The 2023 IAB New Zealand Digital Advertising Awards held at the Auckland War Memorial Museum last night, with Together taking home Agency of the Year and Best in Show for the second year running.
These Awards celebrate innovation and effectiveness across the digital media advertising industry in New Zealand and brought together over 350 people to recognise and celebrate excellence.
With a record number of Award entries this year, the event celebrated 125 finalists across five categories and 60 winners, which were selected by a panel of 100 industry experts.
Together achieved recognition for the work it did with COLORSTEEL, as well as a further seven Gold and two Silver awards.
The Agency of the Year award recognises a year of digital achievement for Together, with highlights including the launch of a CXM practice, the achievement of Google Cloud Partner status and significant headcount growth.
Best in Show accolade for ‘Roof ID’ recognised the agency’s custom-built AI model to power unique media targeting for COLORSTEEL.
Kris Hadley, Managing Partner, Together, says the wins are still sinking in. “It’s testament to a huge amount of hard work, craft and consistency from the team during another year of growth. A sincere thank you to all our clients and industry partners that continue to support team Together.”
Among the other big winners of the night was Richard Conway, CEO of Pure SEO, who took Gold Award for Service to the Industry.
Presented by James Hole, acting Senior Director at Warner Bros. Discovery, The Service to the Industry Grand Award recognises outstanding commitment and contribution to New Zealand’s digital marketing landscape.
Conway says receiving the award was a very emotional moment for him. “I had Emily [wife], Ethan [son], Tony Falkenstein, and Heather Falkenstein—people that I love and respect—and over 20 of the Pure family cheering me on.” He attributed the award to his loved ones and team, “It’s not me; it’s everyone behind me”.
“As a person and a company, our ‘why’ is trust. We will always do the right thing… because it’s the right thing to do! I have never believed in following; the only way to make waves is to surround yourself with people far smarter than yourself and lead together.”
GRAND AWARDS
2023 DIGITAL SALES EXCELLENCE (INDIVIDUAL)
GOLD
PUTTING HUMANS AT THE CENTRE OF A THRIVING AI POWERED ADVERTISING ECOSYSTEM
HANNAH WEIR
GOOGLE
2023 DIGITAL SALES EXCELLENCE (TEAM)
GOLD
NZME DIGITAL DIRECT TEAM
MATT FUSSELL
NZME
2023 DIGITAL PRODUCT OF THE YEAR
GOLD
TVNZ+ STREAM ON
TVNZ
2023 COUNCIL MEMBER OF THE YEAR
GOLD
KATE GRIGG
PUBLICIS MEDIA EXCHANGE
2023 EMERGING TALENT
GOLD
ELLA LIDDELL
TOGETHER
2023 SERVICE TO THE INDUSTRY
GOLD
PIONEER, STEWARD, AND MENTOR IN THE WORLD OF DIGITAL
RICHARD CONWAY
PURE SEO
2023 AGENCY OF THE YEAR
GOLD
EVOLVING DIGITAL, TOGETHER
TOGETHER
For the full list of winners visit: https://www.iabawards.co.nz/2023-finalists-and-winners
