Former Colenso business director Sarah Williams has crossed the floor from agency to client side to take on the role of head of brand, communications and experience at Spark.
Williams has spent her career at some of the adland’s biggest names, having worked at DDB, TBWA and Saatchi & Saatchi before joining Colenso in 2013.
She says her intimate knowledge of life on the agency side of the business will serve her well in terms of bridging the gap that often exists between clients and agencies.
Williams also seems particularly well suited to this challenge, given that many of her former colleagues at Colenso currently look after Spark’s creative business.
On the topic of creative, Spark this week released two new “micro moments” as part of its broader campaign released earlier this year.
As has been the case with all executions in the campaign thus far, the latest work again focuses on the experiences facilitated by technology.
Williams says one of the major motivations for joining Spark was the telco’s commitment to creativity and emotional storytelling.
“You see this right from the very bottom to the top,” says Williams. “Everyone has bought into the objective of making Spark New Zealand’s most-loved brand.”
Williams says the emphasis on brand is particularly important in the telco space, given that pricing can be replicated quite easily across products.
A telco’s point of difference, she explains, really lies in what else it can offer customers.
Spark has diversified its offering through initiatives such as Lightbox, its partnership with Spotify and by launching a range of other digital innovations through Spark Digital.
And Williams also points to another example in Spark’s Socialiser product, which gives all mobile customers a gig of data every month to use on Facebook, Messenger, Twitter or streaming apps.
In addition, Williams also says that Spark will be making a big push over the summer months in a bid to ensure that its brand reaches consumers in the real world.
“Internally, we’re calling it the ‘endless summer’,” she says. “We’ll be turning up everywhere Kiwis are. You’ll see us around.”
