‘Every day is precious’: Jen Rolfe’s year in review

Every year, StopPress catches up with a group of talented professionals from across the local industry to talk about the year that was. From their biggest challenges to their biggest inspiration, their favourite campaigns and favourite snacks, they give us a little insight into 2024 as well as what is to come in 2025.

Jen Rolfe is Managing Partner at Rainger & Rolfe

What was your highlight of 2024?

When I think back over the year, it’s moments when clients have smacked it out of the park. I love to see our clients shine. Like seeing Mother Earth on stage at the Marketing Awards in September collecting their big shiny Gold award. Then in exciting corporate mergers and acquisition news, they were quietly snapped up by Arnott’s in November. Irrefutably, their marketing activity and growth of the brand has delivered tangible value to the shareholder.

And looking around the office right now, hearing the conversations, the banter and camaraderie (and taking the time to actually think about the last 12 months), I get a little emotional. There’s a collective energy that you get from the R&R team that’s a daily highlight. 

Were there any particular keys or trends to building brand and loyalty this year?

Right now, customer loyalty requires brands to use their data a lot better than they do – we are well into the age of data analytics. A good loyalty strategy has to be hyper personalised and offer true value and service to customers. Real value in, real value out. I’d recommend to not shortchange your offering, your earn rate, or your promotion (particularly in a cost-of-living crisis). Do the right thing by your customer. Loyalty in, loyalty out.

The brands that have continued to invest in their communication will enjoy sustained growth. Keep communicating: don’t go silently into the night. 

Influencers are powerful. As part of the plan, they are worth investigating and developing.

Humour and playfulness are making a resurgence at the moment. Tell me about how and why you incorporated this into your work.

We saw the value of humour and playfulness as a cultural value come through strongly, in a research report TRA generously shared, earlier in the year. The insights really helped us creatively concept for Timezone – it underpinned the development of a story line that saw two brothers have a laugh with their Dad at Timezone. 

As a Board Director, I was very happy to see Tātaki Auckland Unlimited’s “Find Your Happy” campaign do well too, particular in the face of some intense criticism. Surely you can’t be more playful than showing a Finnish gentleman eating meat sticks and enjoying a sweaty sauna. 

What was your top news story of the year, either locally, or globally?

There’s a few contenders but I fear if I don’t mention AI, I might well be run out of town. It’s slapped on absolutely everything. And given the imposing impact on our marketing and advertising industry, I can’t help but click on every mention of it quicker than a Mecca Black Friday Sale email.

But that’s kinda boring and predictable. 

So, I’ve also been following the Taylor Swift’s global tour. I was trying to work out the math on how much it might have earned. Roughly $ 180 a ticket x 10.1 million attendees (US dollars of course). Then the book – just released – has gone on to sell 814,000 copies in its first two days.

And what was your favourite social trend?

I do like a friendship bracelet. Perhaps I could give them out at meetings alongside our fab R&R gold notebooks. 

What helped you stay motivated this year?

My lovely husband Terry died of Leukaemia in 2023. While the last days were indescribably brutal, he was an inspiration of selflessness and bravery.  

So dear people: take it from me, every day is precious, so get on and do it.

No day is promised. 

Did you harness AI in your work in 2024, and if so, what impact has that made?

AI is a definite part of our creative world and we are delivering both concepts and strategy with it. It’s changed our presentations and improved our production briefings. Aside from this, we’ve been in top secret tech development on a new AI application. It’s a very cool piece of kit that we believe will add huge value to our clients both in New Zealand and globally. More on that later, in 2025.

What was the biggest challenge your team faced in 2024, and how did you overcome it?

One of our biggest challenges has the been the curve balls Life keeps throwing at us all. That Life stuff doesn’t seem to want to turn up at a convenient time, in fact Life just seems to love the shock value of turning up unexpected.

I’m not sure you can overcome Life so we’re just sort of rolling with it and working together best we can.  A dollop of understanding and compassion seems to go a long way.

Gaze into your crystal ball and tell us where you see agency land going in 2025 – what changes do you foresee? 

The industry has had some challenges as the media environment changes, as production budgets and expectations also change.

We know of quite a few agencies who have downsized or retired themselves hurt this year and I expect some more might have to make some hard decisions in 2025. The  bigger ones are looking at consolidation as evidenced by the OMG (PHD, OMD, Colenso, DDB, Clemenger, TBWA) proposed acquisition of IPG (FCB). 

As marketers, we expect and accept that change will be constant – and we always have to reshape and reframe our view. 

It doesn’t make it easy though.

Quick fire 10

1. Most memorable local campaign?

   I love Tina from Turners.

2. Best international campaign?

   I appreciated the WoMen’s Football for Orange (France) ad campaign that so elegantly merged men’s and women’s football footage. Presented as men playing football, it was revealed that viewers were actually admiring women’s skills – challenging biases and celebrating equality in sport.

3. A campaign you wish you worked on?

   I wish I could work on the One NZ campaign because I’d like to sort out the brand guidelines around the black/white hole in the logo situation and the mysterious teaser campaign – where there’s this young man roaming the earth trying to find his birth family – and his only reference point is a delightful lady from a One NZ retail store.    

4. A news story that got too much attention in 2024?

   The US election was all consuming.
    

5. Biggest flop of 2024?

   The US election.

6. The best movie you saw at the cinema?

   So it’s a bit of tie. 

   The Apprentice a movie about a 27 year old Donald Trump (and his relationship with mentor, lawyer, political fixer Roy Cohn) – a confronting, uncomfortable movie about a man who, again now holds one of the most powerful seats in the world. Squirm factor 10 out of 10.

   Inside Out 2 – basic plot sees Disney character Riley going through puberty and the arrival of four new emotions – Anxiety, Envy, Embarrassment and my personal favourite Ennui… and I’m about to kill it with a poor explanation, but Sar-Chasm also appears! Very clever, so well written, something in it for all us people watchers, and home-schooled psychologists.

7. The best thing about your industry?

   A wondrous combination of fun, humour, whimsy, bravery, selflessness, joy, acceptance, rejection, success, failure and some crazy never-been-seen-before-genius ideas wrapped in a big pile of intellectual grunt.

   Simple, really. Not sure why everyone isn’t doing it.

8. How do you relax?

   Okay, it’s vacuous. Don’t judge me but let’s just say I am Tier 4 at Mecca Cosmetica.

9. Three things you’d take to a desert island?

   TikTok, sun screen* and Uber Eats.  
   (*Melanoma is something we all need to be aware of and be checked regularly for. This is your reminder to wear the sunscreen, book in a skin check.)

10. Your favourite snack?
    I’m going through a phase of scoffing the new Mother Earth Nutty Sensations caramelised onion and vinaigrette cashews. Goes very well with Champagne. Recommend. 5 stars.

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