In 2025, marketing leaders must unite departments from across their business, think long-term about the health of their brands and be bolder than ever as AI shifts industry sands at a staggering rate, according to Nestlé GM Martin Brown.
Starting his career in Nestlé’s marketing department, Brown was elevated to the general manager of the global FMCG giant’s dairy and coffee business in Australia in 2021. In 2023, he took part in The Marketing Academy’s (TMA) APAC Fellowship program which provides CMOs with board-level thinking and development in all elements of leadership and board stewardship to accelerate their ascension to CEO or board roles.
With applications for the 2025 Fellowship program closing on 30 May, B&T sat down with Brown to learn more about his career and time with The Marketing Academy. The Marketing Academy’s CEO, Sherilyn Shackell, recently spoke and hosted a Masterclass session at Cairns Crocodiles, presented by Pinterest.
B&T: Looking back at your career so far, what pivotal moments or decisions most shaped your path to becoming GM at Nestlé Australia?
Martin Brown: The most pivotal moment was being lucky to land on my feet at Nestlé. Nestlé is a marketer’s dream, boasting the best brands in food and beverages and a company driven by winning through building long-term consumer loyalty based on trust and quality. Marketing leaders at Nestlé progress to senior leadership roles because they drive the growth agenda and work across all functions to drive profitable growth outcomes.
Marketing food brands takes you from farms to factories, R&D, product design and sustainability impact. It’s a true end-to-end experience rich with diversity. Right from the start at Nestlé, I was taught to have a fascination with growth and building brands with a long-term mindset. This shaped my path to general management.
The early grounding I had included being fascinated every aspect of product design to deliver an exceptional consumer experience. That wasn’t hard working on chocolate brands! I learned about the financial disciplines that ensure we can competitively invest behind our brands. I also learned about being choiceful in capital investment to future proof our competitive advantage. I learned about proactive portfolio management, simplifying and focusing resources to drive end-to-end competitiveness. Critically, I also learned to drive a joint growth agenda with customers by understanding their strategies and working towards win/win outcomes.
B&T: What have been the most surprising business and marketing challenges you’ve faced since joining Nestlé, and how did you tackle them?
MB: Nestlé competes across a lot of categories, often as leader, sometimes as challenger. In the chocolate category, we are a challenger.
In 2013, our team faced a challenge of losing market share. We had a legacy of a broad portfolio of brands that stretched and diluted our efforts. However, our greatest assets were right in front of us, two brands that had amazing power: KITKAT and ALLEN’S. KITKAT had incredible power to stretch and we set a course to double the size of the brand within five years.
By reversing a long-held broad portfolio strategy and sharply focusing our resources, leveraging our brightest minds, and staying disciplined while innovating with imagination across new formats, we successfully doubled the size of KITKAT. This growth was made possible by major efforts to simplify operations that generated the fuel to grow. I’m very proud that since 2018, the teams have only accelerated these efforts and achieved globally outstanding work.
B&T: What advice would you give to marketers aspiring to transition into executive leadership roles?
MB: The best marketers share a few consistent characteristics. They can envision the future for a brand beyond what a consumer can tell them. They are disciplined about strengthening ownable brand properties, leaving brands stronger for that discipline. They unite functional teams around a plan to deliver exceptional outcomes. They are respected at senior leadership levels for understanding the goals of the business and proving their ability to drive them with financial discipline. They inspire great work from agency partners with the right mixture of challenge and inspiration. Lastly, they build talent, not just lead teams.
B&T: What motivated you to join The Marketing Academy Fellowship, and how did the experience challenge or change your perspective as a CMO (at the time)?
MB: I had mentored on The Marketing Academy Scholarship program and have loved the interaction with the best talent in the industry. The TMA Fellowship is a gift for senior leaders to focus on personal development with a network of the best and brightest in your industry, all at a similar level. There is so much courage in the CMO leadership cohort and untapped leadership talent. A key to unlocking the visible and understood value the CMO contributes is to consistently align your actions and your measurable impact directly with the CEO and CFO’s strategy and targets.
B&T: Can you share a specific insight or learning from the Fellowship that you’ve applied directly to your work at Nestlé?
MB: I am more conscious and choiceful about where I allocate my energy to make a difference, both at work and out of work. Sometimes we work on the premise that we have to serve all, but that can be limiting. I aim to give my best energy with purpose.
B&T: The Fellowship emphasises board-level readiness—how has it prepared you for broader business leadership beyond marketing?
MB: The program’s focus on preparing leaders for CEO or board level unlocks so many a-ha moments. Learning to work with a coach to constantly hone your skills and impact, we can all improve with a great coach. Taking the initiative to do the deep preparation on business strategy demonstrating your readiness for CEO transition. Being proactive to build reputation beyond your existing marketing community and to lift your confidence in working with other key functional leaders, especially CFO’s are all key aspects of this journey.
What emerging trends or industry shifts are you most excited – or concerned – about as you look to the future of Nestle’s brand in Australia
We are at one the most significant moments of technology enabled change, which opens up huge advantage for fast adapting organisations. AI embedded in end-to-
end processes, step changes in individual and team productivity, and a generational shift in brand loyalties demanding innovation in product, services and brand relevance all require bold action. I’m proud that Australia is the world’s first country to launch Nescafé Espresso Concentrates to lead the unlock of cold coffee consumption in home and it is a critical Gen Z entry point for the world’s biggest coffee brand. A major focus on de-carbonisation is critical as food systems are challenged by climate change. I’m proud that Nestlé is leading by working with farmers to implement regenerative agriculture practices that improve soil health, drought resistance, require less fertilisers and improve food nutrient value. We are working with barley farmers in Wagga Wagga to source regenerative agriculture grown Barley for MILO across Asia.
Applications for The Marketing Academy’s 2025 Fellowship program close on 30 May.
