Two of the most talked-about campaigns of 2025 — Make New Zealand the Best Place in the World to Have Herpes and Better on a Better Network — will be unpacked live on stage at This Way Up, AWARD’s festival of creativity, taking place in Sydney from August 12–14.
The Work Behind The Work will reveal how the year’s most celebrated ideas came to life and what it really takes to pull off world-class creativity. It will be followed by Creative Impact Unpacked, presented by WARC, offering Cannes Lions insights into the campaigns delivering the biggest business results in 2025.
“Behind every piece of metal is a mess of late nights, big bets, brave clients and brutal feedback. AWARD will pull back the curtain on that reality, not just to celebrate it, but so the industry can learn from it,” says AWARD Chair Mandie van der Merwe. “If we want more campaigns like these, we need to understand what really goes into making them.”
NEW SPEAKER SESSIONS: THIS WAY UP (AUG 12)
AWARD Presents The Work Behind The Work
Spotlighting the teams behind the trophies, this exclusive session will dive into the chaos, craft and creative courage behind two of the year’s most awarded campaigns:
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• New Zealand Herpes Foundation – Make New Zealand the Best Place in the World to Have Herpes
Motion Sickness’ Sam Stuchbury (ECD & Founder) and FINCH’s Alex Robert (Director) will reveal how a bold idea for the NZ Herpes Foundation became a global sensation, collecting two Cannes Grand Prix and sparking millions of conversations.
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• Telstra – Better on a Better Mobile Network
Micah Walker (CCO & Founder) and Emma Wright (Lead Producer) from Bear Meets Eagle on Fire, and Revolver’s Michael Ritchie (MD & Co-Owner) will take audiences behind the scenes of the Telstra campaign that won the Grand Prix in Film, showing how irreverence, humanity and high craft turned a utility message into a creative showstopper.
WARC Presents Creative Impact Unpacked
WARC’s Senior Vice President of LIONS APAC, Ed Pank, will present new findings from the 2025 Cannes Lions, exploring the creative strategies driving business results. From “unshittifying” the customer experience to the rise of bold, repeatable ideas, this session unpacks why consistency is the new creative superpower and what it takes to blend brand and performance in today’s fragmented world.
This Way Up is proudly supported by Meta, LinkedIn, OMA and TalentPay.
For tickets and updates, visit www.thiswayup.com.au