Renee Colquhoun

Our latest guide explores attention-grabbing formats that boost engagement in fast-scrolling environments. Covering rising formats across programmatic, social, and video, with examples and practical implementation tips for NZ marketers. Access the full guide: https://lnkd.in/dHpsjQGz #HighImpactAds #CreativeFormats #KBRDigital #NZMarketing

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What does it take for independent agencies to not just survive but thrive? BIMA Member, SBS’s latest whitepaper unpacks the ways the independent agencies are winning, what clients are really looking for in 2025 and how Founders, MDs and agency leaders can be ready to scale without compromise: https://lnkd.in/ek7j3Ymn

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A practical guide to what it really takes to build, scale, and secure AI in the enterprise. Across three deep-dive chapters, this exclusive report reveals how leading Australian organisations -- including NAB, TBWA, ANU, Redkite, and Outline Global -- are navigating the real-world challenges of AI adoption. With 85% of AI projects expected to miss the mark, and investment predicted to hit US$4.8 trillion by 2033, these insights couldn’t come at a better time. Here’s what you’ll get: Chapter 1: Security & Privacy Chapter 2: Model & Service Selection Chapter 3: Scaling AI Proof-of-concept is easy. Scaling is hard. See how ANU and Outline Global are building future-ready platforms and delivering AI ROI at scale. Whether you’re starting your AI journey or scaling fast, this report is your blueprint for what’s next. Read the full 3-part series now: https://lnkd.in/dVCxsvB9 #AI #CyberSecurity #DataStrategy #Innovation #TechLeadership #DigitalTransformation

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HAVAS Red AU's New Age of Influence calls out media credibility crisis The white paper explores how Australians are navigating a fractured media landscape shaped by algorithms, misinformation, and declining trust. Link in comments.

Thanks AdNews Australia for sharing Luke Brown’s perspective on a topic the industry doesn’t discuss often enough: why so much modern media advice sounds smart, yet fails to deliver growth.     We’ve never had more tools, more data or more dashboards. Yet penetration gains are stubborn and the link between media activity and commercial outcomes continues to weaken.     The issue isn’t advertising. It’s how we’ve started interpreting effectiveness.     Reach is treated as the outcome. Attention becomes the proxy. Reporting becomes the story.     Luke’s piece explores how a handful of persistent myths are quietly distorting decision-making.     If effectiveness is meant to mean growth, not just activity, it’s well worth the read. https://lnkd.in/gSwAsvvt 

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Back to school blues or ready and ready and raring for 2026? 2025 was a really tough year for a lot of agency leaders I work with and know, so how are you feeling as 2026 wakes up in Agency land? Here are my top five ideas for you to front into this year with confidence and clarity. Please repost if you think your network would find the advice valuable. 1. No AI strategy is no strategy! If you haven't already embedded AI into your operations, client service, strategy, creative and production you need to do so fast or risk conceding ground. As Jules Love wisely preaches make sure this strategy is founded in, and enhances, your proposition to drive your competitive advantage. Which leads neatly to.. 2. Is your proposition tight and differentiated? Do you articulate your added-value in terms of the experience and benefits your client enjoys from working with you, or is it still a generic shopping list of "what WE do"? 3. Do you really understand your business model? I'm staggered by how many agency leaders don't know forensically where they make money and how to improve their profitability. Which services, clients and projects make you greater margin? Which are a drain? Where do you have potential (especially with AI in play) to refine your pricing towards value-added or shared benefit? If you can't answer these questions get someone to help you build your understanding and reporting. 4. Talent Management is still the #1 capability. The ability to attract, develop and retain talent has never been more crucial in the creative industries. Make time to challenge your own EVP, team structure (given points 1-4 above) and to my final point....challenge yourself! 5. Will you enjoy your journey in 2026? Have you lost personal agency to your Agency? Do you have a clear view on where you add value, what you enjoy most and how you will grow as a leader this coming year? If not now is a great time to reflect, take stock and make some changes. Invite 360 feedback; hire a coach/mentor; write your own PDP and be honest with yourself on what the implications of you "only doing what only you can do" would have on the team's structure. It's YOUR business after all, so plan to enjoy more about it than the money! Good luck one and all. I'm pretty sure this will be a year of rapid evolution and as Darwin noted "It's not the strongest or the fastest who survive, but those who are most adaptable to change." Ady Bibby Simon Forster Simon Barbato Paddy Rogers Andy Bamford Jen Yeardley Rob Grant 🚀 Elliot Sheen Matt Burns Eliot Shiner Dave Shaw Jonny Westcar Jonny Kermode Sara Kermode Chris Black James Acton James Ewin Kate Lenton Tom Harber Jake Jeffries Jason Glassick Amy Simpson Steve Eakins Nick Farrar Wayne Brown Will Lawrence Emma Wharton Love Russell G. Claire Pay Kate Sikora Peter Hawkins Rosie Brodhurst-Hooper Fraser Bradshaw Jamie Ellul Tracey Paxman

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BOMshell could have been avoided by designing for crayfishermen and cattle drovers, not citydwellers. Benjamin John Harrison, managing director of M+C Saatchi Group AUNZ’s brand and design agency Re (part of M+C Saatchi Consulting), writes the new, much-maligned site proves brands should never sacrifice their superusers. Read here: https://lnkd.in/gW8T6YMe

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"Resilience isn’t a choice, it’s circumstantial" - Dr Norman Swan This morning I attended an event hosted by Tonic Media Network a la IMAA - Independent Media Agencies Australia with Dr Norman Swan, and it completely reframed how I think about burnout and resilience. I once worked for someone who believed resilience is a choice. That if you’re tough enough, you push through. But what I heard today challenged that thinking: resilience is context-driven. When everything piles up, work pressure, personal challenges, uncertainty and one more thing tips the scale, that’s when chronic stress takes hold. And it’s not just “in your head.” Stress triggers inflammation, which cascades through the body and raises the risk of disease. Burnout isn’t a medical condition. It’s a situation. You don’t fix it with a “day off” or a two-week holiday. You fix it by changing the circumstances, ie the job, the environment, the feeling of control. Dr Swan called out that loss of control, the locus of control, as the core issue. People who feel powerless experience higher stress, inflammation, and even despair. It’s literally killing people in middle age in the U.S. The antidote? - A sense of purpose. - A Mediterranean diet (yes, your tomatoes, olive oil, and herbs are doing more than you think). - And staying connected, because working from home might offer flexibility, but it’s reducing those “bump zones” where real human connection happens. For leaders, the takeaway is simple: burnout isn’t a weakness in your people it’s a signal from the system. Change the circumstances, not the person. In a room full of agency leaders who are staring down the barrel of the end of year rush, teams are fatigued, Xmas is right around the corner, the question is... HOW do we change the circumstances of a media environment that is more demanding than ever, with commercial pressures(and cost of living) that are serious, with the balance of real people in the middle of it? I'd love to hear your thoughts! #resilience #burnout #notwhatyouthink #mediaLeadership

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Independent Media Agencies New Zealand has announced its first CEO - media leader Simon Teagle. Moving to a CEO-led structure signals both an evolution and a commitment from IMANZ to its ever-expanding member base. In his 30 year career, Teagle has held positions at DDB Group Aotearoa NZ, Saatchi & Saatchi NZ, FCB Aotearoa, NZ and most recently Go Media NZ. Read more: https://lnkd.in/gRhSZNsC

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How do broadcast marketers capture attention in "the most fragmented media landscape in history"? Andreana Walton, Head Of Marketing – Broadcast & Digital, shared her insights with LBBonline - Little Black Book's Tess Connery-Britten. "Our approach is simple - reach all Australians, wherever they are," said Andreana. "The magic of launches, finales and big cultural moments, continues beyond the screen. We don't let these moments go to waste. "When we’ve got viewers’ attention, we introduce them to content across our ecosystem and keep them coming back for more." Read more 🔗 https://lnkd.in/gtzdGRMk

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Amongst the clutter of subscription emails that land in inboxes over a weekend, one from The Daily Aus stood out to me on Sunday. Subject: Let’s talk about fontgate. In January 2024, The Daily Aus, a youth-focused news outlet, launched a brand refresh with new colours, a new tagline, and a revamped logo and font. The Reaction: The new font was immediately and widely disliked by their audience, especially on their highly-engaged Instagram channel. Posts were flooded with hundreds of comments demanding the return of the original font, with users complaining it was "ridiculous" and "hurt their head." The audience reaction itself isn’t unusual when it comes to a rebrand, it’s the self-reflection shared by The Daily Aus in their ‘fontgate email' to subscribers that stood out to me and particularly these two points: 1. Consultation should happen before launch, not after 2. Listening is a superpower Affirmingly, these are both habits we build into every relationship and project at FutureBrand. Listen to learn. When you give your audience a voice, you give yourself a chance to get better. #TheDailyAus #Rebrand #BrandExperience #FutureBrandAU

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StudyPerth, Western Australia needed a better way to manage and activate its growing library of campaign visuals, videos and content, so they turned to HIVO. Now, their teams can: 🎨 Instantly find on-brand assets with rich tagging and smart search ⚡ Collaborate faster across campaigns, channels and partners 📦 Store and organise everything in one intuitive, cloud-accessible hub 📈 Spend less time hunting assets and more time driving engagement The result? A more efficient workflow, stronger campaign consistency, and more time for strategic creativity. Read the full case study 👉 https://lnkd.in/gF_-3N2U #HIVO #DigitalAssetManagement #MarketingOps #CreativeWorkflow #BrandActivation

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Most marketers obsess over surface metrics. But that’s not what drives real growth. Mark Baartse has seen both sides: global roles and CMO gigs for some of Australia’s biggest brands. In this episode of Beyond the Fold, StudioHawk's podcast, Mark breaks down what actually moves the needle in modern eCommerce. You’ll hear: 1. Why most “customer-first” strategies miss the mark 2. How AI is reshaping marketing jobs faster than people expect 3. What sustainable growth really looks like in 2025 4. Why teams burn out when performance becomes the only goal As a business leader and SEO specialist, this kind of conversation is a good reset. Just a reminder to keep it simple. Listen to your customers and good things will happen👂📈 Link in the comments 👇

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Growing Up in New Zealand is one of the country's most significant longitudinal studies, tracking 6,000 participants from before they were born right through to today, where those same young people are now turning 16 and, for the first time, taking ownership of their own participation in the study. Daylight worked closely with the GUiNZ team to understand their research process from the inside out. The result is HOME, a new digital tool built for a digital-first generation, giving participants a genuinely new way to engage with research that has followed them their whole lives. It's an example of what's possible when beautiful storytelling meets thoughtful experience design. Charlie Godinet | Kristen Morris | Claire Gilbert-Choe https://lnkd.in/eHc_t3e6

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The Australian Financial Review is going for audience quality over quantity with its first television campaign in over 15 years, unveiling a new brand identity: “It’s Not For Everyone.” The campaign marks the Nine-owned paper’s first campaign with Howatson+Company, which was appointed agency of record in May last year. Vera Straubinger James Chessell Richard Shaw https://lnkd.in/deKxi3E3

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Mentorship takes many shapes, the formal programs that provide structure and the everyday moments that offer guidance when it matters most.   In her latest piece for AdNews Australia, our Business Director Amy Weatherlake shares why both are essential to building stronger careers and a more supportive industry culture.   We’re proud to see Amy championing the kind of support that makes our industry better.   Thank you to AdNews Australia for giving this important conversation a platform. Read her full op-ed here: https://lnkd.in/g-GTzg_B

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