Even people who have been around the block a few times on Madison Avenue find themselves sometimes having to ask for directions.
The art and science of promoting goods and services to consumers has grown so complex in recent years that it often seems to require a PhD in data science as well as a significantly wilder-than-usual imagination. So we’ve picked a few from hundreds of marketers and media mavens who are trying their best to make a difference in the business of advertising while balancing the need to be mindful of consumer tastes and insights. They also have to keep an eye on the math behind it all.
Many of our honorees recently found themselves in the middle of a great challenge, like how to merge two companies known for operating traditional ad agencies, or how to keep old-school candy fresh for the modern youth buying base. The people on our list have demonstrated they weren’t afraid to try something new or challenge long-held conventions. There are lessons to be learned from their accomplishments.
Brian AlbertManaging director, media partnerships and creative worksYouTube/Google
The exec who oversees YouTube’s outreach to Madison Avenue has what many advertisers crave: young viewers and most of their favorite creators.
With the annual Academy Awards telecast coming to YouTube in 2029, Albert is poised to gain new respect from media agencies and marketers. How does he approach the challenge of getting messages to stand out in this fragmented era?
“Embrace creators and start creating culturally relevant messages, not just ads. With limited audience attention today, the authenticity and trust that YouTube creators bring to campaigns are huge differentiators for brands looking to break through the noise,” he says. “Not only do creators have highly engaged fandoms, but they also bring fresh insights and new ideas as collaborative partners.Albert steers the sales strategy for a platform with infinite streaming inventory. Broadcast TV has had a hard time competing, in his view.
“Our clients’ audiences are on YouTube, and when they lean into multi-format campaigns across [connected] TV and mobile, that’s the most effective way for them to reach the right customer at the right moment,” Albert says.
Jay AskinasiChief revenue officerParamount Skydance
In his early months as chief revenue officer at Paramount Skydance, largely tasked with ad sales, Askinasi is trying to make inroads with marketers and tear down walls between Paramount’s TV and streaming assets.
In the effort to harness all of the studio’s power to stand out, Askinasi has leaned on the Paramount Media Labs branded content studio.
“We bring advertisers into the creative process earlier, uniting their ambitions with our extraordinary talent and powerhouse IP to create work that earns attention, builds cultural relevance and turns fandom into meaningful connections,” he says.
As an ad seller with both broadcast and streaming assets, how does he see the effectiveness question?
“Traditional television delivers mass reach and shared cultural impact, while streaming adds greater precision, personalization and accountability,” Askinasi says.
“Paramount is the only major media company to offer both pay and free ad-supported streaming alongside a leading theatrical studio, cable and broadcast portfolio. We’re leveraging these assets across the Paramount ecosystem to deliver the outcomes that matter most to brands.”
Chris BellingerChief creative officerPepsiCo Foods U.S.
Bellinger has for several years pushed media outlets and agencies to do things differently. Maybe it’s a digital video featuring a collab between Nickelback and Megan Thee Stallion. Maybe it’s the sale of a huge chunk of ABC’s Friday ad inventory for a special series of commercials about Lay’s potato chips.
Under Bellinger, the company recently promoted Doritos Golden Sriracha with a ’70s adult film parody starring Walton Goggins as a plumber “who is genuinely, sincerely only interested in fixing the leak.”
“If I’m trying to get someone to look up from their phone and the endless scroll of content they’re hit with every day, then I’d better give them something worth looking up for. We owe them that,” Bellinger says. “If we’re going to spend a consumer’s most valuable resource… their time … we’d better deliver something entertaining. What do you want someone to feel? Pick the emotion and you have something to work backward from, and then you get to choose how far to push it and how intensely you want it felt.”
Martin BlichExecutive director, U.S. head of sports partnerships and investmentsWPP Media
Blich has a prominent role to play as more advertisers seek placement in sports, both traditional and emerging. Blich in recent months has worked to convince clients to move money to women’s sports properties.
“To break through in sports marketing today, brands need to think beyond simply capturing attention and focus on building long-term fan loyalty. That means understanding the specific communities and subcultures that shape fandom, and creating content that speaks directly to them,” he says.
“There’s also a real opportunity to extend the experience beyond the game itself, using second-screen and exclusive content to give fans greater access and deepen that connection.”
With this focus on sports media, Blich has perspective on the effectiveness of streaming video vs. traditional TV.
“Streaming is creating new opportunities for brands to reach growing and younger audiences,” he says, and it allows for “more interactive experiences through commerce, live statistics and other real-time integrations. As more premium sports rights move to platforms like Prime Video and Netflix, those opportunities will only continue to grow.
Maureen BosettiChief investment officerIPG Mediabrands
Katie KleinChief investment officerOmnicom Media Group
Bosetti and Klein have gained a bigger profile in the industry now that their respective parent companies, Interpublic and Omnicom, have joined.
Advertisers are watching closely how the two operate going forward. For Bosetti, it’s all about engagement.
“Gaining engagement requires a multipronged approach that encompasses a clear audience strategy, distinct creative messaging, platform-fit creative and a strong relationship with the customer,” Bosetti says.
Klein observes, “Consumer engagement has changed. Mass reach is still powerful, but to stand out, brands must build influence. Influence is built through culture, local relevance, commerce, and through the next generation of search and discovery.”
How do they evaluate the effectiveness of streaming video vs. traditional TV? “Each channel has a different role to play in a video strategy,” Bosetti says.
Klein elaborates: “Streaming video and traditional TV should be working together to maximize effectiveness. Linear TV is still the vehicle to quickly build reach, especially in sports and other live tentpoles. And streaming video adds incrementality, precision and creative relevance.”
Robert VoltaggioPresident, advertising sales, platform monetizationWarner Bros Discovery
These leaders of U.S. advertising sales at Warner Bros Discovery may be navigating in an uncertain time — with their company in the process of merging with Paramount Skydance.
But they also serve as guardians to commercial inventory tied to some of the greatest shows ever made: dozens of HBO series that typically have not been accompanied by ads. That’s a leg up when it comes to getting messages to stand out in the era of fragmentation.
“Attention must be earned by understanding the moment, the platform and the person and then delivering a message that is meaningful and relevant,” Gould says.
Audiences today aren’t distracted but they are “empowered,” Voltaggio says. “They choose what they watch, when they watch and how they engage.”
Gould explains how they differentiate the sales pitch for the linear cable side of WBD — which is significant — alongside the streaming environment of HBO Max. “Traditional television continues to deliver cultural scale and the power of a shared experience, while streaming leads in precision, flexibility and the ability to connect exposure with outcomes,” he says.
Rita FerroPresident, global advertisingWalt Disney Co.
The Mouse’s top advertising sales executive has been leading the company’s charge to monetize its first Super Bowl telecast in 20 years, all while burnishing a strategy that hinges more significantly on sports and live events, including a new Grammys rights deal and weeks of college football.
Ferro and her teams have had to grapple with disruption since she took the reins of ad sales in 2018. It’s made them agile and strategic.
“The companies that will lead in this next era are the ones that can combine innovation with great storytelling. Technology can make advertising smarter and more efficient, but emotional connection is still what makes it memorable,” Ferro says.
Ferro has a prime perch on market shifts and emerging trends because Disney’s operations extend into all aspects of ad sales, sponsorship and promotions. Of late, her conversations with marketers have changed from broadcast vs. streaming to “leveraging the strengths of both — linear T V delivers massive reach around live sports and cultural moments, while streaming provides greater precision, measurement and performance,”she says.
Cortese has played a big part in Canva’s explosive growth story over the past few years. The AI-powered online design and creation platform has become a ubiquitous brand in a short time in key cultural and business moments around the world, from Cannes Lions to Indian cricket leagues.
“We’re constantly adapting to new channels, platforms and audience consumption patterns,” he says.
“That means showing up in partnership with influencers and creators who genuinely love Canva and use it in their day-to-day workflows.”
AI helps enormously but keeping a finger on the pulse of pop culture requires a human touch and enormous coordination across teams.
“Our answer has been to rally our functional marketing teams — brand, experiential, product, performance, life cycle, coms, social — around a shared calendar of moments we can genuinely own throughout the year, rather than everyone competing for attention separately,” he says. “That focus and consistency does more for breaking through than any single big media buy.
Jeff CollinsPresident, advertising sales, marketing and brand partnershipsFox Corp.
Fox may be one of the smaller companies in the media sector, but it’s about to get significantly bigger, thanks to an agreement to purchase Roku for $22 billion. The deal will put a premium digital asset — the Roku homepage — under Fox’s purview, along with a host of other broadband ad inventory. Collins may well look to add Roku to the Fox portfolio and gain new leverage from advertisers.
“Our content delivers some of the most highly engaged audiences and fandoms across television and streaming,” he says. “In an unbelievably noisy marketplace, we believe one of the most powerful ways for a brand to stand out is to put its mes- sage in front of audiences who are leaned in and ready to engage.”
As the ad sales leader for a Big 4 network, how does he view the effectiveness of streaming video vs. traditional TV?
“It’s not about choosing one platform over another. It’s about combining the broad, immediate reach and impact of traditional television with the incremental, more targeted reach of streaming to create a truly complete plan,” he says.
Andrea BrimmerChief marketing and PR officerAlly Financial
The Ally veteran has moved decisively to help her company build an early position in women’s sports. In 2022, the company decided to commit fully 50% of its sports spending to female-led sports. At the time, the company estimated that doing so would take five years. This year Ally found that it had accomplished its goal one year early.
Embracing the rising arena of women’s sports has been a key vehicle for getting Ally’s marketing messages to stand out.
“Advertising and marketing have always been about getting people to fall in love with your brand,” Brimmer says. “You have to be relentless about creating for the context and not for the masses. It’s a heavier lift — but the only real path to disruption.”
Does she favor streaming video or traditional TV for effectiveness?
“Streaming gives us precision with the ability to find the right person at the right moment with the right story. But traditional TV still has a remarkable power to gather us all around a shared experience, which feels increasingly rare and valuable,” she says.
Gregory GuidottiChief marketing officerFerrara Candy Co.
This CMO for sweets is eager to put a new spin on old favorites. In recent months, Ferrara has taken to the Super Bowl to boost a decidedly modern version of Nerds candies, which have been updated with new combinations that play around with flavor and texture.
Guidotti worked his way from one consumer products giant to another, logging stints at Kraft and Gillette and traveling to Russia, Venezuela and across Asia. He had a hand in marketing supermarket staples including Capri-Sun, Kool-Aid, Shake ’N Bake and Oscar Mayer.
When he moved to Ferrara in 2019, he had a chance to work on a portfolio of products that were largely underappreciated and build them back up. At the time, Ferrara had just acquired a suite of sweet goods — Nerds, SweeTarts, Gobstoppers and more — from Nestle that had brand equity but not a lot of new momentum.
“Great businesses, but the brands were very small, and as part of a giant food company, they didn’t get the attention,” Guidotti explained to the University of Connecticut’s alumni magazine. “We have these jewels of brands, and we needed to be able to drive a different relevance to them.”
Magno HerranVP, global brand and partnership marketingNetflix
Herran’s importance to Netflix has grown significantly since it launched a formal ad-supported tier. Marketers crave bigger connections to Netflix programs in ways that don’t necessarily hinge on traditional commercial inventory. Herran has helped State Farm weave its spokes-character Jake into the sports drama
“Running Point” and even cajoled Coca-Cola to bring back New Coke for a limited time to connect with “Stranger Things.”
“We start from what we know best: our members are fans, and fans lean in for the stories and worlds they love. We don’t think about delivering messaging to consumers; instead, we invite fans into a world they want to be part of.”
With the migration from linear to streaming platforms, “attention and culture have shifted,” Herran observes. “Streaming is increasingly where stories get watched, discussed and turned into culture. That gives Netflix something rare: a place to put your brand inside stories people are already obsessed with and let that passion carry over to new audiences.”
The actor is known for his facility in comedic roles, such as in “Key & Peele” or in “Schmigadoon.” In recent years, however, he has become a go-to for advertisers looking for a lighthearted tone. Key has been a pitchman for marketers ranging from Kraft Heinz’s Ore-Ida to Choice Hotels, PepsiCo’s Lay’s potato chips, State Farm and corporate consultants EY.
Key is a big fan of emphasizing the positive in the work he crafts with writing and creative partner Elle Key.
“We both feel strongly that everything around a brand, including the brand’s ambassador, should be positive and uplifting wherever possible,” Keegan-Michael Key says.
“There are a lot of campaigns out there that are written to make fun of the brand, or even the people who use the products or services. We prefer humor that comes from joy and from our genuine excitement and fandom.”
He says he keeps watch on the ripple effect of algorithms: “I’m always fascinated to see what videos show up in my feed based on other videos or other products I like.”
Mark MarshallChairman, global advertising and partnershipsNBCUniversal
Marshall is adept at finding new ways to package sports and tentpole events — formats that keep advertisers rooted in traditional TV. A year-round Sunday sports package and the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics are among his big calling cards to Madison Avenue.
Marshall swears by the Live Total Impact long-tail measurement system that NBCU and Comcast researchers have honed for years.
“Over the past two years there’s a delineation between quality as it relates to linear and as it relates to streaming,” he says. “We’re starting to get a look at the future. Over 70% of the impressions are still on linear, and so while there’s all this hype around streaming for good reason, linear is still where the bulk of the impressions are served.”
On the big questions swirling around AI, Marshall says he sees it as an enabling force for humans to get creative about optimization efforts.
“It’s going to free our team up to look at things like the Performance Insights Hub to say ‘How can I actually optimize the performance of your campaign?’ ” he posits.
Like Mr. Whipple and Flo from Progressive, Miles seems destined to be known for his signature role as Jake From State Farm for a very long time.
The earnest character, forever in a red polo shirt and tan khakis, seems, ubiquitous due to the dozens of commercials from the insurance giant since Miles took over the rolein 2020. He took things one step further this year by making a cameo in an episode of Netflix’s “Running Point,” turbocharging the concept of product placement.
How does the campaign stay relevant in an era when getting messages to stand out is so difficult?
“Staying true to your core values is your best bet. The moment you start chasing attention for the sake of attention, you sacrifice substance and risk losing sight of what you’re actually trying to say,” Miles says. “The best creative work gives people something they can feel and connect with. It creates a shared sense of emotion and experience within communities.”
Moss is working not only to get advertisers to buy tons of streaming inventory tied to the streamer’s sports and scripted fare, but to adopt lots of new technologies, including AI, that streamline processes and link commercials closer to shopping and purchases. “You have to make the ad experience itself worth paying attention to.
That means giving customers more relevant, personalized messages — not just showing them more ads,” he says of the challenge of standing out in a sea of media and content.
How does he view the effectiveness of advertising in streaming video vs. traditional TV?
“The difference is accountability. While traditional TV was built on reach and frequency, streaming closes the gap between impression and action — from product discovery to add-to-cart to purchase,” Moss says. “With Amazon’s authenticated signals across shopping and streaming, advertisers don’t have to infer whether their campaign drove results — they can see it. That’s the real shift: streaming isn’t just about reaching audiences, it’s about driving measurable results.”
Few of the industry’s senior media investment executives had a hand in supporting the rise of both cable TV and streaming as enormous adver-tising platforms. Muszynski, chairman of the influential Publicis Media Exchange U.S., can make that claim.
Today, his firm represents a significant chunk of the industry’s media spending. As such, he’s often called on to help media sellers understand the tone of the ad market. To not heed Muszynski’s advice may mean foregoing some ad revenue.
“Today, breaking through isn’t about being everywhere; it’s about being relevant in the moments that matter,” he says. “The future isn’t about replacing television with streaming. It’s about creating a unified video eco-system where every impression can be planned, managed and measuredagainst the same objectives.”
Brands have an imperative to adopt an audience-first planning mindset rather than focusing on channels or reach.
“We have countless data and touchpoints to inform how we build the most rewarding consumer experiences and connect with people at critical or culture-defining moments,” he says.
Lina PolimeniSenior VP, chief marketing officer — consumerEli Lilly and Co.
The senior VP and chief marketing officer of pharmaceutical giant Lilly plays a central role in how to bring health and wellness to everyday Americans. The company that sells Jardiance, Zepbound and Mounjaro, among other remedies, markets itself as “a medicine company,” and has been looking to sponsor films and TV series that use nuanced characters navigating disease.
“Most health advertising waits for permission to speak. Something goes wrong: a diagnosis, a symptom, a scare. Then a brand shows up to help. That’s the entire category’s operating rhythm, and it’s reactive by design,” Polimeni says.
“We’ve made a different bet: show up before the moment, not after it. Give people a reason to feel something about their health before anything has gone wrong at all,” she adds.
How does she view the effectiveness of streaming video versus traditional TV?
“This is a fight that stopped existing years ago,” she says. “I don’t start with streaming versus traditional TV. I start with what I need people to feel or do, then ask which screen can actually deliver it.”
The new boss of the British ad giant took the reins of the company last fall. She’s tasked with injecting momentum into a marketing conglomerate that has been trying to find its way ever since its founder, Martin Sorrell, was pushed out in 2018.
A former senior executive at Microsoft, Rose has gained notice for being the first female executive to gain the top role at any of the small-but-influential Madison Avenue holding companies.
She has some urgency behind her. WPP has stumbled in recent years, hurt by the tangle left by founder Sorrell, who built the company into a giant via a shopping spree that scooped up various marketing agencies. But generating the economies of scale with a hodgepodge of firms hasn’t been smooth. And the demand for growth has come as the ad industry has beenturned upside down by the AI effect.
Rose has not surprisingly emphasized WPP’s need to develop better expertise on AI. She has also trimmed WPP’s overhead through layoffs. She has vowed to deliver $676 million in annual cost savings by 2028.
Media companies and advertisers love to hate Nielsen, and hate to love it, but the stalwart ratings firm remains the gold standard of how audiences are counted and how video ad deals get done. Can the CEO steer the measurement company into a streaming future with new rivals hoping to take some of his business?
Rao aims to try. On his watch, Nielsen has pressed forward on several innovations, including new efforts to measure what is known as “co-viewing,” or multiple audience members watching a single piece of content, and to tabulate video viewing across both linear and streaming operations.
Not everyone is sanguine about the moves. A tweak to Nielsen’s measure ment technology can result in changes to the audiences for NFL games and top specials, and the networks and the league have not been shy about revealing their trepidation.
He has been with Nielsen for most of his career, joining the company in 2000. He was named chief operating officer in 2020 and upped to CEO in 2023.
Schroeder doesn’t buy commercials or attempt to get fans to purchase soap, a car or diapers. But he is among the most influential figures in modern advertising because the NFL, as it has for a long time, represents the pinnacle of live TV viewing. The deals and the deal structures that he sets in place at an increasing array of big media and streaming companies play a major part in the NFL’s ability to consistently draw the largest live audiences in U.S. media.
“With a large, passionate and diverse audience on both broadcast and digital, the NFL remains one of the single most powerful platforms,” he says.
“The league continues to be uniquely positioned to deliver messages that break through across the country and increasingly, around the world.”
Where does Schroeder stand on the effectiveness of ads on linear vs. streaming platforms?
“While broadcast still produces the largest number of NFL viewers, digital continues to grow and is beginning to tap into some of the robust opportunities the platform provides, like personalized advertising and truly interactive viewing options,” he says.
Wren is the longest-serving chief in the advertising sector and recently completed an acquisition of one of his company’s biggest rivals, Interpublic Group. Now he must prove the combined entity has what it takes to keep advertisers connected to consumers as their lives become increasingly digital.
The merger represents a crowning achievement for an elder statesman of the sector late in his career, but the company isn’t immune from market forces. Since the deal was completed, Omnicom has trimmed staff and lost a long-standing client, PepsiCo, which recently moved its media account from Omnicom’s OMG to French rival Publicis Groupe.
Wren has put his life’s work into Omnicom. He was part of the team that created the company in 1986, two years after entering the advertising business as an executive VP with Needham Harper Worldwide.
During a recent investor call, Wren outlined a strategy of moving more aggressively in areas such as AI and sports, and “identifying white spaces and actively expanding the services we provide by bringing more of Omnicom’s capability to each client.”
Carla Zakhem-HassanChief marketing officerJPMorgan Chase & Co.
Zakhem-Hassan has been at the helm of marketing for the banking giant for the past five years. She held senior marketing and brand partnership roles at Citi and PepsiCo before that.
As a steward of some of the nation’s largest and most established brands, Zakhem-Hassan understands the importance of winning and maintaining the trust of consumers. It’s easy to lose in a banking context if transactions go away or other issues emerge for JPMorganChase customers.
“The point on trust that’s interesting to me, it’s not a marketing tagline. It does start from the very inside of your organization, where you say we are all about the customer. We only exist because of the customer,”
Zakhem-Hassan told the “Create or Destroy: Reimagining Marketing With Seth Matlins” podcast in August. She also emphasizes the importance of making sure a brand speaks with one voice to customers.
“Think about content in general …and who owns content in an organization,” Zakhem-Hassan told “Create or Destroy.”