WFA's Better Marketing Pod with David Wheldon · 2026-02-03 · 24 min
Growth doesn’t start with an ad. It starts where your product decisions meet real people. We sit down with Cheryl, newly named Global Marketer of the Year, to unpack how Grab scaled across Southeast Asia by turning marketing into a true commercial engine - where product, pricing, algorithms, and culture work in sync to earn trust and drive results. We chart the journey from a scrappy airport-ride promo to a system of problem-space teams that cross swim lanes by design. Cheryl explains why immersion days keep leaders close to riders and drivers, how fair pricing principles became part of brand architecture, and where consensus can quietly kill velocity. Her hiring lens is refreshingly direct: seek commercial fluency, data and insights mastery, and relentless curiosity; then give those people room to orchestrate product, economics, and operations around the customer. Sustainability emerges as strategy, not slogan. Inclusive design and driver programmes widen supply, improve safety, and boost retention, turning social good into measurable outcomes.
Ep 51: Opella's Alberto Hernandez on the commercial payback from curiosity, courage and purpose75 / 100Ep 50: 50 episodes in David Wheldon reflects on conversations with the world’s top marketing minds
Ep 49: Google's VP Global Ads Dan Taylor: "AI is more of a leadership than a technology challenge"
Ep 48: Judy Smith on why "be who you say you are" is the only crisis playbook that matters
Ep 47: HP's Antonio Lucio on leading through a CEO transition, an AI surge and 4 layers of disruption