CMO Awards 2026 submissions now open: Leadership, business growth impact and emerging marketing leadership in the spotlight

The CMO Awards, powered by Mi3, are now officially open for submissions, and we’re calling on Australia’s most effective marketing leaders, growth initiative instigators and emerging marketing leaders and their teams to start getting those submissions underway.

The 2026 CMO Awards annual recognition program, powered by Mi3, celebrates those leading the marketing function who are displaying innovative, strategic marketing thinking, driving business change and commercial success, showcasing modern marketing excellence, and enabling greater collaboration and better customer engagement as a result. Our ultimate aim is to showcase Australian marketing leaders as champions of growth. Five key pillars drive the CMO Awards program:

• Recognising Australia’s most progressive, effective CMOs and growth-oriented marketing leaders
• Rewarding and supporting successful, innovative growth strategies and ‘big M’ marketing delivery
• Elevating the stature of Australia’s best-performing marketing chiefs and their teams
• Supporting excellence across marketing, customer and business growth leadership
• Connecting and supporting an alumnus of CMOs, marketing leaders and emerging marketing leaders.

In 2026, the CMO Awards program comprises an expanded awards categories list, all of which require entrants to complete the relevant submission-based questionnaire to be considered.  

Download the relevant entry questionnaires from the CMO Awards portal here.

Awards categories in 2026

Chief Marketing Officers of the Year: Open to the most senior marketing executive for an organisation based in Australia with a remit that includes the Australian market. This award category aims to reward long-term thinking, strategies that build brand and business, and programs of work that demonstrate learning, adaptability and responsiveness to business, market and customer needs.

SMB CMO of the Year: As part of our main Chief Marketing Officers of the Year, we’ll be highlighting one SMB CMO of the Year (<150 total employees). Again, open to the most senior marketing executive for an organisation based in Australia with a remit that includes the Australian market.

First-Time CMO of the Year: This special recognition category recognises a marketing leader who has held the most senior-level marketing role for less than 2 years in their career. This award category aims to recognise those demonstrating the right behaviours, capabilities and attitude with the foundations to build a tenure of role showcasing meaningful strategic delivery.

Best Growth Initiative of the Year presented by Publicis Groupe: Returning for a second year, this specialist category award recognises the best growth initiative undertaken by a marketing, growth, customer or innovation team in Australia, culminating in commercial success over the last 12 months. This specialist award is designed to elevate the full team involved and recognise excellence pertaining to a strategic growth initiative outside BAU. This category will be judged separately from our main award by a second judging panel.

NEW AWARD: Emerging marketing leader of the year presented by Commercial Radio & Audio: This new category will honour an emerging senior marketer with at least 10 years’ experience in the industry who’s on the road to CMO stardom. This category will be judged based on completing a questionnaire especially designed to help us understand the leadership, marketing and effectiveness calibre of an emerging marketing leader across Australia’s marketing and advertising community. Nominees can either have an Australian-only remit or be Australia-based with responsibility for a regional or global footprint. They must hold a manager+ job title and remit in order to be considered.

Please also be assured all submissions are kept strictly confidential within the judging panel and will not be distributed, shared or published without express permission.

Key deadlines

• Submissions open: Wednesday 28 January 2026
• Submissions close: Tuesday 10 March 2026
• Award winners announced: CMO Awards gala dinner on 6 May 2026 + via the Mi3 CMO Awards website.

It is free to enter the CMO awards. Only those individuals and teams who meet each category’s criteria are considered by our judges. Judges’ decisions are final and not up for negotiation. Only one entry form is required for each award for the individual or team to be in the running. Individuals and teams can enter each category independently of the other categories.

Completed questionnaires are to be sent to CMO Awards program manager, Nadia Cameron: [email protected]

The CMO Awards, powered by Mi3, is supported by Platinum Partner, Adobe, Gold Partner and presenting partner of the Best Growth Initiative of the Year Category Award, Publicis Groupe, Gold Partner and presenting partner of our new Emerging Marketing Leader of the Year Award, Commercial Audio & Radio, and Gold Partner, oOh!media.

You can find all the information about the CMO Awards program approach, as well as our wealth of CMO content and 2025 winner profiles, on the CMO Awards website.