Shakira’s new ‘La La La’ music video, which doubles as three-and-half-minute advertisement for Activia yoghurt, has officially become the most-shared spot on the internet, knocking VW’s ‘The Force’ off its perch after three years.
In the 80s, after the rest of the world turned its back on David Hasselhoff, the German fans stuck with their bare-chested man. And although his slow-motion running along the beach and his talking car do play a part in this fame, it is in fact his singing career that has made him a staple on television screens in the country in the latter parts of the decade.
There has been a crazy number of brands trying to associate themselves with the World Cup in any way possible. What is awesome to see is brands using social media to jump on all things World Cup related as soon as they happen and put their own, brand related spin on them.
If Nielsen’s World Cup ratings are anything to go by, then it seems that the Kiwi appetite for football has grown over the last four years. On 13 June, 215,000 Kiwis tuned into TV One to watch the opening match of the tournament, a significant jump up from the 61,000 that tuned in for the 2010 opener in South Africa.
Tux, TVNZ and Greenpeace raise their bats and ackowledge the crowd this week.
In an effort to share the festivities with the Kiwis and expats who aren’t fortunate enough to be in Brazil for the World Cup, TVNZ’s Blacksand has set up an ad-hoc carnival in Auckland. Placing the seemingly innocuous duo of a mini-goal and a football alongside a ‘kick me’ sign, the Blacksand team waited out of sight, with their cameras ready, for any passersby to take the bait. Those who did kick the ball into the net were then caught off gaurd by an impromptu carnival made up of football players, samba dancers, capoeira performers and fans from all over the world.
Winston Reid is currently New Zealand’s favourite son. And, following DDB’s recent print ad, Dr Peter Richmond from the John Street Family Health Centre is probably a close second.
After the stunning All Whites victory last night, which 593,800 Kiwis watched on TV One and 150,500 watched on Sky, FIFA’s worst nightmare, a New Zealand vs South Africa final, is still on the cards. And while a range of lying geeks pull numbers out of the air in an attempt to quantify how much the “lost productivity” will cost the nation, stunning new research by StopPress reveals the victory has actually made the nation more than $45 million in terms of increased patriotism (text received after final whistle: “I am having kittens. I have died and gone to heaven. I love sports.”) and vuvuzela sales. Anyway, everyone knows the result of the match (apparently we’re part of Australasia now). But who’s winning the World Cup brand wars?
Twenty three of New Zealand’s top footballers received some good news this week when the All Whites squad was named to play at the Football World Cup in South Africa. And the sport as a whole also got some good news after Volkswagen signed on as a major partner of football in New Zealand.