Beacons success for PHD shows it has “the recipe right”

It was an unexpected but special moment when PHD was named Media Agency of the Year at this year’s beacons awards, says CEO Nikki Grafton.

The annual awards, run by the Communications Council and oOh!media, were held at Auckland’s Aotea Centre at the start of the month.

On the night, PHD New Zealand received two gold and four silvers for recent campaigns, before finally taking out Media Agency of the Year Award.

“Lots of the team were there and we all got to go up on stage together – it was a reflection on all of our hard work,” says Grafton.

Media Agency of the Year is a hefty category that asks entrants to answer questions around their agency’s vision, learning and development, support systems for employees as well as future-proofing.

As the winner, the international panel of judges commended PHD for its ongoing drive to evolve and innovate and its understanding and weathering of the changing media landscape.

Giving a shout out to the Communications Council, Grafton says they pulled off a wonderful night that brought the whole industry together, including the Media Spotlight event held the day before.

A first of its kind event that built eminence and unity, Grafton is looking forward to seeing Media Spotlight become a permanent feature in the calendar.

Following the awards, it was straight back to work the next day – so what has the aftermath of the big award win been for the PHD team?

As a media business that is always looking to the future and delivering the best of what it can, Grafton describes it as “recognition and a shot in the arm”.

While the awards run on an annual basis, it was the strategy and initiatives delivered over the last few years that resulted in PHD being recognised in 2024, which reinforces to the team that their efforts aren’t fleeting, she adds.

“It shows us we’ve got the recipe right, so we’ll carry on doing what we’re doing.”

She was proud to see some of her favourite pieces of PHD’s work recognised on the night. PHD’s Adternship campaign with Foodstuffs, which saw the well-known Stickman take up a summer internship with TVNZ, won two golds and one silver award.

Another campaign with ANZ that supported the Cancer Society’s Daffodil Day won a silver. “ANZ Presents: The Comedy Treatment” saw 500,000 people tune into a live comedy event with Dai Henwood, who is on his own cancer journey currently.

As a media agency in 2024, the biggest challenge by far is how small the industry is in Aotearoa.

“We have amazing talent but constantly challenge ourselves to promote the industry and support newcomers and help them to grow and thrive,” says Grafton.

This is why PHD has a strong focus on learning and development – being a part of Omnicom Media Group (OMG), means there is an extensive library of learning materials available for the team.

“We lean into supporting the team as much as we can, with an internal training programme on industry fundamentals and a number of our senior leaders are part of OMG women’s mentoring group.”

Grafton says that on the flip side, Aotearoa being such a small country means it fosters close-knit relationships with clients.

“You get to know your clients really well and become a part of their business.

“We also have amazing media partners who are going through a challenging time at the moment. But nothing beats that hour magic, where you bring a creative idea to life with a media partner for a client.”

She adds that while the industry is always changing, being dynamic and innovative is what media practitioners love about working in this space.

After being at PHD for “far too long”, Grafton says she has a lot to be thankful for – working with a team full of great people and working to find solutions for the agency’s wide variety of clients is what fuels her.

“No day is ever the same.”

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