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Multicultural and Inclusive Marketing Excellence Awards Grand Jury
Chief Marketing Officer
American Family Insurance
BIO
Sherina Smith currently serves as Chief Marketing Officer at American Family Insurance. She is known for transforming brands and building high‑performing marketing organizations across multiple industries. Previously, Sherina held senior leadership roles at JCPenney, AbbVie Pharmaceuticals, and Kraft Heinz. A transformational leader, she is recognized for identifying the intersection of deep consumer insight and business value creation. She is a member of the ANA Growth Council, MMA Global Board Member, Ad Council Board and AAF Board member.
Q&A with Sherina Smith
What makes great marketing today?
Great marketing sits at the intersection of consumer insight and business value. It starts with a deep understanding of people—their needs, motivations, behaviors, and life moments—and translates those insights into experiences, messages, and solutions that create meaningful value for customers while driving measurable outcomes for the business.
In a world where consumers have endless choices and increasingly control how they engage with brands, relevance is earned through understanding. The brands that win are those that anticipate customer needs, show up authentically in the moments that matter, and create experiences that build trust and strengthen relationships over time.
Ultimately, great marketing is more than communication. It is a growth driver. It helps businesses identify unmet customer needs, create stronger connections, build lasting brand equity, and generate sustainable growth. When consumer understanding and business objectives are aligned, marketing creates value for both people and the organizations that serve them.
What is the one cultural trend you are watching today?
I'm closely watching the continued convergence of content, entertainment, and commerce. Consumers are spending more time in streaming platforms, creator ecosystems, gaming environments, social communities, and other content experiences where attention is earned rather than assumed.
As a result, brands have an opportunity—and increasingly an expectation—to show up differently. The most effective marketers are moving beyond traditional advertising and finding authentic ways to become part of the content and conversations consumers are already engaging with. Whether through partnerships, sponsorships, creator collaborations, entertainment integrations, or compelling storytelling, brands can create deeper connections when they add value to the experience rather than interrupt it.
The brands that succeed will be those that understand where their customers are spending their time, what they care about, and how to engage in ways that feel relevant and authentic. When done well, those connections build trust, strengthen brand relevance, and drive meaningful business growth.
In one sentence, what will it take to make an entry worthy of winning a Grand Prize award?
The strongest entries won't just showcase great creative work—they will demonstrate how a team identified a meaningful human insight, met customers where they are engaged, turned that understanding into a compelling brand experience, and delivered measurable impact for both consumers and the business.
What advice would you offer to teams preparing submissions for the ANA Multicultural and Inclusive Marketing Excellence Awards?
Lead with the insight, not the execution. Clearly articulate the customer understanding that inspired the work, why it mattered, and how it informed your strategy and creative decisions. Then connect the dots between the idea, the customer response, and the business outcomes. Judges want to understand not only what you did, but why it worked. The most compelling submissions tell a complete story—from insight to action to impact.
Why do awards programs like ANA Multicultural and Inclusive Marketing Excellence Awards matter to the health and progress of the marketing industry?
Awards programs like the ANA Multicultural and Inclusive Marketing Excellence Awards matter because they highlight one of the most important truths in marketing: business growth begins with understanding people. The strongest work demonstrates how deep consumer insight can be transformed into ideas, experiences, and stories that create meaningful connections with customers while delivering measurable business results.
These awards do more than celebrate creative excellence—they showcase how marketers can translate customer understanding into brand relevance, competitive advantage, and long-term growth. They provide a platform for the industry to learn from the marketers who are setting new standards for understanding audiences, meeting consumers where they are, and creating work that drives both cultural resonance and commercial impact.
Ultimately, they help advance the profession by reinforcing the critical link between consumer insight and business value—the foundation of great marketing and sustainable growth.
When reviewing submissions, what signals tell you that a program is driving real, sustainable business growth?
When reviewing submissions, I look for work that makes a brand meaningfully different in the minds of customers—not just more visible. The strongest programs are grounded in a deep understanding of the audience and a clear point of difference the brand can credibly own. They show how customer insight shaped strategy, informed creative, and strengthened relevance in ways that made people feel understood, valued, and seen.
I also look for evidence that these connections drove real business outcomes—stronger consideration, brand preference, retention, acquisition, or long-term loyalty. Sustainable growth happens when a brand consistently delivers on a differentiated promise that resonates on a deeper level. When customers see themselves in a brand's story and trust that the brand understands their needs and aspirations, it creates both emotional connection and competitive advantage—and that's the kind of marketing that creates lasting business value.
How do you balance creative ambition with commercial accountability in marketing?
I've never viewed creativity and business performance as competing priorities. The most effective marketing does both. Great creativity captures attention, creates emotional connection, and helps a brand stand apart. Commercial accountability ensures that creativity is focused on solving a business challenge and delivering measurable outcomes. The key is alignment around a shared objective from the start. When strategy, creativity, and measurement are connected, marketing can inspire people while creating meaningful business value.
How do you evaluate the role of data, AI, and marketing technology in creating meaningful brand impact?
Data, AI, and marketing technology are powerful enablers, but they are not the objective. Their role is to help marketers better understand customers, make smarter decisions, and create more relevant experiences. The greatest opportunity is using these capabilities to personalize engagement at scale while maintaining authenticity and trust. Technology should help brands become more human, not less. When applied thoughtfully, it allows marketers to deliver the right message, to the right customer, at the right moment—and that is where meaningful brand impact is created.
What distinguishes exceptional multicultural and inclusive marketing work from work that is simply “good”?
Exceptional work begins with a genuine understanding of the audience and reflects that understanding in a way that feels authentic, relevant, and respectful. It doesn't treat diverse audiences as an afterthought; it places customer understanding at the center of the strategy. The best work creates stronger connections with consumers because people can see themselves, their experiences, and their aspirations reflected in the brand experience. As a result, it doesn't just resonate culturally—it drives stronger business performance
What lessons from your own leadership journey most influence how you assess excellence?
Throughout my career, I've learned that lasting success comes from maintaining a relentless focus on the customer while remaining accountable for results. Excellence is rarely the product of a single breakthrough idea. It's the result of curiosity, disciplined execution, collaboration, and a willingness to continuously learn and adapt. When I evaluate marketing, I look for teams that combine bold thinking with measurable impact and demonstrate a clear commitment to creating value for the people they serve.
Get to know the 2026 Multicultural and Inclusive Marketing Excellence Awards Grand Jurors.