News from the NZ Social Marketing Network

The New Zealand Social Marketing Network is a volunteer run, no-cost network to link behaviour change / social marketing practitioners in NGO’s, government agencies, not-for-profits as well as academics, pracademics, and support services in the communications and research sectors.

Our Kaupapa (project) is to create a space to collaborate, learn and grow social marketing practice; sharing knowledge and fostering connections to build capability in our practice. We foster the connection between academic possibility and real-world practical experience.

Our current membership of 300+ is largely centred in Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington but extends around Aotearoa New Zealand. We have formalised links with regional and global social marketing  networks — so we stay connected with emerging knowledge and ensure our voice is heard internationally.

Highlights for the network of 2025 have included:

• Bidding farewell to Phill Sherring as our practitioner Co-Chair from the past four years, and welcoming Jemma Titheridge (Te Whatu Ora Health NZ)  into the role. Jemma brings her vast behaviour change knowledge and a welcome background in health promotion/harm prevention into our leadership mahi.  We continue to support bridging the practitioner and academic gap by having a shared Co-Chair arrangement, with a Co-Chair from academia (Janet Davey, Victoria University of Wellington) and one from practice (Jemma). Other than the Co-Chair change, the rest of the 9-person committee has remained stable with no other changes, continuing to be a mix of academics, practitioners, agency representatives and researchers.
• Welcoming AASM’s Maria Raciti to repeat her keynote from the International Social Marketing Conference. Maria introduced us to the challenges (and how we may navigate them) posed by a VUCA world – Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity.
• Organising our first ever network symposium, scheduled for September 20225. This full day hands-on symposium seeks to bring together, energise and empower over 40 influential social marketers via deep dives and practical capability building.  
• Seeing Kate Smith’s webinar on ‘addiction’ being so insightful and popular with attendees that a second follow up session had to be arranged almost immediately. Kate shared an incredibly open and honest session through the eyes of an addict and how as social marketers we can understand, and influence behaviours driven by addiction.
• Introducing our ‘bookless’ club – a regular social get together for social marketers in Wellington. No agenda or speaker, just building connections across change agents in the capital.
• Continuing monthly webinars from a range of practitioners, academics and researchers to share work, insights and research with the NZ community. These are well attended by highly engaged audiences and help main a strong connection with our members. These are then made available on a resource hub hosted by the NZ Marketing Association
• Supporting members to publish articles in social marketing journals and present to conferences in Aotearoa and abroad.
• Offering intern opportunities and mentoring support to members.
• Actively promoting the AASM webinars and encouraging New Zealanders to attend and learn from our Australian counterparts.

You can stay connected with the NZ Social Marketing Network via their LinkedIn group and resource hub.