A retrospective
Chief Marketing Officer · 2006 — present
Room I
Strong brands begin with a precise understanding of the customer and become valuable through consistent commercial choices. I connect positioning, experience and growth measurement, while staying honest about what the evidence can attribute to marketing.
Xinyi Zhou
Room II
The disciplines to which this career has returned, again and again.
Room III
Each work is a decision: its context, the choice made and what followed.
Work 01
Medium: judgement, people and capital
An expanding portfolio had blurred the organisation's proposition. I led work to understand the choices customers were making, clarify the role of each offer and establish a more coherent brand architecture. The programme aligned leadership around a common narrative and gave customer-facing teams a practical framework for communicating it.
Work 02
Medium: judgement, people and capital
Acquisition activity and customer experience were managed in separate conversations. We brought the journey into a single view, identified the moments that shaped confidence and linked marketing priorities with product and service decisions. The work created clearer accountability for the experience behind the campaign promise.
Work 03
Medium: judgement, people and capital
Entering an unfamiliar segment required more than a new campaign. I worked with commercial teams to test the proposition, understand adoption barriers and develop evidence that helped customers evaluate the offer. We sequenced market activity around what we were learning, rather than committing every channel before the proposition had been tested.
Room IV
#1
Category brand
From fourth in three years
2.6×
Customer lifetime value
Through loyalty and experience redesign
19
Markets launched
One brand, locally fluent
34
Effectiveness awards
For work that moved the business
Room V
A career, hung in chronological order.
2006 — 2012
Harrow & Vale Industries
2012 — 2017
Aurelia Consumer
2016 — 2020
Fairhaven Holdings
2020 — Present
Aldermoor Group
Room VI
Boards and institutions that have entrusted their stewardship.
Independent Director · Customer & Brand (Chair) · ESG
2023 — Present
Trustee · Programmes
2019 — Present
Room VII
Brought the customer into every boardroom conversation, with evidence rather than adjectives.
A brand builder who understands the P&L as well as the poetry.
Room VIII
Essays written alongside the work.
A brand promise should be recognisable in product, service and commercial behaviour.
Read the essayA change in revenue can reflect pricing, distribution, product, sales execution and market conditions as well as marketing.
Read the essayResearch has limited value if the organisation cannot name what it will do differently as a result.
Read the essayRoom IX
Honours
Reviews
The Brand Effectiveness Journal · 2025
“How a fourth-placed brand became the category leader”
The Boardroom Review · 2024
“Why the board should own brand risk”
The Leadership Ledger podcast · 2023
“Episode 104 — Customer truth over campaign noise”
An invitation
For board, advisory and speaking enquiries — a conversation is the best way to see the work.
office@xinyizhou.example