CMO Aaron Newkirk's father was a creative for Lincoln Mercury. Her childhood spent in the ad agency observing shoots and tight deadlines instilled a deep appreciation for storytelling, creativity, and a flexible work ethic, fundamentally shaping her approach to marketing.
Best Buy Ads offers "in-store takeovers," allowing brands to use its physical stores for immersive, measurable campaigns. This transforms window displays, digital walls, and checkout counters into a powerful advertising medium that engages customers at the point of purchase.
Caribou Coffee translates its purpose—"create daymaking experiences"—into action by embedding core values directly into HR processes. Behaviors tied to these values are integrated into hiring, training, and performance reviews, ensuring employees are empowered to deliver the brand promise.
Former General Mills CMO Mark Attucks mentored his team to balance analytical rigor with creative intuition. He advised against feeling pressure to be the "smartest person with the best spreadsheet," emphasizing that telling stories that make people feel is equally critical to marketing success.
Caribou Coffee's "Make Fun Happen" value inspires engaging internal activities that serve business goals. For a ticket giveaway, they ran a "drink bracket" competition, making the event enjoyable while simultaneously deepening the marketing team's knowledge of their own products.
To launch an energy drink, Caribou Coffee created a dating content series hosted by a comedian popular with Gen Z. This move tapped into the cultural zeitgeist of dating shows and authentically reflected the brand's role as a popular first-date location, resulting in a highly successful campaign.
A CMO's work on an intense, CEO-led internal "Brand Champions" program at General Mills exposed her to a startup-like pace. The daily pressure and creative freedom sparked the realization that she belonged in the entrepreneurial world, leading her to found her own company, Red Stamp.