Tombras president Dooley Tombras on creating an impossible ad with gen AI | Modern Marketers

More from Frontier CMO Podcast by Think with Google All episodes →

1. 

   12 Feb 2026 · 40 min

   Colin & Samir on the CMO’s Guide to the New Creator Economy

   Marketing is colliding with a creator economy that looks more like television, community, and culture, rather than what we used to think of when we think of social media. In this episode of Frontier CMO, Josh Spanier, VP of AI & Marketing Strategy at Google, sits down with Colin Rosenblum and Samir Chaudry, creators and hosts of Colin & Samir, to unpack how the creator landscape has fundamentally changed, and what CMOs can do to get creator partnerships right. They explore why attention without connection is a dead end, how creators have become the arbiters of taste, and why brands must stop…

2. 

   29 Jan 2026 · 33 min

   Gary Vaynerchuk on Why Creative, Not Media, Is the Real Growth Engine

   Brands are currently caught between two realities: the pretty strategy deck and the real world where attention is the currency. Gary Vaynerchuk, CEO of VaynerMedia joins Josh Spanier, VP of AI & Marketing Strategy at Google to discuss why traditional brand models are failing and which channels remain the C-suite’s most misunderstood growth levers. Gary argues the bottleneck isn’t media—it’s creative slowed by excessive approvals and organizations built for campaigns rather than culture. To win, brands must collapse the walls between media and production, treating social as a daily operating…

3. 

   15 Jan 2026 · 36 min

   Norm de Greve on Growth, Reinvention, and Leading Through Relentless Change

   Today’s CMO is being asked to deliver growth in a landscape defined by radical uncertainty and AI disruption. In this episode of Frontier CMO, Norm de Greve, Chief Growth Officer at General Motors, joins Josh to explore what it takes to drive reinvention inside one of the world’s most complex legacy brands. Norm uses his experience making high-stakes decisions that have defined his career— walking away from $2 billion in tobacco revenue at CVS to steering GM’s resurgence—and turns it into actionable tactics for modern leaders. His thesis: Own the entire business engine, not just the brand.…

4. 

   8 Jan 2026 · 43 min

   Shelly Palmer on Leading Through AI Change, Identity Threat, and Marketing’s Next Era

   In marketing, AI is not a technology problem, it’s a leadership challenge and opportunity. Our premiere episode of Frontier CMO comes to you from CES 2026. We skipped the crystal ball hype to get to the point: AI is not just a tech shift, it’s a leadership test. In the first episode, Josh Spanier sits down with Shelly Palmer—CEO of The Palmer Group, Advanced Professor in Residence, and one of the most trusted advisors to the Fortune 500—to separate business-model signals from gadget noise. Shelly was direct: reorganize your marketing around human-agent pairs. In this new era, subject matter…

5. 

   12 Dec 2025 · 1 min

   Introducing Frontier CMO by Think with Google

   In the AI era, marketing should be unstoppable, and its future is being written in real time. Frontier CMO talks to the leaders shaping it. Join Joshua Spanier, Google's VP of AI and Marketing Strategy, in his deep-dives with the leaders, marketers, technologists who are rewriting the playbook. Welcome to the Frontier. New episodes drop January 2026. We’re asking the questions others won’t: How do marketing leaders prove ROI to executives? What does a modern marketing strategy look like when AI and analytics are reshaping the rules every day? Each episode of Frontier CMO explores the…

6. 

   S1 · E10 · 13 Nov 2024 · 25 min

   McDonald's VP of Marketing Elizabeth Campbell on driving customer loyalty | Modern Marketers

   This week on Modern Marketers, McDonald's VP of Marketing Elizabeth Campbell joins Google's Joshua Spanier and Bethany Poole to talk about her 20-year career at the company and how the brand keeps consumers at the center of everything it does. Elizabeth shares some of McDonald's most iconic marketing campaigns and product launches she has worked on over the years, as well as tips for engaging with consumers in a way that feels natural to them and how the brand decides what does and doesn't need to be tested.

7. 

   S1 · E9 · 23 Oct 2024 · 24 min

   Northwestern Kellogg Professor Jim Lecinski on being a whole brain marketer | Modern Marketers

   This week on Modern Marketers, Jim Lecinski, clinical professor of marketing at Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management, joins Google's Joshua Spanier and Bethany Poole to talk about Jim's career pivot from tech executive to college professor, what traits make up the most effective marketer, and the ability to combine left and right brain to be a whole-brain marketer. Jim discusses what he sees as top of mind for rising-star marketers in his classes, how he wrote a book on AI — well before the recent buzz — in 2021, and advice for creating a marketing plan that excites your…

8. 

   S1 · E8 · 2 Oct 2024 · 28 min

   Walmart CMO William White on brand values and cutting through the competition | Modern Marketers

   This week on Modern Marketers, Walmart SVP and CMO William White joins Google's Joshua Spanier and Bethany Poole to talk about how he empowers his team to stay nimble, using customer insights as a competitive advantage and how the brand breaks through during the busiest time of the year: the holidays. William discusses how brand purpose and values act as a guide, getting to the crux of what's driving consumer behavior and staying a season or two ahead.

9. 

   S1 · E7 · 6 Sep 2024 · 24 min

   Hubspot CMO Kipp Bodnar on compelling B2B creative and quick business results | Modern Marketers

   This week on Modern Marketers, Kipp Bodnar, CMO of Hubspot, joins Google's Joshua Spanier to discuss how to make B2B marketing creative better, how to convince your CFO it's OK not to attribute 100% of your marketing spend, and the importance of taking risks as a leader. Hear how Hubspot has built out its marketing team, approaches growth opportunities, and about Kipp's experiences from his days as an early employee at Hubspot to now.

10. 

    S1 · E6 · 21 Aug 2024 · 30 min

    Colgate-Palmolive CDO Brigitte King on Creating a Test and Learn Culture and Being Courageous

    On this week's episode of Modern Marketers, Colgate-Palmolive's chief digital officer Brigitte King joins Google's Joshua Spanier and Bethany Poole to talk about her core leadership principles and how the brand adapts to ever-changing technology curves. Brigitte shares the five P's that have guided her through her career, how she upskilled her entire organization to be digitally fluent, and the importance of a leader allowing room for experimentation — and sometimes failure.