Cherry Tian
Head of marketing
Workspace
Cherry Tian’s career cuts across some of the most competitive sectors in both B2C and B2B marketing, giving her a rounded perspective on how the discipline has transformed.
Before joining Workspace in 2023, she held roles at major consumer brands, including NatWest Group, Ebay and Ladbrokes where the focus was on customer understanding, commercial accountability and measurable impact. Those experiences continue to inform her approach in a B2B setting, where customer expectations are becoming increasingly consumer-like.
Tian describes the biggest shift she has witnessed as marketing’s evolution “from a primarily broadcast-oriented, creative discipline to a data-empowered, customer-centric engine for business growth”. Where success once hinged on reach and cut-through, it now requires “a clear line of sight to commercial ROI”, she says.
This shift has shaped the way she leads: operating deliberately at the intersection of creativity and data, integrating customer insight, econometrics and AI “not to replace creativity, but to fuel and focus it”.
Tian’s blend of B2C and B2B experience gives her a distinctive view on the opportunities ahead. She sees AI as the most significant enabler for marketers, not just an efficiency tool. The true potential, she argues, lies in its ability to “unlock deep customer insights, predict trends, and personalise experiences at scale”.
“Master the art of connecting customer value to business value. Those who do, will be the ones who have real impact on both the customer and on the balance sheet.”
Marketers who embrace it fully, she says, will free themselves to spend more time on “higher-order strategy, critical thinking, [and] truly original and disruptive creative development”.
Yet she is equally clear-eyed about the challenges. For Tian, the hardest task facing marketers is proving the financial value of brand building in an environment dominated by short-term performance metrics.
The pressure for immediate return on ad spend (ROAS) can drive short-termism, making it essential for marketers to “master the language of the boardroom” and use data science and clear measurement frameworks to demonstrate that brand investment is a long-term driver of revenue and profit rather than a cost centre.
Looking ahead, she sees the role of the marketer changing both technically and strategically. Technically, she expects a shift “from managing a series of one-off campaigns to architecting integrated, real-time customer experiences”. While strategically, she believes the greatest value will come from human-led skills: “critical thinking, bold and original creativity”, and the ability to build narrative and culture at brand level.
Her advice to those entering the profession is pragmatic and consistent with her own trajectory: “Master the art of connecting customer value to business value.” Those who do, she says, will be the ones who have real impact on both the customer and on the balance sheet.
