In this special CMO50 whitepaper, brought to you by Adobe, we ask leading Australian marketing chiefs from our CMO50 alumni to explore how they are addressing transformative change as digital becomes a business imperative.

​CMO50 2019’s #15, Jayne Andrews, has announced she is taking up a global position with Carnival Cruise Line in the US.

In the second of our CMO50 event slideshows we present some of the evening networking highlights of the Australian marketing community's night of nights.

It’s been five years since CMO took the wrappers off our inaugural CMO50 of Australia’s most innovative and effective marketing leaders. And during that time we’ve seen a transformation of the modern marketing function and leadership remit.

Is it my job, or isn’t it? I suspect this is a question every chief marketing officer asks on a daily basis. And in reading this year’s CMO50 profiles, you’d be forgiven for thinking it’s a question lacking a straight answer.

​More than 100 of Australia's most innovative and effective marketing leaders celebrated the achievements of their CMO peers at the CMO50 2019 dinner in Sydney on 17 October. Here are first pics - including the top 10 for 2019.

Marketing chiefs from digital-first companies, FMCG, media, retail and ecommerce have dominated the fifth annual CMO50 list for 2019.

To a lot of Finder’s potential customers, Finder was a nice little soundbite, and nothing more. Its challenge was to turn awareness into usage. To tackle this head on, marketing came up with the campaign “Be a Finder”.

Kellogg’s Corn Flakes, Rice Bubbles and Just Right have been family favourites for decades, yet their relevance was waning. Added to that, their smaller market shares made it difficult to support these brands with dedicated brand building, due to lack of scale.

​If marketers want to get their CEOs on side, then don’t preach soft metrics, instead present hard data, says CMO of Catch Group, Ryan Gracie.

Ensuring every team member within the marketing department has everything they need to be doing their best, most powerful work is critical, A/NZ CMO of Domino’s Pizza, says.

Converting interest into record student numbers is making a demonstrable impact on UNSW’s bottom line, vice president of external relations, Fiona Docherty, says.

Natalie Sarich-Dayton, CMO of Brownes Dairy, says sometimes you have to lead from the front, which she certainly achieved when she drove a 4T refrigerated truck around the city to sample products outside train and bus stations. And this is not the only tip she has!

Fundamentally, a marketer must understand the consumer, the marketing director of Mars Wrigley Australia, Suzanne Morrison, says. It sounds simple, yet many companies don’t do it well.

​The most creative marketing typically starts with a deep appreciation of the audience you serve, says CMO and head of communications at Microsoft Australia, Pip Arthur.

CMO of the Heart Foundation, Chris Taylor, says he feels grateful his work helps to save lives.

For Nikki Warburton, aligning a business around its customers’ deepest motivations, and ensuring this is used as a lens for all decision making, is vital to how marketers facilitate growth.

​Jayne Andrews, director of marketing at Carnival Cruise Line Australia, often describes her role as being like a conductor of an orchestra.

​The biggest challenge the CMO of WWF is finding is demonstrating the value of investing in the brand, which requires time and money, in an era obsessed by short-termism and immediate results/profit.

​With a $25,000 spend, one of the most effective, disruptive and innovative marketing initiatives Kathmandu launched this past year was the world’s first, all-weather wedding dress stunt for April Fool’s day, general manager marketing and online at Kathmandu, Paul Stern, tells CMO.