Eight Ways to Scope Out the Best Marketing Talent

“Every individual needs a personalized career path. If they know what they want to do, help them find a way to get there. But if they don’t, take them on a journey to find out. Ask questions, show them different roles, and introduce them to new mentors. Help them find a path that is theirs and then work back from there on a development plan.” 

– Vineet Mehra, CMO of Chime 

“It’s time to change the old mindsets and create workplaces that work for women because when you build a workplace that works for women, you create a workplace that works for everyone. I believe we can move towards The Great Reimagination, where all people can be satisfied, fulfilled, and recognized in their workplace.” 

– Shelley Zalis, CEO, The Female Quotient 

“What has been shocking from my experience working with different brands, whether it’s large retailers, automotive, CPG, or beauty, is 100% of growth is coming from multicultural consumers.  

There is a vast disconnect where marketers understand technology, they want to go after Gen Z and Millennials, and they have access to all the data. Still, for some reason, they’re not investing or hiring diverse talent to reach multicultural consumers.

There are no excuses because diverse talent is out there. Businesses will miss out on growth opportunities if they don’t take action because multicultural consumers are who will drive all products, technology, and communities.” 

– Steven Wolfe Pereira, CBO, 3PAS 

“When building my dream team, I look for talent that meets my “Fab-Five-C’s”: curious, creative, collaborative, competitive, and consistent. If the talent you are searching for can attest to all five of those things, it ultimately forms ‘The BIG C’ culture, which wins over everything.”  

– Jabari Hearn, (former SVP of Marketing and Entertainment, Westbrook) Managing Partner, AKQA LA 

“You have to look at the numbers. As far as representation in marketing goes, 8% are Latinx, 6% are Black, and 11% are Asian- these numbers are disgustingly low. As long as you base what you do on data, you can make a change in your company, and you can continue to call it out. Data gives you something to base yourself on. So, continue to fight, be yourself, and most importantly, understand that you’re so much more than what you think you are.  Be even more than that.” 

– Eric Toda, Head of Meta Prosper and Global Head of Social Marketing, Meta 

“There are no excuses why you can’t invest in diverse talent; it is out there. That is why I love being a founding member of BECA (Black Executive CMO Alliance), a membership program of black CMOs from every industry segment imaginable. We are focused on creating a pipeline of diverse C-Suite talent, partnering with companies and helping bust myths, providing hands-on support, and teaching lessons and case studies on career success for this cohort of younger executives working towards the C-Suite pipeline.” 

– Kimberly Evans Paige, CMO, BET 

“To be successful, we want you to be a great marketer, but we also want you to be a great operator. We want you to think about how your actions deliver a commercial impact and how they are realized across the business.  

It is important to find creative people who can make the campaigns we get excited about but also understand what impact that is having and what it means for the business. As we hire, we search for people with those skills, who want to operate in an environment with much uncertainty, and people who can be curious versus hoping for a playbook – because there isn’t one.” 

–Kofi Amoo-Gottfried, CMO, DoorDash 

“I am a huge advocate of leveraging world-class talent both internally and externally.  External gives you agility and the ability to pivot as the business may need very specific capabilities, for example, AI or other rapidly evolving technologies.  Internal, however, provides an unparalleled understanding of the brand and the consumer longitudinally. Having a mix of a tenured core team and outside diverse partners creates a model ensuring you can tap into relevant talent and have the best thoroughbreds at all times.”

– Lee Applbaum, CMO, Wheels Up