As marketing teams face mounting pressure to break through in a noisy, fast-changing world, the most successful leaders are doubling down — not just on innovation and performance, but on brand purpose. At a recent Marketers That Matter® Forum hosted by Lyft in San Francisco, four top industry leaders gathered for a powerful conversation on what it takes to build a purpose-driven brand in 2025.
Our expert panel included:
- Brian Irving, CMO at Lyft (hear more from Brian here)
- Erica Taylor, CMO at Genentech (hear more from Erica here)
- Meghan Gendelman, GVP Growth Marketing at Docusign
- Jake Miller, CEO & Founder at Fellow (hear more from Jake here)
They discussed how to define purpose in a strategic way that drives real innovation, why purpose-driven brands outperform competitors, what skills today’s modern marketers need to thrive, and the pivotal lessons they learned from their own career journeys.
The Power of Brand Purpose
One key theme explored how marketers can define and activate their brand’s purpose. Each speaker shared how their brand thinks about purpose — and how it goes beyond a mission statement or a slide in a deck.
“Our purpose at Lyft is to serve and connect,” said Brian Irving, CMO of Lyft. “And it’s not just a purpose that we throw out there to say, ‘Hey, someday we’re going to feel good about that.’ It informs how we think about product development, customer support, marketing strategy, and company decisions.”
For Jake Miller, CEO and Founder of Fellow, the brand’s purpose shows up in the smallest of moments. “We’re not just selling kettles,” Miller said of his coffee equipment company. “We’re selling the ability to turn routines into rituals. When someone makes a pour-over coffee with one of our products, we want them to feel like a barista. That’s the experience we’re creating.”
Meghan Gendelman, GVP of Growth Marketing at Docusign, tied purpose to practical decision-making. “I think about purpose a lot like values — and that it helps you make your decision points when you’re between a rock and a hard place,” she said.
Erica Taylor explained the importance of aligning purpose with action: “Purpose without strategy can lead to a lack of focus and discipline,” said Taylor, CMO of Genentech, a biotech company that develop medicines for people with serious diseases. “We had to ask, ‘What disease states are we going to focus on?
How Purpose-Driven Brands Perform Better
Throughout the conversation, the panelists shared how purpose drives results — not just values alignment.
At Lyft, Irving says that purpose has shaped tangible decisions, such as their price lock feature which allows customers to lock in a set price for a month at a time, which reduces stress and increases trust. “We knew the return to office was stressful,” he said. “We created a product that could remove friction and give a little peace of mind.”
For Docusign, building trust is central. “When I talk about Docusign and agreements, you have to trust your agreements,” Gendelman said. “We think about innovation, simplicity, and customer focus, but at the root of all of it is trust.”
Taylor added that Genentech’s marketing team must consider multiple audiences: “Our decision-makers and our end users are not the same people. If a provider only has 30 seconds to make a decision, and we walk in with our dissertation and perfect data — we’ve failed. We have to make it simple and relevant.”
Making Customer Obsession a Daily Practice
The leaders spoke about turning customer obsession into a working habit, not just a philosophy.
“We’re a massive real-time personalization engine,” said Irving, describing Lyft’s behind-the-scenes matchmaking between rider needs, pricing, card affiliations, and driver availability. “The tech works. But what does it feel like for the customer? That’s where we focus.”
At Fellow, Miller shared a unique tactic: placing a mannequin in their headquarters. Next to the mannequin is a manifesto that reads: “Hi, I represent your customers. I pay your paycheck. We only exist because of me.” He noted with a laugh that high fiving the mannequin is encouraged.
At Genentech, Taylor is working to overcome legacy mindsets by empowering the field team to surface insights. “We have thousands of conversations with customers across the country every day, but we don’t have a scaled way to learn from them. Now we are using new technologies and machine learning to start aggregating those insights.”
Gendelman highlighted how Docusign stays close to enterprise customers as their needs expand and evolve. “We’re building something not for where our customers are, but for where our customers are going to be,” she said. “The only way you can do it is by literally sitting with them and asking the questions.”
Lessons from the Top: Career Pivots and Advice
The session closed with candid career stories and pivotal moments from each speaker — underscoring that purpose is just as essential in individual careers as it is in brand building.
Gendelman shared how she pivoted to marketing after working in sales and enablement at Salesforce. “I wrote a four-sentence email that said, ‘I’m a pretty good public speaker, I know the pitch, and I almost never wear jeans,’” she laughed. “That got me 35 speaking opportunities in 40 days and ultimately changed my entire career.”
For Taylor, the leap from scientist to marketer came via an unexpected detour through sales. She noted it was the hardest job she ever had but it’s how she learned that if you want to drive change and sway people, you have to connect – not just be “accurate.”
Miller’s big move was the decision to launch Fellow. “The short-term risk was huge, but the long-term risk? Zero,” he said. “If it failed, I could go get a job. But if it worked, well, here we are.”
Irving encouraged marketers to embrace a mindset of openness and serendipity. “Just say yes,” he said. “That’s what brought me here from Flint, Michigan, to Lyft. I didn’t have a master plan. I just kept saying yes to opportunities.”
Leading with Purpose Means Leading with People in Mind
From defining purpose to unlocking growth opportunities, everything during the MTM Forum came back around to one thing: people. The event made clear that in today’s marketing world, purpose isn’t a tagline — it’s the engine. Purpose drives focus, builds trust, inspires teams, and creates the kind of human-first brands that matter.
About the Speakers
Brian Irving, CMO at Lyft
Brian Irving has more than two decades of technology and leadership experience across technology companies and household consumer brands. He has served as the CMO of Lyft since March 2024, while also leading iconic global brands including Meta, Eventbrite, Apple, Google, and Airbnb. He also previously served as co-CMO and VP of global digital marketing for Levi Strauss & Co.
As CMO at Lyft, Brian leads all marketing, creative, and communications for the brand. This includes developing the strategy for and executing on all product marketing; brand and integrated marketing; marketing sciences; the creative studio; brand social media; and corporate, policy, brand, and product communications. He holds a Bachelors of Arts in international relations from Michigan State University.
Erica Taylor, CMO at Genentech
Erica is Genentech’s first Chief Marketing Officer, covering Genentech’s full commercial portfolio, which contains more than 30 marketed medicines. In this role, Erica sets the vision, strategic enterprise leadership, and direction for the marketing function at Genentech. Erica has over 17 years of experience in the pharmaceutical/biotech industry and across a variety of different functions including Strategic Analytics, Sales, and Marketing. Immediately prior to her appointment, Erica was the Global Head of Oncology Strategy at Roche.
Erica received her BS in Biochemistry with Honors from the University of Michigan and her Ph.D. in Immunology from Stanford University School of Medicine.
Meghan Gendelman, GVP Growth Marketing at Docusign
Meghan Gendelman is a dynamic marketing leader with a passion for building high-performing, destination teams. With over 20 years of expertise in market strategy, brand positioning, and growth-driven marketing initiatives, she has a proven track record of executing strategic programs that engage customers, strengthen brand presence, and drive business expansion.
As the GVP of Marketing at Docusign, Meghan leads Global Field Marketing, Lifecycle, Campaigns, Events, Performance, and Marketing Operations. She is instrumental in expanding the company’s presence in the emerging category of Intelligent Agreement Management, shaping a global brand dedicated to sustainable growth. A strong advocate for diversity and inclusion, she also serves as the global executive sponsor of DocuSign’s Women’s Employee Resource Group, fostering a culture of empowerment and equity.
Meghan’s expertise spans field marketing, product marketing, demand generation, sales enablement, account-based marketing, digital strategy, public relations, and industry marketing—bringing a well-rounded, strategic approach to scaling business success.
Beyond her professional achievements, Meghan is a devoted mom to two amazing daughters, wife to an incredible partner, an avid traveler, high-heel enthusiast, and a passionate home chef.
Jake Miller, CEO & Founder at Fellow
Jake Miller is the Founder and CEO of Fellow, a purpose-driven brand on a mission to equip coffee lovers with the gear and guidance to transform daily routines into meaningful rituals. Inspired by his time at Stanford’s d.School, Jake embraces human-centered design to elevate coffee from a mere beverage to a cherished experience that fosters creativity, connection, and community. For him, designing in a space as personal as coffee is both a privilege and a responsibility—one that drives Fellow’s commitment to authenticity and innovation.
Forum moderator Kathy Hollenhorst is a Marketers That Matter® Advisor & Chief Community Officer.
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