Featuring Preeminent Chief Marketing Officers Who Are Challenging The Status Quo To Create Lasting Impact
Netflix CMO Bozoma Saint John Tops 2021 Ranking
Chief Marketing Officers at the world’s largest technology, entertainment and fitness companies are among the executives that dominate Forbes’ 2021 ranking of The World’s Most Influential CMOs. Developed with research partner Sprinklr and data from LinkedIn, the ninth-annual World’s Most Influential CMOs list for 2021 provides a comprehensive look at the top 50 marketing leaders who are challenging the status quo, creating a lasting impact within business and culture, and disrupting their respective industries.
At the top of this year’s list is Netflix CMO Bozoma Saint John, who took the helm of Netflix’s marketing department last year following her leadership roles at powerhouse brands including Endeavor, Apple and Uber. Saint John is followed by Stephanie McMahon, Executive Vice President and Chief Brand Officer at WWE; Dara Johnson Treseder at Peloton, who climbed 20 spots since last year’s list to secure the No. 3 spot; and Raja Rajamannar, the longtime marketing leader at Mastercard. More than half of the honorees on this year’s list are women and around 20 percent of the list are CMOs who come from diverse backgrounds.
“With marketing, influence and attention are often related, making chief marketing officers mavens of both,” said Marty Swant, Editor, CMO Network at Forbes. “And during the Covid-19 pandemic, the CMOs on this year’s list have quickly embraced wielding both to navigate some of the biggest problems and opportunities facing businesses today. Whether they’re advertising vaccines, leading conversations around racial inequality, fighting climate change or keeping up with the pace of technological innovation, it’s no secret that influence is increasingly tied to far more than a company’s own objectives.”
“We are proud to partner with Forbes for the fifth consecutive year, highlighting the world’s leading marketers who unify customer experiences and have emerged across industries to be champions of the customer,” said Ragy Thomas, CEO & Founder, Sprinklr. “Congratulations to each of the 2021 Most Influential CMO honorees who are shaping the future of marketing.”
The volume of data analyzed was massive and included measuring 15 variables between July 1, 2020, and May 31, 2021. Sprinklr measured brand performance using its Benchmarking platform—a part of its overarching Modern Research Product Suite—to aggregate more than 4.5 billion brand-related social media shares, likes, retweets and comments. Sprinklr’s Insights Listening platform also analyzed CMOs’ personal influence based on an aggregate of more than 490,000 news, blog, Web and Twitter mentions about or from eligible CMOs. LinkedIn measured industry and internal influence by analyzing more than 6 million profile views and connections along with nearly 700,000 LinkedIn engagements.