The Fold

Philippa Rennie has had a near unique view of real life TV storytelling in New Zealand. She worked as the in-house lawyer for Warner Brother Productions for a decade, before moving across to make television as head of scripted there. She joins the Fold to speak with admirable candour about what went wrong on shows like Married at First Sight, why Julie Christie probably isn’t the right person to make a show about the Marokopa-Phillips case, and how you satisfy ethical considerations while still making compelling television.
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Duncan Greive flies solo to break down and respond to the shock decision to shut down the BSA. He gives reaction from the key players, talks about where it might head next and pays tribute to the courage of the BSA in opening a door when this was always a likely outcome. Then he gives a view of the Maiki Sherman affair, before closing on a quick take on the first month of John Campbell's Morning Report.
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Rob Harvey is CEO of Dentsu across Australia and New Zealand – it’s one of the biggest ad agencies in the world, and Rob is notable for the length of time he’s spent leading it locally. In an industry notable for executives burning bright then shifting up, down and sideways, Harvey has been a deeply committed constant. He’s led the Aotearoa business since 2013 – before Netflix landed here – and last year took over the Australian operation too, meaning he now oversees more than 1000 staff across its various brands. 

Dentsu is notable for a number of reasons. It’s one of what used to be known as the “big six” ad agencies, now the “big five” after the merger of Omnicom and IPG. They’re known as the “holdcos” within advertising, and the term can be used derisively by some, as a synonym for mercilessly squeezing and flattening in a way which doesn’t necessarily deliver the best for its people or clients. However Rob offers a persuasive defence of the model, saying the name no longer well-describes his business at least. Dentsu is also the only one of the “big five” from Japan, which has a legendarily specific and singular business culture, so we talk about how that flows through its offices. 

Dentsu has endured a tough few years in this part of the world, with Australia recording a massive $500m paper loss in 2023, in part due to a bet on competing with the consultancies on broader business strategy work. None of that happened on Harvey’s watch however, and the business is considered to be well into a turnaround. 

Finally, because this episode is recorded in partnership with the Communications Council – of which Harvey is president – we discuss their excellent event Media Spotlight, happening in late May.

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Sam Stuchbury is the executive creative director and founder of Motion Sickness, and Lee Lowndes is the chief executive and founder of Daylight. Each of them run independent creative agencies, each is under 40, each took home golds at the recent Axis Awards, and - most importantly - each has a very differentiated conception of what an agency is in 2026. They have each found a way to thrive in an era where many of the big ad agencies feel defined more by their challenges than opportunities.Motion Sickness is on some kind of hot streak, and has just made the decision to rebrand as a creative company over an ad agency. That hasn’t stopped them taking home a raft of advertising awards. Cannes Lions have called them one of the top five global independent agencies this year, they took the Grand Prix for their herpes work, and were just named agency of the year at Axis for their Māori roll call, and their brilliantly original work helping bring people back to Karangahape Road.Daylight, meanwhile, defines itself as a “creative and technology studio”, meaning it builds digital products then wraps campaigns around them to get those apps to the right audiences. Its most recent output is Billy, a highly sophisticated tool to get consumers onto the best energy plan, with a major media campaign to help build awareness of it. They’ve also built platforms for media organisations like the Pacific Media Network and Fiji Sun, along with continuing their work for the World Health Organization.Duncan Greive is a shareholder and co-founder of Daylight.
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Glen Kyne returns to The Fold to catch up on all the biggest stories in recent times. We look at the existential challenge the BSA opened up, and try and figure out what’s really going on with Troy Bowker and Stuff. Then we look at the recent NZME workplace review, and contrast it with a much more substantial effort from Mediaworks a few years ago. We assess the early returns from Tova O’Brien’s arrival at TVNZ and John Campbell at RNZ, before finally weighing in on the Tom Phillips documentary controversy.
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