FlexiTime has appointed Thompson Spencer Group to lead media, search and content across its PayHero and Droppah brands in New Zealand, Australia and global markets.
The appointment follows a competitive pitch and covers performance media, SEO and AI search visibility, content production, data and measurement, with brand strategy and campaign development to follow.
Work is already underway through Thompson Spencer’s performance arm, Reason, as FlexiTime looks to scale PayHero in New Zealand while accelerating Droppah and Karmly in New Zealand, Australia and global markets.
Brent Spicer, President, FlexiTime, said Thompson Spencer stood out during the pitch for challenging the business rather than simply responding to the brief.
“We’ve built products that Kiwi businesses genuinely rely on, and we have a clear ambition for where we take them next, at home and globally. Thompson Spencer didn’t just tell us what they would do differently. They showed us what wasn’t working and what it was costing us. That kind of honesty is rare in a pitch, and it’s the reason we appointed them.”
“FlexiTime is exactly the kind of ambitious business we love working with. They’ve got brilliant products, big growth plans on both sides of the Tasman and, importantly, they’re up for challenging how things have always been done,” said Melanie Spencer, Group CEO of Thompson Spencer.
“We went into the pitch saying, ‘Don’t spend another dollar until we know every dollar is working as hard as it possibly can.’ That means getting the data and measurement humming, then bringing performance, search, content and creative together around the same growth goal. That’s the magic of working with Thompson Spencer – we’ve got incredible specialists sitting side by side, and when you unleash all of that firepower on one business problem, things move fast.”
The appointment comes as the payroll and workforce software category undergoes changes, with New Zealand’s leave legislation being standardized across payroll systems ahead of a national go-live in 2028. The release also said the way software buyers discover and assess providers is shifting as AI assistants become another route to information and recommendations.
“The old playbook of chucking more money into Google and expecting growth is done. And this category is about to get really interesting,” said Tim Pointer, Co-Founder, Thompson Spencer.
“AI is fundamentally changing how people find and choose software. Increasingly, your first interaction with a potential customer isn’t happening on your website or in a search ad, it’s happening inside an AI answer. If your brand isn’t being surfaced, cited and recommended there, you’re not even making the shortlist. That completely changes the job. We need to understand what’s driving performance, kill what isn’t, and make FlexiTime impossible to ignore wherever people are researching and making decisions. That’s a challenge we’re absolutely fizzing to get into.”
