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Alice Milligan is CMO at Morgan Stanley. She’s previously held leadership roles at companies including E-Trade, Citi, and Coach.
Favorite project you’ve worked on? Without a doubt, my favorite recent project has been forging a partnership with the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA). Look at the stats: Women control $11 trillion of personal wealth in the US, and yet women’s sports have traditionally received a mere 1%-2% of total sports investment. We need to level the playing field. Full stop.
Given our existing relationship with tennis pro Leylah Fernandez, it felt like a natural extension to expand our presence in tennis, and we found an amazing opportunity to become an Official Global Partner of the WTA. And so, through our partnership, we’re focused on further inspiring the next generation of female leaders by championing inclusivity and access within the sport.
From a series of Come Play events—which encourage girls of all ages and abilities to lead healthy and productive lives on and off the court—to building a financial empowerment program for players, we are incredibly excited about the potential for this partnership to make a lasting impact, here in the US and around the globe.
What’s your favorite ad campaign? Other than Morgan Stanley’s global brand campaign, which we launched earlier this year and represents a very different look and feel for our 87-year-old firm, I’m a huge fan of Apple’s “The Greatest.” The short film shows individuals with various disabilities navigating everyday life with the help of accessibility software. The campaign has won a host of awards—most recently at Cannes—but most importantly, has brought attention to the 1 in 4 adults that live with a disability today…a group that is far underrepresented in advertising. It’s advertising like this that really changes the game.
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One thing we can’t guess from your LinkedIn profile? If I weren’t a CMO, I would be a romance novelist. For as long as I can remember, I’ve wanted to write a book and am always thinking of potential narratives. My next gig!
What marketing trend are you most optimistic about? Least? Most optimistic: purpose-driven brand marketing. Increasingly, there is an expectation that brands do well by doing good—that they stand up and champion initiatives that put purpose front and center and build more equitable and inclusive cultures. Just look at the Edelman Trust Barometer—63% of respondents said that they will buy or advocate for brands based on their beliefs and values, and 69% say that having a societal impact is a strong expectation or deal breaker when considering a job. Integrating purpose front and center, in a way that’s authentic to your brand, is crucial—especially as it relates to engaging with next-gen consumers.
Least optimistic: the 10-minute TikTok video! Yes, Hilton’s version featuring Paris Hilton went viral, but very few brands or creators can sustain an audience for that amount of time.
What’s one marketing-related podcast/social account/series you’d recommend? If you haven’t yet checked out Lippincott’s Icons in the Making podcast, hosted by their CMO, Heather Stern, you’re missing out! Not only is Heather a podcast host extraordinaire, but she’s also incredibly vibrant and has a really unique view into the inner workings of so many of the agency’s clients. It’s a gem.
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