July 6 2026, 12:01 am | BY Ricki Green | No Comments
Basketball is New Zealand’s fastest-growing sport – but that growth has come faster than there are coaches to match it. BNZ together with Colenso BBDO, is tackling the shortfall head-on, with a commitment to reach 20,000 community coaches, so every kid who wants to play can.
It’s the latest chapter in a partnership with Basketball New Zealand that began with BNZ’s sponsorship of the BNZ Kiwi Hoops programme – which resulted in an unimpressed Russell Westbrook asking BNZ to stop, fearing those kids would grow up to dunk on him. Since then, more than 90,000 kids have been on court through BNZ Kiwi Hoops, and the partnership with Basketball New Zealand was recently awarded Commercial Partnership of the Year at the New Zealand Sport and Recreation Awards.
Says Amy Phillips, GM Marketing & Design, BNZ: “Basketball’s popularity continues to grow at a rapid pace, and the next challenge is building the coaching bench so that our tamariki have access to the sport.
“There’s a generational barrier at play, a lot of us grew up playing rugby, netball or cricket, and there’s a perception that you need to have played basketball in order to coach it. With the tools and resources we’re making available alongside Basketball New Zealand, you don’t need to be a baller to be a great coach”.
In a campaign that reflects BNZ’s commitment, NBA legend Russell Westbrook still isn’t impressed.
Having already told BNZ to stay in its lane once, Westbrook returns to find the bank hasn’t listened – it’s invested further. In the new campaign, Westbrook appears to enthusiastically support BNZ’s coaching commitment, but the endorsement is laced with sarcasm.
Says Hadleigh Sinclair, Group Creative Director, Colenso BBDO: “Russell knows better than most what New Zealanders are capable of when they throw their full weight behind basketball. So, when BNZ decided to invest even more in the game by helping more New Zealanders realise they’ve got what it takes to coach, it felt only right to check back in and see what he thought.”
The integrated campaign went live Sunday 5 July across TV, cinema, OOH, social, digital, owned and internal channels.
Client: BNZ
Creative Agency: Colenso BBDO
Media Agency: Hearts & Science
Production Company: Good Oil
Director: Adam Gunser
Executive Producer: Andrew McLean
Managing Director: George Mackenzie
Offline Editor: Julian Currin
Grade: Matic Prusnik
Online: Stu Bedford
Sound: Franklin Rd – Shane Taipari
Photographer: Sacha Stejko @ Loupe Agency
Photographer: Peter Yang @ DS Reps