The “wolves in sheep’s clothing”, aka scammers, are far too common. Spark works hard behind the scenes to help keep customers safe. But how to present that to people in a way that makes the “invisible” visible.

Colenso BBDO tells a story everyone knows. The wolf in sheep’s clothing story. The campaign brings common NZ scams to life as wolves in disguise, striking a deliberate balance between a serious message and engaging accessible storytelling to maximise cut-through. Created with Buck, the hero commercial takes viewers behind a phone screen, uncovering an animated world where millions of devious scammers are thwarted by Spark’s network and team of defenders.

Leela Ashford, chief brand and corporate affairs officer at Spark, commented, “Our new campaign is designed to bring greater visibility to the extensive, largely unseen work happening across Spark’s network to protect New Zealanders from online threats. While these protections operate in the background, they play a big role in the everyday safety of our customers. In the last 12 months alone, Spark has blocked more than half a billion[1] online threats across our network, including more than 1.2 million scam calls, and over 11.3 million attempts to access malicious websites. Since we implemented our SMS firewall, we are now blocking text scams five times faster, with around 1.6 million scam text messages blocked so far.”

Kimberley Ragan, group creative director at Colenso BBDO, added, “Trust is one of the most valuable things a brand can build, and Spark has a powerful security story to tell. The challenge was making that story simple and distinctive, especially when people are accustomed to seeing scammers as shadowy figures in hoodies. With the help of the very talented team at Buck, we created a tilt-shift world filled with scammer wolves, turning a complex security capability into something New Zealanders can instantly understand and remember.”

The Aotearoa-wide campaign, designed by PHD Aotearoa to reach people across generations, covers AV, out-of-home, digital, social and in-store placements, alongside shorter educational content designed to help people recognise common scams.

Beyond the creative, the campaign is underpinned by Spark’s broader Safety and Security ecosystem – combining large-scale network protection with practical tools and education.

Credits: 

Client: Spark NZ
Creative Agency: Colenso BBDO
PR Agency: Anthem PR
Media Agency: PHD 
3D Animation: Buck Design Australia
Film Production Company: Supernormal NZ Limited 
Director: A.J Greenwood
Music: Mahuia Bridgman-Cooper
Sound: Franklin Road