Our Approach Starts with Understanding
Every agency has talented people, strong opinions and a different way of approaching the world.
Ours starts with a passionate curiosity.
Curiosity about businesses. Curiosity about people. Curiosity about what drives behaviour, creates growth and builds enduring brands.
We've always believed that the better you understand a client's business, customers and ambitions, the better the work will be. It sounds simple, but after years in this industry, I've become convinced that asking the right questions is often more valuable than having the quickest answers.
A Marketing Agency Built on Strategic Curiosity
Contagion was founded in 2010 and remains independently owned and partner led today. Our founder, Dean Taylor, is a former CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi New Zealand and a graduate of the London School of Economics.
Those experiences helped shape the agency, but what guides us every day is a belief that marketing should create genuine business value, not simply marketing activity.
That means spending time understanding the challenge behind the brief. Sometimes a client comes to us looking for a campaign. Sometimes they need a stronger brand position, a clearer proposition, a more effective media strategy or a fresh way of thinking about growth.
The solution is rarely obvious at the beginning, which is why we place such value on strategic thinking and collaboration before rushing towards answers.
Who Contagion Works With
Today, Contagion works with commercial organisations, government agencies and not-for-profit organisations throughout New Zealand and internationally.
Some are established market leaders looking for new growth opportunities. Others are challenger brands looking to compete more effectively. What connects them is a desire to solve important problems and a willingness to think differently about how they do it.
An Integrated Strategy, Creative, Media and Digital Agency
One of the reasons clients choose to work with us is our integrated approach. Strategy, creative, media and digital specialists work together from the beginning rather than operating as separate disciplines.
Customers experience brands as a whole, so we've always believed the thinking behind them should be connected too. Bringing those capabilities together helps create smarter solutions, stronger alignment and better outcomes.
A Commitment to Marketing Effectiveness
We're also passionate about the marketing profession itself.
Dean is a regular columnist for the New Zealand Marketing Association, sharing perspectives on marketing effectiveness, business growth and the role brands can play in creating competitive advantage.
We enjoy ideas, debate and continuous learning because the industry never stands still.
Long-Term Client Partnerships
Relationships matter just as much as capability. Some of our client partnerships have lasted for many years.
Trust takes time to build, and we've found the best work often comes from long-term relationships where clients and agency teams can challenge each other openly, share ambitions and work through complex problems together.
Over the years our work has been recognised through industry awards, which we're proud of. Awards are rewarding, but they're not the reason we're here. We're far more interested in helping clients grow, succeed and build stronger organisations over the long term.
Our Department of Happiness
Then there are the dogs.
Visitors to the office quickly discover that a number of four-legged team members have made themselves quite at home. They have little interest in marketing strategy, contribute selectively to meetings and are generally more focused on treats than business objectives.
They do, however, make the office a happier place and serve as a useful reminder that while we take our clients' challenges seriously, taking ourselves too seriously is rarely productive.
The Contagion Way of Working
Perhaps that's what sits at the heart of Contagion.
We're curious about business, passionate about ideas and ambitious for our clients. We believe good relationships lead to better conversations. Better conversations lead to better thinking. And better thinking leads to better outcomes.
That's how we've approached our work since 2010, and it's how Contagion continues to help organisations build stronger brands, grow customers and create long-term business value today.