GMS Management’s Carrick Graham gets real about PR and ‘The Pit Strategy’.

Micro-trends in fashion are constantly changing – one minute we’re being told we should be wearing harem pants, and the next you shouldn’t be seen dead in them. It’s near impossible to keep up with what’s in vogue at any given time. TRA marketing coordinator Claire Tutill and Auckland-based fashion designer and product developer Rory Docherty take a look at how fashion is a powerful vehicle for social change.

Ben Rose takes a look back at his time in Austin, shares his advice to future SXSW-goers and lists his top five learnings.

Dentsu Aegis’ Alex Radford provides a thought-provoking explanation as to why marketers need to think seriously about talking to robots over the next 12 months.

At a time when words like ‘feminazi’, ‘man hater’ and ‘snowflake’ are thrown around quite freely, Bridget Taylor thinks the gender debate is still worth having.

Beyond the familiar names of Facebook and Google, Ben Rose encounters a few new tech players he thinks might be worth keeping an eye on.

NIB’s Ben Rose is currently in Austin for this year’s edition of SXSW, and he has learnt a few tips for organisations looking to collaborate with the juggernauts of capitalism.

In an industry based entirely on the quality of its creative ideas, Hunch founder Michael Goldthorpe reckons standout examples are rarer than they should be.

As more of the population becomes concentrated around urban centres, we start to lose some of the regional quirks we’ve always associated with being a New Zealander. And this leads Dean Taylor to wonder if being ‘New’ New Zealand makes you less New Zealand.

Admittedly, consumers don’t always buy sustainable products. But TRA senior consultant Jon Carapiet warns that this doesn’t mean businesses get to do whatever they want.

Receptive TV’s Sam Aldred looks at what the Commerce Commission’s decision could potentially mean for the two businesses.

TRA’s Colleen Ryan assesses how much damage Cadbury is doing to its brand by closing its Dunedin factory.