Monthly Archives: May, 2010

News
Six billion, six schmillion
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Me, worry? TV3’s director of marketing and communications Roger Beaumont is unfazed by a recent sideswipe from the New Zealand Herald suggesting a striking similarity between a line on the station’s new ‘serious news journalism’ TVC –  “Six billion stories…and counting”  – and SBS’, Australia’s multicultural and multilingual radio and television service, tagline “Six billion stories and counting”.

News
A Chorus of approval
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Who it’s for: Chorus/Telecom by Chameleon TV

Why we like it: A little bit of self-deprecation from the cable layers. Looks like the battle for the fibre optic network is starting to heat up. And it’s the first Telecom advertising we’ve seen on the …

News
Air New Zealand wins thing, again
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Air New Zealand has continued its purple patch, picking up a few more global industry accolades over the weekend after being chosen as Best Airline Australia/Pacific and handed the Staff Service Excellence Award for the Australia/Pacific region at the Skytrax World Airline Awards, a ‘passenger’s choice’ style awards for airlines.

News
Young creatives trade futures (for money)
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Raising funds is a tough business. Some sell cheese rolls. Some sell sausages in bread. But TBWA’s Tara McKenty and Iain Nealie have taken an altogether different approach: they’re selling themselves – or, at least, their future – in the form of made-up stocks.

Opinion
E-soothsayer peers into crystal ball, sees tech future
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This week I had the pleasure of doing a repeat performance at the Marketing Association’s network of executive marketers event. Last year I gave my take on some of the things I thought were about to be big in the technology space (it’s interesting to look back on one’s predictions). And the task was just as daunting the second time around. How do you pick out just a few interesting trends from the plethora of new things available? Well, I just turned to what’s being talked about, not just things we’re on about at the moment, but things we can see a good body of evidence for internationally.

Awards
Mizrahi tickets still available, likened to hotcakes
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Mike Mizrahi, one half of the world-class, New Zealand-based event and production company, Inside Out Productions, will be the inaugural guest speaker at the CAANZ Marcomms Leadership Group event at Orams Marine on 27 May. And Claudia Macdonald, the group’s chair and managing director of Mango Communications says tickets are selling fast, in the style of hotcakes.

News
Ads@6: 13 – 19 May
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This week on Ads@6, Chorus talks shop and takes to the countryside, Sam Neill shows off his acting talents for Kiwibank, Sugar’s new BNZ campaign heads to Kaikoura, Samsung shows off its 3D televisions (without actually being able to show off its 3D televisions) and we wonder if the ad for Sinopec is actually a front for some kind of cult.

Opinion
Experiential as anything
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In this week’s instalment of Wammo Pound and Mash, come with us on a spiritual journey as we delve into the murky yet increasingly popular realm of experiential advertising.

News
Designworks reigns supreme
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In a year where the profession of design claims to have been devalued by the Super City logo competition, Designworks has bucked the trend and restored a bit of pride, taking out the Supreme Award at the 2010 Vero Excellence in Business Support Awards last night.

News
Grovelling young Kiwi creatives plead for Cannes clicks
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The brief was delivered last weekend and all the films for the 48hr Cannes Young Lion YouTube competition have now been uploaded. But the second stage is currently underway and, as 49 percent of the judging is based on the number of votes each ad receives by 23 May, it’s up to the creators to spread the word about their effort and get the masses clicking on that green thumb beside their video.

Awards
We heart Semi-Permanent
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Tickets to New Zealand’s premier design event, Semi-Permanent, go on sale from 24 May with a limited number of earlybird and deluxe VIP places up for grabs. And all will be relieved to know that passes include the legendary Semi-Permanent goodie bag and access to the after-party.

News
Top notch shops set sights on top Top Shops
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The New Zealand Retailers Association is calling for entries from stores in Auckland, Christchurch and Wellington for the 2010 Top Shop competition, widely regarded as New Zealand’s leading retail excellence awards. And the comp has returned this year with two new categories (online retailing and sustainable retailing), some new sponsors and a burgeoning sense of optimism in the Kiwi retail sector.

News
Foodies and regulators agree on new advertising codes
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The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has released its guidelines around advertising food that might appeal to children in an effort to “provide clear guidance to advertising agencies, marketers and consumers”. And, amazingly, most seem fairly happy with the new, slightly stricter rules.

News
DDB resigned to dual creative departures
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DDB has been a bit of an arrivals and departures hall recently: Justin Mowday and Aimee McCammonn are soon to join and creative director Adam Kanzer and retail creative director Kim Ellison are soon to leave, with both of their resignations coming in the same week. And, if the old axiom is correct and bad news does indeed come in threes, DDB’s executive creative director Toby Talbot says he’s bracing himself just in case.

News
Meeting, greeting and Tweeting at first Social Media Junction
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The heads were down and the fingers were furiously a-tweetin’ yesterday at the inaugural Social Media Junction (SMJ). And an array of big social media brains spilled their secrets and gave tips, tricks and advice on best practice to around 200 conference goers at Sky City hoping to get to grips with this increasingly important but at-times intimidating marketing realm.

News
Mini goes large
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Who it’s for: Mini (and its new Limited Edition Soho 11) by DraftFCB and Digipost.

Why we like it: The overall campaign for the very limited edition Mini Soho looks fairly impressive (here’s another ad for the Soho 8 that’s set to run on C42 …

News
Adshel and Telecom embrace the great outdoors
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Walk around any major New Zealand urban centre and you’ll probably notice a host of strange tardis-like constructions emblazoned with large white squiggles. Some call these relics from another time ‘phone booths’ or ‘payphones’ and, as a result of the rampant onslaught of technology, they are becoming increasingly irrelevant. But, as they’re typically situated in the most convenient locations, they’re also extremely visible. And where there are eyes, there are often advertisers. Enter Adshel, which has struck up a deal with Telecom to use its national network of 3,700 payphones as a new form of out-of-home media. 

News
Cartoony Carney feels fear, writes it anyway
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Michael Carney is quite possibly the most productive man on the planet. And he’s generous, too: he’s giving away a few free copies of his new literary baby – an e-book called Adventures into the Unknown World of Social Media that deals with marketers’ fears about the space and details the ways to overcome them – to a few speedy downloaders.

Opinion
Talk: it’s back (in Canterbury)
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In this edition of Michael Carney’s Marketing Week: The Radio Network bows to the demands of aggrieved Cantabrians Is it time to inspire more domestic travel? The TV shows in the US that didn’t make it to the next season. Get your survey on

Opinion
Fyfe tits, Listener tats
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You get a feeling for the stories that will spark some debate on StopPress. And the story on Friday about Air New Zealand chief executive Rob Fyfe’s rather original response to an editorial that was featured in last week’s Listener was always going to be a bit of a doozy.

News
Ads@6: 6 May – 11 May
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Of note this week on Ads@6, Magnum puts out a couple of teasers for the ‘golden age of ice cream’; Olivio changes its name to Bertolli and gets hip with the lingo; Domino’s releases a new lunch-time sandwich (and the year’s worst press release to go with it); and Tourism Queensland takes the prize for what is quite possibly the most cringeworthy jingle ever to be heard on New Zealand television, snatching it off Suzuki (see the ousted winner near the end of this clip). And how could we forget Stacey Jones, who gives a bravura performance for Instant Finance and even hangs out with his own cardboard cut-out. A triumph! A tour de force!