Sydney-based Kiwi Andrew Holmes, who’s now lead editor at creative services company Heckler (his last job was the new Tiger Beer commercial) has picked up a Silver Lotus Award at Adfest 2018.
Smoke gets in your eyes

Auckland music production house Smoke is stepping out for another spin with Mediaworks, creating all the dance tracks for the seventh season of Dancing with the Stars.
Buy now while stocks last

The Comms Council reckons that tickets are selling fast for the upcoming 5th annual Beacons Awards in May. “So pick up yours today,” says ceo Paul Head.
Contagion eases the pain
Contagion, the Auckland full-service indie founded by Dean & Bridget Taylor in 2010, has created a new campaign for Reckitt Benckiser NZ’s high-strength over-the-counter pain control product Nuromol.
Cricket Australia failed the crisis comms test – a PR man writes
Colenso BBDO evolves its agency model
Colenso BBDO has redesigned the agency to focus on creative collaboration, clients’ customers and new ways of working – via an in-depth press release that explains why & how the agency has evolved its agency model.
Boutique PR shop in growth mode
Auckland PR agency Lily & Louis reports that it’s seeing “a cracking start” to the year with a stable of new clients added to its portfolio.
Clio 2018 ready for action

One of the world’ big creative shows – New York’s Clio Awards – has named its jury chairs for 2018, and set its dates for 2018.
NZ key player in 2018 rankings
With eight agencies in the 2018 Gunn Media 100 agency ranking, released overnight, MediaCom is the top-ranked network in the world. PHD is in second place. It also had eight agencies in the top 50, three of them in the top 10.
NZ scores a Grande Lotus brace at Adfest
NZ agencies picked up two very big awards – the Grande Integrated Lotus and the Grande Lotus for Mobile, plus a Gold and a handful of Bronzes– at Adfest Thailand over the weekend.