51: Connecting creativity and commerce: Insights from Walmart Connect Vice President of Business and Product Marketing Khurrum Malik

How can brands preserve what sets them apart as AI transformation brings more speed and scale to marketing content production, The answer starts with smart parameters and guardrails that keep human insight and creativity at the center.  In this episode, Meghan Gendelman, chief marketing officer (CMO) of business-to-business (B2B) at Canva, explores how marketing teams can use AI while prioritizing and protecting what technology cannot create: authenticity. Human marketers bring a genuine understanding of what their customers know, feel and believe about a brand. Meghan emphasizes that by first establishing clear, human-led guardrails and parameters such as brand systems, kits and templates, teams can harness AI more effectively to deploy creative, engaging marketing content at scale.  Meghan further shares how Canva's B2B offerings help businesses put this authenticity-first approach into practice. By making it easier to adapt, localize and customize content at scale, Canva allows marketing teams more freedom to focus on customer relevance and brand expression. Meghan also discusses how leaders can help teams adapt as AI changes marketing work by:  Challenging existing processes and rethinking how work gets done  Testing new possibilities with a beginner's mindset  Turning innovative ideas into action with practical boundaries  By balancing freedom and discipline when using AI, your brand can stay authentic while meeting growing content demands. 

How can a brand stay distinctive globally, while earning relevance in each individual market it serves?  Consistency is only part of the challenge. Because local presence shapes global perception, brands should strive to understand local customers, respond to market conditions and provide value to communities.   In this episode, Mastercard's Rustom Dastoor, executive vice president and head of marketing and communications for the Americas, draws on his experiences marketing across four continents to explore what it takes to build and sustain a global brand.  He explains why the strongest global brands don't simply operate in local markets—they invest in them. By using local insight to inform decisions, collaborating with regional ecosystems and investing in talent, brands can contribute to communities, rather than extract from them, to demonstrate their distinct values.  Rustom also offers behind-the-scenes insights into what has kept Mastercard's "Priceless" campaign relevant worldwide for nearly 30 years: He believes in maintaining the universal insight—"there are some things in life money can't buy"—while adapting how it shows up across markets, cultures, channels and more. In other words, "Priceless" stays timeless by refusing to stand still.  For marketing leaders, this conversation offers a valuable perspective on earning local relevance and strengthening global distinction.     In this episode, you'll hear:  Strategies for deploying brand experiences that can flex across countries and cultures  How to keep a long-running campaign fresh without losing its core value  Ways marketing can turn customer understanding into better business choices, from offerings to pricing    Key highlights:  [00:30] Introduction  [01:30] A pit stop in Zurich  [02:30] Rustom's path to Mastercard  [04:00] Marketing on multiple continents  [06:00] Driving B2B2C excellence at Mastercard   [08:00] The evolution of global brands  [09:45] Mastercard's iconic "Priceless" campaign  [10:55] Strategies for successful localization  [14:50] Past experience that defines you: Living across multiple cultures  [16:20] Advice to your younger self: Release control  [17:20] A topic you're trying to learn more about: Squash and swimming  [18:05] Latest curiosities: Humanity's perseverance  [19:10] Largest potential opportunity: AI's impact on marketing  [20:40] What AI cannot do: The value and impact of people    Resources mentioned:    Mastercard    Follow the podcast:    Listen on Apple Podcasts    Listen on Amazon Music   Listen on Audible   Listen on iHeart Radio  Listen on Spotify      Connect with Rustom and Mastercard:  Rustom on LinkedIn  Mastercard on LinkedIn    Connect with Alan Hart and Deloitte Digital:     Connect with Alan Hart on X  Connect with Alan Hart on LinkedIn   Connect with Deloitte Digital on LinkedIn   Connect with Deloitte Digital on Instagram   Connect with Deloitte Digital on YouTube   Connect with Deloitte Digital on Threads    

How can marketing leaders balance rapid change, emerging technology and brand purpose to drive lasting growth and loyalty across a portfolio of iconic brands? Anton Vincent, president of Mars Snacking North America & Global Ice Cream, shares what it looks like to lead with purpose across a suite of powerhouse brands spanning confections, pet care and food. He discusses how Mars balances ambitious growth with a real commitment to responsibility, ensuring that business success and positive societal impact go hand in hand. Anton also underscores the strategic value of developing talent and enabling people to move across different business areas to encourage agility and fresh thinking. He shares why creativity remains essential for brands—especially as technology and analytics redefine what's possible—and highlights the discipline required to uphold quality and brand integrity in a crowded, fast-moving marketplace. Throughout the conversation, Anton stresses that enduring relevance and brand loyalty come from continuous learning and a clear understanding of both consumers and culture.   In this episode, you'll learn:  Why centering business growth with real purpose can create a lasting impact at scale   How ideas supported by data and fueled by originality can capture and hold people's attention in today's crowded market   Ways to build agile teams and nurture authentic brands to stay relevant in a constantly changing world    Key highlights:  [00:00] Introduction  [01:30] Basketball talk  [04:30] Anton's path to Mars  [08:00] The scope of Mars  [10:20] Alan's love to Hubba Bubba  [12:20] Scale versus independence of brands  [14:05] The Mars talent strategy  [15:40] Navigating the evolving marketing ecosystem  [18:20] Marketing that adapts to change  [20:30] Notable recent work  [22:05] An experience that defines you: Top Secret Popcorn recall  [26:00] Advice to your younger self: Slow down  [28:30] A topic marketers need to learn more about: Connecting creativity with technology  [33:45] Largest opportunity or threat to marketers today: Constant learning    Resources mentioned:    Mars Snacking  SNICKERS NFL Bedtime with Josh Allen    Follow the podcast:    Listen on Apple Podcasts    Listen on Amazon Music   Listen on Audible   Listen on iHeart Radio  Listen on Spotify      Connect with Anton Vincent and Mars Snacking: Anton Vincent on LinkedIn  Mars on LinkedIn  Mars on Instagram  Mars on YouTube    Connect with Alan Hart and Deloitte Digital:     Alan Hart on X  Alan Hart on LinkedIn   Deloitte Digital on LinkedIn   Deloitte Digital on Instagram   Deloitte Digital on YouTube   Deloitte Digital on Threads    

How can a well-known B2B brand move beyond what customers think they already know?  In this episode, Kimberly Storin, CMO of Zoom, explains how marketing teams can shift brand perceptions and influence B2B buyer journeys by bringing together brand marketing, demand generation, content, and customer advocacy.   Brand perception takes shape differently today. As more buyers begin their brand research using AI tools and zero-click search, buyers often form preferences and decisions before they ever engage with a brand directly. Marketers today may see only a small portion of the buyer journey and not know when they're under consideration.   For Kimberly, this means brands need to do more than generate awareness and demand: They need to shape how buyers understand the brand, what it offers and where it can create value. As she puts it, "brand equals demand."  Marketers can accomplish this by building trust, showing up in the right places, and answering buyers' questions in the less visible stages of decision-making through efforts such as answer engine optimization (AEO). Kimberly further explores how AI-driven discovery creates distinct purchasing paths for human buyers and AI agents—paths that require different content and experiences designed for each.   This episode offers a practical perspective on how marketers can reshape perception, stay relevant across an increasingly fragmented journey, and connect brand building to business growth—even when buyers form opinions before the brand knows they are in the market.    In this episode, you'll hear:  Strategies to connect brand building with demand generation, so marketing efforts shifts perception and drive action  Why answering buyer questions before sales teams enter the conversation is now a core B2B journey expectation  Ways to widen marketing's view of the buyer journey and shift investment towards what works better    Key highlights:  [00:00] Introduction  [01:05] Growing up with chief financial officer (CFO) and designer parents  [02:15] Kim's path to Zoom  [03:35] Bringing marketing and communications together  [06:40] Keeping up with an evolving buyer journey  [07:30] Why brand equals demand  [10:10] Zoom Ahead's campaign strategy  [13:10] Past experience that defines you: Powerful mentorship  [15:35] Advice to your younger self: Prioritize sleep for health  [16:00] A topic you're trying to learn more about: Pilates  [16:45] Latest curiosities: Balancing AI and human connection  [18:40] Largest potential threat: Inability to pivot as search habits change    Resources mentioned:    Zoom    Follow the podcast:    Listen on Apple Podcasts    Listen on Amazon Music   Listen on Audible   Listen on iHeart Radio  Listen on Spotify      Connect with Kimberly and Zoom:  Kimberly on LinkedIn  Zoom on LinkedIn    Connect with Alan Hart and Deloitte Digital:     Connect with Alan Hart on X  Connect with Alan Hart on LinkedIn   Connect with Deloitte Digital on LinkedIn   Connect with Deloitte Digital on Instagram   Connect with Deloitte Digital on YouTube   Connect with Deloitte Digital on Threads      

The hardest part of marketing today may not be demonstrating value or creating more ideas. It may be knowing which activities deserve your attention.  As Khurrum Malik, VP of business and product marketing at Walmart Connect, explains: more tools, channels, media types and AI capabilities can lead to overemphasizing activity. When teams confuse activity with progress, it's difficult to stay focused on what drives impact.   In this episode, Khurrum shows how the strongest marketing organizations stay focused on what matters: connecting creativity to commerce, creating demand through brand storytelling, capturing it through search and commerce, and proving incremental impact. He also makes the case that customer experience should remain at the center of that work, emphasizing that—as AI changes how marketers operate—trust, human judgment and accountability still matter.  The episode is especially relevant for marketing leaders who want to cut through complexity, keep teams aligned on impact, and lead with transparency and experimentation while fueling durable growth.    In this episode, you'll hear:  Strategies to connect brand storytelling with search and commerce to drive demand  How to keep teams focused on priorities that drive growth  Why leading through change depends on building trust and accountability    Key highlights:  [00:00] Introduction  [01:10] Using AI at home  [02:30] Khurrum's path to Walmart Connect  [04:40] Walmart Connect's scope  [06:25] How advertising platforms are evolving  [12:55] Three core principles of success  [15:00] What's next for Walmart Connect  [17:40] Past experience that defines you: Moving a lot as a child  [18:30] Advice to your younger self: Adopt an editorial mindset  [20:25] A topic you're trying to learn more about: Delivering value across the C-suite  [21:40] Latest curiosities: Balancing AI and human creativity  [23:15] Largest potential threat: Inability to focus as channels expand    Resources mentioned:    Walmart Connect    Follow the podcast:    Listen on Apple Podcasts    Listen on Amazon Music   Listen on Audible   Listen on iHeart Radio  Listen on Spotify      Connect with Khurrum and Walmart Connect:  Khurrum on LinkedIn  Walmart Connect on LinkedIn    Connect with Alan Hart and Deloitte Digital:     Connect with Alan Hart on X  Connect with Alan Hart on LinkedIn   Connect with Deloitte Digital on LinkedIn   Connect with Deloitte Digital on Instagram   Connect with Deloitte Digital on YouTube   Connect with Deloitte Digital on Threads    

Fandom is evolving from passive consumption to active participation, creating new opportunities for brands to connect with consumers in authentic ways. In this episode, Andrea Hopelain, GM and senior vice president of global marketing at Electronic Arts (EA), shares how brands can leverage fandom by showing up where today's consumers are already creating, connecting, and building community. She explains what marketers can learn from this model and how they can take advantage of this space.  While Andrea believes brand reach still matters, she says meeting consumers in participatory spaces can take the connection to the next level. The conversation also explores how marketing teams can harness live signals, audience behavior, and social interaction insights to create fan experiences that feel more personalized, culturally grounded, and natural to the people they want to reach. Andrea says the biggest opportunities come from building with audiences, not just broadcasting to them.    Key highlights:  [00:00] Introduction  [01:20] Leadership lessons learned on the soccer pitch  [02:30] Andrea's path to EA  [04:45] The evolution of fandom  [07:05] Brand marketing opportunities in fandoms  [08:45] EA as a platform  [10:20] Live data integration in gaming  [11:45] Past experience that defines you: Moving a lot as a child  [12:50] Advice to your younger self: Understand the bottom line   [14:50] A topic you're trying to learn more about: Nurturing plants  [15:45] Latest curiosities: Balancing AI and human judgment  [17:10] Largest potential opportunity: Community and belonging    Resources mentioned:    EA    Follow the podcast:    Listen on Apple Podcasts    Listen on Amazon Music   Listen on Audible   Listen on iHeart Radio  Listen on Spotify      Connect with Andrea and EA:  Andrea on LinkedIn  EA on LinkedIn    Connect with Alan Hart and Deloitte Digital:     Connect with Alan Hart on X  Connect with Alan Hart on LinkedIn   Connect with Deloitte Digital on LinkedIn   Connect with Deloitte Digital on Instagram   Connect with Deloitte Digital on YouTube   Connect with Deloitte Digital on Threads    

How are the expectations for CMOs evolving?  In this episode, Richard Sanderson, Spencer Stuart's marketing, sales & communications officer practice leader, returns to the podcast to discuss how CMOs and other marketing leaders can address the growing pressure from boards and CEOs to demonstrate clearer business impact.   Richard breaks down the competing forces that are shaping and amplifying that pressure:   The expectation to connect their work more directly to enterprise value  The need to align structure, scope and skills to specific business challenges  And the expectation to deliver growth, efficiency, brand, trust, and customer experience.   He dives deeper to discuss how AI is reshaping the marketing function—especially in larger companies, where executives and stakeholders are growing impatient to see experimentation turned into measurable results. Richard provides experience-based recommendations for how CMOs can harness AI for a positive impact on both their department's efficacy and the customer experiences they deliver.  Richard also reveals the qualities he sees that set stronger marketing leaders apart, including an enterprise-wide perspective, close collaboration with CFOs and hands-on AI literacy. This episode offers practical strategies to help marketing leaders navigate and satisfy these changing expectations.    In this episode, you'll hear:  How CMOs can tie marketing more directly to enterprise value  Why marketing teams may want to embrace AI-driven change at the infrastructure level  What sets CMOs apart in a rapidly changing business landscape    Key highlights:  [00:00] Introduction  [02:00] Turning 50  [03:40] Today's C-suite hiring trends  [05:05] What CEOs look for in a CMO  [07:15] Balancing growth and efficiency, with AI  [15:50] How a CMO's scope has changed  [21:05] Chief marketing officer, or chief customer officer?  [25:10] What separates a thriving CMO from a struggling CMO  [28:45] Leading while being a teammate  [29:10] What CMOs need to study right now: Organizational design  [31:15] How CMOs can tackle AI-driven change  [34:20] Largest potential opportunity for CMOs: Embracing transformation    Resources mentioned:    Spencer Stuart     Follow the podcast:    Listen on Apple Podcasts    Listen on Amazon Music   Listen on Audible   Listen on iHeart Radio  Listen on Spotify      Connect with Richard and Spencer Stuart:  Richard on LinkedIn  Spencer Stuart on LinkedIn    Connect with Alan Hart and Deloitte Digital:     Connect with Alan Hart on LinkedIn   Connect with Deloitte Digital on LinkedIn   Connect with Deloitte Digital on Instagram   Connect with Deloitte Digital on YouTube   Connect with Deloitte Digital on Threads    

How can you deploy an end-to-end CRM strategy that keeps pace with complex, evolving customer journeys?   In this episode, Ford Motor Company Consumer CRM Lead Kim Reedy explains why she views CRM as an end-to-end capability that connects a businesses' strategy, creative, execution, analytics and internal stakeholders. Kim reflects on her path from marketing to agency work and then to the client side, and how those experiences shaped her strategic approach to automotive CRM transformation: Start by tackling smaller, specific opportunities to improve dynamic elements of the customer journey, rather than trying to overhaul everything at once.   Kim discusses her view of AI as a practical assistant for targeting, timing and creative scale, while emphasizing the need for ongoing human oversight and talent upskilling. Her key insight for marketers: When teams align the right data, process, technology and operating model around a clear business objective, they can create more relevant, impactful customer experiences, even in a market where loyalty is under pressure.    In this episode, you'll hear:  How deeply intentional, collaborative, end-to-end CRM transformation can have a big impact  Why customer engagement journeys are no longer linear, and how marketing can adapt   Ways AI can help marketing teams target better, move faster and scale personalized content, but only when the right people and processes are in place    Key highlights:  [00:00] Introduction  [01:15] Being a dance mom  [02:45] Kim's path to Ford  [04:10] Moving from agency side to client side  [05:00] What CRM at Ford looks like  [07:00] Automotive CRM transformations over the years  [11:00] The evolving impact of AI  [13:25] Keeping humans at the helm  [16:50] A shift in the loyalty paradigm  [22:00] Advice to your younger self: Do things that are uncomfortable   [22:50] A topic you're trying to learn more about: Automating daily tasks  [24:45] Latest curiosities: AI and creativity  [28:20] Largest potential opportunity: Rethinking organizational processes    Resources mentioned:    Ford    Follow the podcast:    Listen on Apple Podcasts    Listen on Amazon Music   Listen on Audible   Listen on iHeart Radio  Listen on Spotify      Connect with Kim and Ford Motor Company:  Kim on LinkedIn  Ford Motor Company on LinkedIn    Connect with Alan Hart and Deloitte Digital:     Connect with Alan Hart on X  Connect with Alan Hart on LinkedIn   Connect with Deloitte Digital on LinkedIn   Connect with Deloitte Digital on Instagram   Connect with Deloitte Digital on YouTube   Connect with Deloitte Digital on Threads      

How can you balance urgency, relevance and restraint in omnichannel customer messaging? In this episode, Trish Magnetico, customer communications lead at GFiber, a high-speed broadband internet service provider, shares how her team infused marketing into their new customer relationship management (CRM) approach through SMS and push notifications. She discusses how her team uses data, testing and consent-aware channel choices to focus on quality over quantity, to increase engagement across formats. Major platform migrations, she says, can also activate necessary transformation for delivery strategy, message design and data hygiene infrastructure across new and existing customer communication channels.  GFiber's Trish Magnetico shares how to scale customer communications without creating noise, using testing, data, and channel-specific choices to prioritize quality over volume.  Trish says omnichannel CRM at scale depends on marketing and engineering working closely together. She explains that this joint effort joint effort is particularly important when using sensitive customer information to deliver targeted, personalized experiences that stand out among the dozens of daily marketing communications customers receive across SMS, email and more. Noting how one signal can create multiple customer touchpoints, Trish encourages leaders to stay disciplined with scope, not to get hung up on volume and pay close attention to what customers communicate in support feedback, as this can reveal the right messages to send via the right channel, at the right time and for the right reasons. That's how CRM marketing can create impact.   In this episode, you'll hear: Why smarter channel choices can matter more than message volume  Practical steps to rethink your CRM at scale in the face of major platform changes  How marketing and engineering can work as one team to protect trust and increase engagement for memorable customer experiences   Key highlights:  [00:00] Introduction  [01:20] Raising competitive athletes  [02:45] Trish's path from biological anthropology to CRM  [05:55] The importance of a strong digital footprint  [07:15] What makes SMS and push notification marketing different  [10:05] Data retention during platform migration  [13:05] Rebuilding a CRM program  [15:05] Lessons from scaling omnichannel growth  [17:30] An experience you learned from: Meeting a life partner  [19:35] Advice to your younger self: Everything is not a fire drill   [21:00] A topic you're trying to learn more about: Crafting and jewelry making  [22:10] Latest curiosities: Rethinking the future of marketing  [23:45] Largest potential threat: Not spending enough time with the data    Resources mentioned:    GFiber    Follow the podcast:    Listen on Apple Podcasts    Listen on Amazon Music   Listen on Audible   Listen on iHeart Radio  Listen on Spotify      Connect with GFiber:  GFiber on LinkedIn    Connect with Alan Hart and Deloitte Digital:     Connect with Alan Hart on X  Connect with Alan Hart on LinkedIn   Connect with Deloitte Digital on LinkedIn   Connect with Deloitte Digital on Instagram   Connect with Deloitte Digital on YouTube   Connect with Deloitte Digital on Threads      

What if the biggest shift in marketing isn't about chasing the next AI tool, but about making the systems and data that marketers already use work together more intelligently?  This episode takes a slightly different angle on marketing transformation. Instead of talking with a brand marketer about how their team utilizes AI, we hear from Salesforce's Chief Customer Officer for Agentforce Marketing Kevin Siminski about how the technology provider is working to reduce complexity, connect data and make AI more practical for everyday marketing work.  Kevin starts by busting two myths that shape how many teams think about Salesforce: Marketing Cloud Engagement is not going away, and marketers do not have to face a challenging migration or choose between B2B and B2C capabilities to move forward.   He explains how Salesforce is instead bringing those capabilities together in the same platform, so customers can adopt what they need without starting from scratch.  Then Kevin discusses the data foundation underneath that experience—how a shared foundation can make agentic AI more useful in practice and enable organizations to customize how those tools work together. Kevin also explores how connectivity and AI can reshape marketers' day-to-day work. Rather than suggesting a vague transformation, he points to a more practical future: developing campaigns efficiently, streamlining delivery and giving teams more control over where human judgment still matters.    In this episode, you'll hear about:  The top two myths about Salesforce marketing solutions, busted  How Salesforce is bringing B2B and B2C capabilities together in the same platform  Why a shared data foundation can make agentic AI more useful in marketing  Ways AI could help automate campaign brief and orchestration tasks, shortening timelines without removing human judgment    Key highlights:  [00:00] Introduction  [01:30] The value of taking a gap year  [04:05] Kevin's path back to Salesforce  [05:35] Agentforce Marketing's impact  [06:40] Driving product adoption in a changing world  [09:10] Connecting MarTech platforms with strong data  [11:50] Embracing the future of headless CMS  [13:10] Combining AI agents into a "super agent"  [15:30] The autopilot metaphor  [18:10] Early career moments: Engineering in the telecom world  [20:45] Advice to your younger self: Listen more intentionally   [22:05] A topic you're trying to learn more about: Agentic AI's rapid growth  [23:10] Latest curiosities: The evolution of the trades and hands-on work  [26:25] Largest potential threat: Accelerating AI adoption without governance    Resources mentioned:    Salesforce Agentforce Marketing  Salesforce Data 360    Follow the podcast:    Listen on Apple Podcasts    Listen on Amazon Music   Listen on Audible   Listen on iHeart Radio  Listen on Spotify      Connect with Kevin and Salesforce:  Kevin on LinkedIn  Salesforce on LinkedIn    Connect with Alan Hart and Deloitte Digital:     Connect with Alan Hart on X  Connect with Alan Hart on LinkedIn   Connect with Deloitte Digital on LinkedIn   Connect with Deloitte Digital on Instagram   Connect with Deloitte Digital on YouTube   Connect with Deloitte Digital on Threads