On Episode 20 of BRITE Ideas, JP and Matt interview Kabir Ahuja '03SEAS '08BUS (Senior Partner, McKinsey and Co.) and Eric Sherman '20SPS (Knowledge Expert, McKinsey and Co.). The conversation delved into a wide range of areas from the role and relationship of the CMO within the C-Suite, leading brand and growth strategies, how AI is affecting organizations and society, marketing's unique potential to harness genAI, and the talent management issues that come with a rapidly changing world landscape. Enjoy!

On Episode 19 of the BRITE Ideas podcast, Matt speaks with Eric Siegel '93SEAS '95GSAS '95SEAS '98GSAS '98SEAS (ah, the multiple degrees that accumulate during a custom-designed PhD effort), former faculty at Columbia University, and author of Predictive Analytics and, his latest, The AI Playbook.

At the core of the conversation is Eric's reminder that traditional AI/ML efforts -- "predicting who will click, buy, lie or die," etc. -- are highly effective and still underutilized AI tools within organizations. The hype of generative AI is certainly warranted, but Eric is eager to help the data scientists and managers of organizations learn together a business framework and paradigm so more established predictive AI models move beyond testing and into production. Common misunderstandings about the true predictive accuracy of AI are discussed as well as the vital role of ethical reviews of model use. In particular, Eric highlights how important it is to avoid using models that create higher false positive rates and thus deny or penalize groups without just cause.

On Episode 18 of BRITE Ideas, JP and Matt speak with Andrew Winston '99 (author, "Net Positive" and "Green to Gold") about the challenges and opportunities for business and society to tackle climate change. Challenged by Andrew to reverse the "can business really be sustainable and profitable" conundrum, the episode dives right into the need to broaden what is valued by business and society and to price environmental effects into business decision-making. Details of the shared responsibilities for businesses, governments, and individuals are also outlined during the robust discussion.

On episode 17 of the BRITE Ideas podcast, JP and Matt speak with Allen Adamson (Co-founder of Metaforce; author of Seeing the How) and Amy Fuller (board director and former Chief Marketing and Communications Officer of Accenture) about how to better define personal branding to advance you career. The pair discuss the innate tensions around the need to be findable in a platform age, how to balance consistency and complexity, and how to build a reputation alongside a personal story.

In this episode of the BRITE Ideas podcast, JP and Matt speak with Kaaren Hanson (Chief Design Officer, Consumer and Community Banking, JPMorgan Chase) who shares her insights and actions of a systems-thinking approach to design truly great customer experiences. Hanson notes that organizational silos are still a major hurdle to brands developing truly great customer experiences, and she shares some structural and motivational steps she has taken at Chase to better connect the data and creative executions on experience in the hopes these can inspire other organizations.

On Episode 15 of the BRITE Ideas podcast, Matt and JP spoke with Leland Maschmeyer and Brian Collins, co-founders (and CEO and CCO respectively) of COLLINS. The pair dive deeply into the necessity of uniting business models, consumer behaviors and attitudes, and strategic foresight with design to effectively communicate the now and future vision of any brand. In particular, they highlight the value of building a great product from which all the value-based and brand identity considerations can then follow. They also highlight the need for global businesses to focus on regenerative practices to balance the inevitable tensions between growth and environmental and social sustainability.

In Ep. 14 of BRITE Ideas, JP and Matt speak with Helen Edwards (Co-founder, Passionbrands) on her latest book From Marginal to Mainstream: Why Tomorrow's Brand Growth Will Come from the Fringes - and How to Get There First. Things kick off more broadly around the challenge to focus marketing around both reach and meaning which the assessment that most people do not really "love" brands. Then the episode dives into how to analyze marginal consumer behaviors with foresight techniques to get hints at what might become mainstream. This process can than create opportunities for brands and businesses to harness consumer-driven innovation. [NOTE: Helen's latest was published by Kogan Page, a supporter of the BRITE Ideas podcast.]

On this Episode of the BRITE Ideas podcast, JP and Matt interview Marissa Freeman (CMO, Union Square Hospitality Group) who discusses the unique customer experience Danny Meyer created first with Union Square Café and which now encompasses entertainment, hospitality, and entrepreneurial lessons as the brands within the USHG portfolio continue to grow. [NOTE: This episode was first recorded in 2021.]