The CMO Hot Seat: Zoom's Kim Storin On 5 Major Challenges And How To Fix Them

One CMO, six experts, and more than a dozen different marketing headaches. Throw them all together, and what do you get? A fiery edition of Media Roundtable, that’s what.

Straight from Cannes, Dan Granger (CEO & Founder, Oxford Road) joins a panel of experts to solve every marketing challenge that Kim Storin (CMO, Zoom) throws their way. Hear insights from:

• Dani Feore (VP, Industry Sales, The Weather Company)

• Don Sklenka (SVP, AI Optimization, Claritas)

• Grace Briscoe (EVP, Client Development, Basis)

• Elizabeth Dobbs (AVP, Marketing Technology, Data & Growth, Databricks)

• Michael Bayston (Global VP, Adtech Solutions, Acast)

The team talks about the best way to spend $500,000; the creative courage needed in the age of AI slop; and the one thing you need to make podcasting your strongest channel. Let’s dive in.

“If you just try to make [podcasting] a box you check because you feel like it needs to be a part of a balanced portfolio, don’t bother. Either go big, or go home.” – Dan Granger (CEO & Founder, Oxford Road)

Take the $500,000 Challenge – You have $500,000 to spend on a test. What do you do with it? The group’s advice: 1) establish a baseline; 2) stop Facebook and Google from grading their own homework; 3) set up a strict control; and 4) make sure you actually stick to your recommendations. Without follow-through, that $500,000 will be wasted. For marketers who want to get the most from their money, their best bet is to have alignment on what that money should be doing before the spending begins.

“Get Serious or Get Out” – Marketers who get the most out of podcasting are the ones who put the most into it. Some marketers look at podcasting as 10% of their marketing spend, and therefore, only put in 10% (or even less) of the effort. That’s a shame, because they’re missing out. Brands like Shopify and BetterHelp didn’t scale podcasting by checking a box. They went all in, treating podcasting, and podcasting’s biggest fans, as worthy of outsized effort for outsized results. If you’re looking for a role model to inspire your podcasting campaigns, you’d do well to follow their lead.

Show Some Creative Courage – Marketers have two choices: They can play it safe by using AI slop, or by relying on ads that sound like every other ad. Or they can take big swings that could either fail or succeed spectacularly. Zoom had huge success with a killer influencer program that all started with a one-sentence brief. Good creative doesn’t need two pages of copy and brand guidelines. You just need solid measurement, and the courage to go where others don’t.

Want more answers to growth marketing’s hardest questions? Check out the full episode below.