Acumen

19/03/2025

Tasman Mako player Tanita Garnett is breaking stereotypes about what a successful woman looks like - rugby star, two-time child cancer survivor, soon-to-be graduate from a BCITO joinery apprenticeship, and now, BCITO Sports ambassador.

According to Sport NZ, at age 15-17, 81% of us do some sort of sports or fitness activity, but this drops away to 73% after our school years. 64% of adults want to do more activity but say work or family commitments get in the way. The BCITO Sports programme is all about solving that, matching athletes with rewarding careers in the trades that enable them to keep doing what they love.

It was super-inspiring to hear Tanita's interview with Suzanne McFadden of Newsroom, on how she made the combination of work and sport work for her - and what motivates her both on the field and off.

From overcoming cancer twice as a child to mastering a trade and making her rugby comeback, Tanita Garnett’s story is one of resilience and determination

23/09/2024

For two years, Woolworths New Zealand, Plant & Food Research , and LeaderBrand have been digging deep into how regenerative agriculture could revive our soil and secure the future of veggie farming in Aotearoa.

By partnering with The Spinoff we helped explain what regenerative farming even is and what this study has uncovered so far through creative illustrations and simplified insights.

Click the link below to read the full story.

On a farm near Gisborne, where your salad greens and other veggies are grown, farmers are tinkering with nature’s tools to find the perfect recipe for healthy soil.

21/08/2024

Generative AI has the opportunity to transform the New Zealand economy, with advancements through augmentation and automation leading to a significant boost in productivity.

Microsoft and Accenture have released a report detailing how generative AI adoption could add up to $102 billion per year to New Zealand’s GDP by 2038, but only if we address key barriers in policies, skills and trust around AI.

Acumen supported Microsoft with messaging around the report and launched it at an industry event in Wellington to drive conversation around the findings. We've also pitched and secured earned media coverage.

Find out more on the report findings in the Herald here: https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/ai-could-more-than-double-nzs-productivity-accenture-report/RICGDPNWSZFMZITVUNEJYWCL6A/

30/07/2024

We had the pleasure of visiting New Zealand Media & Entertainment today for a tour of their NZ Herald newsroom and studios across The Hits, ZM, Hauraki and Newstalk ZB! It was great to meet such a talented team and learn more about how they are continuing to evolve. Special mention goes to Jono from The Hits for his impromptu karaoke session! We look forward to partnering with you guys on future projects and thanks again for having us.

16/07/2024

Last month, we were on the ground in Ōtautahi Christchurch supporting the Boehringer Ingelheim team to discuss the results of their “Taking Animal Health Forward” survey. The survey, conducted in partnership with The New Zealand Veterinary Association Te Pae Kīrehe and the New Zealand Veterinary Nurses Association, highlighted the challenges and opportunities facing the veterinary sector in New Zealand.

Thanks to our panellists Kevin Bryant, Laura Harvey, Nick Cooper and Paul Fitzpatrick for sharing insights on everything from staffing to training and wellbeing, and putting real solutions on the table.

Boehringer Ingelheim has more work planned in this area, so watch this space!

02/07/2024

Fantastic to attend the launch of 2degrees latest Shaping Business Study at NZME last week. The Study, now in its fifth year, looks at the big issues facing NZ Inc., exploring the state of the business world and the drivers and barriers for productivity. This year’s results saw the beginning of green shoots, as measures of business optimism ticked upwards slightly despite a challenging environment.

Peter Griffin led a fascinating conversation between Simon Bridges, Andrew Fairgray Anna Fitzgibbon, Mark Callander and Victoria Young, covering everything from effective AI uptake to how to make New Zealand a country young people want to return to. Find out more detail on the study via BusinessDesk here: https://bit.ly/3VMnlau

12/06/2024

Happy birthday to our friends at Mitre 10 New Zealand who celebrate their 50th anniversary next week on June 20!

We’ve been helping them shine a light on some of the amazing Mitre 10 people from across the motu, like the Scanlon family of Westport. This week, Seven Sharp took a trip down memory lane with Troy, Casey and dad Kev to find out why generations of locals have loved calling in for nails, toilet seats, ironmongery and a good dose of West Coast humour.

10/06/2024

Our CEO, Adelle Keely, appeared on RNZs Mediawatch recently to share some interesting insights from the Edelman Trust Barometer that looks into trust in different types of media. Adelle also discussed how industries like media can share their story more broadly around innovation – whether it’s new business models or investment in technology.

Take a listen below, from the 33 minute mark onwards.

Regional reporting cut back for NZME's new national focus; sports news that was too late - and too early; the controversy over cancer treatment funding missing from the Budget,can we trust surveys of our media which say we don't trust them?

05/06/2024

🏆🎉 We're thrilled to announce that we've received 2 golds, 2 silvers, and 1 bronze at the recent PRINZ Awards! A huge thank you to our incredible clients Samsung and Uber – it was great to work with you to bring these winning projects to life. We truly value our partnership and look forward to achieving even more success together!

04/12/2023

We were incredibly proud to see Reilly Hodson receive Young Practitioner of the Year at the Pressie Awards last Thursday. While we usually focus on the great work of our clients, it was a special night to be able to celebrate talent in our team as Reilly received industry recognition for his achievements. Congratulations Reilly, we couldn’t be more pleased for you 🙌

13/11/2023

In case you missed the first post – here’s the wrap video for this year’s Samsung Solve for Tomorrow competition. We were thrilled to once again work with Samsung on this campaign and a huge congratulations to all of our extraordinary winners whose solutions are shaping the future of problem solving in our communities.

We can’t wait to see what next year will bring!

MOTAT (Museum of Transport and Technology) TENZ - Technology Education New Zealand

27/10/2023

A privilege to work with living legend Sir Michael Jones to spread the word about Uber Eats getting behind the boys in black this weekend. All weekend, you can get select dishes on Uber Eats for their 1987 prices – think $2 cheeseburgers and $3 fish and chips! Perfect to feed the backs on gameday. Read all about the promo from the team at Newshub here: https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/lifestyle/2023/10/rugby-world-cup-uber-eats-commemorates-all-blacks-south-africa-final-with-1987-prices.html