MDS Alumni Team Willow Whitham & Zac Riddell Willow win Webby Award for ‘Kinsultants’

MDS Alumni team Willow Whitham and Zac Riddell, currently working at FCB Aotearoa, were recognised last week at the 29th Annual Webby Awards when the pair’s Student Axis-winning idea ‘Kinsultants’ won the Judge’s vote to take out the Student Advertising, Media & PR Webby.

The New York-based Webbys is overseen by the International Academy of Digital Arts & Sciences (IADAS),  a 3,000-plus member judging body comprised of Executive Members — leading internet experts, business figures, luminaries, visionaries, and creative celebrities — and associate members of former Webby winners and other internet professionals.

“The renowned Webby Awards represent the best of the internet, and I’m hoping Willow & Zac can find a way to make it over to the award ceremony in New York next month,” says Kate Humphries, Programme Director of Creative Advertising at Media Design School, “because I’d love to see this hard-working team red-carpeting-it alongside the likes of Taylor Swift, Kendrick Lamar, Snoop Dogg, Selena Gomez, Rihanna, Gracie Abrams, Keke Palmer, Jimmy Fallon, Jason and Travis Kelce, Shannon Sharpe, and Taika Waititi who are just some of the other winners and honorees at this year’s Webbys.”

“From the get-go, there was a quiet power about Kinsultants that saw it rising above all the other Student Axis ideas from MDS and AUT to win the 2025 Student Axis Award this year, and now to see it taking out the judge’s vote at the Webbys, above all the other ideas entered from students worldwide, is quite an achievement.”

Hearty cheers from MDS to another AdSchool alumni team, Khushaal Singh and Sofya (Sonya) Solonchenko for Hold your Horses, an idea for Volvo that was selected as an Honouree in the 2025 Webby Awards in the same Advertising, Media and PR category.

“The Webby Awards celebrates the incredible diversity and global reach of the Internet,” said Jesse Feister, executive director, Webby Media Group. “This year’s winners represent a masterclass of creativity and innovation. They’ve harnessed the power of the Internet to drive change, spark conversations and connect us in new ways.”

Campaign Brief recently interviewed Whitham and Riddell, check it out here.

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