Amanda Palenski
Managing director
PHD
New Zealand
From her 1992 role in the advertising department at The New Zealand Herald to collecting multiple Cannes Lions, Amanda Palenski has devoted her award-winning career to pursuing excellence in media and embedding creativity as the ultimate foundation for business success.
After moving agency-side in 1994, Palenski spent a decade in Europe working for a specialised charity agency and in purpose-led communications, strengthening her understanding of storytelling and impact beyond commercial outcomes. Returning to New Zealand in 2007, she joined PHD in 2008 and progressed steadily through leadership roles.
Her career reached a defining milestone when PHD created a bespoke role for her — Creative Integration Lead — to harness her passion for creativity within an increasingly data-driven media landscape. She identified a critical industry shift: as marketing science and technology dominated, the human element of creativity risked being sidelined. She established structured creative accelerators including ‘The Hour of Magic’, ‘Month of Magic’, and bespoke brainstorming processes that are now core agency practice, influencing hundreds of briefs annually.
Under her leadership, creativity became a recognised competitive advantage for PHD NZ. She personally drove three Cannes Grand Prix-winning campaigns, and the agency achieved WARC’s number-two global media agency ranking and number-one global media campaign ranking. Meanwhile, clients specifically requested her for pitches they won.
Palenski inspires through empowerment rather than hierarchy. She consistently reinforces that creativity is a shared capability, creating conditions for others to do their best work.
To Quote: "Amanda shapes culture as powerfully as she shapes campaigns. Empowering, generous and principled, she balances accountability with genuine care for people and craft.” -Nikki Grafton, CEO, Omnicom Media NZ
