On Monday, November 4th, Adweek welcomed over 800 marketing stars and executives to its Brand Genius Awards Gala, presented by Salesforce, during Brandweek at the JW Marriott Desert Springs Resort & Spa in Palm Springs, CA. The sold-out evening celebrated some of the most innovative brand marketers across an array of industries. Additionally, John Legend presented Adweek’s crowning honor, the Brand Visionary award, to Chrissy Teigen for a career’s worth of achievement that has had a positive impact on the culture. Another notable award, the philanthropic, cause-marketing honor, Brand Save, which awards a brand that has gone above and beyond for charitable causes was presented to Stand Up To Cancer and accepted by co-founders Rusty Robertson and Sue Schwartz.
NOTABLE ATTENDEES
- 2019 Brand Visionary: Chrissy Teigen
- 2019 Brand Save Honoree: Stand Up To Cancer, Rusty Robertson and Sue Schwartz, co-founders of Stand Up To Cancer
- 2019 Brand Genius Honorees: Mike Benson, Head of Marketing, Amazon Studios (now President and Chief Marketing Officer at CBS), Emily Boschwitz, Vice President of Marketing Acquisition at Hims & Hers, David Rubin, Chief Marketing Officer of The New York Times, Dean Evans, Chief Marketing Officer of Hyundai, Stephanie McMahon, Chief Brand Officer of WWE, Deirdre Findlay, Chief Marketing Officer of Stitch Fix, Jennifer Breithaupt, Global Consumer Chief Marketing Officer of Citi
- John Legend, EGOT Winner and husband of Chrissy Teigen
- Djimon Hounsou, Actor, Model and Producer
- Deborah Yeh, Chief Marketing Officer, Sephora
- Elizabeth Charles, Chief Marketing Officer, Rodan + Fields
- Brad Hiranaga, Chief Brand Officer, North America, General Mills
The 2019 Brand Genius award winners, as chosen by Adweek’s senior editors and industry experts, were:
- Apparel: Deirdre Findlay, CMO, Stitch Fix
- Automotive: Dean Evans, CMO, Hyundai Motor America
- Banking: Jennifer Breithaupt, Global Consumer CMO, Citi
- Entertainment: Mike Benson, Head of Marketing, Amazon Studios
- Health and Beauty: Emily Boschwitz, VP of Marketing, Acquisition, Hims & Hers
- Media: David Rubin, CMO, The New York Times
- Restaurants: Tony Weisman, CMO, Dunkin’
- Sports: Stephanie McMahon, Chief Brand Officer, WWE
- Technology: Marvin Chow, VP, Global Marketing, Google
- Telecom: Fiona Carter, Chief Brand Officer, AT&T
“We are thrilled with this year’s class of Brand Genius winners, who will join the incomparable Chrissy Teigen as Brand Visionary and Stand Up To Cancer as our Brand Save recipient,” said Adweek Editor, SVP, Programming Lisa Granatstein. “The honorees and their teams have propelled breakthrough marketing work, demonstrating the most creative, colorful and ultimately successful instances of brand building in the past year.”
Adweek’s Brand Genius award recognizes the principal leaders behind the boldest and most imaginative marketing efforts across 10 key business categories. While the achievements of each recipient vary, all honorees have demonstrated a willingness to break with convention.
Copyright: Adweek
Photographer Credit: Sean T. Smith (@stsphotovideo)