By Epica Awards editorial director Mark Tungate. Paris-based Epica is an informal global association of journalists who cover marketing and creativity. M+AD ed David Gapes was on the jury last year, and is again this year:

It’s not easy to become truly great at advertising. But it may be a tiny bit easier when your first career experiences are at BBH and Abbott Mead Vickers. In fact, Mike Nicholson – the freshly-appointed ECD of Brave in London – has a CV that looks like a litany of the world’s greatest agencies, plus the magic word “Google”.

NewstalkZB, Coast FM, the Breeze, Mai FM, ZM, the Sound, and More FM are the big winners in the latest round of radio surveys released by the Radio Broadcasters Association survey provider GfK.

bcg2/Shirtcliffe & Co creative Matt Shirtcliffe has made the news again – but not in the ad media, as you’d expect. This time the attention came from Fairfax Media’s East & Bays Courier, whose interest was piqued by the award-winning adman’s decision to come to the aid of a distressed Indian family.

A sell-out crowd of around 1000 of New Zealand’s leading media personalities came together to celebrate the industry’s best work from the past year at the 2016 CAANZ Beacons Awards in association with NZME at the Viaduct Events Centre last night.

With the help of Fuse/OMD, McDonald’s has taken to Snapchat to help launch the news of their All Day Breakfast in New Zealand.

New Zealand has overnight picked up 14 finalist places in the New York Festivals International Advertising Awards. Serial awards achievers Colenso (six) and Y&R (five) took 11 of these. Curious Film, JWT and Clemenger scored one apiece.

In a global realignment of its CRM business, DDB Group has announced the launch of TRACK, a new name which will replace the RAPP brand in all Australia and New Zealand.

Around half (52%) New Zealanders try to buy NZ-made products as often as possible but it is dependent on the category, according to findings from the Nielsen Brand-Origin Survey.

A need to move closer to the production and post-production community in Auckland, leading production/editing & visual effects systems supplier Digital Video Technologies has exited its old home in Penrose and moved to a new site in Grey Lynn.