TRENDSETTERS

Hosted by Deborah Malone

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152

Latest episode

Jun 2026

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About the show

TRENDSETTERS lives at the heart of the Internationalist mission as it spotlights a person and an idea in international marketing. Over the last decade, we have amassed hundreds of profiles of extraordinary individuals and their groundbreaking work on our website. We’ve learned that there’s interest in hearing the voices of these marketers directly, which has now given life to our TRENDSETTERS podcast series.

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60 recent

June 5, 202635 min

Costas Papaikonomou, The Grumpy Innovator: Why Good Ideas Don't Always Win

Innovation is one of the most celebrated—and misunderstood—concepts in business.In this episode, Deborah Malone speaks with Costas Papaikonomou, product innovation veteran, entrepreneur, investor, and author of The Grumpy Innovator series and The Disruption Fallacy. Drawing on decades of experience helping global companies create new products and growth opportunities, Costas challenges conventional thinking about disruption, innovation, and progress.Together, they explore why good ideas often fail, why weaker ideas survive, and why the most valuable opportunities are sometimes hiding in plain sight.

May 5, 202627 min

Danone’s MK Woltz: When Media Becomes the Marketplace ...

In this episode of Trendsetters, Deborah Malone speaks with Mary Katherine “MK” Woltz of Danone about how retail media is evolving from a channel into a core driver of business outcomes.They explore the shift toward connected commerce, the changing role of retailers as media partners, and how brands are balancing performance with long-term brand equity.A grounded conversation on how marketing is moving from channels to systems.

April 7, 202622 min

Mirella Vitale of ROCKWOOL: From Performance to Protection— and What Matters Most ...

Mirella Amalia Vitale of ROCKWOOL — a global leader in sustainable stone wool insulation that improves building safety, energy efficiency, and comfort — discusses the company’s new platform, “If It’s Worth Building,” and how marketing is evolving from product performance to human impact.A timely perspective on leadership, purpose, and why brands should speak up when markets go quiet.

March 15, 202627 min

Habitat for Humanity at 50: Opening the Door to What Comes Next ...

As Habitat for Humanity marks its 50th anniversary, Chief Communications and Marketing Officer Amy Dunham reflects on how the organization is evolving to meet a growing global housing crisis.In conversation with Deborah Malone, she discusses Habitat’s new Let’s Open the Door campaign, the enduring meaning of “home,” and why solving housing affordability will require collaboration across sectors, communities, and generations.

March 11, 202633 min

Adam Benaroya on Media Excellence, Simplified ...

In a marketing industry increasingly defined by dashboards, data layers, and expanding channel choices, Adam Benaroya has been advocating something refreshingly counterintuitive: strategic simplification.He believes that complexity itself rarely creates value. In many cases, it quietly drains time, budget, and creative energy from the work that actually matters.

February 17, 202627 min

FujiFilm's Anthony Farina on Reinventing a Brand People Think They Already Understand

When Anthony Farina talks about joining Fujifilm, he doesn’t describe it as a career move. He describes it as stepping into one of the most compelling transformation stories in modern business.For decades, Fujifilm was synonymous with photography. Today, it is a diversified global company spanning healthcare, life sciences, advanced materials, and imaging technologies — a reinvention few legacy brands have achieved at comparable scale. As Chief Corporate Communications & Brand Officer, Farina sits at the center of translating that evolution: aligning storytelling with strategy, and purpose with measurable outcomes.

February 11, 202631 min

Sonsoles Gonzalez on Reinventing Beauty — and Marketing — for an Age-Inclusive Future ...

What if one of marketing’s biggest growth opportunities is also one of its most persistent blind spots?On today’s Internationalist Trendsetters, I’m speaking with Sonsoles Gonzalez, Founder of Better Not Younger, about the realities of marketing in today's "longevity society"—and why the industry still struggles to move beyond surface-level representations of women over age 40. Sonsoles shares her journey from global beauty leadership to entrepreneurship, her decision to step into a Founder role, and why real progress requires rethinking outdated timelines around age, ambition, and confidence.

February 4, 202654 min

ANA's Bob Liodice Discusses What Marketers Must Relearn in 2026...

In a wide-ranging Trendsetters conversation, Bob Liodice, President & CEO of ANA (Association of National Advertisers), explains why the organization chose Agentic AI and Authenticity as its Words of the Year—and why they are inseparable.This conversation offers signals for every kind of marketer—brand builders, performance leaders, CMOs, talent developers, and agency partners alike. And it raises a central question for the year ahead: as technology becomes more autonomous, can marketing stay authentically human?

January 19, 202634 min

Jon Lee on What Nonprofit Marketing Signals About the Future of Brand Trust

Today's edition of Trendsetters explores one of the most complex—and consequential—areas of modern marketing: how nonprofit organizations build brands, inspire belief, and raise critical funds in a world where every dollar must work harder than ever.My guest is Jon Lee, Principal and Head of Brand Leadership at Lerma, one of the most forward-thinking multicultural agencies in the U.S. Jon has led award-winning work for organizations including He Gets Us, The Salvation Army, Compassion International, OneHope, YoungLife, and many others.His team’s approach is built on Cultural Fluency—an understanding that audiences today respond not only to messages, but to identity, values, and the deeper meaning of affiliation.

January 10, 202633 min

Luke Stillman of Madison & Wall Unpacks the Hidden Engines of Ad Growth

Despite soft consumer confidence and uneven economic signals, ad spending continues to grow faster than consumer spending—breaking a historical relationship marketers have relied on for decades.So what’s driving the disconnect?Luke Stillman, Managing Director at Madison & Wall, unpacks what he calls the hidden engines of ad growth—five forces quietly pushing more money into the advertising system, even when underlying demand hasn’t kept pace.