Andrew Baxter was appointed to the role of Chairman by the Board of Management, having served the Foundation’s Board since 2011, acting as Chair on the Strategic Marketing Committee and Co-chair on the Education and Employment Grants Advisory Panel.

In just three years, Australian vitamin brands Swisse and Blackmores have carved out a $500 million export business in China — a success story that’s seen many other brands, in many other categories, consider following suit. And with marketing at the centre of that cross-border success, businesses are keen to understand the lessons learned.

Group M Australia and New Zealand CEO, Mark Lollback, Publicis CEO Andrew Baxter, and M&C Saatchi CEO Jaimes Leggett have been revealed as the most influential industry leaders in a LinkedIn survey of Australia’s most viewed professional profiles.

Two years ago, consumers and the marketing world were eagerly anticipating the next generation of wearables: the smartwatch. Apple, Samsung and Motorola led the charge, keen to build on the success of wearables like the FitBit, Garmin, Nike+ and the Jawbone. They expected a huge take-up from consumers. And they touted to marketers both the benefits of the data that would be collected from the devices and the new frontier in app opportunities.

The marketing world has undergone a revolution in the past decade. There have been two major drivers of this: the rise of media-savvy and empowered consumers, and the rapid innovation in the digital technology space. Most of that innovation has come from the US.