In the past five years, the changes to adland have been unprecedented, with the rise of programmatic advertising and digital ad spend. So much so, that the number of practitioners with the required digital skills has been unable to keep up and the resulting skills shortage has until now been filled by churn and those with the skills in demand jumping between companies.

It was 2014 that Spark announced its partnership with Kiwi NBA player Steven Adams and the Auckland Council to open five basketball courts around Auckland in a campaign called ‘The Boroughs’, and last week, it finally met that promise with the opening of the East Auckland court.

Mediaworks brings the furries to town.

To mark the 10th anniversary of the Battle of the Ad Bands (Botab), Flying Fish and the Comms Council have announced a battle of the decades this year.

The silky voice of Lionel Richie has won over the ears of New Zealanders as well as the latest round of the radio results, with the Breeze overtaking The Edge as the number one station in terms of time spent listening. It was, however, business as usual on the talkback side with Newstalk ZB remaining comfortably on top.

Our weekly wrap of good things, strange things, funny things and other things from inside the intertubes.

Xero’s CEO shares what he’s learned about building a global company and how tech can be used to promote equality.

Flying Fish is celebrating international recognition of its director Christine Jeffs, who’s been invited into the Academy Of Motion Pictures this week.

It’s London Pride Week and Wieden + Kennedy is celebrating with 100 arse-shaped vases.

Tourism New Zealand has kicked off the first campaign of a four-year strategy to target a greater array of visitors into more of New Zealand’s regions and encourage off-peak travel by tapping into audiences’ holiday dreams.

Foodstuffs has launched a new small-format grocery brand linked to its existing New World offering called Fresh Collective by New World. The first store on Auckland’s North Shore reopened with its new look on July 4.

Voltaren, Kraft Heinz and The University of Otago show us how it’s done.

Sports brand campaigns have long been known for sharing motivational messages through male voiceovers. However, Adidas is mixing that up in a new campaign called #FanTheFire.

All Black Ben Smith goes back to school in a new campaign for Voltaren, to share his knowledge with King’s High School rugby players.

Consumer data and insights company Pureprofile has announced a partnership agreement with AA Smartfuel, a move designed to boost its consumer acquisition pathway and create opportunities for brands that are members of the programme.

Our weekly wrap of good things, strange things, funny things and other things from inside the intertubes.

Kettle Corn, Unicorn and Glazed donut are among the fan-created flavours that Oreo’s made in an effort to find its new cookie.