Kim Thorp

Co-Owner Blackbarn Vineyards

Kim runs his own Communications, Marketing and Branding Consultancy – Kim Thorp Consultancy from Hawke’s Bay, New Zealand.He was a founding Partner of Assignment Group – a communications consultancy based in Auckland and Wellington where he worked directly on clients such as Tourism New Zealand, Kiwibank, Z Energy, Spark, Whittakers Chocolate, TVNZ, ACC and various Government related projects.He is a founding partner and shareholder of Antipodes Water Company – New Zealand’s only water company to receive acknowledgement from the United Nations for its environmental practices and three times being awarded best Sparkling water in the world.He is co-owner of Black Barn Vineyards Havelock North which consistently produces award winning wines, has 17 luxury retreats under its management and has a full summer concert and event season.Kim spent much of his career in Wellington where he was Executive Creative Director and finally Chairman of Saatchi and Saatchi New Zealand Limited at a time when the Wellington office was regularly judged as one of the top 10 advertising agencies in the world. He was the Australasian representative on the Saatchi Worldwide Creative Board for 12 years advising large global clients on strategic and communications platforms across multiple markets.He remains the only New Zealander to enter the Australasian Advertising Hall of Fame.