The CMO Show

Hosted by ImpactInstitute

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251

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Jun 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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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 its 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 supported 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 become trusted creators, and why its inhouse content engine, Hammer Media, works not just as a retail media network, but as a credibility generator. 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

April 2, 2026Episode 24633 min

How to stay sane in the AI chaos with Cameron Partridge

Want to know why marketers need to stop trying to keep up with AI? How about what they should focus on? In this episode, Cameron Partridge, the Australian growth leader who helped scale Invisible Technologies into a $2 billion unicorn, talks staying focused in the AI noise. Across brand credentialisation the death of channel specialists, the rise of systems thinkers, and the danger of chasing shiny tools, the new Humanforce growth officer shares a simple message: GenAI hasn't changed the fundamentals of marketing. It's just made them harder. From working with Google, Meta and Microsoft, Cameron has witnessed the industry evolve at breakneck speed. We can now create more content than ever, but standing out requires sharper thinking, deeper focus, and an unshakeable commitment to consistency and trust. Unicorns aren't built on noise; they're built on discipline. If you want the truth about AI, growth and the future of marketing roles, this episode is your blueprint. 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

March 19, 2026Episode 24530 min

Rethinking Creativity with Accenture Song's Nick Law

Live from the Adobe AI Forum, this episode is your front‑row seat to a creative reboot with Nick Law, Accenture Song's Chief Creative Chairperson, Aussie expat and veteran of Apple, Publicis and R/GA. Nick argues that the real opportunity with AI isn't found at the extremes. It lives in what he calls the "missing middle" the space between systems‑obsessed strategists and wildly expressive creatives. It's a space most organisations have let collapse, and rebuilding it will be the differentiator. The marketers who thrive will be the ones who can finally stitch those worlds back together. And then comes his challenge to leaders: "Work with freaks." Because safe work gets buried. Bold work gets shortlisted, shared and chosen. In buying groups drowning in algorithm‑generated sameness, the unconventional thinker is now your unfair advantage. If you're a marketer trying to make sense of the AI tidal wave, this conversation is your cheat code. And, yes, he tackles the question everyone's whispering (or panicking) about: "How will AI affect my job?" His answer is surprisingly energising and brutally clear on what stays human. If you want to design a marketing future where AI is your ally, not your competitor, this episode shows you how. Discover what it means to lead teams where every discipline is becoming an AI discipline, where talent lives everywhere, and where the most powerful differentiators remain value, story and distinctly human ingenuity. 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

March 5, 2026Episode 24443 min

The Lamb Ad: Unpacking Australia's most anticipated ad of the year

What does it really take to keep one of Australia's most talked‑about campaigns culturally captivating every single year? In this CMO Show masterclass, Nathan Low, CMCO at Meat & Livestock Australia, lifts the curtain on the annual Lamb Ad. It's a deep dive into the creative mindset of this enduring cultural moment. We get a behind the scenes look at the process, which starts well before a single line is written, scanning the cultural landscape to understand what feels big enough to bring people together. Nathan hints at the six‑month rhythm, from exploring broad cultural territories to pressure‑testing concepts and why the Lamb brief stays constant even as the culture shifts around it. And here's the paradox every marketer wants to create: in a world where most consumers pay to skip ads, Australians still make time for this one, waiting for the drop each January, sharing it and, more often than not, helping it jump borders and make global headlines. That kind of anticipation doesn't come from media spend; it comes from culture, comedy and craft and from an organisation willing to back brave ideas, knowing "safe" ones would be riskier. Listen in if you want to know how to evolve your brand's marketing without losing the core, how to balance instinct with just‑enough research, and how to turn a campaign into a national conversation people choose to watch. 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

February 19, 2026Episode 24328 min

Rethinking B2B: Amazon's unexpected Aussie marketing lessons

Australia isn't just another western market. Amazon learned this quickly in its 12th market roll out. In this episode of The CMO Show, Lena Zak, Country Manager for Amazon Business Australia, discusses the nuances of branding in an unusually personal, human‑to‑human business culture with distinct approaches to buying and supplier relationships. From buyer instincts shaped by Amazon's B2C footprint to the procurement friction unique to local organisations, Lena shares the surprises that forced her team to rethink assumptions and rework their approach, including the need to explain what Amazon Business even is before they could persuade anyone why it matters. What are Lena's biggest lessons? How listening beat out global playbooks in a market where trust still trumps technology How the whimsical Little Bo Peep campaign became an unlikely shortcut to clarity and cultural connection Why simplicity in fast shipping, easy controls and fewer suppliers to manage proved the strongest lever for earning confidence with Australian organisations navigating digital transformation. It's a behind‑the‑scenes look at the decisions, challenges and creative swings that defined one of Amazon's most interesting market launches and a reminder that in B2B, understanding how people buy is still the most powerful strategy of all. 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

February 5, 2026Episode 24230 min

How Intrepid Travel navigates the disruption-reinvention cycle

Few industries are tested as relentlessly as travel. From economic uncertainty and sustainability pressures to rapid technological change, travel brands have had to constantly survive disruption. Hazel McGuire, CMO of Intrepid Travel's answer has been constant reinvention and it's put them on the road to becoming a the first billion-dollar global travel brand. In this episode of The CMO Show, Ms McGuire, shares what it takes to lead through disruption in an industry that is always rebuilding itself, and how she is navigating that complexity. Hazel unpacks how the company responded to the post‑COVID reset, as travellers began seeking deeper meaning, stronger social connection and better value from the experiences they choose. She explains why, even amid cost‑of‑living pressures, travel continues to matter,—and how brands must move beyond short‑term transactions to build long‑term resilience. You'll also hear how Intrepid's long‑standing B Corp commitment shapes decision‑making behind the scenes, helping the business balance purpose and profit without turning values into a marketing headline. From evolving beyond performance‑heavy marketing to investing in brand‑led storytelling, Hazel explores how Intrepid stays human, credible and trusted in an industry increasingly shaped by automation and AI. 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

January 22, 2026Episode 24127 min

How this global company's first CMO made marketing everyone's business

What would you do if you walked into a fast‑growing global company as its first ever CMO with no marketing playbook and no inherited systems? That was the challenge and opportunity facing David Levingston, Global Chief Marketing Officer at Aero Healthcare. In this episode of The CMO Show, David shares what it takes to build a marketing function from scratch that is treated not as a bolt-on, but as the connective force across product, data, brand and customer experience. The conversation explores sequencing intuition behind data and facts in the planning stages, looking for clarity before creativity and rethinking approaches to named vs generic brand 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