Year in Review 2025: Nicky Greville

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.

Nicky Greville is managing director at Spark Foundry.

2025 has been a busy year for Spark Foundry and Publicis Groupe Aotearoa – including the move to your new connected campus! Tell us what this big move means?

Other than the fact that being in new digs is just really exciting for everyone, the opportunity for everyone to connect across all of our different disciplines is a massive creative momentum driver. 

Culturally, we’ve already held a bunch of really great events late last year that have brought all of our people together. It has been phenomenal for driving better connections across agency brands for our people and clients.

2025 also saw some big campaigns, including the new Toyota campaign. Which one was your favourite, and why?

Our teams have pulled out another exceptional year of creating work that matters in 2025 – and it’s actually impossible to pick just one. 

From counting cars at intersections in what might just be one of the most iconic ads (not ads?!) of the year for Toyota, to taking on the competition with groundbreaking work for Samsung. From creating a House of Credit Card Fears for Westpac, to making sloths and sleep a talking point for Healtheries.  We brought back our much loved good night Kiwi for Lego, had a blast hexing exes for Vodka Cruiser, sponsored Love Island for X by Long White, and flew Kiwis home from Oz for Asahi’s Hard Rated – the list really does go on!

Our teams have worked their socks off to deliver creative media solutions for our awesome clients and I happen to think it’s all worth a shout out.

How did AI feature in your work in 2025?

Every conversation has had an AI moment and every task has had that moment to shorten/improve/create. It’s been a year of embracing and playing and then turning that exploration into a strategy that’s embedded in our values, our vision and our supporting infrastructure.

What trends did you follow closely last year and how will this shape your work in 2026?

Trust: This is always a feature for us as we continuously seek out platforms, formats and content that people love and trust. However, as we look to 2026 with an upcoming election and a cautious return of consumer confidence, we believe we’ll see the importance of trust reshape media consumption in 2026.

Return of the brand: As AI makes it effortless to deliver hyper-relevant products, intuitive shopping experiences and instant comparative information – often with barely a click – the factor that will matter most is how people feel about your brand. “Hallelujah” say all of us brand believers; it’s time to crack out the storytelling and break those algorithms. Next year I’m hoping that the evolution of this point will be a theme of risk taking for brands – I’m here for it!

Velocity and volume: the AI adoption rate will inevitably mean we’re going to see a veritable tsunami of more content: good content, bad content and everything in between. It’s going to be delivered at ever-increasing pace and at ever increasing volumes.

Finally, 2026 will see remakes and reboots hit at a massive rate – audiences are loving nostalgia. This year, we are getting The NeverEnding Story, Spaceballs, Scooby-Doo, Bewitched and The Goonies reboots as well as revivals of Scrubs and Malcolm in the Middle. There will also be blockblusters like Avatar, a live-action Moana, more Star Wars, plus new films for Super Mario, Masters of the Universe and Street Fighter. The nostalgia wave spans movies, TV, gaming and beyond. It’s escapism at mass scale, and doesn’t surprise me given the tumult that is news and politics today.

What are you most looking forward to in the new year?

At work: The work. Seeing creativity come to life has always an absolute joy for me.

In life: I’m looking forward to another year of absolute chaos with my family; it’s always a beautiful, crazy, hectic and hilarious ride.

For Aotearoa New Zealand: A continued steady crawl out of this recessive environment we’ve been experiencing for the past few years. Enough already, it’s time to move onwards and upwards!

Quick fire five

Snow or sun? 

I’m sitting on the fence, I love both.

Tea or coffee?

Coffee

Where is your happy place? 

In summer, at our family bach at the very tip of the North Coromandel peninsular with no electricity, no phone coverage and outrageously great fishing. In winter, skiing with my family in Wānaka.

Go-to snack?

Cheese platter.

Favourite day of the week?

Saturday; action packed family day!

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