CMO GROUP · MARKETING TRACK · BRAND TEAM MEMBERSHIP
You shouldn’t have to solve a marketing problem alone.
Natural CPG marketing at scale is genuinely hard. The right retail mix. Trade spend that works. AI tools that aren't hype. Agencies you can actually trust. The CMO Group is where your brand's marketing function — from VP to coordinator — builds the peer network, frameworks, and confidence to move faster together.
Who’s in the room: CMOs, VPs, and Marketing Directors from brands like Gimme Snacks, Vetnique, Sambazon, SmartyPants, and Good Culture — no vendors, no agencies, no early-stage founders. Every member brand carries real budget authority and is willing to share what's working.
ONE MEMBERSHIP. TWO TIERS OF SESSIONS.
Your brand joins as a team. Senior leaders meet with their peers. Your broader marketing team meets with theirs. Same topics. Right room for every level.
Open to senior marketing leaders at natural CPG brands with $20M+ in annual revenue.
$20M+
Member brand revenues
2 Tiers
Sessions by seniority level
Monthly
Structured peer sessions
Zero
Vendors in the room
WHO’S IN THE ROOM
Senior decision-makers
Every member brand holds meaningful marketing authority and budget responsibility. The peer dynamic works because everyone is bringing real stakes — and genuine experience navigating them.
BRAND MEMBERSHIP PREREQUISITES
Senior marketing lead — CMO, VP, or Director as the brand's primary seat and point of contact.
$20M+ brand revenues — Past early-stage, navigating the complexity of scale.
75% session attendance — Across both tiers. Reliability is what makes the dynamic work.
Collaborative culture — Your whole team gives as much as it receives. We reject extractors at every level.
SENIOR TIER — ROLE BREAKDOWN
VP Marketing
45%
CMO
27%
Marketing Director
18%
CEO (marketing-led)
10%
HOW MEMBERSHIP WORKS
Your brand joins. Your whole marketing team benefits.
Membership belongs to your brand, not to an individual. Your senior marketing leader holds the primary seat and participates in the leadership tier. Your broader marketing team — managers, specialists, coordinators — participates in their own peer sessions.
LEADERSHIP TIER
Senior Leader Sessions
For your CMO, VP, or most senior marketing decision-maker. Strategic, candid, off-the-record discussions with peers who hold real budget authority and brand accountability.
WHO PARTICIPATES
CMO or VP of Marketing as your primary brand seat
Peer group of senior leaders across member brands
Strategy, positioning, and cross-functional decisions
Off-the-record — frank conversation, no posturing
TEAM TIER
Brand Team Sessions
For your broader marketing team — managers, specialists, coordinators. Same topics as leadership, applied at the execution level where implementation actually happens.
WHO PARTICIPATES
Marketing managers, brand managers, specialists
Peer group matched by role level across member brands
Focused on implementation, tools, and craft
A community your team stays in — even as they grow
Why separate sessions? A coordinator shouldn't have to filter their questions through a room full of CMOs — and a CMO shouldn't slow down for entry-level concerns. Separating by level means everyone gets the right conversation, and your brand gets twice the surface area of peer learning from a single membership.
WHAT HAPPENS IN SESSIONS
Structured time on the problems that are actually keeping you up.
Sessions are facilitated, not free-form. No panels, no vendor presentations, no recycled conference content. Each session is built around a specific marketing challenge — with peer case studies, live Q&A, and shared takeaways your team can use the next day.
FORMAT 01
Live Peer Q&A
Bring your live challenge. Get perspectives from marketers who've navigated the same territory and will say what actually worked — including what didn't.
You leave with a shortlist, not just a conversation.
FORMAT 02
Deep-dive Topic Sessions
One focused topic per session — shopper marketing, AI tools, retail media, brand positioning. Built by practitioners, for practitioners. Both tiers cover the same topic at the right depth for each level.
You leave with frameworks you can apply.
FORMAT 03
Vetted Agency Introductions
Agencies present to the group. Members share candid, off-the-record feedback. Bypass the blind RFP process entirely and know who to trust before you sign anything.
You leave with a warm lead, not a cold list.
Topics covered this year — both tiers:
Omnichannel strategy
Retail media networks
Shopper marketing
AI for CPG
Brand Positioning
Trade spend optimization
Digital & DTC
Agency selection
Leadership & team building
Founder-to-CMO transition
Heard enough? Let’s see if you’re a fit.
A short form. A one-week review. A 20-minute call with Ted if it looks right. That's the full process.
YOU’D BE JOINING
Marketing leaders from brands you know.
A cross-section of established natural CPG brands across categories — different products, same caliber of leader and same level of marketing complexity.
Gimme Snacks
Good Culture
Yerba Madre
Brazi Bites
Suja Juice
Mauna Loa
Diana’s Bananas
SmartyPants
Kettle & Fire
Vetnique
Archer Jerky
Not all members listed. See the full member directory →
THE BUSINESS CASE
How to make the case to your CEO.
Membership requires budget approval. Here's how strong CMOs frame it — not as a professional development expense, but as a compounding team asset with measurable return.
FRAMING 01
It compounds across the team.
One membership gives your entire marketing function access — not just the leader. The ROI scales with every team member who participates.
FRAMING 02
It replaces slower, costlier alternatives.
A full agency RFP costs 6–10 weeks of senior team time and still produces a coin-flip outcome. Members find vetted partners through peer introductions in under two weeks — with candid feedback no RFP surfaces.
FRAMING 03
It retains your marketing talent.
Junior team members with a peer network and ongoing learning are more likely to stay. FFN is a retention investment as much as a knowledge investment — and it costs a fraction of a single backfill.
FRAMING 04
It keeps your team ahead of the market
Shopper marketing shifts, AI tools, retail media changes — your team learns what's working at peer brands before it becomes industry consensus. That timing advantage compounds over multiple planning cycles.
THE ONE-LINE VERSION
FFN membership is not a conference budget line — it's a team capability investment that pays back in faster decisions, better agency relationships, and a marketing function that stays current without you having to push it.
IN THEIR WORDS
Specific. Unfiltered. From working marketing teams
What members actually got from the group — leaders and teams.
THE PROCESS
Simple and transparent, start to finish.
Brand membership is invite-only and reviewed carefully. Here's exactly what happens after you submit a request.
Submit your brand's request
A short form — your role, your brand, your team size, and what you're hoping to get from the community.
Takes about 3 minutes. No pitch deck required.
Review against membership criteria
We review your brand's revenue, your senior leader's role, and fit with current group composition across both tiers.
You'll hear back within one week — yes or no, either way.
A 20-minute intro call
If your brand looks like a fit, a short conversation to align on expectations, answer questions, and confirm commitment on both sides.
This is also your chance to decide if we're the right fit for you.
Welcome and onboarding — for the whole team
Your senior leader is introduced to the leadership group. Your marketing team is oriented for their tier. Both are connected to the shared resource library before their first sessions.
Most brands contribute meaningfully within the first two sessions at each level.
LET’S TALK
Bring your whole marketing team into a community that makes them better.
Brand membership is curated and capacity is limited by design. Submit a request and you'll hear back within a week — yes or no, either way.
Brand team membership · $20M+ natural CPG · Senior leader as primary contact · Response within one week
In a sustainability role? Explore the CSO Group →