From Dove’s ‘Real Beauty’ to marketing fundamentals: Blackmores’ Joanne Smith on building brands with precision

For this ADMA CMO Spotlight, we sit down with Joanne Smith from Blackmores Group  to explore her marketing journey across continents and categories. Joanne reflects on why the best marketers never stop learning, how Blackmores is harnessing innovation and AI for growth and why foundational evidence-based brand building principles are more important than ever.

To start off, can you tell us a little about your career to date? 

I began my career at Unilever in Sydney, working across two businesses over six years before being offered a role and the opportunity to relocate to Unilever North America, based in New York. That move shaped a huge part of my journey - what started as a two year contract became eight years, culminating in my role as Global Brand Director of Dove.

From there, I was keen to build my understanding of Asia and moved into a regional marketing role at Johnson & Johnson based in Singapore. While I was there, my two daughters were born and I also launched my own marketing consultancy.  

I was in Singapore for around another eight years before I returned with my family to Australia in a new role at DuluxGroup, where I spent four years leading the Selleys brand.

In 2020, I joined Blackmores as the  Chief Brand, Innovation and Communications Officer. It’s a broad and rewarding remit that spans brand marketing, digital, insights, product development and innovation, corporate communications and ESG.

I’m grateful to have had such a varied and rich career. 
 

What have been a few of your professional highlights along the journey? 

There have been a few key chapters that really stand out. At Unilever, I had the opportunity to work on the Dove brand in North America during a time of major organisational change. Being part of that transition exposed me to new areas of development including leading through change, managing complexity, stakeholder engagement and leadership.

A particular highlight was having the opportunity to work with incredible creative leaders and be part of the team who worked on the ‘Real Beauty’ campaign. I had the chance to see every aspect of the campaign develop from idea and testing through to production. It was an extraordinary experience and I learnt so much from it and from the leaders I worked with at the time.

Another highlight has been leading the transformation of Innovation at Blackmores. Over the past five years, we’ve rebuilt our approach to innovation - from idea discovery through to commercialisation, and turned it into a growth engine for the business. Innovation sales have grown to over 20 percent of group revenue, speed to market has improved and we track our performance against clear measurement criteria. 
 

How important is maintaining and growing your marketing skill set in today’s marketing environment? How do you approach this for you and your team?  

Continuous learning is critical. I’ve been fortunate through my career to work for organisations that prioritise development and I’ve seen first-hand how strong foundational capability programs can shape great marketers.  

But access to strong capability programs and resources aren’t always readily available, especially in smaller businesses - so it’s something we’ve prioritised and invested in at Blackmores  

Five years ago, we launched ‘Vitality Brand Masters’, a comprehensive learning and development program for Blackmores marketers.  

The program is built around three core pillars; a series of masterclasses covering the fundamentals of brand building and key marketing processes, a stream catering to individual development, with access to courses through partners like Ehrenberg-Bass, ADMA, Columbia University and AMI to name just a few.

Finally and perhaps most important, the third pillar focussed on building a continual culture of learning in the Marketing function.  

We underpin the whole program with a peer-reviewed competency model aligned to best practice. It’s become a valued part of our employee proposition and a key driver of growth for our marketing community. 
 

What is the one thing you wish you’d learned earlier in your career? 

One that really stands out is that careers aren’t linear.

It’s something I’ve come to appreciate over time but I wish I’d understood it earlier. There are always twists and turns in a career and often it’s the unexpected challenges or detours that offer the richest learning. Those moments can be uncomfortable but they’re usually where the real growth happens.

I’ve learned to see those shifts as opportunities. If you stay open and curious, even the most difficult experiences can shape your thinking in valuable ways.  
 

What is going to have the biggest impact on marketing over the next few years? How are you preparing for those changes?  

AI is set to transform marketing. This is exciting and will offer new opportunities and speed but there's also a risk that marketers lose sight of the human elements of marketing and building brands: deep consumer understanding, insight, imagination and creative leadership. Those human qualities remain essential.  

At Blackmores, we’ve taken a proactive approach to AI, focusing on growth. We’ve been exploring how AI can help us identify unmet consumer needs across different markets, access scientific insights in a more robust way, support scientific literature reviews and inform product development to deliver better health outcomes and consumer experiences.

That work has led to the launch of the ‘AI Health Lab’. It's an exciting step forward, focused on developing AI proof of concepts that we can scale over time.

AI will reshape the way we work and that will thrive are those that blend data and technology with human insight and creativity. Keeping that balance front and centre is key. 
 

What do you think are the biggest challenges confronting marketers today? 

1. Not losing sight of the foundational, evidence-based principles of brand building. It’s easy to get distracted by the latest tools or tactics but those core principles remain essential to long-term growth.

2. Ensuring marketers are getting the right training - and not just in the fundamentals of brand strategy and brand development. Building real capability takes consistent investment, focus and commitment.  

3. Marketers have access to more data than ever before but the real value comes from being able to extract meaningful insight from the wealth of data and be able to apply to strategies that build brands.

4. Keeping brand and customers needs at the heart of business strategy. As AI and automation become more integrated into how we work, there’s a risk of losing touch with what consumers actually want and need. 
 

What’s the best piece of advice you would give to a university graduate starting their first role in marketing? 

Be curious. Ask questions, seek out new perspectives and be open to learning. Don’t work in a  silo.

One of the most valuable things you can do early on is develop a strong understanding of how the broader business operates, not just the marketing function. The more you learn from other teams, the more effective you’ll be as a marketer.

Remember careers are long. There’s often pressure to move quickly but it’s far more important to take the time to build strong foundations and deliver in the role you’re in. Invest in the fundamentals. Know how brands grow, how they’re built over time and how to connect with people in meaningful ways. Those skills are timeless and highly transferable.

A great book to read at any stage of a career is ‘How Brands Grow’ by Byron Sharp. We’ve given this book to all of our Marketing employees.  

Why are organisations like ADMA so important for the wider media and marketing industry? 

ADMA champions excellence and innovation across the industry, while providing marketers with valuable support on the big issues - privacy being a prime example.

From access to training and development to staying across evolving regulations, ADMA plays a central role in helping marketers navigate a rapidly changing landscape. Their work in setting high standards and promoting best practice ensures the industry continues to move forward with integrity and professionalism.

ADMA fosters a strong sense of community. They create spaces for collaboration, learning and knowledge-sharing - which is essential in a profession where not everyone has equal access to information, networks or training. That support is particularly valuable for those earlier in their careers, but it’s just as relevant at every stage.

ADMA helps lift the standard for the Marketing profession. They empower individuals, support capability building and create a platform for continuous growth exceptionally well. 

Is there an example of a really well executed data-driven campaign (or partnership) that you admire? What made it stand out for you? 

One campaign I’ve always admired is Spotify Wrapped. It’s such a brilliant example of using data in a way that feels personal, engaging and emotionally resonant. Every year Spotify turns vast amounts of user data into a personalised snapshot of your year in music.

The campaign strikes a perfect balance between personalisation and scale. It creates a moment of delight for users while generating a huge wave of user-generated content that effectively becomes free advertising.

The strategy is clever - the data informs future product and marketing decisions while continuing to build brand love. It’s a great example of data-driven storytelling done well and I genuinely look forward to seeing my own Spotify Wrapped every year. 

Is there an example of a really well executed data-driven campaign (or partnership) that you admire? What made it stand out for you? 

Spending time with my husband and daughters is my favourite way to spend my time. It really doesn’t matter what we’re doing, as long as we’re together. That’s what I most look forward to outside of work.  

I’m also a big reader and I love exercising outdoors. I absolutely love travelling with my family. Whether it’s an overseas trip or a simple weekend road trip, discovering new places together is something we all treasure.