AASM Melbourne Symposium 2015 – Social Marketing and
Behaviour Change: Applying What Works
Speaker Profiles
Dr. Ross Gordon, Macquarie University Sydney
Ross is President of the Australian Association of Social Marketing and Senior Lecturer in Marketing at
Macquarie University in Sydney. He remains a member of the Centre for Health Initiatives at the University
of Wollongong. His expertise lies in social marketing, consumer cultures, and critical marketing teaching
and research. He has acted as an expert advisor to the Scottish Government, the European Commission,
Cancer Institute, and a range of other NGOs on various social marketing topics. Ross is also a specialist on
alcohol marketing, and more recently gambling consumption. He has published 60 academic journals, book
chapters and conference papers.
Samantha Cockfield, Transport Accident Commission
Samantha Cockfield is the Senior Manager Road Safety at the Transport Accident Commission (TAC).
Samantha has been involved in the road safety field since 1992, beginning her career as an economist
working on the development and evaluation accident blackspot programs, moving on to develop
behavioural programs including many of the TAC’s well-known public education campaigns.
Samantha is responsible for the development and delivery of the TAC’s road safety strategy which spans
road infrastructure, vehicle safety initiatives and a range of programs designed to improve road user
behaviours. She has led the development of several unique behavioural change programs including vehicle
safety and young driver campaigns. Her current role involves managing an experienced multidisciplinary
team of road safety and communications professionals who undertake a broad range of research,
analytical, program development and marketing tasks.
Janine Scott, Beyond Blue
Janine Scott is a strategic marketing communications professional who leads the marketing, digital, social
media, brand and content, and media communications capability at beyondblue. Beyondblue is consistently
creating fresh, bold and diverse marketing and communications initiatives to engage millions of people in
Australia in essential information on depression, anxiety and suicide prevention. Helpful to this cause has
been both Janine’s background in private practice consulting to major corporate, government and not for
profit clients in a range of initiatives designed to change behaviours, along with her appointments to notfor-profit board positions in the drug and alcohol, as well as homelessness areas. Janine is committed to
utilising marketing communications strategy to empower individuals.
Professor Linda Brennan, RMIT University
Linda Brennan is the Inaugural Professor of Advertising at RMIT University. In the lead up to becoming a full
time academic Professor Brennan had an active consulting practice in marketing and strategic research,
working with a variety of markets, projects and industries. She has expertise on both qualitative and
quantitative research methods and she has taught research strategies, research methods and 'market'
research for over 15 years. Her industry projects have included government, not for profit and educational
marketers. Her research interests are social and government marketing and especially the influence of
marketing communications and advertising on behaviour, especially among older people and within
linguistically and culturally diverse contexts. She has published widely in the area of social marketing, with a
focus on communication and public health.
Lelde McCoy, The Reputation Group
Lelde is the Vice President of the Australian Association of Social Marketing and the founder of The
Reputation Group, a boutique consulting firm. With 30 years’ experience managing large scale behaviour
change and communications campaigns for both government and the corporate sector she is skilled at
implementing complex projects. Her experience includes strategy development, reputation management,
media publicity, issues management, stakeholder engagement and integrated communications. Her social
marketing work has included projects for the Australian Government’s Department of Health, the Victorian
Government’s Department of Health, Sustainability Victoria, Dairy Australia, the Transport Accident
Commission and the Organ and Tissue Authority. Her work has been recognised through many Australian
and international public relations and communications awards.
Melissa Blair, The Reputation Group
Melissa is a social marketing specialist with wide experience in online influence and advertising. Prior to
joining The Reputation Group, Melissa worked at Manifest Communications and Stephen Thomas Ltd in
Toronto, Canada, where she led and managed the strategic and creative development of projects for
Veterans Affairs Canada, Health Canada, Governor General of Canada and various others. Melissa has led
the development and execution of print, television, online and direct advertising as well as stakeholder
engagement campaigns. Moving people to action is Melissa’s specialty with a strong focus on
understanding the core client objective and building the appropriate road map to achieve measurable
results.
Roberto Venturini, Department of Health and Human Services
Roberto is a senior marketer with a passion for leading dynamic projects within complex environments. He
thrives on supporting individuals, organisations and communities reach their full potential. With over 15
years working in various marketing and engagement roles for government, communication and PR firms
and large multinational sports marketing and advertising agencies; he offers a unique blend of public policy,
commercial strategy and not-for profit experience. With qualifications in marketing, Italian and
international trade, Roberto has led marketing and engagement efforts for the prevention of youth suicide,
food and beverage lines, and motor vehicle companies. Most recently, his career has taken him back to
government, where he is leading marketing and engagement efforts as part of an innovative approach to
reducing the rates of obesity in Victoria.
Noel Turnbull, RMIT University
Noel is an Adjunct Professor in the School of Media and Communications, RMIT University. He has had
more than 45 years’ experience in communication strategy and issues management. He is an honorary
Doctor of Communication (RMIT University); a Public Relations Institute of Australia Life Fellow and an
Australian Institute of Company Directors Fellow. He has had more than 40 years’ experience in
communication strategy and issues management. He was a Parliamentary Press Secretary, and Victoria’s
Environment Protection Authority communications head, before establishing his own public relations
consultancy. The company, initially known as Turnbull Fox Phillips and then as Turnbull Porter Novelli,
became Australia’s largest public relations consultancy.
John Thompson, Dentsu Mitchell Media
John is Managing Director - Government Services at Dentsu Mitchell Media. Prior to joining Mitchell &
Partners he was Senior Manager of Road Safety and Marketing at the Transport Accident Commission. In
2009 he was awarded the Australian Marketing Institute's Marketer of the Year and in 2011 was named by
AdNews as one of the Top Marketers in Australia.
Sarah Saunders, VicHealth
Sarah is a strategic communications specialist with over ten years of public health, emergency management
and international development experience. She is a social media and marketing specialist, with expertise in
strategy, branding, campaign management, and content creation. Her career of 20 years in marketing has
included 7 years within one of Sydney's leading advertising agencies, working with iconic global brands.