Year in Review 2025: Anthony Rice

Every year, StopPress catches up with a group of industry leaders from across Aotearoa to talk about the year that was. From the highlights and the lowlights to their favourite foods, fruits and Christmas traditions, they give us a little insight into 2025 as well as a look forward to 2026.

Anthony Rice is GM and partner at 36 Presents.

What was new in the world of digital marketing in 2025?

AI properly arrived across all parts of marketing, not just ad creative. We saw it:

• Increase audience identification and segmentation (particularly in our own 36 Presents SSP)
• Speed up media planning and execution
• Sorting and interpreting huge volumes of data far faster than humans can
• There was also less hype, more day-to-day utility

Platforms leaned harder into AI

• Meta and Google pushed AI-led creative, optimisation, and copy
• Big efficiency upside, but also discomfort around brand control and targeting performance from agencies and clients

Rise of more confident, curious marketers

• More marketers experimenting with AI themselves, particularly with their data
• Better understanding of what it can and can’t do

What was your highlight, lowlight and the most surprising thing that happened to you this year?

Lots of highlights, but going live with our own SSP is a major one – giving our clients first look at premium inventory before competitors on the open web.

The other would be the progress made in regards to the launch of our own CRM, custom built from the ground up and specific to our industry but adaptable to others. Ready to go live in Q1 2026 after 16 months of development. Lucky to say, not too many low lights.

If you could describe 2025 in five words, what would you say?

Visual-first, experimental, granular, predictive and exciting

Where do you see AI headed in 2026?

Human oversight will become more important, not less – AI will a co-pilot, not a black box.

This is where 36 is well positioned: AI doing the heavy data lifting. Humans leading strategy, brand, and commercial judgment. Technology will support better decisions, not replace them.

It will lead to faster planning and smarter audience intelligence. But, AI doesn’t change the fundamentals of good marketing (ask Ritson!)

What are you most looking forward to next year?

Onboarding a few new clients with successful launches, while continuing to raise the performance bar for our current ones. Adding a few more team members to 36 and seeing our big 36 CRM project come to life.

Quick fire five:

Favourite Christmas tradition?

Poolside Xmas party with family

Favourite campaign of the year?

John Lewis in the UK – Where Love Lives

Favourite place in Aotearoa?

Queenstown Lakes

Favourite book/film/tv show?

Tv show: Rome (HBO mini series)

Book: River God from Wilbur Smith (I’m a history lover..)

Favourite drink?

Sol

The post Year in Review 2025: Anthony Rice appeared first on stoppress.co.nz.

stoppress.co.nz