Since 2010, the Kiwibank New Zealander of the Year Awards Ngā Tohu Pou Kōhure o Aotearoa have carved out a unique place in the national awards calendar, recognising remarkable New Zealanders and their impact. In 2020, we were engaged to develop a strategy to re-reinvigorate the platform – which led to a 5-year licence agreement to manage and execute the national programme in its entirety. This move sees Brown Bread as the machine behind the awards, overseeing everything from five public-facing national campaigns right through to delivering the 800 person Gala Dinner in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland.

To kick off, we brought on a new Te Koruru Patron – Miriama Kamo – to govern the transformation. We engaged six major sponsors to champion each awards category, and brokered new media partnerships to the value of $2.6million a year. We run five above and below-the-line campaigns across nine months of the year, increasing millennial engagement 500% and deepening diversity. From 2022, produced 20+ videos to broaded our storytelling. In 2023, we led the rebrand of the awards programme alongside Kiwibank and Special Group. Our first campaign following the rebrand noted a web traffic increase of 61% from the previous year; testament to a bold, modern visual identity.