Est. 2006

Chief Marketing Officer · Japan · Global perspective

September 2026 edition

Akira Yamamoto

Turning customer understanding into enduring brand value.

Leading article

Turning customer understanding into enduring brand value.

By Akira Yamamoto · Chief Marketing Officer

I help organisations connect a clear market position with a customer experience that earns it. My work spans brand strategy, growth and the development of marketing capabilities that bring customer understanding into enterprise decisions.

I believe strong brands are built through consistency between what a business promises and what it delivers. The CMO therefore needs a close relationship with product, sales, service and operations, as well as an independent view of the market. Creative ambition becomes more powerful when it is grounded in that shared understanding.

My leadership approach combines curiosity with commercial discipline. I build teams that can ask better questions, make considered creative choices and learn from the response of real customers.

Continued on the profile page →

From the desk of Akira

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.

— Akira Yamamoto

In this edition

Customer experience

Growth measurement needs honest boundaries

A change in revenue can reflect pricing, distribution, product, sales execution and market conditions as well as marketing.

Customer experience · June 2026 · 3 min read

Dispatches from practice

Case 01

Brand transformation

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.

Case 02

Customer growth

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.

Case 03

Market creation

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.

The full record of leadership work →

Appointments

Aurelia ConsumerIndependent Director · 2023 — Present

The Creative Futures TrustTrustee · 2019 — Present

Honours

Marketer of the YearThe Brand Effectiveness Awards · 2024

Women in Leadership — MarketingThe Boardroom Review · 2022

As reported in

The Brand Effectiveness Journal“How a fourth-placed brand became the category leader” · 2025

The Boardroom Review“Why the board should own brand risk” · 2024

The Leadership Ledger podcast“Episode 104 — Customer truth over campaign noise” · 2023

The record

Chief Marketing OfficerAldermoor Group · 2020 — Present

Vice President, Brand & GrowthFairhaven Holdings · 2016 — 2020

Global Brand DirectorAurelia Consumer · 2012 — 2017

Marketing Manager, Emerging MarketsHarrow & Vale Industries · 2006 — 2012

Letters to the editor

“Brought the customer into every boardroom conversation, with evidence rather than adjectives.”
Isabelle Fontaine, Chair, Aurelia Consumer
“A brand builder who understands the P&L as well as the poetry.”
Arjun Mehta, Group CEO, Harrow & Vale Industries

An invitation

Correspondence welcome.

Akira welcomes conversations with boards, chairs, search advisers and editors.

Open to
  • Board appointments
  • Advisory roles
  • Speaking invitations
Write to Akira

office@akirayamamoto.example