Insights from Sangeeta Prasad, CMO of Slalom

Welcome to this episode of the Advertising and marketing Vanguard podcast. In the present day, Jenny Rooney speaks with Sangeeta Prasad, chief advertising and marketing officer at international enterprise and know-how consultancy Slalom, about her distinctive journey from basic shopper merchandise advertising and marketing to B2B transformation management. Sangeeta shares her experiences transitioning from well-established manufacturers like P&G, American Categorical, and JPMorgan Chase to changing into the primary CMO at skilled companies companies.She explains why she calls herself a “advertising and marketing evangelist” reasonably than only a marketer, emphasizing her position in changing organizational skeptics into believers. The dialog explores the distinctive dynamics of B2B advertising and marketing versus B2C, notably in skilled companies the place belief, credibility, and relationships are paramount.Sangeeta’s earlier expertise consists of main advertising and marketing at Russell Reynolds, an government search agency. Her profession started in basic shopper advertising and marketing with vital roles at P&G, American Categorical, and JPMorgan Chase. She holds an MBA from Chicago Sales space Enterprise Faculty.Episode highlights: 02:12 — The Advertising and marketing Evangelist Philosophy: Sangeeta explains her distinctive perspective on the CMO position: “I’m a advertising and marketing evangelist reasonably than only a marketer as a result of I do consider that we’ve got to be evangelists to transform the skeptics in our organizations into believers, and that’s one thing that I take quite a lot of pleasure and keenness in doing.” She emphasizes that B2B organizations typically have sturdy gross sales cultures that may be skeptical of promoting’s worth, requiring CMOs to actively exhibit advertising and marketing’s partnership position reasonably than alternative perform.08:34 — From Value Middle to Income Generator: Sangeeta discusses a vital organizational shift at Slalom: “At Russell Reynolds, I used to be in the price heart. At Slalom, we’re now within the buyer group. So we’re the income group. Every little thing we’re doing is with the lens of ‘how a lot are you producing?’” This transfer from being seen as a price heart to being a part of the income group essentially modified how advertising and marketing is perceived and what it will possibly accomplish, together with a lot nearer collaboration with gross sales groups.12:09 — The “Fiercely Human” Differentiator: Sangeeta explains Slalom’s distinctive positioning: “We’ve got this factor referred to as a buyer love survey that we do yearly to inform us what our prospects consider us. I don’t know every other firm that measures buyer love. And love is a really deliberate phrase there as a result of we actually need the journey to be joyful.” She describes how this emotional connection interprets to sensible enterprise outcomes, with prospects typically expressing real disappointment when initiatives finish and powerful word-of-mouth suggestions.19:13 — AI’s Speedy Transformation of Advertising and marketing: Sangeeta addresses the unprecedented tempo of change: “Advertising and marketing is already being disrupted by AI. It’s not a future factor. It’s occurring immediately. I’ve by no means seen issues change this quick. And my greatest problem is getting my group to maintain tempo with the change that’s occurring.” She emphasizes that AI enhances reasonably than replaces advertising and marketing judgment and technique, however requires a learner mindset to harness successfully.25:20 — 2026 Priorities: Trying forward, Sangeeta outlines two key focus areas: “One is personalization at scale. I feel AI is permitting us to do issues that we couldn’t do earlier than. The second half is round gross sales and advertising and marketing. In B2B world, we’re on separate prepare tracks. I would like us to grow to be one prepare observe with one prepare in order that we’re really working synergistically collectively to ship outcomes.”