DNA Design celebrated its 21st back in 2010 and it’s still doing quality work—both on pages and In Real Life—for the likes of Powershop, Icebreaker and the All Blacks. Grenville Main has been there from the start and here’s what he made of last year.
1) Favourite campaign that isn’t yours
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WhrF_unlidw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WALXcNiCrEI actually love the new AA Insurance campaign (note – we did the brand/strategy), but the simple proposition and a stirring array of scenarios that make you just want to get things sorted via some great (and a bit of epic) storytelling in the TVC is great. The outdoor executions are simple, arresting and round it off for me.
2) Favourite campaign that is yours
It has to be the ‘Today’ brand campaign for AMP. We worked with Running with Scissors and Bloodhound Media to get AMP back on the horse and connecting with kiwis again. The campaign is running across TV and outdoor, with press and digital really throwing out some fantastic provocations – its about getting on to it today, and not putting things off.
3) Least favorite campaign
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LWMN7_8DfMSorry BNZ, it’s you. I loved the teasers, was intrigued by the launch execution (not liking its weird Hollywood back-lot setting which was sooo not ‘for NZ’), but was still attentive and hanging on for the good stuff. And then you lost me. A great idea still waiting to hit its straps and get real for Kiwis.
4) Best brand
Well, for me I’m loving Moa, as a brand and as product. The ads in the prospectus are inspired, the attitude and execution a delight, and not to forget their Olympic campaign which was a stroke of genius. It is starting to get the look of what 42 Below had when they really got a roll on.
5) Best stoush
Obama v Romney. And on a marketing level the fact that every bank aggressively went at National Bank customers after ANZ announced the merging of brands. It was nice to see some banter in market.
Related, but not so much a stoush (although I am sure there were some heated conversations during the process), but wasn’t it funny seeing all the banks play musical chairs with their advertising agencies at the start of 2012. And how predictable that the month of October became a very noisy month for brand advertising across the financial services sector. In that head to head, I have to say I think Westpac won, so well done DDB
6) Heroes
You could have the same under both Heroes and Vilians: Peter Jackson and Warner Bros. really have done an incredible job at promoting The Hobbit, but have they taken it too far? Is anyone else finding the fuss just a little overdone. And does Warner Bros really think it has the right to rebrand and run New Zealand to the point where all our tourism marketing has to be signed off by them? Middle-earth is fictitious, people.
7) Villains
See above
8) Most memorable marketing moment.
I think the way the country warmed to Ghost Chips, and the way it grabbed the attention of young people and became part of their social vocabulary was a pretty stunning moment. The fact that the campaign lost out to Mars NZ’s Doggelganger campaign at Axis was a travesty. Additionally big salute to Coke. To me brands are still about connections, and I liked the ‘Share a Coke’ campaign. A simple idea that would have driven strong sales and saw plenty of people searching Coke in the supermarket shelves looking for names. For many, Coke suddenly became personal.
9) A few predictions for 2013
Social will start to smell a little stale, clients’ marketing teams will get even younger, CXD will come of age and brands will start to focus on experience over selling.
