Steve Bridges - marketing planning consultant – Chairman

An American by birth, Steve Bridges completed his Bachelor of Arts and Master of Business Administration degrees in the United States. 

After working for General Foods Corporation and a major advertising agency in New York, he moved to New Zealand in 1970.  His subsequent work at the highest levels in both the academic and practical sides of marketing is extremely rare – and also extremely valuable in an applied discipline such as marketing. 

Steve taught New Zealand's first tertiary marketing course - at Victoria University from 1970 - 1972.  He also taught at Massey University (1978-1987) where he was Professor of Marketing, Head of the Department of Marketing and Dean of the Faculty of Business Studies.   

Steve has held senior marketing positions with several New Zealand companies where he specialised in guiding the conversion from a production to a customer orientation.  His name is synonymous with many marketing successes, including Tullen Snips, Trim Pork (with Ian Lamb), Villa Maria Wines and law firm Simpson Grierson.  His work at Simpson Grierson was featured as a comprehensive case study in the 1998 Australia/New Zealand edition of Philip Kotler’s Marketing textbook. 

In recognition of his standing within the marketing profession, Steve was inducted into Marketing Magazine’s Marketing Hall of Fame in 2003, the inaugural year for this award.  He also has been the judge and/or head judge of most marketing awards offered in New Zealand over the past 25 years, including the TVNZ/Marketing Magazine Marketing Awards. 

One of Steve’s most practical and useful contributions to marketing was the development of the Marketing Plan Flow Chart, a simple marketing planning template now used internationally by small and medium sized enterprises.    He also teaches courses in marketing and customer service for a wide variety of companies and professional organisations, including Auckland University’s Executive Short Courses, the Marketing Association, and the New Zealand Institute of Management.