The Commercial Communications Council celebrated the 2026 Axis Awards at Auckland’s Viaduct Event Centre on March 26.
The awards celebrate campaigns that moved people, pushed creative boundaries and demonstrated the exceptional talent within New Zealand’s advertising industry.
This year’s winners reflected a diverse range of creative approaches, from powerful storytelling that resonates with local communities to innovative executions that showcased strategic thinking, cultural insight and technical mastery.
Major award winners
| Award | Winner | Initiative |
| Grand Axis | Motion Sickness and Whānau Ora | The Māori Roll Call |
| Craft Grand Axis | The Sweetshop and Waka Kotahi New Zealand Transport Agency | Booze Maths |
| Agency of the Year | Motion Sickness | – |
| Production Company of the Year | The Sweetshop | – |
| Client of the Year | Waka Kotahi New Zealand Transport Agency | – |
‘We’re having fun’
Motion Sickness says it is the first independent agency to have won Agency of the Year at the Axis Awards in 13 years. In 2025, it was won by Colenso BBDO and by DDB Aotearoa in 2024.
Across the show, Motion Sickness picked up 5 Gold, 7 Silver and 10 Bronze awards, spanning Karangahape Returns, Straight to the Heart, The Māori Roll Call, Outside, Your Comfort Zone, and Don’t Try This at Home.
The Māori Roll Call also won both the Grand Axis and a Grand Prix.
Founder and executive creative director Sam Stuchbury took the stage to receive the Agency of the Year award.
“In our world at the moment, it’s so easy to move forward out of fear, in what-ifs, and worry, but I think at Motion Sickness our secret has been always moving ahead with confidence, excitement, and joy. We’re having fun,” says Stuchbury.
“Thank you to the family here on this stage, or cult depending how you look at it, you worked so hard. What we wanted didn’t exist so we built it. And to the rest of this industry thank you for cheering from the sidelines for the past 10 years too. We felt it.”
A celebration of creativity
The ceremony also recognised Judy Thompson with the Outstanding Contribution Award, honouring her significant impact on the advertising industry in Aotearoa over decades as one of its most talented agency producers.
Gary Steele, chairperson of the Creative Council and chief creative officer at McCann Aotearoa, presided over his final awards ceremony in the role.
He says: “Last night we gathered as a creative community to celebrate the best of Aotearoa. Work that makes us proud, work that makes us jealous and the work that pushes us forward as an industry. It was an evening of celebration of creativity that shows the rest of the world what we can do from this tiny strip of land we call home.”
For more information about the AXIS Awards and this year’s winners, visit commscouncil.nz
Note: Due to an error, StopPress inadvertently published a version of this story for a few minutes ahead of the awards show. We apologise for this and have strengthened our processes for scheduled content.
