{"podcast":{"title":"Building Better CMOs and Marketing Leaders","slug":"building-better-cmos-and-marketing-leaders-6393422","podcast_index_feed_id":6393422,"rss_url":"https://feeds.megaphone.fm/buildingbettercmos","website_url":"https://www.mmaglobal.com/","image_url":"https://megaphone.imgix.net/podcasts/dda6df20-f8fc-11ed-b126-cbcfd256c207/image/84a91de7e81e94aedd1942386a62490b.png?ixlib=rails-4.3.1&max-w=3000&max-h=3000&fit=crop&auto=format,compress","author":"MMA Global / LightningPod","episode_count":57,"summary":"Marketing leaders are facing constant new challenges. If you want to stay ahead of the curve, listen to Building Better CMOs, from the nonprofit thinktank MMA Global. It's a podcast about the future of marketing and how marketers can get smarter & stronger, hosted by MMA CEO Greg Stuart. Greg interviews some of the wisest and most successful CMOs in the business, who share crucial insights about what their industry gets wrong, how to get to the C-Suite, and how to unlock the true power of marketing. You'll gain a deeper understanding of the evolving purpose of marketing leaders, and learn actionable strategies to overcome obstacles. Produced by LightningPod.fm. For transcripts and more, visit bettercmos.com","last_synced_at":null,"page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/building-better-cmos-and-marketing-leaders-6393422"},"episode":{"title":"Agentic AI and Emotional Connection with Noha Abdalla, CMO of Choice Hotels","slug":"agentic-ai-and-emotional-connection-with-noha-abdalla-cmo-of-choice-hotels","published_at":"2025-09-24T07:30:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/building-better-cmos-and-marketing-leaders-6393422/agentic-ai-and-emotional-connection-with-noha-abdalla-cmo-of-choice-hotels","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/building-better-cmos-and-marketing-leaders-6393422","url":"https://pdst.fm/e/traffic.megaphone.fm/NOTDI1343699535.mp3?updated=1758693084","audio_url":"https://pdst.fm/e/traffic.megaphone.fm/NOTDI1343699535.mp3?updated=1758693084","summary":"Full transcript⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠Watch this interview on YouTube⁠⁠⁠ — “Sometimes when you get to a fork in the road and you have to decide, am I going to stay in this job or take this new job? … It can feel like the weight of the world on your shoulders to make that decision,” says Noha Abdalla, CMO of Choice Hotels. “[But] each path is going to lead you somewhere else and you're going to learn something new. And so take the burden off a little bit or the weight of that decision off and pick something and learn from it.” That philosophy has carried Noha from consulting to the American Red Cross, from Animal Planet to Hilton, and now to leading marketing across 22 brands and millions of room nights at Choice. Along the way, she’s seen firsthand how marketing builds trust, not just bookings, and how AI is transforming the creative process. Today on Building Better CMOs, Noha talks with MMA Global CEO Greg Stuart about the challenges of hospitality marketing, the decision to bring in Keegan-Michael Key as brand ambassador, and her team’s experiments with agentic AI to personalize at scale. They also discuss the role of mentorship, lessons from running a franchise business, and why marketers must champion emotional connection and trust at every step of the customer journey. This episode was produced and edited by Eric Johnson from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LightningPod.fm⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Follow Building Better CMOs in your podcast app⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Subscribe on YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Rate & review the podcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Links: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Noha's LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Greg's LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠","meta_description":"Full transcript⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠Watch this interview on YouTube⁠⁠⁠ — “Sometimes when you get to a fork in the road and you have to decide, am I going to stay in thi…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":3052,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/building-better-cmos-and-marketing-leaders-6393422/episodes/agentic-ai-and-emotional-connection-with-noha-abdalla-cmo-of-choice-hotels/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/building-better-cmos-and-marketing-leaders-6393422/agentic-ai-and-emotional-connection-with-noha-abdalla-cmo-of-choice-hotels.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}