New Zealand – PHD New Zealand has been named the 2019 Beacon Media Agency of the Year at an awards ceremony in Auckland last night – the second consecutive year it has won the renowned title. The award recognises PHD’s significant business results, award wins, new business growth, employee development and industry contribution.
Additionally, PHD was recognised for its talent, with programmatic director Katia Ducker winning the inaugural Rising Star award, and its work taking home ten silver awardsfor Skinny, Spark, Lightbox, Lotto and Instant Kiwi. PHD was the second most shortlisted agency at the Beacons with 23 finalists – a record for the agency.
Nikki Grafton, PHD New Zealand CEO said “I am immensely proud of PHD’s achievements at the 2019 Beacons. Winning the Media Agency of the Year title in 2018 was fantastic, but to have won it a second time is a testament to the continued hard-work, creativity, innovation and commitment of our people. We are lucky to have some of the most creative, strategic and technical brains in the industry on our team who constantly challenge themselves, each other and the norm to find a better way for our clients. I would like to thank our team and clients for making 2018 a phenomenal year. It is also important to recognise the hard work of former PHD CEO Louise Bond who played an integral role in our success last year”
The 2019 Rising Star award recognised Ducker as an individual who is making a significant mark on the New Zealand media industry and is likely to be a future change maker. Ducker’s win follows a successful year for the SEO and programmatic expert that has seen her amass seven local and international awards for her efforts on the successful Newshub Election campaign, including gold for Technology at the 2018 CCC Beacons, silver for Short Term Success at the 2018 Effies and bronze for Publication & Media at 2018 Tangrams Asia.
Grafton says, “We are all exceptionally proud of Katia, she has had an incredibly successful year. Her achievements boil down to an intricate technical knowledge and expertise, a strong work ethic and can-do attitude, a challenger mindset and a commitment to overdelivering.”
As well as its people, PHD’s work on Skinny, Spark, Instant Kiwi, Lotto and Lightbox was also recognised across categories such as Consumer Services, Best Collaboration, Best Use of Search Engine Marketing, Best Communications Strategy, Most Effective and Best Use of Insight.
PHD group head of strategy and measurement Simon Bird said, “We are proud that our work was recognised across several different categories showing the depth of skill and talent we have in the team, and scope of our work and ideas.”