Steve Maciver is a globally experienced automotive, executive general manager with extensive marketing, sales and operations experience. He boasts over 25 years in the automobile industry, working for the likes of KGM Australia, Mazda and Holden, before landing the top marketing job at GWM Australian and New Zealand.
As the top marketer in one of the longest-standing Chinese auto brand in Australia, Maciver is challenged with building a brand awareness that competes with Australia’s legacy brands, whilst also navigating the growing, competitive Chinese market.
Now into our second season of B&T’s CMOs To Watch, presented by Zenith, Maciver joins the ranks of visionary marketing leaders redefining the playbook. This series celebrates those who balance bold ideas with business impact and have a whole lot of fun along the way.
B&T sat down with Maciver to discuss his love for motorbikes and Adidas, the competitive automobile category and building brand awareness.
B&T: Let’s get to know you… What three things would you take to a desert island?
Steve Maciver: A knife or machete, a necessity for gathering food and firewood; a lighter, I’m probably not the ‘rubbing sticks to make fire’ kind of guy; and something to play music on, a short-lived pleasure maybe until the batteries run out but having some music would make the stranded island experience much more bearable!
B&T: What is your passion outside of work? If you weren’t a CMO, what would you be doing?
SM: If it’s on two-wheels, either with a motor or without, that’s where you’d find me.
I’d certainly be riding my bike or my motorbike and exploring the great roads of Australia a lot more often.
B&T: What was your favourite campaign of all time?
SM: I’m going back to my European football-loving roots here and showing my age a little bit but Secret Tournament by Nike (2002) has got to be up there.
Showcasing some of Nike’s global football talent of the era in a slightly dark but also humorous way, combined with a cracking remix of ‘A Little Less Conversation’ by Elvis just landed so well.
And anyone who knows me, can testify that I’m a sneakerhead but Adidas is my brand, certainly not Nike.
To have selected that ad shows the impact it had me. Yes, it grew my respect for the coolness of the Nike brand but not enough to buy their sneakers!
B&T: Now let’s talk shop. What is your brand’s top priority for the next 12 months?
SM: As a marketer, it’s always a tense trade-off between short-term demand generation and long-term brand-building.
At GWM, we’re in an extremely competitive marketplace with many new auto brands entering.
As such, maximising efficiency through the marketing and media mix to deliver enquiry (both in volume and quality) to our dealers is the number one priority.
And if that supports the wider GWM team to meet our 2026 sales targets, then it’s a win for all of us.
But that certainly doesn’t mean we have to forget completely about brand.
B&T: What channel is exciting you the most and how do you split your marketing budgets between long/short and channels mix?
SM: A typical GWM marketing plan might be spread across as many 30 different publishers each quarter with a fairly even spread across broad awareness and more demand-focused performance media
Of course, this depends on current business objectives such as launching new products or taking into account peak sales periods – yes, End of Financial Year is also huge in auto.
If I’m being honest, I try not to get ‘excited’ by new or emerging channels but instead take a more cautious test and learn approach to ensure that we’re placing budgets that deliver the best return.
That said, video formats are becoming an increasingly important way to introduce the GWM brand to a wider audience.
B&T: What is the biggest challenge you currently face in the marketplace?
SM: GWM is the longest-standing Chinese auto brand in Australia having been here since 2009.
But even then, we still don’t have the brand awareness of some of the longer established ‘legacy’ brands who have been Down Under for over 60 years.
That hasn’t stopped us reaching top seven in sales but continuing to build awareness, consideration and intent will most certainly help unlock even more brand preference for GWM.
Australia has one of the most competitive auto markets anywhere in the world and only the strongest brands manage to achieve top 10 or top five status and stay there for the long haul, but that’s GWM’s ambition.
B&T: What are you most excited about in the marketplace?
SM: The auto category is changing at pace, more so than ever.
Newer brands like GWM are delivering strong sales growth, in many cases at the expense of the more traditional brands.
Brand loyalty in the category isn’t what it used to be and this creates an opportunity to be a disruptor and to write our own story of what GWM really stands for locally.
Customers are really receptive to brands like GWM doing things differently
This comes to life in the way that the way that the GWM brand shows up in our campaigns, our sponsorships and our activations which all helps to build brand preference more quickly.
As a marketer, to be free of long-standing expectations and to look at every opportunity with a fresh perspective is very exciting.
B&T: Where do you see yourself in five years’ time?
SM: That’s a big question. I’m passionate about marketing and communications and that’s been the backbone of my career for the last 20 or so years.
But I’m also passionate about the auto industry, which I’ve now been in for 25 years, and certainly wouldn’t rule out other senior opportunities that were focussed on other areas of the business beyond marketing and comms.
Whether that’s in auto or another category, let’s see what the future holds…
B&T: Speaking hypothetically what’s one brand, product or category you’d like to sink your teeth into right now as a marketer?
SM: That’s an easy one – Adidas.
It’s a brand that I’ve been hooked on since I was five years old.
As global brand with huge heritage, and although obviously still very strong, it doesn’t have the global dominance it once did.
But Adidas is very much on the rise again and taking it to its main competitor, Nike.
As a guy who started his marketing career in sports fashion working with brands like Adidas, it would be an interesting full-circle experience to go back there a couple of decades later.
B&T: Zenith believe there is untapped media potential we need to uncover. What is your prediction for media this year?
SM: There’s no doubt that AI will continue to see growth across digital media channels in 2026.
Not just in audience selection, targeting and messaging but also in the development of dynamic creative being used across the media mix.
Live sports will continue to prop up linear TV, particularly with marquee events like the Winter Olympics of which GWM is a major partner.
I predict that we’ll also see continued growth in out-of-home as brands look for strong visual reach to complement targeted performance digital.
