Marketing Beyond with Alan B. Hart

How can a well-known B2B brand move beyond what customers think they already know? 

In this episode, Kimberly Storin, CMO of Zoom, explains how marketing teams can shift brand perceptions and influence B2B buyer journeys by bringing together brand marketing, demand generation, content, and customer advocacy.  

Brand perception takes shape differently today. As more buyers begin their brand research using AI tools and zero-click search, buyers often form preferences and decisions before they ever engage with a brand directly. Marketers today may see only a small portion of the buyer journey and not know when they're under consideration.  

For Kimberly, this means brands need to do more than generate awareness and demand: They need to shape how buyers understand the brand, what it offers and where it can create value. As she puts it, "brand equals demand." 

Marketers can accomplish this by building trust, showing up in the right places, and answering buyers' questions in the less visible stages of decision-making through efforts such as answer engine optimization (AEO). Kimberly further explores how AI-driven discovery creates distinct purchasing paths for human buyers and AI agents—paths that require different content and experiences designed for each.  

This episode offers a practical perspective on how marketers can reshape perception, stay relevant across an increasingly fragmented journey, and connect brand building to business growth—even when buyers form opinions before the brand knows they are in the market. 
 
In this episode, you'll hear: 
Strategies to connect brand building with demand generation, so marketing efforts shifts perception and drive action 

Why answering buyer questions before sales teams enter the conversation is now a core B2B journey expectation 

Ways to widen marketing's view of the buyer journey and shift investment towards what works better 
 
Key highlights: 

[00:00] Introduction 

[01:05] Growing up with chief financial officer (CFO) and designer parents 

[02:15] Kim's path to Zoom 

[03:35] Bringing marketing and communications together 

[06:40] Keeping up with an evolving buyer journey 


[07:30] Why brand equals demand 

[10:10] Zoom Ahead's campaign strategy 

[13:10] Past experience that defines you: Powerful mentorship 

[15:35] Advice to your younger self: Prioritize sleep for health 

[16:00] A topic you're trying to learn more about: Pilates 

[16:45] Latest curiosities: Balancing AI and human connection 

[18:40] Largest potential threat: Inability to pivot as search habits change 

 
Resources mentioned:   

Zoom 

 

Follow the podcast:   

Listen on Apple Podcasts   

Listen on Amazon Music  

Listen on Audible  

Listen on iHeart Radio 

Listen on Spotify   

 
Connect with Kimberly and Zoom: 

Kimberly on LinkedIn 

Zoom on LinkedIn 

 
Connect with Alan Hart and Deloitte Digital:    


Connect with Alan Hart on X 

Connect with Alan Hart on LinkedIn  

Connect with Deloitte Digital on LinkedIn  

Connect with Deloitte Digital on Instagram  

Connect with Deloitte Digital on YouTube  

Connect with Deloitte Digital on Threads

The hardest part of marketing today may not be demonstrating value or creating more ideas. It may be knowing which activities deserve your attention. 

As Khurrum Malik, VP of business and product marketing at Walmart Connect, explains: more tools, channels, media types and AI capabilities can lead to overemphasizing activity. When teams confuse activity with progress, it's difficult to stay focused on what drives impact.  

In this episode, Khurrum shows how the strongest marketing organizations stay focused on what matters: connecting creativity to commerce, creating demand through brand storytelling, capturing it through search and commerce, and proving incremental impact. He also makes the case that customer experience should remain at the center of that work, emphasizing that—as AI changes how marketers operate—trust, human judgment and accountability still matter. 

The episode is especially relevant for marketing leaders who want to cut through complexity, keep teams aligned on impact, and lead with transparency and experimentation while fueling durable growth. 
 
In this episode, you'll hear: 
Strategies to connect brand storytelling with search and commerce to drive demand 

How to keep teams focused on priorities that drive growth 

Why leading through change depends on building trust and accountability 
 
Key highlights: 

[00:00] Introduction 

[01:10] Using AI at home 

[02:30] Khurrum's path to Walmart Connect 

[04:40] Walmart Connect's scope 

[06:25] How advertising platforms are evolving 

[12:55] Three core principles of success 

[15:00] What's next for Walmart Connect 

[17:40] Past experience that defines you: Moving a lot as a child 

[18:30] Advice to your younger self: Adopt an editorial mindset 

[20:25] A topic you're trying to learn more about: Delivering value across the C-suite 

[21:40] Latest curiosities: Balancing AI and human creativity 


[23:15] Largest potential threat: Inability to focus as channels expand 

 
Resources mentioned:   

Walmart Connect 

 

Follow the podcast:   

Listen on Apple Podcasts   

Listen on Amazon Music  

Listen on Audible  

Listen on iHeart Radio 

Listen on Spotify   

 
Connect with Khurrum and Walmart Connect: 

Khurrum on LinkedIn 

Walmart Connect on LinkedIn 

 
Connect with Alan Hart and Deloitte Digital:    

Connect with Alan Hart on X 

Connect with Alan Hart on LinkedIn  

Connect with Deloitte Digital on LinkedIn  

Connect with Deloitte Digital on Instagram  

Connect with Deloitte Digital on YouTube  

Connect with Deloitte Digital on Threads

Fandom is evolving from passive consumption to active participation, creating new opportunities for brands to connect with consumers in authentic ways.
In this episode, Andrea Hopelain, GM and senior vice president of global marketing at Electronic Arts (EA), shares how brands can leverage fandom by showing up where today's consumers are already creating, connecting, and building community. She explains what marketers can learn from this model and how they can take advantage of this space. 

While Andrea believes brand reach still matters, she says meeting consumers in participatory spaces can take the connection to the next level. The conversation also explores how marketing teams can harness live signals, audience behavior, and social interaction insights to create fan experiences that feel more personalized, culturally grounded, and natural to the people they want to reach. Andrea says the biggest opportunities come from building with audiences, not just broadcasting to them. 

 
Key highlights: 


[00:00] Introduction 

[01:20] Leadership lessons learned on the soccer pitch 

[02:30] Andrea's path to EA 

[04:45] The evolution of fandom 

[07:05] Brand marketing opportunities in fandoms 

[08:45] EA as a platform 

[10:20] Live data integration in gaming 

[11:45] Past experience that defines you: Moving a lot as a child 

[12:50] Advice to your younger self: Understand the bottom line  

[14:50] A topic you're trying to learn more about: Nurturing plants 

[15:45] Latest curiosities: Balancing AI and human judgment 

[17:10] Largest potential opportunity: Community and belonging 

 
Resources mentioned:   

EA 

 

Follow the podcast:   

Listen on Apple Podcasts   

Listen on Amazon Music  

Listen on Audible  

Listen on iHeart Radio 

Listen on Spotify   

 
Connect with Andrea and EA: 

Andrea on LinkedIn 

EA on LinkedIn 

 
Connect with Alan Hart and Deloitte Digital:    

Connect with Alan Hart on X 

Connect with Alan Hart on LinkedIn  

Connect with Deloitte Digital on LinkedIn  

Connect with Deloitte Digital on Instagram  

Connect with Deloitte Digital on YouTube  

Connect with Deloitte Digital on Threads

How are the expectations for CMOs evolving? 
In this episode, Richard Sanderson, Spencer Stuart's marketing, sales & communications officer practice leader, returns to the podcast to discuss how CMOs and other marketing leaders can address the growing pressure from boards and CEOs to demonstrate clearer business impact.  

Richard breaks down the competing forces that are shaping and amplifying that pressure:  

The expectation to connect their work more directly to enterprise value 

The need to align structure, scope and skills to specific business challenges 

And the expectation to deliver growth, efficiency, brand, trust, and customer experience.  

He dives deeper to discuss how AI is reshaping the marketing function—especially in larger companies, where executives and stakeholders are growing impatient to see experimentation turned into measurable results. Richard provides experience-based recommendations for how CMOs can harness AI for a positive impact on both their department's efficacy and the customer experiences they deliver. 


Richard also reveals the qualities he sees that set stronger marketing leaders apart, including an enterprise-wide perspective, close collaboration with CFOs and hands-on AI literacy. This episode offers practical strategies to help marketing leaders navigate and satisfy these changing expectations. 
 
In this episode, you'll hear: 
How CMOs can tie marketing more directly to enterprise value 

Why marketing teams may want to embrace AI-driven change at the infrastructure level 

What sets CMOs apart in a rapidly changing business landscape 
 
Key highlights: 

[00:00] Introduction 


[02:00] Turning 50 

[03:40] Today's C-suite hiring trends 

[05:05] What CEOs look for in a CMO 

[07:15] Balancing growth and efficiency, with AI 

[15:50] How a CMO's scope has changed 

[21:05] Chief marketing officer, or chief customer officer? 

[25:10] What separates a thriving CMO from a struggling CMO 

[28:45] Leading while being a teammate 

[29:10] What CMOs need to study right now: Organizational design 

[31:15] How CMOs can tackle AI-driven change 

[34:20] Largest potential opportunity for CMOs: Embracing transformation 

 
Resources mentioned:   

Spencer Stuart  

 
Follow the podcast:   

Listen on Apple Podcasts   

Listen on Amazon Music  

Listen on Audible  

Listen on iHeart Radio 

Listen on Spotify   


 
Connect with Richard and Spencer Stuart: 

Richard on LinkedIn 

Spencer Stuart on LinkedIn 

 
Connect with Alan Hart and Deloitte Digital:    

Connect with Alan Hart on LinkedIn  

Connect with Deloitte Digital on LinkedIn  

Connect with Deloitte Digital on Instagram  

Connect with Deloitte Digital on YouTube  

Connect with Deloitte Digital on Threads

How can you deploy an end-to-end CRM strategy that keeps pace with complex, evolving customer journeys?  

In this episode, Ford Motor Company Consumer CRM Lead Kim Reedy explains why she views CRM as an end-to-end capability that connects a businesses' strategy, creative, execution, analytics and internal stakeholders. Kim reflects on her path from marketing to agency work and then to the client side, and how those experiences shaped her strategic approach to automotive CRM transformation: Start by tackling smaller, specific opportunities to improve dynamic elements of the customer journey, rather than trying to overhaul everything at once.  

Kim discusses her view of AI as a practical assistant for targeting, timing and creative scale, while emphasizing the need for ongoing human oversight and talent upskilling. Her key insight for marketers: When teams align the right data, process, technology and operating model around a clear business objective, they can create more relevant, impactful customer experiences, even in a market where loyalty is under pressure. 
 
In this episode, you'll hear: 
How deeply intentional, collaborative, end-to-end CRM transformation can have a big impact 


Why customer engagement journeys are no longer linear, and how marketing can adapt  

Ways AI can help marketing teams target better, move faster and scale personalized content, but only when the right people and processes are in place 
 
Key highlights: 

[00:00] Introduction 

[01:15] Being a dance mom 

[02:45] Kim's path to Ford 

[04:10] Moving from agency side to client side 

[05:00] What CRM at Ford looks like 

[07:00] Automotive CRM transformations over the years 

[11:00] The evolving impact of AI 

[13:25] Keeping humans at the helm 

[16:50] A shift in the loyalty paradigm 

[22:00] Advice to your younger self: Do things that are uncomfortable  

[22:50] A topic you're trying to learn more about: Automating daily tasks 

[24:45] Latest curiosities: AI and creativity 

[28:20] Largest potential opportunity: Rethinking organizational processes 

 
Resources mentioned:   


Ford 

 

Follow the podcast:   

Listen on Apple Podcasts   

Listen on Amazon Music  

Listen on Audible  

Listen on iHeart Radio 

Listen on Spotify   

 
Connect with Kim and Ford Motor Company: 

Kim on LinkedIn 

Ford Motor Company on LinkedIn 

 
Connect with Alan Hart and Deloitte Digital:    

Connect with Alan Hart on X 

Connect with Alan Hart on LinkedIn  

Connect with Deloitte Digital on LinkedIn  

Connect with Deloitte Digital on Instagram  

Connect with Deloitte Digital on YouTube  

Connect with Deloitte Digital on Threads