LIVE UPDATES: MARKETING-INTERACTIVE’S inaugural EXPAND conference opens in Sydney

For years, Australian brands have eyed Asia as the ultimate growth frontier. Today, that conversation has move past why to how. During our first ever EXPAND to Asia conference, with over 150 attendees in the room, marketers with regional experience shared tips on scaling businesses which are authentically Australian, without diluting the brand identity that drove domestic success. 

Driven by a seismic demographic shift, the economic imperative is becoming impossible for marketers to ignore. By 2030, Asia’s middle class is set to surge to three billion people. Simultaneously, Southeast Asia’s digital economy is hurtling toward a massive US$1 trillion valuation. 

By 2040, Southeast Asia is forecast to overtake major global powerhouses to become the world’s fourth-largest economy – trailing only the United States, China, and India. With a consumer base roughly ten times the size of Australia’s domestic market, the sheer volume of opportunity is pushing Australian business leaders to rethink their global playbooks. 

For Australian CMOs and strategists looking north, the takeaway is stark: capitalising on the region’s explosive growth will take far more than just copy-pasting domestic campaigns. Success in one of the world’s fastest-moving markets will hinge on deep cultural fluency, agile localisation, and precise execution. 

Setting the stage for us with an opening fireside chat is Merrill Pereyra, CEO of Domino’s Australia and New Zealand. With more than 35 years of leadership experience across 23 geographies, Pereyra has held senior executive and board roles with some of the world’s most recognised F&B and quick-service restaurant businesses, including Yum Restaurants, Pizza Hut and QSR Brands.   

According to Pereyra, companies looking to expand into Asia should abandon the idea of a one-size-fits-all regional strategy and instead build market-specific approaches. While India offers scale and talent, markets such as Vietnam and Indonesia each require different growth strategies, local partnerships and patience to succeed. He said businesses should focus on building profitable, scalable operations rather than chasing large population figures alone.

"The real strategy has to be how you go about building a portfolio of marketplaces. It's not one option. It's not one opportunity, and it's not one market."

He advised attendees to prioritise localisation, conduct thorough due diligence on partners, and innovate continuously while staying true to their brand values.

One of the biggest challenges brands face when expanding into Asia is navigating the region's fragmented media landscape. Marketers in Asia are juggling marketplaces, livestream commerce, creator ecosystems and traditional media, all while being expected to prove ROI on every dollar spent. That's before they even begin measuring what's actually driving results. 

According to Byron Munson, vice president of APJ at Supermetrics, a marketing intelligence platform that helps organisations turn historical performance data into future action, the real challenge isn't the sheer number of platforms but bringing data together to generate meaningful insights and smarter marketing decisions.

He added that brands looking to expand into Asia need to recognise that every market operates differently.

"There is no shared commercial rhythm across Asia. There's a blanket statement that Southeast Asia is more transactional but you have to always break it down on what that means. You have to understand cultural nuances on how consumers buy and what influences them," he said.

Munson urged marketers to identify the right channels, centralise their data before scaling, and "let AI carry the weight" so teams can focus on growth instead of manual reporting. Ultimately, Munson said:

The brands that win in Asia are the ones who embrace its nuances.

Resonating with a local audience 

While technology is reshaping how brands engage consumers, innovation alone is no longer enough. From AI-powered activations and immersive experiences to retail innovation, brands are experimenting at a rapid pace. But without cultural relevance, even the most cutting-edge campaigns risk falling flat.

According to Jason Yong, founder and CEO of Unicom Marketing, brands need to pair innovation with cultural equity to create experiences that truly resonate. With more than 15 years of experience, Yong has built his career around understanding consumer journeys and using technology, data and creative thinking to transform brand ideas into memorable experiences. 

While creator marketing continues to grow across the region, Yong said brands should not overlook the value of in-person experiences.

"Despite Southeast Asia's creator economy being US$40 billion and influencers driving one in five online sales across SEA, brand events matter. In markets such as Indonesia, 58% of Indonesians are likely to attend a brand event in the next year, and 82% believe brands need real-life engagement," he said.

Sharing a case study on how brands can pair innovation with creativity, Yong highlighted a campaign for Cebu Pacific, which tailored its activations across Japan, Singapore and Hong Kong based on local consumer insights rather than applying a single strategy across markets.

Research found that Japanese consumers gravitated towards anime-inspired experiences, Singaporeans responded to discounts and digital-first interactions, while Hong Kong audiences were drawn to culturally relevant elements such as feng shui. Yong said these insights shaped market-specific activations, underscoring that brands looking to grow across Asia need to localise their approach rather than simply replicate campaigns from one market to another.

While Yong’s presentation brought to life practical executions, the panel that followed shed light on the strategic thinking required for market expansion and local resonance. 

Allie Sparr, global head of brand and marketing at Envoyage, part of Flight Centre Travel Group, who has led the global rollout of the brand across Australia, New Zealand, the United States, Canada, and South Africa, shared how localised customer behaviour drives their market strategy. 

"What [market expansion] looks like is different in every country — different content, different nuances. It ultimately comes from the customer and what they are driving," Sparr said. "Their willingness to use a travel advisor, and how they bring that into their culture and perception, is very different. That’s certainly something we’ve needed to look at from a local perspective." 

Adding to the conversation, Alisha Thornley, global head of marketing at Seafolly, who oversees marketing across Seafolly’s global portfolio, highlighted the necessity of flexible pricing strategies across borders. 

"It’s really easy to assume that it's one playbook per market. But what really surprised me in Singapore specifically for Seafolly is that there are actually two playbooks we need to use for the same market," Thornley noted, pointing out the distinct behaviours of their local shoppers versus tourist clientele.

Sundip Mace, founder of Sun Maiso, who helps brands such as W Hotels, Sheraton, Gulf Air, and Fiji Airways unlock growth and strengthen their market position, emphasised the operational pillar of expansion alongside brand narrative.

"The global story and expression help bring relevance," Mace continued. "Where a hotel is sharing a local story, instead of using a generic fragrance, using [local elements] helps communicate that narrative. A local story feels real."

Meanwhile, Matthias Blume, vice president of alcohol ready-to-drink for ASEAN and South Pacific at The Coca-Cola Company, rounded up the discussion by emphasising the value of listening to regional insights while building long-term brand differentiation.

The panel reminded audience members that at the end of the day successful expansion is about adapting to each market without losing what makes your brand distinctive. 

Keeping to the theme of local partnerships and building relationships, PR agency founder and CEO Oliver Budgen, who runs Bud Communications, argued that successful market expansion depends not on how loudly brands communicate, but on whether their actions consistently match their promises.

"When intention, perception, and proof align - that's where trust is earned. And that's even more important than visibility," said Budgen.

To illustrate his point, Budgen highlighted Australian skincare brand Aesop, which delayed its entry into mainland China for more than a decade rather than compromise its values over mandatory animal testing requirements. At the same time, the brand ensured every store was designed by a local architect, balancing global brand consistency with local relevance.

In contrast, he shared how a global technology company damaged its credibility after aggressively promoting its Singapore expansion before establishing a meaningful local presence, forcing its PR team to rebuild trust after its claims were challenged.

Closing the session, Budgen challenged communicators to rethink how they measure success, arguing that PR should move beyond traditional metrics such as share of voice and impressions to identify gaps in trust and credibility.

What is measured can be closed. Once you understand exactly where your brand sits, where those gaps are, you really can start building a communication strategy that helps you build not just a brand that people care about and want to trust, but also a resilient brand.

Platforms at play

One of the platforms that has gained significant prominence over the past year is Xiaohongshu, otherwise known as Rednote. Giving an in-depth understanding of the platform is Jeffrey Hau, co-founder and CEO of PRIZM Group. Jeffrey founded PRIZM in 2012 and has grown the business into a regional agency of more than 200 people across Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, Japan and China. 

Hau highlighted the massive commercial potential of Chinese travellers and diaspora in markets such as Australia, noting that over 700,000 local Rednote users represent a high-value, long-stay audience. 

"Chinese tourists to Australia stay for months visiting family, spending five to six times more than UK or US visitors," Hau noted. "We have over 700,000 Rednote users in Australia alone—that's a larger population than Tasmania or Canberra." 

He also explained how Rednote functions as a search and solution-based platform rather than a traditional social network: 

"Don't think about just posting. Think about providing solutions to your readers. So instead of an Instagram where we post really good branded studio photos, Rednote is solution-based and user-centric... On Rednote, in a lot of occasions, you have a specific purpose."

More updates to follow.