Browsing: Brand

News
Report ranks New Zealand as world’s fifth strongest nation brand
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New Zealand’s combination of pride and self-doubt means we still seem to crave foreign endorsement. And a report by Brand Finance, which “specialises in brand valuation and strategy, evaluates the financial impact of the image and reputation of the top 100 countries”, has given it to us, showing New Zealand sits at number five on the list of healthiest country brands.

News
Ja, das ist gut: VW brings the weather with it, reaps rewards from more localised approach
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Not too long ago, Volkswagen was seen by Kiwis as a brand that was too expensive, too Germanic and too standoffish. So the European car maker set about changing that and, with the help of DDB NZ, it’s been making some serious inroads into the Kiwi market, with the 2011 results achieving records for both its passenger and commercial vehicles. Now the pair are hoping to continue the upward trajectory with a new series of ‘the same, but different’ TVCs running in the pre-weather spot on ONE News.

News
Researchers to marketers: don’t mount the business cycle
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One of the perennial bug-bears of the marketing industry is the fact that it’s often seen by the bean counters as a cost to be cut in times of economic hardship, rather than an investment that will pay off when things pick up. And, according to the research of a top marketing professor who’ll be speaking in Hamilton on Friday March 30 as part of the Excellence in Practice seminar series offered by Corporate and Executive Education at Waikato Management School, billions of dollars of shareholder value are destroyed each year by companies that tie their marketing budgets to the business cycle. 

News
Kiwi rum runners seek Kiwi rum runners in customs-busting PR stunt
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Back in 2008, swarthy old seadogs Roger Holmes and Jamie Duff ditched their fancy London day jobs and returned to New Zealand to launch Stolen rum. Since then, the sugary nectar has won a few awards, added names like Peter Gordon, Nick Worthingon, Brent Smart and James Hurman to the investor list and, through a combination of savvy PR and branding and a good product, is now stocked in a number of classy bars, swanky restaurants and luxury lodges. And, to launch a new rum variety called SX9 that’s aimed squarely at the hospitality industry, it’s taken a leaf out of the 42 Below book with a potentially controversial campaign enlisting the services of local mules to help smuggle its illegal contraband into Australia. 

News
Designworks sprinkles magic dust over Tait as new global identity unveiled
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Tait Communications is one of New Zealand’s best under-the-radar business success stories and is a great example of a local tech company finding its niche and selling its wares in the international market. And, in an effort to better reflect the company’s transformation into a “world-leading solutions provider” rather than just a radio manufacturer, Designworks Wellington has given it a spiffy new visual identity, slogan and website.

News
Fiji looks to go large as tourism office puts feelers out for global agency
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Barnes, Catmur & Friends won the Tourism Fiji account in mid-2009 and set out on its mission to grow New Zealand visitor arrivals from 100,000 per year to 120,000 by 2011. Since it took over, and despite the ongoing political uncertainty, arrivals have gone up 18 percent on the back of some good creative comms, including an enticing TVC, a billboard that showed how hot it was in Fiji during the New Zealand winter and a well-received Adshel promotion that ‘Fiji’ed’ a few hundred locals. But, despite these local results, Tourism Fiji has decided the best approach to “ensure the best possible return on the Fiji Government’s significant annual investment in marketing Fiji to the world and to effectively position Fiji competitively into the future” is to find a lead global advertising agency to develop and implement a new global masterbrand strategy. 

News
Kiwi cancer charity fights confusion and ‘compassion fatigue’ with new rebrand
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It’s tough being a charity at the moment. More charities mean there’s a heap of competition for the donated dollar, a drop in the level of donations seems to show that givers may be suffering from a form of ‘compassion fatigue’ that makes them immune to charitable overtures and, in many cases, there’s confusion about what the charity actually does, something evidenced by the story of the newly rebranded Leukemia and Blood Cancer New Zealand.

News
The parallel universe: how to protect your brand from ‘foreigners’
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Parallel importing. That’s been legal in New Zealand for ages, hasn’t it? Well, yes and no. If we’re talking about branded goods and not music, films or software, then parallel importing has been legal here since 2003 and it’s allowed traders to import genuine goods bearing a trade mark (think L’Oreal perfume or Sony cameras) that are sourced from an overseas supplier rather than the authorised distributor in New Zealand. So what legal weapons are available to local businesses whose investment is being put at risk by cheap imports? 

News
High-tech meets high-cut as Panasonic rebrands and embraces stubbies
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It’s coming into winter and the Christchurch rebuild will be kicking into gear soon, which means the heatpump advertising battle is, ahem, heating up. There’s already Stephen Fleming for Fujitsu, the bald guy holding a cat for Mitsubishi, the anthropomorphic door snakes for Toshiba and, recently, a creepy Dan Carter hanging on the wall for Daikin. Now, after Panasonic embarked on something of a spiritual journey with its agency Publicis Mojo to find out what core brand attributes and values it wanted to convey, there’s a new frontman to add to that list: stubby-wearing, bum-scratching Gerry. 

News
ANZ brand implementation grabs international nod
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While murmurings of a possible merger with the National Bank remain shrouded in secrecy, what is certain is that ANZ’s super-regional strategy, and more specifically the associated brand roll-out that comes with it, is doing something right after Asia-Pacific brand delivery company Diadem won an award for best brand implementation for its ANZ project as part of the seventh annual REBRAND 100 Global Awards.

Opinion
Quake conscious: telling the world New Zealand is still here
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Tourism was the country’s biggest earner in 2010, just nudging ahead of dairy and putting $9.5 billion into the nation’s coffers. And while New Zealand has rarely had to deal with image crises in the past, the recent quake in Christchurch and the ensuing media coverage will have a detrimental effect on visitor numbers. But, for all those patriotic souls out there, there are ways you can help to get the visitors coming back.

News
Word to the Earthwise
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When Tom Robinson was inspired to create a range of natural plant-based products back in the 1960s, hippies might have been the best he could have hoped for by way of customers. His inventive spark began in 1964 when he created an organic fertiliser. His creations quickly expanded to include a range of plant and mineral based home products, therapeutics, garden care and pet care, all born under the name Earthwise Group.

News
Personal vs professional: where do you draw the line online?
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After skipping last week’s #markchat due to the Pike River memorial, the Twitter stream will once again be flowing freely at 12:30pm today, with the topic being ‘personal authenticity vs professional brand – where do they meet and diverge?’ Also, for all those unable to ‘attend’ the chat, we’ll choose the five most salient/interesting comments made during #markchat and a link to the summary blog post.

News
Legend of the SEEK: Helen Souness on knitting, testing and risk-taking
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Helen Souness is the Kiwi marketing director responsible for managing SEEK, the hugely successful online trans-Tasman employment brand. She’s based at the company’s Melbourne HQ but regularly returns to New Zealand to develop and test campaigns and jumped back across the ditch last week to host a series of local marketing workshops and forums for SEEK’s diverse bunch of large and small advertisers, where she provided plenty of insights around how it became a celebrated employer and consumer brand.

Opinion
Writing for youth: what’s uncouth?
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Spencer Willis of Brand Spanking attended a few events over summer and lamented some of the insipid youth marketing efforts in this story. So who better to offer up six top tips on engaging youth audiences than Lil Cameron, a writer with 25 years experience in, well, growing up.

Awards
Nobody trusts you anymore
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Trust and loyalty are emerging as the biggest threats–and opportunities–for marketers in a post recessionary world.

Statistics from Sustainable Advantage, a research arm of Hayes Knight (now run by Nick Jones, former executive director of Nielsen Media Research), demonstrates this massive shift in consumer attitudes. Some 54 percent of respondents …