Now that I spend most of my time out of the industry, I have considerable time for reflection on what is laughingly referred to as a career. After many walks along the beach throwing sticks for my pet four-legged fish I am coming to the heretical conclusion that many Creatives in advertising would be better off if they stopped trying to be brilliant and instead concentrated on making the most of being mediocre.

LOS ANGELES, Today: Facebook has appointed New Zealander Nicky Bell as its new global VP of Facebook Creative Shop.

AUCKLAND, Today: Phantom Billstickers has added a passionate voice to the growing chorus of ad/media experts reawakening to the power of print.

SYDNEY, Wednesday: New Zealand’s media agency market experienced a pause in its advertising recovery in January, reporting a slight decline in advertising expenditure after two months of growth, according to the latest report from Standard Media Index AUNZ.

AUCKLAND, Today: The final deadline for the 2021 Beacons Awards is upon us – the closing gong sounds at 5pm this Friday 5 March.

AUCKLAND, Tuesday: Due to the lockdowns, the closing date for entries for the 2021 NZ Radio Awards has been extended for a second time. This time for a full week.

AUCKLAND, Monday: Stuff ceo Sinead Boucher has called on the New Zealand government to follow Australia’s lead and impose a news code on US tech giants, according to reporter Daniel Dunkley, writing for indie online news site BusinessDesk.

SINGAPORE, Last Night: New Zealand won 47 awards at the Spikes Asia – the second-highest total in the region, after Australia (with 78).