Obituary: Colmar Brunton CEO Harry Pappafloratos

He started his career working for Survey Research (now Research International) in the late-1970s, before moving into advertising with the agency Charles Haines and back into research for a decade with AC Nielsen in the 1990s.

Pappafloratos joined Colmar Brunton (which is part of Millward Brown) to open its Wellington office in 2003. He became CEO in 2009.

Company chairman Dick Brunton, who first met Pappafloratos at Survey Research, said: “I really enjoyed working with Harry. He was inspirational. He had great ideas and saw possibilities where others didn’t. His penchant for the white-board, fancy-dress and great events are legendary. He blended some advertising showmanship with marketing research – the mix was very attractive and, in my view, advanced the reputation of marketing research.

“More than that, he was a great person, kind, genuinely caring and compassionate and very well-liked and appreciated, not just in New Zealand, but beyond in the Millward Brown empire. He has touched so many lives, not just in health, but also when he walked through the valley of the shadow of death. His was a life well lived.”