Our weekly wrap of good things, strange things, funny things and other things from inside the intertubes.
Browsing: Apple
English musician and performer FKA Twigs pulls out some sweet moves in a colourful and kooky ad for Apple’s HomePod.
Run me a bath Alexa, put the lights on dim and tell me the news. We take a look at the virtual assistant space and how Kiwi media organisations will be using Amazon’s Alexa.
Ipsos has released the results of its ‘Most Influential Brands in New Zealand’ study and technology brands lead the pack, with Google, Facebook and Microsoft taking the top three spots respectively, alongside four local brands.
Dow Design’s Simon Wedde argues that you should give branding a fair go.
As the smartphone market continues to heat up, Spark and Apple have teamed up to launch a new Trade Up campaign showing that all you need for a good time is an iPhone and a dog.
The Apple vs Android debate has hit the banks, as BNZ rolls out Android Pay with Krunch and Colenso BBDO in the wake of ANZ’s Apple Pay.
Apple has shown off the capabilities of its iPhone 7’s camera in low light in a new beautifully lit spot titled ‘Midnight’.
Today MediaWorks launched a new and improved version of its 3Now app for mobile and tablet including a new look and feel and upgraded functionality. We chat to MediaWorks chief information and product officer Tom Cotter about what users and advertisers alike can expect from the revamp.
Apple has long been considered a design genius, associated with powerful yet simple product and packaging design, innovation, and of course for drawing ridiculously long queues after every new iPhone launch. As part of Idealog’s AUT Alumni Profiles, Jonathan Cotton caught up with one of the people responsible, Apple creative director Andrew McKechnie, to talk about his past at Y&R and DDB in New York, to ending up in charge of a 60-strong team.
Having recently had himself 3D-printed as part of Spark’s promotional push for the release of the iPhone 6, Henry Oliver looks at whether the concept of queuing for readily available items might soon become a thing of the past.
Samsung has released its Samsung Galaxy Note5 and teamed up with designer menswear brand Working Style to promote the product in New Zealand, creating an analogy between the streamlined design of the device and the fine workmanship of a tailored suit via a TVC by Augusto.
The Apple Watch has, as expected, created plenty of chatter. And it’s now launched three TV ads showcasing what it can do—and, perhaps unintentionally, what it can stop.
FCB senior planner Keith Pinney looks at how electronic giants are harvesting our data while keeping one eye on the future in preparation for a time when the ones and zeroes we voluntarily relinquish become incredibly valuable.
It’s not unusual to see tears around Christmas, whether it’s due to a flying elbow from a competitive shopper at the mall, bad presents that just don’t hit the mark or drunken family sparring around the table. And Apple is embracing this potentially tearful time with a heart-string tugger of an ad via TBWA/Media Arts Lab and Park Pictures’ Lance Acord that shows a granddaughter sprucing up an old love song with the help of Apple technology as a gift for her grandmother.
When Apple first contacted the producers of ‘Sunday’, an independent film set in post-earthquake Christchurch, made by a group of New Zealanders and Australians, the producers weren’t surprised. What they’re doing is a world first in film distribution, and an experiment in tackling Internet piracy. As of 7 December, ‘Sunday’ will be the first independent film to be launched over five different distribution platforms at the same time.
After Apple announced the launch of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, Samsung came out firing (once again) with a comparative print ad that pointed out the next best thing was already here in the form of the Note 4. And its approach to promoting the Galaxy Tab S is similarly comparative.
One youtuber shows us that iPhones can be used for a lot more than just taking selfies and texting your BFFs.
While the press and pretty much anyone with a Twitter account seemed to jump on the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus launch like it was going out of fashion (it’s not), Samsung launched the Galaxy Note 4 this week with a notable lack of column inches in the press.
Rapper, producer and sound-based entrepreneur Andre ‘Dr Dre’ Young has just been named by Forbes as the 2014 Hip-Hop Cash King. And it’s the sale of Beats Electronic to Apple that put him in the top spot. PLUS: Beats by Dre’s celebrity-heavy advertising.
Despite Steve Jobs’ antipathy towards big screens, Apple launched the 14cm iPhone 6 Plus (and a couple of other things) last week. And Samsung, no stranger to taking swipes at its main mobile competitor, responded with a series of ads showing some disappointed Apple staff. Now it’s followed those up with another feisty spot that talks about the initial negative response to its big, “more productive, more innovative, more fun” Galaxy Note and the ensuing scramble from other manufacturers to follow suit.
Samsung has successfully take the fight directly to Apple—and the fans willing to line up for their new toys—with The Next Big Thing is Already Here campaign. And after Apple launched the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, as well as the Apple Watch this week, it’s continued the ribbing with a series of ads that show a couple of ‘geniuses’ discussing the new ‘innovations’.
Apple’s chief executive Tim Cook took to the stage this morning in Cupertino to launch the iPhone 6 (and its larger brother the iPhone 6 Plus) and the Apple Watch. It’s put a selection of videos from the launch on its YouTube channel, including a cool (and slightly controversial) clip about Perspective, Jimmy Fallon and Justin Timberlake showcasing the new phones, a lengthy explainer from lead designer Jonny Ive and a clip featuring U2.
Once again, the Apple acolytes are frothing at the mouth over the announcement of the new Apple Watch and iPhone 6 (the Oatmeal sums up what owning an Apple product is like quite well). But we prefer this wearable Apple ‘tech’.
Some brands might find it morally wrong to piggy back on a charity campaign but this doesn’t seem to have been an issue for Samsung in the UK.
At a time when Spark’s Digital Ventures unit is currently trialling a SmartHome system with a view to launch it in the market in early 2015, we are stepping ever closer to a time when our homes become automated entities that respond to what we are doing and where we are. So, in an effort to see what all the hype is about, Vanilla Brief director Ben Slater recently underwent a smarthome trial.
AJ Park patent specialists Anton Blijlevens and Jillian Lim touch on some interesting patents to look out for in the future.
The classic Mac vs PC campaign was a master-class in comparative advertising and helped cement the impression of Apple as a brand suited to those striving to be cool and Microsoft as a brand suited to those who wore cardigans. But Microsoft is fighting back with a bit of comparative advertising of its own and showing that its Cortana system is smarter than Siri.
Andrew Lewis thinks that despite 50 years of research, practice, learning and refinement, we are still pretty rubbish at creating great brands that genuinely connect with people. And he thinks the secret to rectifying this might lie in the teachings of Stanislavski.
Samsung loves poking fun at Apple and their fans. It has been a big focus in their ad campaigns over the last couple of years and they’ve just done it again with their latest spot, titled “Wall Huggers”.