Expand 2026: Decoding growth, innovation and the APAC opportunity

Where is growth really coming from? It’s a question we keep hearing from CMOs, founders and marketing leaders navigating a market that feels tighter, noisier and harder to move than it did even a few years ago.

For some brands, growth is coming from new channels. For others, it’s coming from sharper positioning, smarter pricing or braver creative bets. But increasingly, the most interesting answers are pointing in the same direction: Asia Pacific. Not as a distant expansion fantasy, but as a live influence already reshaping how Australians discover, evaluate and buy.

From social commerce mechanics and livestreaming behaviours to the rise of super apps and creator-led retail, APAC markets are setting the pace. And those shifts are bleeding directly into Australia’s consumer landscape.

That observation sits at the heart of Expand 2026, a new one-day forum the team at Marketing-Interactive has been quietly building over the past few months.

Register For Expand 2026 today!

Expand isn’t just another conference. It’s a project born from the same reason we launched Marketing-Interactive in Australia in the first place: to act as connective tissue between Australian brand leaders and the ideas, behaviours and growth models emerging across Asia Pacific.

On July 29 in Sydney, Expand will bring together CMOs, CEOs and senior leaders across marketing, digital, strategy and technology to explore one defining theme: How brands scale intelligently across markets, cultures, creators and technologies without losing meaning or momentum.

The inaugural edition will spotlight where the next wave of growth is forming and what Australian leaders need to understand now.

Learn more about Expand

We’re bringing together speakers who know what it actually takes to drive growth - leaders building brands, scaling businesses and navigating expansion in real time. Among the first speakers we can announce include: 

• Guy Kellaway, head of marketing excellence at Nestlé Asia, Africa & Oceania
• Michelle Wee, general manager of marketing Hisense ANZ
• Merrill Pereyra, chief executive officer Domino’s Australia and New Zealand

In the coming weeks, we’ll reveal additional speakers bringing local and regional perspectives on expansion, innovation and sustainable growth.

Expand is built around the tensions and opportunities leaders are already wrestling with - from global brand versus local relevance and protecting brand DNA, to adapting across cultures, platforms and evolving consumer behaviours. The agenda also includes a tactical look at the super apps, ecosystems and commerce models redefining modern customer journeys.

If you’re chasing growth (and let’s face it, who isn’t) this is an event built for you. From creator-led commerce and digital ecosystems to cultural and behavioural shifts, Expand is designed to help leaders understand where growth is emerging across APAC, navigate localisation and long-term strategy and apply this thinking locally.

We know budgets are tight. That’s exactly why Expand is a curated, invitation-led forum limited to 150 senior leaders. Attendance is completely free for CMOs, CEOs and senior business, marketing, digital and technology executives.

We’d love to see you there.