In a world where consumer attention is fragmented and brand loyalty is harder than ever to earn, marketing leaders are finding success by reimagining their approaches from the ground up. Four visionary marketing executives shared their strategies for creating lasting brand connections at a recent Marketers That Matter® Forum hosted by Sephora in San Francisco.
Our expert panel included:
- Zena Arnold, CMO, Sephora U.S. (hear more from Zena here)
- Fabiola (Faby) Torres, Global CMO, Gap (hear more from Faby here)
- Julia Chen Davidson, Global Head of Marketing, Lingo by Abbott (hear more from Julia here)
- Nii Mantse Addy, CMO, Philo (hear more from Nii here)
The leaders revealed how they’re navigating today’s complex marketing landscape with creativity and purpose. Here are insights and actionable advice from the wide-ranging conversation:
Crafting Distinctive Brand Narratives
Each executive shared their unique perspective on forging meaningful brand connections that transcend traditional marketing.
Sephora’s approach involves extending in-store experiences to broader audiences through multiple touchpoints. U.S. CMO Zena Arnold described the company’s foundational value proposition: “We have this experience where we welcome everyone to the world of beauty,” Arnold said. “It’s really all about the expertise we show and sharing that with the community. Those who’ve been to a Sephora store know it’s a very fun environment. We encourage play.”
Arnold explained that Sephora uses a full-funnel marketing approach while expanding into partnerships and content creation, including women’s sports sponsorships and music citing a Hulu series titled “Faces of Music.”
For Gap, Global CMO Faby Torres said the challenge involves honoring heritage while being culturally meaningful. “This is a beloved brand that we have to respect and honor, but we must push it to be relevant,” she said. Torres then described Gap’s reconnection with its musical DNA, bringing a cappella TikTok creators into campaigns. While it’s critical to maintain and expand cultural relevance, she emphasized that product quality remains fundamental: “Everything starts and ends with the product.”
For Lingo by Abbott, the challenge is introducing consumers to an entirely new product category. Julia Chen Davidson, Global Head of Marketing, explained that Lingo is Abbott’s first over the counter continuous glucose monitor designed for people who are looking to improve their overall health and wellness, providing real-time body data to help people establish healthier habits.
Davidson outlined the brand’s multi-pronged brand strategy: “We’re really focused on education, relatability and accessibility, and achieving cultural relevancy.”
Nii Mantse Addy, CMO of Philo, said the streaming TV service has differentiated itself through a human-centered approach in a tech-dominated industry. “Part of our job is to get out of the way and let people get their content,” Addy said. “And part of our job is saying that we really care about what you like, and we’re painstakingly trying to give you the best experience possible.”
Building Transformative Brand Alliances
The panelists noted that strategic partnerships are powerful tools for brand building, though success depends on authenticity and alignment.
Philo learned valuable lessons about partnership alignment early on. Addy recounted how an initially promising retail partnership fell short when the retailer treated what Philo saw as a key strategy as merely an R&D project.
“It’s kind of like dating; you want to make sure you’re interested in each other for the same reasons, and have core value alignment,” Addy advised. This prompted Philo to redirect retail partnerships toward TV manufacturers, where strategic goals naturally aligned.
Gap approaches partnerships as an ignition point. Torres described them as “the cherry on the cake, not the cake,” explaining that Gap launches partnerships quarterly, using each activation as a “thermometer” to gauge consumer response.
For Sephora, Arnold identified two essential components for meaningful partnerships: shared values and distinctive activation. She highlighted Sephora’s partnership with Unrivaled, a new professional women’s basketball league created to provide WNBA players better compensation and opportunities in the off-season.
“The whole ethos of it is that we want to bring more equality to sports,” Arnold explained. She emphasized that partnerships must go beyond surface-level brand integration. “It’s always good to have your logo out there, but for it to really be meaningful and to get great results, you need authentic activation as well,” she said.
Lingo’s partnership with Serena Williams and Alexis Ohanian exemplifies content-led collaboration. Davidson described the “Spike Sessions” series, which featured the couple wearing Lingo sensors while enjoying memorable meals from their relationship history, allowing viewers to understand glucose monitoring in an engaging, relatable context.
Mastering the Social Media Ecosystem
Social media has transformed marketing, with each brand finding distinctive approaches to engagement.
While many brands claim to be “social first,” Torres noted that it requires constant commitment: “You have to learn how to be imperfect and raw, spontaneous and organic – every day.”
For beauty brands, social media’s impact has been particularly transformative. “Social has been the number one thing that has grown the beauty industry in the past 10 years – just the sheer amount of content and influence on beauty.” Arnold explained that Sephora’s social approach pivoted toward entertainment several years ago, focusing on content that brings brand benefits to life and entertains their audience.
Lingo’s strategy for a novel medical device centers on authentic advocacy. Davidson described the brand’s selective product seeding program, which focuses on quality over quantity, providing in-person onboarding with nutritionists and only continuing relationships with genuinely enthusiastic users.
For Philo, social platforms serve multiple strategic functions. “It’s a Swiss army knife in the sense that you can do paid media on it, your influencers are there, it’s a customer support channel, and it’s also what’s happening in the world,” he said. “It’s a user sentiment, analysis tool.”
Gap has benefited significantly from organic user-generated content, especially on TikTok. Torres said the best things leaders can do is give their social media teams a real sense of freedom, creativity and empowerment.
Designing Next-Level Customer Connections
Creating lasting engagement requires thinking beyond transactions to build deeper customer relationships.
Sephora’s loyalty program is a foundational element of the marketing strategy, with 44 million members. While competitors might focus tightly on discounting, Arnold explained that the brand has chosen a different path: Sephora focuses on exclusive access, product discovery, and unique experiences which differentiates their program in the competitive beauty space.
For Lingo, engagement centers on demonstrating tangible value. “Ninety-five percent of users have reported having made a healthy habit change because of Lingo,” Davidson shared. The approach emphasizes product efficacy, community building, and word-of-mouth referrals rather than traditional loyalty incentives.
Gap manages multiple loyalty initiatives, including rewards programs and credit cards, with some customers maintaining relationships for decades. Torres explained that they’re reimagining these programs for today’s expectations: “We live at the intersection of fashion and entertainment. And what else can we give them? It’s access to certain events, and access to certain things that is beyond the product that they buy.”
Philo focuses on customer retention and loyalty through the incentive of legacy pricing. Subscribers who joined at the original $16 rate maintain that price, even though new customers pay $28. “People don’t want to cancel because they don’t want to lose their price,” Addy said.
Revitalizing the In-Person Experience
Despite digital acceleration, physical retail remains a critical touchpoint. The in-store experience continues to fundamentally shape brand perception. “The majority of how people think about your brand when you have a retail presence is their experience at that retail presence,” Arnold said. She emphasized that Sephora drives store traffic by marketing in-store services, such as foundation shade matching and beauty advisor expertise.
Gap is revitalizing its retail environments, starting with the Flatiron district store in New York. Torres described how they’ve created heritage walls showcasing Gap’s history since 1969 and themed destinations throughout the store. She emphasized the crucial role of staff in bringing the brand to life: “Store staff are ambassadors, and if they don’t love the brand, and if they don’t love what they’re selling, you can walk away with nothing.”
Harnessing AI’s Transformative Potential
Each brand is exploring AI applications, though with varying approaches and priorities.
Gap has established a dedicated AI office working alongside their tech team. Torres said the current focus is on practical applications like e-commerce product outfitting and site optimization rather than more creative use cases.
Sephora has begun with back-office implementations but is looking toward more strategic applications. Arnold articulated her forward-looking perspective: “Where I am looking forward to getting to is how you actually use it to drive growth and deeper relationships with your consumers and customers. Or finding new trends in the marketplace or in the environment that you can tap into earlier.”
Philo sees particular promise in personalization at scale. Addy said his team is using AI for customer segmentation while exploring synthetic data to test audience preferences more efficiently.
Navigating Career Evolution in Marketing
The executives also shared personal insights from their professional journeys to help guide marketers at all career stages.
Addy’s path from finance to marketing demonstrates the importance of aligning career choices with personal passions. “I worked in a job where it had a lot of financial benefits, but it was soul crushing for me,” he recalled. “I didn’t have strong opinions because I really didn’t care at the end of the day. I got into marketing because I had to align my professional trajectory with where I was passionate, and that’s allowed me to accelerate, succeed, and exceed.”
For Davidson, marketing’s multifaceted nature requires continuous skill development. She encouraged marketers to seek out mentors with complementary expertise: “If you’re on the performance side and you want to understand creative, seek out someone who’s really good at creative and brand and pick their brain and shadow them.”
Arnold highlighted how different organizational environments provide distinct learning experiences. She contrasted established “academy companies” offering structured training with high-growth organizations focused on rapid experimentation: “Think about getting different types of experiences in your career, not just in a different industry or company, but different profiles of companies and environments.”
Torres shared wisdom gained from transitioning from a long Nike tenure to roles at Apple, PepsiCo, and now Gap. She said there’s a rejuvenating power in new challenges: “Curiosity doesn’t have an age,” Torres said. “Curiosity doesn’t get old; it’s timeless. Don’t stay too long in your job or in the same industry, because you’ll start getting a little too comfortable,” she said.
The Future of Marketing Excellence
The Forum revealed a central truth in today’s over-messaged world: the brands that win aren’t just telling their stories louder – they’re telling more compelling stories in more interesting ways. Whether it’s building purpose-driven brand narratives, forging authentic partnerships, navigating the evolving social landscape, or integrating emerging technologies, success demands both forward-thinking innovation and a return to fundamental human connections.
As Torres put it: “Be present, be curious, be hungry.”
About the Speakers
Zena Arnold, CMO at Sephora U.S.
Zena Arnold is the Sephora U.S. Chief Marketing Officer. A seasoned marketing executive, Zena is responsible for building Sephora’s brand and creating differentiated and unique marketing touchpoints – from communications, media, and creative, to loyalty, promotions and operations – that cater to Sephora’s diverse beauty community. Additionally, she also serves on the Operating Committee for Sephora.
Zena leads Sephora’s marketing organization, that thrives on pioneering new marketing innovations and making clients’ beauty journey with Sephora as personalized and memorable as possible, utilizing her passion for beauty and purpose. Under her direction, Sephora continues to cultivate and expand upon its world-class loyalty program, with more than 40 million Beauty Insider members; grow the brand’s online community, which currently has 50 million fans across its social platforms; and bring the brand to life at SEPHORiA, the company’s immersive consumer-facing beauty experience and largest event of the year. Through her curiosity, digital expertise, and collaborative approach, Zena has garnered success in building and growing brands and driving initiatives that reach clients.
Prior to joining Sephora, Zena held various leadership positions for large, global consumer brands, like, PepsiCo, Kimberly-Clark, Google, Kellogg’s, and Procter & Gamble. Zena attended The Ohio State University, where she received her B.S. in Computer Science. She currently lives in San Francisco with her husband, son, and cats.
Fabiola Torres, CMO at Gap
Faby Torres serves as the Chief Marketing Officer of Gap brand, where she leads all marketing functions, creative, visual merchandising and retail marketing for the global brand across stores and online. With over two decades of experience, Faby is dedicated to connecting Gap to key drivers of culture: music and fashion. Since joining Gap, she’s spearheaded campaigns and collaborations including ‘Get Loose’ and ‘Give Your Gift’, bringing together relevant talent to showcase their originality.
Before joining Gap, Faby held senior leadership roles in renowned global brands including Nike, Apple and PepsiCo, where she spearheaded successful marketing campaigns, enhanced brand loyalty, and executed innovative strategies to expand market reach across global markets. Her expertise spans a variety of sectors, blending consumer marketing with forward-thinking, data-driven digital approaches.
Julia Chen Davidson, Global Head of Marketing, Lingo by Abbott
Julia Chen Davidson is the Global Head of Marketing for Lingo, Abbott’s groundbreaking, direct-to-consumer biowearables division. She is responsible for setting the go-to-market strategy and building the brand for Lingo, overseeing a global marketing team across product marketing, brand, growth, creative, operations, and research & insights.
Julia joined Abbott from Google, where she most recently served as the Global Head of Brand and Integrated Marketing for Google Shopping, and was also part of the executive leadership team that launched Google’s voice-enabled hardware portfolio. Julia has a background in management consulting and worked with Fortune 500 companies on new product launches and business model transformation. Her work has driven both market leadership and new revenue streams and has also been recognized by creative awards from Clio, D&AD, and Webby. She holds an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and a BA from Harvard.
Nii Mantse Addy, CMO at Philo
Nii Mantse Addy is an executive leader recognized for driving transformative business strategy to position companies for breakthrough success in highly competitive tech environments. He has played a key role at the intersection of media and technology having driven revenue growth, expanding markets, and scaling businesses.
As CMO at Philo, a modern, live television streaming service, Nii is key in commercializing the business that offers top rated channels and a growing library of content on-demand. By focusing on the customer and offering an uncomplicated service, he drove subscription volume from launch and positioned Philo as the fastest growing live television service during the pandemic based on gross subscriptions. Nii is a member of the executive leadership team and holds P&L responsibility for both the core and transactional video businesses. As corporate strategy lead, Nii stewards development of the M&A philosophy and cultivates value enhancing opportunities. He is currently managing the comprehensive integration process and future business strategy for a recently acquired transactional video business.
Previously, for Comcast’s Strategic Development Division, he served as the Co-Head of Marketing for global free-ad-supported streaming television. He designed a customer acquisition framework with retention strategies and product features that resulted in explosive growth in customer conversions. During his tenure, Nii also earned an ADDY award and an Emmy nomination for work on the “Us Against the World” docuseries. Prior to Comcast, was a Management Consultant for Deloitte Consulting and Deloitte Digital focused on marketing and digital strategy for global Fortune 500 technology companies. His dual career focus in new technology and media began at NBC Universal as a Digital Media Analyst where he advanced the cross pollination of TV and social media ecosystems. He started his career as a Municipal Financial Advisor (Investment Banking) with the PFM Group, the leading independent financial services firm specializing in large-scale municipal bonds nationwide.
Nii is an Advisory Board Member of Reality Defender (AI) a private, high-tech company. He earned an MBA in Marketing and Analytics from NYU’s Stern School of Business and a BA in Economics from Swarthmore College. Nii and his wife have two children and live in Oakland, California.
Forum moderator Kathy Hollenhorst is a Marketers That Matter® Advisor & Chief Community Officer.
Marketers That Matter® is a community of top marketing executives coming together to pioneer the future of marketing, sharing real-time experiences, and solving current challenges.
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