Adweek’s Shannon Miller, managing editor of creativity, creator economy and DEI, is departing the company and moving to independent Toronto-based creative agency Courage to take the role of executive director of development, a new position at the agency.

In her new role, Miller will be responsible for helping Courage communicate its vision both internally and externally, from press to new business, as the agency continues its growth in North America.

“My main goal and mission is to help the agency tell its story both within and outside of the work it produces,” Miller told Adweek. “My biggest job will be to enhance all of that through comms and branding and help the world see them as the natural storytellers that they are.”

Courage was founded in 2022 by former partners at celebrated Canadian agency Rethink, Dhaval Bhatt and Joel Holtby. The agency is backed by No Fixed Address, along with co-founders Dave Lafond and Serge Rancourt, and it is the latest addition to the North American independent marketing collective that also includes New York creative agency Mischief @ No Fixed Address. The agency already counts CIBC, KFC Canada and Nescafe Canada as clients.

“From our very first call, we knew that Shannon would be a great fit at Courage,” Bhatt said in a statement. “Not only does she have an incredible resume and a finger placed firmly on the pulse of the industry, her positivity and get-it-done attitude is absolutely infectious.”

This is Miller’s first time working at an agency, but at Courage she saw an opportunity to learn from some of the best creative minds in the industry who have a passion for the work.

“For a while, it was fashionable to be self-deprecating about working in advertising. We’re slowly getting over that as an industry, but getting to know Dhaval Bhatt, (president and partner) Niki Sahni, Joel Holtby and (CSO and partner) Tom Kenny has really driven home what it means to thoroughly love what you do and what this industry has to offer,” said Miller.

Miller came to Adweek as creative and inclusion editor in 2021 from the A.V. Club, where she was news editor. She quickly established herself as a valuable asset to the Adweek team as a journalist, editor and host of the popular Yeah, That’s Probably An Ad podcast and the founder of the Off Madison podcast and platform, telling the stories of the industry disruptors who redefined advertising and put DEI on the map. She also had an ease as a moderator and host, interviewing celebrities and executives alike while giving the audience plenty of insight.

Prior to Adweek, Miller was a freelance entertainment and cultural criticism writer, as well as the CEO and editor in chief of the Nerds of Prey podcast.

Miller said she initially came to Adweek because she was ready to explore other facets of journalism and creativity.

“Working at Adweek has allowed me to build a credible platform and spotlight the changemakers who are pushing this industry forward. I got to figuratively and quite literally travel outside of my comfort zone and relearn who I was as a writer, editor, interviewer and knowable figure in this space. I couldn’t be more grateful for that,” said Miller.

She leaves Adweek with these parting thoughts: “It’s hard not to develop a little bit of imposter syndrome as an Adweek writer because you are amongst some of the best journalists this business has to offer. I got to count myself amongst some of the most brilliant talents in the field and call them colleagues. Now they are my friends, and that’s something I won’t ever take for granted,” said Miller.

Chief marketing officers may not always like to admit it, but there’s something borderline mystical about their craft.

What, for example, makes someone who’s been perfectly happy buying her parents’ favorite pasta sauce for the past 20 years decide one day to put a rival brand in her shopping cart? What combination of factors went into her making the switch?

Did the competing pasta sauce debut a funny TV commercial? Did it introduce an unusual flavor? Offer a coupon? Did her parents say something disappointing last weekend?

In a sense, the mysterious aspect of why consumers do what they do gives CMOs some cover. They can claim credit when sales go up. They can boost their status with a LinkedIn post announcing they’ve won an award for their bold creativity.

During bad times, however, this ambiguity can work against them. Unable to explain how their ad dollars are benefiting the business, marketing budgets get slashed. Members of the board might encourage them to write the next chapter of their careers elsewhere.

There are, of course, strategies to diminish the chances of this happening.

Consider recent figures from market research firm NewtonX, which surveyed 50 CMOs at U.S. companies of various sizes across several industries in January.

When asked which departments would be among the first to see their budgets shrink if their company decides to pull back on spending this year, 66% of participants said marketing. Information technology (40%) came in second, followed by operations (26%) and human resources (26%).

Why do marketers think their work is the least difficult thing for companies to reduce in size and scope?

Their top response: “ROI on marketing can be hard to ‘prove’ or ‘define.’”

That’s a rather alarming admission. Plenty of CMOs, it seems, have trouble defending their department because they can’t demonstrate how their team generates revenue.

Procter & Gamble chief brand officer Marc Pritchard acknowledged the issue not long ago, arguing that the famous quote attributed to John Wanamaker—“Half my advertising is wasted; the trouble is, I don’t know which half”—is still valid today, more than a century after he allegedly uttered it.

Chief executives are also aware of the problem.

Last year, full-service independent ad agency Boathouse Group commissioned a survey asking CEOs to grade their CMOs on a variety of topics. Most respondents gave their top marketer a B on overall performance. More CEOs handed out Cs than As. Questions about a CMO’s ability to drive growth and translate company objectives into marketing goals also received mixed reviews.

It’s not a strong sign that marketers deserve more money and resources, especially when facing a potential recession.

Ways to resist

For CMOs willing to put up a fight, there are options.

First, experts advise marketers to think and speak like a CFO. Get comfortable with financial metrics. Embrace the jargon. Document where each ad dollar is going and be ready to answer why it’s going there.

Second, tell a compelling story based on data. Examine historical periods that resemble the present and study statistics that point to a likely future. And remember: The intended audience here is the CEO and CFO, who may not care about popular marketing KPIs, such as brand awareness or social engagement.

All that said, additional numbers from NewtonX show that while many CMOs expect economic uncertainty to continue throughout 2023, only one-third anticipate they’ll receive a smaller budget than in 2022. A quarter of marketers estimate their budget will remain about the same as last year, while 38% believe they’ll get increased funding.

“Marketing budgets are not decreasing across the board,” said William Lee, manager of strategic insights and analytics at NewtonX. “Not all CMOs are in panic mode.”

Ultimately, there are many tools and platforms to connect marketing activities with sales lift. It’s not a completely unintelligible exercise that’s all art and no science. Patterns do emerge. But the aim in defending budgets is to persuade those who control them.

Mindshare North America CEO Amanda Richman is leaving the media agency, effective immediately. It is unclear what prompted her sudden departure.

Employees learned of the leadership change via an email sent today by Mindshare global CEO Adam Gerhart. Adweek obtained a copy of the email, whose subject was simply, “Leadership change at Mindshare North America.”

“While we are disappointed to see her go, we are grateful for the contributions she made to our company and wish her all the best in her future endeavors,” it read in part.

A Mindshare spokesperson confirmed the change to Adweek but declined to comment further on the news. Richman had been Mindshare’s North America CEO for almost two years, after succeeding Gerhart when he ascended to his current role.

Gerhart and McDonald seek a new CEO

The email assured Mindshare employees that the remaining leadership team has the “knowledge and experience” to lead the company in Richman’s absence. It confirms those leaders are now searching for a new chief executive.

Gerhart and GroupM North America CEO Kirk McDonald are assuming interim leadership responsibilities and signed off on the email to employees.

Richman took the North America CEO role at Mindshare in 2021. Before that, she had a long career as a practitioner within Time Warner Inc. and later at MRM Worldwide. She eventually led Wavemaker in the U.S., and was president of investment, activation and PMX innovation at Starcom.

During her time at Mindshare, the agency won the Discover Media review. Also, last year, it reached the top of COMvergence’s new business rankings list.

Marketers on the Move is an ongoing monitor of the new roles being taken on by marketers as they advance their careers around Europe. We look at who is going where and to do what for which brand, as we keep you up to date with the latest hirings across the region.

Check back each day to find out the latest marketing moves taking place across Europe.

If you have a marketer appointment within Europe, contact stephen.lepitak@adweek.com for it to be featured here.

Hobbyist brand Fanatics Collectibles, which designs, manufactures and distributes trading cards, has hired Red Bull’s evp and chief marketing officer Ken Turner to lead its brand strategy and marketing.

Fanatics Collectibles, which acquired trading card brand Topps last year, creates cards for sports properties including MLB, the NBA, and the players associations of MLB, the NBA and the NFL.

Turner, who takes on the newly created role of chief marketing officer, will be tasked with overseeing the brand vision, strategy and marketing across the company’s entire portfolio of physical and digital collectibles. He will report to Fanatics CEO Mike Mahan.

The aim for Turner will be to support the company’s efforts to engage more fans to become trading card collectors, working closely with partners across sports leagues, athletes and creators to develop campaigns, activations and experiences across the marketing and advertising strategy.

“As our collectibles business continues to see enormous opportunities for growth, I’ve been focused on building out a world-class team to execute our vision for delivering the best collector experience possible, bringing more fans into the sector and creating truly connective moments across culture and sports,” Mahan said in a statement.

“Marketing the category is one of our highest priorities, and I couldn’t think of a better fit to lead this effort than Ken, given his incredible track record and expertise that perfectly aligns with our business goals,” he added.

Turner joins from Red Bull North America, where he spent more than eight years and was responsible for directing innovative programming to create experiences for consumers, spectators and audiences. Prior to that, he spent a decade at SC Johnson, rising to senior director of marketing brand management.

“Our business sits at the intersection of sports and culture, with an enormous amount of passion from the collecting community,” Turner said. “The combination of those factors opens abundant possibilities to not only enhance the collector experience today, but to grow the category overall, bring in new audiences and build cultural relevance through unique experiences that we’re perfectly positioned to deliver to fans.”

Marketing leaders are experts at juggling competing priorities. At any given time, there are dozens of big ideas and business demands vying for space on our to-do lists. But when done right, working toward multiple goals shouldn’t scatter your focus.

This year will be about understanding your customers on a granular level you may not have explored before. It will require getting comfortable with generative AI and automations, with an eye on how these tools can extend the work of your team members. And the most successful marketers will be those who democratize data across their teams, nurturing baseline understanding of the numbers and encouraging debate about their findings in service of marketing innovation.

Honing in on just three key practices can make an outsized impact on KPIs across your business. Here’s what will differentiate great marketing from best-in-class in a climate like no other. 

Harness your current customer base

You just acquired a wave of new customers at your Q4 peak—and those shoppers brought with them a fresh batch of data. It’s time to jumpstart those long-term relationships and create new loyalties, right?

As marketers, we’re often wired to chase new customers, both off- and in-season. Even though acquiring a user can run your company several times the cost of retaining one, many teams continue to spend a disproportionate amount of time measuring acquisition at the expense of tracking current customer engagement. 

This year, put communication—and revenue growth—with current customers at the forefront of your strategy, looking at acquisition as a secondary KPI. Setting this priority in Q1 allows you to leverage insights derived from your holiday acquisition data to upsell and increase retention. Start by getting granular on your data: You likely already have a handle on who’s buying your products or what triggers are most likely to result in a sale. Go beyond basic buying behaviors to understand and build on usage patterns.

One option is to compare the activities of your broader customer base with those of your best customers, looking for commonalities and challenging your assumptions. At Mailchimp, for example, our highest growth customers tend to use Customer Journey builder automations, which can help generate up to four times more orders than bulk email, or predictive segmentation, which can help marketers achieve up to 88% more revenue. Seeking look-alikes for those high-value customers at earlier stages, we can tailor educational content to encourage active use of those features—ones we know will drive growth for their business and in turn drive growth for ours. 

When you intimately understand your current audience, you empower your team to retain and expand it with precision and insight. 

Unlock personalization with automations and AI 

Just a few years ago, marketing teams were far more limited by bandwidth and budget when it came to personalizing campaigns. Consider a marketer looking to reach 20 different types of consumers at five different points in their journey: The task would have required creation and coordination of hundreds of assets, campaigns and measurement points—not to mention the time to analyze and act on the results. Plenty of target segments had to be left behind in the name of focus and efficiency. 

Today, with the likes of GPT-3 technology for text generation or automated email journeys and webhooks for timely contact, you can connect with consumers individually like never before. Think of artificial intelligence and automations first and foremost as enablers of personalization at scale.

Imagine you’re a direct-to-consumer specialty foods brand selling products with whole, natural ingredients. The same item might appeal to folks following vegan, paleo or keto diets—as well as those who don’t adhere to a single diet at all. To maximize your sales, you would market that product a little bit differently to each group. With a single input and an understanding of your various target audiences, ChatGPT or other generative AI tools can draft dozens of versions of the same message, each optimized for a specific audience, without exponentially increasing your team’s workload.

Segmenting and automation can deliver those targeted messages effortlessly and at just the right time, all based on real-time actions and data integrations. A travel booking company might use tags and automated email journeys to upsell customers with trip insurance or to offer timely, specific packing tips to ensure a great trip. They can offer additional excursions or remind customers to make restaurant reservations, increasing share of wallet through the journey. These workflows run on their own, proactively generating sales and increasing customer satisfaction while freeing up marketers to focus on big-picture strategy.

As you plan your resources, consider how you can implement technology to execute the what and free up your teams to focus on the why. By equipping your team with the advantages of automations and AI as a baseline, they can more effectively focus on the strategies that will differentiate your brand in the marketplace.

Make data hacking a team sport 

Data-backed marketing is table stakes. It’s no secret that following the numbers will lead you to faster growth and stronger brand loyalty. But to let data lead the way effectively, make structured debate a fun, gamified weekly ritual.

On our team, we bring marketing, business analytics and finance together weekly around a consistent scorecard. Using provocative hypotheses, engaging in passionate debates, everything is fair game. “Stupid questions” are common and welcome—and often, they’re not so stupid at all. The data always tells a story, and we find the most trajectory-changing information comes when we go beyond the obvious and take time to ask how others see the numbers differently.

This practice has yielded simple, immediate wins, like updating landing page copy for an immediate rise in conversion rates. It impacts long-term strategy, too, as we continue to analyze new user behavior and consider what innovative solutions we might offer to help marketers see results faster on our platform.

When you encourage unconventional and investigative thinking around a shared set of facts, you ignite bold experiments with outsized impact. Normalize debate and curiosity, and follow the outcomes to exciting results.

However you choose to implement them, these three principles all serve a common goal: to increase your ROI and deepen your customer connections without increasing your workload. Digging into first-party data allows you to be precise and efficient both in retaining customers and acquiring new ones. On a more human level, it allows you to get better acquainted with their specific needs, offering the opportunity to create compounding value. Setting aside time after your peak season to analyze behavioral data—and then, to create automated workflows that leverage the insights—will save you time and resources all year.

With an inquisitive, collaborative approach to customer data, you can empower teams to innovate based on the numbers, testing their theories and collecting immediate wins. You can foster a culture that balances short- and long-term growth, making real-time adjustments as the landscape changes. And you can continue to build on your success—or as we like to say on our team, “beat our best, together.”

In a game of executive musical chairs, Dana Walden made her first big moves as head of the company’s TV networks since CEO Bob Iger’s return.

Earlier this month, Walden was upped to co-head of the entertainment group alongside Alan Bergman, and she’s wasted no time executing her leadership vision.

Firstly, the Mayor of TV is getting more real estate. John Landgraf, chairman, FX content and FX productions, is adding National Geographic and Onyx Collective to his purview.

Meanwhile, Simran Sethi is taking on a bigger role as evp of programming and content strategy for ABC Entertainment and Freeform programming, now combined under one executive.

It’s a homecoming of sorts for Sethi, who helped launch Freeform. Tara Duncan, who previously headed up the network, will shift her focus solely to Onyx, which Walden noted in an internal memo is a major priority for Disney.

Courteney Monroe, president of content for Nat Geo, will remain in the role and now report to Landgraf, as will Duncan. Monroe will now oversee Nat Geo’s digital footprint and magazine alongside its original content strategy.

Craig Erwich has been upped to president of Disney Television Group, adding responsibility for the development and programming of Disney Channel and Disney Junior. Ayo Davis, president of Disney Branded Television, will continue to report to Erwich.

While Walden’s leadership team remains intact, the new structure follows Iger’s rapid dismantling of the Disney Media & Entertainment Distribution group and the exit of Kareem Daniels.

See Walden’s full memo below:

Dear Colleagues, 

Since the announcement of Disney Entertainment, I’ve spent time thinking about how to organize my team in a way that will enable me to focus on my newly expanded role, in partnership with Alan. I will continue to rely on the same incredible leaders who have delivered hit after hit onto our platforms and into our rich library, but have made some changes to our structure, which are outlined below:

• Onyx Collective remains a huge priority, and as its impressive roster of creators and series continues to grow, Tara Duncan will now focus exclusively on Onyx.
• National Geographic Content recently earned its third Oscar nomination and has attracted some of the biggest stars to its impressive slate of series and doc films. Courteney Monroe will now oversee all aspects of the brand, including its digital footprint and iconic magazine, along with its original content strategy.
• Tara and Courteney will now report directly to John Landgraf, combining the strength of three prestigious brands.
• As Tara’s focus shifts to Onyx, Freeform programming and development will be combined with ABC Entertainment, and Simran Sethi will oversee both. This represents Simran’s return to a brand she helped launch. She will continue to report to Craig Erwich.
• Over the past six months, Ayo Davis and Craig have worked together very successfully on Disney Branded Television streaming originals. Ayo will continue to report to Craig for streaming, and now that structure will expand to also include the development and programming of Disney Channel and Disney Junior.
• Debra OConnell, who recently joined my leadership team, will continue to oversee networks and ABC Owned Television Stations, and will add research, labor relations and TV business operations to her purview.
• Disney Television Studios will remain under Eric Schrier, who will expand his responsibilities to include our global original television strategy, working closely with our talented regional leaders.

Great stories are the lifeblood of our company, and I will remain deeply connected to the creative side of our business. As we begin our new chapter together, I have the utmost confidence in this team of proven and formidable leaders. I am very grateful to Bob for reuniting and realigning our company in such a meaningful way.

I want you all to know how much I appreciate your passion and your pursuit of excellence, which will be key to our success in the months and years ahead. 

Warmest regards, 

Dana

There has been a shakeup at the top of the R/GA leadership team, as the IPG agency elevated Tiffany Rolfe to chair of R/GA. The news comes as CEO Sean Lyons departs the agency for Accenture Song, where he will take on the newly created role of global capabilities lead.

Robin Forbes, currently global chief client officer at R/GA, will step up to become interim CEO at the agency. Rolfe and Forbes will both report to IPG CEO Philippe Krakowsky.

Rolfe adds to her position as global chief creative officer and expands her responsibilities to include company vision, culture and business leadership as chair of R/GA.

“I wish Sean all the best in his next opportunity and I’m proud of what we have built over the last five years—during a time of tremendous change for the industry and the world,” said Rolfe in a statement. I’m honored to take on the additional role as chair and build on the recent changes that we have begun to implement with our new ‘Distributed Creativity’ model. In partnership with Robin and the rest of our terrific leadership team, we will continue to define an exciting future for our clients, and for R/GA.”

Sean is a formidable force and someone I have admired professionally for a long time.

David Droga, CEO of Accenture Song

Rolfe joined R/GA in 2018 as U.S. chief creative officer. In 2020, she was named global CCO. Rolfe previously spent over six years as partner and creative lead at consultancy Co:Collective, and prior to that, she was at Crispin Porter + Bogusky in Miami, Los Angeles and Boulder. Rolfe is on the board of One Club for Creativity, the Ad Council’s creative committee and Meta’s creative council.

Forbes, who was named global chief client officer last year, has held a range of leadership positions during his nine years at R/GA. He’s been responsible for growth, operations, and new business development for some of the agency’s largest clients, including Verizon and Samsung. He also served as managing director of the agency’s New York office, after which he went on to oversee the company’s U.S. region.

Lyons will lead Accenture Song’s global capabilities and be responsible for elevating the creative output at the consultancy as well as its design, technology, communications and intelligence capabilities.

“Sean is a formidable force and someone I have admired professionally for a long time. He’s as talented and relevant as he is humble and sincere,” said David Droga, CEO of Accenture Song said in a statement.

Lyons will report to Droga and join Accenture Song’s global leadership team. He will be based in New York City. 

“We thank Sean for his leadership and commitment to shaping R/GA into the recognized leader it is today and wish him well going forward,” said Krakowsky in a statement. We’re also very much looking forward to supporting Tiffany, Robin and the leadership team at R/GA as they continue to define what the future of marketing can look like with work that creates valuable human experiences and taps into the potential of emerging technologies for a great portfolio of clients.”

R/GA has been through numerous changes over the last year. In June 2022, the agency laid off about 5% of its New York office. In November, the agency announced that it was closing its Hudson Yards office space in New York City as well as its office space in downtown San Francisco as part of a larger restructuring, moving away from its city model in the U.S. and implementing a country model with five disciplines powering the business. In December, the agency promoted Shannon Washington to chief creative officer in the U.S. R/GA was also named creative AOR of Mattress Firm.