Lessons to navigate uncertainty
The past twelve months has seen extraordinary changes in capital and financial markets, driven by various factors, including interest rate hikes, inflation concerns, and geopolitical tensions. Coupled with emerging ESG considerations, tightening regulations and the cost-of-living crunch, marketers within the financial services industry are left navigating choppy waters.
Mumbrella's Finance Marketing Summit is your opportunity to hear from the trailblazing marketing execs who are leading the way across all areas of banking, superannuation, finance, insurance and more. Lock in your front row seats now for first-class insights.
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Check out the lineup
Mim Haysom
Mim is recognised as one of Australia’s leading Marketers (#1 CMO in CMO Magazine, and appearing on Campaign Asia, and B&T’s Power lists). In her role as Executive General Manager of Brand & Customer Experience, she has is accountable for the Groups nine brands, including brand strategy, digital marketing, media, sponsorships, strategic partnerships, and customer experience.
Prior to Suncorp, Mim was a highly awarded agency leader with a proven track record in growing clients business both globally and locally, with vast experience leading some of Australia’s most loved and recognised brands, from large complex and corporate organisations such as Commbank, through to agile, customer led organisations such as Netflix. Under her leadership as M&C Saatchi’s General Manager, in 2017 the agency was named the most innovative company in Australia by the Financial Review.
In addition to her Executive Role, Mim is a Graduate of the AICD (Australian Institute of Company Directors) and has held advisory roles for Wheelchair Rugby Australia and is currently on the Board of Trustees for St Vincents Clinic Foundation, a Director of The Australian Chamber Orchestra, and an Advisory Board Member for ADMA (Australian Data Driven Marketing Association).
Julie Nestor
Julie Nestor leads Mastercard’s Integrated Marketing and Communications (IMC) team, which plays a critical role in building and maintaining corporate reputation, as well as bringing Mastercard’s brand promise to life for banks, fintechs, governments, merchants, consumers and other stakeholders. She is also a member of Mastercard’s Asia Pacific Leadership Team and Global Marketing & Communications Leadership Team.
As the head of IMC, Julie brings to bear her diverse marketing experience across the Asia Pacific region to deepen consumer engagement through Priceless – Mastercard’s long-standing marketing platform. Through digital-first approaches, major sporting and entertainment sponsorships, multisensory branding and experiential marketing, her team strives to demonstrate Mastercard’s value in bringing the power of connected commerce to life.
Originally from Sydney, Julie’s 25-year career has seen her leading marketing teams across Asia Pacific in the financial services, technology, and hospitality industries, including 13 years at American Express in Australia and Hong Kong SAR, and stints at Hilton and eBay. Prior to joining Mastercard, she was chief marketing & experience design officer, Asia, at Manulife Asia Pacific.
Julie has a long track record of leading successful teams and prides herself on nurturing an inclusive, highly engaged team culture. She is currently based in Singapore.
Bryan Wilmot
Bryan Wilmot is the Chief Marketing Officer at Stake, one of Australia’s leading investment platforms with over 500,000 customers. Since becoming the first marketing hire at the company in 2019, he has been pivotal in leading the company through a period of rapid growth, helping to define a culturally relevant brand, while building an outstanding marketing function from the ground up.
Before Stake, Bryan held senior strategy roles at advertising agencies including Leo Burnett, where he worked on clients including Diageo, Woolworths, McDonald’s, Emirates and Samsung among others. His agency background provided him with a strong foundation in understanding consumer behaviour and building brand equity.
He is passionate about democratising access to financial markets and empowering new generations to take control of their financial future.
Emma Grainge
As a member of the customer leadership team, Emma is responsible for building the Australian Ethical brand in support of customer engagement and growth. Emma has more than 25 years’ strategic marketing and communications experience, having played a leadership role in the growth of the Marks and Spencer Money, Mercer, Aware Super and the University of Sydney brands during her career. Emma describes the Australian Ethical as a dream role – a purpose driven organisation and a pureplay brand that says what it does on the tin. Emma is also on the Board of the Aminata Maternal Foundation.
Potta Findikidis
Potta Findikidis is currently Group Head of Brand and Marketing for Cbus Super, accountable for Brand, Marketing, Product and Industry Partnerships and has been with Cbus since April 2024. Most recently, Potta was the Executive Manager of Marketing for Suncorp Bank. Potta is an accomplished strategic and commercial marketing executive with 20+ years experience in customer strategy and insights, segmentation, brand strategy, product proposition development and marketing, customer experience, digital marketing and go to market operations, mainly across Telecommunications, Financial Services and Health Insurance organisations.
She prides herself on leading with care, empathy and authenticity and is passionate around building high performing cohesive teams, while striving for continuous learning, operating with a growth and curious mindset.
Potta has seen success over her career by being purpose led, always championing the customer/member, leveraging data and insights to design and deliver effective marketing programs and transformational customer experience strategies across traditional, retail and digital channels.
A graduate of Monash University, Melbourne with a Bachelor of Business in Marketing and a Bachelor of Arts, majoring in Politics and Sociology.
Tatiana Papavero
A passionate, commercially driven and creative marketing leader, with over 17 years’ experience in a range of complex businesses spanning from not-for-profit to global, such as HCF, McDonald’s, Woolworths and Luxottica.
Skilled at delivering business growth, developing talent and working in exciting, fast paced dynamic and regulated businesses.
Tatiana was instrumental in the inception and implementation of Brand value proposition of Uncommon Care that the company has now aligned itself to.
Sue Brailsford
Sue has helped shape the NAB brand through the development of an enduring brand strategy, as well as delivering growth in a range of brand management and communications roles. She has extensive experience across iconic Australian and international brands including Bupa, MLC and Telstra. Uncovering insights and delivering award winning integrated campaigns has been a constant throughout her career. Most recently, she led the charge at NAB to understand and entice the elusive Gen Z audience. Sue has a passion for using research and data to uncover new opportunities to connect with customers and grow brands.
Simon Wassef
I became a strategist by defying death.
In 2002, trying to find a way to convince young male drivers to slow down, I nearly crashed and died. But it wasn't my life that flashed before my eyes. It was an insight. That insight led to the infamous ‘Pinkie’ campaign: a Cannes Titanium finalist, the most effective road safety campaign in Australian history and winner of the Grand EFFIE.
In the twenty years since, I've created valuable, effective marketing and innovation for some of the world’s most iconic brands at some of the world’s best agencies including AMV, AKQA, R/GA and Chiat/Day.
I've worked with the likes of IKEA, Qantas, adidas, Absolut, Samsung, Red Bull, Microsoft, Electronic Arts, Guinness, Google, Johnnie Walker, Volvo, Panadol, Siemens, Nike and Beats By Dre.
And I've been awarded for it at D&AD, AWARD Awards, Cannes, EFFIEs, APG UK, The ARF David Ogilvy Awards and 4As Jay Chiat Awards.
So it's been fun so far.
Dave Annesley
Dave Annesley is an industry leader with more than two decades of experience leading marketing and customer experience teams. He’s a pragmatic yet creative thinker, focused on bringing people and teams together to achieve extraordinary outcomes.
Dave has worked across many different industries and verticals and for past five years, he’s had the privilege of leading the Youi brand to achieving extraordinary growth. He and his team play a critical role in setting the direction for the brand, and You's in-house creative and media agencies.
Elly Bloom
Elly is a senior leader with experience in strategy, transformation, marketing, digital, customer experience and venture capital across a number of different industries, fourteen within financial services. She’s developed corporate, business and marketing strategies encompassing the interests of a variety of stakeholders and customer segments, both public and private. Familiar with many networks and current issues faced by a range of sectors in Australia particularly where it relates to technology, customer experience and innovation.
Eloise Liley
Eloise currently co-heads up TBWA’s talented team of strategists and is the strategic lead on NAB. With a background in psychology, Eloise has deep experience in solving difficult problems through behaviourally led communications winning strategic effectiveness awards in the process. She has worked in Europe, UK and closer to home in Australia across a wide range of sectors and within finance across brands like ANZ, JP Morgan and Revolut.
Mark Hunter
Mark Hunter is the Chief Customer Officer at the Bank of Queensland Group, overseeing all marketing efforts across their three brands: Bank of Queensland, ME Bank and Virgin Money Australia.
With a blended background that spans financial services marketing, analytics and strategy, Mark also brings experience from his earlier career in engineering design roles with companies including Rolls Royce, Jaguar, and Land Rover.
Driven by a deep curiosity, Mark loves to discover that insight-driven sweet spot that sparks meaningful connections with customers.
Simon Lee
Simon Lee is co-owner and creative architect of The Hallway - one of Australia’s leading independent creative agencies. Simon leads a passionate cross-disciplinary team in the development of Affective Ideas: ideas that move that way that people feel, think and behave and so make a positive dint on businesses and the world at large. In his 20+ year advertising career, Simon has created Affective campaigns for many of Australia’s most prominent Financial Services brands including Westpac, ANZ, TAL and Suncorp Bank. He describes his purpose as being “a creative catalyst for a flourishing world”, a purpose that is also the driving force behind his agency and team. Under Simon’s creative leadership The Hallway has won multiple agency of the year titles and picked up a raft of creative gongs at major shows in Australia and overseas.
Anita Ayres
Anita is a seasoned Marketing leader with over 15 years of experience across agency, consulting and senior marketing leadership roles within the Financial Services sector. She served as Head of Marketing and Innovation at StatePlus and Aware Super before transitioning to consulting with KPMG and Kantar, where she led brand transformation and growth strategy initiatives for clients globally.
Passionate about helping businesses find and unlock consumer-led growth, Anita helps Executives and Boards to create a bridge between customer insight, market understanding and brand implementation, with a clear focus on driving business and brand growth.
Matthew Bowen
Since 2016, Matt has worked at ING playing a role in helping to translate complex financial topics into easy-to-understand content for customers. During his time with ING, he’s spearheaded marketing and innovation departments before more recently leading the daily banking team. Now ING’s Head of Consumer and Market Insights, Matt is excited to share daily content and insights to help Australians get ahead financially.
Douglas Nicol
Douglas is Strategy Partner at The Works which is part of global digital transformation powerhouse Capgemini. The Works sits at number one in the Great Place To Work Awards for advertising agencies in Australia. The Works counts Destination NSW, VISA, The Smith Family, Qantas, Subaru, CBA, Goodman Fielder and TAFE among its clients. Douglas is passionate about data informed marketing and humanising data. He has twice delivered TEDx Talks, most recently on Emotional Data. In 2025 Douglas has presented to both The Mumbrella Retail Summit and the NZ Marketing Association on the topic of how Generative AI is disrupting customer journeys.
Fiona Lang
Fiona Lang was appointed General Manager Australia & New Zealand in November 2019.
In this role, Fiona is responsible for BBC Studio’s overall business in the territory and leads the Sydney-based Content Sales, Branded Services, Brands and Licensing and Advertising Sales teams. Fiona is also responsible for the distribution of BBC News in territory.
From 2014, Fiona was the Chief Operating Officer of BBC Studios in Australia & New Zealand. In this role she was primarily focused on: setting the strategy, including the optimisation of Branded Services; growing the business and client relationships through new business development initiatives; and overseeing Operations and IT, Legal and Business Affairs and Insights in the region. More recently, Fiona took P&L responsibility for the home entertainment and live events businesses in Australia and New Zealand. Her work as COO covered all business units in which BBC Studios operates in the ANZ region.
Fiona joined BBC Worldwide (now BBC Studios) in 2012 from corporate advisory where she focused on mergers and acquisitions in the retail, FMCG, telecommunications, media and communications sector. Working at Herbert Smith Freehills and Gilbert & Tobin lawyers in Sydney and for Hogan Lovells in Berlin, her clients included News Corp, Yahoo! Inc, Seven Network, Telstra, Pacific Magazines and Diageo.
Fiona holds Bachelors degrees in Law, Economics and Social Science from the University of Sydney and is a part time guest lecturer at Sydney University. In 2017, Fiona was awarded a full scholarship by Chief Executive Women to attend Insead Business School in Singapore, Campus.
Fiona is a Director of Australian Subscription Television and Radio Association (ASTRA). She is also on the Board of the British Business Chamber of Commerce, a British Government initiative to further trade relations; is a member of the British Business Forum run by the British High Commission to further trade relations and business policy and is also a member of The UK Leadership Group, a networking, support and mentoring group for 22 CEOs of British business in Australia.
Fiona was previously a non-executive director of UN Women Australia and Football NSW a member of Football Federation Australia.
Explore the program
During this session you'll find out how a leading insurance brand became ‘iconically’ Australian to drive customer engagement and growth. In a low interest category where competitive brands are spending big in an effort to differentiate themselves and ‘buy’ customers, Suncorp’s Mim Haysom shares how a challenging economic environment, and a deep connection to customers, led to an untapped creative opportunity for the AAMI brand. Plus, delegates will hear first-hand insights as Haysom delves deep on how taking a risk to invest in the brand itself, and reframing its positioning has paid off.
In an age where brands today are defined by their impact on the world, inclusivity is a marketer’s superpower. By representing a company’s values to the outside world, marketers have the opportunity, ability, and responsibility to effect positive societal change by providing equal opportunities for all. But what does inclusive marketing really mean? And how do you make the leap from well-intentioned marketing campaign to meaningful cultural change, while also delivering measurable ROI?
In this CMO Masterclass, Mastercard’s head of marketing & communications for Asia Pacific, Julie Nestor, takes you behind-the-scenes of the brand’s industry-leading approach to inclusive marketing that celebrates people’s differences while building a stronger business. From launching the two Cannes Lion Grand Prix winning ‘True Name’ campaign that empowered transgender and nonbinary cardholders to use their True Name, to creating Australia’s first pictureless motion picture for the blind and low vision community, to designing an open-source technology to enable wheelchair users to assume the iconic role of tennis ball kids, Mastercard has led the way. Join this session to learn from the best about how to innovate thoughtfully, creatively leverage technologies, and drive meaningful consumer engagement for your company.
It used to be true that a ‘good job’ was a pathway towards financial success, but today, even well-paid Australians are struggling to afford a home, start a family or reach other traditional milestones. This is particularly true for younger generations, who have largely been left out of massive property and stock market gains over the past decade, and now face high inflation, higher borrowing costs and slow real wage growth.
Amidst these shifting economic sands, the concept of financial ambition and drive in Australia is undergoing a profound transformation. But what does this mean for people’s path to financial success? And how can brands step up to meet the evolving needs of consumers in this uncertain economic climate?
Bryan Wilmot, CMO of Stake, will explain how the economic backdrop is driving a fundamental shift in mindset, as Australians question the idea that hard work is enough, and engage with personal finance and wealth creation to get ahead. Exploring challenges such as the housing crisis, intergenerational wealth divide, and increasing childcare costs, the session will unpack the key barriers that people are facing today, and the integral role that brands can play in offering tangible ways to empower customers.
Gen Z's relationship with money has proven unconventional compared to their predecessors. Gone are the days of one-bank customers reaching typical investment milestones like travel, home ownership and parenthood. Today, Gen Z is tapping out of the status quo and walking a path less travelled. So, how can financial service brands win over this complex audience with increasingly influential spending power?
Hosted by NAB’s Head of Group Brand Sue Brailsford and Executive Marketing, Business and Private Bank Elly Bloom, alongside TBWA\Melbourne's Co-Head of Planning Eloise Liley, this session will delve deeper into Gen Z’s relationship with money, unlocking the key opportunities and challenges for brands. Giving audiences a peek behind the curtain for the latest Gen Z-targeted campaign “Wrangle Your Money”, we’ll shine a light on how NAB – one of Australia's leading banks – has harnessed emerging cultural and technological shifts to capture the attention (and hearts) of this unparalleled audience.
The battle to win the hearts and minds of consumers can be intense – even more so during uncertain economic times. However, brands that think differently and respond quickly can stand out by adopting a challenger mindset. This session Growing Successful [challenger] Brands explores how any brand can adopt a challenger mindset to disrupt even the most established markets.
Join Dave Annesley (Head of Marketing Strategy, Youi) as he shares the essential ingredients to navigating uncertainty and propel brand growth, including:
- The power of thinking and acting like a challenger in highly competitive categories
- Rediscovering brand identity and purpose can provide clarity
- Maintaining resilience and agility helps to navigate uncertainty
In a sector defined by churn after acquisition, good money after bad and promo after promo, HCF took an unorthodox approach. They simply revealed who they were. They showed Australians what it means to be a not-for-profit health insurer and what you do when every single thing you do is in service of customers and in delivering the company ethos of Uncommon Care. And were rewarded for it.
Tatiana Papavero (GM Marketing, HCF) and Simon Wassef (Chief Strategy & Experience Officer, Clemenger BBDO) illuminate the story of how brand marketing was able to zag the health insurance category by simply revealing how the health insurer’s business really works and how it results in better health - and financial - outcomes for its members.
In this conversation Tatiana and Simon will explore how HCF and Clemenger found common ground over an uncommon cause: the importance of human emotions and motivations to build a brand in a category dominated by samey, transactional, anonymous promos that build…churn.
And in doing so, rewrote the marketing rule book in the health insurance category to help HCF have its best year ever.
Key take-outs include:
- How the secret marketing sauce of brand DNA powers key metrics.
- How customer stickiness is created by – not surprisingly – understanding customers.
- What marketers in the financial services space need to know about human emotion to drive effectiveness.
In today's interconnected world, consumers are more socially, politically and environmentally aware than ever before. This heightened consciousness has spawned a trend of brands stepping beyond their day-to-day business and taking a stand on social and environmental issues. And in an increasing number of cases, this “brand activism” is backfiring - often spectacularly. The financial services sector - where brands often face high levels of consumer cynicism - is particularly vulnerable to claims of virtue signaling, inauthenticity and being out of touch. So should financial services brands steer well clear of social and environmental issues, or are there cases where they can get involved without fear of public backlash? This panel discussion will examine the case for and against fin services brand activism and explore the role a brand’s purpose might play in determining whether a brand can or cannot legitimately play in this space.
A conversation with Matt Bowen, Head of Consumer & Market Insights, ING Australia. It is an understatement to say we live in interesting times; Australian consumers have never been more divided between generations and between their money beliefs. In this conversation we deep dive into the nuances of today’s consumers and their relationship with money, what they really aspire to and how they are skilling up on financial know how. How does ING approach these challenges and what are the pain points for customers that we need to listen to? This session is all about pausing to reflect on our Nation and our complicated relationship with money. Matt will be interviewed by Douglas Nicol, Strategy Partner at The Works, part of Capgemini.
In today’s cluttered market, consumers are bombarded with countless brands vying for their attention. In this session, we’ll delve into the core components of creating a brand that stands out in this competitive landscape.
The session will kick off with a reality check: brands are not as central to consumers’ lives as we might think. We will explore the critical importance of capturing and maximising the fraction of a moment that consumers grant us, emphasising the need for simplicity.
We’ll explore different brand architecture models, examining and contextualizing the pros and cons of each structure and the factors influencing choice, such as consumer entry points.
Having addressed the structural challenges, we will then tackle how to build an authentic brand that stands out in the financial services marketplace. We’ll explore the fundamental drivers of brand and business growth and share some useful frameworks to help you build a meaningful and superior brand proposition.
Finally, we will discuss the evolution of brand purpose through the eras of product, person, and public, and its implications for brand strategy today. Join us to gain insights into the strategic elements that contribute to building a powerful, enduring brand.
Who should attend?
Mumbrella’s Finance Marketing Summit is attended by marketers, agencies and media owners working in and around the banking, insurance, superannuation and finance space.
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Program
View the industry heavyweights who have taken to the stage in 2024 at Mumbrella's Finance Marketing Summit.
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The summit offers companies the chance to get their branding in front of key decision makers across the finance industry. Raise your brand awareness to a highly targeted audience and speak with us about creating a bespoke sponsorship that fulfils your marketing objectives.
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Event details
Event Date: 25 July, 2024
Venue: 12-Micron, Sydney
Level 2 | Entry from Shipwright Walk
Times:
Conference: 8:25am - 5:00pm
Networking drinks: 5:00pm - 6:00pm
Getting there:
Tower 1, Level 2/100 Barangaroo Ave, Barangaroo NSW 2000
Click here for more information on getting there.