The Commercial Communications Council (Comms Council) has announced the 2026 AXIS Award winners, adding to Motion Sickness’ year of greatness.
Motion Sickness won both the Grand AXIS for The Māori Roll Call, created in partnership with Whānau Ora, and the Agency of the Year title. The agency also won five Gold, 10 Silver and 15 Bronze awards.
McCann, the newly formed combination of DDB and FCB, won seven Gold, 17 Silver and 28 Bronze.
Other notable winners were:
- Colenso BBDO with three Gold, four Silver and nine Bronze
- Special with Gold, six Silver and 10 Bronze
- Droga5 with one Silver and five bronze
- Pitchblack with two Silver and four Bronze
- Daylight with one Gold, one Silver and two Bronze
The winning work reflected a diverse range of creative approaches, from powerful storytelling that resonates with local communities to innovative executions that push the boundaries of the craft.
Motion Sickness founder and executive creative director, Sam Stuchbury, commented, “In our world at the moment, it’s so easy to move forward out of fear, in what-ifs, and worry, but I think at Motion Sickness our secret has been always moving ahead with confidence, excitement, and joy. We’re having fun. Thank you to the family here on this stage, or cult depending how you look at it, you worked so hard. What we wanted didn’t exist so we built it. And to the rest of this industry thank you for cheering from the sidelines for the past 10 years too. We felt it.”
Grand winners:
- Grand AXIS: The Māori Roll Call – Motion Sickness and Whānau Ora
- Craft Grand AXIS: Booze Maths – The Sweetshop and Waka Kotahi New Zealand Transport Agency
- Agency of the Year: Motion Sickness
- Production Company of the Year: The Sweetshop
- Client of the Year: Waka Kotahi New Zealand Transport Agency
Gold Winners:
- Motion Sickness:
- GRAND AXIS: Whānau Ora, The Māori Roll Call
- Karangahape Road Business Association, Karangahape Returns x 2
- Heart of the City, Straight to the Heart
- Whānau Ora, The Māori Roll Call x 2
- McCann Aotearoa (FCB Aotearoa)
- New Zealand Transport Agency, Waka Kotahi Speed Demons
- New Zealand Transport Agency, Waka Kotahi Booze Maths
- New Zealand Transport Agency, Waka Kotahi Speed Demons (Tailgator)
- New Zealand Transport Agency, Waka Kotahi Speed Demons
McCann Aotearoa (DDB Group Aotearoa)
Samsung NZ, The Worst Children’s Library x 2
Vogel’s, Toastcards
Colenso BBDO
Delivereasy, Crippled Pigeons
Delivereasy, Killer Bees
Delivereasy, Street Condoms
Special
National Cyber Security Centre, How Exposed Am I?
Daylight
The Spinoff, The Long Play
Download the full list of winners here (includes Craft, Silver & Bronze winners):
The ceremony also recognised Judy Thompson with the Outstanding Contribution Award, honouring her significant impact on the advertising industry in Aotearoa New Zealand, over decades as one of New Zealand’s most talented agency producers.
Special Winners:
- AXIS Student Challenge: Drop Zone Clinic Mary Crowe & Emma Clipstone
- Craft Emerging Talent: Liv McClymont
- Advertising Emerging Talent: Zac Riddell and Willow Whitham
