Browsing: Ross Howard

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BuzzDial: inside a local start-up’s mission to become ‘the Google analytics of TV’
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You can tell by the particularly un-Kiwi job title on Ross Howard’s business card (Senior Vice President of Product & Design) that BuzzDial, the fledgling tech start-up he co-founded with similarly accomplished digital media bods Tom Cotter and Geoff Devereux, is looking much further afield than the small local market. And with M-Com’s Adam Clark coming on board as chairman, Stephen Tindall’s K1W1 fund investing in the business and positive responses to the product from a number of global broadcasters, it seems to be off to a pretty good start.

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Greasing the wheels of goodness
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Back in May, Mercury Energy sent its experimental ‘Good Energy Taxi’ onto the streets of Auckland. At the time, Tequila’s main brains Ross Howard said the motorised version of a karma bank was a bit of a double whammee, with the experiential element meaning a range of Kiwis came into contact with the taxi—either in person or via social media—and the footage taken from inside the cab being made into a short documentary that captured some of the Kiwi good sorts. And now you can check that documentary out.

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It’s payback time: Tequila\ and ANZ deliver pecuniary justice, vanquish IOUs with Facebook app
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Using your phone as a payment device is something that’s been talked about for years but rapidly increasing smartphone uptake means it is now starting to come to fruition in New Zealand. ASB and TSB have recently come out with updated mobile payment technology, and plenty of other companies like Swipe HQ, Google and MasterCard have their own iterations hoping to render the wallet an anachronism. Now ANZ has upped its activity in this space as well with a Facebook campaign by Tequila\ that aims to drive new registrations for its goMoney iPhone app.

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Jump in my karma: Mercury’s Good Energy Taxi hits the streets to promote good deeds
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First Mercury and TBWA\ talked the Good Energy talk in February with the launch of a big TVC featuring Tiki Taane and his version of ‘Over the Rainbow’. And it’s backed that feelgood brand sentiment up in meat space as well, with all proceeds from downloads of the song going to Starship Foundation and a ‘good samaritan’ social experiment on the side of the road that showed how helpful Kiwis are. Now it’s taking the karma bank concept to the city streets with the Good Energy Taxi, where rides are paid for by good deeds rather than cash. 

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TVNZ and Tequila\ go grandstanding with RWC-themed social TV innovation
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In a world where the internet is rarely more than an arm’s length away, broadcasting is becoming increasingly social. TVNZ’s youth channel U claimed to offer New Zealand’s first technology-based integration of social media into TV with its U Live Facebook application and, as part of its Rugby World Cup ‘One Love’ campaign, TVNZ is tapping into the ‘second screening’ trend once again with Grandstand, “a pioneering web-based chat-room” built by Tequila\. 

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It’s life insurance, Jim, but not as we know it
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Life insurance is often seen as something of a morbid necessity and insurance companies often tap into the guilt factor to sell it. But Sovereign’s new campaign ‘Choose Life. Choose Sovereign’, which was developed by Whybin\TBWA and Tequila\ and continues a rebranding journey that began three years ago, aims to take a new, more positive stance on the role insurance plays in Kiwis’ lives with “a message of light-hearted empowerment”.

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TBWA\ and 2degrees wake the sleeping giant in Next Top Model, as MediaWorks trumpets solid June
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MediaWorks has been in the news a bit recently, with the unexpected departure of its TV wunderkind Jason Paris and continuing discussion about the sizable debts of its owner Ironbridge. But it’s not all bad: its two-channel strategy appears to be paying off in terms of share, ad revenue is up and general manager of integration Melanie Reece says the “sleeping giant” of branded content and product placement is starting to wake up, as evidenced by the success of New Zealand’s Next Top Model and the inclusion of new sponsors like 2degrees into the show. 

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Goodbyes, hellos and well dones…
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…as Kerry Smith is farewelled; Tequila finds its new general manager after a lengthy search; Mango adds three new fruits; and one of The Sweet Shop’s directors gets the nod for his film to premiere at the Cannes Film Festival. 

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Catalogues 2.0: TBWA\Tequila brings Super Rugby sales to life with interactive trickery
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Last year, TBWA’s executive creative director Andy Blood predicted the future of the industry and, in something of a mission statement for the agency following the loss of ASB, said it was all about bringing the creative ideas of the advertising world closer to the utility now offered by digital technology. Well, that’s what TBWA\Tequila has done with a cool new interactive video catalogue for adidas’ Super Rugby merchandise.