Commercial Radio Australia (CRA) has announced that marketing professor and award-winning columnist Mark Ritson will feature as a speaker at its upcoming National Radio Conference in Melbourne.

CRA revealed in a statement that the provocative marketing expert will present his unique insight into digital media and radio’s place among the new players to conference attendees.

Currently teaching brand management as an adjunct professor at Melbourne Business School and as a visiting professor at Singapore Management University, Ritson has global experience in brand strategy, positioning, sales and marketing alignment.

For 13 years he served as an in-house professor for luxury group LVMH, working with senior executives from brands including Louis Vuitton, Dom Perignon, Fendi, Tag Heuer, Dior and Hennessy.

Ritson has also written a weekly column on branding in the UK for Marketing Week for over a decade, and is also a columnist for The Australian.

“It’s become the norm to suggest that ‘traditional’ marketing approaches don’t work and the new approach to content/purpose/inbound/digital/storytelling has disrupted everything,” Ritson said.

“I look forward to presenting an alternative view.”

CRA chief executive Joan Warner said Ritson is a global leader in marketing “and we’re thrilled he’s presenting at this year’s conference”.

Meanwhile, well-known talk radio duo Hamish Blake and Andy Lee will headline the event, which will be held at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre on Friday 7 October, with more than 600 attendees expected from across Australia.

The 28th annual Australian Commercial Radio Awards will follow the conference on Saturday 8 October, also to be held at the Convention and Exhibition Centre.