He was formerly a strategic planner in the advertising industry, leading planning at Colenso BBDO before becoming Managing Director of Y&R New Zealand, then founding innovation studio
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James’ advertising work has won more than 50 local and international marketing effectiveness awards, including numerous gold Effies and Effectiveness Agency of the Year awards, a Cannes Creative Effectiveness Lion, and the Asian Marketing Effectiveness Awards Platinum award.
In 2013, he was named the world’s number one planning director by The Big Won Report. His 2011 book
The Case for Creativity explored his and others’ research showing that more creative companies, agencies and campaigns achieve significantly better commercial results.