PJ (Philippa) Morris is a Marketer of the Year finalist in the YouTube NZ Marketing Awards 2025.
The winner will be announced on September 3.
Name: PJ (Philippa) Morris
Job title: Head of Customer Experience & Marketing, Heavy Building Materials Division, Fletcher Building
In a couple of sentences, sum up your career so far.
I consider myself lucky to have built my career in B2B marketing – particularly in the construction sector, which may not be a traditional marketer’s first choice! However, it’s exactly this space that’s taught me how to unlock the power of strategic marketing to solve real business problems and drive growth every day. Over the course of my career, I’ve had the pleasure to work on some incredible brands including Gerard Roofs, Sky TV, Universal Homes and Fletcher Building.
I’ve also had the privilege to learn from some brilliant minds like Steve Bayliss and Renee Milkop-Kerr, who have helped shape how I think about brand, creativity and commercial impact. Now as the Head of Customer Experience & Marketing for Fletchers Heavy Building Materials division and responsible for driving business growth across our concrete and steel businesses, I feel I’ve really hit my stride. I’m 100% focussed on using insight-led, strategic marketing to drive meaningful commercial outcomes and support out long-term business growth ambitions.
Say hello to the other Marketer of the Year finalists 2025
Brid Drohan-Stewart
Cath Brands
Dave Pearce
Fraser Shrimpton
Leanne Too
Matthew Pickering
Susanne Hardy
The yardstick of success
How do you measure the success of a campaign?
I am very much an outcomes-driven marketer, so for me, success is firmly centred on our marketing moving the commercial needle forward by achieving the objectives we set in our strategy – whether that is driving volume, growing market share, or lifting sales.
Of course, creative execution and reach matter, but the real test is whether we’ve reached the right decision-makers, generated high-quality leads or specifications and created a meaningful uplift in the sales pipeline. I also closely track market share movements in key categories, and I put a lot of weight on feedback from the sales team about how the campaign is landing in market.
Ultimately, I believe that a campaign is only successful if it delivers real, measurable value to the business – not just awareness.
Focus on sustainability
How do you incorporate eco-friendly practices in your marketing initiatives?
Sustainability is a core pillar of our business strategy – particularly around decarbonisation. For me, it’s far more than a marketing message, it’s about helping build a better future for New Zealand. When we talk about sustainability in our campaigns, I make sure it’s grounded in fact. Our audience, whether engineers, architects or procurement leads, can spot greenwashing a mile away, so authenticity is non-negotiable. Sustainability is far too an important topic to not be treating authentically and with genuine care.
I also place real importance on the sustainability credentials of the partners we work with. It’s not just about aligning with our business goals – it’s about walking the talk. If we’re serious about creating a more sustainable future, then every part of our value chain needs to reflect that commitment. That means choosing collaborators who share our values and ensuring our messaging is backed by real action.
How does Aotearoa rate?
On a scale of ‘deathly boring’ to ‘in a golden age’, where does Aotearoa sit when it comes to creativity?
That’s a tough one! I’d say New Zealand has some incredible pockets of marketing creativity happening, especially in the B2C space. Campaigns from ANZ, ASB and Turners are real standouts.
In the B2B and construction space, I think we’re a way off a ‘golden age’ in creativity. That said, I believe much of the marketing in this space is appropriate for the audience we are trying to reach – and, really, that’s the key. However just because we are comfy in our traditional, safe and rational lane, doesn’t mean we shouldn’t limit ourselves. Perhaps it’s time to be braver and connect to this sector in different ways, by building in emotion and driving brand equity to create long-term demand.
Good stuff, hard stuff
Biggest win this year?
It’s been a tough few years for the construction sector, so the achievement I’m most proud of is bucking the trend and growing market share for Firth, despite operating in a down market. We’ve done this by being strategic, targeted and cohesive in our marketing approach. A standout example of this was our focus on EcoMix Low Carbon Concrete, which delivered measurable commercial impact and reinforced our position in the market.
For me, outcomes like this are the true measure of success. They demonstrate the tangible value our marketing team brings to the business not just in creativity, but in driving growth. The icing on the cake for 2025 was winning our first-ever Bronze Effie. It’s a milestone that gave the team a well-deserved boost and validated the effectiveness of our work on a national stage.
What are the most significant challenges for our industry at the moment?
One of the biggest challenges in B2B marketing today is cutting through the noise in a way that’s both creative and commercially impactful – especially when resources are limited. With tighter budgets, we need to be more strategic and deliberate, ensuring every initiative delivers maximum value. That starts with getting the fundamentals right: deeply understanding our audiences, knowing what motivates them, and aligning our marketing objectives with broader business outcomes. In this environment, marketers can’t afford to focus on superficial tactics that look good but don’t drive results. Our role is to be commercial partners to the business and ensure every campaign contributes meaningfully to growth.
Coming up
What’s next on your to-do list?
Customers are at the heart of everything we do, yet it’s easy to overlook the end-to-end customer experience in the rush of day-to-day delivery. My next focus is on lifting their experience by ensuring our businesses truly understand what drives customer loyalty and how to embed that understanding into every touchpoint. In the concrete sector, we operate across a highly connected value chain, and our goal is for a customer of one business to naturally want to work with our other businesses because they know they’ll receive the same high-quality experience and ease of doing business. Achieving this means connecting our product and service offerings more seamlessly to customer needs and making it easier for them to specify or purchase across projects.
Every winner, every category – read all about it in issue #84 of NZ Marketing magazine. Subscribe now and get the magazine delivered to your door.
Why not subscribe to NZ Marketing magazine? Get four issues a year for just $50 (including delivery) if you autorenew.
Essential marketing intelligence. Don’t miss it.
