Barni Evans
Sportsbet
Chief commercial officer
Announcing the 2017 CMO50
Recognising Australia's most innovative marketing leaders
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CMO50 2017
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1
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2 
Leisa Bacon
ABC
Director of audiences
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3 
Stephanie Tully
Qantas
Chief marketing officer
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4 
Martine Jager
Westpac
Chief marketing officer
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5 
Trisca Scott-Branagan
Deakin University
Executive director, marketing
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6 
Nick Reynolds
Lenovo
Chief marketing officer, Asia-Pacific
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7 
Cambell Holt
Mercer
Chief customer officer, Pacific
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8 
Mohit Bhargava
Village Cinemas
General manager, sales and marketing
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9 
Craig Davis
Sendle
Co-founder and chief marketing officer
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10 
Tyron Hayes
Curtin University
Chief marketing officer
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11 
Umberto Mecchi
Hostplus
Group executive, marketing and strategy
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12 
Monique Macleod
Commonwealth Bank
Chief marketing officer (acting)
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13 
Lisa Ronson
Tourism Australia
Chief marketing officer
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14 
Carolyn Bendall
ANZ
Head of marketing, A/NZ
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15 
Jonathan Kerr
Auto & General
Director, marketing and digital
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16 
Adam Ballesty
Diageo Australia
Marketing and innovation director
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17 
Jo Kelly
UBank
Chief marketing officer
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18 
Ric Navarro
Norman Disney & Young
Global director, marketing and communication
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19 
Richard Oppy
Carlton and United Breweries
VP marketing, Asia-Pacific South Zone
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20 
Andrew Knott
National Australia Bank
Chief marketing officer
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21 
Rebecca James
ME
Chief marketing officer
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22 
Damian Young
Chobani
GM, marketing
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23 
Melina Cruickshank
Domain Group
Chief editorial and marketing officer
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24 
Vanessa Lyons
AUB Group
Group head of marketing
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25 
Andrew Howie
Meat and Livestock Australia
Manager, group marketing
26 - 50 (In alphabetical order)
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Amanda Johnston-Pell
IBM
Chief marketing officer and chief of startups
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Andrea Martens
Jurlique
Chief brand officer
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Cameron Pearson
Cover-More Group
Chief strategy and innovation officer
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Caroline Bonpain
Dyson A/NZ
Marketing director
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David McNeil
Campbell Arnott's
VP marketing, Asia-Pacific
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Everard Hunder
Monash IVF Group
Group marketing and investor relations manager
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Jee Moon
Luxottica (OPSM)
VP marketing
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John Arnott
ING Direct
Executive director, customer propositions
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Kellie Cordner
Carsales
Chief marketing officer
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Lewis Pullen
IAG Satellite
Marketing director
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Lisa Winn
Coca-Cola South Pacific
Marketing director
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Michael Laxton
Fairfax
Chief marketing officer
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Nick Hickford
Bulla Dairy Foods
GM, marketing and innovation
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Paul Connell
Unilever
GM and marketing director, homecare
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Paul Stern
Kathmandu
GM marketing, online and international
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Phil Wade
Jetstar Airways
Chief marketing officer
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Renae Smith
AIA Australia and New Zealand
Chief marketing officer
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Richard Burns
Aussie Home Loans
GM, customer experience and technology
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Roni Millard
InfoTrack
GM, marketing
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Sarah Graham
Swinburne University of Technology
CMO and director marketing, recruitment and channel integration
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Simon Marton
Treasury Wine Estates
Chief marketing officer
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Sonia Bijelic
Cricket Australia
Head of marketing
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Suzanne Harman
Simplot Australia
GM, marketing
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Tasman Page
Menulog
Head of marketing
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Yves Calmette
World Wild Fund for nature (WWF Australia)
Chief marketing officer
Ones to Watch (In alphabetical order)
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Jayne Andrews
Carnival Cruise Line
Director of marketing
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Natalie Feehan
MYOB
Executive general manager, group marketing
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Elaine Herlihy
PayPal Australia
Marketing director
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Natalie Robinson
Melbourne Polytechnic
Director of marketing and communication
1 |
Barni Evans | Chief commercial officer | Sportsbet |
2 |
Leisa Bacon | Director of audiences | ABC |
3 |
Stephanie Tully | Chief marketing officer | Qantas |
4 |
Martine Jager | Chief marketing officer | Westpac |
5 |
Trisca Scott-Branagan | Executive director, marketing | Deakin University |
6 |
Nick Reynolds | Chief marketing officer, Asia-Pacific | Lenovo |
7 |
Cambell Holt | Chief customer officer, Pacific | Mercer |
8 |
Mohit Bhargava | General manager, sales and marketing | Village Cinemas |
9 |
Craig Davis | Co-founder and chief marketing officer | Sendle |
10 |
Tyron Hayes | Chief marketing officer | Curtin University |
11 |
Umberto Mecchi | Group executive, marketing and strategy | Hostplus |
12 |
Monique Macleod | Chief marketing officer (acting) | Commonwealth Bank |
13 |
Lisa Ronson | Chief marketing officer | Tourism Australia |
14 |
Carolyn Bendall | Head of marketing, A/NZ | ANZ |
15 |
Jonathan Kerr | Director, marketing and digital | Auto & General |
16 |
Adam Ballesty | Marketing and innovation director | Diageo Australia |
17 |
Jo Kelly | Chief marketing officer | UBank |
18 |
Ric Navarro | Global director, marketing and communication | Norman Disney & Young |
19 |
Richard Oppy | VP marketing, Asia-Pacific South Zone | Carlton and United Breweries |
20 |
Andrew Knott | Chief marketing officer | National Australia Bank |
21 |
Rebecca James | Chief marketing officer | ME |
22 |
Damian Young | GM, marketing | Chobani |
23 |
Melina Cruickshank | Chief editorial and marketing officer | Domain Group |
24 |
Vanessa Lyons | Group head of marketing | AUB Group |
25 |
Andrew Howie | Manager, group marketing | Meat and Livestock Australia |
26 - 50 (In alphabetical order)
| John Arnott | Executive director, customer propositions | ING Direct |
| Sonia Bijelic | Head of marketing | Cricket Australia |
| Caroline Bonpain | Marketing director | Dyson A/NZ |
| Richard Burns | GM, customer experience and technology | Aussie Home Loans |
| Yves Calmette | Chief marketing officer | World Wild Fund for nature (WWF Australia) |
| Paul Connell | GM and marketing director, homecare | Unilever |
| Kellie Cordner | Chief marketing officer | Carsales |
| Sarah Graham | CMO and director marketing, recruitment and channel integration | Swinburne University of Technology |
| Suzanne Harman | GM, marketing | Simplot Australia |
| Nick Hickford | GM, marketing and innovation | Bulla Dairy Foods |
| Everard Hunder | Group marketing and investor relations manager | Monash IVF Group |
| Amanda Johnston-Pell | Chief marketing officer and chief of startups | IBM |
| Michael Laxton | Chief marketing officer | Fairfax |
| Andrea Martens | Chief brand officer | Jurlique |
| Simon Marton | Chief marketing officer | Treasury Wine Estates |
| David McNeil | VP marketing, Asia-Pacific | Campbell Arnott's |
| Roni Millard | GM, marketing | InfoTrack |
| Jee Moon | VP marketing | Luxottica (OPSM) |
| Tasman Page | Head of marketing | Menulog |
| Cameron Pearson | Chief strategy and innovation officer | Cover-More Group |
| Lewis Pullen | Marketing director | IAG Satellite |
| Renae Smith | Chief marketing officer | AIA Australia and New Zealand |
| Paul Stern | GM marketing, online and international | Kathmandu |
| Phil Wade | Chief marketing officer | Jetstar Airways |
| Lisa Winn | Marketing director | Coca-Cola South Pacific |
Ones to watch (In alphabetical order)
| Jayne Andrews | Director of marketing | Carnival Cruise Line |
| Natalie Feehan | Executive general manager, group marketing | MYOB |
| Elaine Herlihy | Marketing director | PayPal Australia |
| Natalie Robinson | Director of marketing and communication | Melbourne Polytechnic |
Marketing's growing sphere of influence
This year’s most innovative and effective marketers across Australia are cultivating a new role for themselves in business.
Australia’s top marketing leaders are commanding ever-higher levels of authority in companies across the country. And it’s the quest to cultivate a customer-led, data-driven and adaptable marketing function that’s driving it.
That’s the big lesson from this year’s CMO50 list, which recognises the most innovative and effective marketing leaders operating in Australia. And in just three years, it’s amazing how far the CMO remit has come.
If last year’s list was a lesson in the willingness of CMOs to expand their knowledge, teams and transform their functions, this year’s list is proof of how actively they’re growing their sphere of influence across the wider organisation.
It’s one of the first things that struck our 2017 CMO50 judges. AANA CEO, John Broome, described the scale and breadth of today’s marketing chief as "extraordinary", noting the growing responsibility for areas such as digital product and strategy, customer, sales and experience.
Our record number of nominations this year paint marketers as collaborators, from customer service and experience to HR, IT, sales, finance, digital, the CEO, innovation and legal counsel.
Where gaps in maturity could be seen were in executing data-driven insight and making the most of fresh technology capabilities to action better activities.
Over the past three years, we’ve witnessed significant investment into digital and technology across marketing functions in order to improve agility, addressability and activity. The CMO50 also showcased an array of approaches to being customer-led, from mapping and research programs to adopting customer-oriented measurement frameworks. Consistently, marketers outlined their quest to achieve one view of the customer.
In fact, judges agreed CMOs know they need to own more of the whole customer experience. This could be seen in less isolated campaign work, and more of an emphasis on customer needs and pain points, in order to increase the personalisation and effectiveness of tactics and engagement.
But for Publicis chairman and CMO50 judge, Andrew Baxter, it’s what marketers do with their new technology, digital and data capability that’s going to bring competitive advantage. “All are approaching it; what many aren’t saying is how they are using it to enough of an extent and how it’s driving insight,” he commented.
Experienced CMO and consultant, David Morgan, saw the benchmark for ‘marketing 2.0’ stepping up as technical expertise is embedded.
"There are probably a dozen companies doing customer experience in a transformative way, but there are plenty who still don’t yet know the extent of the changes required to get there,” he said. “We’ve seen a significant step forward, however, in nominations this year, which is great for the industry. Marketers locally are learning and putting CX and technology into play."
Zuni managing director, Mike Zeederberg, also believed Australia’s marketers are just arriving at best practice, having made huge strides forward in customer and commercial capability. “That then raises the question: Is that enough? That’s where the standouts were in our CMO50 nominations this year,” he said.
Former Westfield director of marketing, John Batistich, saw organisations at varying levels of digital and customer experience maturity.
"Perhaps the appetite of the wider organisation is not there yet, but marketers are building the infrastructure as an enabler for the future. Others are on the data journey."
Newly appointed Australian Sports Commission marketing chief, Louise Eyres, noted striking similarities between B2C and B2B when it comes to marketing ambition and concerns. "But the outputs are very different," she said, adding that was one of many challenges in judging this year’s CMO50.
Other challenges in judging were size of function and enterprise influence. Half those listed in the CMO50 have a marketing and/or customer experience function of at least 50 staff, although two out of the top 10 operate with fewer than 12. More than eight in 10 of our CMO50 this year are members of the executive leadership team and 74 per cent report directly to the CEO.
It’s also important to point out several of our CMO50 have wider divisional responsibility that has seen their staff headcount swell. Mercer’s Cambell Holt, for example, has CX, commercial platforms, digital, insights and analytics and strategy (245 staff), while Sportsbet’s Barni Evans’ headcount has nearly doubled from 100 to 185 as a result of his new chief commercial officer post. Domain’s Melina Cruickshank has both marketing and editorial, and ABC’s Leisa Bacon has creative, marketing, media partnerships, research, digital and service design as part of her remit.
The people element proved another consistent priority for the CMO50 this year. Redefining organisational structures and ways of working is paramount, and talent building and capability are huge areas of focus, even more so than in previous years. A range of techniques are being adopted to foster next-generation marketing skillsets, from internal academies to leveraging methodologies such as design thinking and human-centred design, and agile.
There’s also a general trend towards insourcing. Most of the CMO50 are buying or fostering fresh skillsets most commonly in data and analytics, media buying/trading, content strategy and production, and there’s rising emphasis on blurring the line between ‘traditional’ and ‘performance’ marketers.
Agile versus agility
The desire to be agile versus running an agile-based marketing team was a further measuring stick used by judges. Newly installed CEO of Spotify Australia, Jane Huxley, highlighted the distinction between “agile and agility”.
“There was consistency in adopting agile and things such as sprinting, and so on, rather than a wider organisational commitment to agility,” she said.
Morgan pointed out many marketers didn’t know what agile was all about last year. “This year, agile is the key focus with at least 70 per cent showing an understanding of what it takes to adopt agile-based marketing,” he said.
Where Broome wanted to see improvement was in longer-term thinking for sustainable growth. With revenue generation a clear target for CMOs today and marketing activity increasingly being tied to growth and direct sales, it’s vital marketers demonstrate effectiveness sustainably.
"As technology levels the playing field, how are marketers going to deepen their approach and create value for the organisation?” he asked. “Too many submissions were short-term focused. I expect that from a marketing manager, but not the CMO."
Part of the challenge here could be CMO tenure. At just shy of three years across the CMO50 this year, the question was raised: How long does it take for marketers to truly make an impact?
"If you’ve been in a role for less than one year, you can’t really show impact worthy of being in the top 25," Batistich said, noting CMO tenure as a concern.
"You’re finding the easier, faster things to do. CMOs require time to see the results. You have to have time to understand the networks, culture, get things aligned because that’s what the job is about."
What was clear to all judges was the high calibre of nominations this year. Scoring differences between our top 10 and top 25, were tiny, and all judges agreed a more solid group of marketers sits in the middle of our 2017 list.