The Chief Marketing Officer Institute today announced the winners of its “Chief Marketing Officer of the Year” award. The CMO Institute created the award to recognize CMOs, or executives in an equivalent position, who demonstrated outstanding leadership across various disciplines of the marketing field during the prior year. This year’s winners are David Norton, SVP & CMO, Harrah’s Entertainment, in the large organization category, and Timothy. S. Gilbert, SVP & CMO, Campus Management Corp., in the small to midsize organization category.
Norton and Gilbert were selected as “CMO of the Year” based on detailed information about their achievements, which were reviewed by a distinguished panel of judges. This year’s judges included:
- Austin Bankhead – CMO.com Publisher, Omniture, an Adobe Company
- Jill Beraud – Chief Marketing Officer, PepsiCo
- Jamie Cornell – Chief Marketing Officer, Prudential Retirement, a division of Prudential Financial
- Minette E. Drumwright – Associate Professor of Advertising, University of Texas
- Dennis Dunlap – Chief Executive Officer, American Marketing Association
- Lisa R. Kranc – Senior Vice President of Marketing, AutoZone, Inc.
- Thomas J. Steenburgh – Associate Professor of Marketing, Harvard Business School
- Andrew Varga – Chief Marketing Officer, Papa John’s Pizza
Commenting on the foresight and effort put forth by Harrah’s David Norton, judge Jill Beraud noted: “Not only did he recognize that the economic downturn necessitated a new approach, but his bold thinking led Harrah’s Entertainment through a dramatic transformation that successfully turned the company into a personal-touch, sales-oriented organization in a very short period of time. While each of the large company finalists was impressive, Norton clearly stood out.”
Similarly, Campus Management’s Tim Gilbert distinguished himself among his peers, noted judge Dennis Dunlap: “I was impressed with the fact that despite the economic pressures faced by institutions of higher education, the company was able to deliver its fourth straight year of double digit annual growth. Key to that performance was marketing’s alignment with sales and account management for client acquisition and retention as they competed against well-established Fortune 50 brands.”
Exclusive interviews with each of the CMO of the Year finalists--in which they discuss the strategies and tactics they employed to achieve their success--are currently featured on CMO.com, a partner of The CMO Institute. Norton and Gilbert will also be showcased in a future volume of The CMO Journal, published by The Chief Marketing Officer Institute.
“This year’s winners represent precisely the type of leadership that brings credit to the marketing profession as a whole – and the type of leadership our organization hopes to foster and publically recognize,” says Bill Koleszar, Executive Director of The CMO Institute.We congratulate this year’s recipients for a job well done and look forward to their involvement in selecting next year’s recipients.”
