At Braze, we take pride in working with some of the world’s most innovative brands to help them create best-in-class, cross-channel customer engagement strategies. And while we’re very aware just how many of our customers are pushing beyond marketing’s status quo and creating game-changing brand experiences that resonate with their audience, it’s still very exciting when one of them is recognized for the exceptional work they’re doing. At last year’s Cannes Lions festival, three Braze customers were finalists for the prestigious Titanium Lion award, including the eventual winner.

Now, we’re excited to congratulate multiple Braze customers for winning Adweek’s 2020 CMO Vanguard Awards, which honor 30 data-driven, customer- and culture-focused marketing executives. Winning CMOs from Braze customers like Intuit, Microsoft, PayPal, and sweetgreen have been recognized for their efforts spearheading new ways to make their brands both of the moment and ahead of the curve. Those winners include:

Inuit CMO Lara Hood Balazs

Since joining Intuit in 2018, Balazs has brought the company’s mission statement (“Power prosperity around the world”) to life through marketing campaigns like “Together We Prosper,” which is PayPal’s first purpose-driven marketing campaign, focused on creating economic success in underserved communities.

Microsoft CMO Chris Capossela

Capossela has done pioneering work to shift Microsoft’s brand messaging to showcasing human stories of how products are designed in order to “empower customers to do bigger, bolder things.” Under his leadership, Microsoft has released a number of successful advertising campaigns, including its 2019 Super Bowl spot “We All Win,” focusing on how children with disabilities bond through gaming thanks to Microsoft’s Xbox Adaptive Controller.

PayPal EVP & CMO Allison Johnson

Johnson joined PayPal in January 2019 and told Adweek the brand’s holiday campaign that year, “Give Better,” stood out as the effort “which brought to life our values as a company.” Through “Give Better,” PayPal encouraged consumers to support small businesses with a shoppable holiday-window experience in New York.

sweetgreen Cofounder & Chief Brand Officer Nathaniel Ru

Reinventing a category to make it fun and exciting isn’t easy, but sweetgreen succeeds at making a salad feel like a fresh lunch experience. Under Ru’s leadership, sweetgreen is building nationwide recognition with over 100 U.S. locations and a plan to expand its “outpost” delivery service to 2,500 locations by the end of the year.

Congratulations to our customers—and to all of the forward-looking brands honored at this year’s awards. Check out the full list of winners here.