Marketing Vanguard

What do agency leaders need right now? According to Ross Martin, maybe “a sanity check and a lobotomy.” Funny, yes. Also not entirely wrong.

In this special episode of Marketing Vanguard, host Jenny Rooney spotlights the launch of Adweek’s Agencies Vanguard program with three founding members: Jessica Henrichs, CEO of DonerColle Partners; Ross Martin, President of Known; and Chioma Aduba, President of Droga5. Together, they unpack why agency leadership has become one of the most complex jobs in business, why competitors need spaces for radical honesty, and why the future of agencies cannot be solved in isolation.

Jessica Henrichs is the CEO of DonerColle Partners and one of the founding members of Adweek’s Agencies Vanguard program. In this episode, she brings a clear perspective on adaptive leadership, the value of peer support and why agency leaders need to build belief through change rather than pretend they have every answer.

Ross Martin is the President of Known and a founding member of Agencies Vanguard. Known for his candid take on the agency industry, Ross brings a sharp view on the structural challenges facing agencies today, from outdated business models to the bigger question of what the industry wants to stand for next.

Chioma Aduba is the President of Droga5 and a founding member of Agencies Vanguard. In this conversation, she speaks to the value of transparency, cross-agency community and creating an industry that feels like it is in good hands for the next generation of creative talent.

What You'll Learn:

Why agency leaders need perspective, not just certainty
How leaders can build organizations that adapt through change
Why agency executives need safe spaces for honest conversation
How competitors can collaborate on shared industry challenges
Why agency business models are facing structural pressure
What diverse agency models can learn from one another
Why the industry needs to decide what agencies should be known for next

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Some of the biggest opportunities for marketing leaders exist in industries where marketing has historically had the least influence. In this episode of Marketing Vanguard, host Jenny Rooney sits down with Danielle Wuschke Paige, Chief Marketing and Growth Officer at Nixon Peabody, to explore what it takes to modernize marketing in a complex, relationship-driven industry. Danielle shares how her B2B and agency background prepared her for legal marketing, why trust and content matter more than flashy creative, and how she is evolving the function through stronger business strategy, thought leadership, and AI adoption.

Danielle Wuschke Paige is the Chief Marketing and Growth Officer at Nixon Peabody, an Am Law 100 firm with offices across the United States and internationally. She leads the firm’s marketing and business development organization, with responsibility spanning brand strategy, communications, client engagement, strategic pursuits, digital, design, industry marketing, and practice growth.

Danielle began her career in technology sales before moving into strategic marketing and then spending more than 15 years in the agency world, including leadership roles at FleishmanHillard and MSL.

What You'll Learn:

Why strong B2B marketing fundamentals can transfer across industries, even when the category itself is completely unfamiliar
How to turn marketing into a more strategic business function by helping stakeholders understand its impact on firm performance, reputation, and growth
Why legal marketing is content-first and how timely expertise can build trust with clients who want more guidance from their advisors
How to balance a law firm’s overall brand with the individual reputations of attorneys whose personal credibility often drives business
Why AI should enhance junior marketers rather than replace the foundational skills of writing, creative thinking, and communication

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What’s it going to take to build relevance in a brutal attention economy? In this episode of Marketing Vanguard, host Jennifer Rooney sits down with Jennifer Storms, Chief Marketing Officer of NBCUniversal Television and Streaming, to break it down.

Jennifer traces her path from Olympic dreams to sports marketing to PepsiCo to NBCUniversal, sharing how NBCUniversal thinks about brand salience across NBC, Peacock, Bravo and NBC Sports, why the Olympics needed to be rebuilt as a year-round franchise and how Legendary February turned three separate live events into one unified cultural moment.

Jennifer Storms is Chief Marketing Officer of NBCUniversal Television and Streaming, where she leads brand strategy, integrated marketing, media and consumer engagement across NBC, Peacock, Bravo and NBC Sports. Her career spans the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee, Turner Broadcasting, PepsiCo and NBCUniversal, giving her a rare perspective across sports, media, entertainment and consumer brands. At NBCUniversal, Jennifer focuses on building distinct brands, driving audience growth across platforms and turning major cultural moments into year-round franchises.

What You'll Learn:
Why a strong career north star should allow for strategic zigzags
How CPG experience shaped Jenny’s view of consumer behavior and brand building
Why brand salience matters when consumers have endless content choices
How NBCUniversal turns campaigns into year-round franchises
Why creators and athletes should be treated as storytellers, not just reach vehicles
How AI makes human storytelling and live experiences more valuable
Why live sports should be planned before, during and after the moment

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The best journeys have the most unexpected turns. That’s Sam Allen’s story, and he’s sharing it in this episode of Marketing Vanguard. Tune in as host Jenny Rooney welcomes Sam, CEO of Iterable, to explore how AI is reshaping marketing technology, the future of the CMO role, and why strategic focus beats market-wide expansion for high-growth companies navigating unprecedented transformation.

Sam Allen is the Chief Executive Officer of Iterable, a leading customer engagement platform transforming how enterprises leverage AI-driven personalization at scale. With nearly three decades of experience in technology, including prominent roles at Salesforce, where he managed a $100 million marketing technology budget and served as COO of the global marketing organization, Sam brings deep expertise in enterprise operations, marketing technology infrastructure, and strategic growth. His perspective on balancing human expertise with AI capabilities makes him a valuable figure in the marketing space, especially for senior marketers navigating digital transformation.

What You'll Learn:

How to position your company for a billion-dollar exit by identifying the right market conditions
Why CMOs should expand their seat at the table rather than pivot roles
The "Define the Moment" leadership principle and why it’s so important to move decisively
How to interrogate AI recommendations using human context and expertise
The verticalization and focus strategy for scaling
Why the future of knowledge work belongs to practitioners who become experts in AI tools

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Marketing Vanguard continues live from Cannes as Jenny Rooney hosts a special Adweek House conversation with Mainardo de Nardis, Global President and COO of Edelman and Rani Al Hajji, Chief Growth and Transformation Officer, Personal Care at Unilever.

This conversation cuts straight into one of marketing’s biggest modern problems: everyone has infinite opportunities, infinite channels and infinite reasons to do more. But the best marketers are not winning by doing more. They are winning by making sharper bets and doing less for more.

Mainardo de Nardis is Global President and Chief Operating Officer of Edelman, with deep experience across full-service marketing, PR, digital, media, startups, AdTech, MarTech and global agency leadership. His perspective centers on how brands earn relevance and trust in a world where attention cannot simply be bought.

Rani Al Hajji is Chief Growth and Transformation Officer, Personal Care at Unilever. With more than 25 years in marketing and consumer goods, including roles at L’Oréal, Colgate and Unilever across Europe, the U.S. and China, Rani focuses on redefining how brands create connection moments that matter. In this conversation, he brings that lens to Unilever’s personal care portfolio, cultural relevance and the FIFA World Cup.

What You'll Learn:
Why visibility is not the same thing as attention
How brands can move from attention to real engagement
Why saying no is now one of the hardest and most important marketing skills
How clear KPIs make distractions easier to spot
Why cultural relevance starts with knowing what each brand actually stands for
How Unilever is building around FIFA without buying its way into the moment
Why paid should amplify earned relevance, not replace it

This episode is part of a special vidcast series that was recorded live during Cannes 2026 and presented in partnership with Edelman

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