Melissa Sierra

expert panel

Now that Google is indexing Instagram content, the borders between social and search have been redrawn, turning visually led, storytelling-driven posts into searchable assets. What once existed solely within a brand’s Instagram feed can now appear alongside its most curated web pages, turning an educational carousel or a simple Reel into a potential driver of search discovery. This shift arrives as search behavior continues to transform. A 2024 Statista survey found that 46% of Gen Z respondents prefer social media to search engines to find information, showing that social content increasingly informs which products and services younger consumers find, trust and eventually buy. When Instagram posts meet users at the exact moment of intent, they become more than engagement drivers; they become micro-landing pages capable of pulling new audiences into your ecosystem. Even so, opportunity comes with strategic challenges. Optimize too lightly, and you miss the visibility gains. Optimize too aggressively, and you risk watering down the creativity and authenticity that makes social content worth engaging with in the first place. Here, members of the Senior Executive CMO Think Tank explore how brands can navigate this new search-social convergence, sharing their insights to help marketing teams rethink their approach to Instagram content.

expert panel

In the brand marketing world, there’s always been a scramble to catch consumers’ attention. In a digital marketplace, jostling for position takes place moment by moment, and finding a hook that grabs the audience can make a game-changing difference for both new and established brands. In this spirit, unlikely brand pairings are having a moment. Cross-industry collaborations are gaining momentum as brands look for fresh ways to earn new audience attention in an oversaturated market. A quirky matchup can spark curiosity, intrigue or delight—maybe even a viral moment. From beauty lines teaming up with cookie makers to fast food giants joining forces with toothpaste brands, the collision of categories is becoming a bona fide strategy rather than a passing stunt.  But as any CMO will tell you, “novelty” campaigns that catch fire quickly can also burn out fast. The marketing leaders of Senior Executive CMO Think Tank spend their days navigating the intersections of brand storytelling and customer psychology. They know that the real magic happens only when the bold and unexpected is grounded in something meaningful—alignment, authenticity and a reason for customers to care long after the initial surprise wears off. Here, a group of them share what it really takes to turn a head-turning partnership into an enduring marketing advantage.

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As bot networks swell and AI tools pump out endless content, it can be hard to separate genuine human input from digital noise in the bustling online marketplace. From fake followers to bot-created faux outrage campaigns, gauging whether your brand is sparking real connection or just attracting automated cheers (or jeers) has become a high-stakes challenge. It’s estimated that bots account for more than 50% of internet traffic—and they’re skewing marketing metrics in their wake. For marketing leaders, this distortion can create dangerous illusions. Dashboards can look healthy—even impressive—but surface-level performance numbers can mask genuine audience behavior, and relying on them can send teams chasing the wrong strategies, the wrong channels and the wrong assumptions about what’s working. Members of the Senior Executive CMO Think Tank emphasize that in a landscape where metrics can be manufactured and noise can mimic relevance, the real competitive edge comes from learning to listen more carefully. Here, they share tips on how to pinpoint authentic human engagement and focus on the signals that cut through the static rather than amplify it. 

expert panel

In recent years, several prominent brands have learned that marketing can misfire when it collides with consumer sentiment. Bud Light, American Eagle and Cracker Barrel, among others, have drawn public attention not for their creativity or ambition, but for misreading how audiences would react to “clever” campaigns or evolving branding. Even well-intentioned marketing or modernization efforts can alienate longtime customers if they believe campaigns aren’t grounded in authenticity and respect. For marketing leaders, these examples underscore the need for disciplined “backfire filters”—structured ways to assess cultural sensitivity, audience alignment and brand equity before campaigns reach the public. Here, senior marketing experts from the Senior Executive CMO Think Tank share how they would have approached the internal conversations surrounding recent “marketing misfires.”

expert panel

Google’s grip on how consumers discover information online may finally be loosening—and marketing leaders are taking notice. In a landmark antitrust ruling, the tech giant has been ordered to share search data with competitors and limit its exclusivity deals, signaling the first meaningful crack in its long-standing search dominance. Marketing leaders agree: This is not a narrow story about the future of Google, but an inflection point in how discovery systems are designed—and who controls them next. The ruling suggests marketers should revisit long-held assumptions about search channel dependency, audience access and the role of owned data and experience design in an increasingly open, multisurface search future.  Members of the Senior Executive CMO Think Tank have lengthy and wide-ranging expertise in brand storytelling, digital advertising and customer engagement. Here, three of them unpack what this shift means for brand visibility, customer acquisition and data strategy.