Creative Agencies

A creative advertising agency is responsible for creating and executing advertising campaigns for its clients. A creative agency is concerned with what messages to convey to the target audience, and how to communicate the message in a creative way that gets it noticed.

In creative agencies you'll see people take briefs from clients, then recommend the best way to answer that brief through the production of ads. They develop scripts for television commercials, then make those commercials. They develop billboard executions, radio ads, digital and social media content, or build digital experiences.

The process of developing ads can involve market research, developing concepts and messages, creating visuals and copy, and production.

The key thing that distinguishes a creative agency from a media agency is that the creative agency decides how best to communicate a message and produces the 'ad' that does so. The media agency is concerned with where to best place that ad so that it is seen by the right audience. They then negotiate with media companies (such as TVNZ, Stuff, or Google and Meta) to buy the space that the ad appears in.

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Kaitohutohu Māori

Playing a pivotal role in ensuring that organisations uphold the principals of Te Tiriti o Waitangi, the primary responsibility will be advertising and developing the agency and their client’s engagement with the Māori community, both internally and externally. By forging strong relationships, you create a foundation for mutual understanding and collaboration, while actively promoting and enhancing Māori participation in decision-making processes.This role has the unique privilege of supporting the engagement and upliftment of te ao Māori (the Māori world) and te reo Māori (the Māori language) within the agency itself. In agencies you are the person responsible for creating strategies or plans to celebrate Māori culture, with a platform to promote cultural understanding and appreciation.

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Kātene Durie-Doherty

Kaitaunaki Māori at Motion Sickness

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Katene from Motion Sickness

Career progression

Because this role naturally spans across the business, you might want to start your career building up your expertise in agencies, looking at other roles that you are passionate about. Then learn as much as you can, starting out as a ‘jack of all trades’, and build your skills around relationship building, strategy and understanding how things work in agencies and the processes of creating advertising that is impactful – this will then help accelerate your progression. This role then has the potential to have relatively fast progression because of the cross-department nature of the role, as well as the strategic thinking elements.

To be successful you'll need...

A deep understanding of or passion for te ao Māori, te reo Māori, and Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
Highly adaptive and willing to apply your skills and contribution to a wide range of diverse needs.
Strong cultural competency, with a natural consideration for Tikanga, protocols, and values.
A love for building relationships and interacting with people.
Excellent communication and mentoring skills.

Common Study Choices for Kaitohutohu Māori

It would be assumed that you would have a passion for Māori culture and seeking a career that ties with your dedication and commitment to upholding Te Tiriti o Waitangi and aligns with your values of manaakitanga and whakawanaungatanga in your everyday work.

Your background should be as broad as you can make it – bring all of that knowledge to your plans. That does not necessarily need to be at a tertiary level, it could be learning from within other industries or businesses in any role.

Getting a job as a Kaitohutohu Māori

These types of roles are relatively new to the industry, so there are not as many clearly defined pathways into these roles. Getting these roles can be challenging because they are not always advertised.

So, make sure you highlight your unique qualification for this role, and showcase your ability to create an impact. Using your relationships and connections, as well as reaching out directly to the businesses you would love to join, let people know you are looking at this kind of role, and be open to advice.

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