Chins have been stroked, cases have been put, voices have ben raised and chocolate thins have been consumed. Which can mean only one thing: the winners have been chosen for the StopPress/MediaWorks TVC of the Year.
Television viewing in New Zealand is at its highest ever level and television advertising took the top spot off newspapers for the first time ever last year according to the ASA ad revenue figures. So reports of its death appear to be, as the saying goes, greatly exaggerated. Of course, recording technology means interruptive advertising ain’t what it used to be and you can’t just buy attention like you used to, but despite the many digital distractions that are now available to brands and agencies, the power of a good TV ad is still unquestionable, primarily because it is one of the best ways for brands to convey emotion, tell stories and, in most cases, get their messages in front of as many humans as possible.
A couple of weeks back, a group of ridiculously good looking, extremely important and intimidatingly intelligent advertising, marketing and media folk from Skyline Garages, Barnes, Catmur & Friends, ThinkTV and StopPress took a wee trip to the new and particularly classy Auckland Viaduct establishment Snapdragon to celebrate a famous, if slightly controversial, victory in the inaugural Think TV TVC of the Year competition with a good old-fashioned long and fairly wet lunch. We promised some photos of this auspicious event to inspire jealousy (and possibly even vitriolic comments), so fill your boots. And if you’re looking for a venue for your next event (or power lunch), we can assure you Snapdragon is a very good option.
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While Skyline’s animated ode to garages took out our TVC of the Year award, it’s clear the ad won because of a concerted effort from the company’s staff and suppliers. Some felt it was a tribute to the passion and pride the employees have in the small company, but others felt the ‘win by any means necessary’ approach was slightly embarrassing, wasn’t in the spirit in which the award was set up and didn’t accurately reflect the best, most popular ad of the year. It was within the rules, but if you’re in the latter camp, then it’s fair to say Lotto’s ‘Lucky Dog’ by DDB and The Sweet Shop was the ‘pseudo-winner’, as it was leading the polling by a fairly large margin up until the last couple of days. And with five other DDB creations also making it into the top ten, DDB had an impressive overall showing, something executive creative director Toby Talbot says can be put down to the power of solid client relationships.
You chose ’em. And here they are. A few surprises in the mix, most notably the fact that little old Skyline got more votes than DDB’s epic canine adventure for Lotto (which is closing in on one million views on YouTube) in the TVC of the Year poll. The much-discussed brand ad for New World by .99 took 13th spot, ahead of Colenso’s ‘V Pomparkour’ and Genesis ‘Pukekos’ by DraftFCB came in near the top at fourth. Not too surprising, however, is the fact that six ads made by DDB, an agency renowned for its excellent TV work, made it into the top ten.
Despite the beliefs of slightly extremist doomsayers who claim television is dying and the days of big brand ads and mass awareness marketing are over, most would agree that television commercials are still one of the most effective ways for brands to convey emotion, tell stories and, in most cases, get their messages in front of humans. Since StopPress was sent into the wild in September 2009, we’ve been celebrating that collision of art and commerce in our TVC of the Week section, which, as the name suggests, showcases what we deem to be the best locally-created TV ad(s) of the past seven days. It’s supremely unscientific, of course: it has nothing to do with research, testing or sales figures, it’s simply based on gut feel; on whether an ad is funny, beautiful, engaging, well-made, memorable, creative or occasionally even so bad it’s good. Well, now we’re taking it a step further with the first annual StopPress/ThinkTV TVC of the Year Award. So get in there and vote for the ads that have tickled your fancy in the past year.