Above: EightyOne tries to show up in unexpected ways, creating new mascots (the Iris twins) for Te Papa.
EightyOne’s Chris Bleackley on the three magic ingredients that power the agency’s success: creativity, cut-through and cheese scones.
Let’s start with the big one. What do you mean ‘only creativity can save us?’
It’s just a provocation of course, but it also helps that it’s true. It’s the cheat code for success.
DDB co-founder Bill Bernbach said: “Creativity may well be the last legal unfair advantage we can take over the competition.”
So why not use it? It’s a force that can turn heads and make people feel something, think and act differently.
It cuts through even the toughest business problems – and if you’re in the business of changing behaviour, you’re more likely to do it with an idea than with a spreadsheet.
How does that belief show up in how EightyOne works?
There aren’t enough of us to be a traditional agency with fixed departments. So we start with the client’s problem and build a team around it.
It tends to be more fluid, but the aim is always to make the work better. That might involve strategy, creative and media all being briefed from the start or bringing in a director, cultural expert or data scientist as part of the team. Whatever it takes.
Because there’s no global process, we can get into things earlier and move faster, which allows us to work more closely with clients and solve problems more directly.
And how does that close client relationship show up in the kind of work you produce?
Hopefully, the kind of work we produce is the kind that works. Doing well in the Effies last year – winning across multiple clients – meant a lot to us.
We always try to keep the ideas fresh and show up in ways people might not expect. For example, using bus and train wraps to drive NZ Police recruitment, sticking a giant escape key in Manhattan or opening a bed shop on behalf of The Women’s Refuge. Our recent campaign for Meridian has taken a corporate message and made it work at a community level.
We plan to keep turning up in unexpected ways to get cut-through and deliver results.
Is it harder to be creatively brave in a time when everyone’s under pressure?
You’d think so, but we believe that the biggest risk is safety. It would be a brave client that expected success from work that didn’t stand out.
When times are tough, clients should expect sharper, more efficient thinking rather than
more noise. Bold ideas that do more with less and deliver results will always have a client’s attention.
It’s this pressure that’s forced us to focus on what matters and has contributed to our growth.
So what does creativity mean to you?
What it doesn’t always mean is making ads. It’s a way of seeing the world which becomes a way we solve problems. It allows us to reframe something familiar and see it in a new and more interesting way.
Creative people think that this is the most normal thing in the world. It isn’t. It requires trust and patience and cheese scones.
Where does that start for you? What’s the process?
Lots of butter… and honesty. Work out what the problem is and what success looks like for the client.
Get the right people in the room and interrogate the brief until it gives in. Work your way through until you find the bit that needs to be cracked. Once you’ve got that, build a team around the idea that will get people to notice, care and act.
Then test it and sharpen it until it earns its place in the world. Easy.
What role does independence play in that?
A big part of being independent is what we don’t have to do. We don’t have to sell media, answer to a holding company or keep the network model alive.
Our only master is the work. That lets us adapt and stay nimble. We work closely with other media suppliers, but can also call on our own media team alongside strategy and creative to accelerate the process without the hierarchy and faff.
Do you have plans to keep growing?
We’re a tight team of talented people who love solving problems. With a small squad, everything matters and everyone contributes. They all bring their own perspective and energy every day, which creates a sense of shared purpose, pride and urgency.
We have no plans to be the biggest, but what we can be is sharper and hungrier. Then I can just be the water boy and let them get on with it.
What is the biggest threat to creativity right now?
A lack of ambition. There will always be work that plays it safe and ticks the boxes. But work that blends in doesn’t move people, doesn’t bring about change and doesn’t sell.
As I mentioned, the risk is spending good money on work that’s ignored by the audience. There’s no magic button, but doing something that no-one else has thought of is a good place to start.
And what about AI? Threat or opportunity?
Talking of magic buttons. AI is obviously here to stay and is in the process of reshaping our industry. Fortunately for the time being, ideas still matter most. It’s a tool that will start getting interesting when people use it to make things better rather than quicker and cheaper.
If AI can help us get to better work faster and free up more thinking time, then that’s probably a good thing. The agencies that can harness this undeniably powerful tool without losing the human truth in the process will thrive. Because that’s still where the magic is.
What’s next for EightyOne?
1. Continue to prove that a small, independent Wellington agency can produce world-class work.
2. Have fun while we’re doing it. The industry is changing faster than ever, but the need for creative solutions to business problems isn’t going anywhere soon. If anything, it’s becoming more urgent – and that’s why we’re planning to stick around.
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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