My Top 100 (107) People I Learn From in Strategy and Marketing 2023…

I believe in continuing education.

I believe in learning.

I believe in continuing to search out different voices.

I like to put together a list each year or every so often.

These are the Top 100 people I follow, read, and learn from in marketing, strategy, branding, and business. I had more than 100…so you get a few extras!

There are in no specific order except how easy it was for me to link to the proper thing. I’ll challenge you to put others in the comments.

Because obviously I’m going to forget to include people that I definitely should include.

1. Mary Kyriakidi: Mary has to coolest title going, “Global Thought Leader” and she backs it up. She did a great trilogy on pricing this year.
2. Paul Bailey: Paul is Brand Strategy Director at Halo. We did a great podcast on branding that I used as a resource for my #KelleyOnLocation class.
3. Giles Edwards: He’s a proper marketer. He’s the host of ‘Call to Action’ and a great Spurs fan. All of which gets him on the list.
4. Sophie Edwards: She’s the Champion of Proper Marketing. They have something going on at that agency!
5. Ryan Wallman: He’s one of the funniest skewers of marketing nonsense anywhere in the world.
6. Andrew Tindall: I love the work of System1. They’ve changed the way I think about ad effectiveness.
7. Gillian Rightford: Gillian got to judge the Effies! I’m jealous. She’s a great voice for effectiveness.
8. Fergus O’Carroll: ‘The On Strategy’ podcast is a must listen. The episode with Mark Ritson about American marketing being off the boil really sparked a lot of thinking for me. (If something is correct is it really controversial or is it just painful to admit the truth.)
9. Ian McGrath: Ian has written really thoughtfully on pricing and discounts. I can dig that.
10. Dave Harland: The Wordman himself. He can teach you how to use humor in your ads. It makes them incredibly more effective and memorable.
11. Sophie Cross: She’s a champion of the freelance lifestyle and put together a really great course on using LinkedIn more effectively.
12. Carolyn Barclay: Carolyn is a great copywriter that wants to help brands sound more natural.
13. Anna Inson: Anna knows packaging!
14. Carolyn Georner: Carolyn is one of the great business school professors. She is a progressive thinker when it comes to giving students applicable lessons and a better learning experience.
15. Kiearra Lawrence: Kiearra makes the list by being one of the best question askers I’ve run into. She’s a really insightful thinker.
16. Jennifer Darling: Pay attention to Jennifer’s energy and focus on bringing positive energy to your work.
17. Paul Marks: Oh, I learned more about improv and using comedy in an hour or two with him than I’ve ever learned.
18. Amy Kean: Amy is great. Her work on teaching women to use their voices is important. We don’t need more lame, boring speeches.
19. Jon Evans: ‘The Uncensored CMO’ is a great podcast. And, System1’s work is just A++.
20. Nick Ellis: Another Halo brand smarty! He’s uses Twitter more than LinkedIn, but you should follow his work on brands.
21. Phillip Oakley: He does a series on LinkedIn with really practical ideas to be a better brander.
22. Ruth Hartt: She’s all about bringing arts marketing into the 21st Century and focusing on the customer.
23. John Lyons: John tells jokes, wears hats, and advocates proper marketing.
24. Mark Ritson: The Mini-MBA in Marketing and the Mini MBA in Brand Management are life changing for marketers.
25. Roger L. Martin: To me, Roger is up there with Peter Drucker. His Medium series is the first thing I read on a Monday.
26. Paula Macaggi: I follow Paula to learn about retail because I keep close to retail through some stuff in high end jewels. You never know what I’m up to.
27. Zoe Scaman: Zoe is a badass. Because she takes no shit. She has a POV. She shares it. If you don’t like it…pound salt. I’m with her 100%.
28. Alan Weiss: ‘The Rock Star of Consulting’ is a legend! His Million Dollar Consulting Courses seriously will give you an ROI of 100,000 to 1 if you do the work.
29. Nicole Yershon: Nicole is great! She’s been generous to me, kind to me, and I know for a fact she is like that with everyone. She’s one of the smartest marketers and thinkers around.
30. Dalia Ezzat: Using marketing to change immigration policies around the world? Is that not bad ass or what?
31. Sangeetha Nair: I follow Sangeetha because I enjoyed her story about walking across India and how that applies to her work with DEI. As marketers, we should really be striving for better representation. That’s the core of marketing and strategy.
32. Kerry-Ann Betton Simpson: I started looking for podcasts earlier in the year and found Kerry-Ann’s. I’m going to get on there one of these days because it is a really great resource for folks.
33. Derek Walker: Derek cuts right to the chase. He also jumped at the chance to share his definition of “brand” when I was looking to bring more voices into my brand management class.
34. Giulio Del Bufalo: Maybe AI won’t be the next big thing…but you should have a plan? You should also be embracing proper marketing.
35. Solene Jiminez: I think the arts are super important. I’m always looking for people that are bringing a different POV to selling the arts.
36. Scott Goodacre: Scott spends his day thinking about how football clubs can use social media better…that’s a big W if you ask me.
37. Tom Elmer: If every marketing student could have a teacher like Tom, the profession would be in a much better spot.
38. Rachel Mitrione: If you don’t know Rachel, you are sleeping on someone that is going to be a sports marketing legend. She’s curious, hard working, and totally fun.
39. Kerry McKenzie: Kerry is one of the most impressive marketers I’ve had a chance to work with, full stop. She’s an ace brand manager.
40. George Sanders: One of my go-to resources when it comes to new thinking on B2B marketing.
41. Mathusha Senthil: Mathusha knows how to drive people and convert them online. She taught me a lot about how to fill up a free event. She’s a good follow.
42. Sean Kelly: Sean knows dynamic pricing as well as anyone I know. He sees that idea through the lens of arts organizations and making sure the arts is sustainable. He also shares his wisdom freely!
43. Kyle Zorn: Kyle is a top notch social media manager and marketer. He’s done some really cool thing with TickPick’s marketing.
44. Brett Goldberg: Brett signed off on TickPick commercials that are hilarious!
45. Casey Thomas: She called me a snazzy dresser at a conference once. She really great about sharing audience development ideas and things about managing your mental health.
46. Jill Dundones: Jill is strategy through and through.
47. Leanne Dow-Weimer: Leanne has been bold enough to build a brand for her marketing podcast, Markigy. The better thing, she’s clear that she did it so she could have a chance to talk to really smart marketers to learn more and get better at her own marketing. That’s winning!
48. Megan Klein: Megan’s posts these days are largely workplace stuff, but I get a chance to talk with her and she is a really smart marketer. She’s great at pulling insights out of data. Also, she’ll be super embarrassed that I put her on this list. Which makes it even better to do it.
49. Samuel Brealey: Sam focuses on smaller businesses which is great because he recognizes that the stuff a big business can do is often different than what a small business can do. The key to focus on, effectiveness.
50. Bruce Clark: Another professor that I wish more students had a chance to learn from. He’s smart, curious, and shares so much knowledge.
51. Josie Brown: Josie is everything: a great marketer, an Australian, smart…and really great about sharing interesting ideas.
52. David C. Baker: David C. Baker is an expert on being an expert. His books will change your business and your career.
53. Amber Naslund: Amber shares things about marketing and life. Her perspective is important and helpful.
54. Cindy Gallup: She’s the Michael Bay of Business…what more do you need to know?
55. April Dunford: I took her positioning class from Section. She simple with her language, but her ideas will win you business. She makes positioning seem so simple that you’d feel ridiculous if you didn’t follow her advice.
56. Julia McDowell: Julia has a really cool book that will help you think through your marketing strategy. She also works with nonprofits on their marketing strategy…that’s the lord’s work in so many ways.
57. J.W. Cannon: J.W. is curious and shares some of the most interesting promotional ideas…I don’t know where he finds the stuff.
58. Josh Spector: His newsletter is great. It is actionable and quick to read. The ideas he shares can be put to work immediately.
59. Parul Batra: She’s a project manager and I’ve written about the human aspects of project management for a long time…so we connected when I was doing some market research to help maintain my relevance and also so I could return to the top of the most read project management writers in the world. Parul has a really interesting take on how the human aspects of project management will dominate the next few years.
60. Colleen O’Hara: Again, I don’t run into too many PMPs that aren’t in hard core tech fields…Colleen uses her PMP in the arts! Amazing!
61. Asli Pelit: Who is my favorite sports business journalist in the world? You guessed it, Asli! Brands. Football. Tech. She covers all the stuff I love.
62. Bruce McTague: Bruce is a smart dude. The stuff he shares will make you think. He challenges and provokes in the best possible way.
63. Dorie Clark: Dorie is a world class thinker on professional and personal development, but she is also a super networker…in a way that is really cool and unique.
64. Jerry Daykin: Jerry focuses on diversity and booze! C’mon…this is great.
65. Kamal Munir: A professor of strategy at Cambridge. The Power framework is one of the most helpful frameworks of strategy that I’ve ever learned.
66. Mara Rada: Mara shares a lot about strategy and technology. I always seem to notice her posts.
67. Rebecca Jenkins: I learn a lot about leadership and sales for SMEs that teach me how to be a better marketer…and to see marketing from the POV of a small business.
68. Genevieve Lavertu: Genevieve is a go-to resource for fine hotels and resorts. Genevieve lives the lifestyle and she’s super focused on people. So I learn a ton.
69. Amanda Lester: A really great arts market researcher. This is an area that needs more and more attention. Amanda does a great job of sharing insights about research and the intersection with the arts.
70. Emma Easton: I really like the use of bollocks here…and the focus on good marketing strategy.
71. Shaz Ansari: Another great strategy professor from the Judge School of Business at Cambridge.
72. Shann Biglione: Low key marketing thought leader…but everything he shares is ace.
73. Greg Hahn: Greg is one of the few agency folks I pay attention to because he has this really unique POV that stands out.
74. Alexandra Matthiesen: Alexandra has this long running streak that I started paying attention to a few years ago, but she’s also a cracker of a marketer who works in tech marketing. So, personality and knowledge in that area are very important.
75. Samuel Sokale: Samuel is an African marketer that has embraced the best marketing ideas from around the world. This is valuable because again, we need to embrace the uniqueness of people’s POV and the way that marketing happens in other parts of the world.
76. Yusuke Sekine: A Japanese marketer that shares a lot of his experiences in brand management in Japan, to me, an ultimate market. I love Japan and learning about how they deal with business.
77. Malcolm Auld: Malcolm is a marketing legend from Australia and his focus on direct mail is amazing. He sent me a personalized book like I needed that to know how great direct mail can still work.
78. Denise Yohn: Denise is a great branding thinker. I used one of her quotes on brands in my brand management class because I think she’s really sharp.
79. Tom Goodwin: I appreciate Tom’s point of view because he does just drop posts out to see what people will say or do in regards to his posts. Don’t we all wish we had a platform that would enable us to do that? Maybe?! Maybe not?!
80. Michael Zipursky: I really learn from two people about running a solo consulting practice Michael and Alan Weiss. Michael does a great job of offering up ideas and insights that will help you rethink your business and grow it.
81. Simon Severino: I’ve done a few podcasts with Simon and I learn something new every time. His newsletter and LinkedIn posts are actionable and will help you rethink your business sales processes.
82. Harrison Monarth: Harrison’s book is one of the great books on presence and making your way in the world. I pull it down and re-read certain parts almost every week.
83. Doug Zanger: Doug is in advertising, teaching, and tech. He’s also an Arsenal fan…I won’t hold that against him.
84. Martin Lindstrom: Martin’s book on neuromarketing has stuck with me over the years. The idea that when you start discounting that it takes years to change the perception has been the one thing I’ve held fast to over the years.
85. Stu Heinecke: Stu’s idea of contact marketing is pretty great. It goes hand-in-hand with Malcolm Auld’s idea of direct mail being so important.
86. Marylou Tyler: Marylou’s book on prospecting is a real kick in the bum. People ask me how to be effective at prospecting and I say have a plan. Marylou’s is where I started years back.
87. Hannah Grannemann: Hannah is an arts management professor with a real keen eye for marketing effectively. She wants to challenge arts marketers to go deeper to find new ways to reach an audience.
88. Scott O’Neil: Scott comes out of the world of sports business, but now that he is focused on attractions, it has been really informative to see him apply new ideas and thinking to a new industry.
89. Aubrey Bergauer: Aubrey has a really unique approach to dealing with opera and arts. She calls it “run it like a business” and it seems obvious, but to the arts it isn’t.
90. Andrew Recinos: Like Scott O’Neil above, Andrew shares his experience leading a global organization. I like it because we don’t always get to see CEO’s as they move through their jobs except in really controlled environments.
91. Tony Knopp: Tony does a newsletter that shares 3 things he learned that week. It is a really cool way for Tony to keep his ideas top of mind and integrate them into the way he moves through the world.
92. Corey Leff: Corey is John Wall Street. I love the expansiveness of subjects Corey covers.
93. Gene Tinner Jr.: Gene is another guy I really love to learn about pricing from. I had him on a panel once and I’m so glad I did because it made me pay even more attention to him and his ideas.
94. Graeme Fraser: Graeme is another one of my favorite B2B marketing resources.
95. Tom Truitt: Tom has a podcast called ‘The Smartest People in the Room’…how can you not love that title? Tom shares tons of really interesting data and insights into the live music business.
96. Colin Lewis: Colin has taught me a lot about how to teach marketing. He also has a deep love of F1 and he’s an incredibly knowledgeable marketer in retail and travel.
97. Jacob Lauesen: I helped Jacob get a speaking engagement in the US once. I had to act like a bit of a jerk to get him the speaking slot…now he’s Director of FC Copenhagen. The point: when I tell you to pay attention to folks, do it. Jacob is really smart with commercial stuff and the partnerships that the football club has done with Adidas over the years are amazing.
98. Koen Pauwels: Great marketing professor. I look forward to his weekly LinkedIn newsletter.
99. Jenni Romaniuk: Jenni’s work on distinctive brand assets is ace!
100. Byron Sharp: How Brands Grow is an essential marketing read. I don’t know if I have seen all of the laws play out as exactly as Professor Sharp, but the way that these laws make you think is very necessary.
101. Utpal Dholakia: A really go-to pricing resource. Utpal’s pricing newsletter is something I read every week.
102. Dr. Grace Kite: Data! Numbers! Insight! I feel like every time I read one of Grace’s pieces, I share it.
103. Helen Edwards: I can’t wait to take her Mini MBA course so I can learn from her. She’s a really sharp thinker about branding and the real world application of branding thought to the world.
104. Christina Nicholson: I found Christina this year and started reading her book, listening to her podcast, and lo and behold…I started showing up in the media more. You should listen to her as well.
105. Faris Yakob: I love Faris’ pieces in WARC.
106. Rob Mayhew: I probably didn’t really appreciate Rob’s work until I listened to him talk about it on podcasts. Then, it all took on a new meaning for me. Really funny dude.
107. Stephanie Stuckey: I am only sad that when I hit Stuckey’s on my road trip to Florida, it was closed. I wanted a pecan roll. Stephanie’s journey to restore the family brand teaches us a lot about the importance of the history of a brand and the founder.

Sorry…it ended up being 107. But I’ve been making notes of people to follow and learn from all year. I could have likely doubled it, but that would be obnoxious.