Marketing success stories don’t typically happen overnight. They’re the result of sustained brand-building efforts mixed with just the right amount of performance marketing. While a new chief marketer can have an immediate impact, the effect they’ll have on a brand is often seen over time.

That’s why this year’s prestigious Brand Genius awards are honoring a group of top marketers who have delivered long-term success for some of the world’s leading brands. Adweek selected 11 marketing decision-makers across sectors like tech, entertainment, logistics, beauty and insurance. They’ve transformed their respective brands over the past five years, entering them into cultural conversations to strengthen existing relationships with consumers while also courting new ones.

For the first time, Adweek also honored a Lifetime Achievement Brand Genius winner, Julia Goldin, for her longtime success with The Lego Group. And we looked outside of the United States for this year’s Brand Purpose winner, finding CALM, a U.K. group behind one of the most stunning pieces of creative work in the nonprofit sector over the past year.

We also tapped research firm Brand Finance to evaluate our nominees to show long-term growth for their respective companies, across brand value—the present value of earnings specifically related to the brand—and the company’s overall enterprise value. Candidates needed to be able to show measurable results either through Adweek’s partnership with Brand Finance or through their nomination forms.

Adweek put growth at the center of this award, but also evaluated several other key factors like accountability—did the marketer’s organization make strides in DEI, sustainability and accessibility?—and innovation, to determine whether the honorees looked at marketing through a new lens and blazed a trail for others to follow. The year’s esteemed Brand Genius class did exactly that—and so much more. —Jameson Fleming

Marketing success stories don’t typically happen overnight. They’re the result of sustained brand-building efforts mixed with just the right amount of performance marketing. While a new chief marketer can have an immediate impact, the effect they’ll have on a brand is often seen over time.

That’s why this year’s prestigious Brand Genius awards are honoring a group of top marketers who have delivered long-term success for some of the world’s leading brands. Adweek selected 11 marketing decision-makers across sectors like tech, entertainment, logistics, beauty and insurance. They’ve transformed their respective brands over the past five years, entering them into cultural conversations to strengthen existing relationships with consumers while also courting new ones.

For the first time, Adweek also honored a Lifetime Achievement Brand Genius winner, Julia Goldin, for her longtime success with Lego Group. And we looked outside of the United States for this year’s Brand Purpose winner, finding a U.K. group behind one of the most stunning pieces of creative work in the nonprofit sector over the past year.

We also tapped research firm Brand Finance to evaluate our nominees to show long-term growth for their respective companies, across brand value—the present value of earnings specifically related to the brand—and the company’s overall enterprise value. Candidates needed to be able to show measurable results either through Adweek’s partnership with Brand Finance or through their nomination forms.

Adweek put growth at the center of this award, but also evaluated several other key factors like accountability—did the marketer’s organization make strides in DEI, sustainability and accessibility?—and innovation, to determine whether the honorees looked at marketing through a new lens and blazed a trail for others to follow. The year’s esteemed Brand Genius class did exactly that—and so much more. —Jameson Fleming

Photography by Hayley Benoit

Photography by Hayley Benoit

Julia Goldin
Chief product and marketing officer, The Lego Group

Lego’s willingness to pivot and reinvent itself for 91 years has helped make it one of the most beloved brands in the world. It has also been the guiding principle for Goldin—Adweek’s first-ever Brand Genius Lifetime Achievement honoree—who has led the brand for the past nine years. Through her work at Coca-Cola, Revlon and now Lego, she has spent her entire marketing career making all the pieces fit perfectly.

Photography by Hayley Benoit

Photography by Hayley Benoit

Julia Goldin
Chief product and marketing officer, The Lego Group

Lego’s willingness to pivot and reinvent itself for 91 years has helped make it one of the most beloved brands in the world. It has also been the guiding principle for Goldin—Adweek’s first-ever Brand Genius Lifetime Achievement honoree—who has led the brand for the past nine years. Through her work at Coca-Cola, Revlon and now Lego, she has spent her entire marketing career making all the pieces fit perfectly.