The Critical Social Marketing Symposium is an annual event designed to advance critical perspectives in social marketing and marketing for pro-social change. This year the event will run immediately following the Australia and New Zealand Marketing Academy Conference (ANZMAC) which is also being held in Sydney.

Critical social marketing involves critically and constructively analysing social marketing theories, concepts, discourses, and practice and/or examining the deleterious impact of commercial marketing activities on social marketing problems - to generate critique, conflict and change that facilitates emancipatory social good.

Critical social marketing scholarship seeks to constructively question the normative values, ethics, morals, politics, theories, methods, principles, and practices of social marketing. There are many issues that could potentially fall within a CSM agenda, including but not limited to: critical reflexivity, power, subjectivity, ethics, morals, identity, race, ethnicity, gender, disability, culture, colonisation, post-colonialism and decolonisation, Indigenous knowledge and representation, critiques of commercial marketing, harmful consumption, nonrepresentational theory and methods, consumer vulnerability, corporate social marketing, neoliberal capitalism, unintended consequences, and bio-socio-material perspectives. These areas signpost ideas, bodies of literature and theoretical perspectives that help us think differently about the social problems that social marketing seeks to address, or to engage differently with the lived experiences of priority groups who are the focus of social marketing programmes.

The symposium is designed to

a) foster connections between researchers with shared interests to pursue collaborative projects and

b) enrich and strengthen critical social marketing.

The event is intended to be accessible to all, academics, practitioners, PhD students and early career researchers; and fosters a welcoming, inclusive, and supportive space to share and discuss works in progress and innovative ideas.

The 2025 symposium will convene scholars exploring projects and ideas related to critical social marketing, marketing for pro-social change and impact-oriented marketing and consumption research on the theme of: Critical Social Marketing in Troubling Times.

Host Organisation: Change for Good at UTS, University of Technology Sydney.

Supporting Organisations: Australian Association of Social Marketing (AASM), and European Social Marketing Association (ESMA).

Chair: Professor Ross Gordon, Director Change for Good at UTS.

Organising Committee: Ross Gordon, Celina McEwen, David Waller, Nadia Zainuddin, Nadina Luca.

Keynote speakers: Maria Raciti, Gauri Laud, Ross Gordon.

Closing Panel Speakers: Cheryl Leo, Nadia Zainuddin, David Waller, Rebekah Russell-Bennett and Sebastian Isbanner.

Running Order: The format for the day will include:

Ø Welcome and morning tea

Ø Morning keynote presentations

Ø Lunch

Ø Ideas development workshops in the afternoon

Ø A closing panel discussion.

A full programme for the event will be released in due course.

Call for Expressions of Interest for Ideas Development Workshops:

We are interested in bringing together researchers working in critical social marketing and related areas who have works in progress or more established research they would like to share for discussion during the ideas development workshops to be held in the afternoon of the symposium. These workshops will be run in a dialogic way, with an emphasis on feedback, constructive comment, and probing questions to help attendees refine their thinking, forge connections and develop ideas.

We are interested in receiving expressions of interest (EOIs) in social marketing as well as any other area of marketing and consumption research that relates to pro-social change, and that takes a critical, theoretically or methodologically innovative, or reflexive perspective.

Please note submitting an EOI for the development workshops in the afternoon is not compulsory. Only those who wish to present an idea during the development workshops need to submit an EOI. All other symposium participants will be invited to attend one of the development workshops of their choosing on the day.

EOIs are welcome in any of the following areas, and more:

Theoretical innovations in social marketing drawing on critical social theory.
Constructive critique of social marketing theory, principles, research, policy and/or
programmes.
Critical social marketing and critically informed consumption research with potential pro-social impact.
Navigating politics and policy agendas in and for social marketing.
Exploring and balancing rights and responsibilities, of individuals, cultures, institutions, and others.
Navigating partnerships in social marketing.
Methods for reflexive social marketing.
Indigenous knowledge and representation.
Intersectional perspectives in social marketing.
Decolonising social marketing.
Bringing under-represented voices into pro-social change.
Critical research methodologies.
and others…

Please send a maximum 500 words EOI setting out the research you plan to present during the workshops. Accepted authors’ EOIs will be shared with delegates in advance of the symposium.

Email your EOI to: changeforgood@uts.edu.au

Deadline to submit your EOI: 3 October 2025

Practicalities:

Lunch and refreshments will be provided.
Dinner in the evening for those who can stay will be self-funded.

For any questions about the event, please contact: changeforgood@uts.edu.au

* Important * There will be a photographer at this event. If you wish not to be photographed, please let event staff know on the day.