UP-AND-COMERS

Geoff Kidd

Lion senior brand manager

How did you get into marketing? What sparked your interest in the industry?

I’ve always been a creative thinker and problem solver, and marketing had appealed to me as career option since I was at high school as it’s an industry that really allows you to combine these skills. Growing up I was always fascinated with brands/businesses that were able to grab people’s attention, spark conversation, and ultimately influenced society. I studied marketing at the University of Canterbury and during my summer holidays I interned at Ogilvy which gave me a taste of the world of advertising. As a graduate looking for jobs I had heard a lot of great things about Lion, and was eager to work on some of the iconic Kiwi brands that Lion had in its stable.

What’s your favourite project to date?

Without a doubt my favourite project that I’ve worked on to date has been ‘The Dance’ campaign that we launched for Speight’s in 2018. Great marketing lives in culture and we needed to find a way to bring Speight’s back into the forefront of cultural conversations in today’s society. Mateship has always been a core Speight’s value, so the brief was clear, we needed a powerful story of mateship that would force Kiwis to sit up and take notice, and inspire pride amongst everyday New Zealanders. To evoke the emotion necessary to do this would require a great story, and we had a lot of fun working with our agency to find the right story for this campaign. Whilst there were plenty or nerves prior to launch ‘The Dance’ managed to deliver some amazing results for Speight’s and address some of the key business challenges we were facing on the brand.

Where do you get inspiration?

In short, everywhere. For