There’s a famous, unattributed quote that says, “Leaders instill in their people a hope for success and a belief in themselves. Positive leaders empower people to accomplish their goals.”
Comparably’s Best Marketing Leaders 2019 prove that to be true. These are 25 of the most inspiring department leaders in the country. Each of them heads up one of the marketing departments that recently won one of Comparably’s Best Marketing Departments 2019 awards. We wanted to tip our hat and mention them all by name, as truly inspiring leaders are hard to find, and these CMOs and Directors of Marketing run the departments that their employees voted as the nation’s best.
Jennie Perry – CMO at Amazon
Bio: Jennie Perry serves as the Chief Marketing Officer, Prime and Amazon North America of Amazon. She joined Amazon in 2011. Prior to that, Perry was CMO at Stride Rite, where she led end-to-end marketing for wholesale and all vertical retail including owned, franchised and outlet stores. Before that role, she served as VP of Marketing for Old Navy, and as Senior Brand Manager for Kraft Foods. She holds an MBA from the University of Pennsylvania.
From Amazon Marketing employees: “The leadership team at Amazon is great and shows effort to support employees and staff.”
See Amazon’s award-winning marketing scores
Phil Schiller – Senior VP Worldwide Marketing at Apple
Bio: Schiller has over 25 years of marketing and management experience, including 20 years at Apple in various marketing management positions; as the VP of Product Marketing at Macromedia, Inc. of San Francisco, CA; as the director of Product Marketing at FirePower Systems, Inc. of Menlo Park, CA; as an IT manager at Nolan, Norton & Company of Lexington, MA; and as a programmer and systems analyst at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, MA. Schiller graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from Boston College in 1982.
From Apple Marketing employees: “My department leadership at Apple is really helpful and amazing!! Whenever I’m having a problem I come to them.”
See Apple’s award-winning marketing scores
Scott Gainey – CMO at Cherwell Software
Bio: Scott Gainey serves as Cherwell’s Chief Marketing Officer (CMO), driving all marketing activities aimed at increasing the company’s brand within the enterprise service management market, while accelerating pipeline and revenue growth through close collaboration with sales. Scott came to Cherwell with over 22 years of experience gained while serving in CMO and other leadership positions for tech companies including Palo Alto Networks, Cisco, NetApp, Veritas Software, and Sun Microsystems.
From Cherwell Software Marketing employees: “The open door policy here at Cherwell is a real thing. People are encouraged to give feedback no matter what it may be.”
See Cherwell Software’s award-winning marketing scores
Paul Latham – SVP, Marketing at Costco
Bio: Paul Latham serves as the SVP, Marketing of Costco. Prior to the SVP role, Latham served as VP of Membership and Marketing Services for the company. He has been with Costco company since 1993. Prior to that, he worked for Price Club as Director of Photo, Optical, Hearing Aids, and Pharmacy. He holds a BA from San Francisco State University.
From Costco Marketing employees: “Our leadership team wants to see everyone do the best they can and will do everything we ask of them to help us get there.”
See Costco’s award-winning marketing scores
Daryl Klingaman – Chief Revenue Officer at Disruptive Advertising, Inc.
Bio: Daryl is a skilled marketing and sales professional with extensive experience in B2B and B2C products and services. He understands the correlation between marketing and sales, and effectively bridges the gap that often exists between the two. Klingaman holds a Bachelor’s in Business Administration, Management and Operations from Utah Valley University.
From Disruptive Advertising Marketing employees: “We are a growing business and the leaders at Disruptive have no problem moving on from previous processes as employees find better ways to service clients.”
See Disruptive Advertising’s award-winning marketing scores
Sterling Snow – Senior Vice President of Revenue at Divvy
Bio: Prior to his role as Senior VP of Revenue at Divvy, Snow held the role of VP of Marketing at the company. Before Divvy, Snow was Marketing Director at LogMeIn and Director of Marketing for the Rehab Services of Nevada.
From Divvy Marketing employees: “Our leadership are smart, they care about each other’s opinions and input and they are able to pivot quickly when they need to in order to make sure things get done quickly and efficiently.”
See Divvy’s award-winning marketing scores
Dave Gerhardt – VP of Marketing at Drift
Bio: B2B marketing leader, brand builder, and creator. VP of Marketing at Drift, co-creator of the Seeking Wisdom Podcast, HYPERGROWTH, and the best-selling book on Conversational Marketing. Prior to his role at Drift, Gerhardt served as Marketing Manager for HubSpot. He holds a BS in Marketing from Wagner College.
From Drift Marketing employees: “Our leadership team is extremely transparent about what’s going on in the business, the direction, etc. They also believe in the importance of investing in their employees, specifically the learning opportunities we get to take advantage of.”
See Drift’s award-winning marketing scores
Rachel Krefetz – Director of Marketing at Fanatics
Bio: Before her role as Director of Marketing for Fanatics, Krefetz worked for the NBA for five years in the Retail Marketing and Global Merchandising group. Preceding that, she worked for toymaker Mattel in the Marketing/Special Events department. She holds a BA from the University of Buffalo.
From Fanatics Marketing employees: “The leadership team works really well together. I have seen big companies with politics, Fanatics leadership team is about getting things done and working as #OneFanatics.”
See Fanatics’ award-winning marketing scores
Anthony Kennada – CMO at Gainsight
Bio: Anthony Kennada serves as the Chief Marketing Officer of Gainsight, and is responsible for managing the company’s global marketing strategy, which includes demand generation, brand and comms, product marketing, enablement and inside sales. He started at Gainsight in March of 2013. Previously, Kennada worked at Box, LiveOffice and Symantec, and serves as an investor, advisor and board member to several enterprise software startups across the country.
From Gainsight Marketing employees: “I have a lot of faith in our leadership team—they are very, very smart people. But probably more importantly, they trust their team. It’s easy for smart people in leadership positions to think they’re infallible, or they can ‘do it all.'”
See Gainsight’s award-winning marketing scores
Ivan Pollard – CMO at General Mills, Inc.
Bio: Ivan Pollard has been Global Chief Marketing Officer of General Mills, Inc. since July 10, 2017 and served as its Senior Vice President until August 2018. Mr. Pollard served as Co-Head of U.S. Marketing at The Coca-Cola Company since January 2016.
From General Mills Marketing employees: “The leadership team at General Mills has set out a clear direction for the company that everyone can rally behind.”
See General Mills’ award-winning marketing scores
Alexander Block – VP of Marketing at Golden Hippo
Bio: Prior to his role as VP of Marketing for Golden Hippo, Block worked as a Digital Content Executive for Weed Road Pictures. At Weed Road, he oversaw a slate of digital products based on new and existing IPs. He began at Weed Road in 2004 as an assistant to screenwriter Akiva Goldsman. He holds a BA from UC Santa Barbara.
From Golden Hippo Marketing employees: “I love the leadership’s transparency and willingness to talk about everything – even if those conversations are uncomfortable.”
See Golden Hippo’s award-winning marketing scores
Lorraine Twohill – CMO at Google
Bio: Before filling the role of CMO, Lorraine Twohill was Senior Vice President of Global Marketing at Google. Ms. Twohill joined Google in 2003 and is responsible for its global Marketing function. She served as Vice President of Marketing for EMEA at Google Inc. from 2003 to 2009 and also served as its Chief of European Marketing division.
From Google Marketing employees: “Leadership are super humble, very caring, zero pride involved, truly lovely and inspiring people.”
See Google’s award-winning marketing scores
Kevin Hofmann – President & CMO at The Home Depot
Bio: Kevin Hofmann joined The Home Depot in 2006 as Vice President leading its technology efforts in retail operations. He was senior vice president of home services, responsible for strategy, sales, operations and compliance for the Company’s home services business. Prior to joining The Home Depot, he spent 10 years with General Electric, where he held various leadership positions, including chief information officer/chief technology officer at GE Healthcare, GE Energy and GE Global Research.
From Home Depot Marketing employees: “Leadership talks to us with respect. We’re like family.”
See The Home Depot’s award-winning marketing scores
Kipp Bodnar – CMO at HubSpot
Bio: Kipp Bodnar is the Chief Marketing Officer of HubSpot. Prior to his role as CMO, Kipp served as Vice President of Marketing at HubSpot, overseeing all demand generation activity worldwide, building out the EMEA and APAC marketing teams, and managing HubSpot’s field marketing, localization, strategic partnerships, and social media efforts. Kipp serves as a marketing advisor for SaaS companies including SimplyMeasured, InsightSquared and Guidebook.
From HubSpot Marketing employees: “Leaders here are SO HUMAN. My manager is truly the kindest and most incredibly brilliant and talented and hardest working person I know. I have seen at least 3 C-suite execs cry during company-wide meetings because they are so moved by what they do. How much more human can you get than that? I love them all!”
See Hubspot’s award-winning marketing scores
Adriana Kevill – Head of Marketing at KRT Marketing
Bio: Adriana Kevill has her hands in social media and in partnering with clients in their talent acquisition journeys. She figures out how to best promote their content strategy to the next level, training recruiters on social interaction practices and expanding their social presence internationally.
From KRT Marketing employees: “Our leadership team truly goes above and beyond to prioritize not only the success of our clients, but KRT’s employees’ success and growth at this company.”
See KRT Marketing’s award-winning marketing scores
Chris Capossela – CMO at Microsoft
Bio: Christopher C. Capossela has been the Chief Marketing Officer and Executive Vice President of Marketing & Consumer Business of Microsoft Corporation since April 6, 2011 and March 2014 respectively. Mr. Capossela has worked for more than 15 years at Microsoft in a variety of marketing, technical and field positions. Mr. Capossela has a bachelor’s degree in computer science and economics from Harvard University.
From Microsoft Marketing employees: “I like the way leaderships leads people. Absolutely magnificent.”
See Microsoft’s award-winning marketing scores
Yaniv Masjedi – CMO at Nextiva
Bio: Yaniv Masjedi manages Nextiva’s marketing and branding efforts by working to create strategies that drive awareness, strengthen the Nextiva brand, and share the story of the company’s unique culture. In addition to his duties at Nextiva, Yaniv is a well-known business thought leader and regularly contributes articles to publications including Huffington Post, Salesforce Blog, AllBusiness, and Under30CEO. Yaniv studied Political Science and History at UCLA.
From Nextiva Marketing employees: “I love the fact that my boss trusts me with my job. I’m not micromanaged and given the ability to try new things and expand my skills.”
See Nextiva’s award-winning marketing scores
Jake Sorofman – CMO at Pendo
Bio: Jake Sorofman
From Pendo Marketing employees: “The leaders at Pendo are driven and competitive but still human. They care for each individual at Pendo and want to help us succeed in our roles. They are humble and willing to sacrifice personal gain or recognition for the betterment of their team members and Pendo as a whole.”
See Pendo’s award-winning marketing scores
Justin Noll – Director of Marketing at Phenom People
Bio: Justin leads marketing strategy and execution at Phenom People. He’s passionate about marketing, technology, and merging those two with recruiting and talent acquisition. Prior to his role at Phenom People, Noll served as Head of Marketing for ReminderMedia. He holds a Bachelor’s in Business Management and Marketing from Penn State.
From Phenom People Marketing employees: “Leadership is always giving you encouragement and always reinforcing their support for you.”
See Phenom People’s award-winning marketing scores
Carly Brantz – VP of Revenue Marketing at SendGrid
Bio: As the VP of Revenue Marketing at SendGrid, Carly empowers her team to transform marketing from a cost center to a revenue generator. With a key focus on funnel optimization, Carly leads the team responsible for content creation, lead nurturing, SEO/SEM, and website optimization.
From SendGrid Marketing employees: “The approach to servant leadership has become core to the way the full executive team manages this company. They truly live by our core values and do their best to ensure every employee has a career high at SendGrid.”
See Sendgrid’s award-winning marketing scores
Josh Chapman – Chief Global Brand Officer at SmileDirectClub
Bio: Josh Chapman is a creative, branding and marketing professional whose passion is helping brands unleash their potential through careful construction of brand identity and voice, consideration of the customer and their consumer journeys and the production and execution of needle-moving 360 degree marketing campaigns across all mediums.
From SmileDirectClub Marketing employees: “Appreciating employees; positive feedback; have realistic expectations for employees; caring about customer experience”
See SmileDirectClub’s award-winning marketing scores
Andy Mackensen – Co-founder/CMO at SnackNation
Bio: Digital marketer, serial entrepreneur, and combat-decorated U.S. Naval Officer who led a Special Forces fast-boat team in the Iraq War, Andy Mackensen is Co-Founder and CMO of SnackNation, America’s premiere healthy snack delivery service for businesses, homes, and emerging retail. After the Navy, Andy co-founded HUMAN (Helping Unite Mankind And Nutrition), America’s first healthy vending company. Andy holds a BS from Boston University and an MBA from Stanford University.
From SnackNation Marketing employees: “I appreciate Leadership’s sincere commitment to serving all individual contributors and teams at SnackNation, focusing on the development of the whole human and how our core values can be met with excellence. We have the most transparency I’ve ever seen.”
See SnackNation’s award-winning marketing scores
Rick Gomez – EVP & CMO at Target
Bio: Rick joined Target in 2013 as senior vice president of brand and category marketing, where he was responsible for leading marketing efforts across all merchandise categories at Target. He also was responsible for creative collaborations that included designer partnerships, exclusive music artists and licensing. Prior to joining Target, Rick held senior-level marketing positions at MillerCoors, PepsiCo and the Quaker Oats Company. Rick received a B.A. from Dartmouth College.
From Target Marketing employees: “Leaders are amazing and very understanding and compassionate!”
See Target’s award-winning marketing scores
Bobby Patrick – CMO at UiPath
Bio: Bobby Patrick has driven growth in technology businesses for over two decades, ranging from Fortune 50 to start-ups. He most recently served as CMO for Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s multi-billion-dollar Cloud business. Bobby was responsible for global branding, product marketing, communications and demand generation to deliver on the company’s strategic growth imperatives. He began his career at the FBI as a computer specialist at the age of 16.
From UiPath Marketing employees: “Highly capable, incorporates a strong moral compass into their leadership, easily approached, actively listens to our customers.”
See UiPath’s award-winning marketing scores
Nate Randle – CMO at Vivint Smart Home
Bio: Nate Randle serves as Chief Marketing Officer at Vivint, Inc. He previously served as the senior vice president of marketing for the Utah Jazz, where
From Vivint Smart Home Marketing employees: “Leadership loves being in the trenches for daily consumer solutions.”
See Vivint Smart Home’s award-winning marketing scores
Methodology
Comparably’s Best Marketing Managers are derived from the winners of the Best Marketing Departments award. To arrive at those, sentiment ratings provided by Marketing employees nationwide who anonymously rated their departments on Comparably.com between March 8, 2018 and March 8, 2019. There were no fees or costs associated with participating, nor was nomination required.
Winners were determined based on a series of 50+ structured and comprehensive workplace questions in core culture categories, including: Compensation, Leadership, Professional Development, Work-Life Balance, Perks & Benefits, to name a few (in Yes/No, True/False, 1-10 scale, and multiple choice formats). The answer to each question was given a numerical score and then compared to companies of similar size across the U.S. Additional weight was given to scores at companies with more participation from their employee base.
About Comparably
Comparably is an online career destination for compensation and workplace culture data with a mission to make work dramatically more transparent and rewarding. Employees can anonymously and publically rate their company culture and access salary data through the lens of specific demographics, including gender, ethnicity, age, location, years of experience, company size, title/department, and education. With the most comprehensive and structured data in the industry, it has accumulated 10 million ratings and hundreds of thousands of salary records by employees at 50,000 U.S. companies, from startups to Fortune 50 businesses. The company’s data-driven approach has quickly made it a trusted media resource for salary and workplace culture, and one of the fastest-growing SaaS solutions for employer branding. For more information, go to Comparably.com. For workplace culture and salary studies, including Comparably’s annual Best Places to Work and Best CEOs awards, go to Comparably.com/blog.
