AUCKLAND, Today: It took us a while to catch up (mainly because both the NZ agency and client are staying schtum). Quite possibly because they’re as embarrassed as we are by this cheap piece of “creativity” out of the UK.

AUCKLAND, Today: FCB head of data & technology Qassem Naim and Qrious head of data powered marketing Lena Jenkins are among the ad & marketing luminaries speaking at the Marketing Association’s Smarter Data conference this month.

KUALA LUMPUR, Tuesday: User privacy and regulation has become a topic of controversy in the past few years. However, it has been largely well received by end-users, who welcome the increased protection of their personal data in the light of increasingly malicious attempts to compromise and disclose such data.

LONDON, Last Night: Oriel Davis-Lyons, the Kiwi creative director (ex Colenso BBDO) at the New York office of Spotify, has been appointed jury chair of the 2020 Cresta Creative Advertising Awards.

AUCKLAND, Today: Vaughn Davis, owner and creative director of Auckland agency The Goat Farm, has published a book for business owners looking for ways forward from Covid-19.

AUCKLAND, Today:  WiTH Collective has created a new ASB campaign, Borrow an All Black, to support NZ business, and launching the ASB Business Hub and donating one of its biggest sponsorships to SMEs across the country (scroll down to view the videos).

AUCKLAND, Today: To celebrate World Refugee Day last month, Refugees as Survivors New Zealand (RASNZ) partnered with well-known Kiwis, including former PM Helen Clark (patron of RASNZ), actor Sam Neill and ex-All Black and mental health advocate John Kirwan to shine light on the refugee journey.

AUCKLAND, Today: The most-read story in M+AD’s daily email last week was Thursday’s piece about Bauer refugee Ros Ellison joining Go Media as Wellington sales manager.

AUCKLAND, Today: An American/Kiwi soundtrack luminary is now permanently based in the Queen City and expanding her music services to include ads/tv sector and branding.