Delta Takes Over the Sphere: CMO Alicia Tillman on Innovation and Brand Evolution at CES

Summary

Marketing Vanguard: Delta Takes Over the Sphere — A Detailed Summary

Episode Title: Delta Takes Over the Sphere: CMO Alicia Tillman on Innovation and Brand Evolution at CES
Release Date: January 16, 2025
Host: Jenny Rooney, Adweek

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1. Introduction and Event Overview

[01:26] Jenny Rooney:
Jenny Rooney welcomes Alicia Tillman, the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) of Delta, to the Marketing Vanguard podcast. The discussion centers around Delta's groundbreaking keynote presentation at CES Week held at the Sphere in Las Vegas, celebrating Delta's 100th anniversary.

[02:09] Alicia Tillman:
Alicia expresses her gratitude for being part of the event, highlighting the emotional and extensive effort invested by her team and partners to execute the keynote successfully.

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2. The Delta Keynote at the Sphere

[02:23] Alicia Tillman:
Alicia details the vision and execution of Delta’s keynote. She shares how the idea originated shortly after CES the previous year and culminated in securing the Sphere as the venue—a decision that provided a unique, multimedia-rich environment perfect for showcasing Delta's centennial celebrations.

[03:58] Jenny Rooney:
Jenny comments on the immersive elements of the keynote, such as wind effects and scents, which enhanced the storytelling experience, making it more engaging and memorable for the audience.

[05:49] Jenny Rooney:
Jenny praises the keynote’s balance between advanced technology and the human element, emphasizing how Delta effectively showcased its commitment to both innovation and customer-centric service.

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3. Technological Innovations and Customer Experience

[06:34] Alicia Tillman:
Alicia discusses the integration of technology to enhance customer experiences. She emphasizes that while Delta leverages cutting-edge technologies, the focus remains on improving the human aspects of travel. She states, “It's only as good as what you program it to be and how you're feeding intelligence.”

[09:02] Alicia Tillman:
Alicia narrates the story of "Eve," a business traveler whose journey was streamlined through Delta’s AI-driven digital concierge. This technology anticipates needs and simplifies travel logistics, allowing customers to focus on what truly matters.

[12:00] Alicia Tillman:
She highlights the collaboration with Ryan Smith from Qualtrics, which provides trusted customer insights, ensuring that Delta’s AI systems are fed authentic and reliable data. This partnership enables Delta to offer personalized and efficient services.

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4. Data Authenticity and AI Integration

[13:57] Alicia Tillman:
Alicia underscores the importance of data authenticity in AI applications. She remarks, “You've got to make sure that every ounce of data that you're feeding in to build the intelligence is trusted, is authentic.” This ensures that AI capabilities genuinely enhance the customer experience without compromising trust.

[21:16] Alicia Tillman:
Further elaborating on AI integration, Alicia explains how technologies like Fin by Intercom are employed to resolve customer service tickets efficiently, improving satisfaction and reducing the burden on human representatives.

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5. Strategic Partnerships

[14:31] Jenny Rooney:
Jenny shifts the conversation to Delta's strategic partnerships unveiled during the keynote, including collaborations with Uber, DraftKings, YouTube, and Roblox.

[15:12] Alicia Tillman:
Alicia explains the rationale behind these partnerships: “Customers value brands collabing with other brands. It is a big part of the way consumers have really adjusted their expectations.” By partnering with category leaders, Delta enhances its service offerings and creates exclusive experiences for its customers.

[17:10] Jenny Rooney:
Jenny highlights how these partnerships position Delta as a lifestyle brand, seamlessly integrating into various aspects of customers' lives beyond just air travel.

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6. Brand Evolution and Future Vision

[19:31] Jenny Rooney:
Jenny emphasizes how Delta is evolving into a comprehensive lifestyle brand, reducing friction in the customer journey and expanding beyond traditional airline services.

[20:01] Alicia Tillman:
Alicia acknowledges the importance of maintaining core operational excellence while expanding into new areas. She states, “If we're not delivering people safely on time with their bags every single time they step on an aircraft with us, then our ability to expand into these other aspects of their lifestyle, there's not going to be interest.”

[23:15] Alicia Tillman:
Alicia outlines Delta’s ongoing commitment to enhancing customer experiences through technology and strategic partnerships, ensuring that every interaction reinforces Delta’s position as a leader in the industry.

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7. Alicia Tillman's Career Insights and Advice

[27:05] Jenny Rooney:
Jenny inquires about Alicia’s career journey, noting her transitions from major corporations like American Express and SAP to startup environments, and finally to her pivotal role at Delta.

[30:15] Alicia Tillman:
Alicia shares her philosophy on career growth: “You always need to. You learn the most when you're uncomfortable, truly.” She encourages marketers to embrace challenges and step outside their comfort zones to foster personal and professional development.

[31:40] Alicia Tillman:
Reflecting on her time at Capitolis, Alicia highlights the value of diverse experiences in shaping her approach to marketing and brand building, which she brings to her role at Delta.

[33:45] Alicia Tillman:
Alicia connects her marketing strategies to a higher purpose: “We're not in the transportation business. We're in the business of helping people unlock their purpose on this planet.”

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8. Conclusion

[37:06] Alicia Tillman:
Alicia emphasizes the importance of collaboration and continuous improvement in marketing strategies, advocating for the integration of AI and strategic partnerships to meet evolving customer expectations.

[38:31] Jenny Rooney:
Jenny wraps up the conversation by applauding Alicia’s achievements and expressing excitement for Delta’s future initiatives under her leadership.

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Notable Quotes

• Alicia Tillman [06:34]:
  “It's only as good as what you program it to be and how you're feeding intelligence.”

• Alicia Tillman [09:02]:
  “It lets us get back to things that matter.”

• Alicia Tillman [15:12]:
  “Customers value brands collabing with other brands. It is a big part of the way consumers have really adjusted their expectations.”

• Alicia Tillman [27:05]:
  “You learn the most when you're uncomfortable, truly.”

• Alicia Tillman [33:45]:
  “We're not in the transportation business. We're in the business of helping people unlock their purpose on this planet.”

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Key Takeaways

• Innovative Event Execution: Delta’s keynote at the Sphere was a fusion of advanced technology and emotional storytelling, setting a new standard for brand presentations at major events.

• Customer-Centric Technology: By leveraging AI and trusted data sources, Delta enhances customer experiences, making travel more efficient and personalized.

• Strategic Partnerships: Collaborations with leading brands like Uber, DraftKings, YouTube, and Roblox position Delta as a holistic lifestyle brand, meeting diverse customer needs beyond air travel.

• Brand Evolution: Delta maintains its operational excellence while evolving into a broader lifestyle brand, ensuring sustained customer loyalty and market leadership.

• Leadership Insights: Alicia Tillman’s career journey emphasizes the value of stepping out of comfort zones and embracing challenges to drive innovation and growth within a brand.

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This episode of Marketing Vanguard offers valuable insights into how Delta, under Alicia Tillman's leadership, is redefining the airline industry through innovative technology, strategic partnerships, and a relentless focus on enhancing the human aspect of the customer experience. The conversation serves as a compelling case study for marketers and business leaders aiming to drive brand evolution and customer-centric growth in a rapidly changing landscape.

Transcript

[Ryan Reynolds]

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[Alicia Tillman]

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[Alicia Tillman]

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[Alicia Tillman]

It's only as good as what you program it to be and how you're feeding intelligence. So you've got to make sure that every ounce of data that you're feeding in to build the intelligence is trusted, is authentic. And that's still the big question mark today, which is the authenticity of the data in which AI capabilities are pulling from.

[Jenny Rooney]

Hi everyone and welcome to the Marketing Vanguard podcast. I'm Jenny Rooney with Ad Week and I'm thrilled to be here in Las Vegas during CES Week with Alicia Tillman, CMO of Delta. Alicia, thank you so much for joining me.

[Alicia Tillman]

Thank you for having me.

[Jenny Rooney]

Oh, my goodness. We're coming off of an incredible evening. You and your team and CEO Ed Bastian just had. What everybody around here is talking about as being one of the most epic experiences that folks have had in terms of a. I wouldn't even put it in the classification of a press conference or anything that a brand does. It was just an incredible show at the Sphere last night in Las Vegas. Congratulations.

[Alicia Tillman]

Thank you.

[Jenny Rooney]

Celebrating 100 year anniversary of Delta. But honestly, and I'll let you take it away, the storytelling and the excitement that you posited to packed house around what the future holds for Delta was incredible.

[Alicia Tillman]

Thank you. Tell us about it. It was fun. It was emotional when it was over. It's been a long journey to get there. Yeah.

[Jenny Rooney]

It must have put like so much blood, sweat and tears into that. Personally.

[Alicia Tillman]

Yeah. The team. I've got an extraordinary team that put everything into it. A lot of partners that supported us, the Sphere, cta. When we first had the vision, it was earlier, last year, soon after CES last year concluded, and we started to think about what we were going to do at ces. And I remember actually was at south by Southwest with Ed, where we had a really significant showing for the Delta brand for the first time at south by last year. And he said, so, what do you want to do for ces? I said, well, I'm happy you asked, because it's our centennial year and I'd like to put your keynote at the Sphere. And I remember thinking, okay, well, this could go two ways. He could say, absolutely not or let's do it. And he obviously said, let's do it. And so what then transpired from there is. I wanted to be sure that it was part of the CES footprint and we wanted a really grand stage to be able to start Delta Centennial Year. And the Sphere being the venue as it is, there's no place like it on Earth, truly. All the multimedia and everything from scent to sound to movement.

[Jenny Rooney]

The wind in your face.

[Alicia Tillman]

Yeah, and we had some cool wind effects with the coffee smell when we unveiled the Uber partnership. And then the fireworks smell in the end when we had the fireworks inside. And then, of course, the movement when the plane took off and landed. It was the right stage for us. And so spent a lot of time with Kinsey from CTA and Chandra, who leads the Sphere, and said, listen, this is what we want and this is the stage. I want it to be an integrated part of ces. And Kinsey was all in, Gary Shapiro was all in, Chandra was all in from the Sphere. And then began a journey to now build what the keynote would be. And so everybody loves a bit of airline nostalgia. So we started there and really, you know, doing a very brief look back on the airline industry and most importantly, the people that have delivered the service of Delta through the past 100 years, of which we're the most proud of, to then looking at sort of innovation of today, how are we just focused on the customer experience? How does some of the newer technologies enable that experience? And then look ahead a bit at what the next 100 years through the eyes of kids, which is how we started out. Act three, because, like, hard to imagine, like, it's going to be our kids that will. They won't even really be there. If we think about 100 years from now, which is super scary to even think about, but we wanted to start that portion of the keynote with how kids think about the future of transportation. But it was awesome. We had Lenny Kravitz who brought us home in the end, which was also very fun for us.

[Jenny Rooney]

It was unbelievable.

[Alicia Tillman]

Yeah, it was a lot of fun.

[Jenny Rooney]

I mean, there was so much there, you know, because it was an opportunity, as you said, to tell a story. And it was very human, as you referenced. You know, I got there early enough to walk through the outside activation where you would have the imagery and some of the examples of what the flight attendants used to wear. And you brought so much of the people who comprise the Delta organization in all aspects of service, they were there, they were on stage. So the human element was really palpable throughout the entire activation. And so I want to just put that out there and put a fine point on that, because when we're here in Las Vegas during CES Week, which is all that technology.

[Alicia Tillman]

Yes.

[Jenny Rooney]

And by the way, Delta is all about technology. And yet the thing I think that came through was the human element. And that, if anything, all the things you guys talked about were about elevating the human instead of having it fall by the wayside as what's lost in the rise of technology.

[Alicia Tillman]

Thank you for feeling that in Ed's keynote yesterday, because when we sat down, we started thinking about the presentation seven months out, and it was the very first thing that he said. Listen, exactly. As Jenny, you've just said, CES is all about technology. And we'll have the next 100 years start at CES because we could argue that we run the biggest technology company on the planet. If you look at the airplane as the biggest piece of technology, that's 600,000 people every single day make a choice to put their lives in our hands to transport them to where they're going. But it's the people that really make that experience what it is. From building the planes, servicing the planes, supporting the journey, supporting the whole process, from booking to your post travel process, and hopefully you see it. And we wanted to put our people on full display Yesterday, from the moment you walked into the sphere, greeted by a Delta ambassador, you gave a nod to some of our legendary and iconic employees who've have been there 65 years and still working.

[Jenny Rooney]

Yeah. One of the people who was featured, I guess to the left of her must have been her husband or a friend or a relative of some sort. And you could just see the tear coming out of his eye as she was lauded for her 50 some odd years of service. And it was Just unbelievably palpable. The consumer experience was also kept very human because a lot of the technology you talked about was the stuff of, frankly, Star wars and Star like, it's very future forward. And the journey that Ed shared around Eve, who was a business traveler.

[Alicia Tillman]

Yep.

[Jenny Rooney]

And telling a story of her journey. And while her journey, and I told my husband about it this morning on the phone, like these are the things people like to talk about, it was really extraordinary. I think what was really cool about it was you didn't lose the human element in that either. You know what I mean? He was just a person like you and me. It was technically five years down the road, I think.

[Alicia Tillman]

Yes, that's exactly right. Two years. In fact, if we think about the Joby that she was going to end up taking to the airport to reduce the 90 minute car travel time down to 10. Joby's going to go live in two years.

[Jenny Rooney]

Amazing. And so even while her journey was completely frankly end to end, guided by technology.

[Alicia Tillman]

Yes.

[Jenny Rooney]

You didn't ever feel like in any of that equation she was any less human or had any less control over the situation. If anything, it was like she was in control over it. And it was a really extraordinary kind of way to tell that story.

[Alicia Tillman]

Made a comment to me recently that really stuck with me. When we think about what you have just shared, which is we all have a purpose every single day we wake up and we say, this is what I need to accomplish today. And usually that purpose is what sits at our core. But we're so distracted by all these other things that have to be done to enable us, to enable us to sort of unlock that core. And sometimes those things like they consume us so much that we keep putting off what is most important and is our purpose. And so if you think about, and obviously AI continues to be all the buzz here at ces, but I think the difference from this year versus last year is we're starting to actually see how people are using it. Last year it was, what is it? Is it going to replace the human race? And all these sort of daunting things that people were talking about to how it's actually now being embedded into certain aspects of people's business. And with Eve, if you really think about what hopefully stood out in that segment, it was the ease and the calm in which she was communicating with her daughter. Because she's a mom first. We know her daughter's toys in the background when she was packing her suitcase. And she's also a career woman. And as we know as career professionals, every minute matters because certainly as women, we're juggling everything. And so to have a piece of technology anticipate. So it's this. That was the intelligent piece. She could have said, oh, you sit down and like we all do, you map out how long is it going to take me to get the airport now, so I know how much time I have to pack. Our digital concierge said it's going to take you 90 minutes to get to the airport. And so then in typical the way the world operates today, it's like, oh, my gosh, 90 minutes. And then you have to sit down and start saying, is there any alternate ways to get me there to save time? Time? No. So what does the digital concierge do? It's going to take you 90 minutes. Would you like me to reserve you a joby? You can get to the airport in 10 minutes. And what does she do as she's packing? Yes, reserve me a joby. And in literally three seconds later, joby confirmed. And so it lets us get back to things that matter. And if AI is used in that way, which I will certainly say, every company here wants that to be the intention, but it means that as brands, we've got to really lean into it. It's only as good as what you program it to be and how you are feeding intelligence. So you've got to make sure that every ounce of data that you're feeding in to build the intelligence is trusted, is authentic. And that's still the big question mark today, which is the authenticity of the data in which AI capabilities are pulling from. And so the other piece of that segment we talked about, Ryan Smith joined us on stage. He's the chairman and co founder of Qualtrics. Qualtrics helps to enable those insights that we need to be able to know our travelers, because there could be something that in the past travel history, Eve maybe said, look, I only prefer car transportation. So whether it's 90 minutes or two hours, I'm going to make that trip to the airport in a car. I'm not going to take a joby. But we knew from past history that she does, in fact, prefer getting someplace as efficient as possible, no matter what the means of transportation is. And so partnering with an insights company like Qualtrics, who's trusted, we've worked with for a while, we know where the data is coming from. It's coming from our customers, it's coming from trusted applications that we know that are feeding into our concierge to now anticipate and better support so she can calmly sit in the Delta One lounge, have a conversation with her daughter, calmly walk to the gate because we're helping to shepherd her there by giving her the exact directions on her smart enabled device. So we're doing all of those things. And that is, Jenny, that's not like 10 years from now. These are technologies that are here and now in the next 12 months that in our case certainly are there to just help people like live their lives.

[Jenny Rooney]

I love that. And so you're taking care of the behind the scenes stuff. And by the way, Jeannie, who was.

[Alicia Tillman]

On stage, Jeannie Brady.

[Jenny Rooney]

Oh my God.

[Alicia Tillman]

She's is a love. She is. And she is an active flight attendant.

[Jenny Rooney]

Flight attendant. But for people who are listening, you had the Qualtrics conversation or talk about what you were doing with Qualtrics and then Jeannie was there to basically again, humanize it and talk about, well, this is where the rubber meets the road in terms of customer service, customer experience and making sure that each and every guest on that plane or throughout that journey is known, understood and supported.

[Alicia Tillman]

Yes.

[Jenny Rooney]

So I just thought that was pretty incredible. I wanted to now go to this concept because at the end of the day, last night was all about partnerships. You announced and unveiled extraordinary partnerships. Uber Tom Brady, Qualtrics, as you referenced.

[Alicia Tillman]

DraftKings, YouTube.

[Jenny Rooney]

YouTube, DraftKings Roblox. Talk a little bit about that because that was a moment to in one or two would have been impressive, but you brought all of it, the full slate and it was so powerful. But talk about strategically and for other marketers listening, why did you choose to take that path, announce all those partnerships en masse and basically say, this is how we're going to show up from here moving forward?

[Alicia Tillman]

Yeah. One of the things that we've learned a lot from customers is they value brands collabing with other brands. It is a big part of the way consumers have really adjusted their expectations.

[Jenny Rooney]

You're as good as the company you keep. Right.

[Alicia Tillman]

It's good as the company you keep. And they want to be able to access brands through your brand. Yeah, we're becoming a distribution platform for their gateway to get into other brands. So that's one of the things a lot of our intelligence has told us. And that's bit of a new phenomenon. And I think it goes back to people are super busy and they know what they want. But if they can reduce the time spent by being able to access their loved brands that are connected to their journey with you, that's an expectation consumers have Today. And so all the brands that we introduced last night, they are leaders in their category. And everything that we established is going to be exclusive to Delta. And so that's what we expect. And we expect with Delta being at the premium level that it is that we're partnering with the category leaders. Now. When you step back and you break that up, we again go into our customer intelligence to say, okay, what do our customers actually telling us? Rideshare. Like, it's a very active part. You heard Dara on stage yesterday. He talked about how 15% of all of their transactions start and end at an airport. And so, you know, doing that and then you've got, you know, they have the whole Uber Eats component. I think this was a hangover from COVID where we were all sitting in our homes and it's like, how do we get food and the conveniences that we want? And so that became the rise of all of these, these food sharing capabilities in particular. And so you've got Uber Eats and you've got Uber for transportation. That was one. And that is a very significant need. YouTube.

[Jenny Rooney]

And by the way, Uber one. You also said anybody who, I guess it's when you spend with Uber, you're.

[Alicia Tillman]

Going to rack up Delta loyalty.

[Jenny Rooney]

Loyalty at the same time.

[Alicia Tillman]

That's actually a really great point because even though you could look at rideshares being part of the travel redemption side of the house, well, if you think about traditional frequent flyer programs, usually it was mileage redemption for things still on the airline, seat upgrades, free tickets, et cetera, et cetera. But it's like, okay, we're keeping it within the travel ribbon, but we're now extending it into other brands that are very much part of that traveler journey. So being able to use points now with other brands, which is very similar, we introduced SkyMiles experiences just before the holidays. And so you now are able to use your SkyMiles points for all of these, like, exceptionally created experiences. So for example, and we launched it just before Thanksgiving. And like, for example, it was like private dance lessons with the Radio City Rockettes, courtside tickets to the New York Knicks, and shoot around with Jalen Brunson before the game starts. Private pickleball lessons from like pickleball greats. These experiences you can use points for, but they sold out, like instantly. So we can't even keep the inventory enough. So we're partnering with key brands that enable these experiences that our customers want. YouTube. It's now exclusive content ad free on Delta DraftKings gaming. That's a big platform. So DraftKings will be accessible on flight this year which there'll be more to come on this one. So we didn't roll out everything. So we've got Roblox which is an enormous gaming platform, one of the top three gaming platforms. We're looking to start to build Delta Loyalty earlier in our loyalist journeys. So when we start to think about Gen Z. So we've built a universe in the Roblox platform, a Delta universe there. And these are all intended to be brands that our customers, they're in their portfolio alongside of Delta.

[Jenny Rooney]

Well, it creates surround sound, right?

[Alicia Tillman]

Yeah.

[Jenny Rooney]

You are basically creating this. And it goes without saying it completely catapults you into as if you weren't before. Now you fully are a lifestyle brand. You really the connector. And you're acknowledging the way people live their lives back to your point in all the ways servicing them and taking sort of the, the friction out of the journey but also thinking about they're living lives that, that go way outside the bounds of this moment. When you're in an airplane, you know what I mean? And so it's actually the outside in.

[Alicia Tillman]

Like that's our vision. But you've got to make sure that your core product is sound. Right. And it's complicated in the airline business.

[Jenny Rooney]

Absolutely.

[Alicia Tillman]

And if we're not delivering people safely on time with their bags every single time they step on an aircraft with us, then our ability to expand into these other aspects of their lifestyle, there's not going to be interest. But the good news is Delta remains the number one on time. Carrier Cerium just announced their awards just before the New Year's holiday that Delta's number one again. And so it's like, okay, we are number one operationally. Do we believe that we're going to continue to invest in the operation?

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[Alicia Tillman]

Of course we are. So how do we start to your point, how do we start really taking that loyalty and bringing more in to help support what their lifestyle demands today? And brand partnerships is a big one. We announced a Shake Shack partnership just before the holidays, which has been extraordinary. That we're serving. Shake Shack.

[Unknown]

Yes.

[Alicia Tillman]

Yeah.

[Jenny Rooney]

All the amazing work he's been doing.

[Alicia Tillman]

There, so fun there. So many more fun ones to come in the culinary space in particular. It's not like, what are they necessarily eating on board when they're going out to dinner with friends on the weekend? Like, where are they going to eat when they're grabbing a meal, a quick grab and go from somewhere, where are they grabbing that from? And how do we just integrate that into our experience as well?

[Jenny Rooney]

So last night represented a culmination, but it also represented a starting point. So how are you regarding, like, certainly everything you've accomplished to get to that point of last night, which it sounds like it was more than 12 months, but better part of.

[Alicia Tillman]

Yeah, 12 months leading up to it. Yeah.

[Jenny Rooney]

But now you put the stake in the ground, now you have to deliver on the agenda that you've set forth. So how do you, as a cmo, as marketing leader within the company, who is a vital part of the business growth agenda, thinking about how you now need to deliver on that. And the starting point that was last night?

[Alicia Tillman]

Well, it's all about how do we make these partnerships really come to life in a consistent, meaningful way during every aspect of the travel journey as well as off board as well.

[Jenny Rooney]

Sure.

[Alicia Tillman]

So that is. That's how we constructed the partnerships anyway. We live in this business. And I take this from where I started, which was at American Express, where I will always say I learned to be a marketer at one of the best marketing brands who really defined what it means to build customer loyalty. I believe that so strongly and passionately about American Express. And how do you really make sure that your partnerships are showing up to not only improve the experience that they've signed on for with you, but then how does it show up in other places as well? And so our role from here, and I agree with you in so many ways, it is like the starting off and it's about what are the other brands that are also a really vital part. And I will say I don't want to generalize with these brand partnerships, really looking at the segmentation of our customer base, because not every brand is going to resonate with everyone, be it by age or gender or location or a whole variety, variety of dynamics that go into segmentation. Are there different brands that speak to others differently? Yeah, like, are there brands that speak differently to a female business traveler versus a retiree who's traveling for leisure now? And so there's naturally going to be different brands. So we're going to lean in there to really make sure that we're bringing the best brands to the right segmented parts of our customer base. So that's number one. The second is how technology continues to work to improve the efficiency of the experience. And we can never stop improving the efficiency time and time again. The airport experience is a really tough experience and we will never stop working to improve that, obviously, with all of our airport partners in particular, because there's lots of stakeholders that are involved in that process. But we work hand in hand to improve that every single day because that's really important. So that when you come out of that airport experience and you step onto a Delta aircraft, we want people, and we talk about this continuously, we want them to feel like they are welcomed back into their homes when they're sitting on Delta. And that's everything from the onboard entertainment to the quality of the cabin experience. We just unveiled what our new cabin experience is going to look like just before the holidays to then the care and the attention. We heard it from Jeanne Brady on stage yesterday. She's like, all of these insights you can bring us so that we're celebrating our million milers, we're celebrating our honeymooners, we're going beyond birthdays, although everybody loves when the flight attendant recognizes their birthday on board. But we want every single bit of those moments that matter to be able to arm our flight attendants with that knowledge so that they're just proactively recognizing them while they're on board. Board.

[Jenny Rooney]

So listen, it's high stakes, it's high pressure, it's high challenge, but there's a huge opportunity to continue to deliver on the expectations that you've set forth under your leadership. What is obvious is it continues to propel Delta into the brand, into sort of a rarefied, for lack of a better way to describe it, but it's true, pun intended, I suppose, but because you're setting forth and anybody who's listening to this, and by the way, I always imagine people who are either current practitioners, aspiring CMOs who might be listening to this, students even. This is a case study, right? A really interesting case study in what's possible as a brand and as a CMO in a leadership role, working, I would imagine, so closely with the CEO to have vision come to life in really impactful ways. Not just because it's right, great creative or it's great marketing, but it's great for the business.

[Alicia Tillman]

So big time, this is a huge.

[Jenny Rooney]

Opportunity for you to continue to propel that brand forward and solidify it in a place that's just even above and beyond other airline brands. Like, you're putting yourself out there as a tour de force, as a case study in that. I need to ask about you because this is also. You've been in this role now, what, two, three?

[Alicia Tillman]

Not even.

[Jenny Rooney]

Not even.

[Alicia Tillman]

Yeah. So 18 months.

[Jenny Rooney]

Look, Alicia, like, this is. Seems like the role was custom made for you because I see. And I've known you since you were thinking.

[Alicia Tillman]

Yeah, I think that was the first time. I don't think we met when I was at American Express.

[Jenny Rooney]

I don't think so.

[Alicia Tillman]

It's been 10 years. Wow. Yeah.

[Jenny Rooney]

That's amazing. That's super fun.

[Alicia Tillman]

Yes.

[Jenny Rooney]

And by the way, listeners, we love Jon Bon Jovi too.

[Alicia Tillman]

We do. We're Jersey Girls.

[Jenny Rooney]

And we're Jersey Girls and we love the Jersey Shore. So, yeah, shout out to all the Jersey Girls out there. But to me, this has also been an interesting journey for you personally in your career. You were at SAP at cmo, did extraordinary things there. Then you went to Capitalis, which was an interesting move for you because smaller company, more of a startup environment.

[Alicia Tillman]

Yeah, it was a very conscious decision. So American Express, 11 years, SAP for six years. So big legacy brands, leaders in their category. And my roles primarily, and sometimes I say this and people are like, well, that's not entirely true, but I'll say this. I was in the business of reinventing brands that had been around forever and ever, and I loved it and I did it well. But I couldn't help but having this itch from wanting to build a brand from the ground up. And I wanted to do it because I felt like it would just help continuously unlock muscles in me on different kinds of creativity, because on all forms of marketing, it takes different things at different times. And so I said, I want to go in the startup space. I want to take a company public, which the very first company that I started at out of school was a company that we had intended to take public. And we were two weeks away. I was part of the entire IPO planning team. We did all of our roadshows because I started primarily in finance and MNA space. And we were two weeks before. And then Amex swooped in and offered the family and all, cash offer. And we ended up selling our company to American Express. And so I never had that chance to fully get to that point that I wanted. So I also had a hunger for that. So I was at Capitolis for 18 months, hired as their first CMO, built the brand from the ground up, which is exhilarating and exciting. Very nimble. When I walked into that company, I didn't have a single person on my team, and there was not a single dime that sat in what would be called a marketing budget. And I didn't care because I knew that I could build that and I wanted to build it the way that company needed it at that time.

[Jenny Rooney]

Do you think that's unique to you or do you have advice for others that you think they should step outside their comfort zone and go to a smaller company?

[Alicia Tillman]

You always need to.

[Jenny Rooney]

Yeah.

[Alicia Tillman]

You learn the most when you're uncomfortable, truly. And discomfort is daunting. We've all been there. I'm uncomfortable when I don't know something, but I like to push through that because I believe in myself to be able to overcome it. And I know that I'll be learning during that process. And so I run towards that. And then six months in, I was made the chief Revenue officer. Still had marketing underneath me. And then six months after that, I took over all of product and innovation and everything associated with that. And then I was running 90% of the company. And then Ed Bastian called me, and here I sit today. So I found myself back where I started. And I was thankful for the time with Capitolis because it was extraordinary and exceptional. And Gil Mandelzees, who is the founder of that business, they are doing extraordinary things and they have created a first of its kind piece of technology that's truly revolutionizing the financial services space. And it was awesome to be part of that for when the time that I was stepping back now and being at a true consumer brand, which I had that time when I was at amex.

[Jenny Rooney]

Full circle.

[Alicia Tillman]

Really full circle. And it's honestly, it's a privilege, especially, you know, because a lot of times as marketers, you're a B2B or your consumer, and when you walk into one, you get pegged to that. That. So, like, it's been an honor to just be both at enormous companies in the B2B space. And now in consumer. Delta is an extraordinary company. And when we were sitting down to talk about the opportunity, to me, it was not about how I was going to focus on really how to sell seats better, because we do that exceptionally well. It's how do we capitalize on this opportunity to make this a true consumer experience brand? And that's my mission, and that's what I have set after for the past 18 months, because I've never experienced loyalty that people have for the Delta brand anywhere else in my lifetime. And it is something that talks truly about the opportunity that we have at Delta and preserving that beautiful authenticity that we carry as members of the Delta family. So it's like, how do you preserve that well? How do you also think about expanding the company? And it's uncomfortable. It's uncomfortable. Think about what that can look like and what it can be, but you've got to have that balance. And so I take that experience from SAP, where it was five founders who were very precious to the reason behind SAP was founded, and when I worked to sort of transition that into a cloud business where we grew by over 18 billion in brand value during the period that I was there, repositioning the role that SAP has played in really helping to move the planet forward. It's like when you can connect it to someone's purpose, as Ed did so beautifully on stage yesterday. Like, we're not in the transportation business.

[Jenny Rooney]

Yeah, you got to think about we're.

[Alicia Tillman]

In the business of helping people unlock their purpose on this planet.

[Jenny Rooney]

Brands talk about that whole concept of, like, what's your purpose? What's your bigger narrative? You've managed to do it in a way that. That is not just talking about it, but actually doing it. At least last night was such a demonstration of how it's just deeply ingrained and embedded. There's a reason Adweek named you brand genius this year. So congratulations again about that honor, which is one of our most exclusive. I just feel like you're. You're hitting your stride as far as your career as a cmo. You're. You've been somebody who's been so invested in this community, by the way. There is so much to be learned. And to your point, there's so much a lot of CMOs don't know. So it's gonna be interesting to see as we move forward, can we start to get this community to a place where people can say, I don't understand that, and be okay with, like, publicly saying, I don't get it. I don't get AI. I don't get where we're going. But you as being somebody who's been so much a part of the conversation and part of the community, that's only gonna continue to foster the ability for people to learn and to actually start to learn from what you're doing, even as you learn from what other of your peers are doing, so that everybody can continue to be successful in this role that I truly think is so incredibly unique in business. And I just think you're a shining example of that. So congratulations to you on all that you've accomplished and everything you have moving forward. There's so much more we could talk about. I wish we had more time. We will be watching with bated breath to see how this continued evolution of Delta continues forward and you and your role. The last quick question I'll ask of you is, who's next on this podcast? Who should I have as my guest? It can be somebody you know really, really well, a pure cmo, a friend, somebody who's doing extraordinary things, or it's somebody that you don't know, you've never met, but you see what they're doing from afar and you just feel like you would absolutely love to hear from them.

[Alicia Tillman]

Well, oh, my goodness, where do I start? Elizabeth Rutledge is a friend. I love Elizabeth, and she is a love. And I have, in fact, had her. So she's amazing. So of course you. You have her. Mark Weinstein from cmo. Yes. He's extraordinary. These are all people that are, as you said it a moment ago, and it just, it hit home so much. It's okay to say you don't know. It's okay to ask a question that you maybe think is a dumb question, because I'm telling you, more than half the room is also thinking the same question. And you just have to be okay with putting that out there. And so when I think of Mark, when I think of Elizabeth, I think. And Mark was a brand genius as well with us here. So we gotta lean into to those who have been there and done that. And Mark and Elizabeth are two that have. And I think it's also important because I think some of the newer CMOs, they're also less tied to the sort of academia of marketing and bringing a different way of kind of thinking about how we should be thinking about positioning our brands. And it's, let's go after the big stages. Let's make sure that we're putting AI at the forefront of truly measuring impact on our brands, because we have to be equipped to be able to do that. And that's something that is very much at the top of my mind. And go for the big partnerships as well.

[Jenny Rooney]

Yep.

[Alicia Tillman]

Our customers want them. I think that's a great way to bring marketers together is when we're pulling brands together to support our joint customer experience. I think like topics like that and even here with what you're doing, like bringing these brands together here on this podcast, I think would be amazing to see what can come of that. Roblox the team there was exceptional and excited for us to do things together. Same with the Uber team. There's extraordinary people who just want to be there at the forefront of what the customers are asking for because that's that to me, marketing's ability to guide the customer journey, that's when a brand wins for sure.

[Jenny Rooney]

And you're doing that. Last question. Yes, you've moved to Atlanta, Jersey girl, but I will see you at the shore this summer. Yes, LBi is still.

[Alicia Tillman]

Long beach island is still my favorite place on Earth to travel to. You can never take the Jersey out of me. My mom is still there, one of my brothers, my other brother's in California. And so family, my roots are all there. And no matter where I am in the world, it's like, you know, when I can come to that 18 mile stretch of island. Can't get there as frequently as I used to, but we carve out the time.

[Jenny Rooney]

Well, maybe you'll get a Joby to Joby drop you down.

[Alicia Tillman]

Joby's gonna take me there very fast. Yeah, I look forward to that. But Long beach island for sure. Yay.

[Jenny Rooney]

Well, Alicia, thank you so much. It's a pleasure as lovely talking to you. Much more to talk about next time we get together and I look forward to it. In the meantime, safe travels and I'll see you soon.

[Alicia Tillman]

Thank you.

[Freddie Wong]

Thank you for listening to Marketing Vanguard, part of the Ad Week Podcast Network and Acast Creator Network. You can listen and subscribe to all of Adweek's podcasts by visiting adweek.com podcasts. Stay updated on all things Adweek Podcast Network by following us on Twitter Dweek Podcast. And if you have a question or suggestion for the show, send us an [e-mail] thanks for listening.

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