The Connected Commerce Brief
Why Every Brand Must Think Like an Ecommerce Brand with Pat O'Toole, CMO at Unleashed Brands
August 6, 2026
What if the key to scaling your business was treating it like an e-commerce operation, even if you're primarily brick-and-mortar? On this episode of The Connected Commerce Brief, recorded on the sidelines of Cannes Lions, host Paul Frampton-Calero sits down with Pat O'Toole, CMO of Unleashed Brands, to explore how connected commerce is reshaping modern businesses. Pat shares why every company must think like an e-commerce operator, regardless of its physical footprint, and how marketing leaders can build faster, more adaptable organizations. The conversation also covers franchisee insights, digital transformation, AI-driven personalization, and balancing innovation with operational discipline. From creating meaningful customer experiences to strengthening relationships with CFOs and boards, Pat offers practical lessons on leading change while keeping people, data, and empathy at the center of business growth in today's marketplace.
What if the key to scaling your business was treating it like an e-commerce operation, even if you're primarily brick-and-mortar?


On this episode of The Connected Commerce Brief, recorded on the sidelines of Cannes Lions, host Paul Frampton-Calero sits down with Pat O'Toole, CMO of Unleashed Brands, to explore how connected commerce is reshaping modern businesses. Pat shares why every company must think like an e-commerce operator, regardless of its physical footprint, and how marketing leaders can build faster, more adaptable organizations. 


The conversation also covers franchisee insights, digital transformation, AI-driven personalization, and balancing innovation with operational discipline. From creating meaningful customer experiences to strengthening relationships with CFOs and boards, Pat offers practical lessons on leading change while keeping people, data, and empathy at the center of business growth in today's marketplace. 


What You Will Learn:



Pat O'Toole is the Chief Marketing Officer at Unleashed Brands, where he leads marketing, insights, analytics, CRM, and loyalty across a $1.2 billion youth enrichment platform spanning seven brands. Over a 20-year career, he has led ten billion-dollar brands at companies including PepsiCo and Burger King, driving transformative growth through consumer-centric strategy and innovation. A seven-time Cannes Lions winner and experienced board member, Pat is passionate about building brands that combine creativity, commercial excellence, and meaningful human impact.


Episode Highlights:


Pat argues that every business is now a hybrid commerce business. Today's consumers expect seamless digital experiences before they ever engage in person, and poor digital interactions can erode trust in a brand's products or services. He explains that digital transformation begins by auditing the entire customer journey, removing friction points, and ensuring online experiences reflect the quality customers expect offline. Businesses that fail to bridge digital and physical experiences risk falling behind competitors that already understand connected commerce.



Pat believes the CMO-CFO relationship is one of the most important yet overlooked partnerships in business. Marketing leaders should stop assuming finance teams understand where marketing investments create value and instead build transparent, data-driven conversations around performance and opportunities for improvement. Regular discussions focused on business outcomes help transform CFOs from skeptics into strategic partners. By leading with curiosity, clarity, and accountability, CMOs can strengthen alignment and build greater confidence in marketing's contribution to growth.



Pat explains that legacy organizational structures often prevent businesses from adapting to modern commerce. Rather than hiring for traditional roles, leaders should build teams around future capabilities and growth opportunities. Investing in training, upskilling, and flexible team design creates organizations better equipped to evolve alongside customer expectations. Even established businesses can benefit by reassessing whether their current structures support future goals. The greatest challenge isn't adopting new technology, it's creating cultures that embrace continuous change and innovation.



Pat believes AI's greatest opportunity lies not in collecting more data, but in helping businesses better understand their customers. By identifying patterns across multiple signals, AI can deliver more meaningful and personalized recommendations at scale. Success, however, depends on solving the right problems rather than pursuing every opportunity at once. When paired with strategic focus, AI becomes a powerful tool for transforming customer data into genuine human understanding and creating experiences that feel both relevant and helpful.



Pat shares the 70-20-10 framework for balancing performance with innovation. Seventy percent of resources should support proven strategies, 20 percent should fund promising new approaches, and 10 percent should be dedicated to experimentation. This model provides the discipline needed to pursue transformation without sacrificing today's results. By clearly defining priorities and expectations, organizations can innovate with purpose, align stakeholders around strategic decisions, and avoid the chaos that comes from trying to pursue every opportunity simultaneously.


Episode Resources:



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