DDB crowned Campaign Brief 2025 NZ Agency of the Year ~ cultural relevance, people-first leadership, creative + craft excellence at scale
In a year defined by change, pressure and heightened expectations across the New Zealand advertising industry, CB recognises one agency for its consistency of craft, cultural relevance, people-first leadership and sustained creative excellence at scale. And it went through the world’s largest merger to soon rebrand as McCann. For the last time ever, DDB is Campaign Brief NZ Agency of the Year.
The CB AOY win caps off a landmark year for the agency – one that saw DDB New Zealand deliver standout work across local and global clients, dominate regional and international awards circuits, grow its client roster, and operate through significant structural transition, all while maintaining creative momentum and internal culture.
At the centre of that year was a clear leadership philosophy shared across the ANZ region by DDB CEO AUNZ Priya Patel and DDB Chief Creative Officer AUNZ Matty Burton – one that prioritised creativity, collaboration and humanity over ego or short-term wins.
For Patel, the CB Agency of the Year recognition landed on both a personal and organisational level: “Personally, it is a lovely piece of recognition,” she says. “And it confirmed that the way Matty and I have tried to lead together over the past five years – a focus on creativity, people at the heart, and a healthy allergy to ego – can work in the real world. That’s always nice to have validated.”
For the business more broadly, Patel describes the award as both a celebration and a moment of responsibility: “For the businesses, it feels like both a celebration and a handover,” she says. “It recognises decades of extraordinary creative legacy across Australia and New Zealand, while also giving our people confidence that what truly matters – their talent, ambition and standards – isn’t dependent on a logo on the door. For all of us at DDB, it is about celebrating what we have achieved, while very deliberately carrying the momentum forward.”
Asked where DDB genuinely outperformed against CB’s Agency of the Year criteria, Patel is clear that it wasn’t about a single spike or standout moment: “Consistency, at scale – and through chaos,” she says. “Anyone can have a good moment; what’s harder is delivering strong work across multiple markets and clients, while still looking after the people doing the work.”
Asked how he balances creative ambition with effectiveness; especially in a year where budgets and timelines are under pressure, Burton echoes consistency: “Consistency in Chaos – that’s been the approach for the past five years,” he says. “There is a famous quote from Ernest Rutherford, the first person (and a Kiwi) who managed to crack the atom, when the world was racing toward being the first to do it, he told his team, ‘We have not got any money, so we have got to think’. This is kind of baked into the New Zealand DNA, this optimism and ability to imagine your way into a brighter future.”
That consistency extended beyond creative output to strategic decision-making.
Patel explains: “We’ve had the world’s largest merger – and what that potentially means for DDB as a brand – as a backdrop to our year. It’s not always easy to block the noise, but our focus has always been to work hard on the basics – to build a culture people love being part of, to partner with clients who back and trust us, and to deliver stand out creative work that drives commercial results.”
With that ambition, she acknowledges that the awards have very ‘politely’ followed: “And, I can’t lie, it’s been amazing to see DDB ANZ win Cannes Pacific Agency of the Year and AWARD Regional Agency of the Year in 2025 – and now the Campaign Brief double. Delivering consistently across two markets, during a period of real transition, is something we are genuinely proud of.”
A defining shift for the agency came in March, when Patel and Burton stepped into expanded ANZ roles, with a focus on unifying teams across borders.
“When we moved to overseeing both markets, our main goal was pretty simple: bring everyone together and operate as one ANZ team.”
Despite the inevitable pressures of the year, alignment across teams became a strength rather than a stress point.
“We had incredible talent in every office, and whilst the year wasn’t without its major challenges, there was a sense of alignment and real excitement about what we could build together,” she says. “People cared deeply about the work, but without losing the joy in it and ultimately, that made us successful.”
In a New Zealand market where top creative talent is highly mobile, Patel attributes retention and engagement to a fundamentally human approach.
“By treating them like humans, not resources,” she says. “We are very honest and very open and have tried to continually invite everyone into the bigger picture – the good bits, the messy bits, and the parts still very much being figured out.”
Protecting the work itself has been equally critical.
“We also fiercely protect the work,” Patel says. “Creative people (and that is everyone in our business from finance, to production, to strategy, account handling to the creative department) stay when their ideas are respected, the bar is high, and they can see a future for themselves.”
Ultimately, she believes creative hunger can’t be manufactured through pressure. “We’ve always believed hunger doesn’t come from pressure,” Patel says. “It comes from possibility.”
The Agency of the Year win also arrives as DDB New Zealand merges with FCB to trade as McCann New Zealand.
“DDB’s legacy is creative bravery and humanity, and we’re excited to bring those values into the new McCann,” Patel says.
She is equally clear that the merger is about expansion, not loss: “I feel strongly that our merger with FCB NZ gives our people an even bigger platform for the kind of work they already know how to do exceptionally well. We’ve closed one chapter right at the top of our game and opening the next with real confidence. Few agencies get that opportunity, and we fully intend to make the most of it.”
For Gary Steele, DDB New Zealand Chief Creative Officer, the defining challenge of 2025 was navigating chaos without compromising ambition.
“Chaos surrounds us every single day and in 2025, it was more intense for us than ever before as you can imagine,” Steele says. “But down here in Aotearoa, we’ve learned not just to survive chaos, but to embrace it.”
That mindset shaped how teams worked – and took risks.
“It is our ability to rally together as a team, focus on the work with a common goal of trying new things regardless of it working or not,” Steele says. “And if it doesn’t work, we go again. It is this consistency in chaos and never stopping that makes us who we are.”
Among a year of strong creative output, one project stood out for Steele: “The standout piece for me this year was the work we did for Samsung called ‘The Worst Children’s Library’,” he says. “It moved people to tears.”
While confronting, the work balanced emotional impact with rigour. “The content is harrowing and the kind of stuff we hope our own children would never see,” Steele says. “But here’s what made it great, it wasn’t just an amazing idea. It was an idea built on real-world data, painstakingly brought to life in an unexpected and beautiful way.”
Its impact extended well beyond advertising. “It launched a great product and solution from Samsung to the public and it drove discussions at a government level. While this is one of my favourite pieces, I just wish we didn’t have to make it.”
Across all outputs – from large-scale integrated campaigns to social and experiential work – Steele says craft remained the foundation.
“Craft is never an add-on for us, it’s everything,” he says. “Every piece we create gets crafted to the end. And when we think it’s finished? We craft it again.”
That commitment begins with insight.
“Before craft we ensure our thinking is grounded in a beautiful insight, then we elevate that truth through every single element to make it as impactful as possible.”
The CB Agency of the Year recognition reflects a year that included significant new business wins, from MECCA and IKEA to Samsung Global Roadshow, L&P (Coca-Cola), McDonald’s (social), Meridian, Super Gran, Cloudy Bay, Devonport Council, and New Zealand Blood; a dominant awards performance across Cannes Lions, D&AD, AWARD, Effies, NZ Marketing Awards, Axis and LIA; and the agency’s ongoing recognition as New Zealand’s Agency of the Year at Spikes Asia for five consecutive years.
But for DDB New Zealand, the accolade ultimately reflects something more enduring. Not a single campaign. Not a single trophy. But a culture built on consistency, care and creative courage – carried forward into a new chapter with confidence.
The work seen and noted in 2025:
Vogels – Breadywear
Breadywear is a line of bread-fashion-wear designed to help Kiwis bring Vogel’s abroad without taking up precious baggage space. Because, as the line says, they can’t weigh it if you wear it. DDB launched the range in the Transit Lounge at Auckland International Airport, where travellers could pick up Breadywear at a bread-boutique before boarding their flights. A bread-fashion film, supported by OOH and social, spread the idea nationwide, reminding the 97.5% of Kiwis who weren’t leaving the country that Vogel’s is the bread of the nation.
Samsung – Same Same
Gen Z love being different. So why do they all have the same phone? It’s a fact: 90% of Gen Z have an iPhone. This campaign exposed the conformity of iPhone ownership and positioned Samsung as the alternative for those who want to stand out.
Lotto – Naked Skier
“If I win Lotto, I’ll [insert random promise I only have a vague intention of keeping here].” Everyone’s said it. This seventh instalment of the Lotto Imagine story – now in its ninth year – brings one of those promises to life for three Kiwi mates. The campaign received a SHOTS nomination, generated 48 complaints, and prompted one request for a front view from a creepy guy in Masterton. Contains male nudity.
Molenberg – The Molenbergathon
To bring to life the slow-release energy of Molenberg bread, DDB ignored conventional wisdom. Instead of making a sensibly long piece of communication, the agency took the road less travelled and created a 12-hour-long preroll. Stick with it and you’ll discover 37 minutes of hidden, dehydration-fuelled madness, free bread, and a weirdly heartwarming ending. Or just watch the highlight reel.
McDonald’s – Make It Click
Kiwi kids grew up with Make It Click. Decades later, those kids are now behind the wheel — and spending their free time at drum and bass festivals. Enter DJ Jess Rhodes, one of Gen Z’s own and a rising star on the DnB scene. DDB harnessed the energy of the genre and remixed the iconic track, taking it across summer road trips to keep young drivers safe. The campaign dominated highways, airwaves, Spotify playlists, social feeds and NZ’s biggest summer festival.
Skoda – Guiding Lights
In NZ, police don’t carry guns. They’re armed with a mindset, developed through intense training. With Guiding Lights, Skoda helps police recall that training at the exact moment they leave their vehicle. The light built into the car door was adapted to project trigger words into officers’ path – words like Empathy, Respect, Integrity.
Vogels – Toastcards
How do you get the nation talking about New Zealand’s thinnest bread? You post it to Kiwis who live everywhere but here. Toastcards are postcards with a slice of home on the front and back – and the inside too. At just 8mm thick, they squeezed neatly within the 10mm depth limit for standard international mail. Four Toastcards were created, each featuring truly exciting news from back home – the kind you can only get in NZ – like the country’s favourite loaf.
Netsafe – Scam Proof
How do you spot a fake website when it looks identical to the real one? You can’t. So DDB created ScamProof – a tool trained on brands to stop scam sites before they load. By analysing brand elements like logos, fonts, colours and navigation, ScamProof detects sites that mimic trusted brands, verifies domains for authenticity, and blocks fake sites in real time while reporting them to global scam databases. It’s brand-first protection, built by the industry that knows brands best.
McDonald’s – Big Arch
McDonald’s newest and biggest burger arrived in New Zealand as a giant 3.5m-wide load on the back of a big rig truck. Fans could spot it on the road, snap it, share it, and go in the draw to win a free Big Arch burger. Social content extended the experience online through short-form video, influencer partnerships and reactive content built around fan interactions, amplifying the sense of fun, shareability and national excitement around the launch.
L&P – Alan P
The problem with regular ads is that when they end, you stop saying the brand name. To sell more L&P, DDB asked: what if ads didn’t have to end? The agency scoured the nation to create an army of Alan P, Ellen P, Ally P and L N P – real Kiwis who sound exactly like the drink. Called the L&P People Ads, their job was simple: say their name. Because, as they put it, “Every time I say my name, you think of L&P and might get some.” They appeared on TV, online and in the wild, rewarding anyone who listened with L&P. New products brought new people – including Claire Ellen P for the clear bottle and ginger Ellen P for L&P Ginger.
McDonald’s – Yum Only Takes a Moment
Being stuck bumper-to-bumper in traffic sucks. What doesn’t? Adding a couple of minutes to your trip and taking a delicious Big Mac along for the ride. Using LUMO Outdoor near McDonald’s locations and linking live Drive Thru data, DDB calculated exactly how many minutes it would take to transform a frustrating journey with a quick detour through the Drive Thru.
Samsung – The Worst Children’s Library
If everything kids see on the internet existed in a real school library, parents would be outraged. The Worst Children’s Library is an R18 experience created to launch Samsung’s kid-safe range of devices. Its shelves hold 1,160 books – each a physical representation of something a child has experienced online, based on data from hundreds of sources. The installation confronted parents with the reality of online harm and demonstrated the next-level protection Samsung offers children.
Volkswagen – Flower Power Pollination Tour
Ever taken 120,000 passengers on a road trip? That’s what DDB did. To launch the new ID. Buzz, Volkswagen needed to prove that despite all its modern technology, it still carried the spirit of its Kombi forefather. So, it was put to the test – on the road, with 120,000 flower-power experts on board: honey bees. Two working hives travelled the country in the back of the van, visiting farmers’ markets, schools and dealerships while following the annual honey flow. Along the way, content captured the wonders of the ID. Buzz through the bees’ perspective – and the honey they produced was even sent to potential customers.
McDonald’s – Social
1500% growth. That’s an actual, verifiable stat (not case-study maths). When DDB took over McDonald’s social account, it had 12K followers. Now it has nearly 240K. How? Dumb memes. Jokes about nuggets. Basically, bringing the fun of a late-night Macca’s run to life online.
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