Marcus Evans, the global business intelligence and events company with four decades of experience producing premium executive forums, has announced the CMO Summit 2026. 

Now in its 19th edition, the summit is scheduled for 22-23 July at the Crowne Plaza Surfers Paradise in Queensland, Australia.

The invitation-only gathering of the country’s most senior marketing executives is designed to facilitate strategic dialogue, peer learning and high-value professional connections.

Now firmly established as one of Australia’s premier marketing leadership forums, the CMO Summit brings together chief marketing officers, marketing directors and senior brand strategists from leading organisations across retail, technology, telecommunications, financial services and beyond. 

The 2026 edition reflects the increasing complexity of the modern marketing function and the growing demand for leaders who can operate at the intersection of creativity, data and commercial accountability.

A program built around what matters

The summit’s content agenda has been developed in direct response to the strategic priorities and pressures facing today’s marketing leaders. Sessions will address six core themes that define the current marketing landscape.

Marketing Reimagined with AI: examining how organisations are moving beyond experimentation to embed artificial intelligence (AI), predictive analytics and dynamic personalisation into their core marketing operations in ways that deliver measurable commercial impact. 

Brand Credibility in the Digital Age: tackling one of the most pressing challenges in modern marketing – maintaining consumer trust in an environment saturated with AI-generated content, misinformation and heightened scepticism.

Empowering Marketing Talent: addressing talent as a strategic asset, with dedicated sessions exploring how organisations can attract, develop and retain the calibre of professionals needed to compete in a fast-evolving landscape. 

CMO as a Value Maximiser: speakinh directly to the budget and accountability pressures facing senior marketers, and focusing on how to align investment with business outcomes and demonstrate the commercial value of the marketing function. 

Dynamic Operations and Marketing in Sync: rounding out the agenda, and addressing the operational and cross-functional alignment challenges that determine whether strategy translates into execution.

An exceptional speaker faculty

The 2026 speaker faculty represents some of the most accomplished marketing professionals in Australia and globally. Miki Luong, chief marketing and communications officer at IBM ANZ, brings a global technology perspective to the conversation on AI and brand strategy. James Holloman, CMO at David Jones, offers insight into brand transformation and consumer engagement at one of Australia’s most iconic retail institutions. Jordana Sunderland, director of Integrated Marketing at Schneider Electric, contributes a global marketing lens to discussions on cross-functional alignment and campaign effectiveness.

Further sessions will be led by Hannah Fillis, head of Digital Marketing and Media at MECCA, Karinne Limberiou, head of Marketing at Telstra Enterprise, Jodi Murray-Freedman, CMO at Bakers Delight, and Wadim Schreiner, head of Brand Strategy and Customer Propositions at Woolworths Group, among others.

An invitation-only forum

Attendance at the CMO Summit is by invitation only. This deliberate approach ensures that every participant is a senior decision-maker and that the conversations are substantive, confidential and genuinely useful. 

The format combines keynote presentations, interactive sessions and structured one-to-one meetings, giving both executives and solution providers the opportunity to engage in focused, productive dialogue.

For more information or to request an invitation, contact Stavros Karelidis, senior marketing manager at Marcus Evans Summits, at +357 22849378 or email [email protected] 

Read more: Top marketing leaders to assemble at CMO ANZ Summit