The New Zealand Herpes Foundation won three awards for Make New Zealand the Best Place in the World to Have Herpes.
| Winner | The New Zealand Herpes Foundation |
| Marketing initiative | Make New Zealand the Best Place in the World to Have Herpes |
| Marketing partners | Motion Sickness, FINCH, TRA, ED., DIG PR |
| Finalists | Aspen New Zealand, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare, Whānau Ora Commissioning Agency |
| Judges’ comments | “Make New Zealand the Best Place in the World to Have Herpes is an excellent entry with brave marketing that leans into the stigma of the virus. Incredible stakeholder engagement and identification of future revenue streams. A thoughtful campaign that reset the narrative with excellent results that honoured the bequested funding – now and into the future.” |
Best Not-for-Profit Marketing Campaign
| Finalists | Hato Hone St John, Netsafe (highly commended), New Zealand Olympic Committee, Paralympics New Zealand, Raukatauri Music Therapy Trust |
| Judges’ comments | “A tough topic to tackle with a very innovative solution to the problem. With a super clear and solid strategy as the foundation, but without the big media budgets, the team managed to develop a strong conversation-driving campaign that excelled in its objectives and created a clear behaviour and perception change within its desired audience. Well done team!” |
Best Use of Video Marketing Campaign
| Finalists | 2degrees, Air New Zealand, DB Breweries, Kiwibank, The Warehouse Group – Noel Leeming, Toyota New Zealand |
| Judges’ comments | “Well-orchestrated campaign led by video to improve understanding of an important issue impacting self-esteem. Judges felt this was a winner due to the exceptional results from a limited investment, and excellent use of well-known New Zealanders to normalise/get people talking about a sensitive topic that carries a lot of stigma. Great to see New Zealand leading the way on a global stage.” |
Herpes restores national pride
It was dubbed the ‘impossible brief’ but a tricky sexual health topic was turned on its head to give us bragging rights over herpes.
The New Zealand Herpes Foundation was established in 1994 to provide information, support and understanding to Kiwis diagnosed with genital herpes.
But stigma, fear and misinformation was an ever-increasing challenge.
In 2007, the foundation received a bequest from the family of someone who died due to herpes stigma. Yet the virus itself is relatively harmless, says Herpes Foundation trustee Alaina Luxmore.
Up to 80% of New Zealanders will get genital or oral herpes at some point, but most are too afraid to talk about it. Thirty percent of Kiwis diagnosed say they have depressive or suicidal thoughts.
“Every day we speak with people dealing with feelings of shame, self-loathing and social isolation. People who are finding their sex lives and dating lives disrupted. And for what? From the shame and stigma that we as
a society associate with this diagnosis,” says Luxmore.
So in 2024, NZHF came to Motion Sickness to reduce the “severe social stigma of herpes amongst sexually active New Zealanders”.
Regain national pride
Motion Sickness decided the answer was to make this country the best place to have herpes – the agency knew people would get on board if destigmatisation felt visible and worth celebrating.
“It was about rallying a nation to change the conversation – together,” says Motion Sickness.
Most of all, the agency saw this brief as an opportunity for Aotearoa to regain its national pride. “In 2024, New Zealand was losing: we’d lost the Cup, slipped down the ranking on the world’s most liveable countries and the local economy was in tatters.
“Making New Zealand the best place in the world to have herpes presented an attention-grabbing new title to
put us back on the world stage – simultaneously lowering the stigma surrounding the virus.”
Three steps to pride
The campaign was rolled out in three phases. Phase one put out a nationwide call on Global Herpes Day, October 13, with an open letter in the Herald on Sunday and a video on TikTok, the latter achieving nearly 1.9 million views.
Motion Sickness made the most of the bequested budget of $28,705, creating content that was fun and accessible – so people wanted to share it.
Campaign videos featured national legends: Graham Henry, Ashley Bloomfield, Anne Batley-Burton, Buck Shelford, Angella Dravid and Mea Motu.
Each star’s video reflected their personality. Motu, a professional boxer, said she often gets cold sores – and judgmental looks – after fights.
Her message? “Don’t let anyone insult you or make you feel discouraged.”
Who won, who they were up against and what the judges had to say.
We bring you all the details for every category in the YouTube NZ Marketing Awards 2025.
Stigma stops here
Large format billboards and ads in doctor’s offices, gyms, university campuses and cinemas introduced the mission and directed people to the Herpes Destigmatisation Course.
The five-part web series of lessons condensed all of the material found in other herpes education resources.
A leaderboard measured progress from the course, ranking countries based on their level of herpes stigma.
Phase two saw new lessons introduced. Each completed lesson helped Aotearoa climb the rankings.
After eight weeks, we topped the leaderboard. In phase three, messaging switched to celebration, declaring New Zealand is “officially the best place in the world to have herpes”.
Motion Sickness says the campaign delivered 12.7 million ad impressions and 1.2 million ad video views – an ROI of 2,593%.
Research showed most Kiwis felt the campaign increased their understanding and changed their perception of herpes. It made them feel more confident to discuss and support others with the virus.
Direct feedback from participants was heartfelt. One wrote: “This is a dream come true for stigma eradication. You’re really paving the way for other countries – thank you!”
This story comes from NZ Marketing magazine issue 84, Sept-Nov 2025. Why not subscribe? Get four issues a year for just $50 (including delivery) if you autorenew.
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