GREY GOES BELOW THE LINE, REBRANDED G2

From August 1, Grey Worldwide’s Auckland operation will be known as G2.
To be headed up by former Grey Senior Account Director Sarah Norrie, G2 Auckland will be part of a network of 86 offices in 42 countries. According to a PR blurb released today, the G2 network has developed a unique new offering called Activation Marketing, which provides clients with an integrated range of below the line communications services: branding and design, direct marketing, interactive, public relations, promotional marketing, shopper marketing and data analytics.
It is understood that as a result of the rebranding, recently appointed CD, Hywel James (above) will be leaving the agency.
“Activation Marketing is the thread that binds together all the disciplines that make up our new agency offering,” says Norrie. “It means everything we do is designed to create an action or interaction with customers, whether they be end-users or retailers.
“Traditional mass-market solutions just aren’t enough in today’s highly fragmented media environment. So agencies need to evolve or perish. We evolved, and have built an offering that can take us and our clients into an exciting future.”
Working in partnership with G2 in their new Cross Street, Newton, offices are medical and pharmaceutical agency Grey Healthcare and media planning/buying group MediaCom. Unusually for New Zealand, all three companies are headed by women, with Christine Coffey leading Grey Healthcare for New Zealand and Australia and Kim Leybourne heading up MediaCom.
“It is unusual for a major communications company to be led by a woman in New Zealand,” says Norrie. ‘To have three under one roof is even more remarkable. But when you consider 83% of all purchases are made by women, from baby food to cars, and 91% of women say ‘advertisers don’t understand us’, what’s really remarkable is there aren’t more of us working at the top level. We’ve got plenty of blokes on the team here, but Chris, Kim and I set the strategy, and our clients see the benefit in that.”
As part of a global network, G2 Auckland enjoys close links with other offices around the world, and Norrie has formed a close working relationship with her colleagues in G2 Sydney.
“The Auckland and Sydney offices are now working together on a daily basis” says Norrie. “We have people from Sydney working here in Auckland most weeks, and one of us will be over the Tasman every few days. The Sydney office offers a huge resource to us and our clients: they have a 40-strong interactive team, significant DM experience and award-winning retail marketing people. Many of our current and prospective clients are trans-Tasman, so it makes sense for G2 to be a trans-Tasman agency”.
On August 1, the old Grey brand will disappear, and the new G2 signage, stationery and business cards will be rolled out. It’s an end of an era, but for Norrie, it’s the start of something big.
“G2 is the sort of agency we’ve all wanted to work for, and the sort of agency our clients keep asking for” she says. “The whole team here are hugely excited about its potential, and the group has already picked up a major new client which we will be announcing later this month. Watch this space.”