CMO OF THE YEAR 2025 – MANDY PERRONE, HEAD OF MARKETING & DIGITAL, BEBAT - SPECIAL JURY RECOGNITION FOR AN OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTION TO MARKETING
25.11.2025
This year, the CMO of the Year Award is unlike any other. And that is precisely why it is memorable.
Our sector is going through a crisis: budget cuts, inflation, rising personnel costs, MarTech and AI transformation, in-housing, short-term ROI pressure, challenges in attracting talent, increasingly volatile and ‘always-on’ consumers…
On top of that, there is a crisis of confidence in the value of marketing, which has also affected our CMO Council. Several candidates for the CMO of the Year title withdrew due to internal restructuring.
One candidacy remained. And it convinced the jury and Media Marketing through its exemplary nature.
This special recognition honours Mandy Perrone, Head of Marketing & Digital at Bebat, for her decisive role in driving the digital transformation of the organisation and expanding its societal impact. Mandy goes far beyond promoting products or services: she practices marketing that drives change and serves the greater good.
Through her leadership, Mandy Perrone and her team have:
raised national awareness of the value of battery recycling;
educated all generations – through schools, citizen campaigns and companies – towards more responsible behaviour;
combined marketing strategy with societal impact, making an ecological gesture simple, accessible, and visible throughout Belgium;
steered Bebat’s digital transformation to strengthen efficiency and reach.
Beyond her role at Bebat, Mandy is also personally involved in societal initiatives, confirming a marketing vision deeply connected to human, social, and environmental challenges.
Because the role of a CMO today is not only to sell. It is also to inspire, to educate, and to positively transform society.
In this spirit, the CMO Council and Media Marketing have chosen to highlight Mandy Perrone, who thus succeeds Valerie Morfitis – former Global Media Director at Unilever, now CEO of Ads & Data – and elected CMO of the Year 2024. Mandy embodies the noblest mission of marketing: accelerating positive change for the benefit of the economy, the environment, and society.
Key Message
"Marketing is not only about winning market share. It also has the power to change behaviours and contribute to a more sustainable world. This year, the CMO of the Year Award takes an exceptional form to honour Mandy Perrone, Head of Marketing & Digital at Bebat, who led the organisation’s digital transformation while expanding its societal impact.
Through her commitment and leadership, she has raised nationwide awareness of the importance of battery recycling and demonstrated that the role of a CMO today is also to advance society, the economy, and the environment."
CMO Council
The CMO Council was launched in Munich in 2017 by the Serviceplan Group, with the aim of creating an exclusive club composed of the most influential Chief Marketing Officers in the country. This concept expanded to Belgium in 2022, and is made up of over 80 CMOs and offers them:
The CMO Barometer: A survey that invites CMOs to share their opinion on current trends and those set to gain momentum in the next 12 months.
The CMO of the Year Award: A representative prize for the entire sector and one of the most prestigious distinctions. It honors the marketing director who is considered the exemplary role model in the marketing industry, bringing not only their expertise to the table, but also their many years of industryexperience. The CMO of the Year is elected solely by their peers from the CMO Council and representatives of Media Marketing.
More info: https://www.house-of-communication.com/be/en/cmo-council.html
