Georgia-Pacific marketing executive Laura Knebusch has been named an Ad Age Leading Woman 2026, recognizing her work modernizing the company's consumer marketing organization through AI, analytics, digital media and retail media. Her remit spans more than 80 marketing, media, analytics and consumer experience professionals supporting a multibillion-dollar portfolio of household brands.

Marketing leadership is changing as consumer brands contend with fragmented media, increasingly sophisticated retail platforms and the rapid adoption of artificial intelligence.

At Georgia-Pacific, Laura Knebusch has been helping steer that transition.

Knebusch, senior vice president of CPG Marketing & Customer Experience at Georgia-Pacific, has been named to Ad Age's Leading Women 2026, an annual recognition highlighting executives whose work is influencing marketing strategy, organizational performance and innovation.

The recognition comes as large consumer packaged goods companies increasingly combine traditional brand building with digital marketing, retail media, marketing analytics and AI-powered workflows.

Knebusch leads an organization of more than 80 professionals spanning marketing, media, analytics and consumer experience. The team is responsible for the strategy and growth of Georgia-Pacific's professional and consumer brands, including Angel Soft, Quilted Northern, Brawny, Sparkle, Vanity Fair and Dixie.

Her role illustrates how the modern CPG marketing function is expanding beyond advertising and brand management.

AI Moves Into the CPG Marketing Workflow

Over the past year, Georgia-Pacific has expanded the use of AI-powered tools across creative development, media optimization and analytics under Knebusch's leadership.

For enterprise marketing teams, that shift is increasingly becoming an operational necessity rather than an experimental exercise.

Generative AI can accelerate content development, while machine learning and predictive analytics can help marketers identify audience patterns, optimize media allocation and evaluate campaign performance.

The larger challenge is integrating those capabilities into existing marketing operations without sacrificing brand consistency or consumer insight.

Georgia-Pacific's approach combines AI adoption with a broader digital marketing strategy and increased emphasis on retail media.

That combination reflects the changing economics of CPG marketing. Retailers such as Walmart, Amazon and other commerce platforms increasingly operate advertising ecosystems that provide brands with access to shoppers closer to the point of purchase.

As retail media networks expand, CPG marketers need to connect brand-building activity with measurable commerce outcomes while still maintaining long-term brand equity.

From Consumer Insights to Measurable Brand Growth

Knebusch's organization has also been behind several campaigns that have received industry recognition.

Angel Soft's "Potty-tunity" campaign earned Gold and Silver Cannes Lions awards, while Quilted Northern's "Keep It Quilted" campaign received the Grand Prize in Media Excellence at the ANA In-House Agency Conference.

Brawny was also recognized by Fast Company as one of its Brands That Matter.

The awards are notable because they demonstrate a marketing model that combines creative development with consumer insight and data-driven decision-making.

That balance is becoming increasingly important for enterprise marketers.

Pure performance marketing can prioritize immediate conversions, while traditional brand advertising often focuses on longer-term awareness and consideration. Modern CPG organizations increasingly need both approaches working together.

The challenge is particularly pronounced for companies managing large portfolios. A brand such as Angel Soft or Quilted Northern may need to maintain distinctive positioning while operating across television, social media, ecommerce, retail media and increasingly AI-mediated discovery.

Building a Modern Marketing Organization

Knebusch joined Georgia-Pacific in 2008 and moved through leadership positions spanning brand management, shopper marketing and consumer experience before becoming senior vice president of CPG Marketing & Customer Experience in 2023.

Her progression mirrors a broader evolution in marketing leadership.

Today's senior marketers are increasingly expected to understand not only brand strategy and creative, but also customer data, media technology, analytics, ecommerce and emerging AI systems.

That requires organizational structures that can bring different disciplines together.

Georgia-Pacific's marketing organization brings marketing, media, analytics and consumer experience teams under a connected leadership structure. Such models can help reduce the separation between consumer research, campaign development and measurement.

For companies building enterprise MarTech stacks, that organizational alignment can be just as important as the underlying technology.

A sophisticated customer data platform or marketing analytics system provides limited value if insights cannot move efficiently between media, creative, commerce and customer experience teams.

Retail Media Raises the Stakes

Georgia-Pacific's emphasis on retail media is also significant.

Retail media has become one of the fastest-evolving areas of advertising technology because it gives consumer brands access to first-party shopper signals and advertising inventory within commerce environments.

The rise of Amazon Ads, Walmart Connect and other retail media platforms is changing how CPG companies plan and measure campaigns.

For marketers, the opportunity is to connect consumer understanding with purchase behavior. The risk is allowing short-term retail media optimization to overshadow broader brand objectives.

A modern CPG marketing organization therefore needs to balance media efficiency with creative differentiation, customer experience and long-term brand value.

Knebusch's recognition comes against that backdrop.

Why the Recognition Matters

Ad Age's recognition is ultimately an individual leadership award, but its broader significance lies in the marketing transformation taking place inside large consumer businesses.

AI, retail media, digital channels and analytics are reshaping how brands reach and understand consumers. The executives leading these functions increasingly have to operate across technology, creative strategy and business performance.

Georgia-Pacific's recent marketing work suggests that the company is pursuing that integrated model.

The next challenge will be scaling AI and data capabilities while preserving the consumer-first thinking that drives effective brand building.

For enterprise marketers, that may be the more important lesson from Knebusch's recognition: technology can accelerate marketing, but organizational alignment and a clear understanding of consumers remain the foundation for turning those tools into growth.

Market Landscape

The CPG marketing landscape is being reshaped by three overlapping forces: AI adoption, retail media expansion and increasingly fragmented consumer attention.

Large brands are moving beyond traditional media planning toward integrated systems combining first-party data, marketing analytics, ecommerce signals and automated campaign workflows.

Retail media networks are particularly important because they connect advertising with commerce data, while AI is increasingly being applied to creative production, audience analysis, media optimization and measurement.

The competitive challenge for CPG companies is to use these technologies without reducing marketing to short-term performance metrics.

Strategic Outlook

The next generation of CPG marketing organizations will likely operate at the intersection of brand strategy, AI, customer data, commerce and media.

Companies that successfully connect those disciplines can potentially move faster from consumer insight to creative execution and measurement.

Georgia-Pacific's approach under Knebusch points toward that model, with AI and analytics supporting a broader transformation rather than operating as standalone technology initiatives.

As AI becomes embedded throughout enterprise MarTech stacks, marketing leaders will increasingly be judged on their ability to combine technological efficiency with distinctive brand experiences and sustainable consumer relationships.

Top Insights

• Laura Knebusch's recognition highlights how CPG marketing leadership increasingly spans AI, retail media, analytics, digital strategy and consumer experience.
• Georgia-Pacific is expanding AI across creative, media optimization and analytics as enterprise brands seek greater marketing efficiency and stronger consumer engagement.
• Retail media is becoming strategically important for CPG marketers seeking to connect brand investment with shopper behavior and measurable commerce outcomes.
• Georgia-Pacific's award-winning campaigns demonstrate the continued importance of combining consumer insights, creative development and data-driven marketing decisions.
• Modern MarTech organizations increasingly require integrated teams that connect marketing, media, analytics and customer experience rather than operating them independently.

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