Not just a career

New Zealand's schools needed more specialist support and to help meet the growing needs of learners, the Ministry of Education looked to attract experienced specialists from overseas. We needed to position Aotearoa as somewhere people could build not just a career, but a great life too.

Rather than focusing solely on job opportunities, we recognised that people considering a move across the world were making a much bigger decision. This wasn’t about just choosing an employer. But choosing the kind of future they wanted for themselves and their whānau.

Our target audiences were special education advisors, psychologists and speech language therapists and special. To them, New Zealand offered something genuinely different: a chance to practice within a values-led education system, grounded in te ao Māori through He Pikorua, while raising their children in a country known for its sense of community, connection, and balance. The common thread was the opportunity to put down roots and begin a meaningful new chapter.

To bring that to life, we let real stories do the talking. Through authentic voices and lived experiences from those that had taken the step to start their story here. The campaign showed what it truly means to live, work and belong in Aotearoa. By shaping the narrative this way, it was a real chance to bring our own Tiriti-dynamic framework to life. Creating with people who’ve lived the stories we’re telling. And testing them throughout each step of the creative process to make sure we remained centred to the needs of our client.

The response exceeded expectations and the ministry saw a huge number of enquiries from specialists across all target audiences. More importantly, the campaign connected with the people it was designed to reach by presenting New Zealand not simply as somewhere to work, but somewhere to belong.