Campaign Brief Creative Circle: What’s hot in September?
Each month, Campaign Brief invites top creatives from across Aotearoa to spotlight one standout piece of local work created outside their own agency. It’s a space for celebrating the craft, fresh thinking and homegrown creativity that continues to raise the bar across the industry.
September 2025’s edition features Matty Burton, DDB Group ANZ; Christie Cooper, Droga5 ANZ; Regan Grafton, Thinkerbell Aotearoa and Crystal Hay, TBWA.
Matty Burton, DDB Group ANZ
The thing that I’ve seen recently is Bananas. Like, actual F%cking Banana’s as a product, for Delivereasy. Super smart data insight around the thing most forgotten and then packaged up into a product. Simple and easy to get outdoor with a lovely little design job. It’s something to talk about and it stands out from a lot of the bland, forgettable things that are out there. Hat tip to Colenso on this one, no doubt we’ll see it appear in other places soon.
Client: Delivereasy. Agency: Colenso BBDO.
Christie Cooper, Droga5 ANZ
It’s Friday night after a long week (and an even longer Thursday night out). With this post due to be sent off and nothing coming to mind, I took a break to cook my favourite lazy dinner: eggs on Vogel’s.
By the third round down in the toaster, with the knob cranked so high the next white-bread eater in my house might start a small fire and a big argument, I remembered DDB’s Vogel’s Certified Toaster idea. And by the time that slice was burnt and another shoved in, I had to admit, yep, it deserved all those AWARD awards it picked up.
It’s one of those deceptively simple ideas that makes you think, “Of course. Why didn’t this exist already?” A bread problem only Kiwis would understand, solved in a way only advertising could. And proof that the best work doesn’t just win awards, it burns itself into culture, and sometimes even saves your Friday night dinner.
Unfortunately, I don’t have a Vogel’s certified toaster so I’m still running on guesswork. But before I run out and buy one, I’d like to pitch a sequel, a partnership with a white-bread brand to make a toaster with just two buttons. White Bread. Vogel’s. That’s it. No fiddling with knobs, no smoke alarms, no household toaster politics, everyone’s happy. Working title: The Peace Maker.
Client: Goodman Fielder. Agency: DDB Group Aotearoa.
Regan Grafton, Thinkerbell Aotearoa
There aren’t many things left that HELL hasn’t put on a pizza, but this one’s a cracker. In a digital-first world, it’s refreshing to see them back a proper special-build billboard, way more likely to grab attention than a standard static. If I’m being picky though, a sprinkle of THC-free hemp on top would’ve been a nice touch. But the real win is the ‘herb’ grinder giveaway, those things will get repurposed in garages all over the country 😉
Client: HELL Pizza. Agency: Yarn.
Crystal Hay, TBWA
When I first saw this ad, I definitely didn’t have immediate idea envy. I definitely didn’t think things like: “I wish I did that”.
Experiential work that sparks genuine curiosity, and goes beyond simply hucking freebies at a passer-bys? Yup, definitely not work that I love.
Okay, time to switch off reverse psychology mode: I thought this was really fun work, built off the meta as insight that people hate being told what to do, especially if it’s an ad telling them to do anything.
Client: Jetstar. Agency: Thinkerbell. Production Company: Satellite Media.
View previous editions of Creative Circle below: