Health New Zealand – Aupiki Health Message Videos
Changing the conversation around alcohol and performance
When Health New Zealand’s Amohia te Waiora initiative needed to get important health messages across to rugby communities throughout Aotearoa, they turned to the people best placed to deliver them—those already inside the changing room.
The brief was both simple and vital: create four short, impactful videos with Super Rugby Aupiki club staff that speak directly to the link between alcohol and athletic performance. These videos would be delivered back to Heartland Rugby Unions—those proud, community-based clubs spread throughout regional New Zealand—with each Aupiki team effectively becoming a champion voice for their respective union regions.
Filming on familiar turf
SHINY travelled across the motu, filming on location in Upper Hutt, Hamilton, Christchurch, and Auckland, collaborating with staff from:
Hurricanes Poua
Chiefs Manawa
Matatū
NIB Blues
Each video was captured in a high-performance training environment—a gym or club facility—where our interviewees were most at ease. We kept things stripped back and conversational: an off-camera interviewer, a focused lens, and time and space for the kōrero to go deeper. No scripts. No fuss. Just thoughtful, honest reflections from subject matter experts including coaches and nutritionists on the role alcohol can play in sport, and how that’s shifting.
From elite to grassroots
What made this project particularly meaningful was its circular design. Each Aupiki club’s video was created with a specific set of regional Heartland Unions in mind. For instance, the Matatū staff’s kōrero will go directly to players from Buller, Mid Canterbury, South Canterbury, North Otago, and West Coast, strengthening the link between elite and grassroots rugby in a practical and authentic way, and reinforcing aspirational pathways for players.
The tone of the videos was kept real: these weren’t moralising messages, but straight-up chats about recovery, professionalism, and wellbeing—delivered by those already walking the walk.
Cut with care
We stitched each three-minute piece together with training footage and with additional content where available from club content teams. The result is a set of clean, engaging interview-led videos that feel as grounded and real as the people in them.
We’re proud to have worked alongside Health New Zealand on this kaupapa. It’s not every day you get to help shape conversations that matter across generations of players—on and off the field.
