CEO of Celcom Axiata Malaysia Dato’ Seri Shazalli Ramly delivered a powerful yet telling presentation at the Malaysian Chief Marketing Officers (CMO) Conference at the Matrade Exhibition & Convention Hall recently.

A passionate brand warrior himself his 'good-cop', 'bad-cop' sharing style hit home the true DNA of Marketing with over 350 participants in attendance. The audience comprised of C-Level executives from MNCs, SMEs, SMIs and GLCs.

Declaring that no CEO can be one if he is not a CMO first, Shazalli endeared to the audience with this story-telling demeanour and regaled them with tales of about his exploratory days at Malaysian Tobacco and Unilever. Relating how brilliance strikes through from everyday circumstances if you are willing to push yourself further, Shazalli took the audience on a roller-coaster adventure of observation, irreverence and discovery.

He capped a thought-provoking day as the Closing Keynote Speaker after more than 15 speakers graced the stage
to share and debate the role of the CMO, how technology is playing into the marketing process, consumer behaviour,
going from CMO to CEO, and more. Some of the stellar speakers included:

•    Dato' Sri Syed Zainal Abidin - Group MD of Proton Holdings
•    Mr Rahul Colaco - MD of Dutch Lady Milk Industries
•    Mr Craig Briggs - MD of Asia-Pacific Brandimage (Desgrippes & LAGA)
•    Ms Fiona Liao - Director of Brand Communications, Prudential Assurance Malaysia Berhad
•    Mr Barry Ooi - President, Marketing Research Society of Malaysia
•    Mr David Ross - Managing Director for Fonterra Brand Malaysia & Singapore
•    Mr Tan Thiam Hock - Founder of Alliance Cosmetics Groupa
•    Mr Kevin Mackin - Marketing Manager for IBM Marketing Solutions (EMM)

Organised by the International Advertising Association (IAA), Malaysia and Matrade (Malaysian External Trade Development Corporation), the event was supported by the Association of  Accredited Advertising Agents (4As), Malaysian Advertisers Association (MSA), Media Specialists Association (MSA), Institute of Marketing Malaysia (IMM) and a host of industry and media partners.

For details, visit http://www.adoimagazine.com/cmo2012