Innehållsförteckning för Issue 82 2025 från NZ Marketing

When Kiwi telco Skinny told Liz Wright they were going to clone her, she couldn’t quite believe it. But the process was successful and as of March 3, Skinny launched its AI-powered brand ambassador. According to parent company Spark, it’s a world first. The digital version of Wright will remain as ambassador for the next two years, in exchange for a talent fee and mobile credit for life. Being cloned was surreal, exciting and a lot of fun, says Wright, who landed the gig after winning Skinny’s Happiest Customer Competition. “The process was fascinating – voice capture, motion tracking, a full 360-degree body scan in a specialised booth – all with some of the most creative minds in Aotearoa,” says Wright. What you really really want “I imagined it would…

B2B marketers have a problem: most are stuck trying to persuade the wrong people. For years they have been battling decision paralysis from increasingly bloated and risk-averse buying committees, but they may have also been missing influencers within companies who have the power to block deals. Traditional account-based marketing (ABM) is evolving into ‘committee hacking’, a hyper-personalised approach using AI, behavioural insights and multichannel orchestration to navigate hidden power dynamics and accelerate consensus. Research shows 72% of B2B deals stall due to internal committee conflicts1, but pleasing everyone is getting trickier as buying committees grow larger and more fragmented. Typically, six to 10 stakeholders are involved in enterprise decisions, and we have encountered committees of 15 or more people. That’s an entire rugby team you may have to convince! But…

Last December it was ‘word of the year’ season again, when the world’s usually quiet community of lexicographers gleefully announce the hottest and most egregiously faddish additions to the English language. It is lexicography’s Oscars, and just as subjective as the Hollywood version. The big guns – Oxford, Merriam-Webster and Dictionary.com – adopt their own nomination process, some more rigorous than others. Each uses a variety of methods such as search activity, usage spikes, subjective observation and eye of newt. So, the envelope please. Nominated by Macquarie Dictionary of Australia, “enshittification” took the honours. Trust the Aussies to pick the s-word. The term was coined in 2002 by author and blogosphere critic Cory Doctorow to describe the life stages that different platforms go through as their size, priorities and income…

Music lovers at the three-day music festival that rings in the New Year should have seen it coming: the local Gisborne Pak’nSave changed its signage to ‘Pak’nRave’. But when December 31 came around, with attendees excited for 2025 to begin, the last person on their minds was Stickman. Or as he was branded when he hit the decks, DJ Save-A-Lot. For nine minutes, DJ Save-a-Lot took over the main stage from George FM and played high-energy drum and bass. His set was infused with messages about savings (that could be achieved at Pak’nSave, naturally). “I’m all about helping Kiwis save their hard-earned bucks,” says DJ Save-A-Lot. “So, when they asked me to do a set at Rhythm and Vines, I knew I needed to create a mix that featured a…

Once upon a time, a TV advert from the government’s Employment and Vocational Guidance Service inspired a generation. “Who’s that under the bonnet?” began the jingle, as a young woman emerged from beneath a car hood. “Who’s that checking the grain?” it asked, as another female apprentice smoothed off a piece of wood. “Who’s rewiring her parents’ house?” (The music, in a major key, is celebratory – woohoo, look at her go!) “Who’s directing the crane?” There was a middle eight and another verse before the bloke stopped singing and delivered the payload: “Girls can do anything.” If you remember that ad, you have nostalgic earworm now. You’re welcome. You might also be wondering what happened to those girls who saw it growing up in the 1980s. Some took the…

Anthem says it’s the glue between a client’s brand building and reputation management When Jane Sweeney and Carolyn Kerr set up Anthem 11 years ago, they decided they wanted Arianna Huffington at their launch party. “We thought, who was there in the media that we admire who’s a female entreprenuer that’s maybe a little bit older? Huffington Post, why don’t we give it a whirl?” says Sweeney. “So we did, I raised the money and she came. We were only five months old and we had 900 people for our launch.” Having the founder of an international media company travel to Aotearoa for their event showed them what was possible as an independent after years of working in agencies, adds Kerr. “We felt unshackled, just that sense of independence gives…

Of course we’re biased. Whether you read us online or flip through our pages, NZ Marketing is a magazine. Of course (you might say) we’re going to tell you that magazines are a fantastic format, and they deliver a visceral, physical, deeply engaging experience that is a joy for readers and a dream for marketers. We’re living in a bubble (you might say), an echo chamber with paper-thin walls. Of course we’re convinced magazines are an ideal way to reach niche audiences, primed to embrace your message. Of course we’re going to say that, and not just because it’s true. This feature was already well under way when an email confirmed the magazine industry’s sticking power. The subject line read: “Cosmopolitan magazine returns to Aotearoa.” After six years, the women’s…

It is no surprise that the media industry in 2024 was not a happy place, with job cuts, shows ending and a lot of uncertainty. To put it in perspective, NZ Marketing magazine mentioned the rough year in the media landscape at least 14 times in 2024. That’s more than three times per issue. Even at the beginning of 2025, NZME proposed a further cut of 40 jobs. But amid all the doom and gloom from the shaky media world, two entities come through it all, thanks to a helping hand. The Spinoff and New Zealand Geographic took the radical step of asking their readers for support. It’s not a new idea, but it’s also not common. Look at Stuff, for example. Back in 2020 when media companies like Bauer…

Madeleine Chapman Editor, The Spinoff: “How do we give them something extra without making people who can’t afford it pay for what we do?” Jane Langley Anti co-founder and ECD: “The grass is green over here. It’s great. It’s empowering and it’s joyful.” Luke Rive Macca’s NZ Director of Marketing: “We almost see one of our biggest competitors being the air fryer.” Steve Cochran Saatchi & Saatchi NZ CCO: “There’s lots to learn from just seeing how brands activate within the Super Bowl.” Alex Leighton Mukpuddy Company Director: “I wondered: had there ever been an animated version of Badjelly the Witch?” Colleen Ryan Partner, TRA: “There’s no point in asking people, we don’t know why we pay attention to some things and not others.” Rawinia Dolan Marketing Manager, Human Synergistics:…

TBWA\NZ campaign backs women in sport 2degrees is scaling up its support for women’s sport. Last year, with TBWA\New Zealand, the telco streamed the Super Rugby Aupiki final on TikTok. Now it’s created the SupportHER club, designed to champion women and girls in sports at every level. Aotearoa has an incredible legacy of female athletes, but women’s sport is plagued by a chronic lack of funding, media coverage and resources. At a grassroots level, girls are twice as likely as boys to drop out of sports. The SupportHER Club campaign is designed to flip the script and give women and girls in sport the backing they need to thrive, says Shane Bradnick, CCO at TBWA\NZ. The SupportHER club will be a hub of information for 2degrees’ sponsorships and partnerships with women’s…

An NZ Marketing magazine and TRA collaboration The world of client/agency relationships is at an interesting juncture in 2025. There are multiple external technological forces that are impacting the dynamics of these relationships, creating threats and opportunities. We spoke in depth with 17 of New Zealand’s most senior marketers, from across a range of industries, to get a sense of how this relationship is positioned going in to another potentially disruptive year. The report pulls out what we see as the key factors impacting marketers at the moment. There are some consistent themes from previous years around strategic insights and planning and creativity, but the focus on sustainability is a new one. Agencies are generally seen as being strong in creativity, while clients are indicating that there is room for…

Marketing is changing fast, and keeping up can feel like a full-time job. That’s where the Marketing Association’s Training Hub comes in. Led by industry experts who’ve been there and done it, these sessions aren’t just about theory, they’re packed with real-world insights and hands-on learning, so you can start applying what you learn straight away. Think of it as your marketing upgrade, minus the confusing jargon and fluff. We’re excited to announce our brand-new workshops for 2025! These workshops can be taken as part of your MA Professional Certification. Locations for our workshops can include Auckland, Tauranga, Wellington, Christchurch, Queenstown and online. Check them out and scan the QR code to start booking your spot. Professional certifications The Marketing Association offers three distinct professional certifications, each designed to cater…

‘Oh f… Jaguar, what have you done?” Marketing professor Mark Ritson captured much of the reaction to Jaguar’s brand refresh. The iconic luxury car maker signalled its new direction in a 30-second video released late last year, featuring a group of high fashion models dressed up like residents of The Capitol in The Hunger Games. It also unveiled a new-look logo, controversially missing the famous jaguar emblem. What the “Copy Nothing” promo didn’t feature was cars. While Jaguar did soon reveal its Type 00 concept car (to similarly divided reception), some marketers believe the car brand has gone too far too quickly. Ritson, a guest judge at the YouTube NZ Marketing Awards 2024, wrote in Marketing Week that Jaguar needed to start out with a clear respect and appreciation for…

Brett Colliver & Mike Felix CCOs dentsu Aotearoa What we spotted this summer doesn’t feel as important as what our friends and family spotted. That’s usually how we tell if something has actually gone well – the illustrious pavilion of summer BBQ small talk. One out of Special and one from here. We heard a few friends and some genuine real-life strangers talking about the Vanilla Ice Export Ultra Cold Callback Service. As people who do frequently put beers in freezers, the insight rang true and getting Vanilla Ice to call people to remind them turned a nice observation into a great idea. It’s refreshing to see fun work for beer. As for the second one, Mike finally got that almost imperceptible nod of approval when his father-in-law told him…

Shivana Pemberton loves talking about rings. It’s clear the lawyer-turned-jewellery entrepreneur is in her element discussing diamonds and sapphires, shanks and prongs. It’s been three and a half years since she and husband Vinny Chauhan started Four Words, an Auckland business specialising in custom engagement rings and lab-grown diamonds. And as a new brand with unknown founders in an industry steeped in tradition, being taken seriously was a huge challenge, says Pemberton, who is Marketing Director. They overcame this hurdle by putting a face to the brand and creating educational content on lab-grown diamonds. “It’s a lot for someone to get their head around – is it fake, is it synthetic? And there’s so much misinformation out there,” she says. “Making clients feel like they actually got to know us…

In an unintended moment of media insight, the folk singer Jack Johnson once sang: “Slow down, everyone. You’re moving too fast. Frames can’t catch you when you’re moving like that.” In the endless scroll through news and social media feeds, we flit from one thing to the next without pausing for even a second. And as we flit, our eyeballs are captured as views and engagement even though our attention was never truly invested. The researcher Karen Nelson-Field has found that an advertisement needs a minimum of 2.5 seconds to create or reinforce memories in an audience. That might not seem like much until you consider the fact that 85% of digital ads do not meet that threshold. Said another way, only 15% of digital advertising spend actually has the…

A lot of my work is on the SEO side – that’s what I love doing. I’ve worked on a lot of different subjects. You don’t have to have a knowledge of a subject to be good at SEO because it’s not about the subject, it’s about thinking differently. Optimising a website can get quite complex, but you can see a lot of improvement by doing four basic things: a good url, SEO headlines, H2 subheadings and adding internal links. They’re the fundamentals that are going to help. Become an authority The more authority you have, the better. Google’s got to trust you – give it time before you expect results from search. If you’re a really good site with lots of authority, your content could rank within a month.…

In the December-January 2024/2025 issue, we asked you to tell us what you think about NZ Marketing. Thank you to everyone who responded – your feedback is incredibly useful and will help us give you more of what you want to see in the magazine. The headlines Here are some key takeaways from the survey: ◼ Our readers work in companies of all shapes and sizes: 20% are sole traders, 20% work in an organisation of two to 10 employees, 20% work with 11 to 50 colleagues, 20% work with 50-100 and 20% work with 101+ people. ◼ The frequency is good–74% say quarterly is spot on. ◼ Insights is the most read section, followed by features and opinion. Every issue, more than 72% of you read more than half…

If you can use video in your ads, you should, says Victoria Parsons, JCDecaux’s Director of Strategy and Insights. The results from JCDecaux Airport’s research speak for themselves, showing full-motion video ads beat static and animated on a number of key metrics. “It’s dramatic the increase you get,” she says. While safety restrictions prohibit full-motion ads on roadsides in Aotearoa, they are allowed in airports and malls. Outdoor advertising company JCDecaux is the exclusive partner at Auckland, Christchurch and Queenstown airports – so it researched engagement with different creative in this setting. Last year, it surveyed people on three different ads for Resene Paints at Auckland International and Domestic terminals. The study found full-motion creative commanded two-and-a-half times higher attention and two times higher recall compared to static. It also…

Bringing the In-House Agency Council home to Aotearoa is an exciting moment for Kiwi expat Abby Blackmore. IHAC is all about representing and creating community for in-house agencies across the country. Its launch follows the council’s 2025 In-House Agency Landscape Report, showing 71% of Kiwi brands have some form of in-house agency, just behind Europe at 76% and Australia at 78%. Blackmore says in-house agencies are everywhere in Aotearoa. “I was talking to big brands, I was talking to little brands. It’s everything from government organisations and councils right through to The Warehouse Group and big financial institutions like KiwiBank.” She says in-house teams have become more mainstream due to the change in the digital media landscape, which sees marketing teams creating more content for more channels, but often on…

Ask Ben Fitchett “why LA?” and he gives two reasons: the budgets are bigger and the clients are more exciting. “It was a gravitational pull: I wanted to really get my hands dirty in these really cool campaigns,” the Account Supervisor at Sling & Stone says of his move from NZ to America. There is a scrappiness to PR in the US that makes him enjoy the work even more, he says. With the country’s population 67 times larger than New Zealand’s, Fitchett is truly getting his hands dirty to get the coverage his clients need. “You are a small fish in a such a big pond that you really have to put in the groundwork to make things happen. For your clients, you have to get really creative and…

Marketers are constantly under pressure to chase better and achieve greater. With so much to stay on top of, it’s easy to forget that what ultimately defines marketing success is, at its core, people. Humans. As marketers, the more we understand people, the more we understand how to do our jobs better. And one of the things that makes us human? Our feelings. We feel before we do anything. Before we think or act. We’ve long known the importance of feelings and, more importantly, their role – we know emotion sells. Which is why we’ve been measuring emotion for so long. The methods we’ve been relying on, however, are limited. Let’s look at why. We used to think facial expressions were universal, that six basic emotions could be recognised across…

Everyone loves a comeback story, and out of home advertising has a better one than most. This media channel had a terrible time during the pandemic. With much of New Zealand staying at home for months under lockdown, expensive OOH inventory went unseen – heavily impacting publishers and marketers alike. Fast forward a few years and, in an industry where most budgets have remained flat for the past 12 months, OOH is seeing consistent growth. As a result, marketers are increasingly recognising the enduring power of OOH advertising, fuelling its impressive recovery and sustained growth. In today’s fragmented media landscape, the ability to reach broad, diverse audiences has become more valuable than ever, and OOH stands out as one of the last true broadcast channels capable of delivering scale. Overexposed…

For Tegel, New Zealand’s largest poultry company, a bold decision to shift its entire supermarket offering to free-range sparked not only a shift in operations but a comprehensive repositioning. Partnering with Milk as its strategic and creative agency, Tegel set out to transform the brand and meet rapidly evolving consumer expectations head-on. Over the past three years, Milk has worked closely with Tegel to redefine internal and external perceptions to reflect a modern Tegel that aligns with the brand’s purpose: delight customers and consumers by providing trusted products to New Zealand and the world. The repositioning journey As more consumers seek ethical, sustainable and healthy food options, the poultry industry faces mounting pressure to adapt. For Tegel, transitioning all supermarket products to 100% free-range by the end of 2025 is…

‘How many beers do you go through each recording?” Given the podcast’s title, when does the drinking start? “We record on Thursday morning at 9am, I’m not going to have a beer at that time,” says Steve Halloway, co-host of Between Two Beers. Alongside Seamus Marten, the podcast started in their garage with a $200 microphone. What links them? Twenty-five years of friendship, starting in high school. Halloway, a former journalist and Marten, who dedicated his time to football administration, were craving something creative. The reason for a podcast? The friends wanted to have a point of difference by doing something longer-form in a digital world swarming with bite-sized bits on TikTok and Instagram Reels. At first, they invited friends who they played football with – including Aaron Scott, who…

A single thought led Kiwi animation studio Mukpuddy to reboot Spike Milligan’s Badjelly the Witch – the biggest project it’s ever worked on. As co-founder Ryan Cooper explains, that’s typically how it works at the Auckland-based studio. “One of us has an idea, and then the others get excited about it and that gets the ball rolling.” In 2018, co-founder Alex Leighton was drawing a witch for another project. It reminded him of Badjelly, a fondly remembered story from childhood. “It was the smallest spark. I wondered if there had ever been an animated version of Badjelly the Witch?” says Leighton. The beloved tale is hugely popular in Aotearoa – more so than anywhere else. It started as a bedtime story Milligan told his children. In 1973, it became a…