Our thoughts, news and updates.

Just another rainbow logo for Pride Month? Or is it? Here’s how we’re challenging ourselves to go beyond the inevitable corporate gesture.

Here’s what you need to know.

There’s been quite a lot of noise lately about Facebook and whether you should continue to invest your media there...

A look at the challenges facing New Zealand marketing teams in 2020 and beyond

As we begin to emerge from this unprecedented shared experience, it is only to be expected that some things will have changed. But which...

When the need for something becomes essential, we are forced to find ways of achieving it.

We've seen an immediate impact in the media we’re consuming. To help, we have had a close look at what is happening...

There is no doubt that today is a time of uncertainty, but it is also one of opportunity.

How can we ensure that we apply a healthy dose of curiosity to our current thinking and conversations to help ourselves and our businesses.

The research and learnings from the GFC, more than a decade ago, coupled with the ensuing recession, show what we need to do.

When you’re marketing for FMCG brands, it’s good to sit back every once in a while and look at what is working.

Marketing lessons - a summary of the dark side of social media and its influence on the 2016 US election.

Four innovative approaches to drive fresh thinking from SXSW.

With this year drawing to a close, it’s great to look back and see what all the passion, late nights and hard work has produced.

Brand purpose is a key element in your business. Executed well it will drive your team, help develop great products and excite customers.

A look at brands that do more than just talk

When someone decides they can use your trademark to promote their business in adwords. This is what you do.

If you have lofty ambitions of eventually taking your hands off the reins when managing your media, I’m sorry, but I’m going to crush that..

Nine things for you to think about when you’re creating engaging advertising

A YoungShand creative content series, exploring the work of Hannah Jensen.

Since our start nine years ago, what’s changed? And what are we focusing on today?

What you need to consider to make sure you are GDPR compliant if you are a NZ business that works with European customers.

We’ve moved from a traditional marketing world to one that is dominated by digital — now we’re entering a new era: post-advertising.

If you read marketing or tech blogs then the topic of AI is going to be all too familiar. As self confessed digital natives...

Ever sat next to someone at a dinner party who was super interesting? You find yourself hanging on their every word. More commonly you...

Safe to say this year was full noise for the YS crew; we certainly had our share of mountains to climb. What never ceases to...

I was asked by the team at Marketing Magazine to spell out what parts of the industry will struggle the most over the next year....

Digital advertising’s been a hot topic of conversation lately. Specifically, the murky world of digital media buying and less than...

We’re all fizzing about the future this week as we officially went live with our very first Artificial Intelligence powered marketing...

We live in interesting times. Last week we saw Adidas drop TV advertising. By contrast, last month P&G pulled all digital media...

A key shift I've observed this year is that digital is no longer a deliverable at the end of a client brief. The industry has finally...

Some are big and bold, others just brought a smile to my face. I like works that don’t look or feel like ads. They are essentially...

A short post to share the books I’ve enjoyed over the last year. I’m an 80/20 non-fiction to fiction reader. This covers the non-fiction...

We like to see how technology evolves, where it’s going and what kind of new opportunities and challenges it will bring to our work...

This week there have been a number of updates from tech multinational, Google. With almost three quarters of all internet searches...

Snapchat are no stranger to some excellent marketing, so when I heard they were bringing out some wearable tech, I knew their product...

The tech industry is a fast moving and fickle creature, and 2016 showed that this trend shows no sign of stopping. The many different...

News that has excited us this week was the launch of Snapchat glasses - as soon as we get our hands on a pair we’ll let you all know our...

With one month left in 2016, yet again I find myself wondering where the year’s gone. (Probably to the same place that steals your...

It’s been a busy year with lots of great work being produced. Here is a list of our favourite projects from 2016:

I’m sure many of you have already seen it, but last week we talked about an Instagram live feature being in the pipeline. This finally...

It was a great day filled with lots of inspirational stories. For those of you that weren’t there, I thought I’d share the core thinking...

When the same sentiment ripples throughout different talks at conferences, you know it's an emerging trend that everyone is noticing...

Welcome to ICYMI (which is ‘in case you missed it’, in case you missed that!). The world of digital changes all the time, and we make it...

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) are no longer the stuff of science fiction, however you don’t need to be a...

We’re well past 2001 and we haven’t quite delivered to the vision in A Space Odyssey yet - but it’s getting close. There’s certainly a...

A few weeks ago I wrote an article on the disruption we face in today’s marketing landscape. The proliferation of new channels...

It was this question I was recently challenged to answer in a presentation at this year’s Semi Permanent. I must admit I was at first...

It’s 2016, so I don’t need to convince you about the value of producing content. There are a plethora of articles and dedicated...

If you’re in the business of marketing or advertising then the word ‘content’ is one you’ll be well acquainted with...

Marketing today is a world of constant evolution and reinvention, no pillar of marketing has experienced more disruption than media...

Pokémon Go has been filling the newsfeed of every social channel I have for the last week now. And with the news that it has more active...