Anders Breitholtz

Strategist and Designer - Materializing ideas

Award winning designer Anders Breitholtz has a background in Business Management as well as Industrial Design. Anders has lectured, both nationally and internationally on creativity and innovation. He participated as keynote speaker in Swedish Style in Australia in Melbourne and Sydney in 2005, where he presented his award-winning project of Future Meeting Rooms, sharing his ideas on how designers can help making the office a more human friendly and creative place.

Since then Anders Breitholtz has been part of creating Råvara / Raw which acts as a platform between the industry and creators. Featured in Wallpaper, ID-magazine, DI-EGO, Råvara / Raw mixes art, design, architecture with industry and business. With offices in Gothenburg and Amsterdam the five employees have taken part in over 30 local and international exhibitions and work with 120 companies from 14 countries stretching from automotive to medicine. They see their company as an art-project hoping to create the best workplace ever – a place where ideas materialize.

Björn Rietz

Copywriter and Creative Director

Björn Rietz is regarded as one of the top advertising creatives in Scandinavia and one of the most highly awarded creatives in the world.

He founded the advertising agency Paradiset in Stockholm in 1990, and won the worldwide account for Diesel Jeans, which involved advertising for 78 countries. A year later Paradiset joined the world wide advertising network of DDB. Awarded Agency of the Year several times and twice winner of the Grand Prix at Cannes Lions, Paradiset DDB’s Diesel Jeans campaigns ran for more than a decade and helped move Diesel from a $50 million per year to a $500 million per year company and winning more awards than any other fashion brand ever.

Björn was Executive Creative Director of DDB Melbourne and Vice Chairman of DDB Australia between 2003-2005. Since 2005 he has been an advisor to DDB Stockholm. He has also been helping performing and recording artists design their brand strategy bringing his skills into the world of music.

Brian Richards

Founder

Brian R Richards Ltd

The founder of brand agency Brian R Richards Ltd and recipient of DINZ’s Outstanding Achievement Award in 2007 for his contribution to the design industry, Brian has been involved in the development of iconic New Zealand brands such as Cervena, Icebreaker, Orca, Fisher & Paykel, Design Mobel and regional identities for Southland, Central Otago and Marlborough. He despairs at talk of international branding meaning logos and says our identity, our sense of place and more recently sustainability play a significant part in positioning New Zealand brands

Recognised as the country's foremost strategist, Brian has spent the last twenty years developing highly effective brand strategies for many leading export brands, regional identities, and major corporates in Australasia, Asia and Europe.

Moderator:

Rod Oram

Commentator and financial journalist

                             Brand Strategist, BRR

3.00pm           Q & A panel with Brian Richards, Anders Breitholtz, Björn Rietz

3.20pm           Wrap Up with Rod Oram

3.30pm           Afternoon Tea

5.00pm           Swedish Style New Zealand Opening Ceremony

                     AUT, St Paul Street Galleries One and Two