Inaugural CMO Awards winners revealed; FMCG, QSR, banking and insurance, tourism and digital CMOs dominate the top 10

News 8 May 2025 - 2 min read

Inaugural CMO Awards winners revealed; FMCG, QSR, banking and insurance, tourism and digital CMOs dominate the top 10

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The winners of the inaugural CMO Awards, powered by Mi3, have been revealed, stretching a diverse wealth of roles and remits, categories, tenacity and brand heritage.

FMCG, Australis’s fast-grow QSR export, banking and insurance and digital categories have dominated the top 10 ranks of the inaugural Chief Marketing Officers of the Year Awards in 2025.

The winners of the inaugural CMO Awards, powered by Mi3, were revealed to a delighted and illustrious 170-strong marketing and industry leadership crowd last night at a gala dinner at the Eveleigh at The Grounds.

The new CMO recognition program is about recognising and elevating the excellence of Australia’s top marketing leadership talent and their teams. This year’s program was proudly supported by Platinum partner, Adobe, along with Gold Partners, Publicis Groupe and News Australia.

Winning #1 CMO of the Year was Guzman y Gomez global CMO, Lara Thom. For the judges, this was Thom’s year. Over her nine-year tenure and holding the reins for all revenue functions, Thom has led marketing, brand and commercial strategies through a period of extraordinary expansion. In FY2024, GYG’s total network sales reached $960 million, marking an increase of over $200 million from the previous year. Last year, GyG took its biggest step yet, listing on the Australian Stock Exchange in Australia’s largest ASX debut since 2021. Overwhelming demand led to an increase in the offer size to $335.1 million and upon listing, GYG’s shares surged by 36 per cent, elevating its market capitalisation to approximately $3 billion.

Following Thom in the top 5 CMOs of the Year ranks was The Arnott’s Group CMO, Jenni Dill. Rounding out the top 5 are Tourism Australia CMO, Susan Coghill (#3), Commonwealth Bank CMO, Jo Boundy (#4), and IAG chief customer and marketing officer, Michelle Klein (#5).

This year, three CMO-level categories were awarded: Chief Marketing Officers of the Year, recognising 51 finalists and a top 25 list of Chief Marketing Officers of the Year, plus an SMB CMO of the Year (up to 200 employees), and First-Time CMO of the Year.

This year’s program also includes a specialist Best Growth Initiative of the Year award, brought to you by Publicis Groupe. This year’s winner was The Arnott’s Group for its transformative gluten-free products.

Get the full low-down on the CMO Awards winners for 2025 here.

And you can find all the profiles of our CMOs of the Year winners along with a host of content in and around the CMO Awards program in Mi3’s dedicated CMO Awards section here.