Daylight Creative and Translate Digital join forces

A new era for marketing and technology is dawning as Daylight Creative and Translate Digital merge to form a new studio – known simply as Daylight.

The 28-person agency aims to bring all aspects of technology development and creative marketing under one roof and will be led by Lee Lowndes, formerly of The Monkeys and Colenso BBDO.

Having worked closely together on a number of successful projects over the past year Lowndes says it became obvious the two organisations should be together.

“We realise there is a growing need for New Zealand businesses to create beautiful digital experiences, and to translate complex storytelling into something accessible,” she says.

“The country seems to be coming back together [after the lockdowns]and really focusing, across a whole number of sectors and industries from public service to privately owned, on strengthening digital capability.

“We are going to see growth in that entrepreneurial space in New Zealand with people digitising their products and services and how they roll out to different audiences.”

The Daylight team will consist of Translate’s former lead Lizzie Robson, (when she returns from maternity leave) as Daylight’s managing partner, creative director Charlie Godinet, head of client Kristen Morris, and digital design lead Kyle Hickey.

Translate’s founder, Parkable CTO Brody Nelson is a director along with Duncan Greive, who works between Daylight and The Spinoff, the digital news platform which nurtured Daylight Creative in its early stages.

Working out of the former Mt Albert Borough Chambers building in Morningside, the agency has a multi-disciplinary staff of writers, engineers, UX designers, illustrators, animators, motion graphic designers, creatives and a client service team.

Lowndes says one of Daylight’s key points of difference is how it approaches the initial research stages.

“We outsource a lot of strategic thinking where required because, being born out of The Spinoff, we have a journalistic approach to how we define the problem solving or the insight we are working on.”

Daylight co-founder Greive says the merger is a bet that the organisations that do well in the future will “have the most integrity and beauty in their digital products, and no boundaries between their technology, their brand and how their story is told”.

“There’s a lot of complexity in the work that our clients do, but it needs to go out and be scaled to a mass audience, whether it is internal or external, and the craft of journalism which is often simplifying a complex narrative to something accessible, is a skillset applied quite broadly across Daylight.”

Lowndes says Daylight “is both the left and the right brain for these businesses.”

“If you want a beautiful campaign, but your website doesn’t work too well, we’ll fix that. Likewise, clever technology development can’t shine without the right polish.”

Daylight’s extended services will be particularly helpful in the midst of national labour shortages.

Daylight client Anna Henwood, CEO of Stickybeak, says it is hard to find talent in the tech space at the moment which is why it’s “a win” to be able to outsource important development work to the Daylight team.

“Daylight has been fundamental in building out the technology that thousands use today and have been such a valuable partner to support our growth so far,” she adds.

Lowndes says she is excited to help entrepreneurs and New Zealand start-ups in the early stage of their journey “building the right platforms, products and tools” for them to go to market both locally and internationally.

The Spinoff and Daylight are “both born out of a desire to see and take advantage of the opportunities of this era” says Greive.

“We feel a kinship with particular generations of new New Zealanders’ start-ups and technology driven businesses. There is an instinctive understanding there and we feel very at home in that area.”

The agency is keen to help organisations that want to tell stories in a more compelling way or operate digitally to “feel like they have a guide that understands them” he says.