About Michael

Michael Webster took up the role of Privacy Commissioner on 5 July 2022. Prior to Michael’s appointment, he worked in the Cabinet Office, Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet for 14 years and held the position of Secretary of the Cabinet and Clerk of the Executive Council from March 2014. He has a long history of public service, with expertise in policy development, corporate strategy and planning and risk management. His career has to date focused on enabling and driving good governance, the promotion of democratic rights and values, the development and application of codes of conduct and behaviour and working to ensure compliance with both statutory provisions and constitutional conventions. Michael holds a Master of Public Management and BA (Hons) from Victoria University of Wellington and is a graduate of the EY/Darden School of Business Programme, and the Executive Fellows Programme of the Australia and New Zealand School of Government.

About Ciska

Ciska is legally trained as a lawyer and worked for top-tier commercial law firms in both Australia and New Zealand, prior to becoming a marketing law compliance specialist.

Ciska has a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Otago and a first class honours law degree from the University of Waikato. She has been admitted to the High Court of New Zealand, Supreme Court of Victoria and the High Court of Australia.

In her previous roles she has worked for many well-known large multi-national companies as well as small start-ups, providing product compliance and marketing law advice. She also has extensive in-house counsel experience due to on-going secondment work for two large multi-national food companies covering Australia, New Zealand and Asia.  This makes Ciska well-placed to understand the practical and commercial risks within a business. 

About Keith

Keith is the MA’s consultant who advises members and MA staff on legislative and regulatory stuff. Actually, he helps out on almost any marketing question. He is a passionate advocate for data-driven marketing and honest, transparent marketing. Except for Wednesday -  Wednesday is golf day.

Consumer NZ recently published the findings of an investigation into green claims on products found at the supermarket. We have invited Jon Duffy, Chief Executive of Consumer NZ to discuss:

• What is greenwashing and how prevalent is it?
• Why it is damaging to consumers, the planet, and honest businesses trying to do the right thing.

Jon will also touch on another key element of sustainability that Consumer NZ has been focused on: durability and the right to repair. He asks if it’s realistic to demand better quality, longer-lasting products that can be easily repaired and keep the affordability of those products in check. What needs to change at a system level to enable this and is there a marketing advantage for businesses that invest in durability and repairability?

About Jon

Jon Duffy joined as Chief Executive of Consumer NZ in April 2020.  Previously he was the Chair of the Consumer NZ Board.  

Jon has had a long career in the consumer protection field including roles as the Assistant Privacy Commissioner, Head of Trust & Safety at Trade Me, and Senior Investigator at the Commerce Commission. 
Jon is currently sits as a Director of the Banking Ombudsman Scheme. 

Jon is a big fan of people getting a fair deal, whether it’s making sure marketing is straight up, how our data is being collected and used or looking at the impact what we buy has on our environment. 

Jon speaks regularly on consumer issues and is increasingly interested in the convergence between privacy and consumer protection as well as how the high concentration of certain markets such as supermarkets and air travel in New Zealand affect consumers. 

Hilary joins us at Marketing Law Online Series this year to discuss: 

• Who is an advertiser and what is the ASA’s jurisdiction and scope?
• Our new process for complaints with no grounds to proceed.
• Key takeouts from latest Complaints Board decisions.
• 2023 General Election and why it shouldn’t feature in your October advertising creative.
• ASA resources to Get it Right the First Time.

About Hilary

Hilary Souter is the Chief Executive of the Advertising Standards Authority and has spent over 25 years working in the wider media industry on a range of issues to support responsible advertising.

She manages code reviews for food, children, alcohol, gambling and therapeutic and health advertising, and runs the secretariat that annually processes over 1500 enquiries and complaints.

About Keith

Keith is the MA’s consultant who advises members and MA staff on legislative and regulatory stuff. Actually, he helps out on almost any marketing question. He is a passionate advocate for data-driven marketing and honest, transparent marketing. Except for Wednesday -  Wednesday is golf day.

About Sooyun

Sooyun is a savvy lawyer who knows the law.

Sooyun has over 15 years experience at New Zealand's top commercial and IP specialist firms, working with the best across numerous industries and particularly the FMCG sector. As head of the trade mark practice at a top national commercial firm, Sooyun was responsible for protecting well-known New Zealand and global brands, resolving high-profile IP disputes, and she led the IP aspects of many of New Zealand's significant corporate transactions in recent years.

Sooyun is known for her end-to-end IP expertise, systems-wide approach, and class-leading record of helping clients achieve successful commercial outcomes.

Now with Little Tree®, Sooyun loves working closely with IP-owners to make the most of their IP. Sooyun bridges the gap between business and legal - with a sound directness to achieve cut-through to critical issues and a keen empathy to understand your unique context and situation.

About Keith

Keith is the MA’s consultant who advises members and MA staff on legislative and regulatory stuff. Actually, he helps out on almost any marketing question. He is a passionate advocate for data-driven marketing and honest, transparent marketing. Except for Wednesday -  Wednesday is golf day.