I caught this post by Vineet Mehra, Global CMO of Walgreens. I had the pleasure of working with Vineet and his team in 2018 when he was the CMO of Ancestry.

These are his five mantras for the modern CMO that a clear and focused:

1. Unify the C-Suite behind the most important C – Consumer

2. Become your company’s growth hacker

3. Connect with purpose and commerce (“e” or otherwise)

4. Make everything personal – through data and tech-enabled personalization engine

5. Cultivate unicorn talent – equally proficient at data, tech, and creative

Keep these in mind when pitching and add one key ingredient when prospecting and/or stewarding client business:

Create a positive tension with the marketing team that keeps pushing the brand into distinctive, bold and brave territories.

Remember, marketers want an agency that is willing to push their thinking on insights and drive them toward simple breakthrough creative that can expand over time but it all starts with helping them to be masterful modern marketers.

Pitch with Passion, Lisa

I’ve been hearing through the grapevine, that these brands may be considering scheduling some confidential conversations. I think you can put two and two together. But remember, don’t stalk. Don’t hound. Don’t send a myriad of messages about yourself. So what do you do?

Build trust. Share category insights. Do some light consumer research. Offer purchase pattern eye-openers. Toss out some trends. Show your expertise and how it’s relevant. Just… don’t… sell!

Here are a few brands to start relationship building:

1. JC Penny – a few new folks in the C-Suite + Continued revenue struggles + Shift towards home furnishings

2. Etsy – newly created CMO position + digital/performance marketing lean

3. GameStop – new CEO + 10 month old CMO + loyalty platform + focus on improved financial performance

4. Dick’s Sporting Goods – new CMO + new SVP of Analytics + shift towards digital

Good luck and remember to prospect smAARt and pitch with passion!