Fractional CMOs in Detroit Making Things Happen in 2025

Detroit & Southeast Michigan Interim Chief Marketing Officers to Know

Detroit is a city of grit, reinvention, and strategic resurgence. From its industrial roots to its growing reputation as a hub for startups, healthcare innovation, and mission-driven organizations, Detroit and Southeast Michigan are becoming fertile ground for new ways of working. Among the most dynamic shifts? The rise of fractional marketing leadership—specifically, Fractional Chief Marketing Officers (CMOs).

These professionals bring executive-level marketing strategy, leadership, and execution on a part-time, interim, or project basis. They embed quickly, design winning strategies, build teams, and create real momentum—without the overhead of a full-time hire.

At Digital Reference, we are committed to elevating the professionals behind the progress. Our platform helps capture their verified work, real-world impact, and leadership stories. This blog is part of that mission—a curated spotlight on Detroit’s most impactful fractional CMOs who are helping brands grow smarter, faster, and with more intention.

Our Methodology

We curated this list of professionals based on:

• Geographic location: Based in Detroit or actively working across Southeast Michigan
• Professional scope: Provide fractional, part-time, or interim CMO services
• Experience and credibility: Demonstrated history of marketing leadership with verifiable client success
• Public presence: Active on LinkedIn, agency websites, or professional portfolios
• Alignment with Digital Reference values: Radical transparency, authenticity, and impact-driven work

Whether you're scaling a startup, repositioning your nonprofit, or reinvigorating a legacy business—these leaders are the people helping Detroit’s marketing landscape thrive.

Meet the Fractional CMOs in Detroit Making Things Happen

1. Halley Karas

https://plumgoodmarketing.com/about-plum-good-marketing/

Founder of Plum Good Marketing, Halley Karas is a strategic force in marketing leadership. With a background that blends corporate brand expertise and entrepreneurial insight, she offers fractional CMO services that help organizations clarify their messaging and elevate their voice.

Why She Stands Out:

• Focus on story-driven brand strategy and customer experience
• Passionate about amplifying purpose-led brands
• Known for helping teams align brand, messaging, and growth goals

Halley is the right fit for brands that need refined messaging and a strategy that resonates across channels.

2. Brian Town

https://michiganfractional.com/

As founder of Michigan Fractional, Brian Town has carved out a powerful niche as a go-to fractional marketing leader for small to mid-sized businesses. A former educator turned creative strategist, he specializes in helping companies develop clear messaging, build campaigns, and drive digital visibility.

Why He Stands Out:

• Deep understanding of Michigan’s economic and cultural landscape
• Offers video content strategy, SEO, and social media consulting
• Known for empowering founders and executives with practical, clear marketing plans

Brian is perfect for companies that want to work with a grounded, Michigan-rooted leader who blends big-picture thinking with grassroots execution.

3. Andy Bissonette

https://www.linkedin.com/in/andybissonette/

A creative strategist with experience in digital marketing and media, Andy Bissonette works with companies seeking to modernize their approach to brand and marketing operations. His fractional CMO services center around helping businesses create lasting impact through smart creative and strategic alignment.

Why He Stands Out:

• Background in creative leadership, content production, and campaign design
• Helps teams translate vision into practical, resonant marketing outputs
• Passionate about connecting creative teams with business strategy

Andy is a powerful addition to brands that need storytelling muscle and design-driven marketing frameworks.

4. Philippe Vella

https://www.linkedin.com/in/philmvella-the-part-time-cmo/

Known as “The Part-Time CMO,” Philippe Vella partners with small to mid-sized companies to provide strategic marketing direction and operational marketing systems. He is especially skilled at distilling complex offerings into compelling go-to-market strategies.

Why He Stands Out:

• Offers flexible marketing leadership on a fractional or advisory basis
• Strong in B2B messaging, competitive positioning, and sales alignment
• Helps marketing teams mature and scale efficiently

Philippe is ideal for tech-driven and service-based businesses seeking clarity, consistency, and performance.

5. Dave Haviland

https://www.phimation.com/about-the-founder

As founder of Phimation Strategy Group, Dave Haviland has been helping second-stage companies navigate growth for over a decade. His work often overlaps operations and marketing, making him a strategic ally for organizations evolving their identity, reach, and internal systems.

Why He Stands Out:

• Focus on growth-stage businesses, often between startup and enterprise
• Merges organizational consulting with executive marketing leadership
• Known for building long-term marketing systems and leadership capacity

Dave is the partner you want when your business is past the early hustle and ready to scale with structure and intention.

6. Cory Dunham

https://www.linkedin.com/in/cory-dunham/

With a specialty in demand generation, revenue marketing, and go-to-market execution, Cory Dunham provides operational CMO services to growing teams. His work centers on driving pipeline, connecting marketing with sales, and delivering measurable impact.

Why He Stands Out:

• Strong focus on revenue accountability and marketing operations
• Background includes B2B SaaS and early-stage tech
• Helps organizations go from "marketing activity" to marketing ROI

Cory is the architect behind scalable demand engines that produce real business outcomes.

7. Michele Szczypka

https://www.linkedin.com/in/michele-szczypka/

A seasoned marketing executive, Michele Szczypka brings decades of experience in healthcare marketing, nonprofit campaigns, and reputation strategy. Her fractional CMO services are rooted in clarity, mission alignment, and communications excellence.

Why She Stands Out:

• Former VP-level leader at national health organizations
• Expert in integrated marketing communications, executive branding, and stakeholder engagement
• Focused on organizations doing impact-driven or public-facing work

Michele is a great fit for mission-oriented teams that need strategic alignment across purpose and promotion.

8. Todd Robinson

https://www.linkedin.com/in/todd23robinson/

With a sharp eye for performance marketing, paid media, and funnel optimization, Todd Robinson works with startups and growth-stage companies to create and fine-tune marketing machines. His fractional CMO work includes acquisition strategies, campaign analytics, and multi-channel marketing.

Why He Stands Out:

• Deep experience in digital strategy, data-driven marketing, and SEM
• Builds repeatable, scalable marketing programs for tech and B2B firms
• Passionate about aligning marketing spend with business performance

Todd is a data-first marketing executive who helps brands unlock growth through smart experimentation and iteration.

Why Detroit is a Rising Market for Fractional CMOs

As Detroit and Southeast Michigan continue their resurgence, a growing number of companies are choosing fractional leadership models to fill key executive roles. Marketing is often at the top of that list.

Why fractional CMOs thrive here:

• Many businesses are scaling regionally or repositioning post-pandemic
• Startups and mission-driven orgs need strategy without full-time overhead
• The region values practicality, purpose, and performance
• Fractional CMOs bring the right mix of experience, flexibility, and strategic insight

Whether you’re an early-stage founder, a revitalized nonprofit, or a scaling manufacturer—Detroit’s marketing leaders are ready to drive your next chapter.

The Digital Reference Perspective

At Digital Reference, we’re on a mission to make the talent economy more transparent, structured, and human. For fractional CMOs, that means:

• Collecting client-verified references and marketing impact metrics
• Building structured professional portfolios that reflect real work
• Driving reputation-based hiring that moves beyond resumes

We believe that reputation is currency—and we’re here to help marketers turn their past impact into future opportunity.

Final Thoughts

The professionals featured in this list are the architects of Detroit’s next wave of brand and marketing success. Whether you need to build demand, elevate your story, or scale your customer experience, these fractional CMOs are ready to lead.

From Halley Karas’ brand storytelling to Todd Robinson’s performance insights, this is a lineup of marketing minds worth knowing. Explore their work. Connect with them. And when you’re ready to tell your own story—start with Digital Reference.

– The Digital Reference Team

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