Gavin Merriman, Jaguar Land Rover Australia’s marketing director has driven strong commercial results for the automotive manufacturer. This has been achieved through a switch from performance-led marketing to brand-led.
Merriman is a focused marketing and transformation leader with a proven ability to build evidence‑based marketing functions that drive measurable business growth.
He has and continues to partner with CEOs and boards to shape strategy that lead to competitive advantage and value creation.
Now into our third season of B&T’s CMOs To Watch, presented by Zenith, Merriman 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.
We hopped in the drivers seat with Merriman to discuss how the switch from performance-led to brand-led has seen significant improvements for JLR Australia, how he is increasing brand desirability and what he likes to do outside of the office.
B&T: Let’s get to know you… What three things would you take to a desert island?
Gavin Merriman: My family, my music, and a survival kit.
B&T: What is your passion outside of work? If you weren’t a CMO, what would you be doing?
GM: I’m a bit of a cork dork and foodie, so I’d love to run a winery, restaurant, and guest house—while also campaigning for democratic reform on the side.
B&T: What was your favourite campaign of all time?
GM: Apple, ‘Here’s to the crazy ones’ (Think Different) 1997.
B&T: Now let’s talk shop. What is your brand’s top priority for the next 12 months?
GM: Increasing brand desirability. Which I measure through first preference, worth paying more for, and market share growth.
B&T: What channel is exciting you the most and how do you split your marketing budgets between long/short and channels mix?
GM: Our channel split is guided by our econometric modelling (MMM), but we switched from performance-led to brand-led a couple of years ago and have seen significant improvements in brand health with strong commercial results since.
B&T: What is the biggest challenge you currently face in the marketplace?
GM: Fallout from the global geopolitical situation.
B&T: What are you most excited about in the marketplace?
GM: The whole generative and AI optimisation space is very interesting with far more immediate impacts other AI disruption.
B&T: Where do you see yourself in five years’ time?
GM: In five years? Honestly, I just hope the new robot overlords appreciate human creativity/intuition so keep me around as a semi useful pet.
B&T: Speaking hypothetically what’s one brand, product or category you’d like to sink your teeth into right now as a marketer?
GM: I’d like to look at democracy as a product category. It has a massive PR problem, has been largely untouched for centuries, and distrust in our institutions has never been higher. By applying modern consumer marketing strategies and choice architecture, we could enable collaboration through a seamless digital experience that people actually want to interact with.
B&T: Zenith believe there is untapped media potential we need to uncover. What is your prediction for media this year?
GM: We’ll see a shift to short termism, and the winners will be the brands that embrace evidence-based principles to get this balance right.
