Mark Reinke
Suncorp
Group executive – customer, data and marketing
CMO50 2015
Leaders in diversity
If there’s one thing all great marketing leaders have in common today, it’s a willingness to adapt to their new surroundings. Here, we present the findings of the first-ever CMO50 list of Australia’s most innovative marketers for 2015
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1
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2 
John Batistich
Scentre Group (Westfield)
Director, marketing
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3 
Andy Lark
Xero
Chief marketing officer
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4 
Ed Smith
Foxtel
Executive director sales and marketing
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5 
Vittoria Shortt
Commonwealth Bank
Group executive, marketing and strategy
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6 
Allan Collins
Domino's
Chief marketing officer
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7 
Barni Evans
Sportsbet
Chief marketing officer
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8 
Richard Burns
Aussie Home Loans
General manager, customer experience and technology
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9 
Renee McGowan
Mercer
Chief customer officer
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10 
Jonathan Amery
Vocus Communications
General manager, marketing and customer experience
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11 
Steve Brennen
eBay Australia
Senior director marketing and retail innovation
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12 
Joe Pollard
Telstra
Group managing director, media and marketing
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13 
Mike Billing
Melbourne Storm
Marketing director
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14 
Kim Portrate
Helloworld
Chief marketing officer
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15 
David Robinson
David Jones
Group executive, marketing, financial services and customer innovation
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16 
Trisca Scott-Branagan
Deakin University
Executive director, marketing
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17 
Jane Merrick
IAG
Head of marketing
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18 
Kevin Ryder
IR
Chief marketing officer
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19 
Cameron Pearson
Cover-More Group
Director of growth, innovation and marketing
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20 
Kent Davidson
Mantra Group
Executive director – sales, marketing and distribution
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21 
Tim Tez
MetLife
Chief product and marketing officer
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22 
David Redhill
Deloitte
Partner and chief marketing officer
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23 
Linda Duncombe
Citi
Managing Director - marketing, digital and customer experience
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24 
Nick Reynolds
Lenovo
Chief marketing officer, Asia-Pacific
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25 
Amanda McGregor
SBS
Director of marketing
26 - 50 (In alphabetical order)
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Alice Chiew
Guild Insurance
Head of marketing
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Christopher Coyne
Crown Resorts
Chief marketing officer
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Col Kennedy
Cotton On Group
Global head of marketing and ecommerce, Cotton On
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Darren Wright
Flight Centre
General manager P.A.C.E (products, advertising, customer experience) Australian leisure brands
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David McNeil
Campbell Arnott's
Chief marketing officer
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Dominic Brandon
Allianz Australia
Group manager marketing and brand
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Grant Lee
M2 Group
Group general manager, business sales and marketing
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Greg Sutherland
Australia Post
Chief marketing officer and executive general manager of Consumer and Small Business
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Guy Taylor
Tourism Tasmania
Executive director marketing
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Jay Hannant
Conn3cted
Chief marketing officer
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Jean-Luc Ambrosi
Telstra Super
General manager marketing
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John Broome
Kelloggs
Director, marketing
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John Moore
Bupa
Director, marketing
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Jono Gelfand
Spotlight Retail Group
General manager of marketing
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Lewis Pullen
NRL
Executive head of marketing, content and digital
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Melina Cruickshank
Domain Group
Chief editorial and marketing officer
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Melinda Madigan
ANZ Stadium
General manager, marketing and membership
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Mitchell Mackey
Ansell
Marketing director
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Paul McGrath
Lendlease Group
Group head of marketing and brand
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Rob Langtry
Australian Wool Innovation
Global chief strategy and marketing officer
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Scott Heffernan
Department of Agriculture and Food WA
Director, communications and promotion
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Simon Cheng
Carnival Australia
Director of marketing, PR and distribution, P&O Cruises
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Simon Marton
Treasury Wine Estates
Chief marketing officer
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Sofia Lloyd-Jones
Pacific Brands
General manager marketing, Sheridan Group
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Suzana Ristevski
GE Australia and New Zealand
CMO and head of strategy and growth, A/NZ and Papua New Guinea
1 |
Mark Reinke | Group executive – customer, data and marketing | Suncorp |
2 |
John Batistich | Director, marketing | Scentre Group (Westfield) |
3 |
Andy Lark | Chief marketing officer | Xero |
4 |
Ed Smith | Executive director sales and marketing | Foxtel |
5 |
Vittoria Shortt | Group executive, marketing and strategy | Commonwealth Bank |
6 |
Allan Collins | Chief marketing officer | Domino's |
7 |
Barni Evans | Chief marketing officer | Sportsbet |
8 |
Richard Burns | General manager, customer experience and technology | Aussie Home Loans |
9 |
Renee McGowan | Chief customer officer | Mercer |
10 |
Jonathan Amery | General manager, marketing and customer experience | Vocus Communications |
11 |
Steve Brennen | Senior director marketing and retail innovation | eBay Australia |
12 |
Joe Pollard | Group managing director, media and marketing | Telstra |
13 |
Mike Billing | Marketing director | Melbourne Storm |
14 |
Kim Portrate | Chief marketing officer | Helloworld |
15 |
David Robinson | Group executive, marketing, financial services and customer innovation | David Jones |
16 |
Trisca Scott-Branagan | Executive director, marketing | Deakin University |
17 |
Jane Merrick | Head of marketing | IAG |
18 |
Kevin Ryder | Chief marketing officer | IR |
19 |
Cameron Pearson | Director of growth, innovation and marketing | Cover-More Group |
20 |
Kent Davidson | Executive director – sales, marketing and distribution | Mantra Group |
21 |
Tim Tez | Chief product and marketing officer | MetLife |
22 |
David Redhill | Partner and chief marketing officer | Deloitte |
23 |
Linda Duncombe | Managing Director - marketing, digital and customer experience | Citi |
24 |
Nick Reynolds | Chief marketing officer, Asia-Pacific | Lenovo |
25 |
Amanda McGregor | Director of marketing | SBS |
26 - 50 (In alphabetical order)
| Alice Chiew | Head of marketing | Guild Insurance |
| Christopher Coyne | Chief marketing officer | Crown Resorts |
| Col Kennedy | Global head of marketing and ecommerce, Cotton On | Cotton On Group |
| Darren Wright | General manager P.A.C.E (products, advertising, customer experience) Australian leisure brands | Flight Centre |
| David McNeil | Chief marketing officer | Campbell Arnott's |
| Dominic Brandon | Group manager marketing and brand | Allianz Australia |
| Grant Lee | Group general manager, business sales and marketing | M2 Group |
| Greg Sutherland | Chief marketing officer and executive general manager of Consumer and Small Business | Australia Post |
| Guy Taylor | Executive director marketing | Tourism Tasmania |
| Jay Hannant | Chief marketing officer | Conn3cted |
| Jean-Luc Ambrosi | General manager marketing | Telstra Super |
| John Broome | Director, marketing | Kelloggs |
| John Moore | Director, marketing | Bupa |
| Jono Gelfand | General manager of marketing | Spotlight Retail Group |
| Lewis Pullen | Executive head of marketing, content and digital | NRL |
| Melina Cruickshank | Chief editorial and marketing officer | Domain Group |
| Melinda Madigan | General manager, marketing and membership | ANZ Stadium |
| Mitchell Mackey | Marketing director | Ansell |
| Paul McGrath | Group head of marketing and brand | Lendlease Group |
| Rob Langtry | Global chief strategy and marketing officer | Australian Wool Innovation |
| Scott Heffernan | Director, communications and promotion | Department of Agriculture and Food WA |
| Simon Cheng | Director of marketing, PR and distribution, P&O Cruises | Carnival Australia |
| Simon Marton | Chief marketing officer | Treasury Wine Estates |
| Sofia Lloyd-Jones | General manager marketing, Sheridan Group | Pacific Brands |
| Suzana Ristevski | CMO and head of strategy and growth, A/NZ and Papua New Guinea | GE Australia and New Zealand |
If there’s one thing CMO’s inaugural CMO50 list showcases about Australia’s marketing leaders, it’s that they have a desire to take charge of change, and are willing to extend their knowledge, teams and transform their organisations to make it happen.
The CMO50 is an annual list recognising those who are taking the leading role in developing new ways of thinking within marketing and the wider company using the core assets of data, technology, customer experience and creativity.
There’s no one, other than the CEO, with such a generalist view than the CMO
Former Qantas CMO and CMO50 judge, Tim McColl Jones
One of the first things that became apparent was just how diverse the title ‘CMO’ has become. In fact, two out of five on the list have roles that extend outside the traditional borders of marketing, encompassing ecommerce, CRM, customer service and loyalty, IT and technology, strategy, media, editorial and sales.
“There’s no one, other than the CEO, with such a generalist view,” commented one judge and former Qantas CMO, Tim McColl Jones, during the judges’ meeting. “It goes to show just how much the role of marketing has changed,” said fellow judge and former STW Group COO, Chris Savage.
Thought leadership was another common thread across the CMO50 ranks, and judges commented on how many are trying new things to orchestrate better marketing programs, covering everything from startup partnerships and mobile and social product innovations, through to co-creation and data-driven customer initiatives.
Here are a few other facts about our CMO50 list:
- More than 80 per cent are members of the executive team; of the nine that aren’t, all sit on their business unit’s or organisation’s local or global brand council.
- Average tenure across the 50 CMOs this year is 3.5 years, although there are significant discrepancies in tenure across individuals represented, with several holding executive-level roles only created in the last 2-3 years.
- The majority of CMOs who have been with their organisation for at least two years have seen their roles change, or have been regularly promoted.
Definition of marketing
The diversity of roles in these submissions goes to show just how much the role of marketing has changed
Former STW Group COO and CMO50 judge, Chris Savage
Defining what modern marketing success looks like was an early challenge in building our CMO50 list. While our emphasis this year was on innovation and transformation, there was plenty of debate across the judging table as to how this is then executed and forms the basis of new strategies and customer experience improvements. As a result, judges were looking for instances where CMOs had exercised change and restructure teams and strategies to better support their customer-led approach.
And while we put plenty of attention on data and technology initiatives, it’s vital CMOs keep an eye on creativity. For our judges, creativity is not just as a means to a campaign end, but a sustained, customer-led thread that runs through the modern marketing function.
Arno Lenior, former Samsung CMO and CMO50 judge, viewed creativity as about taking an idea and executing it, while Zuni’s co-founder and managing director, Mike Zeederberg, applauded the bravery of many CMOs on the list around creativity and taking risks. Marketing leadership consultant and former Nestle CMO, David Morgan, also saw a link between strategy and creativity.
The top 10
This year’s top 10 CMOs stand out for the breadth of responsibility they’ve taken on not just as marketers, but business leaders.
Judges pointed out those with more strategic, cross-functional relevance – and most of the top 10 – sit within large, Australian-headquartered companies with both scale and resources to orchestrate strategic change. For example, seven of our top 10 CMOs work for either ASX-listed or privately owned Australian organisation.
It’s great to see the bravery of clients around creativity. The CMO has huge role in seeing creativity come to light of day
Zuni co-founder and MD and CMO50 judge, Mike Zeederberg
Equally, it was clear those in A/NZ-based organisations had a wider ability to effect more impactful business change, and were rewarded with an executive seat and influence in areas well outside their own function.
So how did they get there? When you look closer at our top 10 for 2015, backgrounds and career history are quite significant. The majority have worked outside of Australia, either starting their careers in the UK, US or Asia-Pacific, or relocating in order to build out their business experience before taking up their current positions. Most have also taken on roles outside the traditional marketing boundaries, stretching into HR and talent management, M&A activity, technology strategy, customer operations and data management. And most will tell you diversity of thought in their own teams is crucial.
Many of the top 10 have also been promoted to executive-level roles, gained more cross-functional responsibility or became the first to hold their newly created positions in the last two years. Suncorp’s Mark Reinke, for example, was elevated to the executive table two years ago. Renee McGowan at Mercer was appointed its first chief customer officer two years ago, uniting marketing and customer operations into one function. And just this year, Aussie Home Loans’ Richard Burns took on the combined role of technology and customer experience leader, a position that sees IT and marketing teams all working for the one boss.
Whatever readers make of the CMO50 this year, what has become evident through this initiative is that the role of CMO is an ever-moving feast.