APG opens its membership doors to New Zealand – new entry deadline Monday September 17th

APG has today announced it has opened membership of the group to New Zealand. This comes as New Zealand now boasts an increasing number of senior planners taking up positions within primarily Auckland based agencies. The move reflects the growing appetite for planning and an opportunity for APG Australia to broaden the pool of talent and expertise.

The membership development coincides with the upcoming deadline for the biannual APG Creative Strategy Awards, with a deadline extension in place to accommodate the changes. Deadline for entries is now Monday 17 September.

Full details can be found on the website here.

Membership will now extend to anyone in New Zealand with an interest in strategic planning, including ad agency planners of all levels, qualitative researchers, freelance strategy planners, media strategists, and clients. This membership affiliation sets the basis for the group, with locally supported initiatives and activity to be developed into next year.

APG Chairman, Sudeep Gohil welcomes the opportunity to share experience across Australia and New Zealand.

Says Gohill: “With a number of planners holding trans-Tasman roles and the level of interest continuing to grow, now is the time to open up membership to the New Zealand planning community. We’re excited about the opportunity and look forward to building the profile of planning as a critical part of the business of commercial creativity.”

Interest in joining the APG has come from a number of New Zealand planning directors – Rupert Price, planning director at DDB has supported this development.

Says Price: “We’re keen to connect with Australian planners, share our experiences and learn from the network – we’re also ready to hit the ground running with the awards, we’re up for a trans-Tasman battle of the planners.”

The Communications Council already includes New Zealand membership through AWARD and APMA, and holds a working relationship with New Zealand industry body, Communication Agencies Association (CAANZ). Communications Council CEO Margaret Zabel sees the move as a way to strengthen the broader industry through collective sharing of learnings and ideas.