Local Ad Agency Hosts 5-Hour Strategy Workshop, Accidentally Launches New Religion
In what insiders are calling 'Tuesday', Auckland agency CoCreateTogether accidentally formed a full-blown spiritual movement during its quarterly Brand Purpose Alignment Seminar, previously scheduled to include a waffle bar and an 80-slide deck on consumer empathy archetypes. The event, intended to revitalise client engagement for a struggling oat milk startup, spun wildly out of scope when a junior strategist—rumoured to be on day three of a full juice cleanse—declared that 'brands aren’t made, they’re birthed through shared suffering.'
According to several attendees, the session began like any other, with gentle reposting of Naomi Klein quotes and deeply personal anecdotes about yoghurt. The turning point arrived during a breakout session titled 'Persona Mapping Through Inner Child Retrieval', when a group sketching exercise led participants to merge Carl Jung’s shadow self concept with the IKEA Loyalty Card programme. By lunchtime, attendees were bowing to a roughly drawn mascot called ‘Caffy’—a capybara holding a reusable coffee cup—believed to represent the sacred consumer.
By 2pm, agency leadership had approved a new business model described as 'mystical DTC with quarterly rituals', and a Slack channel named #we-are-the-campaign emerged with surprisingly coherent theological doctrine. CoCreateTogether is now in informal talks with TVNZ for a seven-part documentary series and, reportedly, have asked Air New Zealand about chartering flights for the group’s first pilgrimage to the Karangahake Gorge.
Meanwhile, the oat milk client has requested a revised media spend and a $50k budget for branded incense. The agency has responded with a single line email: 'It is already happening.'
According to several attendees, the session began like any other, with gentle reposting of Naomi Klein quotes and deeply personal anecdotes about yoghurt. The turning point arrived during a breakout session titled 'Persona Mapping Through Inner Child Retrieval', when a group sketching exercise led participants to merge Carl Jung’s shadow self concept with the IKEA Loyalty Card programme. By lunchtime, attendees were bowing to a roughly drawn mascot called ‘Caffy’—a capybara holding a reusable coffee cup—believed to represent the sacred consumer.
By 2pm, agency leadership had approved a new business model described as 'mystical DTC with quarterly rituals', and a Slack channel named #we-are-the-campaign emerged with surprisingly coherent theological doctrine. CoCreateTogether is now in informal talks with TVNZ for a seven-part documentary series and, reportedly, have asked Air New Zealand about chartering flights for the group’s first pilgrimage to the Karangahake Gorge.
Meanwhile, the oat milk client has requested a revised media spend and a $50k budget for branded incense. The agency has responded with a single line email: 'It is already happening.'