Every year, StopPress catches up with a group of industry leaders from across Aotearoa to talk about the year that was. From the highlights and the lowlights to their favourite foods, fruits and Christmas traditions, they give us a little insight into 2025 as well as a look forward to 2026.
Jo Page is a lecturer in advertising and brand creativity at the Auckland University of Technology.
What has been the biggest change that you’ve seen across your work in 2025?
Engagement has been a big one this year – in a positive way. Our students want to engage and when they’ve shown up, engaged and participated the creative ideas have been next level. I’m not sure exactly why they’ve been so engaged this year, but I suspect the classroom is somewhere where they can escape the pressures of the outside world and be present.
What was your highlight, lowlight and the most interesting thing that happened to you in 2025?
There are a few highlights vying for the top spot – an AUT student team winning the Advertising Capstone Challenge in Sydney at the end of the year, seeing our students cross the stage at graduation earlier this week, bringing in phenomenal industry experts to inspire the students, and that moment when you see the penny drop for a student when they’re tapping into the creative side. I bloody love that.
My lowlight has to be wondering what the Omnicom merge means for industry colleagues and seeing the DDB brand cease. Ad people are resilient and tenacious – we have to be to get ideas over the line – but this sucks. And as a copywriter and Bernbach acolyte, it genuinely hurts to say goodbye to a brand with such prestige and history.
The most interesting thing? Probably being surrounded by young 20-year-old men at D&B gigs who want to carry me on their shoulders because they can’t believe someone their mum’s age still parties. Bless them.
What trends did you follow in 2025 and how will these shape your work in 2026?
No one has been able to avoid the accelerated pace of tech developments this year – if you’d call that a trend. They will shape my work next year. Love them or hate them, AI images and LLMs are a huge part of the industry now, so I’ll be helping students to decide when and how to use them, and how to critically assess the outputs. The key focus will be to ensure that they understand that the tech can churn out content, but that they need to create content with intent, and that if they want to produce good ideas they need to look beyond social media to feed their brains with art. You only get out what you put in, right?
What is your favourite thing about the work that you do?
This is easy! The people. First there’s my team. I work with the most phenomenal, supportive, creative, smart, empathetic people (Dan Fastnedge, Matt Halliday & Patrick Usmar). I love that we have each others’ backs, cheer each other on, and also call each other out when necessary. Best dynamic ever.
And there are the students. I love their ideas, I love their passion for life, and I love that they translate Gen Z and Gen Alpha speak for me so I can use it in front of my kids to max cringe level.
What are you most looking forward to in the new year?
Getting to do it all over again with fresh faces in the classroom, and taking the third-year students on a journey to help them realise their creative potential. Can. Not. Wait.
Quick fire five
Favourite drink?
Alcohol-free G&T especially in this heat.
Favourite recipe?
RecipeTin Eats’ Massaman Lamb Shanks
Last film you watched at the cinema?
Prime Minister
Apples or oranges?
Oranges
Best thing to eat at Christmas?
All the cheese
