Shannon Watkins

Shannon Watkins’s career in brand management has spanned more than 20 years across multiple industries and business sectors, including leadership roles in fintech, insurance, apparel and footwear, retail, franchise, and digital teams. She is passionate about, and uniquely skilled at, unlocking brand value to drive record-setting growth while closing health and wealth gaps for communities globally. Building on experience transforming global brands, she launched Watkins Brand Advisors - a strategic consultancy advising early-stage and larger established companies in the areas of brand and creative strategy, business model expansion and customer experience.

Watkins most recently served as the Executive Vice President, Chief Brand Marketing and Communications Officer at Fiserv. There, Watkins led the transformation of Fiserv’s global marketing and communications organization, redefining structure, talent, and strategy to drive stronger brand impact, alignment, and operational efficiency. She also spearheaded the global relaunch of Clover, introduced a modern brand-building framework, and unlocked new levels of creative efficiency and scale through ad tech, integrated partner ships and platform thinking.

Prior to Fiserv, Watkins served as the Global Chief Marketing Officer of Jordan Brand at Nike. As a member of the Jordan Brand Executive team and NIKE, Inc.’s Worldwide Marketing Leadership Team, she was responsible for leading brand strategy and marketing to drive continued double-digit growth for the global Jordan Brand. Prior to Nike, Watkins was Senior Vice President, Chief Brand and Marketing Officer of Aflac, where she developed strategies that linked Aflac’s brand and purpose efforts to maximize growth and impact with consumers and stakeholders. Shannon guided Aflac through unprecedented market disruption by leveraging digital media, data, and emerging technologies to achieve the highest brand health scores in the company’s 65+ year history. With a focus on innovation, she oversaw all aspects of marketing and brand strategy, including Aflac’s in-house agency (The Aflac Studio).

Prior to Aflac, Watkins worked at the Coca-Cola Company for nine years leading Powerade, Coke Zero, and Dasani. Her brand management responsibilities included new product development, retail and partner relationships, product supply and materials management. She also held management roles at Kraft Foods and ConAgra Foods and began her career in research for Procter and Gamble focused on product development for women of African descent globally.

Watkins’s recognition within the industry includes being named one of Adweek’s Most Powerful Women in Sports and Marketing Vanguard; one of Diversity Woman Magazine’s Elite 100; She Runs It Quantum Leap Honoree; NYSE Collective Founding Member and American Marketing Association Atlanta Marketer of the Year. She is an award-winning executive producer and winner of a Clio and a Cannes Lion. Watkins has helped guide the next generation of industry and management leaders as a Deans Council and Alumni Association board member at the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University, member of Black Executive CMO Alliance (BECA), and featured speaker at South by Southwest, Money 2020, and Cannes Lion jurist.

Watkins holds a bachelor’s degree from Fisk University (Biology) and earned a Master of Business Administration (Marketing, International Business) from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University. She is a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. and Jack and Jill of America, Inc. She lives in Atlanta, Georgia, and is married with one daughter, Zoie.