As CMOs have never been more critical, and yet never more vulnerable, we developed the ultimate CMO Thrive Guide—drawing from the collective wisdom of 21 influential CMOs, CFOs, and CEOs -- so that CMOs can maximise their impact in the critical first 12 months, whatever their tenure.
As CMOs have never been more critical, and yet never more vulnerable, we developed the ultimate CMO Thrive Guide—drawing from the collective wisdom of 21 influential CMOs, CFOs, and CEOs -- so that CMOs can maximise their impact in the critical first 12 months, whatever their tenure.
GLENN H. SCHIFFMAN, EVP & CFO, FANATICS
GLENN H. SCHIFFMAN, EVP & CFO, FANATICS
The definitive ‘year 1’ playbook for the world’s 
most influential, brand-ambitious CMOs
The definitive ‘year 1’ playbook for the world’s 
most influential, brand-ambitious CMOs
“I don’t need CMOs to be balance-sheet experts; it’s not an issue. Just be clear on what’s important to the business growth, drive it, and measure it all to ensure we are getting our money’s worth.”
“I don’t need CMOs to be balance-sheet experts; it’s not an issue. Just be clear on what’s important to the business growth, drive it, and measure it all to ensure we are getting our money’s worth.”
CMOThriveGuide
CMOThriveGuide

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Our work
These case studies show how our strategies help leaders turn brand into a powerful lever for growth — helping them thrive through complexity and change.
Pinterest
Brand Blueprint (BBP)
Brand Playbook
Employee Value Proposition
From an occasional bookmarking app to a daily habit, serving as the positive counterbalance to social media. We helped Pinterest gain a huge Gen Z following and build a robust B2B advertising business.
Brand Blueprint (BBP)
Brand Playbook
Employee Value Proposition
One year out from IPO and under pressure from social media giants, Pinterest needed to transform its brand to compete on its own terms. Rooted in the insight that Pinterest is the internet’s home for future-facing inspiration — not past validation — we developed a clear, confident positioning as ‘The World’s Inspiration Company’, with the purpose: “To bring everyone the inspiration to create a life they love.” The narrative was central to the S1 and successful IPO, and continues to fuel Pinterest’s business growth today.
>100% increase in MAU 
over 4 years
250% increase in valuation in first year after brand strategy implementation
55% increase in EBITDA from 2022-2023
“21st Century Brand’s superpower has been their ability to become genuinely convicted about the role our brand should play in shaping society. Their skill in harnessing that conviction 
is truly extraordinary.”
Evan Sharp, Co-Founder
PepsiCo
Internal Launch Experience
Marketing Transformation
Transformation Tools & Training
Leadership Coaching
Creative Excellence
From a collection of siloed marketers to a global movement Powering Positive Growth - we helped Pepsico reimagine and equip their 5000 strong marketing function to be fit for the future.
Internal Launch Experience
Marketing Transformation
Transformation Tools & Training
Leadership Coaching
Creative Excellence
We partnered with Pepsico's Global CMO and transformation team to co-create and roll out a transformation strategy that united marketers across brands, geographies, and seniorities. From C-suite strategy sessions to global workshops and creative training, we built the behaviours and tools that now fuel ‘Powering Positive Growth’ — reshaping how PepsiCo builds brands across the world, and for years to come.
5,000 global 
marketers enrolled
+43% fluency in creative excellence tools
$600–900M estimated in reallocated investment value
“21st Century Brand are an amazing set of individuals and an amazing team. They helped me raise the vision. They helped me create engagement. And most importantly they get the best out of every individual in the room.”
Jane Wakely, Chief Marketing Officer
Chime
Brand Blueprint (BBP)
Transformation Tools & Training
Investor Narrative
From fintech pioneer to financial movement — we helped Chime go from underbanked niche to mainstream force, driving brand-fuelled growth and customer acquisition at scale.
Brand Blueprint (BBP)
Transformation Tools & Training
Investor Narrative
Chime found success as an early pioneer of ‘no fees’ banking, but needed to drive growth with new audiences with an expanded product suite. Inspired by the insight that it’s more powerful to define people by their ambitions than their limitations, the strategy of “uniting everyday people to unlock their financial progress” serves as the cornerstone for Chime’s product innovations, visual identity evolution, and the narrative for its highly anticipated IPO in 2025.
#1 ranked NeoBank among 
Time and Statista’s World’s Best Brands of 2024
88% active member growth since Q1 2022
97% of members say Chime has helped them unlock financial progress and 75% say they will be members for life
“I love everything about this mission. Well done... brought me to tears. I like the word “everyday.” I love the word “unlock” as it gave me an emotional reaction.”
Chime Board Member
Starbucks
Brand Playbook
Transformation Tools & Training
Employee Value Proposition
From strategy in decks to real impact in the world — we helped Starbucks bring its foundational brand to life through global playbooks that empower teams to deliver a more consistent premium experience.
Brand Playbook
Transformation Tools & Training
Employee Value Proposition
Over a multi-year partnership, we worked with Starbucks to turn brand strategy into everyday action, helping drive consistency across markets and teams to strengthen differentiation. We built global playbooks across business lines, translating design targets and behavior principles into actinoable tools, measurement frameworks, and “Workshop-in-a-Box” materials now used by internal teams and partners worldwide.
~200 internal and external partners trained
5K+ brand, marketing and agency partners impacted globally
Defined strategic foundation to benefit 360K+ employees
“21st Century Brand made it a priority to get fluent fast in our internal culture, which led to greater impact and adoption across the org... It truly felt like they were an extension of our team.”
Karima Rasul, Director, Global Marketing Strategy & Advertising at Starbucks
Monzo
Brand Blueprint (BBP)
Brand Identity
Internal Launch Experience
Transformation Tools & Training
From a beloved but niche challenger in Shoreditch to a bank making money feel better for millions — we helped Monzo make the leap to the brand big leagues.
Brand Blueprint (BBP)
Brand Identity
Internal Launch Experience
Transformation Tools & Training
To fuel Monzo’s next wave of growth, we co-created a bold Brand Blueprint rooted in their unique culture, product magic, and community truth. From brand strategy to Brand Week, we embedded in the business to ensure the strategy stuck — inspiring national campaigns, product innovation, and deep employee engagement.
10M customers milestone reached post-launch
£4Bn valuation secured
Monzo named Marketing Society's Brand of the Year 2024
“They were a great fit with our teams in terms of culture, customer-centricity, and pedantry. This was more than a branding exercise, it was a business exercise.”
Sujata Bhatia, Chief Operating Officer
Instacart
Brand Blueprint (BBP)
Employee Value Proposition
From grocery delivery to “eat at home” —  we helped Instacart expand its role from utility to cultural force, inviting the world to share love through food.
Brand Blueprint (BBP)
Employee Value Proposition
In 2021, Instacart was a dominant player in online grocery 
— but needed to unlock new audiences and expand its total addressable market. We created a foundational Brand Blueprint rooted in redefining the category: from grocery delivery to the bigger and more emotional “eat at home” space. This opened up new growth with consumers and advertisers alike. We also strengthened company values and refined the employee and shopper value propositions to boost motivation and retention. The strategy powered a successful IPO, influenced product features like Shoppable Recipes, and helped drive a 12% valuation increase on the day of launch.
140% increase in brand awareness from 2022-24
66% lift in brand consideration
67% growth in revenue, with “double digit impact” attributed solely to brand
“I want to say a huge thank you to the 21st Century Brand team for your partnership and for the incredible work that we've been able to create together. I can't wait to see this come to life across our campaigns, product, internal employee value prop and beyond.”
Laura Jones, CMO
Flo Health
Brand Blueprint (BBP)
Transformation Tools & Training
From a functional cycle tracker to the world’s #1 female health app —  we helped Flo take on a more proactive role in women’s lives and lead the cultural conversation around women's health.
Brand Blueprint (BBP)
Transformation Tools & Training
To elevate Flo from a functional utility app to an essential health partner, we defined a distinctive brand strategy anchored in the idea: “Know your Flo to Own Your Health.” From a new value proposition to inclusive content principles, the work inspired major product changes, a surge in premium subscriptions, and a bolder public stance — helping drive Flo to #1 in its category and double revenue.
#1 most downloaded and most used health app globally
40% of US women trying to conceive are estimated to be using Flo Health.
Named one of TIME’s Best Inventions 2023
“Beforehand people might have had a good idea of what Flo was about and where it was headed. Now it’s down on stone, a commandment that we can always refer back to.”
Nick Lisher, CMO
Progressive
Brand Blueprint (BBP)
Transformation Tools & Training
Leadership Coaching
Brand Playbook
From mascot-led to mission-led — we helped Progressive expand its role from a reactive insurer to a proactive partner with purpose at its core.
Brand Blueprint (BBP)
Transformation Tools & Training
Leadership Coaching
Brand Playbook
With a purpose to help people “move forward and live fully,” we helped Progressive expand its role from a reactive claims provider to a proactive partner in people’s lives. Under this new mission, Progressive launched bold initiatives to drive greater equity for drivers, homeowners, and business owners. The strategy not only fueled 20% growth in auto premiums — it reignited the company’s ambition to lead the category in both purpose and performance.
$12 billion increase in direct auto premiums written from 2023 to 2024
~12% improvement in underwriting profitability from 2023 to 2024
Over 60,000 employees enrolled into the new purpose
“You all have been great partners, and have helped us get to a place where if we stay true to what we committed then I think we will do some great things in the world.”
Remi Kent, CMO
Mars Inc.
Brand Blueprint (BBP)
Brand Playbook
From an occasional breath freshener to daily mood management tool. We helped Mars Wrigley re-establish Orbit Extra’s category leadership, create new occasions, and win over a new generation of chewers.
Brand Blueprint (BBP)
Brand Playbook
We partnered with Mars Wrigley to architect their biggest repositioning in over a century, achieving a step change in relevance and preference with Gen Z buyers. We focused on the proven power of chewing to provide a moment of calm and connected it to the surging global demand for accessible wellness with the new value proposition, ‘A refreshingly easy way to recenter yourself,’ which inspired a bold new identity, Go-To-Market strategy, and breakthrough “Chew You Good" campaign platform, creating a more emotional connection across 70 markets globally.
#1 global gum brand
$2BN global sales
Increased penetration across key markets
“This is the biggest repositioning of gum in over a century with substantial category growth. Thanks to 21st Century Brand for being brilliant collaborators, helping us rethink and reimagine what our brand means.”
Rankin Carroll, Chief Brand Officer
Motorway
Brand DNA
Internal Launch Experience
Transformation Tools & Training
Brand Identity
From a plucky disruptor to a confident leader elevating the car market for everyone — we helped Motorway define a bold brand strategy to outpace imitators and take the lion’s share of a fast-growing category.
Brand DNA
Internal Launch Experience
Transformation Tools & Training
Brand Identity
We partnered with Motorway to craft a new brand strategy rooted in the unique confidence that Motorway offers both sellers and dealers at every mile of the car selling journey. The strategy shaped a bold visual identity for the brand, inspired a new product vision, and was embedded across every internal function, from legal to customer services. The work culminated in a new national campaign and a clear and inspiring mission: to build a better car market for everyone.
UK’s fastest growing car-selling marketplace
Brand rolled out across product, people, CX, and marketing
National campaign launched march 2024: ‘It’s not magic, it’s Motorway’
“21st Century Brand went beyond just shaping a brand strategy - they embedded themselves in our business, working closely with our teams and customers to get to the heart of what makes Motorway unique. Smart, collaborative, and deeply engaged. They made sure it landed across the company.”
Tom Leathes, CEO
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