iMedia's Future of Marketing Summit brings NZ's marketing leaders to Christchurch for 2026

A curated leadership summit for New Zealand marketing

The iMedia Future of Marketing Summit New Zealand returns from 29 to 31 July 2026, this year settling in Ōtautahi Christchurch for a 2.5-day, invitation-only programme. Rather than a conventional open conference, it is a hosted, retreat-style leadership experience built around CMOs and senior marketing decision-makers from leading brands across Aotearoa.

The organiser describes a deliberately intimate scale: roughly 65 marketers alongside 65 selected technology and solution providers, brought together through iMedia's signature blend of curated networking, strategic 1:1 meetings and insight-led collaborative learning sessions.

Who runs it

The summit is operated by Comexposium Australia under the iMedia Summits brand, whose ANZ business runs a portfolio of invitation-only marketing, brand and media summits. iMedia's format is consistent across its global events: a screened, matchmaking-driven gathering that pairs senior brand-side leaders with martech vendors in a resort-style setting. An advisory board of senior New Zealand marketing leaders shapes the agenda.

Who it's for and what's on the programme

Attendance is by invitation only on both sides. Marketer delegates receive complimentary access to sessions, curated networking, accommodation and hospitality; technology and solutions vendors attend as "Networkers" whose passes include the structured 1:1 meetings with marketing leaders. The 2026 agenda is organised around four priorities the organiser has flagged for New Zealand marketing leadership: moving AI from experimentation to execution, proving marketing's enterprise value at the executive table, sustaining brand distinctiveness in an automated world, and rebuilding the marketing function's structures and operating models.

The programme itself is compact and tightly run. Proceedings begin on Wednesday 29 July with a marketers-only lunch and a networkers briefing lunch at midday, followed by a mandatory Opening and Business Connect session at 1:30PM. The summit wraps on Friday 31 July at 2:00PM.

The venue and delegate movement

The confirmed venue is Chateau on the Park - Christchurch, a DoubleTree by Hilton, at 189 Deans Avenue, Riccarton. As context for delegates travelling in, the property sits about 8.3 km (a 16-minute drive) from Christchurch Airport (CHC), and self-parking at the hotel is complimentary. Accommodation for the two summit nights is arranged by the organiser as part of confirmed registration, with an optional rate available for delegates who extend their stay before or after the event. These details are reported as attendee context, not as a transport or accommodation recommendation.

Why it matters in NZ MICE

The summit is a notable fixture in New Zealand's business-events calendar because it concentrates the country's senior marketing leadership and its martech supply side into a single hosted-buyer format. Its 2026 move to Christchurch also signals the South Island city's continued standing as a host for high-value, invitation-only corporate gatherings, following earlier New Zealand editions held elsewhere in the country.