Te Pūkenga partners with Clemenger-led collective for national launch campaign (updated)

AUCKLAND, Friday: Te Pūkenga – the NZ Institute of Skills & Technology – has appointed a Clemenger BBDO-led collective to develop its national launch campaign later this year.

Te Pūkenga is the newly established entity charged with bringing together the country’s 16 institutes of technology and polytechnics and industry training organisations. Once established, Te Pūkenga will be one of the largest providers of tertiary education in the world.

The collective’s winning, collaborative approach brings together …

• Te Amokura, a Te Ao Māori policy, engagement and strategy agency
• Bright Sunday, a marketing creative agency with expertise in engaging Pacific
• All is for All, a lived-experience centred disability consultancy and communications agency
• Clemenger BBDO’s behaviour change talents
• Media expertise from OMD

Te Pūkenga comms director Graham Bethune described the Clemenger-led partnership as critical to successfully introducing the organisation to the New Zealand public.

“This is a significant milestone in building a vocational learning system that responds to the needs of a diverse range of learners,” he said.

“We’re a relatively new organisation, that’s been quietly working away to determine how best to organise and design the operating model for a new, integrated national network. As such, we’ve kept a pretty low profile.

“They are a seriously cool collective and will bring a perspective which will be vital to successfully launching Te Pūkenga to NZ.”

“In the second half of 2022, that needs to completely change. From 1 January 2023, all of our more than 250,000 learners will be enrolling in Te Pūkenga, so we need to ensure that they know who we are and that they understand the relationship between Te Pūkenga and the former institutes, polytechnics, and ITOs.

“The collaborative partnership that Clemenger has put together to help us achieve this is particularly exciting and we can’t wait to see the launch campaign come to life.”

Clemenger MD Brett Hoskin said: “The agency has been building towards this kind of working model for a few years now and we’re excited to work with and learn from our partners to shape new ways of working to serve priority audiences.

“A launch as important as this needs a non-traditional communications approach; it needs to find the perfect balance between grassroots engagement and national campaign expertise. We have brought together a group of people from right across Aotearoa, with lived experience, in communities and with real-time insights, community ties and respect.

“They are a seriously cool and knowledgeable collective and will bring a vast breadth of perspective which will be vital to successfully launching Te Pūkenga to New Zealand.

“Everyone is excited about doing different work in different ways, reflecting the diverse needs of all Aotearoa and, importantly, changing the education landscape, particularly for those that are currently missing out.”

“This is a milestone in building a vocational learning system that responds to the needs of a diverse range of learners.”

Grace Stratton, director of All is for All, said: “equitable access to further education is fundamental for all communities, our collective is thrilled to bring the Te Pūkenga vision to life in a way which meaningfully centres the learner and our communities. The Clemenger BBDO led collective represents a new way of working, elevating lived experience to ensure campaigns truly connect with, and respond to the diversity of our society.”

Bright Sunday Amatailevi Stella Muller said: “The village partnership is another way to ensure the perspectives of priority audiences are elevated in campaign development.

“Our village agency partnership mandates Maori, Pacific and disability marketing and creative practitioners to be front and centre of campaign strategy and creative development.

“This is an exciting opportunity for Bright Sunday to bring to the table two decades of work and expertise in communicating to Pacific and underserved audiences.”

Te Amokura principal, Lynette Amoroa of Tūhoe whakapapa said: “We’re excited to be part of a kaupapa that sets itself up to be different in order to meet the needs of underserved ākonga me o rātou whānau (learners and their families).

“This is a ground-breaking collaborative approach that sets the tone for everything else to come.”

OMD ceo Nigel Douglas said: “The team is excited to be part of this unique collaboration. We can’t wait to add our media expertise to the wider village, work alongside a truly inspiring group, and help make education more accessible for all”

August launch
The campaign for Te Pūkenga will launch in August.

About Te Pūkenga
In 2020, Te Pūkenga was established to better meet the needs of learners and employers through the creation of a national network of regionally accessible vocational and applied learning organisations.

• xn-tepkenga-szb.ac.nz