The CMO Show

Hosted by ImpactInstitute

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256

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Aug 2026

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About the show

How do the leaders of APAC brands use purpose-driven storytelling to bring their big ideas to life, achieve communications goals, drive better business outcomes, and live out a purpose beyond profit? The CMO Show is an award-winning marketing podcast, brought to you by ImpactInstitute, in partnership with Adobe. Each episode features industry insights from a marketing or business leader on strategy, creativity, measurement, evaluation, and more. *ANZ Winner - 2020 CMS Asia Award for 'Best Use of Audio Content' *National Winner - 2019 Australian Marketing Institute Award for 'Marketing Excellence in Content Marketing' *National Winner - 2019 Mumbrella NeXt Award for 'Content Marketer' (Executive Producer Charlotte Goodwin) *National Finalist - 2019 Australian Podcast Awards Founded in 2015, The CMO Show podcast is hosted by chief storyteller, speaker and author, Mark Jones. Mark is the Chief Storyteller at ImpactInstitute, and has more than 20 years' experience in professional storytelling as a journalist, editor, publisher and speaker, working with iconic brands including Coca-Cola, Microsoft, Google, Telstra, Adobe and Fairfax. ImpactInstitute is an impact advisory firm offering offer purpose-driven advisory, storytelling and events services to help commercial and social sector organisations across Australia create measurable impact with stories that matter.

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September 3, 2026Episode 25642 min

How Nine turned Customer Data into a 200% Revenue Opportunity

What happens when one of Australia's largest media companies stops treating audience data as separate silos and starts seeing every customer as a single connected individual? In this episode of The CMO Show , Mark Jones sits down with Suzie Cardwell, Chief Data, Product and Technology Officer at Nine Entertainment , to unpack the transformation that has reshaped how Nine understands audiences, serves advertisers, and drives growth. Suzie reveals how Nine unified consumer data across its publishing, streaming and broadcast brands to build a powerful single customer view, creating richer audience intelligence and unlocking entirely new commercial opportunities. The result? More relevant customer experiences, smarter marketing, stronger advertiser outcomes, and more than 200% growth in data-driven advertising revenue. For marketers grappling with fragmented customer journeys and increasing pressure to prove ROI, this conversation offers a practical roadmap. The discussion also explores some of marketing's biggest challenges and opportunities: privacy reform, AI adoption, personalisation at scale, agentic workflows and the growing importance of customer intelligence as a competitive advantage. Along the way, Suzie offers candid lessons on securing stakeholder buy-in, leading organisational change, and driving AI adoption across a workforce of nearly 5,000 employees. If you're a CMO, marketing leader or digital transformation executive looking to future-proof your organisation, this episode delivers a masterclass in turning data from a back-office asset into a front-line growth strategy. This episode is brought to you by impact advisory, communications and events agency, ImpactInstitute in partnership with Adobe. www.impactinstitute.com.au | https://business.adobe.com/au

August 20, 2026Episode 25625 min

Validation Nation: Why Reddit is Winning in the Age of AI

We live in an era of information abundance. AI can answer almost any question instantly. Search engines deliver endless results. Yet consumers have never been less certain about what to trust. That's where Reddit believes the next great marketing opportunity lies. In this episode of The CMO Show , Mark Jones sits down with Hayley Saddleton, Country Lead of Business Marketing for Reddit ANZ , to unpack the rise of the "validation economy" : a world where people discover through algorithms but make decisions through human reassura nce. As AI-generated answers become ubiquitous, consumers are increasingly turning to communities to validate what they've found, seeking lived experience, honest opinions and unfiltered feedback before making choices. For marketers, this shift presents both an opportunity and a challenge. Reddit has become one of the internet's most influential sources of human conversation, powering everything from purchasing decisions to AI training data. But unlike traditional social platforms, the community can't be manipulated with polished messaging or corporate spin. As Hayley explains, Reddit users can "smell a brand" instantly, forcing marketers to rethink how they show up in conversations and what value they genuinely provide. The discussion explores why authenticity is becoming a commercial advantage, how anonymous communities often produce richer consumer insights than identity-driven platforms, and why marketers should pay as much attention to criticism and disagreement as they do to positive sentiment. Hayley argues that downvotes, debate and community scrutiny can reveal the relevance gaps brands often miss in traditional research. You'll also hear how brands such as Škoda and Kia have used Reddit conversations to shape campaigns, product positioning and creative strategy, proving that some of the most valuable insights aren't found in focus groups but in the conversations customers are already having. For CMOs navigating AI disruption, fragmented attention spans and declining trust, this episode offers a powerful reminder: information is no longer the scarce resource. Confidence is. The brands that help consumers validate decisions, reduce uncertainty and add genuine value will be the ones that win in the validation economy. This episode is brought to you by impact advisory, communications and events agency, ImpactInstitute in partnership with Adobe. www.impactinstitute.com.au | https://business.adobe.com/au

August 5, 2026Episode 25533 min

How Tourism Tasmania turned a weakness into a brand asset

What happens when a tourism brand stops apologising for its perceived weaknesses and turns them into its greatest strength? In this episode of The CMO Show , host Mark Jones sits down with Lindene Cleary, Chief Marketing Officer at Tourism Tasmania, to unpack the strategy behind one of Australia's most distinctive and effective destination marketing platforms: Come down for Air and its Autumn/Winter extension, The Off Season . Now in its sixth year, the The Off Season campaign has helped transform winter from a traditional tourism challenge into a compelling reason to visit Tasmania. Lindene shares how the team identified a long-term structural problem facing the state's tourism industry, why discounting wasn't the answer, and how they built a brand platform that encouraged visitors to embrace, rather than avoid, the cold. The conversation explores the evolution of the campaign's now-iconic black-and-white creative aesthetic, the strategic decision to lean into Tasmania's raw winter identity, and the importance of staying true to the realities of the destination. Lindene also discusses the role of long-term brand building, stakeholder alignment, and why smaller brands with limited budgets often can't afford to play it safe. Along the way, she reveals how bold earned-media activations such as Odd Jobs for the Off Season generated global attention, how marketers can distinguish between a strategy that's failing and an execution that's tiring, and how Tourism Tasmania balances long-term brand salience with the pressure to deliver measurable tourism outcomes. This episode is packed with practical lessons on brand courage, stakeholder management, creative effectiveness, and the power of consistent long-term thinking for marketers in any category. This episode is brought to you by impact advisory, communications and events agency, ImpactInstitute in partnership with Adobe. www.impactinstitute.com.au | https://business.adobe.com/au

July 23, 2026Episode 25422 min

Marketing lessons from the Social Media capital of the world

In this episode, Mark Jones sits down with Emmanuel Cruz, Assistant Vice President of Digital Marketing at Philippine Airlines, to explore how the 85-year-old airline is transforming for a digital-first future. Cruz paints a fascinating picture of the Philippines' social landscape, where Facebook, Instagram and TikTok aren't just channels , they're part of everyday life, shaping how people discover, connect and buy. He shares how Philippine Airlines has shifted to a platform-first strategy, creating different content for different audiences: Facebook for the mass market, Instagram for premium travellers, and TikTok for younger consumers. The conversation reveals how social media is collapsing the traditional marketing funnel, with awareness, consideration and conversion increasingly happening in the same place. Drawing parallels to the kind of cultural fandom that powers global stars like Bad Bunny, Cruz explains why brands today need to participate in culture, not just advertising. He also discusses AI-generated content, personalisation, viral campaigns, and the airline's award-winning safety video, which tapped into Filipino culture to drive remarkable engagement. It's a masterclass in how brand s can stay relevant by combining heritage, technology and social-first storytelling in an AI-powered world. This episode is brought to you by impact advisory, communications and events agency, ImpactInstitute in partnership with Adobe. www.impactinstitute.com.au | https://business.adobe.com/au

July 9, 2026Episode 25336 min

The Trust Deficit: What Marketers Must Do Next

T rust is rising in Australia according to this year's Trust Barometer , but so is anxiety, division and scepticism. In this episode of The CMO Show, Mark Jones is joined by Jo Osorio, Chief of Staff & Interim CEO of Edelman Australia, and Paula Cowan, Managing Director of ImpactInstitute , to unpack th is year's findings and explore what they mean for marketers, communicators and business leaders . The conversation examines a growing paradox. While trust in government and media continues to decline, employers and businesses continue to be seen as the most reliable institutions in people's lives. Against a backdrop of rising anxiety, economic uncertainty and increasing social division, organisations are being asked to do more than communicate effectively. They are being challenged to demonstrate competence, integrity, purpose and care. Jo and Paula discuss the intersection of trust and social impact, in tackling what the Trust Barometer outlines as an increasingly insular mindset. They explore the importance of reputation built on social good as a brand lever . For marketers, the implications are significant. The discussion explores how organisations can communicate sustainability and impact with credibility, activate trusted voices, and build stronger relationships with stakeholders through listening, transparency and genuine engagement. The episode also examines the role of trust during periods of transformation, from AI and workforce change to evolving expectations around diversity, inclusion and social impact. Jo and Paula share practical insights into measuring impact, fostering collaboration across differing viewpoints and creating the conditions for long-term trust inside and outside organisations. Ultimately, this conversation challenges leaders to rethink trust not as a reputation metric, but as the foundation for meaningful relationships, organisational resilience and sustainable growth in an increasingly divided world. This episode is brought to you by impact advisory, communications and events agency, ImpactInstitute in partnership with Adobe. www.impactinstitute.com.au | https://business.adobe.com/au

June 24, 2026Episode 25225 min

From Tradies to Trending: The Reece Reinvention

How do you evolve a 100-year-old trade brand into a modern, design-led retail powerhouse? In this episode of The CMO Show , host Mark Jones sits down with Jessica Park, CMO of Reece Group, to explore the art of balancing legacy with bold transformation. Reece has long been synonymous with Australia's plumbing and trade sector, built on trust, quality, and deep relationships with tradies . But the brand is expanding beyond its B2B heritage, embracing a B2C and B2B2C future driven by design, innovation, and seamless omnichannel experiences. At the centre of this evolution is a reimagining of retail. Jessica takes listeners inside Reece's newest flagship Rosebery showroom, where physical and digital experiences converge to simplify complex customer decisions. From interactive tools and mood boards to over 200,000 product variations, the space is designed to help customers confidently "mix and match" and move from inspiration to execution. Drawing on her agency background, Park shares how skills like building high-performing teams, rapid problem-solving, and creative strategy translate powerfully into in-house marketing. The conversation digs into the realities of modern marketing: customers who start their journey online, arrive in-store armed with research, and expect a seamless, personalised experience across every touchpoint. For Reece, success lies in "stitching" those channels together, blending human expertise with digital capability to remove friction and elevate the brand experience. Ultimately, this episode is a lesson in brand evolution, showing how respect for heritage, combined with a relentless focus on customer experience, creativity, and commercial impact, can unlock new growth. This episode is brought to you by impact advisory, communications and events agency, ImpactInstitute in partnership with Adobe. www.impactinstitute.com.au | https://business.adobe.com/au

June 11, 2026Episode 25136 min

Live from Adobe Summit: Three conversations redefining modern marketing

Recorded at Adobe Summit in Las Vegas, this special episode of The CMO Show brings together three marketing leaders navigating transformation in real time and what it actually takes to make it work. Across financial services, education and global enterprise, one message is clear: AI is accelerating everything, but real transformation still takes time, structure and serious organisational change. This episode cuts through the hype to show what that looks like in practice. Arpan Saha, Chief Digital Officer at Nippon India Mutual Fund, shares how his team is rethinking customer experience in a market of more than a billion people. By benchmarking against e-commerce leaders, they're simplifying investing, using AI and data to create more intuitive, personalised and accessible journeys at scale. It's a powerful example of what happens when you design for real customer behaviour, not industry convention. At RMIT, Darren Boyle unpacks a six-year transformation focused on moving beyond legacy systems to deliver more dynamic, personalised experiences. But his key insight is that this isn't just about technology . It's about clarity of purpose, aligning teams and systems, and staying focused on the long-term journey required to actually make transformation stick. And from a global enterprise lens, Mark McCluskey at Genpact shares how to transform marketing at scale. From brand to operations, his team has rebuilt the function end-to-end, showing what it really takes to connect strategy, technology and execution across an organisation. It's a practical look at how to drive change while bringing people with you. It's a practical look at how to simplify complex customer journeys, scale personalisation and rethink how your marketing function operates in an AI-driven world. If transformation is on your agenda, this is an episode you won't want to miss. This episode is brought to you by impact advisory, communications and events agency, ImpactInstitute in partnership with Adobe. www.impactinstitute.com.au | https://business.adobe.com/au

May 14, 2026Episode 25025 min

Simplifying one of marketing's most complex customer journeys: Choosing a university

Recorded at Adobe Summit 2026, this episode of The CMO Show features Yasmin Spencer, Director of Marketing at Western Sydney University, unpacking the research-led reset reshaping one of marketing's most complex paths to purchase – choosing a uni . After extensive domestic and international research, Yasmin and her team uncovered a clear shift in how students choose where to study. More than half of the top 15 decision drivers now centre on outcomes, specifically how likely a university is to help them land a job. The degree is no longer the product. The destination is. But the defining insight wasn't just about employability , it was the experience gap. Students are benchmarking universities against the best consumer brands they use every day. As Yasmin puts it, they can order from The Iconic and receive delivery in three hours, yet wait months for a university offer. From application to enrolment, the journey has become more complex than getting a home loan and that disconnect is no longer acceptable. This episode reframes higher education as a customer experience problem, not communications one. Yasmin breaks down what it takes to meet modern expectations for speed, simplicity and service, and what real customer-centricity looks like when it's tied to outcomes, not activity. You'll hear how Western Sydney University is responding in practice, from launching ODIE, an AI-powered Open Day concierge designed to remove real friction, to simultaneously leading a major marketing team restructure. By simplifying the operating model, rebuilding capability and focusing the team on experience, execution and impact, they've created the conditions to fix a journey that has historically been too complex to convert. This episode is brought to you by impact advisory, communications and events agency, ImpactInstitute in partnership with Adobe. www.impactinstitute.com.au | https://business.adobe.com/au

April 30, 2026Episode 24922 min

Snags, Red Shirts & Culture: Unpacking the Bunnings effect

From the iconic sausage sizzle to i t s team of red shirts and partnerships with Vegemite and Bluey, Bunnings isn't just a brand... it's a staple of Australian culture . Recently named Australia's most trusted brand by Roy Morgan, the warehouse giant is s upported by a seriously deliberate marketing machine focused on community engagement . Recorded live on the shop floor, this episode of The CMO Show sits down with Justine Mills, General Manager of Marketing at Bunnings, to unpack how a hardware store has become part of Australia's cultural fabric. This isn't about glossy campaigns or influencer deals. It's about why the person in the red shirt knows more than any brand ambassador ever could and how Bunnings has built systems to let real frontline expertise lead the marketing. Justine dives into the Red Shirt Content Creator program, how everyday team members have bec ome trusted creators, and why its inhouse content engine, Hammer Media , works not just as a retail media network, but as a credibility gener ator . You'll hear how Bunnings captures real in ‑ store moments and resists polishing them into something unrecognisable. No hype. No hard sell. Just useful help, delivered in the same tone Australians have trusted for decades. For CMOs navigating growth and authenticity in an era of performance metrics and attribution, this episode breaks it down: how do you scale without losing soul? How do you drive a sector without feeling corporate? And how do you make marketing feel less like marketing and more like part of the community you serve? It's rare look at how one of Australia's most iconic brands earns trust, keeps it, and proves that the most powerful marketing strategy still starts on the shop floor… preferably near the snag stand. This episode is brought to you by impact advisory, communications and events agency, ImpactInstitute in partnership with Adobe. www.impactinstitute.com.au | https://business.adobe.com/au

April 16, 2026Episode 24737 min

Designing brands for Machine Customers

Your customers aren't just human anymore. They're machines...and they're already making decisions about your brand. Agentic commerce is here, and it's predicted to account for $300B–$500B in sales by 2030. Brands that design only for humans are already silently losing billions. In this episode of The CMO Show, we talk to author of [descriptor] book, Machine Customers , Katja Forbes. They are joined by Gurvinder Singh, CMO at Altimetrik, which is putting Katja's principles into action. Together they unpack the next tectonic shift in marketing: AI agents as buyers, validators, and gatekeepers. From AI agents rejecting suppliers over expired certifications to entire networks blacklisting brands in seconds based on poor data hygiene, this conversation exposes a blunt truth. Marketing is becoming machine‑readable, binary, and unforgiving. It's data. Verified. Structured. Machine‑legible. If machines can't read your brand, they won't trust it. And if they don't trust it, they won't buy it. This episode shows you how to navigate the shift, what to change, what to prioritise, and how CMOs can lead as machines move from channels to customers. This episode is brought to you by impact advisory, communications and events agency, ImpactInstitute in partnership with Adobe. www.impactinstitute.com.au | https://business.adobe.com/au