whiteGREY Archives - MARKETECH APAC

Australia – whiteGREY has announced the appointment of Iona Macgregor as chief strategy officer. She has also joined the agency’s executive leadership team and will be working with clients across the country and in APAC.

Macgregor, who recently served as chief strategy officer at Saatchi & Saatchi Australia, brings over two decades of creative strategy experience. She worked with Ampol, Arnott’s, AXA, Cartier, Heineken, Nestlé, NRMA, OPSM, Orange, the Westpac Group’s St. George, Ray-Ban, Tiger Beer, and Vodafone.

Macgregor previously led hybrid strategy and innovation teams that integrated experts in brand, UX, and social at creative agency Marcel Worldwide in Paris before joining Saatchi & Saatchi. She then co-founded Marcel Sydney in 2015.

Speaking about the appointment, Lee Simpson, CEO of whiteGREY, said, “We are really excited to welcome Iona to the agency. This is a critical role for us and one we’ve considered carefully. Iona’s experience will bring fresh strategic leadership to our business and our clients, adding to the depth of talent and capability we have across brand, communications, CX and media strategy.”

He added, “Iona is an innovative thinker suited to a creative agency with strong technology heritage, and I’m excited about the impact she will make.”

Meanwhile, speaking about her appointment, Macgregor said, “This industry has been talking about transformational change for as long as I can remember. But it takes a proper merge of creative, strategy, technology expertise and genuine care to deliver ideas that will set brands up for sustainable growth.”

“The team at whiteGREY are just awesome. I believe they’ve got a unique combination of all the skills and passion required to navigate this challenging market for their clients and I can’t wait to get started,” Macgregor added.

Australia – Creative technology agency whiteGREY has announced the appointment of Nerida Murphy to the newly-created role of design director. Murphy will lead whiteGREY’s brand design offering and further elevate the level of craft within the agency.

She previously held creative leadership roles at FutureBrand Australia and at Re (M&C Saatchi). She has also led her own design business bringing an impressive level of valuable business experience and the importance of cross-team collaboration to build trusting client relationships and deliver world-class creative work to whiteGREY.

In addition, she has worked on some of Australia’s most iconic brands, including Optus where she successfully led a team of designers, writers and strategists as the brand evolved from a telco into an entertainment provider.

Speaking on her new role, Murphy said, “I am extremely passionate about creating human-centred, purpose driven brand designs that connect, with deep meaning, to their audiences. Joining whiteGREY’s team was a no-brainer for me, the agency bursts with creative power and its client roster is varied and impressive. I can’t wait to see what growth in brand value and elevating customer experience we can achieve through brand design.”

Meanwhile, Chad Mackenzie, chief creative officer at whiteGREY, said that Murphy’s impressive background and track record of pushing the boundaries of design brings a new creative perspective to the team.

“We love Nerida’s perspective on design and her belief in how design can help tell a compelling brand story and influence customer experience. Her passion and craft are second to none and she has already made a positive impact on the creative output. As we continue to grow and expand our creative capabilities Nerida is poised to play a pivotal role in elevating our brand design offering as well as our creative offering as a whole,” he stated.

Sydney, Australia – Creative technology agency whiteGREY has appointed Reeshma Bhanji as its executive creative director. The appointment is targeted at significantly boosting the agency’s design and creative offering.

In the new role, Bhanji’s immediate focus is to lead the Scentre Group (Westfield) business with an additional responsibility to develop and deepen whiteGREY’s creative offering to drive business transformation for clients.

She also brings with her a wealth of experience from both agency and client-side to whiteGREY. Her expansive retail experience is garnered from working across brands such as Freedom, Rebel Sport, Aesop, and Glasshouse Fragrances, where she created award-winning campaigns and led strategy and creative thinking to create in-store spatial design experiences.

Prior to joining whiteGREY, Bhanji was previously with The General Store as its creative director and was also the founder of Flying Fish Designs.

On her new appointment, Bhanji said, “While design thinking is a critical component of the creative process, my true passion lies in collaborating with my team and our clients to identify solutions that can genuinely foster the growth of their business. This human-centric approach is what drives great creative and design, and I’m thrilled to bring this perspective to both whiteGREY and its clients.”

Chad Mackenzie, whiteGREY’s national CCO also said that Bhanji’s appointment was a game-changer for whiteGREY supporting the agency’s ongoing investment in outstanding talent. He added that Bhanji will likewise provide a new perspective for clients and expands the agency’s brand design offering.

“With a career built on a strong foundation of visual arts and design, Reeshma leans heavily into design, strategy and creativity to discover what will work for her clients’ brands to make their business better. Reeshma helps see the world differently, creating powerful as well as beautiful client solutions using design thinking to grow her client’s businesses,” said Mackenzie.

He added, “She is well known to challenge conventions to create breakthrough brand experiences and her unique way of blending design, strategy and creativity is an exciting proposition to bring to market and is the next step in the evolution of whiteGREY’s already strong creative offering.”

Bhanji’s appointment is effective immediately. She will also be based in Sydney for the new role.

Australia – Creative technology agency whiteGREY has been appointed as the new creative and media agency of record by Planpay, a paytech brand that is part of the Afterpay-backed ASX-listed Touch Ventures portfolio.

Through the partnership, whiteGREY will be charged with carving clear space in the market for Planpay and will be fuelling international growth by highlighting the brand proposition. The agency’s remit includes all strategy, creatives, and planning for the innovative paytech platform, initially launching in the travel sector with rapid expansion to follow.

Lee Simpson, CEO of whiteGREY, said, “Planpay is an ambitious and innovative business, not shy of backing bold thinking. We can’t wait to work with the team to realise the brand’s potential on the local and global stage.”

Meanwhile, Gary Burrows, CEO of Planpay, commented, “whiteGREY has extensive expertise within the brand experience space, alongside an impressive understanding of our sector. The agency’s expertise and full-service offering makes the team the perfect partner for us as we revitalise the lay-by model globally.”

In our recent The Inner State, we interviewed Simon Wassef, whiteGREY’s chief strategy officer, to discuss how creative communications can promote sustainable benefits to businesses, consumers, and society.

Today, many consumers believe that brands have the responsibility to create positive environmental change, encouraging future sustainability. These consumers want brands to produce products and services that respect environmental and social issues because they love to relate to their preferred brands.

One of the companies who have been strong on sustainability marketing efforts is insurance company Allianz PNB Life in the Philippines, who released a sustainability spot ‘No Filter’, alongside creative agency GIGIL in 2021, highlighting the symbolism of ‘filters’ and the illusion of seeing our environment from a ‘filtered’ perspective. Another campaign of Allianz PNB Life for its commitment to sustainability is entitled ‘Seeds of Tomorrow’, which was launched last July 2022. It focused on a more literal approach this time, as the company needed “to go into detail” and show how Allianz is fulfilling that sustainability role in securing the future. The ad, sans the frills, shows different scenarios of how a good insurance plan can help build a better ‘tomorrow’ for oneself, family, and the environment.

Additionally, creative technology agency whiteGREY is also committed to promoting sustainability. In August 2022, the agency launched a new sustainability business practice called ‘whiteGREY Positive’ (wG+), which aims to help brands and NGOs achieve their sustainability goals and reduce environmental impact. Through a range of solutions including brand strategy, creativity, behaviour change and technology, wG+ will be able to help organisations respond to Australian consumer and corporate demand for sustainable progress.

For MARKETECH APAC’s latest The Inner State, we have invited Gino Riola, Allianz PNB Life’s chief marketing officer, and Simon Wassef, whiteGREY’s chief strategy officer, to discuss how creative communications can contribute to promoting sustainable benefits to businesses, consumers, and society.

Businesses’ creative communication strategy on sustainability

As the demand for sustainable marketing continues to grow, we asked about both the unique challenges and opportunities it presented. Riola shared that their client communications, consumer research, and focus group discussions have indicated that sustainability is an important subject for Filipino consumers.

“We have had excellent recognition from our policyholders, distribution partners, and the general public on our sustainability campaigns and advocacies. The good challenge for us is how to continue spreading the message and encouraging like-minded organisations and individuals to join our cause,” he said.

Riola added, “We collaborate with SOS Children’s Village, WWF, our bank partners, local government units, and Life Changers. Globally, the Allianz Group focuses on climate change and decarbonisation, social impact, and integrating sustainability across our operations.”

Meanwhile, for whiteGREY, the biggest challenge they have faced is meeting the cultural demand for sustainable, responsible business from all their partners. Wassef said, “But from this challenge comes opportunity. All of our clients are asking us about it. And the answer, quite simply, lies in extraordinary ideas. Ideas that galvanise organisations. Ideas that change consumer perception of what’s possible, change behaviours, and change the fortunes of businesses.”

He also added, “That’s why we created a dedicated sustainability practice, whiteGREY Positive (wG+). To enable anyone, at any stage of their sustainability journey, to walk in our doors and create the ideas that will help them meet that cultural demand, and to solve the tension of growing in ways that are good for people and the planet with extraordinary ideas.”

In terms of the factors businesses consider when creating sustainability campaigns and messaging, Riola said that the two main factors for them at Allianz PNB Life are the relevance and impact of their sustainability advocacies.

“We also take into consideration our strengths and those of our sustainability partners in terms of our capability to execute,” he added.

Meanwhile, Wassef shared that at whiteGREY, they follow a simple, three-step process: Consult. Collide. Create.

“We Consult widely. We invite as many diverse perspectives and practitioners into the conversation as we can, both from inside our client’s organisation and from outside. Then we Collide. This is where all the diverse thinking is brought together to articulate – and solve – the real tension. The Create phase is exactly what the name suggests. But it’s not just about any idea. The first two phases ensure that what we create is authentic, tangible, enduring and – most importantly – extraordinary ideas. The bar is high – only extraordinary ideas will do,” he said.

When asked about how to prevent dull and ineffective green marketing campaigns, and how to develop more creative sustainability campaigns, Riola said, “We motivate buy-in by communicating the relevance and impact of our advocacies effectively and making it easy. For instance, policyholders of our Allianz Protect financial solution donate automatically to the World Wildlife Fund’s foodshed program that will benefit farming communities in Negros Occidental.”

Meanwhile, Wassef said, “To prevent dull and ineffective campaigns, articulate the real tension. Sweat it. And be honest about it. It’s only in the grit of real tension that we find the extraordinary ideas that truly move the needle.”

Achieving Sustainable Future

As consumers have become more socially conscious of their consumption, we also asked about how they aim to develop their products/services and marketing campaigns to reflect this new resolve.

For Allianz PNB Life, Riola said that they will continue to pursue their current advocacies and work with their partners to reach more beneficiaries and lay the foundations for the Allianz Group’s three areas of focus: climate change and decarbonisation, social impact, and integrating sustainability across their operations.

“Further, we have plans to develop new sustainability-related financial solutions such as Allianz Protect and the Peso-Hedged Global Sustainability Equity Fund,” he added.

While for whiteGREY, Wassef noted, “We’ve talked about wG+ and how it works. We have spent years working in the sustainability space and we wanted to share what we’ve learned. Simply put, this is an insight that we’re happy to share because our future depends on it.”

He further shared, “But moreover, it’s in our DNA. Our belief is that tension creates extraordinary. The real tension of how to grow in ways that are good for the planet is one we have to solve because our belief demands it. And when that’s in your DNA, you bring diverse perspectives to the table and give them their moment to contribute.”

Sydney, Australia – Creative technology agency whiteGREY has launched a new sustainability business practice. Called ‘whiteGREY Positive’, the new business practice aims to help brands and NGOs achieve their sustainability goals and reduce environmental impact.

Through a range of solutions including brand strategy, creativity, behaviour change and technology, whiteGREY Positive (wG+) will be able to help organisations respond to Australian consumer and corporate demand for sustainable progress. It is already working with clients such as Volvo, HSBC, and Scentre Group to continue drive responsible business agendas.

Lee Simpson, CEO of whiteGREY, shared that responsible business in general, and sustainability more specifically, are central to the strategy of progressive businesses.

“What started as a passion in the agency 4 years ago has grown to a body of work in the space for the likes of WWF, Greenpeace, Volvo, Powershop, Sheldrick Wildlife Trust and more. Formalising the experience and capabilities into a Practice is an exciting next step,” said Simpson.

Meanwhile, Simon Wassef, whiteGREY’s national chief strategy officer, who will also be leading wG+, noted that they have put all their knowledge and experience working in this space into wG+ so that any business, at any stage of its responsibility journey, can walk through the door and start a conversation.

“We’ve recently worked with WWF Australia to support its ‘Regenerate Australia’ program, set to be the largest and most innovative wildlife and regeneration program in Australian history. It’s the perfect time to launch wG+ and continue similar purpose-driven work,” said Wassef.

whiteGREY’s previous sustainable campaigns include Volvo’s ‘Living Seawall’, the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust’s ‘Hello in Elephant’, and Powershop’s ‘Power you can be Proud of’ including ‘Pond Party’ and ‘Free Power Mode’, as well as WWF Australia’s ‘Australian Nature needs your Australian Nature’.

Melbourne, Australia – The Missing Persons Advocacy Network (MPAN), an organisation that provides creative initiatives that humanise missing loved ones and engages the public through strategic communications, has partnered with creative technology agency, whiteGREY, to launch ‘The Hope Narratives’, a therapeutic language tool designed to help affected family and friends navigate ambiguous loss.

Ambiguous loss is a unique and harrowing type of grief experienced by the loved ones of long-term missing persons, which is considered by many psychologists to be the most traumatic type of loss. Unlike standard grief, it is a continual loss, complicating and delaying the grieving process, leading to unresolved grief.

Launching ahead of National Missing Persons Week, which is celebrated from 31 July to 6 August, ‘The Hope Narratives’ is a tool for putting the emotional complexity of ambiguous loss into words, using the lived experiences of others.

Developed in collaboration with global ambiguous loss expert, Dr. Sarah Wayland, the new tool is designed to help people find a way through grief, and to know they are not alone. The cards combine over 500 collective years of experience into 145 modular statements, which connect to become over 1.4 million possible Hope Narratives.

Loren O’Keeffe, founder and CEO at MPAN, said, “When a loved one goes missing, there is no right way to deal with it. You oscillate from hope to hopelessness, overwhelmed by the physical, mental and emotional burden, often feeling no one understands what you’re going through. By supporting loved ones with this very special set of cards, our aim is to address complicated grief that’s historically been a misunderstood area of mental health for thousands of Australians.”

Meanwhile, Joe Hill, executive creative director at whiteGREY Melbourne, noted that MPAN’s mission to support loved ones of missing persons and Dr. Wayland’s incredible work on finding hope within ambiguous loss defines a uniquely creative space.

“The Hope Narratives is a response to this space: a tool designed to help a community, made from the lived experiences of that community. We are incredibly proud to have played a role in the development of a narrative tool that will not only help the loved ones of missing persons, but will go on to set a precedent for ways this complex and devastating type of loss can be addressed around the world,” said Hill.

Sydney, Australia – Australian digital bank, ubank, has unveiled a new brand platform ‘That’s How You Money’, highlighting the brand’s redefined brand proposition and its promise to help the next generation of Australians be more successful with money.

The new brand platform, which was created in collaboration with creative technology company whiteGREY, follows the product campaign launch that went to the market in early June across programmatic and selected ATL channels.

In collaboration with ubank’s media agency, Bohemia, whiteGREY’s remit covered the creative strategy and communications plan, including an evolution of the new brand identity, new platform development, brand launch campaign across TV, cinema, OOH, audio, digital, and social executions, and product campaign, which includes performance – audio, social, and digital display. Moreover, the campaign uses a series of individual stories and experiences to demonstrate what it feels like to get the upper hand with money, underpinned by product proof points for saving, spending, and home loans.

Chad Mackenzie, whiteGREY’s CCO, noted that no one wants to talk about banking but they do want to talk about money, what you could be doing with it, and importantly, how good it feels when things start to happen.

“ubank, quite simply, gives you the upper hand with money. It’s smarter, faster and delivers a better money experience. That’s what our creative platform is about. Doing money. Encouraging a shift in how Aussies think and act with money,” said Mackenzie.

Meanwhile, Brooke Thompson, whiteGREY’s strategy director, shared that the work speaks to an audience who is realising that money is not for leaving in an account somewhere and hoping for the best.

“They’re listening to the podcasts. They’re exploring different ways to invest. They’re following FinToks. They want to engage with money, break some old behaviours and learn some new stuff,” said Thompson.

Sebastian Paulin, ubank’s head of growth, said, “From the beginning, we focused on leveraging customer insights to give whiteGREY a solid foundation to build out our new brand platform. We’re really excited about how well the work is already connecting with our audience.”

The two-phase campaign kicked off last June 2022 with the initial programmatic going live alongside selected ATL channels, prior to the major brand launch last 17 July which carries the new brand messaging, look, feel, and sound across the biggest ATL investment from ubank in over three years. It will run until October, with a second phase planned in early 2023.