There’s no doubt we’re in the midst of a digital-first economy, fuelled by data and driven by technology capability. Yet it’s also a world that relies on the very human concepts of connection and trust.

Taking a brave step as a marketer does pay off when your foundations are right, says Nicole Papoutsis, who is now looking towards her next professional endeavour after departing IVF business, Genea.

As we wave goodbye to the year that was 2021, CMO presents our top 21 stories of the year across CMO Australia based on audience engagement.

It’s been another year of pivoting and adapting for Australia’s marketing chiefs as they continued to navigate the unchartered waters of Covid-19. Which is why it was not surprising to find this a common theme pervading every one of our top 10 CMO profiles for 2021.

As well as facing into the challenges of delivering marketing programs in the midst of the pandemic over the past year, marketing leaders have also had the very real issue of keeping teams engaged, resilient and motivated. As part of this year’s CMO50 program, CMO was keen to understand some of the leadership ‘firsts’ our alumni experienced as they strived to manage teams remotely.

Former Aurora Expeditions head of marketing and CMO50 One to Watch, Victoria Primrose, has joined Rawson Group as group head of marketing.

2021 has certainly continued to be a year of shape shifting for Australian marketing leaders, their teams and their marketing activities. But while the challenges have been obvious, a lot of great work has nonetheless been accomplished in the face of the pandemic. So as part of this year’s CMO50 program, we asked a number of our CMO50 alumni to tell us what their favourite marketing moments over the past year have been.

The Iconic’s chief marketing officer, Alexander Meyer, is calling it a day at the Australian online retailer and relocating to Canada to take up a new role with digital retailer, The Bay.

Measuring the effectiveness of marketing spend against short as well as longer term revenue and growth is critical for CMOs if they want to truly connect their efforts to commercial returns.

Being a chief marketing office is an exercise in cross-functional collaboration, relationship building and influence. Just ask any of our CMO50.

The third and final episode CMO’s 3-part video series on how CMO50 luminaries are achieving greater marketing agility is now live!

​In honour of the virtual nature of our CMO50 event, and the ongoing adaptability marketing leaders have had to exhibit over the past year, we wanted to ask our CMO50 alumni what they'd learnt about fostering team resiliency in 2021.

Marketing teams pride themselves on their ability to tap the consumer and cultural zeitgeist to bring their brands to life and generate growth. It’s this connection to market sentiment and trends that’s also given smart modern marketers who are both digitally and data savvy the tools to generate true business impact during the past 18 months of the crisis.

Qantas chief marketing officer, Jo Boundy, has been crowned #1 in this year’s CMO50 list of Australia’s most innovative and effective marketing leaders, becoming one of six new faces in the CMO50 top 10 this year.

The creation and launch of Vanguard’s new brand strategy and campaign in 2021 was a key moment for the business as well as its CMO, Louise Eyres.

​When non-alcoholic ‘spirits’ company, Lyre’s Spirit Co, was launched in Australia in 2019, the founding team knew success depended on Lyre’s mission to lead change in entrenched social and cultural drinking behaviours around the world – quite a tall order.

“The world may have felt like it stopped spinning during the pandemic, but consumer behaviours didn’t,” Qantas CMO, Jo Boundy, tells CMO. “They have changed considerably.”

Guzman y Gomez may have been fortunate enough to escape full shut down and being too negatively impacted by Covid as a food provider. But the crisis certainly “brought the fight out in us”, its global CMO, Lara Thom, says.

The Australian private health insurance (PHI) industry is facing significant challenges. Only 41 per cent of Australians have private hospital cover – a record 15-year low.

The past year has been one without near-term reference for Matt Fletcher and the Fitness First team. “This year, the playbook went out the window. It was not a year for iteration or rote,” he says.

There’s no doubt every one of us needs to do more to drive diversity, equity and inclusion in workplaces. And it’s something Google senior director of marketing for A/NZ, Aisling Finch, says has been particularly important to her team during the crisis.