Navigating the New B2C Reality: How Leading CMOs Are Rewriting the Playbook for Local Relevance and AI Agility

In today’s fast-shifting consumer landscape, CMOs are facing a perfect storm of complexity from fractured buyer journeys and Gen Z’s evolving expectations, to the challenge of scaling authentic local experiences and responsibly implementing AI.

At this year’s SOCi ReImagine event, the CMO panel featured leaders from Ace Hardware, Unleashed Brands (Sylvan Learning & Urban Air), The Human Bean, and Presidium Group. These executives shared how they’re rethinking their marketing playbooks to stay agile, human, and ahead of the curve.

1. The Evolving Consumer: Meeting the Demands of a Nonlinear, Hyper-Specific Journey

The modern consumer journey is fragmented and the path to purchase is anything but linear. Each panelist underscored how shifts in consumer behavior, particularly among Gen Z and Gen Alpha, are redefining brand engagement.

The Human Bean: From Coffee Shop to “Beverage Spot”

As CMO, Janie Page shared, “Our category is shifting from just coffee to a full beverage spot.” The brand is capitalizing on the social and sensory appeal of “Instagrammable” drinks while also responding to health trends such as high-protein options and smaller portion sizes. The goal: deliver a product lineup that’s as shareable as it is functional.

Presidium Group: Optimizing for the AI-Powered Renter Journey

Christine “CG” Millier, Director of Marketing, emphasized that “today’s renter journey is layered, not linear.” Renters validate choices across multiple channels like ChatGPT, Google Maps, and Instagram, forcing brands to ensure content consistency and credibility everywhere. Presidium is now optimizing its content not just for search engines, but for AI discovery itself. By structuring content around natural, question-based language, the company aims to appear organically in AI-powered recommendations, like when someone asks, “What are the best apartments in Frisco near restaurants and dog parks?”

Ace Hardware: Shifting Spend and Strategy to Trackable Digital

Ace Hardware CMO, Kim Lefko, revealed that Ace has redirected significant ad spend from traditional channels to trackable digital formats such as CTV, paid search, and localized social. With first-time homeowners skewing older within the Gen Z cohort, the brand is experimenting with innovative tactics like shopper-paid content to meet consumers where they’re researching, not just shopping.

Unleashed Brands (Sylvan Learning & Urban Air): Messaging Across Generations

CMO Kyle Martin spoke to the challenge of marketing to both kids and parents with both Gen Z and Gen Alpha audiences alongside their “Chief Household Officer” parents. The strategy: tailor content, influencer partnerships, and messaging for each audience on the right platform, at the right moment.

2. The Power of Local: Turning Community Insights Into National Opportunity

While each brand manages a national footprint, every panelist agreed that local relevance is the key to authenticity and innovation.

The Human Bean: Ground-Up Creativity and Community Ambassadors

Page shared how creativity at the local level drives measurable results. A single location’s use of collectible figurines and custom stickers generated double-digit sales lifts. To stay plugged into emerging youth trends, The Human Bean is also engaging local high schoolers as ambassadors turning them into real-time brand feedback loops.

Ace Hardware: Local Products with National Impact

Lefko highlighted the brand’s “local-to-national” wins, such as a regionally sourced pickle that gained viral traction and eventually went nationwide. Yet, she acknowledged the challenge of maintaining quality across thousands of independent stores: “We’re navigating a top 10 list of bad local campaigns,” she joked, underscoring the balance between creativity and control. Using SOCi’s localized marketing tools, Ace is empowering stores with prebuilt, customizable content that maintains brand integrity.

Presidium Group: Resident-Generated Authenticity and Innovation at Scale

Millier described Presidium’s focus on “local authenticity at scale.” From optimizing content for niche local searches like “Match Day” to training teams on TikTok keywording, every tactic aims to boost local discoverability. Resident-generated content: reviews, photos, and social shares has become Presidium’s most trusted storytelling vehicle. Perhaps most notably, Millier shared how local listening has sparked national innovation: “When we noticed growing interest in creative spaces, we began adding podcast studios. What started as a local pilot quickly became a portfolio-wide feature.”

Unleashed Brands: Scaling Local Engagement

For Sylvan Learning and Urban Air, local involvement is a cornerstone of national strength. Martin noted successes like “Spirit Fundraising Nights” and PTA/PTO partnerships that began as grassroots efforts and scaled nationwide. The team supports franchisees with customizable, scalable social assets which is a best-in-class example of national enablement for local execution.

3. Practical AI & Agility: Balancing Automation with Authenticity

Across the board, CMOs are integrating AI not as a shiny object, but as an operational accelerator. Each brand shared tangible, practical applications that enhance marketing agility all while keeping human oversight front and center.

The Human Bean: Humanizing Automation

AI now powers reputation management through SOCi’s Genius Response, but Page stressed the importance of a human layer: “We always keep a person in the loop to add a genuine touch — our persona ‘Jen.’” The brand is also piloting an AI-powered internal bot to provide franchise partners with quick access to information and talking points.

Presidium Group: “Scaling Empathy” Through AI

For Presidium, AI is a content and insight engine. Beyond writing conversational copy optimized for AI search, the team uses machine learning to surface renter pain points from reviews and chats.

The company’s virtual assistant, Presidium Pete, now handles 24/7 leasing inquiries and will soon process maintenance requests. Millier put it best: “Our goal isn’t to automate empathy, it’s to scale it.” By pairing every AI tool with a human counterpart, Presidium ensures each output maintains warmth, personality, and continual improvement.

Ace Hardware: Experimenting With AI-Driven Content Strategy

Lefko shared that Ace’s first AI use cases focus on internal efficiency: producing more, faster. The team is also studying AI response patterns to better understand consumer queries. Early experiments include formatting ads as questions, a strategy that mirrors how users naturally phrase searches in AI tools like ChatGPT.

Unleashed Brands: Building an AI-Driven Franchise Support System

At Unleashed Brands, AI is helping scale support for franchisees. Martin explained that AI-driven knowledge bases help franchise owners respond to FAQs and uphold brand standards. The next phase focuses on automation of promotional approvals, creative localization, and real-time franchisee feedback, reducing turnaround time and accelerating go-to-market execution.

4. Collective Wisdom: Agility, Experimentation, and Bold Moves

Every CMO closed with the same rallying cry: embrace experimentation.

Whether it’s Page’s philosophy to “take a lot of swings to fail faster,” or Millier’s challenge to “make experience a KPI,” the message was clear: boldness and agility now define marketing excellence.

In a world where brand discovery happens through algorithms, conversations, and community recommendations alike, these leaders are proving that marketing’s next era will belong to brands that are both human and adaptive, powered by AI, but guided by empathy.

Key Takeaway:
The next generation of marketing isn’t about more technology, it’s about more intentional technology. The CMOs who win will be those who use AI, agents, local insights, and consumer understanding not to automate creativity, but to amplify it.