New campaigns, new borns, new links, and more.
Coming at you via electronic mail, it’s The Handle, True’s occasional newsletter. You’re already on the list because you’re a friend of True. We hope you'll stick around, but you can unsubscribe below if you wish.
Welcome to issue #003 of The Handle, the first of 2026. Happy New Year, Happy Easter, and happy everything else in between (Auckland Anniversary Day? Valentine's day? The Royal Hobart Regatta?).
Here at True HQ we’ve hit the ground running with a big campaign for Heartland Bank, new biz, new babies, and new office layouts.
Work from the Heartland
Our first work for Heartland Bank started rolling out at the end of February, and includes a brand TVC, a total redesign, digital video (featuring the Mother of the Nation, Judy Bailey) and more. Huge thanks to everyone involved, check out LBB for the credits:
A sweet campaign for North America
At the end of last year, we launched a new campaign and redesign for Wedderspoon Manuka Honey. Check it out, it ran in Times Square*!
*It didn’t run in Times Square, that’s a bit of social magic
Welcome to a new baby Trubie
Ella and James Botherway introduced baby Gus to the world (or was the world introduced the world to baby Gus?). Congrats to them both; we’re sure Gus will be running client accounts in no time.
Young Lionesses
Jo & Jo (aka Jo²) spent the end of Feb entering the Cannes Young Lions competition. Briefing, concepting, filming, and submitting all within 48 hours. For those that don’t know, that involves a lot of dedication, a lot of smart thinking, and a lot of Powerade. Here’s the before and after.
A Chatt with Matt
Campaign Brief interviewed Matt Dickinson as part of their Hot Suit Takes series. Does the Frank Ocean song “Lost” define his career? You’ll have to read and find out here.
Open Tabs
The Colour Game
How well can you remember colours? Play this quick game and find out. Share your result on our LinkedIn if you like – at True, Jess Reihana got the high score (44). https://dialed.gg
McDonald’s NZ
From no-words to only-words, McCann (née DDB) NZ demonstrates how iconic McDonald’s really is. Imagine being so synonymous with a word that it’s all you need. Some great products, do a tasting now and save the rest for lunch.
https://lbbonline.com/news/mccann-new-zealand-mcdonalds-you-know-where
1 Dataset, 100 Visualizations
Danish data visualisation agency Ferdio shows how one simple dataset can tell 100 different stories.
https://100.datavizproject.com
AIGA NY Poster Archive
At the start of the year, the entire American Institute of Graphic Arts poster archive was made public.
https://designarchives.aiga.org/#/browse/color
Revival of the Fittest
As traditional TV integrates more elements from social media, social media integrates more elements from traditional TV. Revival of the Fittest is a realty TV show shot on an iPhone that lives in your Instagram feed.
“What’s so great about it is you see this intersection of a community in a third space, which has been a prevalent topic as of late.” - Johlida Van Schalkwyk
https://www.instagram.com/revivalofthefittest.tv
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