Compressed.jpg?width=2000&height=466&name=FUTURE%20OF%20MARKETING%20SUMMIT%20NEW%20ZEALAND%20(Cropped%203000px%20x%20700px)Compressed.jpg "Register Your Interest In Attending iMedia Future of Marketing Summit NZ")
Some brands are sold. Others become part of people's identity.
Steve Dunstan, co-founder of Huffer, helped transform a grassroots clothing label into one of New Zealand's most influential lifestyle brands by creating a culture and community people wanted to be part of. Today, he continues that philosophy through projects spanning sport, culture and business, including Auckland FC, where identity, participation and belonging remain at the heart of what he builds.
In his session, The Brand Is the Culture, Steve will explore how community, shared values and culture create brands that endure because people don't just buy into them — they belong to them.
Jarrod Kerr is Chief Economist at Kiwibank and one of New Zealand's most respected economic commentators. With experience spanning leading financial institutions — JP Morgan, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, and Credit Suisse in Singapore — he is known for translating complex economic trends into clear, actionable insights. At iMedia Future of Marketing NZ, Jarrod will deliver an unvarnished view of the macro forces shaping the business environment, helping marketing leaders understand what today's economic realities mean for brand investment, consumer behaviour, and long-term growth.
Erica Beagley has spent two decades shaping some of New Zealand's most recognisable brands, from Heinz Wattie's and Air New Zealand to Emirates in Dubai. As Head of Brand and Content at Kiwibank, she now stewards one of the country's most prominent financial brands through a period that is testing every assumption about where brand investment pays off. At the Summit, she'll explore one of marketing's biggest leadership challenges: balancing long-term brand value with short-term performance demands, and making confident decisions before all the data is in.
Most brands are competing for attention. Nick Gray has spent his career making the case for something harder to win and far more valuable: trust. As Founder and CEO of IGU Global, he helps organisations build emotionally intelligent brands, design human-centred customer experiences, and sharpen strategic thinking in an AI-powered world.
With more than 25 years across Nike, Adidas, Sneakerboy, Diesel, and Westfield, Nick has built a career at the intersection of emotion, identity, and consumer behaviour. In his session at the Future of Marketing Summit, he'll challenge marketers to move beyond attention-based thinking and explore how emotional coherence, not louder messaging, is what builds the kind of trust that actually converts.
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