The CMO Tension Report: Navigating growth across APAC's complex world

We’ve long been clear that marketing is the key driver of growth in business. Increasingly though, as we talk to marketers across the world, we hear the same thing. The biggest source of tension CMOs face is bridging the gap between the business’s ambition to grow and the reality of delivering that growth.

The CMO Tension Report: Navigating growth across APAC's complex world

The CMO Tension, developed in partnership with The Marketing Society, brings together the perspectives of 14 senior marketing and business leaders across APAC, to explore how they are navigating this challenge.

Why this report matters

Marketing is harder now than it has ever been. Not because marketing itself has changed, but because the context has changed so much.

Media choice has grown exponentially. What was once a trickle of data is now a firehose. Consumer expectations have changed. Technological advancement continues unabated. Alongside these external factors, equally powerful forces are at work within the organisation.

As this report makes clear, these tensions play out across multiple dimensions, from AI vs. people, creativity vs. scale and automation, to data availability vs. decision clarity, measurement vs. fragmented ownership, and the ongoing pressure between short-term ROI and long-term brand value. And, of course, all these tensions interact.

This is not a technology problem. Nor is it a creativity problem. It is a decision problem.

As highlighted throughout the report, the challenge facing CMOs is not a lack of tools, data, or capability, but how decisions are made within increasingly complex organisations. Leaders are navigating fragmented ownership, misaligned KPIs, and competing priorities across the C-suite, all of which make consistent, confident decision-making more difficult.

While leaders have more data, technology, and tools than ever before, the challenge is not simply access but rather how decisions are made.
Technology, AI, and data have enormous potential, but only when grounded in robust measurement frameworks, shared definitions of success, and a clear understanding of how marketing drives business outcomes over time.

At the same time, the report highlights the ongoing tension between efficiency and effectiveness. While AI is improving speed and productivity, impact depends on how organisations operate, including data, workflows, integration, and governance. Without this foundation, organisations risk focusing on efficiency without delivering effectiveness or long-term value.

Perspectives from across APAC

This report brings together fourteen senior marketing & business leaders, across APAC and from sectors including FMCG, financial services, retail, travel, and technology.

Meet our contributors:

Contributors

• Edward Bell, General Manager, Brand, Insights and Marketing Communications, Cathay Pacific
• Lex Bradshaw-Zanger, Chief Marketing & Digital Officer, SAPMENA, L’Oréal Groupe
• Julie Nestor, Executive Vice President, Head of Marketing & Communications APAC, Mastercard
• Stephanie Ng, Managing Director, Global Head of Marketing, International Wealth and Premier Banking, HSBC
• J. Oliver Braunoeder, Marketing Director APAC, Lacoste
• Allen Cai, CMO, Greater China, Nestlé
• Gaurav Datta, Global Brand Vice President, Personal Care, Unilever
• Jack Foley, Chief Marketing Officer - KFC, South Asia, Yum! Brands
• Haymans Fung, Managing Director, Global Head of Wealth and Retail Bank Marketing, Standard Chartered
• Eugene Lee, Chief Marketing Officer, CHAGEE, APAC
• Jeremy Lee, Head of Middle East and South Asia, Pop Mart
• Nadia Touil Louis, Head of Digital Marketing & eCommerce – Asia Oceania Africa Middle East, Nestlé
• Alvin Neo, Chief Customer & Marketing Officer, FairPrice Group
• Celine Sciortino, Group VP Brand & Marketing, FWD Insurance

Their perspectives reflect an important shift taking place across the profession: from marketing as execution to marketing as a strategic growth engine.

Read the full report

The CMO Tension shares how senior marketing and business leaders across APAC are thinking about these tensions in their daily lives, such as how they are driving growth, the barriers they face, and the changes that would make their jobs less difficult.

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