Louise Laing is not your average marketer. A purpose-led, award-winning powerhouse, Laing is currently general marketing manager ANZ at Intrepid Travel — the world’s largest adventure travel company and a certified B Corp. From helping Jetstar take flight in its early days, to shaping campaigns for Tourism Australia, Booking.com and Disney from the agency side, her career has spanned iconic brands and transformative moments.
CMOs to Watch, presented by Zenith, spotlights the visionaries leading the charge. This series delves into the strategies and perspectives of CMOs who are setting new standards, pushing boundaries, and driving impact in ways that redefine what it means to be a leader in marketing today.
As part of Intrepid’s first all-female regional leadership team, Laing has brought a bold mix of empathy, foresight and curiosity to the travel space. She’s just as passionate about lifting her team as she is about lifting the category, with a firm focus on growing Intrepid’s small group adventures in ANZ. Off the clock, you’ll likely find her hiking a remote trail in Portugal or Morocco, learning Spanish over smoky margaritas, or fan-girling over a green owl (Duolingo, naturally).
In this candid chat, Laing shares her love for Pearl Jam, her desert island essentials, her AI predictions for the year ahead, and why her biggest focus is building a brand that’s as adventurous and purpose-driven as the travellers who love it.
B&T: What three things would you take to a desert island?
Laing: A big thick Spanish dictionary, a couple of smoky margaritas and my beautiful partner. By the time we get off the island, we’ll have mastered the art of hablar-ing en Espanol and had fun doing it.
B&T: Favourite album, movie and book?
Laing: Album…Anything by Pearl Jam.
Movie….watching old videos of my dad. I miss hearing his voice.
Book…They poured fire on us from the sky By Alephonsion Deng. It moved me so deeply I wrote the author to let him know his story changed my view of the world (and to my surprise he emailed me back).
I also love reading books set in other countries, then go and explore the place for myself. The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy is perfect for anyone thinking of Southern India.
B&T: What is your passion outside of work? (Think hobbies, sports, etc) and please send us a photo of you doing it!
Laing: Travelling! I’m happiest on multi-day hikes. I’ve recently explored the lush Rose Valley in the Atlas Mountains in Morocco, climbed eight peaks across the Rockie Mountains around Banff in Canada, and waved hello to the local fishmen on the Rota Vincentina as I made my way down to the lighthouse on the southernmost tip of Portugal.
B&T: If you weren’t a CMO, what would you be doing?
Laing: I’d love to be a futurist. I’m fascinated with tomorrow and imaging what could and should be. I see endless possibilities in what lies ahead. I was fortunate enough to see Rohit Bhargava talk about being not-boring at SXSW. He shared his process and how he spots non-obvious future trends and innovation: it was inspiring.
B&T: What was your favourite campaign of all time?
Laing: Can I fan girl my favourite brand instead? I’m obsessed with Duolingo: that Owl! The brand only launched in 2011, and it’s revolutionised the way humans learn. Hands up if you’ve got a diehard friend hooked on keeping their streak? There’s more than 35 million people using Duo daily. Plus, it’s a company that’s doing a lot of good in the world: making education accessible for everyone is a mission worth getting out of bed for. They consistently see double digit growth yet have less than 1000 staff globally, plus they’re making a tonne of cash. I’d invite that Duo over for dinner any night of the week. Tip of the hat to their CMO Manu Orssaud.
B&T: … Now let’s talk shop. What is your brand’s top priority for the next 12 months?
Laing: We’re focused on growing the category in ANZ. Intrepid is a mature brand in this market, and the category leader, but it’s a niche category. Small group adventures take up a tiny 2% of the outbound travel category – so we’re looking to grow the pie.
I’m focused on creating Category Entry Points. As travellers, Aussies and Kiwis are curious. We want to scratch beneath the surface, have real experiences with locals, and leave a place better off than we found it. I remember sitting down for lunch with a goat farmer named Mohammed and his family in Morocco thinking “I could never, ever have found this experience on my own.”
Intrepid has been doing this for 35 years and once travellers know this type of experience exists, they choose immersive culture-rich experience over big tours buses, cruises or going it alone.
B&T: What channel is exciting you the most and how do you split your marketing budgets between long/short and channels mix?
Laing: Travel was hit HARD during lockdowns, but thanks to strong, smart leadership, we emerged like a phoenix from the pandemic ashes. It also gave us a chance to reexamine everything. We made the call to pull back on short (performance) and double down on long (brand), and it’s working.
My budget currently sits at roughly 65% long, and 35% short, and we’ve just had five record-breaking trading months in a row, including our biggest quarter ever for ANZ. I’m always looking to expand and diversify our channel mix too; we’ve just added sports sponsorship into the mix.
B&T: What is the biggest challenge you currently face in the marketplace?
Laing: The eye-watering costs across digital channels is causing headaches, but we’re less beholden to that now with our focus on brand and diversifying our channel mix. I’m also carving out time to stay ahead with new AI technology and how to use it to our advantage.
My number one focus is always trying to better for our team. I try to empower people, and create an environment where they can enjoy their roles. It’s our people that make the magic. I care about my team and want to make sure they’re thriving.
B&T: What campaign are you most proud of?
Laing: I worked on a few Tourism Australia campaigns when I was in agency-land, and the ‘Invite the World the Dinner’ event at Mona in beautiful Tasmania was a pinch-me moment.
We gathered influential people from around the world to join a food and wine adventure, meeting farmers and producers from all corners of Australia.
The finale event was Restaurant Australia, the best dinner party in the world. I remember looking over the event, feeling incredible proud that our idea had come to life.
I grew up on a dairy farm in a tiny town in South Gippsland, so have a soft spot for how hard farmers work to feed us all. I loved seeing Australia’s food and wine scene celebrated.
B&T: Where do you see yourself in five years time?
Laing: I love tech and AI, so ideally in a role where I can play in that space, maybe living in Europe so I can hike the entire continent!
B&T: Zenith is the presenting partner of B&T’s CMOs to Watch list. The agency takes a predictive view when it comes to industry perspectives. They’d like to know your prediction for marketing in the next 12 months.
Laing: Marketing professionals who learn and harness the power of AI for good will thrive. AI isn’t coming to take our jobs, but people who learn how to use will. People and businesses who prioritise learning how to use AI will leapfrog those who don’t.
Check out the other instalments in the CMOs To Watch series here:
- CMOs To Watch, Presented By Zenith: From Ski Slopes To C-Suite, Superloop’s Ben Colman Is Picking Up Speed
- CMOs To Watch, Presented By Zenith: ING’s Danielle Hamilton’s Lion-Hearted Marketing Approach
- CMOs To Watch, Presented By Zenith: From Backpackers To Brand Builders – How Welcome To Travel’s Darryl Newby Is Redefining Youth Tourism
- CMOs To Watch, Presented By Zenith: Asahi’s Jemma Downey On Brewing Creativity & Crafting Brand Growth
- CMOs To Watch, Presented By Zenith: How Tourism Tasmania’s Lindene Cleary Keeps The Bottom Of Australia Top Of Mind
- CMOs To Watch, Presented By Zenith: Lisa Little-Cain On Bushwalks, Big Ideas & Brand Brilliance At Aldi
- CMOs To Watch, Presented By Zenith: How Shad Haehae Is Raising The Marketing Bar & Raising His Daughter Along The Way
- CMOs To Watch, Presented By Zenith: Super Mum & Coles Super Marketer, Alex Piercy
- CMOs To Watch, Presented By Zenith: Telstra’s Alita McMenamin On Brand, Balance & The Power Of Family
- CMOs To Watch, Presented By Zenith: 28 Group’s Tim White On Storytelling, Social Media & Sport
- CMOs To Watch, Presented By Zenith: Meet Zach Kitschke, Full Time Canva CMO, Part Time Snowboarding Superstar
- CMOs To Watch, Presented By Zenith: Meet Peita Golden, Telco Marketing Boss, Footy Fanatic & Future Pub Owner
- CMOs To Watch, Presented By Zenith: Peter Chapman On Driving Reflections Holidays’ Brand Transformation & Reimagining Camping
- CMOs To Watch, Presented By Zenith: Gardening & Dinner Parties, How Vinyl Group’s Alli Galloway Finds Peace Outside Of The Roaring Live Music Scene
- CMO’s To Watch, Presented By Zenith: The Little Joys Behind Michelle Rowling’s Thrilling Life At Luna Park
- CMOs To Watch, Presented By Zenith: Hawthorn FC’s Dan Hamer’s Next Big Partnership
- CMOs To Watch, Presented By Zenith: DrinkWise’s Part Time Builder, Part Time Marketer, Nathan Kent
- CMOs To Watch, Presented By Zenith: Mountain Culture’s Out Of This World Bradley Firth
