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D3's 2025 D3acons Awards celebrate team members who embody our core values of Innovation, Excellence, Commitment, Collaboration, Authenticity, and Fun. Meet this year's winners and discover why New Zealand's leading independent media agency focuses on people over industry accolades.

D3 on Google Marketing Live 2025: What AI Max, PMax and Demand Gen mean for media strategy, creativity, and performance.

Many organisations in New Zealand are experiencing the "performance plateau," where digital performance marketing, once highly effective, is now delivering diminishing returns. The key to overcoming this stagnation is a balanced strategy—combining brand-building efforts with performance marketing to drive both short-term sales and long-term growth. At D3, we advocate for a data-informed approach that moves beyond last-click attribution, incorporating traditional media and sophisticated measurement frameworks to create sustainable brand success.

Alex Radford reflects on D3's growth, challenges in NZ media, and the future of independent agencies in this NZ Herald interview.

By partnering with D3 and leveraging XPON’s Wondaris platform, UP Education saw impressive results: a 64% increase in online leads, a 28% reduction in Cost Per Lead, and a 24% rise in Click-Through Rate. This transformation enabled UP Education to deliver highly personalised ads, optimise audience targeting, and enhance campaign attribution—dramatically improving marketing efficiency across its network of schools.

As we near 2025, Google's dominance in search is being challenged by the rise of platforms like Amazon, TikTok, and AI-driven tools like ChatGPT. Amazon is capturing product search traffic, while TikTok is favoured by Gen Z for lifestyle content. AI assistants are reshaping search with direct answers, reducing reliance on traditional search engines. In response, Google has integrated AI with Project Gemini, though efforts to monetise it with ads have faced backlash. The search landscape is becoming more fragmented, requiring businesses to adopt multi-platform strategies to stay visible.