Forbes CMO

Our 15th Annual Forbes CMO Summit in Dana Point, California brought together some of the world’s most influential and innovative marketing leaders and entrepreneurs. Under this year’s theme of “From Promise To Practice,” we exchanged insights, celebrated marketing innovation and explored how marketers can move from talk to action in a new era of CMO accountability.

Speakers included Facebook Global CMO Antonio Lucio, Target EVP and Chief Marketing & Digital Officer Rick Gomez, Pinterest CMO Andréa Mallard, Anheuser-Busch InBev CMO Pedro Earp, Wells Fargo CMO Jamie Moldafsky, Recording Artist and ICONN CEO Ja Rule and many more.

When it comes to brand engagement, consumer expectations only go in one direction: Up. And given how much data we collect on them—their patterns, their habits, their preferences—well, frankly, they expect us to be smarter. Incorporating the context of where the customer has been, where they are right now, and where they want to go next is critical to brilliant customer experiences. SARA SPIVEY Chief Marketing Officer, Braze

Data gives you a depth of understanding of your customers and how your marketing is working. But, instinct and judgement are still critical. You can’t run marketing completely by the numbers. ANN LEWNES Executive VP and Chief Marketing Officer, Adobe

To differentiate themselves and ultimately the bottom line, CMOs need to reconnect with the human experience. AMELIA DUNLOP Chief Experience Officer, Deloitte Digital

The voice of the customer is ultimately what matters. MARTYN ETHERINGTON Chief Marketing Officer & EVP, Teradata

Connecting the dots around the end-to-end customer journey requires a repositioning of the CMO role within the C-Suite to realize the vision of a personalized, anticipatory customer experience—from acquisition through retention—and the critical role that data and technology play to drive it. JANET BALIS Global Advisory Leader for Media & Entertainment and Americas Marketing Practice Leader, EY