PHD reckons it has the best of both worlds: an indie mindset and, being part of OMG, global connections. This, coupled with longstanding leadership and clients, means the agency can push itself to go the extra mile.
Media agency PHD has a philosophy: to deliver magic with every single plan.
“What we mean by that is no work leaves the agency without us thinking about how to go above and beyond,” says Managing Director Abby Parkin.
“That could be within trading and investment, an implementation tactic or a big media idea, an interesting use of data – but nothing leaves the agency without us pushing ourselves that one step further.”
The agency, now part of global network Omnicom Media Group (OMG), started out life as a local indie called Spark.
“Which is ironic, because Spark are now our clients,” says CEO Nikki Grafton.
Grafton and fellow colleague Helen Brown, who is Head of Media and Investment, have been with the agency since those early days in the late 90s/early 2000s and through the sale to OMG in 2007.
The name changed to Spark PHD, then just PHD, as it became the Kiwi branch of the now-global media agency started in the UK in 1990.
There were a lot of similarities between PHD and Spark’s ethos, so it was a good fit, says Parkin.
“When PHD globally was created, it was launched as the agency that thought before it bought… and that too was the ethos of Spark when it started in New Zealand.”
It’s been 17 years since that acquisition and Grafton says PHD has done a great job of retaining its startup mentality and challenger spirit, while also making the most of what being a part of a global network has to offer.
Parkin describes PHD as being a pioneer in the thought leadership space, so getting a strong pipeline of that here in Aotearoa has been a major benefit.
The agency’s core services centre on strategy, planning, trading, measurement and reporting, she adds.
“That’s across all media types, but the fastest growing area of our business is in our diversified services and consultancy space.
“The fact we act as true partners to our clients’ business and extensions of their marketing team is why those services are growing and expanding.”
Grafton adds that while there are specific skills the agency has capability in, it doesn’t work in a siloed way, instead aiming to be as cross-functional and integrated as it can.
And while a lot changed as a result of that 2007 business sale, the way they work overall hasn’t, she says.
“There’s a huge sense of camaraderie among us as a leadership team. We love what we do and being able to work with great clients and don’t take that for granted,” says Grafton.
Parkin has been with the team for 15 years and says her career across other holding companies and indies has shown her that PHD’s culture is unique.
“The culture is really embedded in inclusivity, creativity and collaboration. And even though we are large, everyone connects really well – we’ve got the benefit of size without feeling like you’d get lost in a bigger agency.”
Chief Strategy and Measurement Officer Simon Bird agrees, saying the agency is a dynamic place to work, where roles and focus change regularly.
“For most of my career, every two years I changed job and country… and I’ve been here nine and a half. It’s very stimulating.”
Deep client knowledge
As well as longevity amongst the senior leadership, there’s also longevity in PHD’s client base, he adds.
“They ask us things they might not ask if they hadn’t known us so long, which is a real advantage.”
Brown says those client relationships have been fostered by taking the time to get to know their clients’ businesses well.
“Because the market continues to change so much, we’ve had to go on that journey with them and actually lead them through it. We’ve had to really invest in our team structure and the way we do that.”
Deep client knowledge extends across the team.
“From a leadership perspective, we are all visible in that journey, so we all bring those different strengths to the table. There’s probably not one client that we’re all not across in different ways,” says Brown.
The years clocked up by the leadership team don’t go amiss either, says Bird, adding that this experience gets more valuable in times of rapid change.
“We’ve seen it before, so you can work out what’s important and what’s changing, what isn’t changing. When you’re seeing things for the first time, it’s very difficult to put that into context.”
Grafton draws on the Covid days, remembering all of the serious conversations had with clients during that time of turmoil as well as economic recession.
PHD’s experience and their clients’ trust was what got them all through those uncertain times, she says.
Rachel Bayfield is the agency’s newest addition to the leadership team, joining PHD two years ago. She admits that when she started her career, Chief Technology and Innovation Officer at a media agency was never a role she imagined having.
This, she says, is a real example of the evolution that has taken place in the industry.
“Marketing and advertising technology has just become more and more important in the media landscape in general, so it’s now such an enabler for so much of the work we do.
“We always want to be at the forefront of helping clients navigate everything that is new and challenging about our industry.”
Integrating that ethos of being the agency that “thought before it bought” with data and technology has been a real focus for PHD over the last couple of years, adds Bayfield.
Speaking to the consultancy side of the business, Bayfield says PHD spends a lot of time with clients on how to best use data – both to measure performance as well as for their competitive advantage.
As well as guiding clients toward meaningful change that will make an impact on their business, Bayfield knows that the moment something is new in the technology space – like AI – clients will come in to ask PHD about it.
“It gives us that opportunity to guide a little bit and we’ve definitely had lots of conversations with clients around what we think is possible now with AI.
“I think a key thing for us with clients is not getting caught up on headlines, but actually looking at what we can achieve today and use cases that can make a real difference in their business.”
‘Incredible’ awards run
For the past 18 months, the leadership describes the agency as being on an “incredible run”, winning at major global, regional, and local award shows.
In December 2023, PHD won New Zealand Media Agency of the Year at Campaign Asia. In March, it was recognised in the WARC rankings as the number two media agency in the world.
“We like that one,” says Grafton. “I was like, ‘Hang on, second in the world, we need to celebrate that!’”
Then in July, PHD was named Media Agency of the Year at the Beacon Awards.
“Those big global ones are really great, but being in the room among our peers and having the whole team on stage together is extra special,” says General Manager of Planning James Davidson.
And, not that they knew it when we went to press, PHD was a marketing partner for winning entries in no less than eight categories in the YouTube Marketing Awards 2024, including Brand of the Year.
The leadership team shares examples of their favourite campaigns: including pro bono work with the Kindness Collective charity on its Christmas Campaign and PJ Project to provide Kiwi kids with a pair of winter pyjamas; a partnership with ANZ, the Cancer Society, Dai Henwood and Warner Bros Discovery to put on a fundraiser comedy show; and Pak’nSave’s Stickman internship at TVNZ.
Other examples include ‘Phone It In’ for Skinny, which was recognised by WARC as the number one media campaign in the world last year. It won a Gold Lion for Media at the Cannes Festival of Creativity this year.
“It was such a fun campaign and I guess the enduring truth of why we come here – creativity always wins. That’s something we do: bring together different ideas in a way that is unique and powerful for our clients,” says Davidson.
“When you get in a room and you start smashing stuff out and bouncing ideas, that’s definitely the best part of the job, where the magic happens.”
This was first published in the 2024 September-October NZ Marketing Magazine issue. Subscribe here.
