Journey to CMO: Top Tips to Get Ahead in

We were absolutely delighted to act as the Talent Sponsor for the first in a professional development series presented by the Austcham Marketing & Media Committee last night on the topic ‘Journey to CMO: Accelerating Your Marketing Career’.

We were extremely lucky to have an absolutely fantastic panel including Garry Bissett, Director of Marketing, Dining Concepts, Kevin Clayton Chief Marketing Officer, Galaxy Entertainment Group, Stuart Woollford, Regional Head of Brand & Marketing Strategy, Asia Pacific, HSBC and finally Justin Leung, Director & Head of Practice (Marketing) at Ambition Asia, acting as the moderator.

In front of a full house of marketing professionals enjoying a glass of wine and some nibbles (thanks Frites Central!), the panel engaged in a wide-ranging and insightful discussion. Some of the topics covered included the key challenges they faced in their career journey, what they look for when they hire marketing professionals, the impact of technology in the role of marketing as well as their top tips to get ahead in your career and become a CMO.

With a combined 70+ years of marketing experience between them, if I wrote all of their advice down it would be an incredibly long article! However, below is a summary of ‘6 top tips’ for marketing professionals aspiring to get ahead below:

Marketing = Selling – In any marketing role, you are always selling yourself, your ideas, recommendations and strategy. In most cases, (unless you work in an agency) this will be to an ‘internal’ client but your ability to persuade and use other qualified data to back your recommendations up is critical.
Seek Mentorship – identify either inside or outside of your organisation key individuals that you respect and admire that can act as ‘mentors’ to you throughout career journey. If you are struggling to find a mentor then do approach Austcham who have a Mentor scheme you can sign up for it here.
Get ‘Stuff’ Done! – Successful marketers who get ahead in their careers ‘make things happen’ and are highly pro-active, not reactive. They drive through projects, they manage change, they push concepts and ideas and actively seek involvement in new projects and initiatives outside of the day-to-day remit
Continuous Improvement – Make sure you have a personal development plan and a strategy to learn new skills and pro-actively seek our training opportunities. In addition, push yourself out of your comfort zone on a regular basis!
Manage Upwards & Promote your personal brand - In any senior role in marketing strong communication, presentation and interpersonal skills are critical. If this is not your strength then upskill, (take courses and actively seek out presentation opportunities!).
Embrace Technology & Innovation and stay up to date with latest technologies or otherwise, you will be left behind!

Many thanks to our panellists and to all those who attended as well as the sponsors, St. Regis and The New York Times. If you are interested in attending our next professional development series discussion, please get in touch.