Can You Successfully Shift a Legacy Brand Perception to a Modern B2B Technology Provider? – Courtney Cusack, FUJIFILM Business Innovation Australia

Courtney Cusack’s marketing philosophy is built on the principles of bold curiosity and structural connection. At FUJIFILM Business Innovation Australia, she is tasked with orchestrating one of the most significant brand realignments in recent corporate history. Whilst the global market natively associates the Fujifilm name with consumer cameras or traditional workplace printing heritage, the enterprise has quietly evolved into a sophisticated B2B technology solutions giant. Courtney directs the regional strategy to communicate this shift, transforming complex digital workflows, automation platforms, and managed IT services into highly targeted, customer-centric campaigns that establish long-term market authority.

How do you overhaul a global brand perception from legacy print to B2B tech?

Courtney details the deep collaborative workshops required to redefine a company’s core messaging.

“When most people hear Fujifilm, they often think of cameras or printers, and that’s totally fair enough, that’s our legacy. But we’re actually going through a major brand transformation, and that’s what my role is all about. I’m here to help people understand that we are more than a print or camera company; we are a B2B technology solutions provider for digital transformation.

Our brand perception is the big focus for the entire company. We are working to redefine who we are as a business and shift from that legacy perception to a modern solutions-led one. This means really diving deep into our purpose and our ‘why.’ It has taken a lot of workshops, stakeholder interviews, and customer conversations, but the outcome is that our messaging is now really targeted to our customers’ needs.”

Why must modern success metrics abandon clicks for pipeline impact?

Rejecting surface-level vanity data, Courtney explains how business outcomes elevate a marketer’s boardroom voice.

“The definition of success has evolved. For me, it’s about impact. It’s not just about impressions or clicks; it’s about being accountable for business outcomes. This means looking closely at revenue, pipeline growth, and customer engagement. When you can do that, you elevate your position as a marketing leader and can have more meaningful conversations about what’s best for the customer, because you are driving real business impact rather than just presenting creative activity reports.”

How can a creative concept like kirigami unite corporate heritage with new IT categories?

Reflecting on a flagship brand launch, Courtney shares the multi-channel strategy that generated millions of impressions.

“Our brand transformation launch was a huge success. We went to market through a balanced mix of large-scale media, out-of-home advertising, TV, radio, digital, and targeted PR. We used a distinct creative concept based on kirigami, a traditional form of Japanese paper art, to pay homage to our heritage while simultaneously telling a completely new story.

The campaign generated over 1.2 million impressions and significantly increased our brand visibility in our new categories like automation and IT services. But just as importantly, it created a huge amount of energy and engagement with our internal teams. They could see our brand out in the market in a fresh way, which was incredibly powerful for breaking down internal silos.”

What is the biggest danger of allowing short-term demand to crush brand equity?

Addressing the complex modern buyer landscape, Courtney outlines the critical role of marketing as corporate glue.

“The biggest challenge is navigating an evolving and complex environment. Customer journeys are no longer linear, which makes them very difficult to map and align campaigns to. Second, you have to deal with internal silos. As marketers, we are the glue that brings everyone together, so it’s our job to break down those silos with a customer-first lens.

Finally, there is the continuous need to balance short-term results with long-term brand equity. You are always being pushed by the business to deliver on immediate demand generation, but building a strong brand for the future is equally important to survive competitive category shifts.”

Why must the modern CMO refuse to “stay in their lane”?

In a final call to action, Courtney passes on career advice regarding generative AI tools, creative taste, and cross-functional leadership.

“The biggest opportunity for marketing leaders today is to go above and beyond the traditional marketing role and become a true cross-functional leader. You cannot just ‘stay in your lane.’ Data and technology are now cross-functional, and customer experience is a shared responsibility across the entire company.

The fundamental principles will stay the same: our job will always be to be customer advocates, to understand the market, and to execute flawlessly. What’s changed are the tools we have. The execution of creative work has been completely democratised; you no longer need huge budgets to create wonderful content. Of course, you still need to have exceptional taste to avoid ‘AI slop,’ but these tools allow anyone to execute on brilliant ideas.

I describe the role of the CMO in one word: connector. We bridge the gaps between strategy and campaign delivery. My advice to other marketers is to be brave, be curious, and don’t wait for permission. The people who are proactive and challenge assumptions are the ones who are given the most opportunities.”

Join the Conversation: The Ortus Club’s Executive Network

Across Courtney’s insights on engineering brand transformations, conquering non-linear customer journeys, and acting as a cross-functional corporate connector, one pattern is clear: these operational hurdles cannot be solved within an isolated department. They require a peer-level perspective and high-trust dialogue that transcends traditional demand generation models.

Her vision of the “CMO as an Enterprise Connector” reflects a broader reality: today’s marketing and brand directors cannot rely on legacy cosmetics to realign an entire corporate identity. The most effective executives, especially those steering massive enterprise technology, document automation, and workplace cloud solutions across Australia and New Zealand, actively seek out peer dialogue as a strategic necessity to test their growth frameworks against market reality.

At The Ortus Club, we host curated executive roundtables that bring together senior leaders facing these exact challenges. Step away from the pressure of short-term campaign cycles and engage in the kind of open, high-value conversations that break down silos, protect your long-term brand equity, and drive real business outcomes.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What is a non-linear customer journey in B2B technology?

A: A non-linear customer journey describes a buying process where corporate clients do not follow a predictable path from awareness to purchase. Instead, buyers jump back and forth between independent digital research, peer benchmarking, formal procurement reviews, and vendor interactions, making traditional funnel tracking highly complex.

Q: How does an internal team operate as a “Perception Multiplier” during a brand pivot?

A: When internal employees engage deeply with a company’s new public messaging, their alignment transforms the corporate culture. Teams stop operating in functional silos and begin executing workflows that actively match the external promise of the brand transformation, accelerating market adoption.

Q: What is the difference between short-term demand generation and long-term brand equity?

A: Short-term demand generation focuses on immediate, transactional activities designed to capture active buyers and fill the immediate sales pipeline (e.g., direct response ads, gated content). Long-term brand equity builds lasting familiarity, institutional trust, and commercial preference over months or years, ensuring a lower cost of acquisition over time.

Q: What does it mean when creative content execution is “democratised”?

A: It refers to the widespread availability of advanced generative tools, low-code platforms, and analytical software that allow lean marketing teams to rapidly produce high-quality video, design, and copy assets. This eliminates the historic requirement for massive creative production budgets or large external agencies.

Q: How does a marketing leader identify and filter out “AI slop”?

A: By applying strict professional standards, deep industry taste, and customer-centric verification. While AI tools accelerate production, a strategic leader reviews all outputs to remove generic phrasing, factual hallucinations, and repetitive formatting, ensuring the content delivers original value to the buyer.