Episodes

  • Shelly Palmer on Leading Through AI Change, Identity Threat, and Marketing’s Next Era

    Shelly Palmer on Leading Through AI Change, Identity Threat, and Marketing’s Next Era
    Jan 8 2026
    In marketing, AI is not a technology problem, it’s a leadership challenge and opportunity. Our premiere episode of Frontier CMO comes to you from CES 2026. We skipped the crystal ball hype to get to the point: AI is not just a tech shift, it’s a leadership test. In the first episode, Josh Spanier sits down with Shelly Palmer—CEO of The Palmer Group, Advanced Professor in Residence, and one of the most trusted advisors to the Fortune 500—to separate business-model signals from gadget noise. Shelly was direct: reorganize your marketing around human-agent pairs. In this new era, subject matter expertise is more important than ever. The better you are at your craft, the better your agents will be. Set your department up for continuous adaptation—or watch it grind to a halt. Thesis: The role of the CMO today is akin to a driver teaching a self-driving car. You are co-working in human-machine pairs, training the system until the day you can move from tactician to pure strategist.
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    43 mins
  • Introducing Frontier CMO by Think with Google

    Introducing Frontier CMO by Think with Google
    Dec 12 2025
    In the AI era, marketing should be unstoppable, and its future is being written in real time. Frontier CMO talks to the leaders shaping it. Join Joshua Spanier, Google's VP of AI and Marketing Strategy, in his deep-dives with the leaders, marketers, technologists who are rewriting the playbook. Welcome to the Frontier. New episodes drop January 2026. We’re asking the questions others won’t: How do marketing leaders prove ROI to executives? What does a modern marketing strategy look like when AI and analytics are reshaping the rules every day? Each episode of Frontier CMO explores the real-world playbooks leaders are using to navigate the AI-powered landscape. From marketing trends and branding breakthroughs to advancements in digital marketing, social media, content marketing, and B2B marketing, Frontier CMO breaks down what’s working and what’s not to help you navigate this new landscape. Subscribe to Frontier CMO on YouTube, Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts to get alerted when the first episode drops in January.
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    1 min
  • Tombras president Dooley Tombras on creating an impossible ad with gen AI | Modern Marketers

    Tombras president Dooley Tombras on creating an impossible ad with gen AI | Modern Marketers
    Dec 4 2024
    This week on Modern Marketers, Tombras president Dooley Tombras joins Google's Joshua Spanier and Bethany Poole to discuss being the third generation to lead the family business, what it means to be an independent agency focusing on data and creativity, and the partnership with PODS and Google to create an impossible ad campaign using generative AI. Dooley shares a few favorite campaigns from his 20 years at Tombras, how he balances classic marketing metrics with modern approaches, and what the next five years look like for the agency.
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    22 mins
  • McDonald's VP of Marketing Elizabeth Campbell on driving customer loyalty | Modern Marketers

    McDonald's VP of Marketing Elizabeth Campbell on driving customer loyalty | Modern Marketers
    Nov 13 2024
    This week on Modern Marketers, McDonald's VP of Marketing Elizabeth Campbell joins Google's Joshua Spanier and Bethany Poole to talk about her 20-year career at the company and how the brand keeps consumers at the center of everything it does. Elizabeth shares some of McDonald's most iconic marketing campaigns and product launches she has worked on over the years, as well as tips for engaging with consumers in a way that feels natural to them and how the brand decides what does and doesn't need to be tested.
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    25 mins
  • Northwestern Kellogg Professor Jim Lecinski on being a whole brain marketer | Modern Marketers

    Northwestern Kellogg Professor Jim Lecinski on being a whole brain marketer | Modern Marketers
    Oct 23 2024
    This week on Modern Marketers, Jim Lecinski, clinical professor of marketing at Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management, joins Google's Joshua Spanier and Bethany Poole to talk about Jim's career pivot from tech executive to college professor, what traits make up the most effective marketer, and the ability to combine left and right brain to be a whole-brain marketer. Jim discusses what he sees as top of mind for rising-star marketers in his classes, how he wrote a book on AI — well before the recent buzz — in 2021, and advice for creating a marketing plan that excites your C-suite.
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    24 mins
  • Walmart CMO William White on brand values and cutting through the competition | Modern Marketers

    Walmart CMO William White on brand values and cutting through the competition | Modern Marketers
    Oct 2 2024
    This week on Modern Marketers, Walmart SVP and CMO William White joins Google's Joshua Spanier and Bethany Poole to talk about how he empowers his team to stay nimble, using customer insights as a competitive advantage and how the brand breaks through during the busiest time of the year: the holidays. William discusses how brand purpose and values act as a guide, getting to the crux of what's driving consumer behavior and staying a season or two ahead.
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    28 mins
  • Hubspot CMO Kipp Bodnar on compelling B2B creative and quick business results | Modern Marketers

    Hubspot CMO Kipp Bodnar on compelling B2B creative and quick business results | Modern Marketers
    Sep 6 2024
    This week on Modern Marketers, Kipp Bodnar, CMO of Hubspot, joins Google's Joshua Spanier to discuss how to make B2B marketing creative better, how to convince your CFO it's OK not to attribute 100% of your marketing spend, and the importance of taking risks as a leader. Hear how Hubspot has built out its marketing team, approaches growth opportunities, and about Kipp's experiences from his days as an early employee at Hubspot to now.
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    24 mins
  • Colgate-Palmolive CDO Brigitte King on Creating a Test and Learn Culture and Being Courageous

    Colgate-Palmolive CDO Brigitte King on Creating a Test and Learn Culture and Being Courageous
    Aug 21 2024
    On this week's episode of Modern Marketers, Colgate-Palmolive's chief digital officer Brigitte King joins Google's Joshua Spanier and Bethany Poole to talk about her core leadership principles and how the brand adapts to ever-changing technology curves. Brigitte shares the five P's that have guided her through her career, how she upskilled her entire organization to be digitally fluent, and the importance of a leader allowing room for experimentation — and sometimes failure.
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    30 mins