While semi pro rugby union games in Sydney's Eastern suburbs appear to have no problems packing in the fans, the NRL harbours valid concerns that people may think twice about flocking to stadia in the coming weeks. It will cut its budgets accordingly, says head of marketing Peter Jarmain. Only those that can prove they move the needle will get a slice. Meanwhile, it faces a new challenge in attracting the next generation of fans - who prefer skimming highlights to watching a full 80 minutes.

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Fire, pestilence and who knows what to follow, it’s not been a great year for travel and tourism. But Tourism Australia CMO Susan Coghill has a plan to rebalance overreliance on China, to prime the UK and Europe to visit when borders reopen, and to keep the airlines from going bust in the meantime, all while getting Australia, and maybe New Zealand, to venture forth and spend.

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Coles CMO Lisa Ronson says both shoppers and retailers had started to emerge from lockdown behaviour in the last few weeks. Then Victoria's flare-up saw Australians once again stampede for toilet paper and the safety of the dunny. Ronson thinks the behaviour changes brought about by Covid-19 will last for quite some time yet - and not just for retail.

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ANZ’s new head of brand strategy and marketing, Kjetil Undhjem, has never worked in banking before (think chocolate and oil). He wanted different and "I sure as hell got it," he says, after joining ANZ in January just as the global economy took the biggest hit in living memory. The FMCG veteran thinks there is an opportunity to reshape products and services and reset the banking category.

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“Economic patriotism” is what Australia needs from its corporates right now, says the CMO at Telstra, Jeremy Nicholas. Telstra maintained all its sponsorships across sport, the arts and communities despite no activity through COVID-19. Leadership from business and government, says Nicholas, is required to ensure positive coronavirus behaviour changes become permanent - and that Australia emerges stronger from the crisis. Warm words won't cut it. 

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Too many brands are displaying herd mentality during the Covid-19 crisis, reckons ex-McDonald’s CMO Jenni Dill. To emerge stronger post-coronavirus, she says both brands and marketers must raise their game. Marketers that can dig in, help their brands navigate massive disruption and demonstrate in hard, commercial terms how marketing is delivering growth will earn their stripes. Watch the video interview here. 

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Kia has been eating up the road on competitors for five years running. Top marketer Dean Norbiato says it's because the leadership backs brand. While Covid-19 has crashed the car market, dealers are reporting renewed interest as people take less public transport and retreat to the safety of their cars. Norbiato believes the autos that cut through the 'sea of sameness' can turn a negative into a positive result.

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Taking Australian furniture and lifestyle direct-to-consumer start-up Koala global is former Netflix and Grindr CMO, Peter Sloterdyk. He's stuck in California but the international brand expansion continues. Here's how Sloterdyk is managing his dual remit in tech and marketing and why brand building is mission critical through COVID-19.  

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CMOs and chief executives at leading bluechip and challenger brands join a video series on leadership and navigating the new world. This week Martin Brown points to e-commerce as the fast-tracked disrupter for Australian marketers post-COVID. Next week former Grindr CMO and Netflix head of Original Series Marketing, Peter Sloterdyk, unpacks his plans as the new global CMO for hot Australian direct-to-consumer start-up, Koala, which is expanding globally through COVID-19.

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