Tag: Colenso BBDO

Auckland, New Zealand – Creative agency Colenso BBDO has announced the appointment of three new senior hires in its efforts to bolster its production and account service teams.

Joining Colenso are Jacqui Walker as director of creative production, Charlotte Glennon as EP and head of integrated production, and Keshvi Lal as senior business director.

Walker has previously worked as a senior integrated producer at TBWA\New Zealand and has worked alongside awarded creatives for the last 25 years across ANZ. She has also produced award-winning campaigns across brands such as McDonald’s, Panasonic, Volkswagen, Skoda, Westpac, AFL and more.

Speaking on her appointment, she said, “Working with Angela, Rob, Si and the incredible team at Colenso is definitely a pinch yourself moment. I’m excited to bring my creative production experience to the agency and continue to help create world-class work.”

Meanwhile, Glennon brings her years of experience as a producer for TBWA\Media Arts Lab, Mother London, Host Sydney, and DDB Aotearoa, amongst others. 

“I’m really excited to join the team at ColensoBBDO, who have the same creative ambition as the best agencies I’ve worked at. Selfishly I’m going to lean on the stellar creative department to help my gardening insta account (200ish followers) blow up, follow me for reels of Dahlias mixed to 90s R&B @charlotteinthegarden_ iykyk,” said Glennon.

Lal, on the other hand, will be leading Colenso’s Spark and Skinny accounts, amongst other responsibilities. She has also led work for iconic brands including McDonald’s, ANZ, 2degrees, and Instant Kiwi.

“I’ve long admired the work coming out of Colenso – it’s ambitious, meaningful and effective. I’m thrilled to join the whānau and work alongside the incredibly talented humans at 100 College Hill,” she said.

Angela Watson, managing director at Colenso BBDO, also commented, “Great senior people give everyone around them the momentum they need to succeed. It’s a wonderful thing. Jacqui, Charlotte and Keshvi are real talent who have already made a difference, and we’re lucky to have them.”

Colenso has also previously appointed Maria Devereux and Simon Vicars for creative leadership roles, as well as seven creative hires last June.

Auckland, New Zealand – Creative agency Colenso BBDO has announced the appointment of seven new creative hires, led by Hadleigh Sinclair as the new group creative director.

Hadleigh has created award-winning campaigns for iconic brands, including Air New Zealand, Lion Nathan, MARS and FOXTEL. He was previously at dentsu Auckland where he led the creative output of the agency, including ASB’s ‘Borrow The All Blacks’ campaign.

Speaking on his appointment, he said, “In 2010, at the end of my internship at Colenso, I was told there were no jobs going. I was gutted, the place is like nowhere else, so I orchestrated a plan to get back in the building. 12 years, and four holding companies later, I’m pleased to say the plan’s worked out.”

Other appointments include Dustin de Souza, formerly from McCann London and Wunderman Thompson, joins as a senior art director; as well as Léon Bristow, who has recently returned from agency DDB C14torce in Barcelona, will partner with ex-Havas London creative Sophia Cussell.

In addition, Jian-Xin Tay joins as intermediate art director, while Hugo Smith and Stella Wilson join to bolster the design department, working with the head of design Dave Brady.

Simon Vicars, CCO at Colenso BBDO, says, “The best creative people I’ve worked with have had two consistent attributes: talent and energy. This group is brimming with both those things. I’m excited to see what we can do together.”

Auckland, New Zealand – With the belief that dogs bring out the best in humans, pet food brand Pedigree in New Zealand has launched a new reading programme ‘Dogphonics’, which consists of five books specifically designed to be read to a good listener, someone who’s extremely patient, full of love, and never judgemental – a dog.

According to a study co-created by Pedigree and The Waltham Petcare Science Institute, dogs as a listener can improve children’s sense of confidence, moderate feelings of anxiety, and provide support.

The reading programme, which was developed in partnership with creative agency Colenso BBDO, aims to help boost the confidence and literacy of children by encouraging them to read to a dog. It will be launched in New Zealand, with titles such as ‘It Was Not Me, I Did Not Eat The Alphabet’ and ‘Where Are My Pants?’. 

Fabio Alings, Mars’ global brand director for Pedigree, noted that they have a long history of creatively celebrating not only how we as humans literally ‘feed the good’ in dogs, but how dogs also ‘feed the good’ in humans, as their lovable innocence brings out the best in people. 

“The Pedigree Dogphonics book set perfectly captures the essence of that purpose – Dogs boosting the confidence of children who are learning to read, and young readers returning that favour by helping shelter dogs find a loving home to call their own,” said Alings.

Meanwhile, Maria Devereux, Colenso BBDO’s CIO, shared that reading anxiety is common, especially at an age when children are going through behavioural changes and developing their own emotional processes. 

“The Waltham Institute has given Pedigree Dogphonics books the science to succeed and the commitment to design craft and storytelling from the Colenso team,” said Devereux.

The book set will be made available at selected bookstores, with digital versions available from Amazon.com. All proceeds from book sales go towards rehoming shelter dogs. 

New Zealand – State, the insurance company based in New Zealand, has launched a new campaign that collated a range of mistake-prone trends, aimed at helping Kiwis make fewer mistakes in 2022.

The campaign, which was developed in partnership with creative agency Colenso BBDO, has reviewed over four million data streams, including more than 210,000 car, home and contents insurance claims, as well as publicly available NZ Police, NZ Transport, Statistics NZ, and weather data.

Titled ‘The State Insurance Mistake Report’, the campaign has ventured beyond the most mistake-prone days of the week, such as garages are the most mistake-prone space in the house, people called ‘John’ make the most mistakes, and there is zero truth to the superstition that more things go wrong when there’s a full moon.

Moreover, State and Colenso BBDO have also produced ‘The Personalised Mistake Report’, an online tool that people can use to be more mindful about what types of common mistakes could be in their future, with the aim to offer a unique experience for Kiwis.

Gabrielle Markwick-Brown, State’s marketing manager, believes that highlighting Kiwis’ most mistake-prone moments in an engaging and relatable way will hopefully help people avoid making as many of them.

“We wanted to use this data to help better protect New Zealanders. While State will always be here to help Kiwis get back on their feet if they make a mistake, our customers tell us time and again that preventing mistakes from happening in the first place is always preferable to dealing with the aftermath,” she said 

Meanwhile, Maria Devereux, Colenso BBDO’s CIO, said, “What the ‘Mistake Report’ shows is that there is a huge amount of risk we actually can foresee. By predicting mistakes, State is in the unique position to show up for customers before they lodge a claim, and actually, help them avoid doing so in the first place.”

The ‘Mistake Report’ campaign was launched last 14 February with a 30“film, supported by digital and print campaigns directing New Zealand to the website.

Auckland, New Zealand – When we fill out a form on a website, most of the time we get asked about our gender. But sadly, the large majority of sites use the same two classifications: male or female. For many people across all gender spectrums, they feel unrepresented and are forced to choose an identity that they know is not theirs.

In a bid to promote gender inclusiveness across websites, New Zealand telco Spark has worked with rainbow mental health organisation OutLine Aotearoa and creative agency Colenso BBDO to create a campaign where they developed a code that websites can adopt to their platforms to feature more gender-friendly options in their forms online.

This code revises the way organisations collect gender data by updating website forms and fields with gender-inclusive options so everyone can feel seen. In addition, the code comes with helpful materials to support businesses on their beyond binary journey, including guides on data privacy principles, how to get stakeholder buy-in and how to create safer spaces both on and offline for their customers and employees.

Claire Black, general manager at OutLine Aotearoa, said, “Often businesses default to asking for gender without considering why they need that information and how it might impact the people on the other end of the form. When trans and non-binary people are excluded, misgendered, or discriminated against during daily interactions with businesses, that contributes to an environment that is hostile to their wellbeing.”

However, the organisation pointed out that the code, known as ‘Beyond Binary Code’, is not just code, but rather a full tool that helps businesses understand, first and foremost, whether they truly need to collect gender data from their customers at all. If they do, an HTML code is generated based on their unique business needs, so they can ask in an inclusive way.

“OutLine sees this code, and its supporting resources, as a catalyst for creating better experiences that support and affirm the wellbeing of both non-binary people and rainbow communities more broadly in Aotearoa,” Black added.

Meanwhile, Matt Bain, marketing director at Spark New Zealand, notes that this campaign intersects two key ambitions at Spark – helping Kiwis have a better relationship with their data, and to champion diversity and inclusion within Spark and Aotearoa. He also added that in time and with the help of businesses adopting the code, they hope to build an internet with richer, more sophisticated datascapes that represent the true diversity of New Zealand.

“Ultimately, through publishing the code, we want to encourage digital equity at an enterprise level. By influencing big data systems in businesses to evaluate whether they need to collect gender data at all and if it is required, that they do so in a way that helps people from all genders feel valued and visible online,” Brian said.

Simon Vicars, CCO for Colenso BBDO added, “For lots of people, filling in an online form is a simple box-ticking exercise. But for people who identify beyond male or female, it can reinforce the feeling that society doesn’t acknowledge them. Beyond Binary Code has the power to rectify this – to help rewrite the internet to see more than two genders. We’re proud to finally see the idea out in the world, and excited to see the difference it can make.” 

Beyond Binary Code launched 21st February with a powerful film and digital campaign to support the website. 

Auckland, New Zealand – When you think of a Christmas-themed campaign, data utilization is the least you would expect to be at the core of it. However, New Zealand-based telco Spark begs to differ. The telco has just released its newest ‘Santa’ for its campaign: a tech assistant called ‘Spark’s New Tech Assistant’ or ‘S.N.T.A’ which allows online users to come up with the ideal Christmas gift for the ones they love. 

Created alongside creative agency Colenso BBDO, ‘S.N.T.A’ is built from thousands and thousands of data points designed to find out what every type of New Zealander wants this year.

The experience can be accessed online and in Spark stores around the country, allowing shoppers to discover what their cousin, family member, or co-worker wants. The data collected by Spark and Colenso is purposefully granular, segmenting giftees by much more than age and relationship, but unique interests and attributes, which add charm to what could have been cold facts and figures.

James Henson, chapter lead at Spark, said, “In the past, our focus has been on Spark’s great range of gifts. But we don’t shop for products at Christmas. We shop for the people we love, which isn’t always easy. Knowing that is what inspired S.N.T.A,”

Meanwhile, Lucy Grigg, who was recently promoted to the role of general manager at Colenso BBDO, commented, “Spark is New Zealand’s leading technology provider – which now extends to Christmas. It’s a pleasure to work with them to sprinkle a bit of holiday magic on their tech and build a product that is both charming and truly helpful to Kiwi shoppers.”

Auckland, New Zealand – Creative agency Colenso BBDO has announced new changes in their creative leadership lineup. First off, Simon Vicars has been appointed as the agency’s new chief creative officer, while executive creative director Maria Devereux adds up the role of chief innovation officer to her lineup.

Vicars has worked in New Zealand, Berlin and most recently London where he was creative director at adam & eve DDB. Prior to joining adam & eve, he spent six years at Colenso BBDO, where he worked with campaigns for brands such as Samsung, The Pedigree Child, and Instant Kiwi.

Meanwhile, Devereux’s career has also spanned two countries, allowing her to build a body of work steeped in innovation across both Canada and New Zealand. Her stint at Colenso BBDO include work with State Insurance and NZ Breast Cancer organization, and PEDIGREE.

Angela Watson, managing director at Colenso BBDO, remarked that the two appointees are homegrown talents who have spent formative years at Colenso, headed off overseas to gain international experience and recognition, before returning home to them.

“From DB Export Brewtroleum to Pedigree SelfieSTIX, their track-records for creative and effective work are seriously impressive. They both embody the unique creative spirit of Colenso and have that brilliant and rare mix of extreme talent and wonderful humanity. We’re excited about what’s coming and the epic things we’re going to do together,” Watson said.

New Zealand – October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and for its commemoration, the Breast Cancer Foundation NZ has partnered with the youth poets of Māori, the indigenous group of New Zealand, to share a message of body positivity.

The poet group Ngā Hinepūkōrero tackles a barrier to mammograms that are not often discussed – body shame and embarrassment.

In partnership with creative agency Colenso BBDO, the campaign centers around the poem ‘Ahi Kā’ performed by the group which is a protest poem that calls on women to love their bodies the same way New Zealand’s first women did.

With embarrassment often cited as a reason women avoid mammograms, and Māori women among the most at risk but least screened for breast cancer, the campaign seeks an important role to play.

Ngā Hinepūkōrero shared that they are thrilled to be part of a national campaign that encourages women to honor their whakapapa by loving their breasts and getting a mammogram.

Whakapapa is a fundamental principle in Māori culture, where reciting their whakapapa meant proclaiming their Māori identity, and recognizes one’s connection to a wider context and to land.

“The way wāhine Māori feel about our bodies has changed throughout generations. From our ancestors’ respect for their bodies, to our grandmothers’ feelings of shame and unacceptance, to the current generation’s reclamation of te ao Māori attitudes towards the body, and the love that comes from that,” the group said.

The message “Honor your whakapapa by loving your breasts. Get a mammogram.” is shared through print and film featuring breast cancer survivors. The poem has been brought to life through illustrations by designer Atarangi Anderson and animation by creative studio Creature Post.

The campaign launched 3 October with a 30” film and has rolled out across TV, OOH, and online. 

Auckland, New Zealand – Creative agency Colenso BBDO welcomes a new talent to their creative lineup, Sonya Milford as the agency’s senior digital designer. Milford brings in a wealth of experience in both the design and digital sectors, having worked at Gladeye, TVNZ and TRA. 

The appointment follows after the agency has also promoted Lucy Grigg to the agency’s general manager role.

Milford’s experience in the creative sector include founding the Āhua Collective, a creative group designed to empower queer, trans, black, indigenous people of color (QTBIPOC) and black, indigenous and people of color (BIPOC) artists, and create a more accessible industry.

Speaking about her appointment, she said, “There is great power in sharing and understanding the stories of marginalized creatives. To ignore that, would be to miss an entire shift in creative innovation. I’m really excited to bring my passion and point of view to Colenso and the work they make.”

Meanwhile, Angela Watson, managing director at Colenso BBDO, commented, “The face of creativity is changing, and Sonya is leading the charge. We’re really excited to work alongside her to empower all voices, in both the work and the wider industry.”

In addition, Tennille Barnes, head of digital production at Colenso BBDO, stated, “I’m really excited to have Sonya join the team, she has fresh energy and spirit that extends far beyond her work. Helping us to drive a new and higher benchmark for creativity”.

Auckland, New Zealand – Creative agency Colenso BBDO has announced the promotion of their managing partner Lucy Grigg into the general manager role, where she brings in work experience across multiple clients including NAB, BNZ, Airbnb, Spark, Fonterra, and DB.

She will be also taking the lead for their client Spark, a local-based telecommunications company.

According to Angela Watson, managing director at Colenso BBDO, Grigg shows an ‘impressive and diverse experience in business, brand building, and communications along with a very special ability to always drive the work forward’, adding that ‘she is an invaluable champion of their work, their people, and their client partners experience, and that her creativity is just what they need as they embark on their next chapter.’

“Grigg is amazing and we’re delighted she’s taking up this new role. It’s always a thrill to be able to promote from within and bring another talented human into the overall leadership of the agency,” Watson added.

Speaking about her appointment, she commented that with her new leadership comes new opportunities and that she is passionate about helping lead the talented humans at Colenso, with Angela at the helm. 

“It’s a pretty exciting time to be part of Colenso – we have a clear point of view of where and what we want to be for our people and our clients, and I’m proud I can be part of something awesome in an agency I love,” Grigg concluded.

Colenso BBDO has worked previously with campaigns to companies like automotive brand MINI, WWF New Zealand, and classifieds platform Trade Me with the Clemenger Group.