The m25 Global Creative Series Episode 12: VML’s Kim Pick on AI, culture and creativity and why New Zealand continues to punch above Its weight
Episode 12 of the m25 Global Creative Series takes us to New Zealand. This series features conversations with exceptional regional creatives and for three decades and across five continents, Kim Pick has built a career defined by storytelling, resilience, and cultural impact.
Beginning as a journalist and film critic in New Zealand, Kim Pick’s grounding in narrative and critical analysis naturally evolved into a career in advertising – where she quickly rose to become Creative Director at McCann Erickson Singapore by the age of 26. From there, her journey took her to London as Regional Creative Director for Saatchi & Saatchi across Europe, the Middle East and Africa, then to New York as Executive Creative Director at RAPP, before returning home to New Zealand.
Today, she leads as Group Executive Creative Director at VML, shaping campaigns across Wellington and Auckland.
Can you tell us about your journey to becoming a creative director, what inspired you to pursue this career, what challenges you faced while carving your niche in an ever-changing creative landscape, and which project stands out as the most memorable for its impact on your market or region?
My journey has been quite a ride – spanning three decades and five continents. I began as a journalist and film critic in New Zealand, which gave me a grounding in storytelling and critical analysis. Advertising, at its heart, is about powerful ideas and compelling stories, so moving into copywriting in Australia was a natural step. I was drawn to the challenge of distilling complex messages into simple, persuasive narratives.
By 26, I was Creative Director (back when it was the top creative job, before title inflation) at McCann Erickson Singapore, leading campaigns across South East Asia. From there, I moved to London to become Regional Creative Director for Saatchi & Saatchi across Europe, the Middle East and Africa. After becoming a mother, I partnered professionally with my husband, Wayne Pick for over a decade, which took us to RAPP New York as Executive Creative Directors before returning to New Zealand to join Colenso BBDO. Then it was on to VML, where I’ve been Group Executive Creative Director for the past seven years, working with the team across our Wellington and Auckland offices.
Most of the challenges of the industry are also the things I love – the dynamic nature of the industry and the constant need to learn and adapt appeals to my curiosity. I was part of the first intake to earn a Certificate in Digital Marketing and joined the NZ Marketing Association’s Digital Advisory Council to help shape early best practice digital, e-commerce and social. Now I’m completing a masterclass in AI, which is again reshaping how we work.
That’s not to overlook the real challenges of the creative industry: the lack of diversity, the long hours, the need for resilience, and the impact on mental health that can sap great talent. I’ve seen brilliant people burn out or worse, and I’m passionate about making our industry more humane, representative and sustainable.
A few projects stand out to me for their cultural impact. I’m proud of writing the global “Love the Skin You’re In” platform for Olay, which was a turning point for the beauty industry, and a precursor to Dove Real Beauty in reframing how we talk about beauty.
In New Zealand, our Ryman Pioneers campaign transformed perceptions about retirement living, and highlighted a largely invisible but powerful generation who had been overlooked and misrepresented in marketing.
Another highlight has been creating “Have a Hmmm” for ACC, which has changed how people think about risk-taking behaviour, and continues to expand into other social change areas, from distracted driving to sports and recreation.
How has the New Zealand advertising market transformed over the past decade, and what factors have driven this change?
Like everywhere else, New Zealand’s advertising and media landscape has been transformed, moving from traditional media dominance to digital-first, mobile-first thinking. Data isn’t a campaign bookend anymore – it sits at the core of strategy, creativity and measurement. AI enables hyper-personalisation, and social media has made both brands and consumers publishers in their own right.
Along with purpose-driven marketing and social marketing, we’ve seen a rise in community engagement and authentic voices sharing their own stories and co-creating communications (“nothing about us without us”).
Some of our recent work that reflects this evolution includes Afterquake for the Natural Hazards Commission, which uses real-time data and geo-targeted messaging to nudge homeowners to quake-safe their homes immediately after a felt earthquake, when they are most motivated. For MetService and MetLink, we helped create Commute Forecast, a world-first collaboration linking live weather data with public transport updates to help Wellington commuters make smarter travel choices.
And success in co-creation and community engagement has included Stick it to Hep C, a campaign created in collaboration with a dedicated group of Hep C survivors. By tapping into real community attitudes and behaviours, we were able to deliver a bold campaign that tackled stigma and drove record testing rates – a 1000% increase in positive detections, meaning the campaign reached the most at risk.
In what ways is New Zealand positioning itself on the global advertising stage, and what unique strengths does it offer that resonate with international brands?
It’s a classic phrase we love to use, but it’s true: on the world stage, “New Zealand punches above its weight”. We can’t compete on scale, but we excel in ideas and impact. I once heard the head of the NZ stock exchange say that our nation’s future lies in exporting “bytes, not atoms,” and that resonated. We may have finite natural resources to export to the world without damaging our remote and unique environment, but from here, we can produce infinite ideas and IP.
Kiwi creativity has a global warmth – people respond to our humour, authenticity and fresh point of view. We’re a perfect testbed for innovation: small, diverse, digitally savvy and fast-moving.
The “Number 8 wire*” mindset still drives our ingenuity. (*Based on the idea that even with limited resources, such as a piece of number 8 fencing wire, you can improvise and adapt to find a way to get the job done.) As Ernest Rutherford (a Kiwi, who split the atom) reportedly said: “We haven’t the money, so we’ve got to think.”
Our production craft, natural beauty and world-class social marketing have also earned global recognition. At VML, some of the campaigns I’ve mentioned such as Have a Hmmm, Stick it to Hep C, or Breakfree to Smokefree are regularly cited as international best practice in social marketing.
How do local cultural values and creative storytelling influence advertising strategies in New Zealand?
Kiwis value authenticity, honesty and humility. Overly slick or hard-sell work rarely lands. We prefer genuine, relatable narratives and a down-to-earth tone, often using real people and conversational or colloquial language. We appreciate dry wit and dark humour – and we use it to break the ice on tough topics.
Māori cultural principles are deeply embedded in how we work today. Stick it to Hep C is one example: it was grounded in whakawhanaungatanga (building relationships and trust from the outset) and designed to be mana-enhancing (respecting and protecting the dignity of the community involved). Those values are universal – and they make the work stronger.
With the rapid adoption of digital tools and AI, how is technology reshaping creative processes and outcomes in New Zealand’s advertising industry?
Digital tools and AI are completely transforming our creative process. We use the WPP Open platform daily to ideate, test, gather insights, produce content, and deliver hyper-personalised experiences, all at pace.
AI has democratised creativity, but in the hands of a real creative, who understands big ideas and emotional storytelling, and has the gut instinct for what will truly land in culture, it becomes a superpower.
As a writer myself, who has been dependent on available stock imagery, art director scamps or my own sad stick figure drawings to communicate visually what was in my head, I can now visualise ideas instantly through prompting – something unimaginable just a few years ago.
On the flip side, there’s a lot of noise and ‘slop’ (my pick for the ‘word of the year’, just calling it here) created at scale. As an industry, we will need rapid upskilling, AI literacy and ethical guardrails. Humanity must always be first and technology is our tool.
As powerful as digital connection is, real-world, unplugged experiences will always matter most.
What role does social media play in the advertising strategies of New Zealand brands, and how are these strategies evolving to meet global trends?
Social-first creativity is key – ideas that are born in social platform thinking, not ones that trickle down from TV. The best campaigns are built for earned media and social sharing. Instead of single monolith campaigns, we’ve seen success with big stretchy ideas that allow for lots of diverse storytelling arcs that can work together to support them.
Our campaign for ACC, NZTA and NZ Police Love Ghosting is one example – encouraging young drivers to “ghost” loved ones by putting their phones on Do Not Disturb. The idea lived and evolved through multiple storylines on social media. Our Stats NZ campaign Even Harry Styles for New Zealand Census was born in data and social: knowing young people were apathetic about filling in the Census – but would be more motivated if they knew Harry Styles was in the country and had to do it along with them.
I believe data and creativity aren’t opposites; in fact, data is at the heart of all creative storytelling. “Data ignites insights; insights ignite creativity”. Data reveals the patterns, the relationships, the tensions and the unmet needs – storytelling brings it to life. They are just two languages describing the same universe: one through logic, the other through feeling.
In New Zealand, I think we’ve only begun to tap the creative potential of social platforms. Too often, influencer content or trend-based posts dominate, rather than true storytelling born from cultural insight. That’s the next big leap.
What advice would you give to young talent aspiring to enter the advertising industry in New Zealand?
Bring your social-first mindset and your AI artistry. Be curious, brave and adaptable. Work with others – collaboration is a superpower. Don’t forget that please and thank you goes a long way.
Dream big and stay cheerfully naive – not knowing what’s “impossible” means you won’t stop yourself from trying.
For inspiration, get out of advertising – the most interesting ideas are to be found somewhere else, probably in a random pursuit you’re passionate about.
This industry demands perseverance; rejection comes with the territory, but every “no” can teach you how to build ideas back better.
Be a lifelong learner. Look after your physical and mental health. The tools will change, but humanity, creativity, and courage will always be the things that move people.
Can you describe an early moment in your career where a pivotal experience or mentor changed your perspective on advertising?
David Droga, who was my AWARD School mentor in Sydney, and later hired me at Saatchi & Saatchi London, said: “Don’t show me the ad, show me the press release”. This fundamentally appealed to me as a former journalist and PR person – and made me realise that I could combine all of my communications thinking to get the best result for any campaign. As such, I’ve always looked beyond executional elements to the big idea and newsworthy hook of any project, to see how it might make headlines, get people talking and really land in culture.
Today, I continue to share this advice with creative teams – alongside another core belief from my journalism days: “There’s a front page story in everyone.” It doesn’t matter what the brief or subject matter, if you fully explore it and get to know it, you’ll discover something profound and compelling that will hold wide interest and you’ll never have a dull day.
Read previous episodes of the m25 Global Creative Series below:
Episode 11: Maan Bautista, Executive Creative Director at VML Manila
Episode 10: Pradeep D’Souza, Founder/Creative Partner at Nine:TwentyEight, Singapore
Episode 9: Jonathan Cruz, Creative Director at FP7McCann Dubai
Episode 8: Asheen Naidu, Group Executive Creative Director at Leo Singapore
Episode 7: Yubin Bang, Creative Director at Cheil Seoul
Episode 6: Jerry C. Hizon, Chief Creative Officer at Dentsu Creative Philippines and Dentsu Creative Manila
Episode 5: Jasmine Huang, MD & Head of Content Production at Prodigious China
Episode 4: Federico Fanti, Regional Chief Creative Officer at FP7McCann MENAT
Episode 3: Ratna ‘Sasa’ Puspitasari, CEO at Fortuna Indonesia
Episode 2: Livio Grossi, Group ECD at Dentsu Redder Vietnam
Episode 1: Merlee Jayme, Creative Chairmom and Founder of The Misfits Camp and Jayme Headquarters