Marketing at Bumble, joined us live at The Marketing Meetup conference for a live episode of Your CMO Mentor to share the leadership lessons she's picked up leading high-performing teams across some of the UK's most recognised brands. From building psychological safety to staying clear-headed through rapid change, this is practical, human leadership advice from someone who's lived it.____________________Key topics include:- Why clarity breeds confidence, and how to give your team focus even when you don't have all the answers- The performance review feedback Naomi hated at the time that turned out to be the most important she ever received- How to build psychological safety so your team can take ownership and bring new ideas- Why high performance and supportive leadership are not in conflict- How to know when to step in and when to step back as a leader- Leading through budget cuts and business pressure without losing team trust____________________Timestamps:00:00 - Opening quote on leadership00:24 - Introduction05:03 - Quickfire round begins05:12 - Best marketing advice received06:42 - Leadership lesson from early career07:52 - Leading through uncertainty in 202611:06 - Building team culture and trust13:16 - Creating space for diverse voices16:06 - Leading through mistakes and hard decisions18:48 - What's unique about leading in 202620:38 - Community question: high performance vs supportive leadership21:51 - When to step in and when to step back____________________Big thanks to Weglot for sponsoring this episode: https://www.weglot.com/t/lp?utm_source=Podcast&utm_medium=media&utm_campaign=TMM____________________The full episode is now live on: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0cpW4Tsm2YuKJj488cNX1s?si=f0e962b481b74c80Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/your-cmo-mentor/id1850910303

How great CMOs think about brand, risk and leadership with Jon Evans

Jon Evans, host of the Uncensored CMO podcast, joined us to share what seven years of interviewing marketing leaders has taught him about what great CMOs actually do differently. Jon has spoken with hundreds of senior marketers and been a CMO himself, which makes his perspective genuinely rare — part practitioner, part observer, all practical.Whether you're a marketing manager working towards leadership or already in a senior role, this one is full of honest, grounded advice on what it takes to get there and what to expect when you do.____________________Key topics include:- Why strategy is the skill to build first, and what marketers get wrong by focusing on tactics too early- The mindset shift from doing marketing to leading it, and why most people struggle to make that switch- How great CMOs think about risk and creative bravery, and why playing it safe is often the more expensive choice- The honest reality of the CMO role, including being unpopular, taking the blame, and doing the unglamorous work of giving your team air cover- How to build the internal case for long-term brand investment when leadership is pushing for short-term results- The Venn diagram technique for finding your path to promotion by solving a problem the business genuinely needs fixing____________________Timestamps:00:00 Introduction02:30 Skills to build first08:00 Behaviour traits Jon admires13:30 Dream mentor and challenger brands21:00 Biggest lessons from mentors30:00 Advice Jon wishes he'd had earlier37:00 Patterns of great CMOs46:00 The mindset shift into leadership54:00 Risk and bravery in marketing01:02:00 Brand vs performance balance01:10:00 The reality of being a CMO01:18:00 AI and what to focus on now01:24:00 Community scenario brand vs short-term pressure____________________Big thanks to Weglot for sponsoring this episode: https://www.weglot.com/t/lp?utm_source=Podcast&utm_medium=media&utm_campaign=TMM____________________The full episode is now live on: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0cpW4Tsm2YuKJj488cNX1s?si=f0e962b481b74c80Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/your-cmo-mentor/id1850910303

How to build a brand with real purpose, with Bronwen Foster-Butler, CMO of Finisterre

In this webinar, Bronwen Foster-Butler, CMO of Finisterre, joined us to talk about what brand purpose actually means in practice, how it went so wrong in 2018, and what a more grounded, commercial version of it looks like today.Bronwen is one of the clearest thinkers on this topic we've had on the podcast. She doesn't shy away from the messy parts, the pressure to chase growth at the expense of meaning, the difficulty of advocating for purpose inside cautious organisations, and what it really takes to build a business where purpose shapes decisions rather than just decorates them.Key topics include:- Why brand purpose 1.0 collapsed and what the Pepsi/Kendall Jenner ad revealed about where it went wrong- How Finisterre's theory of change connects their purpose to real business decisions- Why purpose isn't purpose unless it costs you something- How to advocate for purpose inside a large or cautious organisation without alienating colleagues- The difference between internal and external marketing and why internal comes first- What Bronwyn's biggest leadership mistake taught her about ego, confidence, and showing up for your teamTimestamps:00:00 - Introduction04:30 - Quickfire round14:20 - Internal vs external marketing22:10 - Purpose 1.0 and where it went wrong34:00 - Purpose 2.0 in practice44:15 - How to advocate for purpose at work52:30 - Community questions58:00 - Biggest leadership mistake?01:08:00 - Question for the next guest______________________________Big thanks to Weglot [https://www.weglot.com/] for sponsoring this episode.

How marketers can use consumer testing to make braver, smarter decisions

In this webinar, Anna Henwood, CEO of Stickybeak, joined us to talk about something a lot of marketers quietly struggle with: how to make confident decisions when you’re working with limited time, noisy opinions, and a gut feeling you can’t quite back up. Anna brings a rare mix of perspectives. She ran marketing at Les Mills International as CMO before moving into the CEO seat at Stickybeak, a consumer testing platform built specifically to help marketers get fast, reliable feedback from their target audience. In this conversation she shares what that shift taught her about marketing, brand building, and how the best teams are working now.Key topics include:- Why creation is easy now but validation is the hard part, and how to close that gap quicklyHow FMCG brands can balance short-term sales pressure with long-term brand building- The difference between trusting your gut and genuinely not knowing, and how a quick concept test helps you figure out which one you’re in- What Anna looks for when she hires marketers, and why curiosity beats experience- How to approach your first 90 days as a CMO, whether you’re coming in from outside or stepping up internally- What the best CMOs will look like in the next decade, and why smaller teams with clear strategic thinking will matter more than everTimestamps:00:00 - Introduction 01:04 - First skill to build in marketing today 03:20 - Traits Anna looks for when hiring 05:18 - Dream mentor 08:30 - Don’t let perfect block progress 13:50 - What being CEO taught Anna about marketing 20:38 - Biggest blind spots in FMCG marketing 26:04 - How to build a testing habit from scratch 32:23 - When to trust gut vs data 37:17 - Simple testing habits your team can start tomorrow 45:28 - What the best CMOs will do differently 47:55 - Community Q&A: no seat at the strategy table 53:29 - Best career advice Anna has been givenWatch / listen:Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/marketing-meetup-podcast/id1365546447Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5QvmFdxg5pMwsfPkKjhXl9Please take the time to check out our partners, all of whom we work with because we think they’re useful companies for lovely marketers :)Frontify – All your brand assets in one place: Frontify combines DAM, brand guidelines, and templates into a collaborative source of brand truth.Mailchimp - The all-in-one marketing platform that helps teams turn emails, automation, and now SMS into smarter, more connected customer journeys (and they’ve been longtime friends of TMM!).Cambridge Marketing College – The best place to get your marketing qualifications and apprenticeships.Planable – the content collaboration platform that helps marketing teams create, plan, review, and approve all their awesome marketing content.Wistia – a complete video marketing platform that helps teams create, host, market, and measure their videos and webinars, all in one place.