GroupM has appointed Marc Lomas as Managing Director of its commerce capability. He will lead and expand GroupM’s Commerce and Retail Media business in Australia & New Zealand, supporting EssenceMediacom, Mindshare and Wavemaker’s teams. Lomas has 20-plus years’ experience in the industry working with blue-chip brands developing performance marketing and ad-tech capability in Australia, the UK and the US, including at Amazon Ads, and IPG Mediabrands. Retail media is booming globally and reached USD$120 billion globally in 2023. Australia is expected to reach close to AUD$1 billion in ..read more

Concrete Playground, a digital media platform for urban exploration, has launched its redesigned website, which enables a deeper, more intuitive engagement with cities. The new website has been designed to enhance the way users interact with their urban environments, with an improved search feature, an expanded directory, new navigation bar and increased ad visibility. The platform also includes a playlist creation tool for users to make personalised playlists of their favourite spots and activities, as well a trip builder that integrates with Google Maps. Rich Fogarty, Founder & Director ..read more

A new report from WARC Creative listing the most awarded campaigns and agencies from the Asia-Pacific features a number of Kiwis. Celebrating excellence in creativity, media and effectiveness, WARC rankings offer an opportunity for marketers to reflect on the best campaigns in the business and to review the impact their own work has on their brands. The rankings are compiled by applying a rigorous, unbiased and transparent methodology. The WARC report is a deep-dive into those campaigns that have dominated the media this last year and what led to their top ranks. Colenso BBDO’s ‘Phone it in fo ..read more

West Coast-based Reefton Distilling Co. has become the first New Zealand whisky distillery and first West Coast business to achieve Bcorp ceritifcation. Founder Patsy Bass, established Reefton Distilling Co. in 2017 with the goal of setting up a sustainable business to help revitalise Patsy’s hometown of Reefton and to create jobs for local people. On receiving confirmation of their Bcorp certification, Bass said, “This is a hugely proud moment for all of our team. We established the business for social good, to create sustainable employment on the West Coast and well-paying careers.” Bas ..read more

New locally owned FinTech start up Taxi is using its launch campaign to urge Kiwi business owners to ‘decline the bank’. Taxi uses technology to unlock funding supported by the billions of dollars of pre-paid provisional tax paid by Kiwi businesses to access funds at about half the cost of a big bank overdraft. It is an entirely new form of funding that’s only available to New Zealand-based tax paying businesses.  For Taxi co-founder Nicola Taylor, launching a product that was strongly needed by businesses and connecting with busy business owners in a crowded market required a strong bran ..read more

Customer insights platform Ideally has appointed international brand marketer Maura Halpin to the newly created role of Marketing Lead, effective immediately.  Since launch in August 2023, Ideally has announced a $2.15m seed investment and has grown to nearly 20 staff across Australia and New Zealand, as well as serving more than 80 clients, including Telstra, Lion and Arnott’s. Reporting directly to Co-founder & CRO Joshua Nu’u-Steele, Halpin’s immediate remit will be to develop and implement Ideally’s overarching marketing strategy. Co-founder & CRO Joshua Nu’u-Steele, said ..read more

Ad tech industry veterans Paul Kent, Andrew Hammond and Blake Gorman have joined forces to launch Deep Media, a specialist consultancy that aims to reshape the Amazon advertising landscape in Australia and New Zealand.  The trio were integral to the team that launched Amazon’s ad tech capabilities in Australia. They have extensive experience leading media and technology organisations, including Nine Entertainment, OMG and InMobi. Kent, Managing Director and Co-Founder of Deep Media, explains: “With Deep Media, we’re on a mission to unlock the exciting potential of Amazon’s advertisin ..read more

Clemenger BBDO has just appointed global creative director Adrián Flores as Chief Creative Officer. Adrián returns to Australia after more than a decade in creative leadership roles internationally, at agencies including Publicis New York and London, FCB New York, Marcel New York, and VaynerMedia. He joins from New York-based Robot, the brand consultancy arm of The SpringHill Company, a consumer and entertainment group co-founded by basketball legend LeBron James and his business partner Mav Carter. Adrián spent three years as Vice President Creative at the marketing and media powerhouse ..read more

Creative agency Curative have teamed up with the Mental Health Foundation to create the 2024 Pink Shirt Day campaign. The campaign centres diverse voices and poses an important question to remind New Zealanders of the power of supporting others against bullying. New Zealand has some of the highest bullying rates worldwide. Coming up on Friday May 17, Pink Shirt Day is a chance for everyone in Aotearoa to help eliminate bullying by celebrating diversity and promoting kindness and inclusion.  “Pink Shirt Day is a chance to raise awareness of the importance of being an Everyday Upstander aga ..read more

PrettyGood, a recently launched brand and media business, has welcomed global advertising and marketing expert Jonathan Lyon as co-founder and chief product officer. Lyon brings over 25 years of marketing leadership experience, having held senior roles at OMD New Zealand, Digitas NYC, TEDx Auckland, and Wunderman in London, where he drove strategies centred on human insights at scale. Lyon will work with PrettyGood CEO and co-founder Hamish Smith to make marketing solutions more affordable for small and medium businesses across Australasia, while allocating a share of the revenue to support co ..read more