Chief Executive Officer

Chris founded leading intelligence company Perceptive in 2005 and since then he’s worked on some of Australasia’s largest, most complicated and most successful marketing campaigns.

After Perceptive was acquired by the Clemenger Group in 2017, Chris remained with Clemenger as Chief Intelligence Officer and was passionate about the potential for Proximity NZ in this market.

Chris believes exponential growth comes at the intersection of intelligence, technology and creativity. “Proximity NZ is the vehicle for modern Kiwi marketers, who embrace the need for breadth and depth of diverse skill and capability, to efficiently and effectively find the growth that’s hard to find.”

General Manager

Amy has lived and breathed customer experience marketing for almost 15 years. In her 13 years at justONE, the last five as GM, she delivered award winning work across a range of clients including:

Loyalty – development, launch and strategic direction of Farmers Club, New World Clubcard, Farmlands Card, Subway Subcard, Fly Buys.

CXM – identification, development and implementation of data-driven CX Management programmes for ANZ, Spark, Genesis Energy, BNZ, Lotto NZ.

Response driving marketing – direct marketing campaigns for New World, AMP, Farmlands, Farmers Club, ADT, Fuji Xerox and Genesis Energy.

Amy firmly believes sustained business growth comes from understanding and nurturing individual customer relationships.

Chief Creative Officer

James has over 30 years’ agency experience as a creative leader in New Zealand and APAC, as a Strategic Planner, Managing Director and partner in his own agency, before joining Proximity NZ.

He has been involved in creating brand and experience projects across a broad range of clients with highlights including PAK’nSAVE Stickman, Mitre 10’s iconic Sandpit, L&P’s original World Famous in NZ, John Kirwan’s Depression initiative, and the Ryman Pioneers platform.

James believes creativity has endless potential to solve problems and his work has been consistently recognised locally and globally for creative excellence and effectiveness.

Head of Planning

Nicola’s customer-oriented perspective has helped businesses solve complex problems for over 15 years, spanning a range of strategic disciplines including brand and communications, customer engagement, performance marketing, retail and shopper marketing, and customer experience.

Nicola has worked with some of the largest, most loved brands locally and internationally, including Spark, Mazda, Farmers, AA Insurance, Virgin Media/Liberty Global, Dulux, and Bayer.

She is passionate about the power of customer understanding to influence people’s behaviour and collaboration to get to a great solution. And she’s not afraid of a good spreadsheet.

Director of Client Partnerships

Kristyna has over 14 years leading teams in account service in globally recognised agencies. She has worked across a diverse set of brands both locally and internationally, including BP, Peugeot, Beiersdorf, BMW, Westpac, Farmers, Kiwi Property, Sanitarium, Pernod Ricard and Spark.

Well versed in a number of disciplines, Kristyna is able to draw on a range of experiences to find the right solution for the challenge. Driving results for the work is what gets Kristyna most excited and she believes building formidable relationships internally and externally unlocks the best work, both creatively and strategically.

Creative Director

Stuart has over 25 years of advertising experience on some of New Zealand's biggest brands.

Along the way, he's worked with some incredibly gifted people and created campaigns that have been awarded, talked about, and ultimately changed perception and behaviour.

His passion for results-driven advertising informs his conceptual skills across every media in our ever-evolving industry, whether it's long-term brand platforms, digital & social, branded utilities, activations, PR or on-going CRM programs. But always, the opportunity to gain a measurable response is his top priority when answering any brief.

Planning Director

Kate is relentless in her focus on delivering great customer experiences that drive business results. She’s a firm believer that deep understanding of customer needs and improving how businesses connect with customers is integral to growth.

Kate collaborates closely with clients to deliver world-class customer engagement strategies. With a strong focus on ‘always on’, Kate sees journey mapping as central to determining the relevancy and timing of key moments to connect.

She is passionate about helping businesses humanise their data with insights to better understand the relevant role businesses play in their customers’ lives.

Creative Director

Aaron, ‘commonly known as Turk’, is a passionate creative director with over 25 years’ experience in digital and creative agencies across New Zealand and Australia.

Turk is a big believer in collaboration. His understanding of how people interact with the world and the role brands play has helped shape his approach to creativity. With his rich experience, digital thinking is often at the heart of the solution. He has deep skills in digital platforms, products, mobile apps, games, interactive experiences and installations.

Turk’s energy and enthusiasm can be felt everywhere he goes.

Director of Experience Design

Jon has 25+ years’ experience as a design leader for brands such as Adidas, Airstream, Luxottica, Target, Starbucks, Microsoft, Nike, Mattel, BP, P&G, Herman Miller, GlaxoSmithKline, and Gap. He has a proven track record in transforming companies’ relationships with their customers.

Jon leads teams to design new experiences, translating insights into brand and customer-led interactions that build indelible emotional bonds. Programs span all consumer touchpoints working across physical products, services and environments, communication and branding, digital products and services, and organisational culture and processes.

Jon’s unique blend as an architect, experience designer and brand strategist informs his distinctive “inside-out” point of view.

Senior Business Director

Sandra has more than 20 years in the advertising industry, having worked at Rapp Collins, Singleton Ogilvy & Mather and 10 years at DDB including as APAC Regional Business Director for ExxonMobil.

Freelancing for a number of years, she embraced the variety of agencies, clients, colleagues, brands and business challenges that contracting offered. These contracts covered an extensive range of responsibilities - from strategic communications planning and customer relationship marketing through to creative execution of above-the-line, below-the-line and online communications.

Clients have included telcos, supermarkets, banks, luxury cars, entertainment networks, retailers and children’s charities.

Chief Operating Officer

Greg has worked in business development with multiple brand and experience agencies, leading teams with a direct marketing, brand and pure digital focus to unlock value.

Working for many years as a designer, art director and web developer, and specialising in data-driven, channel agnostic innovation, Greg has a unique technical and creative perspective. This allows him to work cross-functionally with internal teams and a myriad of client stakeholders.

Greg has worked on some of New Zealand's most recognisable brands including Air New Zealand, BNZ, Spark, Fonterra and Frucor Suntory with a particular emphasis on CX and the role of digital.

Group Business Director

With over 16 years’ experience, Helen is an influential and accomplished business leader with extensive experience in advertising and communication.

Helen partners with clients, adding value at every step. She provides well-honed strategic intuition and establishes a professional, honest and collaborative partnership.

Having worked on global and local brands, Helen has experience across FMCG, luxury brands, telco, retail, banking, automotive, insurance and travel. Leading large and multinational clients like Air New Zealand and reporting into global hubs, Helen has mastered the flow of information and brand management to deliver highly effective outcomes.

Senior Business Director

With over 15 years in the industry, Dave has worked with many high-profile New Zealand brands including ASB, Spark, Placemakers, Lion Breweries, BNZ, Fonterra, Genesis, Z Energy, ANZ, Fly Buys and Visa.

Dave is passionate about the creative product, creating value for customers and brands - he’s a problem solver at heart. He has strong skills and an extensive amount of experience across many different marketing disciplines, from Direct & CRM, Brand, Digital, Retail, CX development and Product CVP development.

Dave’s a big believer in collaboration and knows building strong relationships is key to doing great work that produces results.

Director of Design

Nick brings over 20 years of experience in the form of branding, packaging, digital and visual communication. He’s passionate about design, believing it’s the glue that unites great strategy with creative – helping to construct powerful brand experiences.

Cutting his teeth in London before moving back to New Zealand, Nick has worked for a wide range of clients within diverse industries such as banking and finance, automotive, telecommunications, FMCG, airlines and government.

Nick is also a published author having designed, written and illustrated three books about culture, design and creativity.

Planning Director

Lisa has worked on some of the world’s best brands, partnering with both creatives and clients to help create true connections between brands and the people they serve. She’s led brand and communications strategy for a wide range of clients that include Fonterra, Mars, IAG, BNZ, Mondalez, and Orcon.

She is an advocate of the power of creativity to shape culture and ensures the things we put into the world make an impression on people. “Our job is to create. If we are successful our ideas will enter people’s lives and potentially become part of culture, so we should try as hard as we can to make them wonderful and memorable”.

Head of Marketing Automation

Romit is the Head of Marketing Automation for Proximity NZ. Innovative, data-driven and solution-focused professional, he has more than 10 years’ experience in leading Cross-Channel Marketing Automation in Digital Marketing and Product industry.

Romit has experience working with industry leading technologies and service providers across the globe, providing end to end digital marketing solutions and services across enterprise and mid-market clients and has solid skills on Web, Email, Mobile (SMS & Mobile App), Social Media and Direct Marketing solutions. He's optimistic and extroverted, hardworking and loves to make everyone happy (personality trait of Librans).