The 2026 Beacon Awards, in association with QMS, were held at the Viaduct Events Centre in Auckland on the evening of July 2.
Hosted by veteran Beacon Awards host Clint Roberts, the awards night celebrated outstanding work from Aotearoa’s media and advertising industry.
The winners represent standout media thinking, innovative approaches and strong client results. The judges narrowed the entries down to 112 finalists, ultimately awarding 17 Gold, 21 Silver and 19 Bronze beacon awards.
Eight executive awards, the most prestigious of the evening, were also awarded.
Standout winners
This year’s Media Business of the Year is TVNZ. The judges felt their strategy and decisive action was ambitious and hard won in an industry facing significant disruption.
TVNZ chief executive Jodi O’Donnell says: “I’m incredibly proud of our team for receiving this award. It’s a reflection of the enormous effort from people right across TVNZ, our commitment to putting audiences first and our ability to turn ambition into meaningful results.”
Sales Team of the Year was claimed by Vast Billboards, which the judges said was a standout winner for the way the team turned their market positioning into an advantage.
The 2026 Best in Show was tightly contested. Ultimately, PHD Aotearoa and Pak’n’Save won the title, for their work ‘Anything can be a gift at WRAP’nSAVE’. According to the international panel of judges, the campaign stood out by identifying a new media opportunity where consumer relevance was at its peak, coupled with flawless execution.
Abby Parkin, PHD Aotearoa CEO, says: “It was incredible to see our people up on stage last night accepting awards for their innovative ideas, commitment to craft and results that had true impact. I want to thank everyone at PHD Aotearoa for all their hard work on these campaigns.”
In addition, Together and Goodman Fielder received a Gold Highly Commended honour for ‘Fantasy herd’, which also won Silver in the Communication Strategy category and Bronze in the FMCG category.
Individual awards + agency of the year
This year’s Inspiring Individual Award, in honour of Sandy Smith, was awarded to MediaStone’s Barbara Stone.
Meanwhile, two new recognition awards were introduced this year: Emerging Talent – Media Business and Emerging Talent – Media Agency.
The former was awarded to David Stock from NZME, and the latter went to Henry Sneddon from PHD Aotearoa. These awards acknowledge individuals who achieved incredible things in the past 18 months and who are making a serious mark on the New Zealand media industry.
Finally, the international judging panel awarded Media Agency of the Year to Together. This award encompasses business vision, employee development, financial performance, client acquisition and development, industry contribution, creativity and innovation.
Judges praised Together’s commitment to a thoughtfully crafted business strategy, calling them progressive, willing to invest in their people, the industry and the future.
It’s about the people
Alongside Together being named Media Agency of the Year and recognised for ‘Fantasy herd’, the agency also won Gold for its ‘Super streamers’ campaign.
Together managing partner Rufus Chuter says: “We’re still spinning here. Media Agency of the Year, alongside two Golds, a Silver and the first ever ‘second best in show’, caps off an unbelievable year of care and hard work from everyone at Together.
“A big theme of the evening was that while technology is changing our industry fast, it’s still people who make the difference. That feels very true for us. Our amazing team, the great marketers who back us and partners across the industry behind us. Seeing the industry’s support for Barb Stone’s award just further cemented that for me. It was a night to celebrate the many brilliant people in our team and our industry.”
Chuter adds that the consistency of the recognition reflects Together’s focus on building a different kind of media business: one that combines strategic rigour, creativity, technology and deep client partnership.
“We’re proud of the consistency, but we don’t take it for granted. The industry keeps changing, the tools keep changing and client challenges keep changing. What stays constant is the need for people who care deeply about the work and each other. That’s what this team has in spades.”
More important than ever
Ben Gibb, QMS NZ chief executive officer, says: “The past year has brought significant change across our industry, making moments like the Beacon Awards more important than ever.
“They give us the opportunity to pause, recognise the outstanding work being produced across Aotearoa and celebrate the people, partnerships and creativity behind it.
“As the new naming partner of the Beacon Awards, QMS is proud to support an event that recognises the very best of our industry. Congratulations to all of this year’s winners and finalists,” Gibb adds.
Simon Lendrum, CEO of the Comms Council, says: “Those looking to gauge the temperature of our industry should look no further than the Beacon Awards.
“This year’s winners show a wealth of creative thinking, strategic smarts and collaboration that delivers out-sized client outcomes.”
The 2026 Beacon awards are made possible through the support of sponsors including QMS, TVNZ, Meta, NZME, Stuff, MediaWorks, The Radio Bureau, Nielsen, Are Media and The Spinoff.
