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- CMO Moves September Summary
September brought in 46 new CMOs worldwide: 26 men vs. 20 women. A rare month, in fact, where the men outnumbered the women. Not something we see often.
Internal promotions, as is typical, were few and far between, with just 7 CMOs rising from within. The vast majority, 39, were hired from outside - companies are still looking for fresh eyes and ears rather than familiar faces.
Encouragingly, 21 of the appointees are stepping into the top marketing seat for the first time, although, reflecting a very conservative hiring environment only 3 made the leap from entirely different industries: our so-called “industry travellers,” crossing sectors with passports in hand. A clear signal to those considering an industry pivot, unfortunately.
Geographically, the U.S. saw 27 appointments spread across 11 states. Hiring remained steady, no major spikes or dips. But it was Europe that livened things up: 6 new CMOs in the UK, 2 each in France and Germany, and one in Sweden. Elsewhere, Australia and India each added three new names to the C-suite, with Hong Kong and Saudi Arabia adding one apiece.
In short, while the U.S. keeps a steady hand, it’s the global markets that are shifting gears.
On the industry front, tech continues to lead the pack in CMO demand, no surprise there. Retail followed with 8 new hires, while both Professional Services and Financial Services brought on 7 each.
Tech: 14
Retail: 8
Professional Services:7
Financial Services: 7
CPG: 3
Restaurants: 2
Media, Sports & Entertainment: 2
Construction: 1
BioTech, Pharma, Healthcare: 1
Hotel and Travel: 1
Three of this month’s hires caught our attention: not because of where they landed, but because of what their roles signal. One’s a cult brand going national. One is cooling off after a hype-fuelled run. And one is a niche favourite testing the mainstream waters. Different categories, same through-line: these brands are betting on marketing to do more than just make things look pretty.
WAWA
Wawa, the Mid-Atlantic’s beloved coffee-and-hoagie machine, is scaling nationally and hiring with unmistakable intent and discernment. Doug Martin lands after nearly 20 years at General Mills…brands like Cheerios, Old El Paso, Yoplait, and Progresso have run through his hands, and he has a record of turning habitual products into cultural touchstones. Now, Martin steps into a newly re-centered CMO seat to anchor Wawa’s ambitious growth spurt: 1,800 stores by 2030, hundreds in new states, and a leadership bench freshly reorganized to separate brand and merchant muscle.
This is a scale-up. Wawa is rich in affection but not yet in systematized, repeatable growth. I’ve watched him speak. Martin’s approach starts with one hard question:
What behavior are we trying to change, and why would anyone change it?
Once that’s clear, AI, loyalty, adtech, and martech have a place, but all are secondary to the human insight. It’s the operating system for everything else: laddering coffee, breakfast, lunch, and snacks into a portfolio story; designing occasions at store level; and tuning loyalty, not to discounts, but to real shifts in customer habits.
Get the narrative right, and growth follows. Wawa just brought in an operator who knows the difference between chasing demand and creating it.
BUMBLE
Bumble has filled its marketing leadership after eight months with the chair empty and a year of mounting user fatigue. Neela Pal, just promoted to CMO, finds herself at the crossroads of narrative and numbers: a new campaign in market which I caught at the airport in Chicago “For the Love of Love,” all sincerity and spotlights on real couples, which marks a shift away from last year’s snark and sarcasm. Pal’s imprint is evident in the new safer, hopeful, grown-up tone, aiming to win back hearts more than swipe counts.
Internal context underscores the turnaround: Whitney Wolfe Herd returned as CEO in March, June brought layoffs, and 2025’s cost reset has forced Bumble to get lean and move faster. Revenue has slipped, seniors across global integrated marketing, app user acquisition and product have departed, and the global dating market is as bruising as ever. Pal’s hybrid of client- and agency-side mileage suggests Bumble’s next phase will bring tighter briefs, faster cycles, and less drama. The charge: rewrite a stalled story by reopening the funnel, using trust and optimism to drive growth while product work continues behind the curtain.
TONIES
Tonies, the kids’ audio box, is a small product with a big ambition: beat the iPad at bedtime. The box blends toy-collecting with parent-approved storytelling, creating not just a product, but an ecosystem of rituals. With Brian Johnson, straight from Rivian, Tonies gets a leader who knows how to build emotional resonance in categories where hardware usually gets all the credit.
This isn’t a brand awareness problem; it’s about systemizing a winning niche so it can go mainstream without losing the charm that made it a hit. Johnson’s playbook should focus on escalating the collectability loop, perfecting retail-ad crossover (every ad is a store, every store is an ad), and making loyalty marketing feel like a nudge, never a push.
Personal note: Like many GenX kids, I was a Star Wars figurine hoarder. I don’t have a dog in the kids’ toy race now (fur babies only!) but the hooks Tonies is using the magic of tangible, collectible storytelling - are timeless. The real challenge? Scaling up while keeping the magic. I remember Mattel had some bumps.
If you made it this far, you now know that Wawa, Bumble, and Tonies each sit at a different point on the brand lifecycle…but they all share the same bet: that when the moment gets existential, it’s the CMO who changes the plot. In a fall flush with a chaotic macro, data and churn, story is still the lever that moves markets.
CMO EMPTY SEATS
While some CMOs are settling into new desks, others are heading for the exits, leaving marketing departments in temporary limbo.
Tammy Henault is exiting the NBA after 3 years as CMO. For now, a group of senior marketing leaders will steer the ship in her absence.
Marcus Denison-Smith has left Honest Burgers after 3 years in the top job. He’s now plotting a new venture, armed with experience from both Caffè Nero and Honest.
Adam Harter has stepped down as CMO of LIV Golf just 16 months into the role, shortly after former commissioner Greg Norman’s departure.
Anna Törnebrant will be leaving her post as CMO of Swedish CPG firm Midsona by February 2026, moving on to a new opportunity outside the company.
Lisa Gurry, co-founder and CMO of Seattle health startup Truveta, is stepping away to join biotech firm GeneDX as Chief Business Officer. She was instrumental in Truveta’s rise to unicorn status and previously held leadership roles at Microsoft.
CMO ASCEND
Not everyone’s bowing out - some are levelling up, trading CMOs for even loftier titles.
Pandora’s CMO Berta de Pablos-Barbier is set to take the reins as CEO in March 2026, following the retirement of Alexander Lacik.
Taco Bell has expanded Amy Ellis’s role from International CMO to Chief Marketing & Strategy Officer International, adding strategy to her plate.
Soyoung Kang, previously CMO and innovation lead at eos Products, has been promoted to President. She’ll now oversee everything from P&L to performance, while continuing to steer marketing and ecommerce as the brand rides a wave of double-digit growth.
Paid subscribers to CMO Ladder can explore the full roster of 46 CMO moves from September, plus 328 earlier this year and another 310 from 2024 - yes, we’ve been keeping count.
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