John Harrobin, VP-Marketing Communications and CRM, Verizon
NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- Since Verizon Wireless launched its line of Droid phones, Google's entire Android smartphone platform has seen explosive growth.
Dana Walden, Chairman of 20th Century Fox Television
Gary Newman, Chairman of 20th Century Fox Television
Kevin Reilly, President of Entertainment, Fox
LOS ANGELES (AdAge.com) -- Not only has "Glee" become a hit series that can draw big audiences without the aid of "American Idol," but it's also become a bona fide pop-culture phenomenon not seen since, well, "Idol."
Craig Bierley, Advertising and Promotions Director, Buick and GMC
NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- Buoyed by Buick's success in China, GM transformed the brand and repositioned it for a different audience. As a result, Buick is the fastest-growing major automotive brand in the U.S.
Jimmy Iovine, Chairman of Interscope Geffen A&M
NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- Over the past year, the high-end Beats by Dr. Dre headphones, which cost anywhere from $99 to $450, have slowly started replacing the ubiquitous white ear buds sold with iPods.
Sean "Diddy" Combs, Brand Manager-CMO
CHICAGO (AdAge.com) -- Made in France, Cîroc vodka has what importer Diageo likes to call "liquid credentials" -- it is one of the first vodkas made from fine French grapes, mauzac blanc and ugni blanc, and it is distilled five times. But what really sets this brand apart are its street credentials.
Tony Post, Vibram USA President-CEO
NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- It isn't easy to reinvent a 75-year-old company, especially with a product that people have deemed "ugly" and "disgusting," but that's exactly what Vibram has done in the past few years with its FiveFingers shoes brand.
NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- After Conan O'Brien left the Peacock network altogether, instead of fading from view, his star -- and brand -- glimmers more brightly than ever, thanks in large part to an army of online fans and a savvy integrated marketing campaign to promote his new show on TBS, "Conan."
Leonard Armato, President, Skechers Fitness Group
NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- In most cases, being all things to all people is a recipe for disaster. In the case of Skechers, it's led to massive growth. In 2009, net sales were $1.4 billion. In 2010, the company is on track to grow sales by 30% to $2 billion, no easy feat for a mature company.
John Krafcik, President-CEO, Hyundai Motor America
LOS ANGELES (AdAge.com) -- One year ago, Ad Age named Hyundai the 2009 Marketer of the Year. Hyundai kept rolling in 2010, with year-to-date U.S. sales jumping 21% (twice the industry's growth rate). Factor out fleet volume (such as rental fleets), and Hyundai's retail sales to consumers are up a whopping 29%.
Johnny Morris, CEO
NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- Few retail stores can say they also serve as theme parks, summer camps and community centers in their regions, but Bass Pro Shops has made itself an exception.
Mark Fields, Exec VP of Ford Motor Co. and President of the Americas
CHICAGO (AdAge.com) -- Ford Motor Co. was Ad Age's 2010 Marketer of the Year, so it was an easy call to name Ford one of America's Hottest Brands. But Ford's turnaround is a complex story of doing many things right: an appealing product; high quality, innovative marketing; gutsy financial moves; and a focus on the company's core brand.
Rob Solomon, President-Chief Operating Officer
NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- Everyone's going gaga for Groupon. In less than a year, the Chicago-based company has swelled from 3 million subscribers in the U.S. to 25 million subscribers in nearly 30 countries around the world, including Mexico, Brazil, Japan, Russia and Argentina.
Paul Smailes, Brand Director
CHICAGO (AdAge.com) -- For Dos Equis importer Heineken USA, "The Most Interesting Man in the World" campaign has meant big sales at a time when other beers are struggling to battle the headwinds of a recession and competition from smaller craft brewers.
Christopher Bailey, Chief Creative Officer
NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- Burberry, under Chief Creative Officer Christopher Bailey, stands out all the more as one of the brands that has been a beacon of what's possible in the fashion realm.
Dale Katechis, Founder, Oskar Blues Brewery
CHICAGO (AdAge.com) -- Dale's Pale Ale, which first made as a home brew by Mr. Katechis while in college, is one of the hottest beers in the sizzling craft category.
Dan Jackson, Brand Manager, Procter & Gamble Co.
BATAVIA, Ohio (AdAge.com) -- Recession and oil spills are certainly bad, but they've ultimately helped sell Procter & Gamble Co.'s Dawn dish soap in the past year as the brand that combined innovation, value messaging and doing good to do very well for itself.
Paul Chibe, VP of U.S. Gum and Mints, Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co.
CHICAGO (AdAge.com) -- With its slick packaging, innovative flavors and highly produced ads, Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co.'s 5 gum continues to gain momentum in the sugarless-gum category.
Derek Bowen, VP-Marketing for U.S. Hair Care, Alberto-Culver
BATAVIA, Ohio (AdAge.com) -- Alberto-Culver Co.'s Tresemmé was the only mid-tier value brand among major entrants to gain share in U.S. shampoo, conditioner and styling alike last year.
Debra Sandler, Chief Consumer Officer, Mars Chocolate North America
CHICAGO (AdAge.com) -- In a salty-sweet combo, M&M's Pretzel Chocolate Candies debuted in May, and their instant popularity has helped candy giant Mars post impressive sales gains for the M&M's brand.
Suzanne Collins, Author, 'The Hunger Games' Trilogy
NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- For a young-adult novel to find "Harry Potter"-level success is a feat often attempted but rarely achieved over the past decade. (Anyone remember "A Series of Unfortunate Events"?) But if any teen-lit franchise shows the potential to reach the critical mass of teen-wizard and vampire proportions, it's Scholastic's "Hunger Games" series, which -- tellingly -- is about to get the film treatment.
Ben Rotholtz, VP-Marketing
YORK, Pa. (AdAge.com) -- From its launch in spring 2009, "Plants vs. Zombies" captured attention with its friendly-looking zombie attackers and funky plant weapons. Casual gamers and hard-core console players were both drawn to the game.
Gary Cohen, Senior VP-President of Marketing and Customer Experience
NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- Six years after test-launching its DVD vending-machine concept at Denver-area McDonald's restaurants, Redbox is resonating with recession-bitten families across America searching for affordable ways to have fun.
Jennifer Telfer, CEO, CJ Products
NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- What started as a wish to bring some practicality to an otherwise frivolous pile of stuffed animals in a little boy's room has, in seven years, turned into a multimillion-dollar global business. That, in short, is the My Pillow Pets story.
Michelle Potorski, Associate Marketing Director, Gillette Male Shaving in North America
BATAVIA, Ohio (AdAge.com) -- While it's still early days, ProGlide sent Gillette's razor sales up 43% in the third quarter and its already commanding share up 3.4 points to 67.7% in the third quarter.
Michael McCullough, Exec VP-Chief Marketing Officer
NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- This past summer the NBA's Miami Heat were suddenly not only the league's hottest property, but the target of the type of venom reserved only for the likes of the New York Yankees and Duke men's basketball team, thanks to LeBron James's arrival.
Philip Schiller, Senior VP-Worldwide Product Marketing
YORK, PA. (AdAge.com) -- From the moment the iPad was announced in January, the sleek touch tablet has generated headlines, spurred competitors' own pad-product development and marketing, and grabbed an early market share lead in the emerging category.
Keith Belling, CEO
In 2007, future PopChips CEO Keith Belling set out to find the holy grail of snacking. What he found wasn't just a new chip brand, it was a whole new category.
Michelle Wilson, Exec VP-Marketing, World Wrestling Entertainment
LOS ANGELES (AdAge.com) -- Although it's a nearly 30-year-old franchise, World Wrestling Entertainment may be having its biggest year yet in 2010. Since transitioning from an adult-targeted TV and event property to a family-friendly, PG-rated property in 2008, the WWE has conquered more platforms and pop-culture milestones in the last two years than nearly all of its previous iterations.
Robert Croak, CEO, BCP Imports
YORK, Pa. (AdAge.com) -- Who could have imagined that animal-shaped rubber bands would set off a trend the likes of which hasn't been seen since Webkinz? BCP Imports CEO and owner of the Silly Bandz brand, Robert Croak, did. He jumped into the market in late 2008,
Josh Silverman, Senior VP-Global Business Affairs and Strategy
Dan Buckley, president and publisher, Marvel Worldwide
LOS ANGELES (AdAge.com) To most moviegoers, "Iron Man" means little more than Tony Stark, Robert Downey Jr. and a pair of blockbuster films that have collectively grossed more than $630 million in the U.S. alone. But to comic book fans, "Iron Man" is just a small piece of a much larger puzzle called "The Avengers" that Marvel Entertainment is about to capitalize on in an even bigger way over the next three years.
Eric Schwartz, VP-North American Laundry Marketing, Henkel
BATAVIA, Ohio (AdAge.com) -- U.S. laundry aisles saw plenty of broken dreams and discontinued products about 10 years ago, when marketers thought consumers were ready for new forms such as tablets and home dry-cleaning kits. But in 2009 Purex Complete generated $67 million in year-one sales and beat first-year sales for the next biggest laundry product launch of the year, Tide Stain Release.
James Moorhead, Brand Manager, Procter & Gamble Co.
BATAVIA, Ohio (AdAge.com) -- Isaiah Mustafa, aka the Old Spice Guy, ranks with Wendy's pitchwoman Clara "Where's the Beef" Peller among those who transcended ad greatness to achieve pop-culture stardom.
Willie Vadnais, Co-founder
SAN FRANCISCO (AdAge.com) -- ThinkGeek is one of those magical brands whose multimillion-dollar success stems from nothing but authenticity. No agencies, no marketing strategies -- nothing but a few IT guys back in 1999 who thought it would be fun to sell a funny inside-joke-style T-shirt to all the other long-suffering men and women on the frontlines of the creation of the internet.
Andrew Meurer, VP-feminine and Adult Care
BATAVIA, Ohio (AdAge.com) -- "Break the Cycle" campaign brings U by Kotex out of a sinking slump and boosts sales.
Katrin Ley, Head of Brand Strategy, Business Development and Women's Sport Business
NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- Reebok has been credited with fueling the aerobics craze of the 1980s, and three decades later it's out to do the same with the toning category. The company's EasyTone footwear has captured a third of the billion-dollar market, said Matt Powell, an analyst at SportsOneSource.
Scott Rhodes, Director of the Organic Growth Group, Waste Management
CHICAGO (AdAge.com) -- Start with a bag. Make it big like a dumpster. Sell it at Home Depot. And have the nation's largest waste-management company swing by your house to take it away. This is the simple premise behind Bagster, Waste Management's "Dumpster in a Bag."
Sophia Therios, Director-Marketing, McDonald's USA
CHICAGO
