Creativity and impact drove the big winners at the 2025 YouTube NZ Marketing Awards.
The 34th annual NZ Marketing Awards, hosted by NZ Marketing magazine and the NZ Marketing Association, were held at Auckland’s Spark Arena on September 3. The glittering night honours best work and brightest marketing talent across Aotearoa and is the premier awards programme in the calendar.
International judge Thomas Barta said: “The top brands stood out this year by transforming the way people act, buy and choose.” Vogel’s took out Brand of the Year because, as Barta put it, “their brave creative work didn’t just move customer hearts, it moved wallets” – leading to profitable growth.
Spark New Zealand took home the most trophies on the night – winning four in total for Spark Game Arena Live, held in September 2024. Spark won:
The New Zealand Herpes Foundation also made a strong impression, taking home three awards for its 'Make New Zealand the Best Place in the World to Have Herpes' campaign. The campaign won Excellence in Healthcare/Beauty Marketing Strategy, Best Not-for-Profit Marketing Campaign and Best Use of Video Marketing Campaign.
Team of the year went to Zuru's 60-strong in-house marketing team.
In the individual categories, Matthew Pickering, ANZ Bank New Zealand's general manager marketing, was named Marketer of the Year. Simran Wadhawan, brand manager at Goodman Fielder, won the Marketer of the Future, while Craig Baldie, managing director of Lion NZ, was inducted into the Marketing Hall of Fame.
Keith Norris – a legend in marketing circles who, after 50+ years of service to the organisation, is still the compliance consultant at the NZ Marketing Association – was surprised with the very first special Lifetime Achievement Award.
The evening was closed out by a set from Australian DJ CYRIL, who brought the beats to the afterparty. CYRIL burst onto the scene in late 2023 with Stumblin' In and his remix of Grammy-nominated band Disturbed's Sound of Silence. In less than two years, his fandom includes 200K+ subs and over 600 Million Views across his music on YouTube.
In all, 35 awards were presented. See nzmarketingmag.co.nz for the complete list of winners.
YouTube NZ Marketing Awards 2025: Individual and Overall/Supreme Award Winners
|
Award |
Winner |
|
Brand of the Year |
Vogel's |
|
Marketer of the Year |
Matthew Pickering, general manager marketing, ANZ Bank New Zealand |
|
Marketing Team of the Year |
Zuru Group |
|
Marketer of the Future |
Simran Wadhawan, brand manager, Goodman Fielder |
|
Marketing Hall of Fame |
Craig Baldie, managing director, Lion NZ |
|
Best Overall Marketing Campaign Award |
Animates NZ Holdings |
|
Supreme Marketing Excellence Award |
Spark New Zealand |