In the June-August 2026 issue of NZ Marketing magazine, we asked agency founders to tell us the story behind why they started their agency, their favourite thing, what they’ve learned and their best advice.
4am Partners Limited
- Founders: Steve Thomson and Kurt Bradley
- Year founded: 1999
Tell us the story behind founding your agency.
Brandspank (now 4am Partners) was founded in a bedroom office in 1999, armed with an early copy of Adobe products and a low-spec Apple Mac. We began as a broadcast design company specialising in the branding and marketing of TV channels, their hero content and designing high impact opening title sequences.
What’s your favourite thing about running your own agency?
Watching something we made actually work. Not just look good – work.
Help a business grow, change how people feel about a brand, win someone a customer they wouldn’t have had otherwise. After 27 years we’ve built a network of specialists we genuinely respect, which means we can always put the right people on the right job.
What’s the most important thing you’ve learned?
It’s important to be honest with yourself about how outsiders perceive your business.
Embracing a reality-check on a regular basis can help motivate fresh initiatives – and remind you that this year’s work depends on the quality of last year’s.
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve received or given?
Hire people smarter than you, then get out of their way.
Anything else we should know?
In 2024, we rebranded to become 4am Partners. We’d evolved a lot in our offering over the years so change was appropriate.
And as one of our younger team members diplomatically put it, having the word “spank” in your name is “a bit cringey.”
The name 4am comes from the idea that our subconscious is always quietly at work – solving all sorts problems even if we’re not actively working on them.
This story comes from NZ Marketing magazine issue 87, June-August 2026. Why not subscribe? Get four issues a year for just $50 (including delivery) if you autorenew.
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