Auckland goes all out for pride via dentsu Aotearoa

Dentsu‘s partnership with pride festival ‘Big Gay Out’ this week delivered a celebration of community, creativity and connection.

As part of its sponsorship, dentsu launched the ‘dentsu Studio Suite’, a free interactive experience that combined creativity with media innovation.

Festival-goers were invited to capture and share what Pride means to them. Personalised messages of identity, belonging and community were then connected directly to D4, dentsu’s proprietary dynamic creative optimisation platform, enabling the messages to be amplified across five major outdoor sites in the city.

Delivered on what it set out to achieve

With more than 400 participants, messages were broadcast across billboards in the CBD, Karangahape Road, Newmarket and Parnell over five hours on Sunday, February 15.

Dentsu Aotearoa head of DE&I Lucciane Surtees says: “Our dentsu Studio Suite activation absolutely delivered on what we set out to achieve: amplifying the voices of the Rainbow community and shining a light on what truly matters to them.

“We typically run these types of activations for our clients rather than on behalf of dentsu itself, but this partnership felt like the perfect opportunity to genuinely ‘walk the talk’ and showcase how media, creativity and experience can deliver truly impactful results.

“We showed up to champion Tamaki Makaurau’s Rainbow community loud and proud, and it was a truly amazing experience for all involved,” she adds.

Share stories openly

The Burnett Foundation, primary organiser of the event, notes that the festival felt larger than ever, with dentsu’s activation and DEI employee team, playing a key role in amplifying community participation.

Leo, an employee from dentsu Aotearoa’s Rainbow Network, says: “Representing dentsu at ‘Big Gay Out’ 2026 meant so much to me.

“It was incredibly special to stand alongside the Rainbow community and help create a space where people could share their stories openly and proudly. Hearing what Pride means to others was genuinely heartwarming. It reinforced just how powerful it is when people feel safe to be themselves, and why visibility and support truly matter.”

The activation was delivered in collaboration with partners D4, Go Media and Bekon Media.

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