Marketing Leaders From Georgia Pacific, Grubhub, KIND Snacks, Seventh Generation and TD Ameritrade Receive Cojones Awards During SXSW

Modern Marketing Agency nFusion Honors Boldest, Most Innovative Marketers

AUSTIN, TX – On March 12, marketing leaders from Georgia Pacific, Grubhub, KIND Snacks, Seventh Generation and TD Ameritrade were named winners of the 2016 Cojones Awards. The winners were announced during SXSW Interactive at a private ceremony hosted by modern marketing agency nFusion and its CEO John Ellett (@jellett).

The Cojones Awards, presented annually at SXSW, recognizes marketers who have disrupted the status quo and who embrace the role of the modern marketer. Nominations go to the marketing change agents who have shown courage, ingenuity and boldness in delivering remarkable results for their organizations.

Winners were selected by a combination of an independent panel of judges and Tweet2Votes.

“CMOs today are required to be change agents for their organizations — and that takes courage,” said Ellett. “We’re proud to recognize the marketing leaders who are doing bold, transformative things for their brands.”

The following are the 2016 Cojones Award winners for courageous marketing, recognized in five categories:

Inspire: to build authentic brands with a sense of purpose:

  • Winner: Lisa Mann, EVP of Marketing at KIND Snacks
  • Finalists included: Emily Culp, CMO at Keds and Andy Lark, CMO at Xero

Be Bold: to disrupt the status quo and break out of the sea of sameness:

  • Winner: Joey Bergstein, GM and CMO at Seventh Generation
  • Finalists included: Rob Lynch, Brand President and CMO at Arby’s Restaurant Group and Marisa Thalberg, CMO at Taco Bell

Connect: to deliver meaningful customer experiences seamlessly across channels:

  • Winner: Denise Karkos, CMO at TD Ameritrade
  • Finalists included: Evan Greene, CMO at The Recording Academy/Grammys and Jacob Jaber, CEO at Philz Coffee

Innovate: to implement new ways of engaging customer living a digital lifestyle:

  • Winner: Barbara Martin Coppola, CMO at Grubhub
  • Finalists included: Eric Asche, CMO at Truth Initiative and Vinoo Vijay, EVP, CMO and Head of Corporate and Public Affairs at TD Bank

Transform: to build organizational capabilities to become modern marketers:

  • Winner: Douwe Bergsma, CMO at Georgia-Pacific LLC
  • Finalists included: Trish Mueller, SVP and CMO at The Home Depot and Peter Horst, CMO at The Hershey Company

About nFusion:

nFusion is the agency for today’s modern marketer. We help clients create and deliver relevant, personalized experiences at each touch point, regardless of time of day, device or location. With the nFusion Accelerator, we offer a unique advisory service that provides CMOs with strategic advice and action plans to help them deliver quickly on growth and transformation mandates. Clients of nFusion include BJ’s Restaurants, Google, Samsung and Sitecore. nFusion is proud to have been recognized by Ad Age as a Small Agency of the Year in 2014 and winner of a Gold Effie in 2015. Follow nFusion on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook or the agency website.