21. Jim Umberger, VP Digital Marketing, CRM, Consumer Loyalty & Engagement, Allergan![]() At Walgreen’s, Umberger played a lead role in the launch of the Balance Rewards loyalty program, leading both marketing and strategy teams through a design process that included website and digital platforms and mobile apps. The program launched in 18 months and pre-enrolled 2 million members through viral pre-launch efforts; it then grew to be the fastest-growing and largest loyalty program in the world with 70 million members in its first year. Later, during his time as the VP of Digital and Loyalty at P.F. Chang’s, he launched a digital loyalty program with real-time information to improve the guests’ restaurant experience, a mobile app and mobile payment solutions. Umberger is known among his peers for his skill to mesh data and technology to understand the consumer and his ability to pull together teams for that purpose. He is also noted by many of his former employees—now marketers at other companies—as a strong mentor.
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22. Geoffrey Colon, Senior MarComm designer, Microsoft![]() Colon also acts as a digital evangelist in his “Disruptive Marketer” video series and “Disruptive FM” podcast, regular blogging and his book, Disruptive Marketing (Amazon, 2016).
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23. Jeff Moriarty, Chief Digital and Product Officer, Johnston Press![]() Moriarty has had a successful career navigating the disruption across print and digital media; at The Boston Globe, he led the Pulitzer-Prize winning Boston.com and BostonGlobe.com. He is widely recognized as a pioneer in the use of responsive web design. At Johnston Press, he oversees the digital transformation of more than 200 titles across the U.K., including The Scotsman and The Yorkshire Post, both of which have been revamped and re-launched in print and online. Last year, the company bought The Independent’s sister newspaper and launched a national news website, inews.uk, which gave it a new platform to expand its national reach.
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24. Atif Rafiq, Chief Digital and Information Officer, Volvo Cars![]() A former executive with a background at Yahoo, AOL and Amazon, Rafiq will work on Volvo initiatives such as Drive Me, a 100-car pilot of autonomous vehicles that will launch in Sweden this year, and a deal with Uber to develop self-driving cars.
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25. Erich Joachimsthaler, Founder & CEO, Vivaldi![]() Since founding Vivaldi 16 years ago, he consults with major brands such as Samsung, Western Union and American Express on how to find innovation and new growth opportunities in the digital age, particularly in industries experiencing deep disruption due to changing consumer expectations. As the dean of disruption, he has written hundreds of articles about strategy, innovation and branding. Before founding Vivaldi, Joachimstahler had an academic career at USC and the University of Virginia’s Darden School and lectured at universities including Yale, Darthmouth and the London School of Economics. He continues to lecture and speak at industry events, and serves as a visiting professor at the Instituto Estudio Superiores de la Empresa in Barcelona.
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26. Stefan Olander, VP, global digital innovation, Nike![]() For 20 years, Olander has been just doing it in a number of posts, leading up to GM and VP Digital Sport and the creation of a new division overseeing strategy to apply digital technology to athletics. In February 2016, he was promoted to VP, global digital innovation. Olander, who was the co-author (with AKQA chairman Ajaz Ahmed) of Velocity: The Seven New Laws for a World Gone Digital, is applying many of the lessons at Nike. As he told an audience last year in a speech, Nike is adopting the mentality of a service provider like Airbnb or Uber and using connectivity to “bring innovation and inspiration to every athlete in the world.”
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27. Robin Thurston, CEO, Helix![]() It seemed like a departure for Thurston, who came from athletic apparel company Under Armour, but it was his deep technology and customer service experience combination that attracted Helix’s backers to Thurston. And his experience dealing with the quantified self was another strong vote in his favor. As CDO at Under Armour, Thurston, a former professional cyclist, led the strategy behind the company’s “Connected Fitness” business, a bet on fitness tracking that included launching smart shoes and other wearables. He joined Under Armour in 2013, when it acquired MapMyFitness, one of the world’s largest open fitness tracking platforms, which Thurston founded and served as CEO. Helix is still in the launch stage; it may be a while before it sees results. For Thurston, an endurance athlete, that may not be a problem.
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28. Rebekah Horne, Chief Digital & Information Officer, National Rugby League![]() Horne joined the NRL in the wake of a deal that let sports clubs keep digital revenues, which gave team CDOs more control over channels such as team websites and social media accounts. She came to the league from Network Ten, where she launched a video streaming service, Ten Play, which helped her grow digital revenue by 74% during her tenure with the network. And just to show her game, Horne serves in both the digital advisory panel of the Australian Sports Commission and the digital strategy forum of the National Museum of Australia.
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29. Milton Pappas, SVP Digital Marketing, HBC Digital![]() Pappas led the transformation of traditional catalog seller Redcats USA into an e-commerce driven organization in the early 2000’s before moving to the VP of e-commerce spot at Toys ‘R Us, then president of e-commerce at Nine West Group then CDO at New York & Co. Through it all, his peers praise his leadership and management skills, his knowledge of e-commerce and digital channels, and his ability to merge retail and digital channels. They note his willingness to mentor interns, his ability to build teams and his depth of knowledge in all matters digital, e-commerce and omnichannel.
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30. Sami Hassanyeh, Chief Digital Officer, AARP![]() Under Hassanyeh’s watch, AARP has continually upgraded its digital offerings, launching mobile apps and adding travel, dating, games and other functions to its digital menu in order to keep up with the active middle-age population. The AARP’s site receives more than 32 million visitors a month looking for community, information—and games. As Gen X begins passing the minimum AARP age and Boomers keep on trucking, that portfolio can only grow.
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