The Outsider CMO – Earning Your Mandate in a New Organisation
Every CMO who's stepped into an unfamiliar business faces the same challenge: big calls, thin context, a team that didn't choose you, and everyone watching your first move. What transfers from your last role, organisation or category - and what doesn't? How do you rebuild a team around a new strategy, and what does success actually look like at 6, 12 or 18 months?
This panel goes behind the headlines to unpack what it takes to earn the mandate to lead change fast and get it right, with a few home truths for anyone eyeing their first CMO role.
- The first 90 days: what to fix immediately, what to deliberately leave alone
- Earning trust fast: the CEO and board conversations you need to have straight away
- Agency resets: inherited relationships vs. a clean slate
- The personal cost: imposter syndrome, credibility, and leading before you're trusted
The Think Again Series is held at The Northern Club in Auckland and is proudly sponsored by Federation.
Pricing
Members: $129 + GST
Non-members: $169 + GST
Product Details
Date:
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Time:
12:00pm - 2:00pm
Event Location:
Auckland
Venue Name:
The Northern Club
Venue Address:
19 Princes Street, Auckland
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Your Panel
Nikki Goodman
Chief Customer Officer
Sky
Panellist
About Nikki
Nikki is a highly accomplished brand and customer experience strategist with over 20 years of leadership experience. Known for transforming customer-focused ideas into real business success, she previously led Customer Experience at Air New Zealand, aligning brand, operations, and CX. Nikki is a collaborative leader with proven ability to deliver results at scale.
An alumna of Stanford’s d-school and Melbourne Business School, Nikki is passionate about building innovative, customer-first cultures. Most recently at ThoughtFull Design, she partnered with organisations including Kiwibank, Air New Zealand, NZ Merino, Port of Auckland, One NZ, Southern Cross, and Sky to craft strategies that elevate brand and customer journeys.
Frankie Coulter
Chief Marketing Officer
The Warehouse Group
Panellist
About Frankie
With over 25 years of international marketing and retail experience at Kellogg’s, Scholl, Boot’s, Kraft Heinz Wattie’s, Goodman Fielder, and now New Zealand's largest retailer, The Warehouse Group, Frankie is a C-Suite executive who has held global roles in category leading marketing-led organisations.
Frankie learned his craft at Kellogg’s Europe, and was then part of the global marketing team at SSL International that sold then integrated Durex/Scholl into RB after acquisition. He then led the health department for own label at Boots Pharmaceuticals before moving to NZ in 2016.
After leading teams with strategic partners, Leo Burnett and JWT on global brands, and DDB in NZ, Frankie believes in the power of true agency partnerships with long-term joint brand guardianship.
Frankie is passionate about developing local marketing capability, nurturing agency talent, and increasing the level of effective creative marketing results to give marketers more opportunities to be considered for the CMO role.
Frankie was named New Zealand Marketer of the year at the end of 2024 and actively promotes and champions NZ marketing, media and local companies within the industry.
Heather Gadonniex
Chief Marketing Officer
Auror
Panellist
About Heather
Heather Gadonniex is an executive operator who helps growth-stage companies build the positioning, stories, systems, and capabilities they need to scale.
She works across brand, growth, revenue, and execution sharpening a company’s point of view, aligning teams, and turning strategy into momentum.
Rob Bowring
General Manager, Brand and Marketing Operations
Skyline Enterprises
Panellist
About Rob
Rob Bowring is an experienced marketing leader with more than 20 years working across some of New Zealand’s most recognised and loved brands.
His career has spanned FMCG, QSR, tourism, retail and visitor experiences, with senior marketing roles at Sanitarium, McDonald’s, Tourism New Zealand and Mitre 10.
Along the way, Rob has helped shape brands including Weet-Bix, led award-winning tourism and retail marketing and, at Mitre 10, was part of the inaugural Marketing Team of the Year at the 2022 NZ Marketing Awards.
In 2026, Rob became the General Manager, Brand and Marketing Operations at Skyline Enterprises, where he leads Skyline’s marketing operations, including brand strategy and marketing execution across the New Zealand business and international sites. Rob is passionate about great marketing, building strong teams and trusted partnerships and helping turn good ideas into work that genuinely connects with customers and delivers for the business.
Caroline Rainsford
Country Director
Google New Zealand
Panel Moderator
About Caroline
Caroline assumed the role of Country Director for Google New Zealand in 2017, and in this role she is responsible for driving Google’s overall business operation and is focussed on helping NZ businesses grow and transform in the digital age.
Prior to joining Google, Caroline served as Marketing and Product Director for Latitude NZ (previously GE Capital) as well as Brand Director for their broader AU/NZ region. Before her return to New Zealand in 2013, Caroline worked as the Regional Marketing Director for Philips Royal Electronics across the Middle East, Turkey and Africa.
When she's not helping customers, Caroline spends her time chasing two young children around the parks and beaches of Auckland. She also loves tennis and is an enthusiastic skier.
