NZME scoops awards on both sides of Tasman

Graham Stride won the Craft - Best Copywriting (Open) section for his work on the 'Strap your product to our engines' trade marketing campaign.

NZME, publisher of the Herald, is celebrating major success at the Panpa Awards and TVNZ Marketing Awards.

The company won six advertising and creative categories at the Panpa - Pacific Area Newspaper Publishers' Association - awards at a ceremony in Sydney last night. It also won an award for its Rugby World Cup campaign at the TVNZ awards in Auckland. In Sydney, 'BNZ Shred - The Native Campaign' won Best Digital Campaign for a Client - National/Metropolitan Titles, encouraging people to think more about their mortgage and shred their home loans faster.

The integrated campaign on nzherald.co.nz featured four branded content articles and a series of videos featuring NZME hosts. They included The Hits' Flynny pranking Crowd Goes Wild Breakfast's Andrew Mulligan into thinking the station would pay off his mortgage, to show the feeling of elation people could achieve. NZME also won Best Digital Idea or Innovation (Open) with 'Spark Brand Feature'. The Herald teamed up with Spark to create a branded content feature designed to help small businesses thrive in New Zealand.

It asked 'Is your business running you?', and several small businesses shared stories and tips on the challenges they face and how to overcome them. Spark's Senior Brand and Communications Manager Sally Gordon was delighted but not surprised by the win.

"We were thrilled with the creative solution the NZME team developed for our 'Is your business running you?' campaign, so it's great they were recognised for their work at the Panpa awards."

NZME's local highlight was victory in the Best Print Single Advertisement for a Client - Regional Titles category. This was won by Wanganui Chronicle for the 'Local and loyal' partnership with Whanganui and Partners, a branch of the Whanganui District Council. It was a creative initiative involving dozens of local businesses and a locally developed app.

Alongside the client categories two individual gongs were awarded.

Graham Stride won the Craft - Best Copywriting (Open) section for his work on the 'Strap your product to our engines' trade marketing campaign.

And Kerry Leonard was recognised for her incredible work and positive attitude as NZME's Head of Client Partnerships, winning Team Player of the Year.

Kerry Leonard was recognised for her incredible work and positive attitude as NZME's Head of Client Partnerships, winning Team Player of the Year.

The final Panpa win was for Sponsorship of the Year - National/Metropolitan Titles, for NZME's work on ad:tech 2015 a creative collaboration by the trade marketing and experiential teams, including an 80s inspired video featuring high-profile NZME radio staff.

NZME chief marketing officer Liza McNally said the results were "something for the whole team to be proud of".

"These wins showcase the benefits of bringing our three businesses into one. Our ability to deliver creative solutions above and beyond expectations, both for clients and our own brands, has energised the whole team."

Back in Auckland, the marketing team were celebrating their win in the Media/Publishing category at the TVNZ Marketing Awards.

To boost audience to nzherald.co.nz during last year's Rugby World Cup, the 'Nothing Else Matters' campaign utilised multiple NZME platforms and brands including the Alternative Commentary Collective, Dream Team, RadioSport and Newstalk ZB.

It included a user generated social media campaign, #blacktoblack, which became the number one trending topic in NZ on Twitter on the day of the Rugby World Cup final.

"The marketing team did an outstanding job on the Rugby World Cup campaign, and the recognition is well deserved," said McNally. "We're looking forward to continuing to push the creative envelope and leverage the power of NZME to engage and entertain our audiences."