Let's talk ↗
Marketing × Sales × Growth

Real cases.
Real people.
Not Judge Judy.(but I do judge ads)

I'm Isaac Lai, a senior marketing and growth leader based in Sydney. I've worked agency-side and in-house across APAC, building brands, teams and growth that holds together—and making complicated things feel a lot simpler along the way.

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Brand building✦Commercial growth✦Agency + in-house✦Still on the tools
10+years across agency & in-house
20+awards & honours
9.84instructor NPS
5APAC markets led
Where I can help

You might need me
when this happens.

01

Brand, sales and growth are pulling in different directions

You need someone to find what is really getting in the way, join the dots and turn the answer into work the team can actually use.

Explore consulting ↗
02

You are entering APAC without enough local judgement

Global consistency matters. So does knowing when the market is politely telling you the global answer will not travel.

See the APAC lens ↗
03

The board sees plenty of activity, but not enough progress

You need better questions about the brand, the customer and what is genuinely helping the business grow.

Explore advisory ↗
04

The CEO needs a challenger—not another permanent executive

An independent operator can add perspective, continuity and constructive pressure without adding a new layer of theatre.

See advisory options ↗
05

The audience needs a senior voice with something useful to say

Practical talks and conversations built from real cases, honest lessons and analogies that may involve Michael Jordan.

Explore speaking ↗
Selected work

Good ideas are better
when they actually work.

01Growth transformation · ThreeTrader

Got the fundamentals right—then made them work harder together.

Joined up brand, acquisition, CRM and partner marketing, then measured the journey from first touch through to a customer’s 31st trade. Less channel theatre; more commercial clarity.

  • +59% new clients YoY
  • +30% net deposits YoY
  • +20% successful sign-ups
Read the case study ↗
02Integrated brand · Uber Eats

Build local ideas strong enough to travel around the globe (and beyond).

Worked across Australia, Japan, Taiwan, India and Hong Kong on campaigns grounded in local culture—from bubble tea to sending food towards space. Serious strategy, with room to have fun.

  • 5 APAC markets
  • Brand, social & digital
  • Local-first campaign systems
Read the case study ↗
03Brand · Titan FX

Turned ambition into a brand platform—and gave customers a reason to stay.

Created Dream Beyond Borders with Keisuke Honda, then connected the promise to the product through Titan FX’s first loyalty program. Brand building up top; better customer value underneath.

  • +15% unprompted awareness
  • +62.5% recommendation intent in key markets
  • 5 priority markets
Read the case study ↗
Watch the work
ThreeTrader · athlete partnershipRitsu Doan
Uber Eats Japan · local idea, global reachSpace Delivery
Titan FX · global brand platformDream Beyond Borders
McDonald’s · social & earned mediaMcPickle
How I lead

The job is to set a clear direction, get the fundamentals right and help good people do their best work.

Clear thinking.
Strong teams.
No hero ball.

01Join the dotsBrand, product, sales and lifecycle should feel like one customer story—not competing departments.

02Make it usefulIf a strategy cannot help the team make a better decision tomorrow, it probably needs simplifying.

03Share the creditIndividual trophies look nice. The work is almost always a collective win.

Experience

Different markets.
Different problems.
Same fundamentals.

Now

Chief Growth OfficerTitan FX

Bringing marketing and sales closer together—and staying close enough to the work to know what is actually moving.

2023—25

Global Head of MarketingThreeTrader

Built the foundations, grew the team and helped an ambitious broker show up more distinctively around the world.

2021—23

Brand & Digital LeadershipUber / Uber Eats

Led social, digital and brand work across five APAC markets, always starting with what would matter locally.

Agency side

Strategy & Client LeadershipAkcelo · VML · Sparro · Independent agencies

Helped build an agency from its early days and worked across brands including McDonald’s, Netflix and Microsoft—learning how to turn a brief into work clients, creatives and customers could all believe in.

Ongoing

Academic, Instructor & MentorUNSW · General Assembly

Helping emerging marketers connect the theory to the messy, useful reality of doing the work.

Recognition

A few trophies.
A lot of teamwork.

I'm proud of the recognition. I'm prouder of the people, trust and hard work sitting behind it.

Marketing Executive of the Year2024 · 2025 · 2026

Recognised across World Business Outlook, Global Banking & Markets, International Business Magazine, World Economic Magazine, Global Excellence Chronicle and Global Business & Finance.

Marketing Team of the Year2024 · 2025 · 2026

Team honours from International Business Magazine, Brands Review, Global Excellence Chronicle and Global Business & Finance—collective wins in every sense.

40 Under 40 & Innovator 252024 honouree

Named to MobileAppDaily’s 40 Under 40 and Provoke Media’s Innovator 25—a career-pivot milestone that still feels slightly surreal.

Creative & industry recognition2019—2022

Mumbrella ANZ Marketing Team of the Year, International Content Marketing Awards Content Person of the Year bronze, three platinum individual-achievement awards and Mumbrella Next Creative Agency Talent.

Beyond the day job

Share what works.
Be honest about what didn't.

Isaac Lai speaking on a marketing panel
On stagePractical ideas.
Honest stories.
Occasionally questionable analogies.

Speaking about brand, growth, AI, leadership and what really happens on both sides of the agency–client relationship.

01

Speaking

Honest, practical conversations about brand, growth, AI, APAC marketing, leadership and the agency–client relationship—usually with a few unexpected analogies, Michael Jordan references and fewer buzzwords.

02

Awards

Judge for the Cairns Crocodile Awards, B&T 30 Under 30, International Content Marketing Awards, Festival of Media, AiMCO Awards and Transform ANZ. Also available to review and sharpen award entries.

03

Mentoring

For marketers making a career pivot, stepping into leadership or trying to become the mentor they wish they had earlier in their career.

04

Consulting & boards

For businesses that want a sharper brand, stronger growth foundations and advice from someone who has worked on both sides of the briefing table—and still enjoys being on the tools. A third-party view with a first-party duty of care.

UNSW Academic & Mentor · General Assembly Lead Instructor9.84 average NPS

I teach the way I like to lead: make it practical, make it clear and give the next generation everything I got from my generation and our predecessors.