It’s been a watershed year for APN NZ, with the Herald’s shift to tabloid and the resulting campaign by DraftFCB, a new nzherald.co.nz, the launch of The Listener’s digital subscriptions and restructures of the IT, editorial and marketing departments. Chief operating officer Todd McLeay, the man who swapped the comparatively easy job of selling Lotto tickets for positioning a newspaper for the rather uncertain future, looks back on an eventful 2012.
1) Favourite campaign
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWAK0J8UhzkWe love ‘Driving Dogs’, the SPCA awareness campaign where dogs were taught to drive. Amazing. I can’t wait to get pulled up coming home from the APN Christmas party with Fido at the wheel.
2) Least favourite campaign
WE DON’T LIKE BEING SHOUTED AT. You know who you are. Also, Hobbits. I flew back from Australia recently and had the inflight video/Middle-earth landing experience at the airport. Cringe.
3) Best brand
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZfkSAQWz9E
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krVyFHcfjt8Toyota continue to do the business (love that nine lives advert by the way). And 2degrees. Thank you both for being engaging and making life seem simpler.
4) Best stoush
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QlwilbVYvUgObama vs. that other guy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SlfPtwrwhm4Apple vs. Samsung.
5) Heroes
Geoff Ross. Not just for Moa but for being the approachable guiding light in an industry our country badly needs more of (marketing, not beer!)
CFOs who “get it”.
Harry Pappafloratos, Colmar Brunton’s chief executive who passed away earlier this year.
6) Villains
FMCG companies. Surely you should be giving customers even deeper discounts (yes, this is an attempt at humour).
The people who made all the EFTPOS terminals different so you never know where to stick the card.
7) Most memorable marketing moment
ANZ/National Merger. Take a bow team.
8) A few predictions for 2013
If you think the mobile revolution is well advanced, think again. It’s just the start and 2013 will be the year of the mobile—again. Also, Cookie Crunch, a big issue coming down the pipe after European privacy legislation asking for publishers to get permission for using cookies that will have an impact on ability to do re-targeting.