Browsing: Barnes Catmur & Friends

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Barnes Catmur & Friends moves into Dentsu Aegis office, launches ‘Commute-ulator’ to guide visitors to the address
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The crew at Barnes, Catmur & Friends this week moved into the Dentsu Aegis office space this week and they’re obviously a little concerned that clients and visitors will struggle to find their way to the new spot at 109 Cook Street. In a bid to guide people to the location, they have launched a digital contraption dubbed the ‘Commute-ulator’, which gives travellers an indication of how long it will take them to arrive at the office.

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Not quite Kiwi, but still Kiwi as: Subaru trumpets its connection to New Zealand
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Subaru might hail from Japan, but the car brand has done a pretty solid job of integrating itself into the local landscape over the last few decades. Whether it’s on the rally track, in suburban Auckland or on some desolate beach up north, you don’t need to look far to see the blue and silver insignia pasted onto a vehicle. It’s this connection to the local market that Barnes, Catmur & Friends was looking to tap into in a new 60-second spot for the brand.

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Road warriors, come out and play: Tower taps into Kiwis’ competitive streak with SmartDriver Battle
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Until the driverless car finally arrives to take over from us, we’re stuck with humans behind the wheel. But the robots are already here to a degree, with computers reacting to keep us safe on the road and data being collected from connected cars and smartphones that can tell us how we’re driving. Some (mostly liars) see that data collection as slightly concerning, others see it as potentially useful, and insurance is one sector that has started to embrace it by giving discounts to less risky clients. Tower Insurance launched its SmartDriver app last year and offered up to 20 percent off premiums for safer drivers. Now, via its new agency Barnes Catmur & Friends, it’s drawing attention to the app and its benefits by asking people to take part in a SmartDriver Battle.

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Inside: Barnes, Catmur & Friends
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Back in 1996, Daniel Barnes started up his own agency. In 2008, he was joined by Paul Catmur, who moved down the road from his role as ECD at DDB to fight the independent fight. And seven years on, Barnes Catmur & Friends has established a solid reputation for pumping out effective work, its in-house media model is catching a bit of attention and some big clients have come knocking recently.

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You’re dreamin’: Sleepyhead, Slumberzone and Sealy’s attempts to sell sleep
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No doubt the bed makers were happy to see Arianna Huffington extolling the virtues of sleep, lambasting the burn-out culture of the corporate world and promoting the idea of nap rooms at work during her recent visit to New Zealand. And here are a few recent efforts to get Kiwis buying a new rest station from a vampirical Sleepyhead, a rugby-loving Slumberzone and a design-savvy Sealy.

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Jetstar continues to back its performance—and try to change perceptions—with the Punctuality Promise
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Jetstar has been doing its darndest to shift perceptions among some Kiwis travellers that the low-cost airline is cheap for a reason, with its last campaign offering $24,000 worth of flight vouchers and drawing attention to the fact that, despite a reputation for unreliability, it was named New Zealand’s most punctual domestic airline in 2013. And it’s backing itself once again, offering a $25 voucher to all passengers if a domestic flight during the next eight days arrives more than ten minutes later than scheduled.

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The fruits of Friends Electronic’s artistic labour offer some audio-visual BOTAB inspiration
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The hair is being groomed and the guitars are being tuned for tonight’s Beatles-themed Battle of the Ad Bands at the Kings Arms, and while the winner of the last two year’s events, Barnes, Catmur & Friends’ Friends Electric, is out of the running this year (all the members are thought to be pursuing solo projects after a huge falling out, with Daniel Barnes going through his Sting phase and focusing on the lute), it’s an opportune moment to show off the saucy full-length music video the band made as part of its prize from its win in 2012.

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Hell launches its next wild pizza, embroils Aussies in kangaroo hostage drama
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When Hell launched its rabbit pizza a few months back, Barnes, Catmur & Friends created the world’s first rabbit skin billboard to promote it. That caught plenty of attention and helped generate some impressive sales stats and now Hell is back with its next wild pizza, the kangaroo-laced Boomer. And this time its marketing campaign consists of holding Australia to ransom.

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Boosting staff morale, BC&F-style
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Whether it’s free drinks, new mobile devices, early finishes on Fridays in summer or maybe even a share in the company, there are a number of strategies employed by agencies hoping to get a bit more out of their staff. But Barnes, Catmur & Friends has taken an old-school approach with a tongue-in-cheek employee of the month scheme. And the first winner is creative Brad Stratton, in recognition of “excellence in haircut”.

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Hell brings new meaning to billboard skin for rabbit pizza launch
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We’ve seen see-through billboards, exploding billboards and bleeding billboards. And now we’ve got an animal-skin billboard, with Hell and Barnes, Catmur & Friends celebrating today’s launch of the new smoked rabbit pizza with an outdoor execution (perhaps quite literally) made entirely out of leftover rabbit skins.

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The double entendre continues as Barnes, Catmur & Friends enlists Pamela Anderson for new ‘Crack a Woody’ campaign
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Technically, sex and alcohol aren’t meant to mix when it comes to advertising alcohol. That hasn’t stopped it from happening quite regularly over the years, with the Tui girls and an erection pun from Independent Liquor’s Woodstock brand treading a fine line. But Barnes, Catmur & Friends has continued the ‘Crack a Woody’ joke with a big new campaign featuring former Baywatch star and PETA crusader Pamela Anderson.

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Special Group harnesses the power of needlework to tell the tale of Barnes, Catmur & Friends
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In the early days of America, it’s thought the colonisers gave blankets to the native Americans as gifts, but added in a surprise in the form of smallpox. And Special Group, as part of the Axis Share the Love campaign, has done something similar (without the murderous intent) by creating a “nine-panel, hand-crafted tribute” to Barnes, Catmur & Friends and lacing it with a dose of good-natured cheekiness.

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As 2013 BOTAB looms, 2012 winners Friends Electric release new single, change name, give local ’70s classic the Krautrock treatment
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As part of last year’s Battle of the Ad Bands, the winning band, Barnes Catmur & Friends’ Friends Electric, ate the 50 gallons of personalised ice cream and drove the Audi slightly above the speed limit. They were also given a recording session at Neil Finn’s Roundhead Studios and had a music video filmed. So, as the industry gears up for this year’s musical showdown tonight at the Kings Arms, what better time to reveal the fruits of that labour.

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BOTAB 2013 gets set to shred
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The most important night on the advertising calendar looms once again. And if the Battle of the Ad Bands registration poster is any gauge, it looks like it’s going to be a twerk fest this Thursday at the Kings Arms Tavern. So make sure you get your tickets.

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Colenso BBDO locks down Samsung, farewells Fisher & Paykel
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Colenso BBDO has formalised its relationship with Samsung and will be the agency of record for all its various divisions, making it one of the few markets in the world where the Korean behemoth isn’t aligned with a Leo Burnett agency. But it means the agency has had to say goodbye to a long-time client, Haier-owned Fisher & Paykel.

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Hell nails a unique cease and desist notice to Pizza Hut’s door
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Condom-based promotions, racist ads for brownies, accusations of franchisee bullying, awarding sex crimes with prizes on social media … Hell Pizza has often been on the wrong side of the authorities over the years for its controversial marketing stunts. But the shoe is on the other foot now and, in quintessentially cheeky Hell style, it’s sent a “cease, desist and go sit in the corner” letter to one of its major competitors, Pizza Hut.

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