As Fast Company‘s Brands That Matter marks its fifth year, the goal remains to honor globally recognized brands that inspire and resonate with audiences.
This year’s honorees demonstrate the same qualities that have defined the program since its inception: a deep dedication to their core mission and meaningful connections with both their customers and the wider cultural landscape. While the recognized brands span diverse industries and achievements, they’re united by these fundamental commitments.
METHODOLOGY
With more than 1,200 entries, choosing Brands That Matter honorees requires months of researching and vetting applications, until finally landing on the best examples of what all brands should aspire to. Here is a behind-the-scenes peek into our three most important criteria:
Cultural RelevanceWe look at the impact a brand has had on its industry and the culture at large. This is about what each brand has done that has influenced, impacted, or informed culture, which can range from pop culture, entertainment, and tech to how a companys brand mission connects to larger societal issues.
IngenuityWe aim to give credit to projects that exist at every stage of completion. While we do limit our consideration to brand actions in the past 12 months, those projects, strategies, or ideas can range from conceptual to just-launched to fully operational, as long as theyre bold, new, and innovative.
Business ImpactThis is where the inspiration meets impact. We want to see the numbers, data, and performance indicators that demonstrate how a brand’s unique approach has affected its business, industry, and product category. The key is to share not just what a brand is doing to sell more product or connect with the culture but also the metrics and other data that prove how it’s increasing revenue while winning hearts and minds.Brands That Matter applications are read and judged by a wide variety of writers and editors, each with expertise in each particular category and industry, says Fast Company senior staff editor Jeff Beer. After a first round of judging, theres a period of discussion and debate in creating shortlists for each category and deciding which brands will ultimately make the overall main list. The process doesn’t just produce our honorees. Getting to know all the applicants helps fuel story ideas for the coming year.”
MEET THE TEAM
Judges: Jeff Beer, Joe Berkowitz, María José Gutiérrez Chávez, Amy Farley, Yasmin Gagne, Zachary Petit, David Salazar, Hunter Schwarz, Elizabeth Segran, Julia Selinger, Liz Stinson, Max Ufberg, Jay Woodruff
Contributors: Jeff Beer, Joanne Camas, María José Gutiérrez Chávez, Jude Cramer, Amy Farley, Yasmin Gagne, Charissa Jones, David Salazar, Hunter Schwarz, Elizabeth Segran, Julia Selinger, Max Ufberg
Coordinator: Shealon Calkins
Design/Photo: Alice Alves, Jeanne Graves, Heda Hokschirr, Haewon Kye, Eric Perry, Sandra Riao, Maja Saphir, Mike Schnaidt
Development: J.J. Guaragno, Cayleigh Parrish, Luis David Gutierrez Velazquez
Aging gracefully is a tall order for any company, but the 2025 Brands That Matter heritage brands honorees have stuck around in style for decadesand in one case, even centuries. Along the way, theyve adapted to the times and grown even stronger in the process, whether that means embracing design overhauls, creating innovative new technologies, or staying on the pulse of Gen Z trends.
Here are the brands proving that age doesnt necessarily make a brand old-fashioned in 2025.
Bath & Body Works
Bath & Body Works began as a mall staple in 1990, and 35 years later, it could easily have fallen by the wayside like so many of its peers. But instead, it is Gen Zs number-one fragrance brand (per Piper Sandlers Spring 2025 Teens survey), hopping on olfactory trendshello, tomato-scented candles and Netflix collaborationsand rapidly responding to customer desires, like expanding its Everyday Luxuries collection of fragrances to include cleansers and moisturizers in just three months. The brands secret weapon isn’t just marketing, though: Its predominantly U.S.-based supply chain enables Bath & Body Works to manufacture new products quickly to be the first to big trends.
Canada Goose
In 2024, Canada Goose took a fashion-forward step. It named designer Haider Ackermann as its first ever creative director, and he quickly brought the nearly 70-year-old outerwear brand into the high-fashion world. Last fall, Ackermann released his first capsule collection under Canada Gooses Snow Goose label, a sleek aesthetic combination of the brands past and future: extreme-weather outwear blended with bold colors and silhouettes. The collection garnered attention from the fashion world, with outlets including Vogue, GQ, and Elle covering the launch and helping drive a 240% increase in earned media impressions; from Canada Gooses existing customer base, with two thirds of purchases coming from brand loyalists; and from curious newcomers, with U.S. brand search interest reaching a three-year high by December. Ackermann has since launched two more Snow Goose capsule collections, the latest starring singer-songwriter Willie Nelson, who paired one of his signature headbands with a tee touting Canada Gooses tenet of environmental preservation.
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Clover Sonoma
Brand impact isnt dependent on the size of a company. Even small players can make a big difference, and California-based dairy company Clover Sonoma proves it. The beloved brand has been operating out of Sonoma County since 1916, and in 2024, it leveraged its power as a brand like never before to make a concrete impact on its local community. When Sonoma County voters considered Ballot Measure J in 2024which the brand saw as potentially shutting down family farmsClover Sonoma stepped in and urged its customers to oppose the measure via some prime advertising real estate: its milk cartons. The packaging educated its consumers on the impact Measure J would have on the local dairy industry, a move that paid off when the measure was struck down on election day. Meanwhile, Clover Sonoma is making sustainability a priority behind the scenes, from making a commitment to reduce its methane emissions by 10% over three years to switching its yogurt packaging from plastic to paper, saving 34,000 pounds of plastic annually.
L’Oréal Paris
L’Oréal Paris is on the cutting edge of the beauty industry, leveraging new innovations to set itself apart and give consumers a wholly new at-home salon experience. In 2024, the brand introduced Colorsonic, a novel at-home hair color device that had been in development for 10 years. The devices more than 29 patents were put to good use: In its first six months, Colorsonic made major waves for LOréal Paris, earning the brand 25,000 new customers and 7 billion press impressions. The companys tech-forward thinking continued with the launch of Beauty Genius, an AI-power assistant built on proprietary LOréal Paris knowledge, offering customers 24/7 support on everything from skincare to beauty tips to virtual try-ons.
@glamzilla I COLORED MY HAIR WITH A ROBOT!!!!! This is the @loréal paris usa Colorsonic and I try it out for the first time! Watch to see my experience! #LorealParisPartner #LorealParisHairColor original sound – GLAMZILLA
Lloyds Bank
Even a 260-year-old company can reinvent itself, and over the past year, Lloyds Bank did exactly that. The British brand changed its philosophy from the outside in: First, it got a streamlined new design (one that pays homage to its classic black horse logo while incorporating modern pops of green) and moved to a new operating system. Second, it ensured that its operations matched the new image that Lloyds aimed to project: emotionally connected to its consumers, and wholly committed to helping them move forward through their banking. Customers started seeing Lloyds in a new light, while new members flocked to its redesigned app, which received 512,000 new downloads in Q4 of 2024 alone. Even as its peers dealt with declines, Lloyds saw a massive 450% year-over-year increase in net switching, proving the power of a well-timed rebrand.
Sesame Workshop
The U.S.’s biggest childrens media brand found a way to get even bigger: As of 2025, Elmo and friends have a new home on Netflix, thanks to a deal between the streamer and the nonprofit behind Sesame Street, Sesame Workshop. Now in its 56th season, Sesame Street has access to its largest-ever audience at more than 300 million worldwidebut rest assured, Elmo wont live solely behind a paywall. New episodes will continue airing on PBS as well, maintaining the unbroken 57-year relationship the series has with the public broadcaster. Amid the changes, Sesame Street is still delivering the unparalleled entertainment and education for children that has made it an undeniably iconic part of pop culture: In the U.S., Sesame Workshop has achieved a staggering 96% brand awareness, and one in three children age five and under actively engage with Sesame Street.
Topo Chico
As 2025 marks Topo Chicos 130th anniversary, the sparkling water brand is celebrating in style. Last year, the company expanded into the flavored sparkling water category with the launch of Topo Chico Sabores, then it supported the new drinks with an original variety show called Sabores TV, which featured taste tests, interviews, live performances, and more. The new products caused sales to soar by 42%, making Topo Chico among the top 15 growing beverage brands in the U.S. Earlier this year, Topo Chico launched a new campaign, The Source of Legend, that pulls back the curtain on more than a century of brand lore, secrets, and history, all while emphasizing the brands Mexican heritage and connection to fans.
William Stout Architectural Books
For William Stout Architectural Books, a visual overhaul didnt mean sacrificing the San Francisco bookshops soul. Instead, the independent retailers 2025 renovation, a collaboration with design collective LoveFrom, unlocked Stouts full potential. Its expanded retail offerings, which added items like exclusive editions and out-of-print acquisitions to the stores existing catalog of books for architects and designers, doubled the stores average transaction value. Its renewed focus on events, including lectures, workshops, and exhibitions with prominent figures from the design world, saw attendance triple to more than 3,500. And its redesigned digital storefront captured a new audiences attention, with a 40% increase in engagement even before its full launch. Overall, in-store revenue rose by 18% year over year, demonstrating that even 50 years after first opening its doors, Stouts legacy is only growing stronger.
This story is part of Fast Companys 2025 Brands That Matter. Explore the full list of honorees that have demonstrated a commitment to their brands purpose and cultural relevance to their audience. Read more about the methodology behind the selection process.
The early stages of building a brand are critical. Beyond identifying their audience, brands also have to connect with them while demonstrating their utility. For the five companies recognized as 2025 Brands That Matter honorees in the on the rise category, in four years or less they have managed to do both those things with aplomb.
Whether it’s Unrivaled’s unique NIL and athletic proposition for WNBA athletes, Scarlett Gasque’s ability to tap into underserved shoppers, or Alan-1’s efforts to give the arcade game an upgrade for avid players, these brands have proven their strengths.
Alan-1
Alan-1 creates arcade and video game products inspired by the 1980s. In the past year, the company has brought back more modern versions of nostalgic games like Asteroids, Berzerk, and Missile Command through a partnership with Atari. In 2024, the company generated $2.1 million in arcade sales by placing them in Disney World and Dave and Busters locations. To promote its products, the company has adopted a YouTube strategy that showcases teaser trailers and gameplay breakdownsto date, the channel has driven more than 500,000 organic views. It has also continued to meet fans where they are, engaging with them on Discord.
Fine’ry
Mass fragrance brand Finery has made a name selling dupes for popular fragrances at a fraction of their price at retailers including Target. To tailor its appeal to customers, the company closely tracks the scents consumers want on social media and creates fragrances quickly based on that data. For example, over the summer, amid the rise of pistachio as a color and flavor, the brand released Pistachio Please, a scent with pistachio and vanilla notes. To appeal to digitally native consumerswho often purchase the fragrances without smelling them firstthe brand uses generative AI to quickly create bold campaign imagery across physical and digital assets. Finery also hosted two immersive pop-ups for fans to experience their scents and created digital pop-ups to meet their consumers where they spend time: on Roblox. As a result, one unit of Finery fragrances was sold every 10 seconds in 2024.
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Scarlett Gasque
Two-year-old lingerie company Scarlett Gasque creates lingerie and corsets. This year, the company expanded its model roster to include more plus-size and diverse bodies. The move led to a 45% increase in social engagement. The brand’s growing popularity on social media led to custom product requests from the likes of Kim Kardashian and Sabrina Carpenter. The brand’s Dorothy bra also made an appearance in Selena Gomez’s music video for her song “Sunset Blvd.”
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SirDavis American Whisky
SirDavis, a whisky brand from megastar Beyoncé and Moët Hennessy, has marketed itself to women and people of color, demographics that are historically underrepresented in the luxury whisky category. Since its launch, the brand has associated itself with pop culture, retailing at venues like the Houston Rodeo to the Pegasus World Cup and California Crown, and of course, as the Official Spirit of the Cowboy Carter Tour. The brand also engaged and promoted blind tasting tests from experts, to assure customers that beyond being a celebrity brand, the product actually tastes good.
Unrivaled
Professional three-on-three womens basketball league Unrivaled gives WNBA players more opportunities to compete during the offseason. Cofounded by players Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart, the company has raised $35 million. Last season, women accounted for more than half of Unrivaleds televised viewershipa significantly higher percentage than every other televised womans sports property. Unrivaled also debuted an NIL program, showcasing college basketball stars Paige Bueckers of the University of Connecticut and Flaujae Johnson of Louisiana State University. To stoke interest in the league, Unrivaled created a content strategy focused on behind-the-scenes storytelling. Unrivaled league and club social media accounts flooded the zone from January through March, together posting 3,804 times and averaging a combined 50 posts per day, which led to 589.1M social media impressions.
@unrivaled we got shooterssss #unrivaled @Azzi Fudd original sound – Unrivaled Basketball
This story is part of Fast Companys 2025 Brands That Matter. Explore the full list of honorees that have demonstrated a commitment to their brands purpose and cultural relevance to their audience. Read more about the methodology behind the selection process.
After the initial sprint of getting a brand to last for five years, there’s always the possibility of hitting a wall. Companies that emerge during cultural moments might be tempted to shift.
But the 2025 Brands That Matter honorees for established excellence, which have been in business for 5 to 14 years, have managed to stand out by finding new ways to hew to their original ethos. In doing so, they underscore what set them apart in the first place and position their brands for future growth.
Actively Black
Founded five years ago, activewear company Actively Black donates more than 10% of its profits to organizations focused on Black mental health, healthier food access, social justice, physical fitness, and HBCU athletics. The brand’s 2024 included designing the Nigerian Olympic team’s apparel and a collaboration with Civil Rights photographer Cecil Williams that benefited the South Carolina Civil Rights museum that bears his name. This year on Juneteenth, in a move that recast an industry historically built on enslaved Black workers, Actively Black released a collection made entirely with cotton from Black-owned farmswith the apparel proudly asserting it was “made from cotton grown by Black farmers.” It also brought its partnership with Mielle Organics to New York Fashion Week with Ruby Bridges, as well as the children of Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, and Fred Hampton.
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Avaline
Five-year-old wine brand Avalinefounded by actor Cameron Diaz and entrepreneur Katherine Powerhas appealed to a demographic of women looking for better for you wines by meeting them where they arethe Hamptons. The effort started in summer 2024, when the company hosted pop-up experiences with fashion and lifestyle brands at Hamptons hot spots, and evolved this year: In June, the brand launched a wine with Stella McCartney, celebrating the limited-edition rosé with a cocktail party that had Drew Barrymore, Emma Roberts, and Andy Cohen in attendance. Those IRL moments have translated to social mediaand especially Instagram, where Avaline is the most followed domestic wine brand on the platform (partially the result of 8% year over year follower growth in 2024).
Babylist
Digital baby registry Babylist launched an open to secondhand feature on its website in December 2024, letting users affected by rising inflation purchase essentials for less. To highlight the problem of the rising cost of living for parents, Babylist launched a campaign to show how the impact of tariffs and the resulting trade volatility spike the price of baby essentials. To do this, CEO Natalie Gordon worked with other CEOs to highlight the issue through ads in the Washington Post and billboards in Times Square. By speaking directly to parents concerns, the company gained more than 3 million followers across social channels, with 1.4 million on TikTok alone.
BeatBox Beverages
The resealable, recyclable Tetra Pak cartons are what make Beatbox instantly recognizable in the ready-to-drink alcoholic beverage space. Whats most striking about the brand, though, may be its stratospheric growthin 2024, it nearly doubled its $100 million revenue from the previous year, and it’s reportedly on track to surpass $250 million in 2025. This year, it got a boost from Shaquille O’Neal in the form of an investment and a custom flavor for the basketball star/DJBeatBox blueberry lemonade. Shaq first encountered the brand via his DJing efforts, and music events have helped BeatBox find more customers. Its Tetra Paks have been at a growing roster of music festivals, including Outside Lands in August, where the brand debuted a Mystic Grape flavor.
Danessa Myricks Beauty
Founded by makeup artist Danessa Myricks, Danessa Myricks Beauty has gained a cult following by creating and marketing its products to underserved demographics, including women over 40, people of color, and nonbinary individuals. In the past year, the company has held two public model casting calls for everyday people. The initial effort in December 2024 saw more than 1,000 applicantswith 108 ultimately cast in the campaign. On social media, the company has focused on education, with free series like DMB University, a digital masterclass series. As a result, according to Creator IQ, the company generated 1.1 billion global impressions across all social platforms.
This story is part of Fast Companys 2025 Brands That Matter. Explore the full list of honorees that have demonstrated a commitment to their brands purpose and cultural relevance to their audience. Read more about the methodology behind the selection process.
Once a brand hits its stride, it can be tempting to coast. As these 2025 Brands That Matter enduring impact honorees demonstrate, longevity (in this case, 15-plus years in business) can inspire innovation. That’s particularly true when it comes to finding fresh ways to engage longtime consumersand court new ones.
From Clinique leaning into its longstanding reputation among dermatologists to Lundberg Family Farms getting its shoppers to care about the cutest aspect of regenerative agriculture, there’s a wide range of ways these brands kept from resting on their laurels.
Blumhouse
As the horror film production studio marked 15 years, this past year, Blumhouse has worked to bring its horror movies to life via immersive experiences (Halfway to Halloween, NY Comic Con, Overnightmare, Halloween Horror Nights, CCXP Mexico), and capitalized on consumer loyalty by broadening its merch offerings. 2025 has been a year for tentpole sequels, including M3gan 2.0 and Black Phone 2, both of which leaned into superfans to get viewers in theaters. Though M3gan 2.0’s box office kept it in the realm of cult fandom, Black Phone 2 earned more than $123 million worldwide after a $27 million opening weekend.
Clinique
To reach new customers, 57-year-old Clinique went back to its roots as a brand created with dermatologists in 1968. To reach users on social media, the brand set up a Derm Creator Council that makes content focused on trending skincare topics. Content from the council fueled a 299% increase in video views and added more than 65,000 TikTok followers. To expand its role in growing the dermatology profession, Clinique funded a three-year scholarship with the Skin of Color Society Foundation to support medical students focused on skin health equity. It did so while churning out new products and reformulations, highlighting its ability to deliver “That Clinique Glow” with global pop-ups.
Dirt Is Good
Unilever’s laundry detergent brand Dirt Is Good collects various global product namesPersil, Skip, OMO, and Surf Excelunder a shared ethos: that stains are the mark of a life lived. In 2024, its Argentinian campaign “Stains of Glory”in which the brand re-created grass and dirt stains from Argentina’s World Cup championship match and encouraged consumers to scan QR codes on ads for a chance to win one of the stained jerseysreached 63% of the country in summer 2024. This year, it took up another, more taboo, topic in Englandperiod stains. Using survey data showing 6 in 10 girls don’t play sports out of fear of period stains, Persil partnered with Arsenal women on a print and billboard campaign with athletes talking about how period stains are as much part of playing soccer as mud or grass stains. The campaign reached 34 countries and garnered 240 million earned impressions and 4.2 million social engagements in 10 days. Paired with tips on getting bloodstains out of clothes, the campaign lifted time spent on Persil’s site by 45%.
Lundberg Family Farms
Regenerative farming is still pretty opaque to the average person. To help customers understand its importance, rice-maker Lundberg Family Farms has launched campaigns to get customers to engage directly with its farming site. Every winter, Lundberg floods part of its fields to replicate the fast-disappearing California wetlands, which provide food for thousands of birds. The company also adopts other measures, like sequestering carbon, to give ducks a hospitable nesting environment. Though customers might find it difficult to engage with metrics around healthy soil, they can easily appreciate the value (and cuteness) of duckling rescue. After creating ads showcasing Lundbergs duck rescue work, the company saw a 12.3% social media engagement rate. Lundberg also launched a Gold Shovel Ticket, giving one lucky entrant the chance to experience its rescue work firsthandmore than 20,000 customers entered the sweepstakes.
Yahoo!
Search engine Yahoo! went retro, launching the “Yahoo Yodel Button” in collaboration with film production company A24 to celebrate the movie Y2K. The novelty button made the iconic Yahoo! sound when pressed. The company further tapped into its nostalgic appeal by launching ads featuring Tae Bo creator Billy Blanks, and a Super Bowl ad where comedian Bill Murray encouraged the audience to send messages to his Yahoo! email address. These throwback efforts brought in a younger audiencemillennials and Gen Z now make up almost 50% of the site’s visitors in the U.S.
This story is part of Fast Companys 2025 Brands That Matter. Explore the full list of honorees that have demonstrated a commitment to their brands purpose and cultural relevance to their audience. Read more about the methodology behind the selection process.
A brand that isn’t thinking globally is limiting its reach. The four 2025 Brands That Matter global honorees know that and have worked hard to make their messaging reach beyond their home countries. All based outside the United States, these brands demonstrated that good messaging and authentic connection have no nationality.
1Password
People don’t like to think about their digital security, so Toronto-based 1Password has become an expert at making it fun, and doing so using sports as the backdrop. The brand used its sponsorship of the Presidents Cup golf tournament in fall 2024 to debut its “What Not to Do” campaign. With more than 12 million impressions, the spot drove a 14% increase in account creation during the tournament. Elsewhere, in 2025, the brand has partnered with Oracle Red Bull Racing’s F1 team, designing a custom car wrap for driver Alisha Palmowski, which debuted at the 2025 Canadian Grand Prix in June.
Babbel
Berlin-based language learning company Babbel has been focused on meeting its userswho now include over 1 million Ukrainian refugees, connected with the brand via more than 70 NGOswhere they are. Babbel used Telegram to connect with 22,000-plus language learners via Welcome Alliance Germany, helping them practice their burgeoning skills. In 2025, the company also partnered with Major League Soccer team Inter Miami CF, which began using its Babbel for Business offering for its players, coaches, and front office. The team became an early adopter of the brand’s AI-powered Babbel Speak tool, which debuted in September.
Dreame
Suzhou, China-based smart vacuum maker Dreames culturally attuned product strategy helped it capture up to 43% of the robotic vacuum market in Germany and Italy, with 2024 sales reaching 3.96 million unitsa 60% year-over-year increase. By designing tech like eco-conscious smart lawnmowers for Europe and robotic vacuums with mop-detachment for cleanliness-focused markets, Dreame fused cultural insight with innovation. Campaigns such as Reclaim Time for Family and localized Amazon Prime Day activations fueled $9.05 million gross merchandise value in North America and a 540% surge in overseas direct sales.
Marina Bay Sands
In the past year, Singapore’s five-star resort Marina Bay Sands has undertaken a big transformation. As it fully renovated its lodgings, it also debuted its “Above Beyond” brand transformation. Initial response in fall 2024 included a 2.61% increase in brand equity, and average stay lengths have increased from 1.5 to 4 nights. That’s been helped by initiatives that include a cinematic campaign by filmmaker Celine Song and content featuring global brand ambassador David Beckham, which helped the brand reposition itself from a stopover to a destination.
This story is part of Fast Companys 2025 Brands That Matter. Explore the full list of honorees that have demonstrated a commitment to their brands purpose and cultural relevance to their audience. Read more about the methodology behind the selection process.
The 2025 Brands That Matter United States honorees aren’t just united by their shared geographythey are all identifying their target audience and meeting them exactly where they need to.
Whether solving a uniquely American problem, as GoodRx does in addressing the cost of prescription drugs, or pioneering innovation that can help people globally like Owlet, these companies are showing how American brands can step up in authentic and impactful ways.
GoodRx
GoodRx has built its brand equity by being present where its customers need itthe pharmacy counter. Over the past year, the prescription savings platform introduced a feature that gets users to engage with it even earlier, offering an e-commerce portal for pharmacies that allows patients to validate their prescription and pay the discounted GoodRx price online before picking up their medication IRL. As it built consumer trustand users documented their savings with social media postsGoodRx this fall rolled out a new brand campaign. The ad push, which stars a character called the Savings Wrangler, capitalizes on growing interest in Westerns to highlight the platform’s ability to save people money.
Owlet
After becoming the first brand to launch an FDA-cleared, over-the-counter pulse oximeter for infantsits Dream Sock baby monitorin 2024, Owlet took its messaging to parents. The brand garnered 42 million impressions by using a network of parent influencers sharing real-life stories of how the connected sock, which works as a baby monitor with a base station and app, gives them piece of mind. It drove an additional 202 million social impressions with its content on Instagram and TikTok, including 115 million organic video views.
Texas A&M University
Under CMO R. Ethan Braden, since fall 2024, Texas A&M has emphasized its commitment to serving its communityand the breadth of what it offers. With a constantly growing slate of YouTube videos, the university has become the most watched university online, racking up millions of views on videos about its commitment to veterans’ healthcare access, marine ecosystems research, and Alzheimer’s breakthroughs. It has paired content with community engagement, training first responders, educating Texans about hurricane season, and focusing on disaster preparedness.
Understood.org
The nonprofit focused on destigmatizing neurodiversity like ADHD, dyslexia, and learning disabilities leaned into being a resource for women with ADHD. Its MissUnderstood podcast network introduced ADHD AHA, which grew its audience via both audio and video. Over the course of the year, Understood.org and its podcasts reached nearly 11 million users through a revamped YouTube strategy. It turned that engagement into a study with Torrens University Australia that identified a positive correlation between people listening to the podcasts and having a better outlook on their ADHD diagnoses and self-esteem.
https://open.spotify.com/show/6zHwhg9tavgvhlBKhHaEa3
This story is part of Fast Companys 2025 Brands That Matter. Explore the full list of honorees that have demonstrated a commitment to their brands purpose and cultural relevance to their audience. Read more about the methodology behind the selection process.
Marketing leaders have always been vital to the long-term success of beloved brands. But never before has the CMO position been more complexand more essential to driving business results.
This year’s honorees come from a wide variety of product categoriesfrom toys and games to media, beauty, and foodbut all demonstrate remarkable skill in navigating a diverse media landscape with platforms and campaigns that deepen their brands’ cultural impact, strengthen audience relationships, and achieve meaningful business outcomes.
These leaders were selected based on the ambition, sophistication, innovation, and performance of their brand initiatives throughout the year. Here are Fast Company’s 2025 Brands That Matter CMOs of the year.
Kristyn Cook, State Farm
One of State Farms best brand insights is that nobody cares about insurance until they need it. So CMO Kristyn Cook and her team help people care by creating advertising that is as entertaining as possible. Cook is strategic and ambitious. That means creating a hilarious tie-in with Apples hit show Severance, enlisting Jason Bateman to be his own, less-than-ideal version of Batman for March Madness, and pitting gaming creators like Kai Cenat, Ludwig, Mark Phillips, and Berleezy against each other in a combination of gaming and IRL challenges for Gamerhood. The shows third season from last summer attracted more than 23 million views, and in September, season four landed on Prime Video after getting more than 27 million views on YouTube and Twitch. As she told us back in March, We like to move at the pace of culture.
George Felix, Chili’s
Read about how CMO George Felix has helped make the restaurant chain relevant again through a combination of viral moments and marketing that emphasizes value.
Tamera Ferro, Sol de Janeiro
Tamera Ferro may have departed her role as chief marketing and growth officer at skincare and fragrance brand Sol de Janeiro in September 2025. But her work during her six-year tenurein which she helped Sol de Janeiro grow from $38 million in sales to more than $1 billionearned her a spot as a CMO of the year. Her success at the helm of the brand was due largely to Ferro and her team’s ability to identify the best places to reach its fans. While those places include TikTok and Instagramwhere the brand has 6 million collective followersFerro also worked to expand the platforms where fans could encounter the brand, from Roblox to Coachella. Her approach to social media turned the brand into one of the internet’s buzziest, driving a 94% increase in social conversation and generating more than $330 million in earned media value. In May, Ferro oversaw the global Sephora launch of Body Badalada, Sol de Janeiro’s vitamin-infused lotion designed to cater to Gen Z by offering scent and hydration. The product campaign included a spot starring model Juliana Nalú; an original “Badalada Anthem” from producer Honey Dijon; and a traveling Brazilian street fairinspired celebration called the Badalada Bloco. It was a campaign that distilled Ferro’s philosophy for reaching people, as she summed it up to TikTok in June: “Stop chasing trends and just start liking people. Figure out what they want, what you can do for them, and how to talk to them.”
Morgan Flatley, McDonald’s
Morgan Flatley has revolutionized how the worlds most famous fast-food brand shows up in culture, starting way back in 2020 with Travis Scotts Famous Order. Over this past year, Flatley has taken her fan-led approach around the world. The Chicken Big Mac campaign featuring Kai Cenat on Twitch was McDonalds first completely unscripted campaign and saw fans tune in for 3.5 hours of brand content. With 30 million streams and 500 million views, it was Twitchs most successful QSR campaign ever, generating 35 billion earned impressions. The brands Minecraft Movie Meal, featuring both kid and adult happy meals, dropped in March 2025, and its 36 million collectibles sold out in nearly all 100 markets within two weeks. In France, a collab with Hot Ones brought the iconic YouTube shows spicy sauces to the country, selling more than 6 million sauces and boosting sales by more than 80%.
Diana Frost, Kraft Heinz
Read about the Kraft Heinz chief growth officer’s work putting the company’s flagship condiment brand at the center of cultural conversationsand courting fans internationally.
Jackie Jantos, Hinge
Read about how Hinge president and CMO Jackie Jantos is centering real-life success stories to court new users for the dating app.
Marian Lee, Netflix
Read about how CMO Marian Lee is taking Netflix’s most popular shows into the world to meet fans beyond the binge.
Victoria Lozano, Crayola
As someone who’s been at Crayola since 2009 in various marketing capcities, CMO Victoria Lozano knows what the core of the 122-year-old brand is and has made it her job to find organic ways to grow its presence in people’s lives. That has meant finding areas for the brand to be more than just about art supplies and about fostering creativity among childrenwhether digitally through the brand’s top-downloaded Crayola Create and Play app or IRL in the libraries of elementary schools during Crayola Creativity Week. In 2025, Lozano more than doubled the number of children reached by Crayola Creativity Week, reaching students in more than 120 countries. She also grew the brand’s app to more than 3 million monthly active users. Lozano has expanded the company’s activations, generating $100 million in earned media value and 11.4 billion impressions. Her work is proof that established brands can innovate on their central product to meet the timeswhile still excelling on product. Crayola’s Marker Airbrush, introduced in February 2025, is a 2026 Toy of the Year Awards finalist in the Creative Toy of the Year category.
Marcel Marcondes, AB InBev
As the global chief marketing officer for AB InBev, Marcel Marcondes oversees more than 500 beer brands around the world, and Corona is arguably the companys most famous. This past year was the brands 100th anniversary, and it was celebrated in style. For the Paris Games, nonalcoholic Corona Cero became the lead brand for AB InBevs first-ever global beer sponsor of the Olympic Games. Corona also launched the Beach 100, a guide of the top 100 beaches in the world, and a multiyear sponsorship of a renowned concert at Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro. This year it was headlined by Lady Gaga and gathered more than 2 million people, becoming among the top five most-attended concerts ever. And in September, Marcondes struck an unprecedented, wide-ranging partnership deal with Netflix, getting Corona and its other brands front and center in Netflixs push into live sports, as well as early access to placement and integration into other Netflix programming, such as shows and movies.
Lisa McKnight, Mattel
It’s one thing for a person’s brand work to become standard for a single brand, but Lisa McKnight’s work for Barbiewhich doubled its sales between 2016 and 2021, helped along by a hit moviehas become the playbook for every brand at Mattel, where McKnight wrapped her 27-year tenure this fall. In the past year, McKnight and her team put that playbook to work on Uno and Hot Wheels, both of which are 2025 Brands That Matter honorees. With Uno, McKnight and her team positioned the decades-old card game as a social media star, partnering with content creator Legendary Jay for a series of TikToks and opening pop-up Uno Social Clubs throughout the U.S. to underscore the IRL appeal of the game. It even appeared at Pharrell Williams’s postMet Gala party and got a special-edition makeover from pop star and Uno fan Billie Eilish, showing that even the cool kids are not immune to the joys of a well-played reverse card. Hot Wheels, meanwhile, became a brand canvas for the likes of Gucci, MSCHF, and Daniel Arsham. The brand also showed up in fans’ towns via the Hot Wheels Legends Tour, which broke records in 2024 and sold more than 60,000 of the brand’s die-cast cars. McKnight’s Hot Wheels work put the brand in a position of strength for its forthcoming film adaptation, which brought on Wicked‘s Jon M. Chu as its director over the summer.
This story is part of Fast Companys 2025 Brands That Matter. Explore the full list of honorees that have demonstrated a commitment to their brands purpose and cultural relevance to their audience. Read more about the methodology behind the selection process.
Consumer products is perhaps one of the broadest, most competitive arenas for marketers, always facing the constant question: Why should anyone care or pay attention? These Brands That Matter honorees are answering that question.
Brawny
To launch its new three-ply paper towels, the brand decided to breathe new life into its lumberjack mascot, to help the Brawny Man stand out on store shelves and in culture. The brand puts its new heartthrob mascot into a partnership with Bachelor Nation‘s Rachael Kirkconnell to tap into a real-life messy momenther high-profile breakupand flip it into a story of strength and humor. In a video posted to TikTok and Instagram, Rachael references the chaos of her past relationship as pizza sauce spills across the counter. Enter the Brawny Man, who cleans up the messboth literal and metaphorical. The wink to pop culture and strong visual tie to product benefit generated 4.3 million-plus organic views and a 5.5% lift in purchase intent. Engagement soared across platforms (14% on TikTok and 5.7% on Instagram, well above industry benchmarks), while earned media drove more than 269 million impressions in The Wall Street Journal and on E!, TMZ, and more.
@brawny Depend on us for all life’s messes @rachael original sound – brawny
Crayola
In 2024, Crayola launched its Campaign for Creativity with the goal of shifting parents’ understanding and behaviors around childhood creativity. Brand research, conducted with the Ad Council Research Institute, found that parents value creativity but don’t fully understand the profound role it plays in their children’s growth and development. Crayola started collecting childrens artwork in the 1980s, and this year it unlocked its time capsule and began reuniting adults across the U.S. with the artwork they had created when they were kids. The brand created a series of short films, titled #StayCreative, featuring the stories of three adults who participated in a Crayola art program as kids and are reunited with their childhood artwork. Now the adults reflect on how creativity impacted their lives and the importance of nurturing creativity in their own children. This year, the campaign delivered 4.7 billion impressions, with more than 85% earned, for an estimated media value of over $100 million.
Hot Wheels
Hot Wheels is successfully tapping into the adult audience while maintaining its core appeal to children, creating a unique ecosystem where parents and kids share play and collecting experiences together. Under Mattel chief brand officer Lisa McKnight (who departed the company this fall), the brand has expanded its cultural footprint through premium collector lines using authentic details from partners like Formula 1, Ferrari, Mercedez-Benz, and much more. Beyond toys, adults can now engage with Hot Wheels via fashion collaborations like Wrangler and Maje. The brand also helps nurture community through its global Hot Wheels Legends Tour, where car culture fans come together to celebrate their love of cars. Starting in 2018, the annual events saw record-number attendees at each stop worldwidemore than 700,000 across 16 countriesincluding more than 18,000 attendees at the final stop in El Segundo, California.
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JLab
Read more about how JLab is turning to college athleteswith followings of all sizesto gain ground on TikTok and among Gen Z.
Squishmallows
In the past year, Squishmallows collaborated with a range of best-in-class brands for product collaborations, including McDonalds, Kelloggs, Puma, Baked by Melissa, Crocs, H&M, Sees Candies, and others. Squishmallows was also tapped as a must-have partner by the worlds biggest IPs, bringing fans lovable Squishmallows plush based on some of their favorite properties, from Harry Potter and Disney to Stranger Things and The Lord of the Rings. Through Jazwares Cares, Jazwaress philanthropic arm, Squishmallows partnered with Make-A-Wish to help fulfill 11-year-old Olives dream of designing a Squishmallows. She spent a day at Jazwares in 2024, designing a character inspired by her beloved dog Liberty, and earlier this year, the final product was revealed, with hundreds of the Liberty plush donated to children who are receiving treatment at local childrens hospitals.
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Timex
For a watch brand, Timex has become nearly timeless, but it isn’t resting on its laurels. It continues to expand its Analog Life: Make Time Yours campaign, which aims to celebrate the power of simplicity, urging people to take control of their time to focus on what truly matters. The brand turned its organic inclusion in the HBO hit The White Lotus into social moments that helped see a direct increase in the Q Timex watchand that was just a piece of the more than 50 billion earned media impressions it had in 2024. That was alongside a push on TikTok that helped more than double its followers on the platform and ongoing promotion of its Timex ReWound takeback/resale platform that has processed more than 16,000 watches in 18 months.
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Owala
Late last year, a new coffee shop appeared up on Los Angeless Sunset Boulevard, but it was only temporary. Owala opened a pop-up called The Drip Stop to celebrate the launch of the Owala SmoothSip Slider coffee cup. The shop had more than 3,500 visitors over two days and featured giveaways, games, and a 1.5-mile-long line lasting up to five hours. This is what brand fandom looks like. Outside its pop-ups, Owala keeps its fans on the hook with limited-edition colors and retailer-exclusive designsand is seemingly omnipresent on social media. Over the past year, the brands social following increased 250%, with more than 384 million Instagram impression and about 70 million video views on TikTok.
This story is part of Fast Companys 2025 Brands That Matter. Explore the full list of honorees that have demonstrated a commitment to their brands purpose and cultural relevance to their audience. Read more about the methodology behind the selection process.
Its all fun and games, until there are billions of dollars involved. But these Brands That Matter honorees manage to tap into our love for sports and entertainment in ways that only help boost that passion.
BritBox
Read about how BritBox’s first major brand campaign showcased the craftsmanship of British TV.
NBA
Read about how the NBA made its app a destination for fans by building a network of creators it equipped with editing tools and 25,000 hours of game footage.
State Farm
As crazy as it sounds, this is an insurance company steeped in culture. This past year, State Farm pushed its Super Bowl ad to March Madness, due to sensitivity around the L.A. wildfires, but it still landed a hit. Creator star Kai Cenat broke the news on Jimmy Fallons show, and the hilarious spot starred Jason Bateman attempting to save the day rather than Americas favorite Caped Crusader. It led to a total of 358 traditional and earned social media placements, resulting in 2.5B earned media impressions. The brand also continued its popular reality game show called The Gamerhood. These campaigns and others leveraged the pervasive pop culture power of Jake from State Farm, driving more than 1 million new policies in 2024, and raising preference among ages 26 to 39 (millennials) by 4.5 percentage points and ages 18 to 25 (Gen Z) by 6.8 percentage points compared to a 2022 baseline.
Togethxr
Read about how the media and merch brand’s Nike partnership and growing slate of podcasts and shows is manifesting its motto, Everyone Watches Women’s Sports
Uno
Read about how the card game used TikTok and pop-up Uno parlors to bring fresh interest to the 52-year-old brand.
Netflix
It was a massive year for Netflix hits, with highly anticipated seasons for homegrown hits like Squid Game, Wednesday, and Stranger Things. Each of these is a cultural phenomenon in its own right, boosted by Netflixs strategic brand partnerships strategy, elevating product collabs into fan moments themselves. From Duolingo for a Learn Korean or Else campaign, to Cheetos teaming with Wednesdays Thing, and Stranger Things infiltrating everything from Nike to Williams Sonoma to Eggos, Netflix managed to bring each show to life in unique ways. For the award-winning show Adolescence, Netflix worked with charities in various countries to develop educational materials to help advocate for the growing movement to make schools phone-free zones.
This story is part of Fast Companys 2025 Brands That Matter. Explore the full list of honorees that have demonstrated a commitment to their brands purpose and cultural relevance to their audience. Read more about the methodology behind the selection process.
