Behind the sustained success of The Monkeys’ Effie-winning work for ASB

Off the back of winning gold in the coveted Sustained Success category at the 2023 Aotearoa Effies Awards for their work with ASB, The Monkeys Aotearoa planner, Craig McLeod, shares what it means for him and the team and what’s next for the agency.

What does winning Gold for Sustained Success mean to you and the team at The Monkeys?

With Ben and Amy, ASB possess a rare thing: a brand platform that New Zealanders loved, and were only loving more over time.

When you look back at the brands that have won that award in the past, Pak’n’Save, Mercury, Lotto, AA Insurance, Skinny. That’s great company to be included in. When we won it was more a feeling of relief. I really wanted Ben and Amy to do well. It was a good night.

It’s worth noting that ASB’s Goldstein never won an Effie. Looking back through brand metrics, Ben and Amy has surpassed all KPIs from that era. When brand campaigns become national icons – it’s perversely easy to take them for granted. Each year there’s hundreds of great ideas, flashy activations and beautiful film – but so much of it fades – all that thinking and brilliance and craft – lost in the internet’s back-alleys and press release archives. Ideas that last, that build over time – we need those the most. It’s an environmentalist approach – striving to create things that last.

What did you learn about effectiveness from this particular project that will benefit future work?

In 2020 New Zealand’s favourite ad was Ben and Amy – Cold Feet. This September, three years later – that specific execution won again. Brand tracking shows it’s becoming more popular over time. I think we pull campaigns too early. If it’s not broken, don’t break it.

How are you feeling about the level of effective work coming out of our local agencies?

The way Effies has been managed in the last few years has lifted the standard. You used to get a bronze if your entry had no spelling mistakes – now it’s really hard. That’s been good for everyone. When you look at the work that won, it was big work – a creative platform for telco that continues to get better and better, a rebrand that stretched across an entire banking experience, changing the behaviour of hungry drunk people, and a PR activation that reached the UK parliament. Big, bold ideas that made a difference. We’re in good shape.

Could our work compete in Effies competitions around the world? Sure. The country has a strong track record there. But we’re not at an IPA standard. Econometric modelling hasn’t featured here yet – but that might change in the next five years. There would be less gaudy ROI figures, but our cases would have more legitimacy at a board level. So yes, we can do better.

Looking to the future, what’s next for The Monkeys Aotearoa?

Justin and Damon started The Monkeys Aotearoa with an ambitious goal – to guide purpose-led growth. For creativity to be taken more seriously. For it to be woven throughout the entire brand experience. And we’re doing just that, across a range of clients. It’s not easy but there’s a real need to have a brand’s promise and customer experience matched. What’s next? Bigger things. Weirder things. More beautiful things.

What are you most proud of about the work The Monkeys Aotearoa has produced in the past year?

We’re very proud of our work for ASB – Bagels by Benee. It’s an ambitious project that was lovingly crafted the whole way through, and it that has made a real difference for young people. In the opposite direction – the No Ugly billboards make me laugh. That’s important. 

Is there anything else you’d like to say to the industry?

Merry Christmas you filthy animals.

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