Expand locks in full agenda as regional marketing leaders join speaker lineup

After months of planning and finetuning, MARKETING-INTERACTIVE Australia has unveiled the full agenda for Expand, its inaugural Australian conference bringing together senior marketers, business leaders and founders to explore where the next wave of growth is coming from across Asia Pacific.

Taking place on Wednesday, 29 July at Doltone House Hyde Park in Sydney, the one-day event has been built around one central question: where are the biggest growth opportunities emerging for Australian businesses, and what role will Asia Pacific markets play in that future?

A total of 16 speakers are now confirmed across the agenda, covering everything from creator commerce and social ecosystems to cross-border payments, localisation, AI, consumer behaviour and the changing shape of the Australian market.

Opening the conference is Domino's Australia and New Zealand CEO Merrill Pereyra, who will challenge the long-held assumption that an Asia strategy simply means China.

Drawing on more than 35 years of international leadership experience spanning 23 markets, Pereyra will examine how the region's economic landscape has evolved and why Australian businesses need to rethink where future growth opportunities lie.

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The completed agenda also introduces several new speakers, including Alisha Thornley, global head of marketing at Seafolly, who oversees marketing across Seafolly, JETS and Tigerlily in more than 50 markets.

Thornley has helped drive the iconic Australian swimwear brand's expansion into Singapore and China and will join Coca-Cola's Matthias Blume, Envoyage global head of brand and marketing Allie Sparr and Sun Maison founder Sundip Mace for one of the day's headline leadership panels exploring how brands maintain global consistency while remaining locally relevant.

Joining the lineup is Nathan Powell, co-founder and chief product and strategy officer at AI-powered creator marketing platform Fabulate, whose keynote explores why Southeast Asia has become one of the world's most advanced creator marketing ecosystems - and why Western brands are increasingly looking east for innovation rather than simply expansion.

Explore the full Expand agenda

Also confirmed is Oliver Budgen, founder and CEO of Bud, who will unpack what it really takes to build trust and credibility across diverse Asia Pacific markets, while Serge Costi, general manager of international marketing at Noumi, joins the closing leadership panel examining how Australian brands can better connect with the country's rapidly evolving Asia Pacific consumer base.

Other international sessions include Monica Zheng, managing director of Weixin Pay Oceania, offering Australian marketers a rare look inside the WeChat ecosystem, while PRIZM Group CEO Jeffrey Hau will explore the rise of Rednote and its growing role in cross-border commerce.

The program also features speakers from Supermetrics, Julie's Biscuits, Tam Jai International, Hisense and Laser Clinics Australia, reflecting the conference's focus on practical growth strategies.

Across the day, sessions will examine the new map of Asian expansion, measuring performance across fragmented commerce ecosystems, creator marketing, localisation, social commerce, cross-border payments and the opportunities emerging as Australia becomes increasingly connected to Asia Pacific.

Expand takes place on 29 July at Doltone House Hyde Park, Sydney. Additional details can be found on the official website.