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Brainy Breakfast 2025 / Christchurch
The AI Tools Revolution: What's Actually Working in Marketing Right Now
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Monthly Marketing Meetup | August | IN-PERSON
CX Authenticity in the age of AI - Join us IN-PERSON for our Monthly Marketing Meetup
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Monthly Marketing Meetup | August | LIVE-STREAM
CX Authenticity in the age of AI - Join us via LIVE-STREAM for our Monthly Marketing Meetup
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Tauranga Networking Event
Meet Jo Mitchell – Former NZ Marketer of the Year and Brand Trailblazer
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Event
Brainy Breakfast 2025 / Auckland
Campaigns That Got Us Talking: From Vanilla Ice to Pawprints
Learn moreSpeakers
Hilary Ngan Kee
Partner & Head of Strategy
Motion Sickness
The Viral Campaign That Turned Herpes into a Source of National Pride
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Melina Fiolitakis
Creative Director
Motion Sickness
The Viral Campaign That Turned Herpes into a Source of National Pride
Tom Probert
Head of Marketing
Meridian Energy
Doing the Unexpected: How Powershop Built Digital Engagement with Gamification
Leticia Erdödy Buldain
Go to Market Manager
Meridian Energy
Doing the Unexpected: How Powershop Built Digital Engagement with Gamification
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Hilary Ngan Kee
Partner & Head of Strategy
Motion Sickness
The Viral Campaign That Turned Herpes into a Source of National Pride
Melina Fiolitakis
Creative Director
Motion Sickness
The Viral Campaign That Turned Herpes into a Source of National Pride
Tom Probert
Head of Marketing
Meridian Energy
Doing the Unexpected: How Powershop Built Digital Engagement with Gamification
Leticia Erdödy Buldain
Go to Market Manager
Meridian Energy
Doing the Unexpected: How Powershop Built Digital Engagement with Gamification
Hilary Ngan Kee
Partner & Head of Strategy
Motion Sickness
The Viral Campaign That Turned Herpes into a Source of National Pride
Co-presenting with Melina Fiolitakis, Creative Director, Motion Sickness
‘The Best Place in The World to Have Herpes’ by agency Motion Sickness is the world’s most unlikely tourism campaign, underpinned by an important health message. Featuring a first-of-its-kind ‘Herpes Destigmatisation Course’, a competitive global ranking system underpinned by live data, and plenty of irreverent kiwi humour, this campaign took an unusual approach to reducing herpes stigma – framing it as the key to restoring New Zealand’s diminished sense of national pride.
Over 8 weeks, New Zealand rallied behind the cause and climbed the rankings, beating the rest of the world to claim this illustrious title, and changing attitudes toward herpes in the process.
During this reveal-all conversation, Hilary & Mel from Motion Sickness will cover:
- How the agency used local insights to inspire the campaign.
- The creative use of data, and data science, that inspired the nation to compete.
- How the agency got iconic Kiwis to be in a Herpes ad pretty much for free.
- Provoking an important conversation with 13 million impressions.
About Hilary
Hilary Ngan Kee is a partner and the Head of Strategy at Motion Sickness, bringing over a decade of experience in strategic planning and brand development. Her unique perspective in crafting culturally resonant campaigns is unmatched in the industry, and her strategic leadership has been pivotal in Motion Sickness’ success - including Gold recognition at the Global Effie Awards, and Grand Prix accolades in Cannes. Her approach centres around combining genuine human truths with a keen eye for the ‘clear space’ in any category - ensuring that campaigns not only capture attention but also drive meaningful results.
Melina Fiolitakis
Creative Director
Motion Sickness
The Viral Campaign That Turned Herpes into a Source of National Pride
Co-presenting with Hilary Ngan Kee, Partner & Head of Strategy, Motion Sickness
‘The Best Place in The World to Have Herpes’ by agency Motion Sickness is the world’s most unlikely tourism campaign, underpinned by an important health message. Featuring a first-of-its-kind ‘Herpes Destigmatisation Course’, a competitive global ranking system underpinned by live data, and plenty of irreverent kiwi humour, this campaign took an unusual approach to reducing herpes stigma – framing it as the key to restoring New Zealand’s diminished sense of national pride.
Over 8 weeks, New Zealand rallied behind the cause and climbed the rankings, beating the rest of the world to claim this illustrious title, and changing attitudes toward herpes in the process.
During this reveal-all conversation, Hilary & Mel from Motion Sickness will cover:
- How the agency used local insights to inspire the campaign.
- The creative use of data, and data science, that inspired the nation to compete.
- How the agency got iconic Kiwis to be in a Herpes ad pretty much for free.
- Provoking an important conversation with 13 million impressions.
About Mel
Melina Fiolitakis is a creative director with a passion for the iconic and unusual. Her famous campaigns include the Bottled Walkman, the Swim Reaper, The Department of Lost Nights and more recently, the Cannes Lions Grand Prix-winning ‘Make New Zealand the Best Place in the World to Have Herpes’. Melina’s work has been celebrated at award shows all over the world, tattooed on peoples’ bodies, and archived in Te Papa and the Museum of Modern Art.
Tom Probert
Head of Marketing
Meridian Energy
Doing the Unexpected: How Powershop Built Digital Engagement with Gamification
Co-presenting with Leticia Erdödy Buldain, Go to Market Manager, Meridian Energy
Finalist – YouTube NZ Marketing Awards 2025
Like this morning’s other case study, Powershop tapped into kiwis’ natural competitiveness and reimagined online engagement with an interactive game-based campaign.
To celebrate Powershop’s 15th birthday, they transformed their digital shop into an online game, featuring playful animations and three birthday-themed gaming challenges. By topping a live online leaderboard, shopping for Powerpacks and sharing scores on social, players could win power credits and weekly grand prizes, driving repeat participation and shares by existing and prospective customers.
If you want inspiration to spark curiosity, test new content formats, and create a distinct space in a traditionally dull, low-involvement category, then you won’t want to miss the lessons from this campaign which delivered almost 8.8 million exposures!
Joining us on August 6th in Wellington, the Powershop marketing team will share:
- How we turned a $100K budget into $1m+ worth of attention
- Merging entertainment with brand storytelling to deepen engagement
- Pushing further into user-generated and social-first content
- Proving the power of sticky, participatory content
About Tom
Leticia Erdödy Buldain
Go to Market Manager
Meridian Energy
Doing the Unexpected: How Powershop Built Digital Engagement with Gamification
Co-presenting with Tom Probert, Head of Marketing, Meridian Energy
Finalist – YouTube NZ Marketing Awards 2025
Like this morning’s other case study, Powershop tapped into kiwis’ natural competitiveness and reimagined online engagement with an interactive game-based campaign.
To celebrate Powershop’s 15th birthday, they transformed their digital shop into an online game, featuring playful animations and three birthday-themed gaming challenges. By topping a live online leaderboard, shopping for Powerpacks and sharing scores on social, players could win power credits and weekly grand prizes, driving repeat participation and shares by existing and prospective customers.
If you want inspiration to spark curiosity, test new content formats, and create a distinct space in a traditionally dull, low-involvement category, then you won’t want to miss the lessons from this campaign which delivered almost 8.8 million exposures!
Joining us on August 6th in Wellington, the Powershop marketing team will share:
- How we turned a $100K budget into $1m+ worth of attention
- Merging entertainment with brand storytelling to deepen engagement
- Pushing further into user-generated and social-first content
- Proving the power of sticky, participatory content
About Leticia
Rebecca Farlow
Senior Marketing Manager
Chubb Life
Your Host & MC
About Bex
Rebecca’s career spans brand strategy, content creation, government communications and creative campaigns, from big‑picture strategy to hands‑on production. She’s led work across industries as varied as apparel, advertising and financial services, and has a passion for making ideas resonate with real people.
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