With Sean Wiggins, General Manager Marketing, Turners Auto Retail.
At our September session, we enjoyed an engaging and insightful talk from Sean Wiggins, General Manager of Marketing at Turners Auto Retail.
Sean took us through the remarkable transformation journey of Turners, New Zealand’s largest car retailer, and how the company reshaped both its brand and its culture to thrive in a noisy, highly competitive market.
Sean explained how Turners’ renewed focus on vision, values, and purpose helped anchor the organisation and pave the way for one of the most recognisable campaigns in recent years: Tina.
He walked us through the strategy behind creating advertising that actually lands, including how the idea came to life, the creative decisions that shaped the character, and why the campaign has continued to perform strongly across diverse media channels. Hearing the behind the scenes thinking behind such a well known campaign was a real highlight.
He also shared how Turners selects its media mix, striking a balance between budget, channel effectiveness, and the outcomes they’re targeting. The impressive results that followed—both in brand performance and business growth—underscored just how impactful a clear strategy and strong creative can be.
Alongside the campaign story, Sean offered a look into Turners’ broader marketing evolution, including the company’s digital transformation and the ongoing push to harness data more intelligently.
From building a marketing technology stack centred around a CDP to sharpening the customer experience across every touchpoint, Sean showed how continuous improvement has been key to driving both brand strength and profitability.
It was a genuine masterclass in brand building, effective advertising, and the power of culture-driven transformation — all enjoyed over a great lunch.