Nikki Clarkson
chief marketing officer
Southern Cross Austereo
Nikki Clarkson is one of the Australian media industry’s leading marketing and communications executive with more than 20 years of proven, award-winning experience. Nikki is a member of SCA’s Executive Leadership Team and as Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) oversees group marketing and communication activities for 99 radio stations, over 800 podcasts, 30 music streaming stations, 105 regional TV feeds, an extensive suite of social and web publishing assets and SCA’s corporate marketing and communication.
Nikki’s impact and influence on Australia’s media and marketing industries has been recognised many times over. For three consecutive years she has appeared in CMO Magazine’s prestigious TOP 50 marketers and has led the industry for ACRA marketing awards, with nine honours to date, and counting. Nikki was also named in 41st place on Mediaweek’s 100 Power List in 2023.
Nikki’s expertise is regularly called upon as judge for multiple industry awards including Ad News Agency of the Year and, since 2018, the B&T Women in Media. Nikki is also a member of Commercial Radio and Audio’s Brand Committee.
As SCA’s first ever CMO and the second female to join the SCA Leadership Team, Nikki is breaking new ground to build best-in-class marketing and communications expertise for the organisation. Nikki has been key in the launch of digital audio destination LiSTNR which, after launching in 2020, now has more than 1.8 million signed in listeners and is Australia’s fastest growing entertainment brand reaching 8M+ audio fans. She led the digital transformation of SCA’s Marketing function to become a data-led group of specialists that has had a significant influence on the success of attracting consumers to LiSTNR.
As CMO, Nikki is responsible for all marketing and communication strategy and execution, brand strategy, trade marketing, media strategy, planning and buying, creative strategy and development, PR and publicity, internal communication, group corporate communication and crisis management. The role also includes responsibility for all SCA customer growth strategies, integrating a deep understanding of the evolving digital landscape, insight led consumer strategies and martech strategies to implement successful customer acquisition and retention plans.
On the creative front, Nikki is the originator and producer of the marketing podcast ‘Brand New World’ featuring host Russel Howcroft and guests Adam Ferrier, Thinkerbell’s founder and consumer psychologist, global marketing expert and author Peter Field, Amy Buchanan CEO Group M, and entrepreneur Zoe Foster Blake, to name a few. Nikki has also lectured in marketing and brand strategy for Melbourne Business School with Mark Ritson and for Swinburne University’s MBA program.
Prior to her appointment to CMO in January 2020, Nikki held the position of Head of Marketing and Communication at SCA for 10 years. She has also held senior executive positions in creative advertising agencies including Clemenger Harvie Edge, The Foundry and The Edge and she began her career as Marketing Manager of the Australian Marketing Institute.