Building a regional marketing engine from scratch

The situation

When Zoho began scaling seriously in Australia and New Zealand, the region lacked a structured demand generation system. Competitors had stronger physical visibility through outdoor advertising and established local partnerships. Zoho had the product. It did not yet have the presence.

My role

I was brought in as regional growth marketing manager with full ownership of brand and demand generation across ANZ. This was not a coordination role. I was responsible for strategy, execution, and outcomes across every channel in the region.

What I did

• Identified high-impact outdoor advertising locations across major Australian and New Zealand business districts including trams, buses, airports, metro stations, and CBD billboards

• Developed messaging tailored specifically to the ANZ market, ensuring it reflected local business culture and SME growth narratives rather than generic global messaging

• Connected OOH campaigns to digital channels through QR codes, targeted landing pages, and structured entry points that moved audiences from awareness to demo engagement

• Ran integrated digital programs across LinkedIn advertising, search marketing, and email nurture to capture and convert interest generated through outdoor visibility

• Coordinated execution across multiple internal teams including product marketing, pre-sales, events, partnerships, and social media

• Built an active lead funnel designed to minimise drop-off, reducing funnel abandonment rate by 80%

The results

• Significantly improved Zoho's regional brand presence across Australia and New Zealand

• Increased inbound engagement across multiple product lines

• One LinkedIn campaign attracted an unsolicited partnership inquiry from Auckland Football Club, demonstrating the reach of well-positioned regional storytelling

• Strengthened Zoho's positioning as a credible enterprise SaaS provider in the ANZ market

What it proved

Regional marketing only works when the messaging feels regional. Adapting global narratives to local business culture, and connecting physical visibility to digital conversion journeys, is what turns brand awareness into a pipeline.