Do you believe in ads? Well, fewer and fewer people believe them now. The hype is pretty much overrated.
People scroll past them, skip them, and ignore them. But when the founder or CEO speaks, authentically, from a human being to another, in a direct and crystal clear context, people stop and listen. And it’s not just the CEO. The term CxO is shorthand for the most senior leaders of a company: the Chief Executive Officer, Chief Marketing Officer, Chief Operating Officer, and other key decision-makers. Each brings a different kind of weight. The CEO sets the vision. The CMO shapes the brand. The COO carries operational credibility. But among them, the founder’s voice often matters most, because it ties back to the original promise of the business.
That’s why the CxO voice isn’t just a nice-to-have anymore. It’s marketing-critical.
Tony Fernandes figured this out years ago. He didn’t just build AirAsia on cheap fares; he built it on his own voice. Straight-talking. Sometimes cheeky. Always present. When AirAsia was under fire, Tony didn’t vanish behind a series of official media statements. He still showed up. He tweeted. He joked. He owned the responsibility as the head of the business. That kind of visibility made AirAsia feel less like a faceless airline and more like a promise you could trust. Of course, various challenges are happening in AirAsia that Tony might not be handling directly.
Anthony Tan at Grab has played it differently, but no less effectively. He was the obvious leader when Grab was the emerging brand. While competitors tried to sell themselves as “super apps,” Tan leads the way in positioning the brand into something more grounded. He made people look at it from another perspective. Survivability of its stakeholders. He framed Grab as a lifeline for drivers, hawkers, and small businesses. And he kept repeating that message himself. In doing so, he made Grab bigger than a platform. He made it personal. Now, Grab is a multi-billion-dollar conglomerate.
Silence from the top-level people in the business means marketing it will be harder. And slower. When leaders don’t speak, the business becomes faceless. People don’t buy a faceless brand. They buy the belief of the person leading it. That belief creates trust. That trust drives conversion. And that’s what shapes influence, not only with customers, but with employees, investors, and regulators.
For SMEs, this is the single most underrated marketing tool. You don’t need a huge budget. You just need your influential leader at the top to have a voice and be out there. A thoughtful post. A candid reply. A short video that shows what he or she stands for. In a crowded market, authenticity beats polish every time. Because in the end, marketing is all about resonance. Campaigns can attract attention, but only leadership can anchor belief. And belief is what turns audiences into customers, customers into advocates, and businesses into brands that last.
The CxO voice doesn’t just support marketing. In many ways, it is the marketing.
