John Miles is one of New Zealand’s most respected and energetic voices in marketing and business leadership. With a career spanning over three decades, John brings a rare blend of strategic thinking, operational savvy, and unrelenting curiosity to everything he does. As CEO of the New Zealand Marketing Association (NZMA), he has led a powerful transformation—turning a stagnant organisation into a thriving, globally connected powerhouse, and firmly repositioning marketing as a driver of business growth across Aotearoa.

John’s journey started in the gritty marketing trenches of FMCG and breweries before shifting into brand strategy, sponsorship, education, and executive leadership roles across New Zealand and Australia. His unique ability to spot patterns, solve problems, and spark action has made him a go-to leader for navigating complex challenges and building future-focused teams.

At NZMA, John Miles speaker and marketing guru has redefined what an industry body can be. He’s doubled event attendance, overhauled the training portfolio, introduced professional certifications, and built enduring partnerships with brands like Google, Spark, Westpac, Goodman Fielder, YouTube, TikTok and the University of Canterbury. Under his leadership, member advocacy soared from a concerning 34% to constantly scoring 100% for programs recurring membership revenue jumped by more than 50%, and MA emerged as one of the most innovative marketing associations on the global stage.

John is also a sought-after speaker who isn’t afraid to challenge the status quo. His talks are known for being fast, funny, and full of practical wisdom. Whether he’s sharing lessons from the golden era of Kiwi advertising, dissecting the Art of the Hustle – securing deals with a smile, or giving marketers a sharp wake-up call to get out of their own bloody way, John delivers high energy with high impact.

In 2024, John was invited to speak at the African Marketing Federation Conference and signed an MOU with the Asian Marketing Federation—putting New Zealand firmly on the global marketing map. He’s also the creator of flagship programs like The Advanced Marketing Leadership Certification, Think Again, and NZ’s 50 Greatest Campaigns – all of which reflect his commitment to helping marketers think bigger, act bolder, and lead better.

John emigrated to New Zealand at the age of six and has never looked back—except to laugh at the time his enthusiasm and cheekiness that got him dumped in a bin. Today, his passion and drive are considered his superpowers. As one marketer once put it: “John has unnatural energy.”

His philosophy? Innovate, innovate, and innovate again. And when that’s not working? Sod it, let’s just do it.

Outside of work John is a keen golfer, loves to travel and in the dark ages represented New Zealand in badminton.

Speaking topics include:

The Future Professional – The skills that make you unignorable in 2030

Everyone is talking about the future of work.  McKinsey, Harvard, Deloitte, the OECD and every consulting firm with a nice font have all produced their lists of the skills people will need to thrive in the age of AI.  They’re not wrong. They’re just missing the most important one. Decision-making.

Because all the future skills in the world mean sweet F.A. if you can’t actually make a call.

In this keynote, John Miles takes a practical and contrary view of the future skills conversation. Yes, the human skills matter. But they only become valuable when people have the confidence, judgement and courage to decide.  Drawing on more than 35 years in marketing, leadership and commercial roles, John explores the skills that will separate the people who move forward from the people who stay stuck.  He also reveals three bonus skills he believes successful people will need by 2030 — the skills that rarely make the big consulting reports, but make a massive difference in the real world.

Funny, direct and highly practical, this keynote helps people understand what will make them valuable when technology keeps changing, job titles keep shifting and the easy stuff keeps getting automated.

In 2030 it’s not AI taking your job, it’s the person sitting next to you who has developed these skills and proved themselves to be unignorable.

Make the Call – How to beat inertia, back your people and get more stuff done!

Inertia is expensive.  Put ten senior people in a room for an hour and you can easily burn $7,500. Do that four times without making a decision and congratulations — you’ve just spent $30,000 achieving very little.  And that is before you count the real damage: missed opportunities, slow execution, frustrated teams and the quiet acceptance that “this is just how we do things around here.”

This keynote is about changing that.  John Miles shows how better decision-making helps people take ownership, back themselves and move work forward — without needing another meeting to make everyone feel busy.

Funny, direct and practical, John gives audiences a simple framework to ban the buzzwords, make better decisions, beat inertia and get more stuff done!

Cracking the CommunityCode™: Creating Communities That Deliver, Not Just Post

Everyone says they’re building “community”… but most are just posting and hoping.  John Miles cracked the code. From flatlining to global recognition, the NZ Marketing Association didn’t grow by chance—it grew by delivering what people actually needed. In his no-fluff keynote, Cracking the CommunityCode™, John shares how to turn passive audiences into active advocates, lift loyalty, and build something worth belonging to.