TheCMOcircle
Circle – 5

The 3rd Circle

CMO in the Age of Experience Economy

Experience is the new battleground. A collective inquiry into the future of marketing leadership.

15 May 2026Gurugram

Convened with

LocobuzzVerbinden

The Rise of Experience-Led Growth

Brands once competed through products, pricing, and communication. Today, customers form opinions through experiences, often long after the campaign ends.

The Circle gathered to examine what this shift means for the modern CMO. Discussions moved beyond awareness, acquisition, and messaging into trust, service, product decisions, and the operational realities that shape customer perception.

As the evening unfolded, a common thread became impossible to ignore: In the experience economy, customers experience the brand as one system. Growth is shaped not only by what brands promise, but by what customers actually live through.

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Voices in the Circle

A curated group of senior marketing leaders, brought together for perspectives and reflections.

Alok Agarwal

Alok Agarwal

Chief Marketing Officer, Orient Bell

Angela Toppo

Angela Toppo

Cofounder and Chief Marketing Officer, Be.

Ashish Aggarwal

Ashish Aggarwal

Chief Marketing Officer, True Balance

Chirag Jagwani

Chirag Jagwani

Head - eCommerce, Marketing & Modern Trade, FIXDERMA

Kriti Awasthi

Kriti Awasthi

Marketing Director IMEA, Whole Earth Brands

Nidhi Rastogi

Nidhi Rastogi

Director, Head of Marketing, UNIGLO India

Rachit Nayyar

Rachit Nayyar

Regional Lead EMEA - Cloud Marketing, Google Operations Center

Ravpreet Ganesh

Ravpreet Ganesh

Chief Marketing Officer, Balsam Capital

Rini Goel

Rini Goel

Head of Marketing, Loopie

Rohit Gupta

Rohit Gupta

Marketing Lead - Consumer Division, AMD

Shubhodip Das

Shubhodip Das

Head - Marketing & Sales Operation Management, Asia Pulp & Paper

Vijay Nair

Vijay Nair

Vice President and Head Branded IP, HT Media Group

Playbook: 3rd Edition of TheCMOcircle

A documented reflection of the circle

TheCMOcircle Playbook brings together the ideas that emerged as senior marketing leaders explored the evolving role of the CMO in the Experience Economy.

The Playbook captures the shifts in customer behavior, frameworks, and practical insights that surfaced throughout the discussion. It examines how trust is earned, how experiences shape memory, and how marketing's influence increasingly extends beyond communication into product, service, and delivery.

A record of the Circle, designed for CMOs, as customer expectations and the role of marketing continue to evolve.

Download the Playbook
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Highlights From The Circle

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The Circle Continues...

The journey has just begun.

The conversations sparked here are already finding their way into the next room. A new set of leaders, a new city, and the same intent to question, challenge, and shape what marketing leadership stands for today.

The 4th Circle gathers in Bengaluru

Explore the 4th Circle →

A Global Circle of Influence

TheCMOcircle convenes marketing leaders to engage with the complexities of the role as it exists today. It explores critical questions that don’t have easy answers. It is not a stage for polished viewpoints, but a space for candid dialogue, where ideas are examined, challenged, and refined through collective thinking.