star trek next gen chain of command

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Star Trek: The Next Generation S6E10 "Chain of Command" » Recap

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Jellico: Lemec is a Cardassian, and Cardassians are like timber wolves, predators. Bold in large numbers, cautious by themselves, and with an instinctive need to establish a dominant position in any social gathering. Troi: So you're trying to establish a dominant position by making him wait for you. The trouble with wolves is that sometimes in the fight for dominance, one of them ends up dead. Jellico: In that case, the trick is to be the wolf that's still standing at the end.

Original air date: December 14, 1992

Jean-Luc Picard, Worf, and Beverly Crusher are assigned by Starfleet on a covert mission to seek and destroy a Cardassian biological weapons installation on their border world, Celtris III. In Picard's place, Starfleet assigns Captain Edward Jellico, who has a vastly different style of command and decorum than the Enterprise crew, particularly William Riker, are accustomed to. Under Jellico, the Enterprise patrols the border near Minos Korva, a tactically significant Federation planet, and holds negotiations as to the fate of the planet with Cardassian representatives.

After intensive training in the holodeck, Picard, Worf, and Crusher discreetly arrive on Celtris III and infiltrate the base. However, they find no signs of biological weapons, and suspecting a trap, they attempt to flee. Worf and Crusher escape, but Picard is taken prisoner and brought to Gul Madred, who informs him Celtris III was a trap designed to capture Picard. Gul Madred is already quite familiar with Picard and his service history as a Starfleet officer, and even talks about his deeds with a hint of admiration, calling him the most interesting challenge to walk through his door in years.

Original air date: December 21, 1992

Madred uses a number of torture methods, including sensory deprivation, sensory bombardment, forced nakedness, stress positions, dehydration, starvation, physical pain, and cultural humiliation to try to gain knowledge of the Federation's plans for Minos Korva. It quickly becomes clear that Picard legitimately does not know any information that is helpful to the Cardassian, but Madred stubbornly refuses to accept this. Madred attempts another tactic to break Picard's will: he shows his captive four bright lights, and demands that Picard answer that there are five, inflicting intense pain on Picard if he does not agree.

Meanwhile, the Cardassians inform the Enterprise crew that Picard has been captured. Jellico refuses to acknowledge that Picard was on a Starfleet mission, an admission necessary for Picard to receive the rights of a prisoner of war rather than being subjected to torture as a terrorist; this leads to a heated argument between Jellico and Riker upon which Jellico relieves Riker of duty. The crew observes signs of residue from a nearby nebula on the hull of a Cardassian ship, and Jellico suspects a Cardassian fleet may attempt to use the cover of the nebula to launch an attack on Minos Korva. Jellico determines their best course of action is to place mines across the nebula using a shuttlecraft. However, Riker is the most qualified pilot for the mission. Riker candidly criticizes Jellico's command style and only accepts the assignment once Jellico personally asks him to pilot the shuttle instead of ordering him to do so. note  Legally, Jellico can't order Riker to take the mission. Riker is relieved of duty as punishment for insubordination which means he can't perform any military assignments unless Jellico rescinds his prior order and restores Riker to duty. Riker successfully lays the minefield, and Jellico uses the threat of the minefield to force the Cardassians to disarm and retreat, also demanding Picard's return.

With word of the failure of the Cardassians to secure Minos Korva, Madred attempts one last ploy to break Picard, by falsely claiming that Cardassia has taken the planet and the Enterprise was destroyed in the battle. He offers Picard a choice: to remain in captivity for the rest of his life or live in comfort on Cardassia by admitting he sees five lights. As Picard momentarily considers the offer, a Cardassian officer interrupts the process and informs Madred that Picard must be returned now. As Picard is freed from his bonds and about to be taken away, he turns to Madred and defiantly shouts, "There are four lights!" Picard is returned to the Federation and reinstated as Captain of the Enterprise. Picard admits privately to Deanna Troi that he was saved just in the nick of time, as by that point he was broken enough to be willing to say anything to make the torture stop, and for a brief moment he actually did see five lights.

Tropes featured in "Chain of Command":

• 2 + Torture = 5 : "How many lights do you see?" There are four, but the "correct" answer is "five".
• Ace Pilot : Riker is the best pilot on the Enterprise (this assessment from Geordi La Forge, who used to be the ship's helmsman).
• Aggressive Negotiations : With the help of a few magnetic mines, Jellico finally takes the dominant position in negotiations.
• Agony Beam : The implant Madred uses to torture Picard amounts to this.
• All There in the Manual : Madred's name is never spoken onscreen. It's only shown in the credits.
• Ambiguous Situation : We never saw the lights the final time Picard was asked how many lights, and he did admit to seeing five lights, perhaps Gul Madred did show him five lights at the end to mess with him.
• Apologetic Attacker : Madred apologizes to Picard the first time he activates the pain device, claiming that he doesn't enjoy using it. Yeah, right.
• Audience Surrogate : Worf is this on the shuttle while Picard and Crusher explain how metagenic weapons work.
• Beneath the Mask : Jellico makes a big show of storming out of negotiations with the Cardassians, then makes a number of predictions and orders to his support staff about what to do next. The nonplussed Riker says that at least Jellico is confident that his actions are correct, but Troi soberly reveals that he's not at all.
• Berserk Button : Picard manages to press two of Madred's during the torture sessions, first by challenging his belief in the benefits of the military control of Cardassia, and later, by seeing through Madred's justifications to see him for what he really is: a scared boy taking his pain out on others.
• Bittersweet Ending : The ending begins on a victorious note, as Picard is released from captivity and is even able to make one final gesture of defiance at Madred as he leaves. However, Picard ends up privately telling Troi that had his torture continued any longer, he would have given in and said anything to end the pain. Worst of all, he admits that — for a brief moment — he actually could see five lights.
• Gul Lemec claims that Picard, Crusher, and Worf attacked a Cardassian outpost and killed 55 people unprovoked. He clearly doesn't expect Riker and Jellico to believe it but uses the so-called war crime as a bargaining chip.
• Madred claims, at first, that a message has been sent to a neutral planet when Picard requests a representative. He later admits to the lie; when Picard again requests a neutral representative, Madred coldly tells him "there is no such person".
• Just before using the torture implant for the first time, Madred tells Picard "I don't enjoy this".
• In a final bid to break him, Madred tells Picard that the Enterprise has been destroyed and that Picard is doomed to remain at Madred's mercy unless he gives in to the torture. The truth is that the Cardassians' plans have fallen apart and Madred is being forced to return Picard to the Federation.
• Blue-and-Orange Morality : Picard is disturbed that Madred's daughter casually visits him while Madred tortures Picard. Madred defends the practice, saying that Cardassian children are raised to believe that the enemies of the state deserve whatever fate befalls them, which curtails into a lot of justifications and cultural posturing on Madred's part. Picard : I am surprised that... you let her come in here. Madred : Why? Picard : To expose a child to... this... to someone who is suffering, to see that it... it is you who inflict that suffering... Madred : From the time Jil Orra could crawl, she's been taught about the enemies of the Cardassians, and that enemies deserve their fates. Picard : When children learn to devalue others, they can devalue anyone. Including their parents. Madred : What a blind, narrow view you have. What an arrogant man you are.
• Both Sides Have a Point : Riker feels that Jellico's expectations are unreasonable and damaging to the crew's morale. Jellico believes it is more important to have the ship at peak efficiency before confronting the Cardassians, and that the crew should suck it up and do their jobs. Maybe his demands would have given them the winning edge if it came to battle, or maybe the crew would have been too burned out to fight. We'll never know.
• Break the Badass : Madred recognized Picard as a competent officer and wanted to break his will. In reality, Madred couldn't care less what Picard knew or didn't know. For him it was all about proving that he could break the strong-willed human mentally.
• Break Them With Lies : In the final phase of Picard's torture, Madred tells him that Cardassia just conquered Minos Korva and the Enterprise was destroyed in the battle in order to crush Picard's hopes of being rescued. It almost works until Lemec walks in and tells Picard that he'll be released back to the Enterprise .
• The Bully : Madred was a victim of them in his youth, and as an adult, this is what he's become: a sadist inflicting pain on helpless victims to try and forget that he was once a helpless victim himself.
• Captain's Log : Recorded by Jellico instead of Picard because he is the new captain.
• Casual Interplanetary Travel : A job for rookie Starfleet pilots is the "Jovian Run", a daily flight between Jupiter and Saturn.
• Catchphrase : Jellico says "Get it done" after giving orders. This is a deliberate contrast to Picard's usual "Make it so", as Picard is often deciding on a course of action suggested by a subordinate.
• Even so late in TNG's run, this still pops up with the Ferengi. When we first see Solok, he's offering to send "three large Ferengi" to act as debt collectors for a client. Their future appearances in the franchise would almost always have them hiring members of more physically intimidating races — usually Nausicaans or Klingons — to act as thugs or bodyguards.
• This episode really highlights the change in Picard's personality from his introduction, when he was arguably more gruff and authoritarian than Jellico.
• Character Tic : Jellico has a way of swooping around as he walks with his shoulders forward. It shows his brisk, determined personality in contrast to the more sedate and thoughtful Picard.
• The Chessmaster : The Covert Mission that Picard, Worf, and Crusher are sent on turns out to be a major part on the plans of the Cardassians. Picard is only one of three people with experience in theta-band emissions, with the other two people no longer in Starfleet. By making the Federation believe that the Cardassians are developing metagenic weapons, they order Picard to lead the expedition to Celtris III, not being aware that Picard is being Lured into a Trap .
• Cold-Blooded Torture : Electric shocks, mind games, starvation etc.
• Command Roster : Riker's blatant insubordination gets him removed from The Chain of Command entirely by Jellico, who promotes Data to Number Two in Riker's place. Neither move involves a promotion or demotion in rank. Data also changes his uniform from the standard Ops yellow to the Command red, before it all reverts back to normal when Picard returns at the end of the episode, with the exception of Troi wearing a standard medical blue uniform.
• Control Freak : Jellico is clearly competent, well-prepared, and well-informed, but is a strict martinet who rarely seeks input or analysis from his subordinates, and who has no patience for criticism or delays in the fulfillment of his orders.
• Custom Uniform of Sexy : Defied . Jellico asks Troi to wear a standard uniform, which she does for the first time since "Encounter at Farpoint".
• Dark and Troubled Past : Gul Madred grew up on the streets, once badly beaten when he found some aforementioned Taspar eggs. Picard, however, calls him out on it because of how he became a torture technician.
• Defiant to the End : Deconstructed with Picard's famous "There are four lights!" rebuttal to Gul Madred. After being tortured for days on end Picard is at his wit's end, mentally and physically drained of all his power to resist, let alone move, and Madred tries one last time to get him to yield by giving him an ultimatum: Relent and you will be given all the comforts Cardassia can give you, or continue resisting and your unbearable torture will continue. Just as Picard is about to give his answer, Cardassian guards come in to retrieve Picard, telling Madred that their superiors made a deal with the Federation for his release, but just before leaving Picard defiantly says that he sees four lights to rub it in Madred's face that he was not broken by the torture. The deconstruction comes when Picard discusses the torture with Troi in private and tells her that not only he would have said there were five lights if the guards had not arrived then, he would have said and done anything to make the pain stop, and worse yet; he was so much at his wit's end he actually for a moment saw five lights instead of four. The moral of this is to show that torture is so dehumanizing and brutal that it can break any man's will if inflicted long enough, even seemingly superhuman examples of moral virtue like Picard.
• Double Speak : Admiral Nechayev, the Obstructive Bureaucrat , when she's briefing Data, Riker and Troi. Riker: Are the Cardassians ready for a war? Nechayev: I didn't say war, Commander, I said incursion.
• Eat That : Gul Madred serves Picard a raw Taspar egg as an attempt at degrading him. Although clearly disgusted, Picard, starving after days of torture, eats it. Madred admits he did the exact same thing himself when he found some as a boy.
• En Route Sum-Up : Picard explains the mission to Worf and Crusher after they've left the Enterprise . It's Justified as a security precaution.
• In an in-universe example, Jellico firmly establishes himself to Gul Lumec. He keeps him waiting over an hour, takes Lumec's seat from him, then storms out only moments after arriving, all to put Lumec on his heels. It works, at least at first.
• "Evil" may be pushing it, but Jellico's decoration of the ready room includes drawings made by his young son.
• Gul Madred is briefly visited by his young daughter as he's interrogating Picard. His affection is obvious and deep, and he briefly opines about how moving it is to be a parent. When Picard asks why he exposes her to the victims of his torture, he confidently replies that she's well aware what happens to the enemies of Cardassia.
• Even Evil Has Standards : Lemec expected Gul Madred to have Picard clean and ready to return to the Federation when they came to retrieve him, but find him making one last effort to break Picard's will. Lemec isn't pleased with this.
• Evil Is Petty : Despite all of his rhetoric and courtesies, Madred proves to be a deeply petty man; after Picard challenges his beliefs about the Cardassian way of life, Madred slaps him in the face rather than respond to the argument. Later, when Picard manages to get under his skin, Madred continues and intensifies the torture out of nothing but spite. In the end, when he's ordered to release Picard, he rushes in for a final session of torment, in an attempt to prove he's actually broken his prisoner.
• Faux Affably Evil : Madred tries to present himself to Picard as a noble man forced to perform an ugly duty , but Picard quickly notes that Madred enjoys making others suffer in his position.
• Foil : Jellico is a deliberately different captain next to Picard and done in such a manner that it serves as contrasting but largely equal forms of leadership. Picard was even tempered and patient, encouraging collaboration, contribution and being free to suggest ideas among the crew. While not especially warm or jovial, the mutual respect makes him A Father to His Men . Jellico has a "don't contribute unless asked to" approach and micromanages department business, expecting constant updates directly to him and for everyone to follow his lead without question. This makes him much harder to like, but he is a Consummate Professional , proven tactician and slightly more of a Frontline General compared to Picard. This is reflected in their respective Catchphrase in affirming a direct command, Picard says "Make it so" while Jellico says "Get it done."
• Foreshadowing : Early on, Nechayev mentions "the Cardassian forces which were recently withdrawn from the Bajoran sector". Between this episode and the next, Deep Space Nine would premiere, establishing that the Bajorans have now gained their independence from Cardassia. * The vague wording makes it unclear whether this was the Withdrawal or merely a redeployment of forces they felt were unnecessary, but if the latter, this likely helped to weaken the occupational forces enough for the resistance to finally gain the upper hand. Especially since those same ships ended up having to crawl home without their phaser coils.
• Food Interrogation : Subverted. Picard is deprived of food during his imprisonment. However, at the beginning of one session, Madred offers him breakfast—a nice, normal Cardassian breakfast of a raw Taspar egg . Picard is so desperate for food that he eats it anyway.
• Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse : Madred defends his actions by invoking his Dark and Troubled Past . Picard retorts that Madred is simply a sadist, using his position take out his past suffering on others.
• Gaslighting : "There are five lights! How many do you see now?" Then there's his lie that Crusher was also a prisoner when she escaped.
• Gilded Cage : At the end, Madred lies to Picard that the Enterprise has been destroyed, so nobody is coming to rescue him. Further, Picard's best hope at this point is to be assigned to a relatively comfortable prison to live out his days rather than face execution or a Hellhole Prison , he just has to convince Madred that he truly believes there really are five lights.
• Good Cop/Bad Cop : A diplomatic variant: while negotiating with Lemec, Riker and Troi are the good cops while Jellico is the bad cop.
• Ham-to-Ham Combat : Jellico and Lemec compete to see who's the bigger "Ass" in Ambassador .
• Heroic Seductress : Crusher of all people briefly plays this role when she, Worf and Picard need to gain passage to Cardassia on a Ferengi trade ship. The commander, DaiMon Solok, isn't exactly happy at the prospect of transporting spies, but he quickly crumbles when she tells him how... grateful it would make her. While stroking his lobes. (Which, in case anyone's forgotten, are an erogenous zone for the Ferengi.)
• Hope Spot : Deliberately invoked by Madred partway through. He tells Picard that he's clearly much too strong-willed and that there's no point holding him any further. Picard picks himself up and starts staggering toward the door... and then Madred tells him (falsely) that Dr. Crusher is also a prisoner and he'll have to get what he needs out of her.
• Innocuously Important Episode : The entire story of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine emerge from the events of this episode. Likewise, this is the only appearance of Captain Jellico (in person, he's been used in the expanded universe) and his actions here make it a case of Small Role, Big Impact .
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold : In contrast to Picard, who is A Father to His Men , Jellico is businesslike and authoritarian, which inspires no loyalty or trust from his men. However, everything he does has a valid reason behind it . He also covers his office with pictures drawn by his young son, showing that there's a soft spot beneath the hard exterior.
• When Riker requests a rescue mission to recover Picard, Jellico turns him down, correctly pointing out that such a mission has no chance of success. Jellico is actually uncharacteristically gentle with Riker at first, only reverting to his harsher tone when Riker presses the issue.
• Riker is disgusted that Jellico is willing to risk Picard's life in his negotiations with Gul Lemec, but as Jellico points out, giving in to the Cardassians' demands, or even showing a willingness to, is not an option. Admitting Picard was on a secret mission to infiltrate Cardassia would be a disaster , both diplomatically and militarily.
• Karma Houdini : Gul Madred is left completely unpunished for his actions.
• Lured into a Trap : One tailor-made for Picard because the Cassardians want information that they think he has.
• The Main Characters Do Everything : Why else would Starfleet send three senior officers (two of whom are middle-aged and one of whom is a medical doctor) on a guerrilla raid instead of a team of Space Marines ?
• Mildly Military : Jellico has a much stronger military bearing than we're used to seeing in Starfleet, as shown by Data always announcing his arrival on the bridge. Much of the conflict of the episode drives from the Enterprise crew not being accustomed to such a hardass. Realistically it comes across more like a Meet the New Boss in a civilian company rather than a shift in a military command structure. It's justified in the story due to how abrupt the transfer was, but Jellico would normally be able to interview current personnel and modify senior staff with his own picks with a transitional period rather than everyone remaining in the same roles.
• Military Coup : It's revealed that the Cardassian government is a fairly new military regime that took power through a coup.
• No One Gets Left Behind : Subverted —Crusher and Worf are forced to flee after Picard is captured. The writers really had to push things to put Worf in a position where he would believably leave Picard behind.
• Number Two : Riker is demoted, and Data promoted, into this position by Jellico. It snaps back at the end of the episode when Picard returns.
• Playing Pictionary : Troi and Jellico looking at a picture drawn by Jellico's son. Jellico: It's an elephant... [rotates it 90 degrees] I think. Troi: Definitely an elephant.
• Proscenium Reveal : Right after Nechayev informs the bridge crew that the notably absent Picard, Crusher and Worf have been reassigned and that Jellico is being put in charge, we cut to the three running through a tunnel in commando gear and being chased by a Cardassian soldier. However, this turns out to be a training simulation on the holodeck, not the actual mission.
• Publicly Discussing the Secret : Jellico and Picard discuss Picard's secret mission in the open after the transfer ceremony. They do however keep their voices down to a whisper, and it is only in front of the senior officers.
• Punctuated! For! Emphasis! : "THERE! ARE!... FOUR ! LIGHTS!"
• Race-Name Basis : Madred says that he'll only address Picard as "Human", telling him that he has no other identity.
• Recycled In Space : The Picard torture subplot is Nineteen Eighty-Four IN SPACE !
• Picard dishes one out to Madred after hearing of his experiences as a child , cutting through all of the Cardassian's justifications for his cruelty and seeing him for the scared, helpless boy he used to be. It triggers a Villainous Breakdown for Madred, and an extended bout of torture for Picard, but it's an impressive turning of the tables for however long it lasts. Picard : Must be rewarding to you to... to repay others for all those years of misery. Madred : What do you mean? Picard : Torture has never been a reliable means of extracting information. It is ultimately self-defeating as a means of control. One wonders that it's still practiced. Madred : I fail to see where this analysis is leading. Picard : Whenever I... look at you now, I won't see a powerful Cardassian warrior, I will see a six-year-old boy who is powerless to protect himself. Madred : Be quiet ! Picard : In spite of all you have done to me, I find you a pitiable man. Madred : Picard, stop it , or I will turn this on and leave you in agony all night. Picard : Haha, you called me "Picard"! Madred : What are the Federation's defense plans for Minos Korva? Picard : There are four lights! Madred : [triggers the Agony Beam ] There are five lights! How many do you see now ? Picard : [sobbing through the pain] You are six years old! Weak and helpless! You cannot hurt me!
• Riker and Jellico give one to each other, largely based around I Don't Like You And You Don't Like Me . Jellico: Let's drop the ranks for a moment. I don't like you. I think you're insubordinate, arrogant, willful, and I don't think you're a particularly good First Officer. Riker: Well, now that the ranks are dropped, Captain, I don't like you, either. You are arrogant and closed-minded. You need to control everything and everyone. You don't provide an atmosphere of trust, and you don't inspire these people to go out of their way for you. You've got everyone wound up so tight, there's no joy in anything. I don't think you're a particularly good Captain. note  Subverted in that not only does Jellico's plan work perfectly , faced against a superior Cardassian fleet, but he even gets Picard back. (Though Jellico was able to win because he needed Riker to plant mines on the hulls of the Cardassian ships, not because the Enterprise crew was able to man their battle stations several seconds faster and/or handle battle damage/repel boarders better after Jellico's intense preparation to get the crew ready with battle drills and sudden changes to job assignments)
• Sadist : Beneath his cultural interests and affectation of courtesy, this is what Gul Madred boils down to: a cruel man taking out his own troubled childhood on those who are now at his mercy.
• Scenery Censor : During one of the torture scenes, Picard is fully naked and has his genitals covered by Madred's computer terminal.
• Sci-Fi Writers Have No Sense of Scale : Apparently, Picard, Crusher, and Worf brought enough rope to rappel half a kilometer .
• Sequel Hook : The ending works as an independent resolution of the story, where Jellico staves off a new Cardassian engagement which involves a shifting of territories and ending the Cardassian occupation from Bajor. But this was also used to set up the premise of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine as Starfleet sends a crew to the Bajoran orbital station Terok Nor to aid in reconstruction.
• Shameful Strip : Madred does this to Picard to further denigrate him.
• Shame If Something Happened : Lemec not-so-subtly letting on that he knows about the secret mission.
• Shout-Out : In Nineteen Eighty-Four a torturer asks how many fingers he's holding up, while trying to make his victim see five, when he's holding up four. Winston Smith: Freedom is the ability to say that two plus two equals four.
• Shown Their Work : All the torture practices Madred uses on Picard, including feigning a shared interest and threatening one of his friends, are taken directly from Amnesty International archives. Even the pain-inducing implant has a basis in the usage of electricity to shock prisoners into compliance. Patrick Stewart , who is a strong supporter of Amnesty International, was pleased by this, as he studied psychological profiles for torture victims.
• Shut Up, Hannibal! : At one point in the battle of wills, Picard flat-out refuses to play Madred's game any more, in the most Picard way imaginable. Madred: *turns on lights* How many lights do you see? Picard: *sneering* What lights?
• Significant Wardrobe Shift : Troi previously would sometimes wear a blue uniform but was better known for non-standard catsuits, the assumption being that while she held rank her role was that of a counselor and was not in the Command Roster . Jellico criticizes her for the personal wardrobe and requests she wear a standard uniform, and she would only wear an official uniform from then on (this came from Marina Sirtis preferring that look and lobbying to make it permanent). This came after her being placed in a leadership position in "Disaster" where she felt out of her depth and the next season she expresses interest in further command training.
• Smug Snake : Gul Lemec gets a massive grin on his face the minute he has some weight to throw around in his negotiations with Jellico. It disappears in a hurry when Lemec loses the advantage.
• Spaceship Slingshot Stunt : Geordi and Jellico mention doing the "Titan's Turn": a risky move done by shuttle pilots doing the Jovian Run between Jupiter and Saturn where they would accelerate towards Titan and then graze the atmosphere before turning sharply around the limb of the moon. It's implied to be illegal as the pilot's next action would be to pray that nobody saw them.
• Stock Footage : The matte painting depicting Torman V is a reuse of the Moab IV painting from " The Masterpiece Society ".
• Sudden School Uniform : Jellico comes down hard on a number of the Enterprise crew, but one of the most immediately visible is his insistence that Deanna wear her duty uniform from now on, after six seasons of her alternating between different types of casual outfit.
• Survival Mantra : Picard: You are six years old! Weak and helpless! You cannot hurt me!
• Sympathy for the Devil : Picard to Madred, though it ties into his survival mantra. Picard: In spite of all you've done to me, I find you a pitiable man!
• Think of the Children! : Picard and Madred get into an argument over this due to Culture Clash . This starts a running theme in Deep Space Nine where "the children" is used to excuse various Cardassian atrocities. Picard: Her belly may be full, but her spirit will be empty.
• Temporary Substitute : Of sorts; originally, the plan was for Picard, Worf, and Crusher to have a brief crossover scene with Star Trek: Deep Space Nine , as they would visit the titular space station, meet with Quark at his bar, and arrange their secret trip to Celtris III with him. The plans for the crossover would ultimately fall through, as such, the character of DaiMon Solok — another shady Ferengi bartender, who happens to run his business on the edge of the Federation-Cardassian border — was quickly put together to fill in Quark's role in the script, with the planet of Torman V put together as a quick replacement for Deep Space Nine.
• Torture Chamber Episode : The Cardassians put Picard in one involving Unwilling Suspension , lots of darkness, and little food.
• Torture Is Ineffective : Picard tells Gul Madred that torture has historically been an ineffective way of obtaining information, and in this case it also helped that he didn't know the specific information they wanted (Federation defense plans for a disputed planet). However, at the end of the episode, Picard confesses to Troi that he had indeed been broken by the end of his imprisonment: only being informed of his freedom at the last second brought him back to his senses long enough to shout defiance at his captor. Of course, there is also the fact that for Madred, the whole thing quickly stopped being about getting information, and became entirely about his own pride. By the end, Madred's real goal was to prove that he was stronger than Picard and could break his will.
• Torture Technician : Gul Madred has the knowledge and experience to break people mentally. He uses real tactics here. By the end, the whole situation stops being about information extraction, and just becomes about Madred wanting to prove how good a technician he is by breaking Picard.
• Truth Serum : Madred uses some on Picard during his first interrogation. It fails to reveal any information regarding the Federation's defense plans for Minos Korva, but this is because Picard actually doesn't know anything about the subject.
• Tyrant Takes the Helm : How the main crew, particularly Riker, sees Jellico, because he is far more strict, controlling, and abrasive than Picard.
• Villain Ball : Gul Madred is too easily goaded for an experienced torturer.
• Villainous Breakdown : When Picard refuses to answer how many lights he sees, Madred physically strikes Picard and addressed him as such after previously declaring he'd only be referred to as "Human". Madred also notably completely loses his cool briefly, when him and Picard discusses his daughter, and Picard remarks that "Her belly may be full, but her spirit will be empty."
• Well-Intentioned Extremist : In a debate with Picard, Madred paints the Cardassian military as this, using their warmongering and (implicitly) atrocities like the Bajoran occupation as a means of providing for their people. Picard argues that the ends don't justify the means, and gets a backhand to the face and another round of torture for it. Madred : What do you know of Cardassian history? Picard : I know that once, you were a peaceful people, with a rich spiritual life. Madred : And what did peace and spirituality get us? People starved by the millions. Bodies went unburied, disease was rampant, the suffering was unimaginable. Picard : Since the military took over, hundreds of thousands more have died. Madred : But we are feeding the people. We acquired territory during the wars. We developed new resources. We initiated a rebuilding program. We have mandated agricultural programs. That ... is what the military has done for Cardassia. And because of that, my daughter will never worry about going hungry. Picard : Her belly may be full, but her spirit will be empty. [ Madred slaps Picard in the face ]
• Wham Line : In one of the shortest teasers of the franchise, Admiral Nechayev comes into Picard's ready room, and suddenly and bluntly states that he's being relieved of command of the Enterprise .
• Why Did It Have to Be Snakes? : Apparently, Worf hates bats.
• The Worf Effect : The Trope Namer gets shot (not fatally), but not before taking out at least one Cardassian.
• You Do Not Want To Know : When Riker barely dodges a Cardassian ship in the nebula: Geordi: Do I want to know how close that was? Riker: No.

Video Example(s):

There are four lights.

In "Chain of Command, Part II" from "Star Trek: The Next Generation," Captain Jean-Luc Picard is captured by the Cardassian Gul Madred. Madred subjects him to torture - using a device to cause him pain and trying to get him to tell him that he sees five lights when there are, in fact, only four. Seemingly defiant to the end, as he is being released, he shouts at Madred that there are four lights. Afterwards, however, on the Enterprise-D, he admits to Troi that what he didn't put in his report was that he was given a choice: to keep saying there were four lights, or give in and get a life of comfort. He tells her that he was ready to say that there were five lights, just to the end the pain, but more than that, he actually could see five lights.

Example of: 2 + Torture = 5

• Star Trek: The Next Generation S6E9 "The Quality of Life"
• Recap/Star Trek: The Next Generation
• Star Trek: The Next Generation S6E11 "Ship in a Bottle"

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Chain of command

The chain of command or command structure was a ranking system used by militaries and other organized groups. It represented the line of authority down which orders are passed from one officer to another, and also the line down which passed command of a particular vessel or installation.

• 1 Hierarchy
• 2 Obligations and responsibilities
• 4 Discipline and respect of chain of command
• 5 External link

Hierarchy [ ]

Branches of the Starfleet chain of command

The chain of command could refer to Starfleet , in general, with the chain beginning with the admiral . The Federation Council , and/or the President of the Federation , could be considered to be at the top of the chain. ( Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home ; Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country ; DS9 : " Homefront ", " Paradise Lost ")

Aboard a starship or most starbases the chain of command began with the assigned commanding officer, usually an officer of the rank of captain , or in some cases commander . This aspect of the command chain functioned similarly aboard a starbase, or space station , as well as in a planetary installation. One example was when Benjamin Sisko was promoted to commander of the station Terok Nor , later named Deep Space 9 . ( DS9 : " Emissary ")

If the commanding officer, for any reason, was unavailable to command his or her post then those responsibilities passed down the "chain" to the first officer, then the second officer, etc.

One example of this was when Lieutenant Commander Jean-Luc Picard served as a bridge officer of the USS Stargazer . When the ship's captain was killed and the first officer injured on the bridge, Picard took command of the situation and the vessel. ( TNG : " Tapestry ")

Obligations and responsibilities [ ]

A captain or commander took care of their ship or starbase, reviewing different documents like intelligence reports, ship status reports, fuel consumption report , captain's or commander's logs , and other communications.

One example of this was when In 2267 , Yeoman Atkins presented a fuel consumption report to Captain Kirk for his signature. As Kirk was suffering from an exotic disease which caused rapid aging both physically and mentally, Kirk moments later asked Atkins for the report, having forgotten that he had already signed it. ( TOS : " The Deadly Years ")

Other responsibilities of the captain or commander was to keep informed of crew issues, such as promotion lists , transfer requests, formal reprimands , etc. One example of this was when in 2367 , Worf was given a reprimand by Captain Jean-Luc Picard for his killing of Duras which, while legal under Klingon law , was improper conduct for a Starfleet officer. ( TNG : " Reunion ") Another example was when in 2375 , Captain Kathryn Janeway put a formal reprimand in Ensign Harry Kim 's record after he had intimate relations with Derran Tal . ( VOY : " The Disease ")

Officers [ ]

Between the launch of Enterprise NX-01 and the late 23rd century , the position of first officer, or executive officer (abbreviated as XO) was filled by the highest ranking officer assigned to the ship aside from the captain. The position was not a separate assignment as it later became. The designated first officer performed their normal duties until it became necessary for them to take command.

This had changed by the late 24th century , when the XO's position had become a completely separate position in a starship's crew held by an officer of commander or lieutenant commander rank grade who held no other position aboard the vessel.

Noted functions of the first officer aboard a Federation starship were:

• Carrying out the decisions of the captain ( TNG : " Gambit, Part II ")
• Acting as the officer in charge of personnel ( VOY : " Day of Honor ")
• Managing the ship's resources, including systems allocation ( TNG : " Lessons ")

After the executive officer, command responsibilities passed down the chain from officer to officer as necessary in accordance with each officer's rank. It was common practice for a commanding officer to designate a second officer to take command if both the captain and first officer were unavailable or unable to perform their duties.

Lt. Commander Data served as operations officer and second officer on board the USS Enterprise -D from 2364 until the vessel's destruction in 2371 . ( Star Trek Generations )

Discipline and respect of chain of command [ ]

When Captain Jonathan Archer reverse-imprinted on a group of Xindi-Insectoids , his increasingly unusual actions led some of his fellow officers to openly question or defy his orders. He relieved those officers and stated to Major J. Hayes that he needed officers who could respect the chain of command and follow orders. ( ENT : " Hatchery ")

Mutiny was an inherent violation of the chain of command, something that was not lost on Captain Philippa Georgiou when she ordered Commander Michael Burnham arrested for incapacitating her and attempting to order a preemptive strike on the Sarcophagus . ( DIS : " Battle at the Binary Stars ")

When Spock inquired to Dr. McCoy if he had noticed Captain Kirk acting strangely lately, McCoy replied, " the man on top walks a lonely street. The chain of command is often a noose. " In response to McCoy's words, Spock told him to " spare me your philosophical metaphors. " Spock then pointed out Kirk's transfer of Kevin Riley to engineering , and McCoy explained that " he's the captain, he can transfer whoever he pleases, " adding " you can look that up in a hundred volumes of space regulations somewhere. " ( TOS : " The Conscience of the King ")

Maintaining discipline within this structure was important. In 2286 , the Human President of the United Federation of Planets felt sure that Admiral Kirk, who faced a sole remaining charge of "disobeying orders of a superior officer", knew how necessary maintaining discipline was. Kirk concurred, leading the president to demote him to his preferred rank of captain. ( Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home )

According to General Chang , Kirk's record displayed his willingness to violate the chain of command whenever he wished. ( Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country )

During Ensign Mendon 's 2365 stint aboard the USS Enterprise -D as part of the Officer Exchange Program , he became aware of several procedural items that could make the operation of the starship's bridge more efficient, and requested to share them with Captain Jean-Luc Picard directly. Picard informed him that the chain of command was employed on the Enterprise , and therefore the Benzite should report to Lieutenant Worf . When the ensign apologized, Picard waved his actions off, saying Starfleet should have made that clearer to him when he was assigned to participate in the program. ( TNG : " A Matter Of Honor ")

Benjamin Sisko learned many things from Captain Leyton aboard the USS Okinawa , including that "a good officer has to respect the chain of command." Leyton believed that without it " Starfleet would cease to function and we wouldn't stand a chance against our enemies. " ( DS9 : " Paradise Lost ")

Erik Pressman and Jean-Luc Picard discussed the chain of command regarding William T. Riker 's actions with Robert DeSoto . ( TNG : " The Pegasus ")

Starfleet Command thought Constable Odo 's respect for the chain of command was "minimal." ( DS9 : " The Search, Part I ")

External link [ ]

• Chain of command at Wikipedia
• 1 Daniels (Crewman)

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• Series & Movies

Star Trek History: Chain of Command, Part II

In 1992, the memorable TNG episode premiered.

On this day in Star Trek history, the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode, "Chain of Command, Part II" premiered.

David Warner's Most Incredible Star Trek Turn Is a Tale of 2 Cardassians

Warner's masterful turn as gul madred in "chain of command" works so well thanks to one crucial contrast..

David Warner, who sadly passed away earlier this week , is beloved for his villainous turns. From Time After Time to Time Bandits , from Tron to Batman: The Animated Series ’ Ra’s Al Ghul, the actor’s legendary career is paved with them. B ut perhaps his finest hour on television comes from his third and final Star Trek role in The Next Generation .

Suggested Reading

“Chain of Command” sits as a two- parter in the middle of The Next Generation ’s sixth season. It’s one of the show’s best , and beloved for a haunting turn by Patrick Stewart, playing a Picard who is captured and brutally tortured by the Cardassians—an interrogation lead by Warner’s sinister Gul Madred. He’s left as vulnerable as we perhaps ever see the great hero Jean-Luc Picard, who ends the story by admitting how close he came to giving up.

Related Content

Picard is nearly broken by Warner’s Madred, who turns in a truly fascinating performance that catapults him into the top tier of TNG ’s best guest stars. Madred is actually not in “Chain of Command” that much—he doesn’t appear until the climactic scene of the first episode, and the second intersperses his torture of Picard with the action back aboard the Enterprise , where replacement Captain Jellico (Ronny Cox) is attempting to strong- arm his way through negotiations with another Cardassian, Gul Lemec (John Durbin). But from the second Warner enters the scene, Madred is immediately captivating.

He glides around the dimly little office/torture room that becomes the primary stage of the back half of “Chain of Command, ” barely entering the sharp pockets of light as he verbally and, sometimes technologically with an implanted device in Picard’s chest, needles the good c aptain until he is a writhing wreck. Madred’s presence is graceful and terrifying—Warner’s voice for the character almost barely a whisper, precise and controlled as he completely pulls Picard’s strings over and over. That’s really what makes Madred so compelling and creepy, beyond the fact he’s brutally torturing our hero: he’s a shade, meticulous and detailed but never brash and booming, dominance held by his complete and utter control, not just of Picard but of himself. There’s a single scene in which Madred breaks this facade—when Picard mocks his childhood upbringing as a starving orphan on Cardassia—but it’s only for a moment. Even then, as Picard celebrates discovering a gap in Madred’s armor, Warner’s subdued, imposing presence keeps him a threat until the episode’s very climax.

It’s a fantastic performance in isolation, but what makes Gul Madred truly shine as a character is that he’s not the only Cardassian villain of the piece. Although they barely share screen time save for a scene near the two-parter’s end, Gul Lemec is a vital foil to Madred that creates a greater whole, abstracted as what would be the hallmark of the Cardassian s’ portrayal when they truly entered Trek ’s spotlight in Deep Space Nine . Durbin’s Lemec is everything that Warner’s Madred is not—grand and pompous, sneering and theatrical. There’s almost an element of camp to Durbin’s turn, practically vogu ing about the Enterprise conference room as he spits demands and insults at Jellico, Troi, and Riker, hands dramatically splayed as they dance stroking from chair to chair. If Madred skulked in the shadows, Lemec leaps into the light, the embodiment of Cardassian haughtiness and arrogance.

They’re both fantastic performances in isolation, but in symbiosis they paint an incredible picture of w hat the Cardassians were capable of, as both beings and as characters for Star Trek to work with—the deadly, calculating sneaks, the pompous warriors. Even barely sharing the screen, Durbin and Warner’s dual roles feel like a performative dance, a duet of opposites, each contrast making the other performance shine just as strongly even as they juke away from each other. Durbin’s the proud, furious performance Lemec makes Warner’s choices as Madred feel all the more cold, calculated, and chilling, and in turn that subdued sinister performance makes Lemec’s rage and arrogance all the more potent.

I came back to “Chain of Command” last night in the wake of Warner’s passing expecting to remember his performance, and his alone—one of the all- time greats of Star Trek guest stars. But I was surprised in realising that it only hits hits its  biggest heights thanks to as just as laudable performance in Durbin: two incredible actors setting the stage for what Cardassians could be, ready for them to ascend into Trek ’s annals as one if its most fascinating societies just a few years later.

Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel and Star Wars releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV , and everything you need to know about House of the Dragon and Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power .

Chain of Command, part one Stardate: 46357.4 Original Airdate: 14 Dec, 1992

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Star Trek: TNG's Iconic 'There Are Four Lights' Episode Almost Didn't Happen

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• Star Trek: The Next Generation 's Season 6 two-part episode "Chain of Command" is a favorite of fans and the cast, but almost didn't happen.
• Executive Producer Michael Piller always had to deal with budget constraints, meaning he would get creative about how to extend what they could spend.
• From this limitation, Star Trek: TNG delivered one of its most creative and powerful episodes instead of something more expensive and forgettable.

When Paramount and Gene Roddenberry launched Star Trek: The Next Generation in 1987, it was a massive risk. No sequel series had ever done better than the original, and despite success in syndication, The Original Series was a TV flop. However, Star Trek: TNG not only proved the doubters wrong, it produced many iconic episodes and propelled Roddenberry's universe into the real-world future. Yet, the budget was always a problem, and one such penny-pinching episode became one of TNG and Patrick Stewart's most beloved episodes, in which he declares "There are four lights!" But it almost didn't happen.

The two-part Season 6 episode "Chain of Command" is notable for many reasons, not the least of which is that it prompted Deanna Troi to start wearing Starfleet uniforms . The episode introduced character-actor Ronny Cox, best known at the time for RoboCop , as the strict Captain Edward Jellico. It also deepened the subtle serialized element in Star Trek with the introduction of the Cardassian Empire and their feud with Starfleet. Jellico was brought aboard the USS Enterprise to take over command and lead negotiations with the Cardassian representatives. It offered fans a look at what life might be like on a starship when the captain is very different from Jean-Luc Picard. He, along with Dr. Beverly Crusher and Worf, was sent on an undercover mission to Cardassian territory. It proved to be a trap, and Picard was taken prisoner and tortured by the sadistic Gul Madred. Actor David Warner, by then a Star Trek veteran, played the role, helping to fulfill a lifelong career goal of Patrick Stewart's.

Star Trek Avoided Serialization Until They Needed to Save Money

Everything we know about star trek: strange new worlds, season 3.

A third season of Strange New Worlds is on the way, but Hollywood strikes and other changes have altered the schedule. Here's what is known so far.

There is an interesting television dichotomy at play in all iterations of Star Trek, from The Original Series to new shows like Picard and Strange New Worlds . They are, simultaneously, incredibly expensive series to produce, but the producers rarely have enough budget to do what they truly want to do. Because Star Trek: TNG and Deep Space Nine were first-run syndicated series, networks could air the episodes in any order they wanted. Thus, serialization was "impossible" because the episodes might air out-of-order.

However, two-part episodes (or more) allowed the producers to maximize their budgets. Star Trek: Enterprise's producers tricked UPN into giving the series a fourth season by ending the show on a cliffhanger. The network was failing, and the new executives had no love for Rick Berman and his Star Trek empire. Yet, they didn't want to be the executives who killed the nearly two-decade-old golden goose with no proper finale. So, while the show got a new season, their budgets were even tighter.

The late Manny Coto, the new showrunner at the time, introduced three-episode arcs which allowed them to apply multiple episodes' budget to sets, costumes, and other elements that drove up the cost of production. The same thing happened on Deep Space Nine , which allowed showrunner Ira Steven Behr to introduce heavy serialization. Still, even Star Trek: The Next Generation -- the only series in the run to increase in popularity each season -- was not above budget troubles. Thankfully, this led to the iconic storyline in "Chain of Command, Part II."

There Are Four Lights (Because TNG Producers Couldn't Afford Any More)

Does star wars owe its success to star trek.

The documentary A Disturbance in the Force cites a hidden architect as a major factor in Star Wars' success, which is linked to an unlikely source.

Budget problems came early for "Chain of Command," originally a single episode meant to be the first TNG and DS9 crossover , according to Captains' Logs: The Unauthorized Complete Trek Voyages by Edward Gross and Mark A. Altman. "We were in budget trouble and Michael said, 'You know, I think what we could do is make this a two-parter. Have Picard captured and then make it an episode about his relationship with his torturer that takes place in one room," the late Jeri Taylor said. Piller noted the story itself was compelling, but it could also take place in a single room, allowing them to save money.

Never a series for drawn-out denouement, The Next Generation episode was meant to end with Picard, Worf, and Crusher on the way back from the secret mission. Instead, the captain was caught in the trap. He is taken to a room, stripped naked, and forced to give up Starfleet's secrets. "[T]he victor for Picard is just surviving," Piller said in the same book, because if Picard didn't "break under torture…that would [do] a great disservice to everybody in the human rights struggle" who experienced this sort of heinous cruelty. The producers and writers even consulted with Amnesty International to ensure what Gul Madred did to him had a basis in reality.

Throughout the episode, Gul Madred shines four bright lights on Picard's face, asking him how many there are. When Picard answers "four," he's brutally shocked. Madred tells him there are five lights, repeating the punishment every time Picard insists there are four. The episode ends, when Jellico and the others negotiate his release, with Picard defiantly shouting to Madred as he leaves, " There are four lights !" It was a classically powerful Star Trek episode , with the series' best performances from Stewart and Warner. This whole subplot, however, did not exist in the initial pitch for the episode and the story.

Star Trek's Budget Limitations Sometimes Improve Its Stories

Star Trek is an expensive series to produce, but its budget restraints sometimes result in some incredible episodes. One of the classic episodes of Star Trek: TNG 's third season was "Yesterday's Enterprise," which involved a large cast and a brand-new ship model. According to Rick Berman in Captain's Logs, it was "quite expensive," as opposed to Season 2's "Measure of a Man" which he called "one of our best."

The "Chain of Command" two-parter falls somewhere in the middle, but everyone remembers the torture sequences most of all. Piller said it was "one of the least expensive episodes of the season," and he didn't believe "there's been a better show in the history of the series." Sometimes, things get cut for budgetary reasons that also improve the story. The original Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country opening -- a film that featured David Warner as Klingon Chancellor Gorkon -- was one such story.

Originally, director Nicholas Meyer wanted the original USS Enterprise crew to be retired and living sad lives doing bad jobs. This would have drastically changed the view of the heroes, but it was cut to shave millions off the production budget. Instead, the crew is just about to step down from service, making the impact of the story more profound. The last mission of the original Enterprise crew was to help make peace with their most iconic foes, the Klingons.

Star Trek: TNG's 'Chain of Command' Fulfilled a Dream of Patrick Stewart's

In Patrick Stewart's recent memoir, Making It So , he recounts the first time he saw David Warner perform Hamlet. It was in 1965, and he described the then-young actor as a revelation and lifelong inspiration. Almost a full 30 years later, Stewart was able to welcome the actor to the set of the show where he was the star. "[W]hen Rick Berman slipped me the news…that David was to join us, I was beside myself," he wrote. "All but one of my scenes in the episode were to be with him, and he was going to torture me! I didn't feel worthy."

While he didn't gel with every co-star, Stewart notes Warner was hired on short notice, which makes sense since his part of the story didn't exist until well into pre-production. He rewatched the episode before writing the memoir, saying that when this episode was over "I needed a moment to collect myself and let a range of emotions pass through me -- pride in how good we were, exhaustion at how wrenching the material is, and sadness over how much I miss David" who passed away in 2022.

He credits their combined performances as a reason the " Trek faithful" adore the episode. While he also agrees it is one of The Next Generation's best , he calls the chance to act with his favorite Hamlet actor an "experience I would have earlier placed strictly within the realm of fantasy." Yet, it all came about because Star Trek producers needed to save a few hundred thousand dollars. This is why despite budget limitations plaguing the series in every iteration, the franchise endures towards its 60th year.

Star Trek: The Next Generation

Set almost 100 years after Captain Kirk's 5-year mission, a new generation of Starfleet officers sets off in the U.S.S. Enterprise-D on its own mission to go where no one has gone before.

How Star Trek: Discoverys New Number One Compares To Riker

• Commander Rayner in Star Trek: Discovery season 5 made a worthy Number One to Captain Burnham.
• Commander Riker from Star Trek: The Next Generation shares similarities with Rayner as a successful First Officer.
• Rayner's competent and confident leadership style earned respect from Discovery's crew.

Commander Rayner (Callum Keith Rennie) only appeared in one season of Star Trek: Discovery , but how does he compare to Commander William T. Riker (Jonathan Frakes) from Star Trek: The Next Generation? In its fifth and final season, Discovery sent Captain Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) and the crew of the USS Discovery on an intergalactic treasure hunt centuries in the making. The USS Discovery has seen her fair share of First Officers, and Commander Rayner made a worthy Number One in Star Trek: Discovery season 5.

After working alongside Captain Rayner in Star Trek: Discovery's season 5 premiere , Captain Burnham chose the newly demoted Commander Rayner as her First Officer, knowing that the Starfleet veteran would challenge her. Commander Riker was chosen by Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) as his Number One on Star Trek: The Next Generation specifically to challenge him and keep Picard in check , although the two often ended up on the same page. Riker served as Picard's First Officer on the Enterprise for fifteen years, turning down multiple opportunities for his own command. Much about Rayner's past remains a mystery, but he made quite an impression in his lone season of Star Trek: Discovery.

Star Trek's Next Show Needs Rayner & Discovery's Finale Is Proof

Star Trek: Discovery's finale teased a brand-new mentorship program for Starfleet Academy, creating the perfect role for Callum Keith Rennie's Rayner.

Commander Riker Was First Officer Of USS Enterprise-D For 15 Years

"he is simply the finest officer with whom i have ever served." captain jean-luc picard.

Commander Will Riker joined the crew of the newly commissioned USS Enterprise-D alongside Captain Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation's series premiere. Over the next seven seasons of TNG, Riker led numerous away missions and took command of the Enterprise-D on several occasions. For example, in the excellent TNG two-parter, "The Best of Both Worlds," the Borg attacked the Enterprise and assimilated Captain Picard, forcing Riker to take command. In Star Trek's best cliffhanger , Riker then made the incredibly difficult call to fire on the Borg cube with his former Captain on board.

Riker eventually became one of the most accomplished First Officers in Starfleet.

Riker was an action-oriented First Officer, who mostly did things by the book, but wasn't afraid to bend the rules when the situation required. Will easily made friends with the officers under his command, regularly playing poker with the other senior staff members on the Enterprise . As one of Picard's closest friends and confidants, Riker remained loyal to his Captain, even risking his career when the Cardassians captured Picard in TNG's "The Chain of Command" two-parter. Riker eventually became one of the most accomplished First Officers in Starfleet and remained lifelong friends with Picard and his Enterprise crewmates.

Star Trek: Discovery's Commander Rayner Is The New Riker

Star Trek: Discovery's new Number One, Commander Rayner, shares many similarities with TNG's Commander William T Riker that go beyond the beard.

Commander Rayner Was A First Officer Success In Star Trek: Discovery Season 5

"i see how you're looking out at the stars... we both know you're not ready to hang it up." - captain michael burnham.

Although he only appeared in Star Trek: Discovery's final season , Commander Rayner quickly established himself as a competent and confident Starfleet Officer. WItrh some difficulty, Rayner adapted to Captain Burnham's very different style of command, while still maintaining his gruff, yet somehow endearing personality. While he may not have been as emotionally open as most of the USS Discovery's crew members, Rayner clearly cared deeply about the people under his command. Throughout Star Trek: Discovery season 5, Rayner and Discovery's crew developed a respect for one another, as they searched for the Progenitors' technology and faced off against the Breen.

In Star Trek: Discovery' s series finale, Rayner and Discovery's crew pulled off an incredible move by separating the ship's driver and saucer sections and using them to spore jump the Breen dreadnought to the Galactic Barrier.

As Commander Rayner prepared his crew to perform the risky and untested spore jump to stop the Breen, he said: "We're gonna take a hell of a risk. If it doesn't work, well... Good crew. I appreciate the trust." Succinct and to the point, this line perfectly encapsulates Rayner as a First Officer. He may not deliver a lengthy speech, but he'll get the job done and ensure his Captain and his crew members get home safe. And if that's not the mark of a great Star Trek First Officer, then we don't know what is.

Star Trek: Discovery

Cast Blu del Barrio, Oded Fehr, Anthony Rapp, Sonequa Martin-Green, Doug Jones, Wilson Cruz, Eve Harlow, Mary Wiseman, Callum Keith Rennie

Release Date September 24, 2017

Showrunner Alex Kurtzman

Star Trek: The Next Generation

Cast Michael Dorn, LeVar Burton, Brent Spiner, Wil Wheaton, Jonathan Frakes, Patrick Stewart, Marina Sirtis, Gates McFadden

Release Date September 28, 1987

Showrunner Jeri Taylor, Michael Piller, Rick Berman

Star Trek: The Next Generation (TV Series)

Chain of command, part i (1992).

• User Reviews
• They decide to strip the Federation flagship of its CO - not a good idea if you send that ship into a tense situation that might very well lead to a battle or war. They then replace said CO with a guy whose style of leadership is sure to create a number of problems with the crew. This can't be a new personality trait of Jellico's so any higher ranking officer worth his salt should've foreseen the friction he creates on the Enterprise. And all this for no real reason - other than Jellico clearly wanting to establish himself as a hard-ass. There's no payoff to the changes Jellico makes, so they don't seem to have improved the Enterprise's effectiveness. Quite the opposite really, when Jellico first relieves Riker of duty and then has to basically beg the guy to fly a crucial mission.
• Jellico is there because he has extensive experience with the Cardassians - but all he really does in his negotiating scenes is insult the guys. Maybe that's the way to handle Cardassians, but then Troi confirms that Jellico isn't really as sure of himself as he's trying to appear. So he's clearly not the best man for the job - he basically comes across as pretty weak and incompetent. Again: Picard is a highly respected diplomat and someone who knows how to de-escalate a situation. He's not a special-forces operative.. so why use him in this capacity when he would be much more valuable at his usual post? Instead of using him, Starfleet sends in a "diplomat" who is sure to alienate the Cardassians every chance he gets. And these guys want to prevent war? Hmmm..

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Star Trek: The Reason Starfleet and the Borg Will Never Get Along

Despite its mission of tolerance and inclusion, the Federation just can't wrap its head around the Borg on Star Trek.

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Starfleet is nothing if not tolerant. Star Trek captains are known for pontificating about what humans can learn from other cultures, and what they owe the other species they come across. They are not known for announcing: “Now this is how I prefer the Borg. In pieces!”

Said by Voyager ‘s Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew), the statement hints at the barrier that Borg society seems to throw up across Star Trek shows. Wars aside, Starfleet captains don’t seem to want to even try to understand the Borg. It’s a tension that’s rooted in a huge culture clash, one that Starfleet can’t dismantle without dismantling its own ideological scaffolding.

In The Next Generation episode “I, Borg,” Jean-Luc Picard is happy to introduce a virus into the Borg, even though he’d balk at the thought of bringing such destruction to other races. He only backs off when he is convinced his Borg prisoner, Hugh, has become an individual―that is to say, no longer fully Borg. Captain Picard’s stance is perhaps understandable; he is carrying trauma from being transformed into Locutus of Borg (his badass Laser eyes apparently providing little comfort). But it’s Captain Janeway that seems to particularly hate them. 

When former Borg drone Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan) comes aboard, Janeway ignores her initial wish to return to the Collective, her objection to having her (admittedly deadly) implants removed, and her own explanations of what it is to be Borg. Janeway insists, “I’m giving you freedom,” and dismisses Seven’s wish to leave with the Borg: “You lost the ability to make a rational choice the moment you were assimilated.”

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When Seven is told “your mind is independent now,” she replies, “I don’t want that life.” Janeway, as ever, ignores her, confident that being human is the best way to be.

It’s true the Borg’s foreign policy is more of a reign of terror, forcibly assimilating members of other species, and attacking Janeway’s crew. But the Borg are hardly the first species to have hostile relations with Starfleet, and Janeway harbors a disdain for their internal society, too. A clue as to why is Janeway’s idolization of The Original Series ’ Captain Kirk. Waxing lyrical about the Wild West days of Kirk and co., she says: “Space must have seemed a whole lot bigger back then… I have to admit, I would have loved to ride shotgun at least once with a group of officers like that.”

Humanity’s mythology is populated by cowboy heroes, and it’s no different in Star Trek . Kirk himself is an obvious example, with his maverick command, and Janeway isn’t the only one starry-eyed. In the Deep Space Nine episode “Trials and Tribble-ations,” Dax, having gone back to Kirk’s time, is excited to see “one of the most famous men in Starfleet history.” Captain Sisko, having also time-traveled, admits wanting to shake Kirk’s hand, and Worf says meeting him would be an “honor.” 

The hero worship isn’t confined to Kirk. Janeway’s crewman Paris plays at being the intergalactic swashbuckler Captain Proton on the Holodeck. In Deep Space Nine ‘s Holosuites, meanwhile, O’Brien and Bashir act out WWII’s iconic Battle of Britain, a few souls against the might of the Axis. TNG ’s own Picard has a romantic family history of sea captains and Mars colonizers, which he regards with wistful pride. The very status captains hold in the world of the show and among fans are evidence of a kind of myth-making which revolves around exceptional individuals.

It also suggests Starfleet, infused as it is with Earth culture, is still dogged by a historical hangover. Its ideals, even the “final frontier” tagline, hark back to colonial explorers like Christopher Columbus and the suspiciously Kirk-sounding James Cook―perhaps further still, to epic poetry’s great adventurers like Homer’s Odysseus and Virgil’s Aeneas. Starfleet’s heroes are the successors of these men, the latest in a line of individuals that societies can tie their identities to.

But it’s certainly not a kind of pride that the Borg would share. While Star Trek ‘s captains dream of the named men who first conquered the Earth’s oceans or took humanity to warp speed, the Borg value the group over the individual. In fact, they don’t really believe in the individual; when they do think of particular drones, the focus is on what their duty and role is in their society. 

The Borg exist to serve the Collective, but they also are the Collective, equal participants (messiness over the Borg Queen’s role aside). Their knowledge, thoughts, and life experiences are brought to the group and shared with everyone. In a hivemind, there are no heroes. The ideal Borg is anonymous, one link in a chain. An exceptional Borg is not Borg by definition.

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It’s a different view on identity, ethics, and purpose than Starfleet’s. But that doesn’t mean it’s objectively wrong. In fact, it’s pretty close to what Plato argues makes up an ideal society in Republic , the Ancient Greek philosopher’s dual treatise on individual morals and the morals of a state.

In simplified terms, Plato partly argues that the way a person can be both moral and happy is to fulfill their specific societal role. Robin Waterfield’s translation of Republic proposes giving “every single person just one job―the one for which he was naturally suited, and which he was to work all his life.” In this way “their lives will be communal” and “every person is not a plurality but a unity, and thus… the community as a whole develops as a unity, not a plurality.”

Seven of Nine, at least at the beginning of her Voyager stint, sees things the same way. 

Seven may have originally been kidnapped by the Borg, and her feelings do change later on, but initially she feels that their world is the world in which she belongs. Her place as a drone in the Collective gives her a sense of purpose, guides her ethics, and makes her happy. Even Janeway concedes the Borg have a “harmony of purpose and thought.” But that just won’t mesh with Starfleet captains’ identities ― their cultural need to build their own stories around adventurers, and orbit them like planets around stars.

Star Trek shows us a dazzlingly bright future for humanity―one in which we have eradicated money, poverty, want, and intra-human war. But it also shows a 24th century in which humanity has yet to move past its own myths. And if that stops it bridging gaps of understanding with radically different cultures, that’s a tragedy.

Jen Tombs is a features writer and an avid fan of science fiction and feminist fiction. She lives in the Canadian Rockies because she loves mountains,…

Business Insider's most innovative CMOs of 2024

• CMOs are under increased pressure to grow their brands while reaching new audiences.
• They're experimenting with new technology like generative AI and cookieless advertising.
• Meet Business Insider's "Most Innovative CMOs" of 2024.

The role of chief marketing officers is only getting harder.

They're increasingly responsible for proving growth at their companies by boosting consumer spending, reaching new audiences like Gen Z, and using emerging technologies like generative AI and cookieless tools.

Business Insider's annual list of the "Most Innovative CMOs" spotlights CMOS rising to these challenges. This year's 34 CMOs came from nearly 80 nominations from their peers and industry experts.

This year's CMOs include executives from big brands like Disney, Chipotle, and PepsiCo; direct-to-consumer names like Bobbie; and tech companies like Workday and Kraken Digital Asset Exchange.

Here are Business Insider's 2024 "Most Innovative CMOs," listed in alphabetical order by last name.

Asad Ayaz, chief brand officer, The Walt Disney Company and president, marketing, The Walt Disney Studios, Disney+, and The Walt Disney Company

Last April, Ayaz was named as The Walt Disney Company's first-ever chief brand officer, an expansion of his role as president of marketing for Walt Disney Studios and Disney+, responsibilities he still holds. He oversees marketing strategy, creative advertising, media, research, special events, promotions, and global publicity.

Not long after Ayaz was announced into his new role, the entertainment industry was faced with multiple strikes impacting film and TV production. Ayaz helped the company navigate these challenges while also driving the global campaign to celebrate Disney's 100th anniversary, which had kicked off with a Super Bowl commercial in 2023 and the introduction of a new logo. 

Elsewhere, Ayaz pioneered new partnerships and social campaigns to bring the effort to a diverse set of audiences. Ayaz led a collaboration with TikTok, for example, to introduce a Disney100 hub experience, featuring interactive challenges and games, as well as music and sounds. The hub drove a significant increase in the popularity of Disney's songs, with some entering the Billboard Top 50 .

Ayaz is also preparing to create a host of new consumer touchpoints as part of The Walt Disney Company's $60 billion investment to expand its theme parks worldwide. And Walt Disney Studios is set to release movies like "Deadpool and Wolverine," which became the most-watched trailer of all time during this year's Super Bowl.

Francisco Bram, VP of marketing and business development, Albertsons Companies

"Customers for life" is part of Albertsons Companies' corporate mission. With that in mind, Bram last year harnessed health and wellness to try to transform customer relationships across its 22 supermarket brands, including Acme, Safeway, and Pavilions. 

Sincerely Health, the app he launched in collaboration with healthcare providers and insurance companies, positions Albertsons as a wellness partner ­― and could fuel loyalty by rewarding healthful choices. The app integrates with Albertsons' e-commerce sites, serving up personalized health and nutrition tips based on purchases and buying history.

At a time when some customers are cutting back on discretionary spending ― and online grocery outlets grab larger market shares ― the app has helped generate a 46% jump in brand awareness for Albertsons Companies stores, the company said.

Bram also broadened Albertsons' potential revenue streams by launching the company's first B2B marketing organization. Albertsons now offers customized pharmacy and grocery services to corporate clients, including vaccine clinics, pharmacy services, and grocery delivery.

Bram's approach is ringing up results. In April, Albertsons reported same-store sales increased 1% year over year, digital sales increased 22%, and loyalty members increased 16% to 39.8 million; the numbers stand out in a year when online grocery sales dipped 1.2% year over year, according to one industry report .

Chris Brandt, CMO, Chipotle

Brandt, an early adopter who embraced gaming and esports for Chipotle in 2018, saw an opening last year among the Fighting Game Community (FGC)­, a gaming subculture largely untargeted­ by non-endemic brands. Chipotle gave away free entrée cards at the largest live FGC events, and used a promo code based on fan lingo to grant in-game currency to Street Fighter 6 players. 

Both IRL and online, results were a win. At Evo Las Vegas, North America's largest FGC event, a crowd of 10,000 fans cheered ads from Chipotle, the first non-endemic brand to host one of the largest team tournaments in Street Fighter history. Through the campaign, Chipotle's brand sentiment score among US esports fans aged 18 to 44 rose from 29% to 41%, according to YouGov BrandIndex. The brand's FGC activations generated more than 1.5 billion impressions and 185 earned media placements.

Menu innovations, a key to consumer engagement, have been another platform for Brandt. 

In early 2023, Chipotle introduced the Fajita Quesadilla, a permanent menu item inspired by a viral TikTok hack; its launch nearly doubled the company's quesadilla business. Its success led Brandt to create Chipotle's own hack­­s, like a sour cream/Chipotle Tomatillo-Red Chili Sauce combination. 

The results have been promising. The company's same-store sales rose 8.4% in the fourth quarter of 2023. And foot traffic rose 7.4% in the quarter while giants like McDonald's and Starbucks saw declines, Chipotle said. 

Brandt's newest challenge : a wave of videos from TikTokers who claim Chipotle's portion sizes have been shrinking. "There have been no changes in our portion sizes, and we have reinforced proper portioning with our employees," a Chipotle executive told The New York Times in a statement.

Andrea Brimmer, CMO and public relations officer, Ally Financial

Brimmer has been instrumental in getting brand growth for Ally Financial, while pioneering new approaches to marketing and sponsorship that move the industry forward.

Since around 2022, Brimmer has been driving positive change across the investment of brands in women's sports. This year marks the two-year anniversary of Ally's 50/50 pledge, with the aim of spending equally on women's and men's sports by 2027. She continued these efforts in 2023 with a first-of-its-kind media deal with Disney and ESPN, which included spending more than 90% on women's sports. In 2024, Ally became the official banking partner of the USGA, and both US Open golf tournaments, sponsored several women-funded and women-owned media sports properties, and worked with the Sports Innovation Lab to create the largest women's sports networking group.

The Ally logo is recognized by around three-quarters of sports fans, and women's sports fans, in particular, have a 71% higher likeability rate and 82% higher preference for the Ally brand, the company said.

Elsewhere, Brimmer has led Ally's streaming strategy. This included the March launch of the "Side Hustlers" reality series, which spotlights women entrepreneurs and successful investors. The Roku Channel series exceeded viewership projections and boosted visits to Ally.com by up to 17%. Ally also ran a streaming-only Super Bowl ad this year — when a 30-second linear TV spot cost upwards of $7 million — to emphasize the brand's marketing messages around saving money.

Brimmer's marketing team is also testing generative AI to make marketing productivity gains and cost savings. Using the Ally.AI platform's large language model chat and prompt functionality, a group of its marketers was able to reduce the time required to create content by up to two to three weeks and reported average time savings of up to 34%.

Ally says that overall, its brand value, as measured by Brand Finance, jumped by 30% this year, while its trust score grew by 10%, a testament to Brimmer's efforts.

Jonnie Cahill, CMO, Heineken USA

Cahill is on a mission to "make moderation cool."

Heineken 0.0 debuted in the US in 2019 and rose to become the country's top-selling nonalcoholic beer, with sales of $77.45 million last year, according to Statista data.

Heineken 0.0 represents around 7% of the total Heineken franchise in the US and was the focus of many of the brewer's biggest marketing activations, like the Coachella music festival and major esports tournaments. Sampling was key at these events last year .

Last year, Heineken also debuted the lower-carb, lower-calorie 4% ABV Heineken Silver, to appeal to drinkers looking for a lighter alternative to traditional lagers. It launched with a campaign dubbed "All the Taste, No Bitter Endings" and was the title sponsor of the Las Vegas Grand Prix in November. As part of the Las Vegas Grand Prix activation, Heineken Silver became the first beer brand to advertise on the Las Vegas Sphere.

Overall, Heineken devotes 10% of its global media spending to messaging around drinking responsibility. 

"We can make moderation cool, and that will have a massive societal impact," Cahill told Business Insider last year.

Lisa Caputo, EVP and chief marketing, communications, and customer experience officer, Travelers Insurance

Caputo uses data and new platforms to keep the insurance company ahead of the curve. She helped launch the brand's first TikTok account that posts clips and player videos about the annual Travelers Championship PGA event. The account is currently promoting this year's upcoming event. Travelers also works with social and gaming creators to market the event to a younger audience than golf traditionally focuses on. For example, a six-hour Twitch livestream event raised about $50,000 for The Hole in the Wall Gang Camp. The livestream had 41,000 concurrent viewers, according to Travelers. Last summer, Caputo launched a campaign aimed at tackling polarization and divisiveness called "Who cares?" The campaign showed how many people care about issues like forest fires, hunger, and natural disasters. And it targeted people like public officials, CEOs, influencers, and independent insurance agents. Caputo's team is also using AI and machine learning to create content, including drafting articles, identifying audience groups, and conducting research. The team has developed tools that sales teams use to track marketing materials and monitor brand reputation on digital platforms and social media. Caputo has been in the role since 2011 and previously worked in marketing at Citi. She was also previously a Deputy Assistant to former President Clinton and Press Secretary to former First Lady Hilary Rodham Clinton during Clinton's first term in office.

Marcus Casey, CMO, BMW North America

At the center of much of BMW North America's marketing success this year has been the "data spine" Casey helped engineer. It connects customer data across platforms and has become a central source for BMW's marketing and agency teams to access insights and real-time analytics to see what's working.

BMW's 2024 Super Bowl spot, "Talkin' Like Walken," was based on the insight that its "Ultimate Driving Machine" positioning had been imitated many times, but still remained the ultimate. The ad showed stars Usher and Ashley Park imitating Christopher Walken's voice and cadence but ultimately proving there's no one else like the original.

The New York Times, Esquire, and iSpot ranked it a top Super Bowl ad of 2024. The continuing digital marketing campaign after the big game helped drive a 267% increase in people visiting the automaker's website to design their own BMW i5. Other programs included event and sponsorship integrations and the return of BMW's Ultimate Driving Experience tour, which lets consumers test-drive its EVs around a track. Sales of BMW EVs grew 27.9% in the first three months of 2024 to 82,700.

Casey and his team are also investing in AI. They use Unreal Engine and creative automation to create personalized content at scale. The team is also using AI for tasks like predictive analytics, driving efficiency across the organization.

Emma Chalwin, CMO, Workday

Chalwin joined Workday last year after working in marketing roles at Salesforce and Adobe.

She's tasked with explaining the cloud company to its enterprise clients, who use the technology to manage human resources and finances. She's used big branding campaigns on TV to reach B2B marketers.

Following Workday's Super Bowl campaign last year that starred rock stars like Ozzy Osbourne and Joan Jett, Chalwin helped launch two commercials in April with a similar theme that featured Gwen Stefani, Billy Idol, and Travis Barker. The ads premiered during The Masters, a key time for reaching business executives. Within one month of launching, the ads drove 50% more visits year-over-year to Workday's website, according to the company.

And this summer, Workday is going on a bus tour in 15 cities to promote its products and clients.

Internally, Chalwin created a program called "CMO School" that includes a learning curriculum and training for skills like upskilling to help marketers grow their careers.

Chalwin is also focused on AI. Chalwin uses AI to cut out time-consuming tasks like creating templates for campaigns and data analysis.

Kim Gebbia Chappell, chief brand officer, Bobbie

By focusing on parents, not just products, this direct-to-consumer baby formula brand has become the fastest-growing player in its category, claiming to feed more than 4.5% of babies born in the US. 

Chappell, chief brand officer since November 2023 and a four-year Bobbie veteran, has made advocacy a key brand plank, positioning Bobbie as a force on issues including federal support for new parents. The company advised legislators on drafting the 2024 Infant Formula Made in America Act, addressing issues behind 2022's infant formula shortage.

Overseen by Chappell, an early 2024 partnership with tennis star Naomi Osaka brightened the brand's halo, launching a grant for working parents while campaigning for federal paid leave. Because Osaka had been public about her decision not to breastfeed daughter Shai, her choice as spokesperson both elevated Bobbie's brand and aligned it with mothers facing similar challenges. More than 11,000 parents applied for grants.

Chappell's brand vision is getting results. With 72% revenue growth from 2022 to 2023, Bobbie has exceeded $100 million in revenue and won a $70 million investment. But Bobbie may have been too successful, too fast; in mid-May, the company paused online sales and new subscriptions until it opens a new manufacturing facility this summer.

Lee Anne Grant, chief growth officer, Babylist

Grant's job is to give soon-to-be and new parents all the information that they need.

Babylist's main offering is a registry program for managing shopping for baby products, but the site has also expanded into content such as guides for the best products and health content.

Since Grant joined in 2020, Babylist's website traffic has increased 25% and reaches about 10 million unique users per month. 

Grant's role combines the CMO job with head of sales for Babylist's media business. She helped develop a content studio called The Push, where the company's editors, designers, and social-media team work with brands like Nike and Wayfair to run campaigns targeting Babylist's audience.

One of the challenges for parents is sifting through endless amounts of advice and information. Grant has developed new ways to reach this audience through platforms like TikTok and a physical showroom in Los Angeles. The showroom features more than 35 brands, including Gap and Etsy.

Last year, Grant helped expand Babylist into health content with the acquisition and relaunch of Expectful. She also spearheaded a program that offers free breast pumps through insurance plans, and more than 80,000 breast pumps have been shipped.

Under Grant's leadership, Babylist had more than $400 million in revenue during 2023 — a 40% year-over-year increase, according to the company. 

Grant previously worked in brand and business development roles at The Assembly, Brandless, and PopSugar.

Mayur Gupta, CMO, Kraken Digital Asset Exchange

Gupta has the tough job of getting consumers to trust crypto after the sector's quick boom and bust — and subsequent resurgence — over the past couple of years.

Since joining in 2022, he has used his background as CMO of brands like Gannett and Freshly to convey that Kraken Digital Asset Exchange is not only stable but ahead of innovation in the space. 

In October, he spearheaded Kraken's first marketing campaign, which targeted people new to crypto. A commercial depicts crypto as inspirational within the financial world. The campaign appeared on LinkedIn, X, and out-of-home ads in places including London.

Gupta has also landed deals with creators like YouTuber and Twitch streamer Kitboga, crypto media company Bankless, and Williams Racing to make Kraken more of a household name. With Williams Racing, Kraken sponsors areas of F1 races called Fan Zones, where the brand aims to educate people about crypto.

Brad Hiranaga, chief brand officer, Cotopaxi

Sustainable outdoor apparel brand Cotopaxi has described 2023 as "the year of collaboration for good" at the company, in which it partnered with like-minded organizations that share its commitment to social and environmental responsibility.

It teamed up with HOKA on a sneaker and hip-pack collab. Later in the year, purchasers of the limited edition Headspace x Cotopaxi hip pack or T-shirt received a two-month Headspace membership and other exclusive mindfulness content. It also joined other brands as part of the Outdoor Industry Association to work with suppliers to reduce their emissions and advance research in this area.

Such efforts helped boost brand awareness from 28% in 2022 to 39.2% last year, the company said. The company grew 35% and surpassed $140 million in sales in 2023. What's more, the company said it kept 2.75 million fabric yards out of landfills, "which, if laid out, would stretch from Miami to Boston."

Continuing the partnership theme, Cotopaxi launched the Más Vida trade-in program earlier this year, working with Trove and Tersus Solutions, to encourage people to swap and buy used outdoor gear and apparel. It also became a sponsor of the Sundance Film Festival , providing coats to jurors and filmmakers.

Jill Kramer, chief marketing and communications officer, Accenture

Kramer has led an effort to transform Accenture's marketing and communications function. She temporarily paused the team's output to thoroughly measure the impact, reach, and engagement rates for every asset and function it was producing using the same SynOps technology Accenture uses externally with clients. 

The result was huge efficiency gains. After reducing the content on Accenture.com by 50% and the number of pages on the site by 45%, users spent 32% more time on it. Accenture decreased social posts by 33%, which led to a 55% increase in engagement. And, by implementing a universal content system in collaboration with Adobe, the company reduced manual tasks by 55%, saving $1.4 million and boosting campaign performance by more than 50%. 

Kramer and her team also worked to position Accenture as a catalyst for change with its "Reinvented with Accenture" global marketing campaign, which highlighted the company's work with clients.

This year, she's been a champion of disability inclusion , having become cochair of a new coalition designed to advance disability inclusion in the marketing and communications industry. Accenture and Disability:IN released a joint report that found companies that excel in their disability inclusion efforts generate more profit and revenue and are more productive.

Kramer has picked up various industry honors in the past year, including Adweek's B2B Innovation Lifetime Achievement Award.

Marian Lee, CMO, Netflix

Lee is the marketing force behind Netflix's shows and experiences. She's responsible for taking individual Netflix shows and plugging them into culture to get consumers' attention. She's also tasked with building Netflix's brand amid big changes to the streamer, like the clampdown on password sharing, an ad-supported tier, and growing competition from other streamers. Within the past year, Lee has spearheaded some of Netflix's biggest campaigns — many of which are offline with activations and billboards. Most recently, Lee has been touting the third season of the hit "Bridgerton" show with fan events, products from brands like International Delight and Williams-Sonoma, and sneak peeks of the show leading up to its premiere. For "Squid Game," she launched an experience in Los Angeles where fans can compete in games inspired by the show. And for Jerry Seinfeld's "Unfrosted," billboards in high-traffic areas like New York and Los Angeles oozed Pop-Tart filling with crumbs falling on cars. "Unfrosted's" ad campaign also included scratch-and-sniff magazine ads. 

The hit "Wednesday" show, a spinoff of the "Addams Family" franchise, went viral with moments including actress Jenna Ortega's TikTok dance. Season two of the series is currently filming and is sure to get a marketing push from Lee behind it. Lee joined Netflix in 2021 and was promoted to CMO in 2022, having previously worked at Spotify and Condé Nast.

Greg Lyons, CMO, PepsiCo Beverages North America

Lyons wants to grow newer drink brands like Starry and Bubly Burst while also keeping bigger brands like Pepsi and Mountain Dew leaders.

He handles marketing for PepsiCo's $28 billion portfolio of beverage brands in the US.

One of PepsiCo's newest products that Lyons has worked on is Starry, a lemon-lime soda that ran its first Super Bowl ad starring Ice Spice this year. And to tap into the sparkling water craze, he helped launch Bubly Burst — a line of products slightly sweeter than sparkling water with no added sugar. The launch of the product included a social, TV, and digital ad that played up Bubly Burst's fruit flavors.

For Mountain Dew, Lyons created a Super Bowl ad starring actor Aubrey Plaza to promote Baja Blast. Baja Blast started rolling out nationwide this year after only being available for limited periods of time or at Taco Bell restaurants. 

And for Pepsi, Lyons rolled out a new logo and packaging for the brand's 125th birthday last year, including an experiential pop-up diner in New York where people could order food like Pepsi-infused pulled pork, and chicken and waffles with Pepsi butter and maple syrup.

Since taking on the CMO role of Pepsi's beverages in North America in 2017, annual sales have grown 30%, according to PepsiCo.

Kory Marchisotto, CMO, E.l.f. Beauty and president, Keys Soulcare

Marchisotto has used standout marketing and nascent media platforms to put E.l.f. Beauty on the map in an incredibly competitive makeup field. 

E.l.f. returned to the Super Bowl this year with a star-studded cast — including "Judge Judy" Sheindlin, "Suits" star Gina Torres, and Meghan Trainor, among others — to showcase its bestselling $14 Halo Glow Liquid Filter. The ad came together in just seven weeks. Marchisotto said in an interview with Glossy earlier this year that this kind of speedy approach means E.l.f. consistently stays culturally relevant in its marketing.

E.l.f. has grown a reputation for creating buzzy products that go viral on social media. Its unlikely collaboration with the canned water brand Liquid Death this March was no exception. The pair's limited edition $34 metal-inspired "Corpse Paint" coffin-shaped makeup set sold out in 45 minutes and delivered 12 billion media impressions within two weeks of its launch.

E.l.f. has leaned into newer platforms like Roblox and TikTok to capture the attention of younger consumers. Its Roblox game E.l.f. UP! has surpassed 10 million visits and is one of the top-rated branded experiences on the platform. E.l.f. was also the first brand partner for a TikTok Shop Super Brand Day, which turbocharged its followers and sales.

Under Marchisotto's leadership, E.l.f.'s marketing budget has grown to 22% of net sales, which rose 77% last year. E.l.f. was the No. 2 brand in the color cosmetics category in the US in March, according to Nielsen, and it's the top cosmetic brand among teens, according to the Piper Sandler Spring 2024 survey.

Samantha Maltin, EVP, chief marketing & brand officer, Sesame Workshop

By leveraging social channels, live activations, cause marketing, and brand partnerships, Maltin is helping make 54-year-old Sesame Workshop, its characters, and its IP as relevant as ever.

With a Sesame-Warner Bros. Discovery streaming deal set to expire next year, Maltin has aggressively amplified Sesame's profile. With 5.6 billion global views annually, Sesame Street's YouTube channel is in the top 0.02% of all channels in its category, the company said. Sesame's TikTok videos have drawn 99 million views. On Instagram, Oscar the Grouch launched in February 2024 and already has 48,500 followers; Cookie Monster launched in November 2023 and has 153,000. Sesame's own Instagram Reels presence has seen 3,400% surge in follower growth year-over-year, a rep told Business Insider.  

In January, Maltin's team leveraged a single X post from Elmo into a social-media phenomenon. With children's mental health in mind, "Elmo is just checking in. How is everybody doing?" became X's No. 1 trending topic, reaching 218 million people. President Biden and brands like Target joined the conversation; more than 850 media outlets covered the moment.

Brand partnerships included Oscar the Grouch's appearance in a United Airlines campaign introducing lower-carbon sustainable aviation fuel, giving Sesame IP a values-aligned promotional platform. And this summer, in partnership with NBC, Sesame characters will broadcast live from the Olympic Village in Paris.

Stephanie McCarty, chief marketing and communications officer, Taylor Morrison

Through influencer marketing, partnerships, and social-impact efforts, McCarty has helped make the home-building brand Taylor Morrison top of mind among millennial and Gen-Z homebuyers.

Last year, Taylor Morrison formed a partnership with The Home Edit cofounders Clea Shearer and Joanna Tepin from the Netflix Series "Get Organized with the Home Edit." The "New Homes, New Zones" content series saw Tepin and Shearer share tips for homeowners looking to organize their new homes. Taylor Morrison homeowners also receive a book with tips specific to their property's floorplans as part of their closing gift. Taylor Morrison and The Home Edit are also set to feature in ABC's reboot of "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition," which is currently in development.

Elsewhere, Taylor Morrison has updated its website to become an all-in-one transaction tool for customers to shop for, reserve, and design their dream homes. And it's begun embracing TikTok with its "Real Talk" series to help answer questions about home ownership.

On the social-impact front, Taylor Morrison partnered with Banner MD Anderson Cancer Center's "Home Away from Home" program. It's helping build 16 new homes in Gilbert, Arizona, that will provide free lodging for patients receiving long-term treatment or recovering from surgery.

Last year, sales conversions hit an all-time high with a rate of more than 50%, while brand awareness has increased by more than 15% since 2022.

Lisa McKnight, EVP and chief brand officer, Mattel

2023 was a record-breaking year for Mattel, thanks in no small part to the "Barbie" movie, which brought in more than $1.4 billion in box office sales worldwide. Barbie and the distinctive pink brand asset became a cultural phenomenon last summer, which extended to events like the Oscars that included brand activations and a memorable Ryan Gosling performance of "I'm Just Ken."

The movie followed years of work by McKnight's team to position Barbie as the ultimate girl empowerment brand. This May, for instance, Barbie honored nine women athletes, including tennis star Venus Williams and Canadian soccer player Christine Sinclair, with dolls made in their likenesses.

Partnerships were a big theme of Mattel's marketing last year. McKnight's team helped Mattel collaborate with the NFL to launch official products like a Fisher-Price Little People Collector NFL series, American Girl NFL cheer uniforms, and a UNO deck featuring the 32 teams.

Looking ahead, McKnight will turn her marketing team toward bringing the power of Grayskull to movie theaters in 2026, when Amazon MGM Studios is set to release the "Master of the Universe."

Vineet Mehra, CMO, Chime

Mehra is working to make the financial tech company a more mainstream name. The firm offers banking services with no monthly fees. Under his leadership, Mehra requires that 80% of Chime's ads feature members to make the ads feel authentic to consumers. The brand's ads also don't use stock images or jargon about the banking industry and instead feature quick stories from users about how they use Chime's products. One ad highlights how direct deposits arrive early and a feature that lets people find nearby fee-free ATMs. The casting calls for these ads have generated more than 56,000 written and 6,000 video testimonials since Mehra joined, according to the company. Another campaign, "Paying Progress Forward," featured entertainer Wayne Brady and explored Brady's financial journey. It generated 368 million impressions and 115 million video views. Chime has also worked with former NFL player Marshawn Lynch. Mehra's team also helped develop a card game called Dollars & Sense, which asks questions about money. The game was sold at Walgreens, Amazon, and TikTok. Mehra has worked at Chime since 2022 and previously worked in marketing roles at companies like Good Eggs, Walgreens Boots Alliance, Johnson & Johnson, and Ancestry.com. Some of his previous campaigns addressed issues like genetic testing at Ancestry and reassuring people it was safe to shop during the pandemic at Walgreens Boots Alliance.

Aila Morin, CMO, Merit Beauty

Just three years since its launch, Merit Beauty's "clean beauty and minimalist makeup" has exceeded $100 million in sales. At launch, its Solo Shadow eye shadow reached a coveted No. 1 position among eye shadows at Sephora. Morin's marketing initiatives have bridged digital, retail, and direct-to-consumer to propel the brand's growth.

Morin herself voiced frustrations with eyeshadow brands in a Solo Shadow pre-launch TikTok post whose 1.5 million views helped fuel a 12,000-person product waitlist. As a retention tool on Merit Beauty's direct-to-consumer site, Morin created the Signature Bag, a free, reusable makeup bag whose limited editions ― including a collab with New York designer Proenza Schouler ― have become coveted collectibles. Merit Beauty's sales are now split evenly between DTC and retail – a notable benchmark, considering that only 17% of US adults have purchased cosmetics or makeup products online directly from a brand or manufacturer, according to Forrester. The mix is key to Merit Beauty's "high levels of profitability," a rep said.

While the beauty business often focuses on Gen-Z consumers, Morin has led Merit Beauty to embrace older fans, who tend to be more loyal and higher-spending. Half the brand's website visitors are between the ages of 25 and 45, with an equal share over 55 as under 25, positioning Merit Beauty as a cross-generational brand.

Morin's now leading Merit Beauty's global expansion. To promote its February 2023 launch in the UK, Morin relied solely on owned channels; at launch, one product sold every 30 seconds and averaged a nearly 6% conversion rate — nearly triple the 1.9% industry average for 2023.

Manu Orssaud, CMO, Duolingo

In the staid language-instruction category, Orssaud has elevated Duolingo with a cheeky brand identity that feeds off social-media notoriety and pop-culture hacking. 

Duolingo's rotund brand mascot, Duo the Owl, has soared from TikTok fame to IRL stardom under Orssaud's creative direction, inserting itself into events like the Barbie movie premiere and Taylor Swift concert tailgates ― and gaining enormous visibility across platforms. 

This year, the avian influencer also starred in Duolingo's first Super Bowl ad, overseen by Orssaud. Themed around the owl's posterior, it racked up more than 84 million impressions. Likewise, an April Fool's campaign featuring an ersatz "Duolingo on Ice" musical scored more than 80 million impressions. Across the board, Duolingo's social-media impressions grew to 3 billion in 2023, up 170% year-over-year ― and correlating with business growth, the company said.

Orssaud has also tapped unconventional partners to give Duolingo an edge. For its Japanese-language course, Duolingo aligned with Japanese streamer Crunchyroll to incorporate phrases from popular anime shows. Along with global press coverage, the partnership generated more than 40 million impressions across social platforms, Duolingo said.

While marketers grapple with AI's practical applications, Orssaud has applied the technology strategically. His team uses an AI-powered data scraper, built in-house, to identify trends from social comments. Orssaud has also encouraged Duolingo's brand group to apply ChatGPT to help predict cultural moments for the brand to leverage.

Ryan Ostrom, CMO, Jack in the Box

Under Ostrom, Jack in the Box has married pop culture with consumer research and segmentation to help challenge the fast-food status quo.

Last year, Jack in the Box partnered with rapper Snoop Dogg to launch a new "Late Night Munchie Meal." The limited edition launch was also supported by a pop-up "Dogg in tha box" restaurant in Los Angeles. It became one of the brand's most successful campaigns, delivering a 13.4% year-over-year increase in late-night sales — with the Munchie Meal making up 20.3% of the total. It's planning a follow-up this year with Ice Cube with a Chicken-Tater Melt to continue to promote the late-night eating occasion.

Continuing the brand's theme of supporting the underdog, Jack in the Box looked to support its California community impacted by the history WGA writers' strike. The brand brought on board out-of-work horror screenwriters to create "Feeding Time," a short film to promote the return of the brand's Monster Tacos. The campaign amassed more than 1 billion media impressions and helped to sell 8.5 million tacos.

New product development has been key to the marketing strategy this year. Ostrom has also spearheaded the launch of the Smashed Jack, the chain's first new burger in eight years. In just one day, the chain sold 70,000 Smashed Jacks, and in two weeks, the burger was sold out everywhere. Ostrom helped drive one of Jack in the Box's strongest-ever transaction weeks with the Mint Mobile shake, in partnership with Ryan Reynolds, which was timed with St Patrick's Day. And last year, Jack in the Box became one of the first quick-service restaurants to begin selling a Boba tea drink.

Jessica Padula, VP of marketing and head of sustainability, Nespresso USA

Padula wants to make the coffee brand relevant to audiences beyond coffee lovers. In October, she spearheaded a live sports partnership with Netflix around the "Netflix Cup," a golf tournament that featured players from Netflix's golf show "Full Swing" and the racing show "Formula 1: Drive to Survive." Nespresso's branding and products were integrated into the tournament, which increased awareness by 35% and increased messaging association by 10%, according to Nespresso. She also helped develop a campaign aimed at gamers with Twitch streamers. Nespresso worked with influencers to show how a small coffee machine fits into Twitch's growing lifestyle content. One video from the campaign generated more than 3.3 million impressions and was watched until the end by 88% of viewers. Targeting Gen Z is particularly important to Padula. To promote iced coffee, her team designed a series of mini café events in places like an elevator at One World Trade Center in New York and Santa Monica's Pacific Wheel that equipped a small coffee machine to give out coffee and create content. She also runs Nespresso's sustainability efforts, reflecting how younger audiences like Gen Z value social issues. Padula oversaw the expansion of Nespresso's recycling program from New York City to Jersey City, New Jersey. In recent months, participation in the program has increased by 2%, according to Nespresso. Padula has worked at Nespresso for eight years and was elevated to the role of VP of marketing and head of sustainability last year. She was previously director of brand and communications and social media marketing manager, and has also worked in marketing roles at Swarovski and Famous Brands.

Raja Rajamannar, chief marketing and communications officer, Mastercard

"We need to be Leonardo Da Vinci marketers … embracing the art and the science," Rajamannar exhorted in an October op-ed for Business Insider. Rajamannar himself has exemplified that approach, amplifying Mastercard's far-flung creative activations with advanced AI and other technology.

With the support of small businesses as a major brand objective, Rajamannar partnered with the social-impact tech company Create Labs to launch Mastercard Small Business AI, an online mentorship tool aimed at minority-owned businesses. Within Mastercard, Rajamannar oversaw the creation of Mastercard Digital Engine, which merges millions of data and brand content points into marcomms content­ ― and generates its own media buying. Campaigns run on the platform have outperformed benchmarks by up to 90% on CPM [cost per thousand impressions] and seven times on engagement, Mastercard said.

Rajamannar also foresaw the post-COVID craving for experiences among consumers, dedicating 70% of Mastercard's recent marketing budgets to experiential activations. During the 2024 Grammys, multiplatinum-selling artist SZA debuted a new song, "Saturn," during a Mastercard commercial. The Grammys initiative also integrated Mastercard's Priceless Planet Coalition tree-restoration initiative, a SZA-related sweepstakes, and a Fortnite activation dubbed Restore the Forest Speedrun. The integrated campaign generated 440 million media impressions, Mastercard said.

A proponent of purpose-driven marketing, Rajamannar also led Where to Settle, an AI-powered platform that offered Ukrainian refugees guidance on work opportunities and home listings across Poland. The platform tailored recommendations based on data points like job experience.

Andy Rebhun, chief experience officer, Cava

Rebhun is turning Instagram and TikTok posts into content that elevates the fast-casual chain.

He is the former CMO of El Pollo Loco, who joined Cava in 2023 — shortly before the restaurant chain went public on the New York Stock Exchange. Over the past year, he has spearheaded Cava's social-media presence to capitalize on memes, humor, and ingredient-focused videos. He's specifically focused on highlighting user-generated content, including a contest in April that awarded three customers $5,000 in credit for sharing the ingredients of their bowls on TikTok. The winners also had their bowl featured on Cava's digital and app menu as a limited-time product.

Rebhun has also improved Cava's digital-ordering platform with features like "click to claim" emails for customers to receive loyalty points and a feature that allows people to visualize building their food when placing an order.

Cava plans to relaunch its loyalty program this year. The program allows customers to collect points that can be redeemed for products. As third-party cookies disappear, the loyalty program will also give Cava more first-party data used for marketing. 

Rebhun is also in charge of Cava's innovation and works with the company's culinary team to create new ingredients for its Mediterranean products. In one example, Cava tested grilled steak in the Dallas and Boston markets before rolling it out nationally this summer. Cava generated $717 million in revenue in 2023, up 60% year-over-year, and opened 72 net-new restaurants last year.

Natalie Sunderland, chief marketing and communications officer, BNY

Sunderland has transformed marcomms for BNY  — a financial-services giant that recently marked its 240th anniversary — in just three years. Internally, she consolidated disparate teams into a central department, enabling more cohesive marketing strategies across divisions. Externally, Sunderland is breaking boundaries. She aligned BNY with community-level initiatives, making it first among the world's 29 G-SIBs (Globally Systemic Important Banks) to designate minority-, veteran-, and woman-owned firms as bookrunners for bank-note offerings, roles typically taken on by large global financial institutions.

Sunderland partnered BNY with New York bank MoCaFi to underwrite a $500 million debt offering with minority-owned firms. She also tapped BNY's Vaia platform to partner with MoCaFi on broadening payment options for unbanked people. To address gender issues in financial awareness, Sunderland forged an alliance with Poker Power, a women-led organization that uses poker to teach women confidence, decision-making skills, and risk assessment. Sunderland also helped launch SPARK Shares, which lets clients donate investment proceeds to nonprofits.

Along with reputational benefits, Sunderland's work has reaped results. Brand equity has jumped eight points within 18 months, BNY said. And the bank said it saw a 30% gain in sales wins in 2023.

Dara Treseder, CMO, Autodesk

Since joining Autodesk in 2022, Treseder has been instrumental in driving brand awareness for the design industry software company, boosting new business, and increasing customer satisfaction scores. Her efforts have helped Autodesk exceed its marketing-contributed pipeline targets by 41% and increase campaign conversion rates by 30%, the company said.

In 2023, Treseder led five attention-grabbing brand activations that reached 178 million people, improved brand reach by 4%, and boosted web traffic referrals from social media by 44%. Those included a campaign during the Oscars, a takeover of the Sphere in Las Vegas in partnership with Marvel, and turning every ad on The New York Times homepage into error messages that led to its State of Design and Make report. 

Treseder has also been shepherding the launch of Autodesk's generative AI 3D-modeling technology. That's included Autodesk's marketing department launching its own internal generative AI tool that has reduced video content development time to minutes from weeks and from thousands of dollars to just a few. 

Treseder has been particularly successful in driving growth for Autodesk's education business, with users increasing by 20 million since she joined the company. Autodesk provides students and educators with its software for free as part of an effort to expand careers and the diversity of the talent pool in professions like architecture, engineering, and video-game design. The company also recently donated $5 million to Howard University as part of an effort to increase diversity in industries like mechanical engineering, where just 3% of engineers in the US are Black. 

Treseder continues to champion public health, women's issues, and diversity outside her work at Autodesk as the chair of the Public Health Institute and her position on the board of financial services firm Robinhood. She also serves on the board of the Autodesk Foundation and, since joining, has helped it invest in eight organizations and startups that tackle problems ranging from labor shortages in South Africa to the decarbonization of building materials.

Massimiliano Tirocchi, cofounder and CMO, Trafilea

In six years, 32-year-old Tirocchi has built a billion-dollar brand group with more than 10 million customers worldwide from Montevideo, Uruguay. The rare founder who doubles as CMO, Tirocchi has made AI and data cornerstones of Trafilea's growth plan, harnessing analytics to fuel both media buying and creative.

To maximize a $70 million annual ad budget for Trafilea's e-commerce brands, including intimates store Shapermint, skincare brand The Spa Dr., and adaptogenic beauty line Revel Beauty, Tirocchi built his own AI platforms. One, dubbed Antares, automates ad budget allocation and optimization of over 500 campaigns and 10,000 ads annually. Altair, a second, generates ads tailored to countries, local slang, and channels. Trafilea claims the platforms have slashed creative process times by 80% and delivered 10 times the output.

Tirocchi's data-driven approach to marketing has helped propel intimates brand Shapermint to over $800 million in revenue and 10 million customers since its 2018 launch, making it a serious contender against legacy brands in a fiercely competitive category. Three of its products are No. 1 in their respective categories; Macy's and Walmart stores now carry the brand.

Tirocchi expects more marketing milestones for Trafilea brands this year. On tap: AI-generated TV spots and out-of-home ads, with Antares optimizing their budget and targeting. 

Kyle Watson, CMO, Celsius Holdings

Under Watson's leadership, Celsius, an energy drink brand, has grown from its fitness roots to become a broader lifestyle brand.

Music has become a cornerstone of this strategy. This year, the company expanded its Celsius Essential Vibes Tour to become the presenting sponsor of the Breakway multi-stop music festival. The activation includes on-site workouts, sampling, meet-and-greets, and branded giveaways. The beverage brand also held a "Cosmic Desert party" at Coachella to launch its new Space Vibe drink flavors, welcoming celebrities like Megan Fox, Barry Keoghan, and Halle Berry.

Celsius is still very much embedded in the fitness and sports category. Last year, under Watson's marketing leadership, Celsius became the official sponsor of Major League Soccer in the US and the Inter Miami CF team. She also expanded the brand's multi-year partnership with the Scuderia-Ferrari Formula 1 team to help support Celsius's international launches in new markets like Canada, the UK, and France.

Celsius achieved record sales last year, doubling revenue and surpassing $1 billion for the first time. Watson's marketing and key moves in new product development — such as introducing new flavors in the fizz-free range, and launching the larger-volume Celsius Essentials line for performance athletes — helped it grow to become the No. 3 energy drink in the US, with an 11.5% market share, according to Circana.

Ben Webley, CMO, Scopely

Webley helps drive awareness and play for mobile games like "Star Trek Fleet Command" and "Monopoly Go!" He's a video-gaming marketer who previously worked at Meta, Zynga, and Electronic Arts before joining Scopely in 2021. Webley launched a marketing campaign for last year's hit game "Monopoly Go!" that generated $2 billion in revenue 10 months after launching — a rare feat for a mobile game. He studied initial player activity to see what parts of the game resonated the most with people, depending on their location and demographic. These insights were then used to create hyperlocal campaigns targeted by the language and cultures of individual countries. This approach helped Webley develop an audience that is highly loyal and engaged with games. "Monopoly Go!" has more than 150 million downloads, and eight million daily players. He has also worked on campaigns for Scopely's "Star Trek Fleet Command" and "Stumble Guys" through big acquisition platforms like Meta and emerging platforms like TikTok and Discord. For "Stumble Guys," Webley spearheaded a partnership that incorporated the social-media star MrBeast through challenges, stunts, and characters within the game. The campaign reached more than 380 million views on social media, and the game has more than 50 million monthly players. 100 million people play Scopely's games every month, according to the company.

Sherry Weiss, CMO, Dow Jones and The Wall Street Journal

Weiss is responsible for all the media organization's marketing that spans The Wall Street Journal, MarketWatch, and Barron's. She's tasked with promoting the media group to advertisers and clients, as well as consumers. Last year, she hired three new agencies — Mother, Mediahub, and TBWA Worldwide — to shake up its advertising. In one example, a campaign called "Missing Articles" featured a blank front page of The Wall Street Journal to remind the public about reporter Evan Gershkovich, who has been detained by Russia since 2023. Her marketing efforts have also helped increase news subscribers from 2.43 million in 2019 to 5.7 million as of the fiscal third quarter. She also oversees marketing for the professional services arm, which includes Dow Jones Risk & Compliance, Dow Jones Energy, and Factiva. She most recently rolled out a multimillion-dollar brand campaign promoting The Wall Street Journal's strategy under editor-in-chief Emma Tucker. The campaign aims to broaden the publisher's business readership. Weiss joined in 2022 and previously worked in marketing at Citi.

William White, CMO and SVP, Walmart US

White's job is to make the largest retailer in the US more digital. He led a campaign last year called "Welcome to your Walmart" that used celebrities like Becky G, Patrick Mahomes, and Barbie to help people find and buy specific types of products, such as beauty, sporting, and home items. White also developed a presence for Walmart on Roblox called Walmart Discovered, where players can save virtual items and play games. Since launching in September, Walmart Discovered has more than 20 million visitors, according to Walmart. During last year's holiday shopping, White created a series called "Add to Heart" based on the growingly popular holiday romcoms. The 23-part series ran across TikTok, YouTube, and Roku and allowed people to buy 230 products. White also spearheaded a Black Friday campaign inspired by the original "Mean Girls" movie that promoted holiday deals.

Andrea Zaretsky, CMO, Morgan Stanley Wealth Management and E*Trade

Banks have adopted AI for tasks including compliance and credit decisions. Zaretsky embraced it further, leveraging the first financial services partnership with OpenAI "to deliver relevant content and insights into the hands of financial advisors in seconds," according to Morgan Stanley. Zaretsky has also encouraged experimentation with OpenAI in marcomms, fueling content creation, curation, and amplification, the firm said.

Internally, Zaretsky has harnessed metaverse and hologram technology. At Morgan Stanley's annual sales meeting, she launched a metaverse art gallery themed around helping sales associates work with clients to visualize retirement dreams. And at the firm's annual BtoB conference, Zaretsky oversaw a program allowing attendees to meet financial advisors via hologram.

Along with social platforms like TikTok, Zaretsky has used traditional media and live activations to elevate E*Trade's brand at a challenging time for investors. She extended the lifespan of E*Trade's "Babies" Super Bowl commercial with a post-game campaign dubbed "Money Monday," which rewarded consumers for investing with Morgan Stanley. Events, including financial-education sessions, saw "record attendance," Morgan Stanley said; new accounts saw double-digit growth. 

Zaretsky's results have gone beyond the bottom line, though. When Morgan Stanley acquired E*Trade in 2020, skepticism about the relationship "were in double digits," a Morgan Stanley rep told Business Insider. "They now sit at a de minimus amount."

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