CMO Spotlight | Lisa Gunther - Papa John's

The CMO Spotlight is a chance to get an inside look into the minds and journeys of high-performing marketing leaders. 

Setup CEO Joe Koufman virtually sat down with Lisa Gunther, the SVP of Brand for Papa John’s, to talk about her career path and human-centered leadership in this inspirational CMO Spotlight. 

“I try to help people grow to believe in themselves, and grow that autonomy so that they can take that ball and run with it...even in organizations that aren’t really geared that way.”

WATCH + read the recap BELOW

Q1 | Tell us about your career path.

“Coming out of college, I had a double major in Art History and Math, and so I was looking for a role or a job that would fulfill both the art and the science.”

Gunther started her professional career at Gillette in Boston. She worked there for a year when she had this “daunting realization” that she “had some pretty amazing experiences,” but was still in her early 20’s and needed to be challenged. This led her to business school. 

Through business school she earned an internship at Mckinsey which then led to six more years at the company. Gunther then moved to Newell Brands. After her tenure at Newell Brands, she worked as a consultant, and then IHG for five years.

Currently, she oversees the Papa John’s brand. She works to bring the brand to life “in every facet” by working on the app and website’s look, tone, and feel, the brand's positioning, advertising, creative, as well as working with external agency support (just to name a few). 

Q2 | What is your superpower? 

“Curiosity, and I just love the world. I love people. I love asking questions. I love learning and I love getting to root causes. And I don’t really like settling with the most surface [level] answer.”

Gunther explains that her curiosity also goes hand-in-hand with her fearlessness, which aids in her understanding about marketing and her consumer’s complexities.

“I try to inspire people to be better and to really ask the underlying questions, and to believe that the world can be a different place than it is today - including in business.”

Q3 | Is there a piece of advice that you would like to pass onto other marketers?

“You have two paths...You can either go really deep and be a functional expert, or you can create some option value along the way.”

Gunther explains that, although it is important to know your strengths as a marketer, it’s also important to avoid pigeonholing yourself. She said that becoming an expert in the marketing disciplines that she was passionate about, along with other disciplines, shaped her into a well-rounded marketer with more opportunities and experiences. 

She graciously added another piece of advice which is “always take the job where [you] know [you’re] really going to like [your] coworkers.” This sentiment is so important, especially in marketing which is centered around relationship building and networking.

Q4 | What values are important to you as a leader?

Gunther said that when she is looking for new leaders for her company, she looks for two key values - intellectual curiosity and drive. 

She enjoys working with leaders who love brainstorming and developing ideas. Furthermore, she said that the leaders don’t necessarily need to be experts because “sometimes they see the problem in such a different way that they can come in on the side and really have some great ideas.”  She recognizes the beauty of bringing people “from many facets” so the team can learn that it’s beneficial to have fresh perspectives.

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For more marketing leadership advice and a view into the mindset of marketing executives in various industries, be sure to watch the full interview with Lisa Gunther, and keep an eye out for more thought leadership from our CMO Spotlights. 

Watch the full interview to the right.