I had the opportunity to sit down with Susan Wittner — marketing executive, former CMO, and adjunct MBA professor at Manhattan University — for a conversation about her career, marketing strategy, and the lessons that have stayed with her throughout her professional journey.

The North Star Metric gives marketing a clear direction by focusing on the single action that delivers the most value to customers. By aligning daily efforts with both leading and lagging indicators, teams move beyond vanity metrics and build strategies that drive meaningful growth and long-term success.

Predictive analytics allows brands to anticipate behavior before it happens, using patterns in data to guide timely and relevant marketing. While this creates powerful opportunities to shape customer decisions, it also raises important questions about privacy, making transparency and ethical use of data essential for building trust.

In a digital age dominated by attention-grabbing campaigns and viral trends, the loudest voice often wins the moment, but not the heart. I’ve started using a term that better captures what truly builds long-term connection and trust: Quiet Influence.