The B2B Institute is a think tank funded by LinkedIn studying the future of B2B marketing and decision making. To challenge your thinking, we’re starting day with an International Keynote from the Institute’s Co-Founder, Ty Heath. 

Livestreaming in from New York, Ty will share key findings from the Institute’s latest research and what they label ‘Contrarian Trends’. Busting some common B2B marketing myths, Ty will discuss:

• Why "what won't change" matters more in marketing.
• Little-known practices that can give you a significant edge over the competition
• Which brand building tactics move the needle and which ones you can deprioritize.
• Reframing your marketing decisions to make your brand memorable

About Ty

Ty Heath is Director and co-founder at The B2B Institute, LinkedIn's think tank focused on building famous B2B brands. With over 20 years of experience at companies like Google and IBM, she makes marketing science accessible through research and the B2B Edge consultancy program. A two-time Olympic Trials qualifier in the 800 meters, Ty brings athletic discipline to her work and regularly speaks on marketing science and leadership at major industry events.

You could be marketing the most incredible brand or product in the history of the world, but no one will care about it until you figure out how to tell the story. The science of storytelling gets complicated when balancing multiple audiences, products, and the slippery slope of product vs. brand messaging.

Jen Zanni, Head of Product Marketing from Canva delivers a powerful reminder in this year’s closing International Keynote: while product features are important, storytelling is what makes your product irresistible.

• Understanding your segments and crafting messages that speak to their biggest pain points
• Keeping your focus on the customer problem you’re trying to solve
• Creating a compelling product story - making your audience feel like the product was made just for them
• Connecting with your audience on a human level
• Why the best product stories aren’t crafted in the Boardroom

About Jen

Jen Zanni is the Head of Product Marketing at Canva, where she leads a world-class team of product marketers spanning consumer, B2B, and education segments. With over 10 years of experience in product marketing, including roles at Microsoft and SafetyCulture, Jen has developed a passion for bridging the gap between innovative products and the people they serve.

Her approach combines deep customer understanding with storytelling that resonates, always keeping the focus on empowering users to achieve their goals.

At Canva, Jen's leadership has helped millions discover how design can be both accessible and beautiful, turning complex creative challenges into moments of possibility for people around the world.

Co-presenting with David Visser, CEO, Zyber

Join David Visser, seasoned eCommerce leader at Zyber, and Dawn Hernandez, Senior Solutions Engineer at Shopify, as they explore the shifting dynamics of B2B eCommerce. Discover how B2B brands can leverage eCommerce effectively, what lessons they can take from B2C, and the key trends shaping the future. Through real-world case studies, David and Dawn will share practical strategies and tips to help you refine your e-commerce approach and stay ahead in the digital marketplace.
 
Don’t miss this opportunity to gain expert perspectives and strengthen your B2B eCommerce strategy!

About Dawn

Dawn Hernandez is a Senior Solutions Engineer at Shopify, specialising in bridging technology and business success. She delivers customised product demos, develops strategic account plans, and solves complex merchant challenges. With a background in payments, fintech, and banking, she provides technical mentorship to merchants and development partners. Dawn frequently represents Shopify at industry events, sharing insights on APIs, emerging market trends, and innovative solutions that maximise the platform’s capabilities.

Co-presenting with Dawn Hernandez, Senior Solutions Engineer, Shopify

Join David Visser, seasoned eCommerce leader at Zyber, and Dawn Hernandez, Senior Solutions Engineer at Shopify, as they explore the shifting dynamics of B2B eCommerce. Discover how B2B brands can leverage eCommerce effectively, what lessons they can take from B2C, and the key trends shaping the future. Through real-world case studies, David and Dawn will share practical strategies and tips to help you refine your e-commerce approach and stay ahead in the digital marketplace.
 
Don’t miss this opportunity to gain expert perspectives and strengthen your B2B eCommerce strategy!

About David

David Visser is an experienced eCommerce leader with over 14 years in key account management, digital strategy, and tech leadership. As CEO of Zyber, a Shopify Plus & Klaviyo Master Platinum Agency, he drives strategy, sales, and production, delivering data-driven solutions to help online retailers scale. A seasoned public speaker, he has presented at 150+ industry events and serves on the Partner Advisory Boards for Klaviyo, Rebuy, and Okendo. He is also a Klaviyo Community Champion. Outside of work, David enjoys exploring New Zealand’s outdoors and group fitness classes.

B2B buyer behaviour is becoming more complex with an increasing number of stakeholders involved in purchasing decisions. More stakeholders = more opinions, priorities, and potential roadblocks!

This presents a new challenge for marketers and sales teams: how to cut through the noise, personalise outreach without being creepy, and guide buyers toward confident decisions.

This panel will explore AI and hyper-personalisation in B2B as ABM becomes even more sophisticated, using AI and predictive analytics to identify and target high-value accounts with precision. Our experts will share insights on committee hacking, invisible influencers, and the shift from traditional funnels to more dynamic, trust-driven buying experiences.

• Navigating complex stakeholder environments and understanding group dynamics within a B2B purchase
• The impact of "shadow influencers" and how to identify champions
• Why traditional sales tactics are failing in today's landscape.
• Getting the balance right: don't let hyper personalisation limit who you should be talking to.
• Practical use cases: AI-powered committee insights, content adaptation, and predictive analytics.
• How AI is changing research, messaging, and sales enablement.

Panel Moderator: 
Michael Friedberg, Founder & CEO, Flux B2B

Panellists: 
Sophie Neate, Global Head of Digital Marketing and Content, ABB
Steve Ballantyne, Director, Brand IQ
Nick Allan, Head of AI and Business Development, Indicator

About Sophie

Sophie is a senior marketing leader with over 17 years of experience across the full spectrum of the marketing lifecycle. Throughout her career, Sophie has excelled in senior leadership roles at prestigious blue-chip companies, overseeing global teams and driving transformative marketing strategies on an international scale. Currently Sophie is the Global Head of Digital Marketing and Content for ABB’s Electrification Service division, a $100 billion USD technology company based in over 100 countries, headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland.

A seasoned expert in building and leading high-performing marketing teams, Sophie has consistently established and optimized key marketing functions. Her leadership has been instrumental in launching initiatives that have resulted in substantial commercial success. With a deep well of expertise and a strategic vision, Sophie adeptly harnesses marketing insights to fuel business growth, elevate brand presence, and drive innovation.

Co-presenting with Alex Leece, GM - Strategy & Operations, engage IQ

Channel partners represent a critical revenue stream for many enterprise brands in New Zealand — but managing these relationships at scale is often complex and resource-intensive. With fixed sales resources, more B2B businesses are turning to digitisation to drive efficiency, consistency, and deeper engagement to extend their sales teams.

In this session, learn how Samsung New Zealand addressed this challenge by aligning sales and marketing through the launch of the Samsung B2B Connect Portal — a centralised platform that gives Samsung a better view of the market, enabling them to be more proactive in empowering channel partners – ultimately winning more business together. With strong adoption already, the platform is transforming how Samsung collaborates with resellers, distributors, and telco partners.

Whether you're exploring how to better support your partner network, digitise manual sales processes, or improve channel performance, this session will offer an overview of the journey, lessons learned, and approaches that other B2B brands can apply to growing their own partner ecosystems.

About Robbie

As Head of B2B at Samsung New Zealand, Prentice Robb (Robbie) leads the enterprise strategy across telco, direct, and channel partner segments. With a strong focus on digital transformation and customer engagement, he plays a pivotal role in driving Samsung’s B2B growth and partner-led success in the New Zealand and Pacific markets. Robbie collaborates closely with agency and platform teams to implement initiatives like the Samsung B2B Connect Portal, with the aim to give Samsung a better view of the market enabling them to be more proactive in empowering channel partners – ultimately winning more business together. Passionate about building meaningful partnerships, Robbie is dedicated to elevating Samsung as the leading enterprise brand in the region.

B2B rebrands often fail because they are too safe and forgettable. In this session, we’ll hear from brands that captured attention with bold rebrands. We talk internal vs external brand alignment, customer and stakeholder buy-in, common pitfalls, and how to craft a brand narrative that truly speaks to your audience.

Representing different B2B sectors, we go behind the scenes of four different rebrands to unlock disruptive branding strategies, brand storytelling and how brand perceptions change when employees and customers become the brand.

Panel Moderator: 
Dale Koerner,Strategic Marketing Chapter Lead, BlueOcean

Panellists: 
Sarah Garvin, Head of Marketing & Growth, Smartly
Tom Sykes, Strategy Director, Principals
Katherine Kazalbash, Head of Brand & Marketing, One NZ
Melissa Semmens, Marketing and Innovation Manager, Comfortech

About Sarah

B2B rebrands often fail because they are too safe and forgettable. In this session, we’ll hear from brands that captured attention with bold rebrands. We talk internal vs external brand alignment, customer and stakeholder buy-in, common pitfalls, and how to craft a brand narrative that truly speaks to your audience.

Representing different B2B sectors, we go behind the scenes of four different rebrands to unlock disruptive branding strategies, brand storytelling and how brand perceptions change when employees and customers become the brand.

Panel Moderator: 
Dale Koerner,Strategic Marketing Chapter Lead, BlueOcean

Panellists: 
Sarah Garvin, Head of Marketing & Growth, Smartly
Tom Sykes, Strategy Director, Principals
Katherine Kazalbash, Head of Brand & Marketing, One NZ
Melissa Semmens, Marketing and Innovation Manager, Comfortech

About Tom

Tom is a Strategy Director at Principals with 13 years of experience at some of the most regarded design, advertising, and digital agencies across South Africa and New Zealand. He's even won a few Gold Effies and creative agency of year titles along the way. From brand strategy to experiences and communications, Tom is passionate about the rigor strategy provides, the creative potential it unlocks, and the commercial value it drives. He’s worked on brands like Netflix, Heineken, Farmlands, KiwiRail, ASB, and the Ministry for Social Development.

B2B rebrands often fail because they are too safe and forgettable. In this session, we’ll hear from brands that captured attention with bold rebrands. We talk internal vs external brand alignment, customer and stakeholder buy-in, common pitfalls, and how to craft a brand narrative that truly speaks to your audience.

Representing different B2B sectors, we go behind the scenes of four different rebrands to unlock disruptive branding strategies, brand storytelling and how brand perceptions change when employees and customers become the brand.

Panel Moderator: 
Dale Koerner,Strategic Marketing Chapter Lead, BlueOcean

Panellists: 
Sarah Garvin, Head of Marketing & Growth, Smartly
Tom Sykes, Strategy Director, Principals
Katherine Kazalbash, Head of Brand & Marketing, One NZ
Melissa Semmens, Marketing and Innovation Manager, Comfortech

About Dale

Dale heads up the marketing team at BlueOcean – The B2B Agency, where his 12+ years across both sales and marketing bring strategies fuelled by customer insight, and the tactical nous to deliver on them.

Getting sales and marketing on the same page is a passion point for Dale; helping marketers to create an environment where their ideas are respected, and their impact experienced.

Having grown up with parents in precision engineering, Dale has always had a soft spot for technical industries and complex manufacturing, though also loves healthcare and the primary sector.

B2B buyer behaviour is becoming more complex with an increasing number of stakeholders involved in purchasing decisions. More stakeholders = more opinions, priorities, and potential roadblocks!

This presents a new challenge for marketers and sales teams: how to cut through the noise, personalise outreach without being creepy, and guide buyers toward confident decisions.

This panel will explore AI and hyper-personalisation in B2B as ABM becomes even more sophisticated, using AI and predictive analytics to identify and target high-value accounts with precision. Our experts will share insights on committee hacking, invisible influencers, and the shift from traditional funnels to more dynamic, trust-driven buying experiences.

• Navigating complex stakeholder environments and understanding group dynamics within a B2B purchase
• The impact of "shadow influencers" and how to identify champions
• Why traditional sales tactics are failing in today's landscape.
• Getting the balance right: don't let hyper personalisation limit who you should be talking to.
• Practical use cases: AI-powered committee insights, content adaptation, and predictive analytics.
• How AI is changing research, messaging, and sales enablement.

Panel Moderator: 
Michael Friedberg, Founder & CEO, Flux B2B

Panellists: 
Sophie Neate, Global Head of Digital Marketing and Content, ABB
Steve Ballantyne, Director, Brand IQ
Nick Allan, Head of AI and Business Development, Indicator

About Michael

Michael Friedberg has built a career by embracing change, leading from the front in corporate boardrooms, high-growth startups, agency leadership, and as a fractional executive. With hands-on experience in sales, marketing, business, and strategy, he’s navigated the challenges of scaling companies, aligning teams, and driving commercial impact in international markets. Having sat in many seats, he brings battle scars, real-world insights, and a clear view of what works (and what doesn’t) in today’s volatile world. 

Co-presenting with Prentice Robb, Head of B2B, Samsung New Zealand

Channel partners represent a critical revenue stream for many enterprise brands in New Zealand — but managing these relationships at scale is often complex and resource-intensive. With fixed sales resources, more B2B businesses are turning to digitisation to drive efficiency, consistency, and deeper engagement to extend their sales teams.

In this session, learn how Samsung New Zealand addressed this challenge by aligning sales and marketing through the launch of the Samsung B2B Connect Portal — a centralised platform that gives Samsung a better view of the market, enabling them to be more proactive in empowering channel partners – ultimately winning more business together. With strong adoption already, the platform is transforming how Samsung collaborates with resellers, distributors, and telco partners.

Whether you're exploring how to better support your partner network, digitise manual sales processes, or improve channel performance, this session will offer an overview of the journey, lessons learned, and approaches that other B2B brands can apply to growing their own partner ecosystems.

About Alex

Alex is a passionate believer in the power of brand and technology to transform customer experience and build more valuable relationships. As General Manager at engage iQ, a leading b2b specialist agency, he leads strategy and operations across digital transformation projects such as the Samsung B2B Connect portal —helping enterprise brands reimagine how they engage with customers and partners driving intelligent business growth.

With years of experience across advertising, digital, and leadership roles, Alex has worked across industries including retail, ecommerce, telecommunications, financial services, and media. Alex is also a committee member of New Zealand’s Marketing Association, Digital Special Interest Group.

B2B buyer behaviour is becoming more complex with an increasing number of stakeholders involved in purchasing decisions. More stakeholders = more opinions, priorities, and potential roadblocks!

This presents a new challenge for marketers and sales teams: how to cut through the noise, personalise outreach without being creepy, and guide buyers toward confident decisions.

This panel will explore AI and hyper-personalisation in B2B as ABM becomes even more sophisticated, using AI and predictive analytics to identify and target high-value accounts with precision. Our experts will share insights on committee hacking, invisible influencers, and the shift from traditional funnels to more dynamic, trust-driven buying experiences.

• Navigating complex stakeholder environments and understanding group dynamics within a B2B purchase
• The impact of "shadow influencers" and how to identify champions
• Why traditional sales tactics are failing in today's landscape.
• Getting the balance right: don't let hyper personalisation limit who you should be talking to.
• Practical use cases: AI-powered committee insights, content adaptation, and predictive analytics.
• How AI is changing research, messaging, and sales enablement.

Panel Moderator: 
Michael Friedberg, Founder & CEO, Flux B2B

Panellists: 
Sophie Neate, Global Head of Digital Marketing and Content, ABB
Steve Ballantyne, Director, Brand IQ
Nick Allan, Head of AI and Business Development, Indicator

About Steve

Steve Ballantyne is one of New Zealand's most seasoned B2B marketers, boasting a 30-year career that spans over 150 brands throughout Australasia. His workshops are a treasure trove of insightful case studies and captivating stories, all delivered through a lens of creativity and disruption unique to B2B marketing.

About Nadia

An outgoing, performance-driven leader with a passion to embrace the changing face of our world and the relentless rise of evolving technology to enable people to do amazing things!

Previously Leading the Marketing team across international borders with a collective goal to achieve our commercial objectives with intention, now Director of Revenue Enablement for Pax8 APAC, fostering all things sales operations, tooling, analytics and insights to enable the team to acheive. Enabling new ways of thinking, working, and building capabilities that will help the our team unlock new possibilities.

Living and flying the flag for the 'free-range' working life as a proud mama of two boys, because work should be what you do, not where you go.

This is not a job, this is the future.

Enjoy the journey more than the destination. And be kind. It can change the world.

B2B buyer behaviour is becoming more complex with an increasing number of stakeholders involved in purchasing decisions. More stakeholders = more opinions, priorities, and potential roadblocks!

This presents a new challenge for marketers and sales teams: how to cut through the noise, personalise outreach without being creepy, and guide buyers toward confident decisions.

This panel will explore AI and hyper-personalisation in B2B as ABM becomes even more sophisticated, using AI and predictive analytics to identify and target high-value accounts with precision. Our experts will share insights on committee hacking, invisible influencers, and the shift from traditional funnels to more dynamic, trust-driven buying experiences.

• Navigating complex stakeholder environments and understanding group dynamics within a B2B purchase
• The impact of "shadow influencers" and how to identify champions
• Why traditional sales tactics are failing in today's landscape.
• Getting the balance right: don't let hyper personalisation limit who you should be talking to.
• Practical use cases: AI-powered committee insights, content adaptation, and predictive analytics.
• How AI is changing research, messaging, and sales enablement.

Panel Moderator: 
Michael Friedberg, Founder & CEO, Flux B2B

Panellists: 
Sophie Neate, Global Head of Digital Marketing and Content, ABB
Steve Ballantyne, Director, Brand IQ
Nick Allan, Head of AI and Business Development, Indicator

About Sophie

Sophie is a senior marketing leader with over 17 years of experience across the full spectrum of the marketing lifecycle. Throughout her career, Sophie has excelled in senior leadership roles at prestigious blue-chip companies, overseeing global teams and driving transformative marketing strategies on an international scale. Currently Sophie is the Global Head of Digital Marketing and Content for ABB’s Electrification Service division, a $100 billion USD technology company based in over 100 countries, headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland.

A seasoned expert in building and leading high-performing marketing teams, Sophie has consistently established and optimized key marketing functions. Her leadership has been instrumental in launching initiatives that have resulted in substantial commercial success. With a deep well of expertise and a strategic vision, Sophie adeptly harnesses marketing insights to fuel business growth, elevate brand presence, and drive innovation.

B2B rebrands often fail because they are too safe and forgettable. In this session, we’ll hear from brands that captured attention with bold rebrands. We talk internal vs external brand alignment, customer and stakeholder buy-in, common pitfalls, and how to craft a brand narrative that truly speaks to your audience.

Representing different B2B sectors, we go behind the scenes of four different rebrands to unlock disruptive branding strategies, brand storytelling and how brand perceptions change when employees and customers become the brand.

Panel Moderator: 
Dale Koerner,Strategic Marketing Chapter Lead, BlueOcean

Panellists: 
Sarah Garvin, Head of Marketing & Growth, Smartly
Tom Sykes, Strategy Director, Principals
Katherine Kazalbash, Head of Brand & Marketing, One NZ
Melissa Semmens, Marketing and Innovation Manager, Comfortech

About Katherine

B2B rebrands often fail because they are too safe and forgettable. In this session, we’ll hear from brands that captured attention with bold rebrands. We talk internal vs external brand alignment, customer and stakeholder buy-in, common pitfalls, and how to craft a brand narrative that truly speaks to your audience.

Representing different B2B sectors, we go behind the scenes of four different rebrands to unlock disruptive branding strategies, brand storytelling and how brand perceptions change when employees and customers become the brand.

Panel Moderator: 
Dale Koerner,Strategic Marketing Chapter Lead, BlueOcean

Panellists: 
Sarah Garvin, Head of Marketing & Growth, Smartly
Tom Sykes, Strategy Director, Principals
Katherine Kazalbash, Head of Brand & Marketing, One NZ
Melissa Semmens, Marketing and Innovation Manager, Comfortech

About Melissa