Serving the APAC Marketing Community: A New Chapter with CMO Council APAC
They say a CMO is often like a "Chief Magic Officer" because companies expect miracles.
It’s a line I’ve used before, and it usually gets a laugh in the forums I have spoken at. But for those of us sitting in the chair, the humour masks a very real pressure. We are expected to pull growth out of hats, turn shrinking budgets into double-digit ROI, and predict the future of consumer behaviour, all while ensuring the brand "pops."
Yesterday, I shared the news on LinkedIn that I’ve been appointed as the President of the CMO Council for the APAC Region. I am deeply honoured by the trust placed in me by Donovan Neale-May, the CMO Council, and Vivek Kumar, the APAC Chair of the CMO Council. This isn’t just an announcement about a new role. It’s a statement about why I care deeply about the marketing fraternity, and why the next decade in APAC will define the future of marketing globally.
The APAC Mandate: 2035 and Counting
The data is clear: Asia Pacific is set to become the world's largest consumer market by 2035. The centre of gravity is shifting, and with it, the pressure on APAC CMOs is reaching an all-time high.
The opportunity is immense, but so is the complexity. We are operating in a region that is simultaneously mobile-first, culturally fragmented, and hyper-competitive. The days of simply "colouring in" the lines drawn by global HQ are over. The mandate now is to be the strategic engine of growth.
But here is the hard truth: You cannot be a strategic engine if you are running on empty.
Why Community is Strategy
I have written before about the marketing budget being a zero-sum game. Budgets aren't magically expandable; every new "shiny object" or AI tool we adopt usually requires a trade-off elsewhere. Navigating these trade-offs requires more than just intuition; it requires collective intelligence.
This is why I am so passionate about the CMO Council and the role of this fraternity. The CMO role can be incredibly lonely. You are often the only one in the C-suite speaking the language of brand equity while your peers speak the language of EBITDA.
To stay relevant, we need to bridge the gap between creativity, data, AI, and business strategy. No single leader has the perfect map for this convergence. We need a steady hand on the wheel, but we also need a navigator. That navigator is our peer network.
The Future of the Role
The skillset required to sit in the CMO chair has fundamentally shifted. We are no longer just custodians of the brand; we are architects of the customer experience and stewards of first-party data.
As we look toward 2026 and the 25th anniversary of the CMO Council, my vision for our community in APAC is simple:
Move from "Magic" to Logic: Let’s validate our "miracles" with rigorous data and accountable business impact.
Embrace the "And": We need to be creative souls and data scientists. We need to focus on brand and performance. It is not a choice; it is an integration.
Leverage Collective Intelligence: We will navigate the AI revolution and the privacy-first web better if we do it together.
A Call to Join the Journey
To the marketing leaders in APAC who are navigating this shift: You are not alone.
This presidency is not about me standing at a podium; it’s about building a table where we can all sit, debate, learn, and grow. It is about ensuring that when we are asked to perform "magic," we have the tools, the network, and the strategy to actually deliver it.
If you are a Marketing leader in the Asia-Pacific region and aren’t yet part of our APAC CMO Council community, I invite you to join us. The future of marketing is being written right here, right now. Let’s hold the pen together.
