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Marketing Brew

Coworking

Kelsey Sutton

marketingbrew.com

Each week, we spotlight Marketing Brew readers in our Coworking series. If you’d like to be featured, introduce yourself 

Avery Akkineni is chief marketing officer at VaynerX. She was previously president of Vayner3, a VaynerX consultancy, and she worked at VaynerMedia, where she established the agency’s capabilities in the Asia Pacific region.

 One that will always stand out is launching our APAC presence in 2019, initially in Singapore and subsequently in Bangkok, Tokyo, and Sydney. It was a whirlwind few years, and I’m so proud of the amazing culture, fantastic client roster, and culture-driving work we launched during those first few years. From global Olympics campaigns to winning Agency of the Year, it was a critical role for me and for VaynerMedia’s global expansion.

’s movie launch. I love everything about it. It didn’t feel like a campaign; it felt like a 

. The mix of strategic partnerships, unexpected collaborations, and user-generated content brilliance turned marketing into entertainment and made the internet the media plan.

One thing we can’t guess from your LinkedIn profile:

 I share a lot on LinkedIn, but one thing I don’t often share professionally is my renovation passion projects. On any given long weekend, I’m usually working on an interiors project—my favorite creative outlet that has nothing to do with the advertising world!

What marketing trend are you most optimistic about? Least?

 I’m most optimistic about live shopping. At VaynerMedia, we’re obsessed with finding “underpriced attention”—avenues where consumers are spending their time, yet marketing investment hasn’t caught up. We see live commerce as exactly this in 2025. While I was in Asia, we produced incredibly successful commerce-driving livestreams, but it took a few years for this behavior to make its way to the US. Now, we’re seeing this hit the US, driven by key platforms like TikTok and WhatNot, with some promising client results.

I’m least optimistic about the AI doom and gloom. There is a lot of negativity around the potential impact of AI in the world of advertising, and while it’s new and scary, the Internet was once new and scary. There of course will be some risk, but it’s important to embrace this shift, cultivate a growth mindset, and actively test and experiment with AI every day to unlock its full potential.

What’s one marketing-related podcast/social account/series you’d recommend? 

When it comes to marketing insights, I recommend 

. This show is hosted by former CMO of Procter & Gamble and industry legend, Jim Stengel, and in these weekly episodes, Jim sits down with marketing powerhouses from a wide range of industries as they unveil their career and personal journeys and give listeners an in-depth picture of what it takes to be a marketer. My favorite part is listening to each marketer’s personal journey and how no journey is the same.

. A cultural phenomena in the modern advertising world, the 

 team have really cracked how to capture people’s attention and provide industry news not only efficiently, but with incredible creativity and humor. Kudos to them for literally “breaking” through.

Coworking with Avery Akkineni

She’s CMO, VaynerX. 

Mayte Alquicira is marketing and operations manager, loyalty, at Cinépolis Cinemas USA, a luxury theater brand. She’s also worked as the brand’s guest experience manager and supported the brand’s expansion into international markets.

How would you describe your job to someone who doesn’t work in marketing? 

I help create emotional connections between moviegoers and our brand. My role is all about designing the journeys, from first visit to lifelong loyalty, that make people feel seen, valued, and excited to come back. It’s part storytelling, part strategy, and part data detective work.

Redesigning and upgrading our Cinépolis Rewards program. We took a deeply customer-centric approach grounded in data but brought to life through storytelling and emotional connection. It wasn’t just about points and perks; it was about building a loyalty experience that felt personal, rewarding, and human. The most fulfilling part? Seeing members reengage because the program finally spoke to what they actually value.

. It’s such a bold example of creative crossover: two seemingly unrelated brands coming together in a way that just works. That kind of surprise-and-delight moment is the best proof that when you understand your audience and have a smart creative team, the possibilities are endless. It’s the ultimate flex of efficient, unexpected brand synergy.

One thing we can’t guess from your LinkedIn profile: 

I’m a certified yoga instructor! Yoga keeps me grounded and teaches me to approach challenges with curiosity and compassion. I’m currently building an online yoga studio that blends movement with mindfulness, especially for people navigating busy lives.

What marketing trend are you most optimistic about? Least? 

I’m most optimistic about AI and personalization. When done well, it creates space for more relevant, thoughtful interactions that genuinely improve customer experience.

But I’m least optimistic about AI when it replaces rather than enhances the human touch. Brands risk becoming robotic and indistinguishable if they lose the heart behind the message. Efficiency shouldn’t come at the cost of emotional connection.

 on Instagram. It’s a quick-hit inspiration board for marketers. I also like the podcasts 

 with Guy Raz, which features real stories of entrepreneurs and the power of brand-building, and 

 with Robbie Kellman Baxter—I’m fascinated by subscription models, and this one’s full of insights. And while not directly a marketing podcast, 

 by NPR offers an incredible lens into how audiences perceive media—a great resource for anyone in entertainment marketing.

Marketing Brew Coworking series featuring Mayte Alquicira.

Coworking with Mayte Alquicira

She’s marketing and operations manager, loyalty, Cinépolis Cinemas USA. 

Daniel Pahl is partner, VP of growth at Chameleon Collective, a business consultancy. He’s consulted and served in interim executive roles for brands including Malin+Goetz, The Children’s Place, Lord & Taylor, New York & Company, Good American, Vera Bradley, and About-Face Beauty.

 It had to be a one-year engagement with Vera Bradley. The initial idea of the client was to mentor a rising star in the marketing team, with the goal of a director promotion. It evolved into a full recalibration of their digital marketing strategy. I was able to reverse the trend of continuous declining revenue for their online domain, which was a significant accomplishment, especially when juxtaposed against the downturn in their brick-and-mortar stores. The leadership’s endorsement was the icing on the cake, with them not only expressing satisfaction but also graciously volunteering to vouch for our expertise with potential clients. And most importantly, the internal candidate got a well-deserved promotion to director.

 My current favorite ad campaign is the Rocket Mortgage 

 with in-stadium execution and the follow-up on all marketing channels afterwards. This was a great, coherent execution that got a lot of people engaged and excited.

 I played semi-professional soccer (or as we call it, football) in Germany. I wasn’t going against Ronaldo and Messi in the Champions League, but I played midfield for a team called SG Bornim in Potsdam, where I’m from. Today, my athletic adventures mostly involve beach volleyball in sunny Southern California and playing with my dog, but if there was a starting XI for marketers, I think I’d still be on it!

I do think marketers are getting better at targeting the right people, and I’m optimistic that seeing truly irrelevant advertising on your social channels will soon be a thing of the past. I also think the days of getting a bunch of ads for the thing you just bought are ending. Technology is improving, and marketers are getting better at avoiding some of these common pitfalls.

As a contract CMO, one thing that continues to surprise me in a negative way is that too many companies simply don’t have good information on what’s working. They are focused on the wrong metrics, and their marketing strategies may be data-driven—but driven by bad data. When your reports are unclear or even worse, incorrect, it leads to poor decisions. Darts is a fun game but a poor marketing strategy, and too many companies with the resources to know better are unfortunately on a bad information diet.

 with Guy Raz. I love the comprehensive picture founders are painting, the challenges they were facing early on, and in every stage of the business. This helps me often when I talk to leaders to understand their struggle much better.

Coworking with Daniel Pahl

He’s partner, VP of growth at Chameleon Collective.

Nada Arnot is EVP of marketing at The Economist. She has also served in senior positions at the streaming service Britbox, AMC Networks, and Hearst.

In simplest terms, I help grow subscriptions to The Economist. And I do that in three main ways: One, making more people aware of our brand—especially those who are already interested in news and current affairs. Next, encouraging people to subscribe through digital advertising—like targeted ads on platforms such as Facebook or making sure we show up when people search on Google. And finally, improving how we spend our marketing budget—so we’re investing in the most effective channels to grow in a smart and profitable way. This means a lot of testing and optimizing of ads, messaging, and targeting.

 that started in 2014 really stands out for its emotional resonance, cultural relevance, and brand consistency. It took a common insult and reframed it, turning “like a girl” into a statement of strength—timely, meaningful, and perfectly aligned with Always’s mission to empower young women.

 You probably wouldn’t have guessed that I’m both an avid swimmer (swimming at least one mile several times a week) and an avid traveler (having visited 39 countries, many several times, and another 26 on my immediate must-travel list).

 I’m excited about the return to brand marketing. After years of prioritizing performance marketing at the expense of brand investment, more businesses are recognizing that the two aren’t mutually exclusive—they’re complementary. When done well, they work together to create a sustainable and powerful growth engine. What makes this especially promising now is that modern measurement tools—like media mix modeling, causal impact analysis, and brand lift studies—have made it far easier to measure and optimize brand investment than it was even a decade ago.

I’m more cautious about the changing nature of organic search, particularly with Google’s zero-click strategy and the rise of AI-powered search tools. These trends are eroding traditional SEO value by reducing the need for users to click through to publisher websites. This shift poses real challenges for content visibility and traffic, especially for high-quality, editorially driven sites.

 Substack these days. It provides short, snacky marketing advice both on consumer-facing strategies and on how to get buy-in when faced with internal stakeholder resistance.

Coworking with Nada Arnot

She’s EVP, marketing, The Economist.

Scott Morris is the chief marketing officer of Sprout Social. He has also served in senior marketing positions at Zendesk, where he was SVP, global marketing and acting CMO, and at Adobe, where he led product marketing for Creative Cloud and campaign marketing for Creative Cloud and Document Cloud.

 Certainly the most impactful was leading the product marketing team at Adobe when the company brought Creative Cloud to market. Adobe was the first large software company to turn its business model upside-down by going all-in on SaaS and subscriptions. We were on the front lines of this transformation, which was both exciting and terrifying, and occasionally met with customer apprehension. While it was the hardest project I’ve ever worked on, it had the biggest impact on my career and taught me invaluable lessons about navigating significant shifts in the industry and focusing on customer value.

. The tagline, “Murder Your Thirst,” is provocative and incredibly memorable, which sets the brand apart. I also like its strong focus on sustainability and how consistently innovative the brand is with collaborations and stunts. From its casket-cooler partnership with Yeti to the hot-fudge-sundae product and marketing collaboration with my favorite ice cream brand, 

, Liquid Death consistently pushes boundaries that align with the brand’s rebellious and authentic spirit. And the fact that they’ve achieved this level of visibility and virality without traditional paid advertising? That’s truly next-level marketing.

While I like to describe my first job out of college as “developing account-specific sales and marketing plans,” the reality is that I drove a gray minivan around South Florida trying to sell end-cap displays of faucets to plumbing department managers at Home Depot stores. Glamorous, it was not. But we all have to start somewhere, right?

 said in Coworking back in November: It’s clear we’re just seeing the beginning of creators becoming the new engine for marketing. The rise of the social-first customer journey, coupled with the creator economy and the impact of AI, opens up new opportunities, fundamentally disrupting many of our traditional approaches to marketing. I also love that owned media is becoming a bigger part of brands’ strategies, with companies investing more in building communities, blogs, newsletters, brand-owned podcasts, and video series to offset the ongoing challenges with traditional paid media.

And while I’m a fan of personalization at scale, hyper-targeted campaigns can cross the line and feel manipulative and invasive, eroding trust rather than building it. It’s important for brands to strike the right balance between relevance and respect, prioritizing transparency and consumer boundaries.

What’s one marketing-related podcast/social account/series you’d recommend?

 For marketing-related content, I highly recommend the 

 hosted by Benjamin Shapiro. I have a relatively short attention span, so long episodes don’t work for me, but this podcast breaks down complex topics into bite-sized segments—perfect for consuming actionable insights quickly. Ben is a great host, and his guests are other marketing leaders who always share valuable, real-world strategies for insights into consistent business growth.

Coworking with Scott Morris

He’s CMO, Sprout Social.

Christopher Carl is US head of marketing for AliExpress, where he has worked since 2023. He’s also worked at agencies like Pulse Advertising and BBDO Worldwide, and he co-founded the men’s skin-care line HeTime.

 One of my favorite campaigns to work on was our summer collaboration with the UEFA Euro 2024. As a German, I was particularly excited about leveraging soccer—the de facto national sport of Germany—to help grow the AliExpress brand in the US. It was especially rewarding to see how our campaign capitalized on the rising popularity of soccer in North America, reflected in the record-breaking Fox ratings for this year’s Euro, especially among the 18–34 demographic. One of the standout features was the real-time participation we offered fans through in-app sweepstakes during each Euro game. By shaking their phones right after a goal was scored, millions of our shoppers had the chance to win prizes worth millions of dollars. This initiative not only captured the excitement of the tournament but also exemplified how we’re redefining the shopping experience.

.” The campaign was not just iconic, but it was one of the first truly viral ad campaigns. It redefined how brands engage with their audience by merging traditional and digital media in an innovative way. The commercial was not just witty, unexpected, and visually appealing; it was also a fun, carefully crafted piece of content designed to be shared a million times over. It broke free from the traditional advertising playbook within the men’s grooming space, showing a more lighthearted and engaging side of the category that appealed to both male and female audiences. This ad was a major source of inspiration for me personally when I went on to co-found a men’s grooming brand in 2019.

What marketing trend are you most optimistic about?

 I’m particularly optimistic about the rise of interactive online shopping experiences that can make e-commerce more engaging and fun. Over time, online shopping has become routine, even mundane, and much of the magic of discovery and excitement that exists in real-life shopping has been lost. Marketers are working hard to bring that magic back through innovative, interactive features. AliExpress launched an in-app photo feature allowing users to snap pictures of objects in their environment and instantly find identical or similar items on our platform. The “Shake & Win” feature we introduced during our UEFA Euro Cup campaign brought an element of physicality to our app and tied the energy of live sports directly into the shopping experience. (We deployed the “Shake & Win” mechanism again during our Singles’ Day campaign, driving significant engagement and results.)

It’s an exciting time for the industry, and we hope to see more brands embrace the challenge of creating features that make shopping online more enjoyable. The key will be striking the right balance—launching innovations that are both genuinely useful and fun, without overwhelming or cluttering the user experience.

 The Marketing Brew newsletter! While I enjoy listening to 

 in the AM, I’d love a standalone Marketing Brew podcast as well.

Coworking with Christopher Carl 

He’s head of marketing, US, AliExpress.

Stephanie DiPisa is the founder and CEO of Solara Suncare. Prior to founding Solara, she worked with brands including Pampers, Hyatt, Gillette, and HP as a media and brand marketing strategist.

My favorite Solara project (outside of our brand launch) was formulating and launching our newest product, Good Karma, the first-ever mineral-only sunscreen body oil. We always put the customer at the center when we approach innovation, and this was the best example of that! There are so many products launching daily that are the exact same concepts in different packaging. We always like to create something with a twist of innovation that isn’t like everything [else], and to do that, we really listened to what our customer actually wanted and what they felt didn’t already exist. For over a year we heard that the only oil sunscreens on the market were chemical-based, and they craved the same luxurious experience but in a mineral-only sunscreen that feels (and smells) equally luxurious and is meant for sensitive skin. Taking on this challenge took us two years of pushing to innovate in both product and positioning, and the result was well worth it.

One of my favorite campaigns from the beauty industry was Rare Beauty’s “

.” This campaign launched during Mental Health Awareness Month, and addressed the global loneliness epidemic by encouraging genuine connections. The brand invited individuals to call a loved one or dial 877-HEY-RARE, a hotline featuring heartfelt messages from Selena Gomez and the Rare Beauty team. The campaign culminated in Rare Beauty’s Mental Health Summit, featuring a conversation with Selena Gomez and the US surgeon general. With nearly 10,000 hotline calls, the campaign spotlighted the importance of connection and mental health awareness, which I think is such an important topic today.

Another standout campaign that resonated with me was Dove’s “

.” This initiative marked the 20th anniversary of Dove’s iconic “Real Beauty” platform, and tackled the growing influence of AI-generated beauty standards. Dove pledged never to use AI to replace real women in its advertising, reinforcing its commitment to authenticity and self-esteem. As a mom of three teens, this topic really hit, and it’s great to see heritage brands calling it to light. A far distance from the beauty campaigns I experienced as a teen in the ’90s.

I’m a proud mom of three! Balancing motherhood and my career has shaped my leadership style in meaningful ways—from how I manage time to how I approach empathy and resilience. It’s the most demanding and rewarding role I’ve ever had—one that comes before anything else I do—and it inspires how I show up every day because I have three people watching my example and feeling the choices I make.

One trend I’m optimistic about is the rise of intentional marketing. Brands are leaning into storytelling that’s grounded in purpose, real people, and not perfection. Consumers today are craving transparency and real connection, and as a marketer at heart, I find that incredibly exciting. It’s less about polished campaigns and more about creating authentic conversations that meet people where they are, especially when it comes to wellness and skin care, which are so personal.

I’m a little cautious about trends that prioritize speed and virality over substance. It can be tempting to jump on every new tool or tactic—and hey, what brand founder wouldn’t like a viral sales moment?—but without a clear foundation or purpose, it’s easy for brands to lose their way chasing this. I believe longevity comes from consistency, which can sometimes be hard because it’s often a slower journey.

because it goes beyond surface-level business talk and unpacks the emotional, physical, and psychological aspects of leadership and entrepreneurship, which I think is often overlooked but crucial for anyone building and marketing a brand with a human-centric focus.