Rich Smith

Rich Smith CMO helping leaders understand why marketing works. Frequent speaker and panelist at industry events and conferences

Accomplished marketing executive and business leader with experience building profitable companies and top-tier brands for the financial services, data & technology, health care, insurance, mortgage, fintech, and consumer financial products industries. I help CEO's, Boards, and Investors differentiate their businesses in the most competitive industry segments and have a track record of delivering results in high-pressure situations including: hyper-growth phase, private-equity or VC funded, start-ups, newly acquired companies, stalled or declining sales, post-bankruptcy turnarounds, and companies facing a financial, regulatory, or public relations crisis. Particular expertise as a B2C and B2B CMO and P&L owner and strong leader who has managed $100M+ marketing budgets and P&L's up to $230M in net income. Skilled in creating and executing go-to-market strategy, aligning sales & marketing, scaling lead generation, brand positioning & brand refresh, growing production from $0 to $25B+, assembling high-performing teams, launching new products & locations, digital transformations, data driven marketing, public relations, crisis communications, competitive analysis, in-depth market research, strategic positioning, and relationship-building with clients and internal corporate verticals. I am an award-winning industry contributor and author with premier trade association leadership roles and a frequent speaker at industry events. Connect with me at https://www.richsmiths.blog or [email protected]

Target Industries & Segments: Financial Services, Healthcare, Mortgage, Banking, Insurance, Credit Card, Consumer Financial Products, Wealth Management, FinTech, MarTech, Addiction Treatment, Mental Health, Eating Disorder Treatment, and Behavioral Health. Specialties:

* CMO / Chief Growth Officer / Chief Revenue Officer
* P&L Owner / Organizational Management
* Branding Strategy & Messaging
* Digital and Omni-channel Marketing
* Customer Acquisition/Retention
* Crisis Communications & Public Relations
* Customer Journey Mapping & Lifetime Value
* Product Marketing, Positioning & New Product Launch
* Direct Marketing
* Digital Transformation
* Corporate & Advisory Board
* Executive & Team Coaching
* Neuromarketing

President of the Philadelphia Chapter of the CMO Collaborative and member of the Club CMO. Fomer member of the North American Advisory Board of the CMO Council and the Governing Body of the CMO Collective.

09/19/2026

Why does it look like everyone else has this all figured out?

In this episode of Revenue Science, Mandy Balak — president of the Gathering Festival, founder of The Well, and a three-time founder who's built and exited multiple businesses — makes the case that growth problems are often capacity problems in disguise.

Organizations don't stall because they lack opportunity. Leaders stall because they run out of the emotional, cognitive, and organizational capacity required to sustain success.

Full episode: https://youtu.be/RHA-3Dix4nw

09/18/2026

In 2000, Salesforce had the weakest product in the room. Marc Benioff won anyway — with a fake protest outside his biggest rival's conference. It worked because of a psychology principle from 1933 that most B2B marketing still ignores. Follow for more on growth, marketing psychology, and the decisions that build category leaders.

Read the full post: https://richmsmith.com/blog/isolation-effect-netflix-b2b-marketing-strategy/

09/14/2026

Your headline might be too honest. This week's Monday Marketing Minute breaks down the Zeigarnik Effect and the curiosity gap: the difference between a headline that closes the loop and one the brain can't leave alone.

New Monday Marketing Minute every Monday — one principle, 60 seconds. Follow for more, and grab the free Growth Engine Scorecard at richmsmith.com/scorecard

09/11/2026

The moment you have to ask for trust, you've already lost it. Real trust isn't claimed, it's earned in the way you show up.

Doland is the author of *Lead with Confidence: How to Build Trust, Create Ownership, and Lead at Scale*, and in this episode we dig into how many of the problems CEOs blame on marketing, sales, or operations are actually leadership problems in disguise.

🎧 Full episode link: https://youtu.be/ADatcPZkGcw

09/10/2026

A whistleblower flagged serious misconduct at KPMG Australia in May 2024 — and it sat untouched for nearly two years until a senator exposed it in Parliament. By then, the CEO, audit chief, COO, and chairman were all gone.

I break down the psychology behind the failure — diffusion of responsibility — and the three fixes every leader needs before their own "someone else will handle it" moment.

Read the full post: https://richmsmith.com/blog/bystander-effect-kpmg-governance-scandal/

09/09/2026

When you're stuck in the day-to-day, it's almost impossible to see what's actually going wrong — you're too close to it.

Doland is the author of Lead with Confidence: How to Build Trust, Create Ownership, and Lead at Scale*, and in this episode we dig into how many of the problems CEOs blame on marketing, sales, or operations are actually leadership problems in disguise.

🎧 Full episode link: https://youtu.be/ADatcPZkGcw

09/07/2026

The human brain is naturally wired to look for the easiest path. The fastest-growing companies aren't adding complexity to their sales process; they are relentlessly eliminating it.

Growth often comes from subtraction. Let's simplify your strategy. Connect with me at richmsmith.com

09/03/2026

Growth isn't a marketing problem or a sales problem — it's a human behavior problem.

I sit down with Debra Bowers, co-founder of the Growth Vanguard, CEO of Hexagon Media, and host of the Deals with Heels podcast. Debra has spent more than three decades working at the intersection of sales, marketing, leadership, and human behavior.

Through the Growth Vanguard, she helps organizations uncover the hidden breakdowns that stall growth — from leadership misalignment to weak demand generation to sales friction. Through Hexagon Media, she helps companies turn those insights into demand-building marketing systems.

Watch the full episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V642Nm_eHEk

09/03/2026

On August 19, 2025, Cracker Barrel unveiled a simplified logo — the old timer gone. Shares dropped as much as 13% in a day, and six days later, the logo was reversed. But the mistake wasn't the redesign itself.

This is status quo bias: people don't judge a new idea on its own merits, they weigh it against what they'd lose — and loss looms almost twice as large as gain.

Full breakdown + a brand change risk scorecard on this week's blog: richmsmith.com/blog

Follow for more on growth, leadership, and the psychology behind the decisions that make or break companies.

08/31/2026

The brands that win aren't always the most creative; they're the most consistent. Before you rewrite your copy again, ask yourself: has the market actually heard you yet? Consistency compounds.

Connect with me at richmsmith.com

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