Photo: Forbes

This year, chief marketing officers were tasked with much more than navigating their own companies out of the Covid-19 crisis: They assisted with vaccine marketing and distribution, addressed politics and other issues, including racism and climate change, and pushed for innovation ranging from e-commerce and new content platforms to adopting emerging technologies and complying with data privacy.

According to Forbes, their pool of candidates was drawn from more than 500 CMOs and brands from across a wide range of Forbes lists and external lists such as the World Federation of Advertisers and the Brand Finance Global 500. Candidates that were considered had to be active and in their role from at least January through May of 2021.

The top 10 honorees for 2021 are also more diverse: 6 are people of color or women. Overall, this year’s list of CMOs includes 28 women and 22 men.

Below, you’ll find a list of 5 of the top marketers, along with brief summaries a few of the things each has done in the past year.

1. Bozoma Saint John

Title: Chief Marketing Officer

Company: Netflix

Many chief marketing officers have personal brands that are often attached to the company they work for. Bozoma Saint John’s brand goes far beyond Netflix, where she became CMO a little more than a year ago. In her first year at the streaming giant, she’s led a wide range of creative campaigns including a stunt for the premier of the series Money Heist, in which the company cut off fans from the internet to prevent them from sharing spoilers, reported Forbes.

Photo: blackenterprise

Prior to joining the streaming service in June 2020, Saint John led marketing at Endeavor, Uber and Apple Music. In January, she taught a weeklong virtual class at Harvard Business School about the power of authenticity. Saint John has also been a leader on issues related to diversity and equality. Last summer, she worked with Glennon Doyle and dozens of other celebrities on a collaborative campaign called #sharethemicnow to amplify Black voices across a wide range of white women’s Instagram accounts. Next year, she’ll publish The Urgent Life, a memoir about how losing her husband to cancer in 2013 had changed her outlook on life and the struggles that she faced along the way.

2. Stephanie McMahon

Title: Chief Brand Officer

Company: WWE

Think sports-entertainment is a man’s world? Stephanie McMahon will make sure you think again.

McMahon’s only daughter, Stephanie has been bossing WWE’s most powerful men around since she was old enough to form coherent sentences. As one of the principal owners of WWE and the company's Chief Brand Officer, however, she does a lot more than just talk. She’s proven herself to be a force with which to be reckoned both in and out of the ring. After all, how many of CableFax’s "Most Powerful Women in Cable” are also former Women’s Champions?

Photo: WWE

Born into the sports-entertainment industry, Stephanie first got in on the family business by modeling Rockers T-shirts in the WWE Shop catalog when she was still in middle school. By the time WWE’s “Attitude Era” had taken pop culture by storm, the youngest McMahon was caught up in a rivalry between her father’s Corporation and The Undertaker’s wicked Ministry of Darkness. She might have appeared overwhelmed at first, but within months of her debut, Stephanie wed her father’s rival, Triple H, and orchestrated a takeover of WWE, cited WWE.

Away from the swirling action of TV, Stephanie continues to play an active role in the community as a firm supporter of various charities as well as a strong advocate for the Be a STAR anti-bullying campaign. Whether inside the squared circle or a WWE boardroom, she's never at a loss for enthusiasm. WWE may have been considered a man's world at one time, but Stephanie continues to be a woman firmly in charge.

McMahon has also led cross-company collaborations. To help Netflix promote its Army of the Dead show, WWE had zombies circle the ring and become part of the show. And earlier this month, the WWE partnered with Connor’s Cure and The V Foundation to raise money for fighting pediatric cancer. She’s also helped the Ad Council with its vaccine marketing including PSAs for people to learn more about their options for getting vaccinated.

3. Dara Treseder

Title: Global head of marketing

Company: Peloton

Dara Treseder is a business leader with expertise in building and leading high performing global marketing, communications, and commercial organizations. Dara is currently SVP, Head of Global Marketing & Communications at Peloton, the world’s largest interactive fitness platform. At Peloton, Dara sets the strategy and goals for Peloton’s marketing efforts to build the Peloton brand and drive the company’s growth and international expansion. She also oversees brand & strategic marketing, consumer insights & strategy, communications, and creative.

Photo: adweek

A veteran chief marketing & communications officer, Dara was previously the CMO of Carbon and the CMO of GE Business Innovations & GE Ventures. Earlier in her career, she led marketing and growth efforts at Apple and Goldman Sachs, according to Blackexec.

Dara has received several awards and industry recognition for her work. She was recognized by Forbes as one of “The World’s 50 Most Influential CMOs,” by Silicon Valley Business Journal as one of Silicon Valley’s “Top 40 leaders under 40,” by AdWeek as one of the “Women Trailblazers,” by Business Insider as one of the “Top 25 Most Innovative CMOs in the World,” by AdAge as one of the “Women to Watch,” and by Inc. magazine as one of the “30 Inspirational Women to Watch in Tech.”

A champion of public health, women’s issues, and diversity initiatives, Dara is the Vice Chair of the board of the Public Health Institute (PHI). Dara also serves on the board of PG&E. Dara graduated cum laude from Harvard University with highest honors in the field and holds an MBA from Stanford University.

4. Raja Rajamannar

Title: Chief Marketing & Communications Officer and President, Healthcare Business

Company: MasterCard

Photo: Brand Week Istanbul

When MasterCard debuted its “True Name” credit card last year, allowing trans and nonbinary customers to display their chosen names on credit cards, the company had a hard time finding bank partners. However, Raja Rajamannar moved forward with the product, which has since become a massive success both for MasterCard and for inclusive efforts that extend far beyond the brand itself. Rajamannar—who sits on the board of the World Federation of Advertisers and the Association of National Advertisers—has also been outspoken about the need to combat online hate speech and other issues facing internet platforms.

Rajamannar, who become MasterCard’s CMO in 2013, has a long track record of embracing new technologies while also looking for ways to incorporate purpose-driven efforts into the company’s marketing and other areas. Earlier this year, Rajamannar also wrote his first book, Quantum Marketing, which calls marketers to take on a new mindset that embraces new technologies while also more quickly adapting to modern consumers, cited Forbes.

5. Nick Tran

Title: Global Head of Marketing

Company: TikTok

Photo: Business Insider

As head of marketing at the hottest social network in the past few years, Nick Tran is in charge of helping TikTok grow its already rapidly growing user base while also helping the company built out its advertising business in a way that’s effective for businesses but relevant for finicky Gen Z fans. In May, TikTok ran a monthlong campaign celebrating small businesses, and earlier this month it debuted a new Creator Marketplace API that lets influencer marketers access first-party data. And earlier this month, TikTok announced it was now attracting more than 1 billion users a month—a major milestone for any social network.

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