James is an experienced marketer, foresight practitioner, and speaker on the topics of artificial intelligence, the future of work, and marketing practice.
James’ journey into the world of digital marketing began well before anything digital was actually considered marketing. In 1997, aged 9, James published his first website using a Power Macintosh 5500. Websites were fairly basic in those days, but he’ll never forget the feeling of creating something that the whole world could see in an instant.
Up until University, James’ hobbies, interests, and work activities were heavily geared towards IT, particularly in programming and web development, and he has created hundreds of complex websites. At University, James majored in Marketing – nothing to do with digital or web technologies… right? Well, the world soon changed, rather fortuitously. In the space of just a few years, exponentially advancing technology effectively merged the disciplines of marketing and IT. Digital marketing was born, and those who were highly skilled in both technology and marketing had a distinct advantage.
Over the course of his career, James has worked with companies in New Zealand, Australia, the United States, and throughout Europe and Asia, spending an absolute fortune on optimising paid digital advertising in the process. He has in-depth, practical knowledge in the areas of digital marketing and content creation, user experience (UX) design, tracking, marketing automation, and conversion metrics.
James’ PhD utilised strategic foresight to examine the future of the marketing discipline. He is a professional member of both the Royal Society of New Zealand and the Institute of Directors. James is a Director of Rutherford Business Institute.