Monthly Archives: November, 2010

News
Christmas stockings stuffed with new hires…
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… as Publicis Mojo welcomes a replacement executive creative director, Mango Communications says hello to two ‘Mango-worthy’ candidates, DNA design reels in a big one, NZ Magazines loses another editor and TV3 chooses its new European correspondent.

News
Apex goes crowd sourcing for TV follow up
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In yet another example of using consumers to come up with the marketing material, Apex Car Rentals has opened the door for the public to suggest the direction of the next instalment of its recent “hugely popular” television commercial, which was made by Christchurch ad agency Strategy and directed by Gregor Nicholas of Flying Fish.

News
Gobs smacked as Tangible Media offers festive subscription deal
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Nothing says Christmas like a magazine subscription (especially if it’s a subscription to Christmas Monthly). And Tangible Media is offering you, the people, a deal. Not only will you be remembered all year for your thoughtfulness and generosity, you’ll also get 40 percent off the retail cover price when you subscribe to one (or perhaps a few) of the many Tangible titles before Saturday 4 December. And as if that deal wasn’t sweet enough, it’s been sweetened even further by Monteith’s, which will be dishing out one dozen of its new premium drop Single Source to ten lucky subscribers.

News
More man than you can handle
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Who’s it for: Mammoth Supply Co by Shine and Robber’s Dog

Why we like it: How could you not like an ad that’s got that old cowboy dude from the Big Lebowski doing the voice over (apparently he never does ads)? Or an …

Opinion
Wherefore app thou? NZ’s dearth of digital designers
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While iPhones and the like have burst onto the mobile scene, there hasn’t been an associated explosion of app designers to create the apps that make the smartphone world turn. This shortage is particularly noticeable in New Zealand and finding designers has proved a real struggle for Brett Hancock, founder of digital design company Born Digital. In fact, pickings are so slim that when the company recently put an ad on Seek for a full-time iPhone app developer, only one lonesome response was received over an entire month.

News
Flooring Xtra set to hit the Aussie ground running
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“A local shop for local people” may come from the excruciating comic genius of The League of Gentlemen, but it’s a mission statement that has worked wonders for Flooring Xtra. And now, following a rapid rise up the Kiwi carpeting ranks, it’s set to become a local company for Aussie people.

News
Research suggests marketers need to practice their conversions
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It’s all well and good attracting eyeballs to your website. But do you know what will help the wallets of those visitors creak open while they’re there? Well, according to new research by Experian, nearly two thirds of Australian marketers have never heard of or don’t understand conversion optimisation, the process of refining a website to help increase the conversion rate of sales, leads or subscribers, with almost half of those surveyed spending 40 percent or more of their budget driving traffic to their website.

News
Return of the Biggs?
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Despite some strong rumourmongery that claimed ex Clemenger BBDO Wellington managing director Peter Biggs was set to return to a role in New Zealand after five years spent successfully running the show at Clemenger BBDO Melbourne, the man himself has quashed those rumours and says he’s staying put.

News
Christmas advertising blitzkrieg begins, charities rail against crap gifts once again
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‘Tis the season to embarrass yourself at the workplace Christmas party. ‘Tis also the season to think about presents for your loved—or, if Secret Santa’s on offer, unloved—ones. And while it’s tempting to get everyone you know a life size cardboard of yourself, charities are making their annual call for us to resist our childish, consumerist urges and instead be more grown up in our approach to giving.

News
Redesigned nzherald.co.nz launched, old nzherald.co.nz wins thing
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nzherald.co.nz has been given a bit of a spruce up, with a revamped homepage, an improved navigation menu and easier access to opinion pieces, forums, editor’s picks and other content. And, slightly ironically, the e-sprucing was announced just after the old version was awarded a silver medal for best newspaper website at the Asian Digital Media awards.

News
Ads@6: 16-22 November
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This week on the telly, Rhys plays with his baubles; find out who wins in a fight between the Warehouse family and Countdown Colemans; look at all the pills, potions and lotions on offer for hayfever season; Farmers, Briscoes, Harvey Norman and pretty much every other retailer get into the festive spirit; the return of James Blunt leads to hundreds of thousands of New Zealanders being sick in their own mouths; and, having already launched online, ASB’s new ads finally reach the TV screens, which, if you believe the front page story on the Sunday Star Times yesterday, led to “a flurry of complaints” to the ASA about the IVF assistance ad (in media land, it seems seven complaints constitutes a flurry).

News
Embrace responsible drinking, win vodka
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Absolut has released its latest limited edition seasonal bottle design and it’s packed some extra stylish bling this summer with Absolut Glimmer, a retro crystal-patterned bottle that “harks back to an era dominated by classic cocktail culture”. We’ve got two of the sparkly numbers to give away. But you must be 18 or over to enter and you must enjoy Absolut responsibly. So tell us the most responsible way to enjoy it and to the most responsible will go the liquid spoils.

News
Come up with tabloid headline, win tabloid book
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New Zealand’s printed news media seems to be increasingly heading in the tabloid direction. But long before today’s front page spreads of car crashes, boogers in burgers and bi-sexual television presenters that the people so crave, there was the The Truth, a paper that was—and, under its current guise of the Truth Weekender, still is—something of a guilty pleasure in New Zealand. A new book by former staffer Redmer Yska called Truth: The Rise and Fall of the People’s Paper charts its rather intriguing course (check out an extract here) and we’ve got three copies of this gripping media yarn to give away. So come up with your best tabloid style headline about the upcoming royal wedding and you might just be able to fob the book off as a Christmas present once you’ve finished reading it.

News
End of the line, all change…
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… as Pead PR has a growth spurt, award-winning ad photographer Rory Carter signs with International Rescue, Loyalty New Zealand welcomes an old face back to the office, McCann Worldgroup New Zealand snaps up a talented creative couple, Twenty nabs a creative director and Omnilab Media goes for the digital jugular.

News
New work tickles fancies, stokes passionate marcomms fires within
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It’s raining quality commercial messages as Fly Buys gets cartoony with Air New Zealand, the National Bank finds its groove, Bazaar breads channels OMC, Fairfax goes outdoor for its new ‘Find out More’ campaign, Kiwi director Dylan Pharazyn blocks it all out for Tiger Beer and feast your eyes on two of the most powerful ads of the year.

News
Basket cases: New World and .99 set new retail mascots loose
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As part of its big brand launch, New World staff, with the help of .99, recently breathed some life into vegetables (literally, to the tune of ‘Slice of Heaven’). And they’ve followed that up by breathing some life into the humble shopping basket, with its cutesy animated mascots, the Cleverbaskets, assuming their position as the new faces of the supermarket’s retail marketing.

News
Cash-strapped ad students see dollar signs in 2011
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In news that’s sure to rip the grundies of the Media Design School students who recently showed off their portfolios to a range of creative big wigs at the 2010 end of year show (three creative pairs were snapped up beforehand), next year’s Adschool students will not only be honing their skills, they’ll also be competing for a new $5000 cash scholarship sponsored by specialist communications recruitment company Marsden Inch.

News
More shifts than a sweat shop…
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… as David Innes hangs up his headphones, Charlotte Findlay shacks up with Telecom, Q Group New Zealand opens the doors to a raft of newbies, Paul Wright aims for US domination with Harcourts and Southern Hospitality goes trans-Tasman.

News
Trouble in paradise for 2010’s glamour couple?
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The local ad fraternity, the global cognoscenti and plenty of actual New Zealanders were all smitten with Orcon and Special Group’s ‘Orcon + Iggy’ campaign. But, as cliche-loving rugby players always say, you’re only as good as your last match. And despite the fact the trophies have flowed fairly freely for the pairing in 2010, the Orcon business is currently up for pitch.

News
Adsend lands in NZ with some high-profile endorsements
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It’s a “web-based digital asset delivery system” used by some of the world’s top agencies and publishers. And now, with the help of Dubsat, which specialises in managing and delivering digital content for the advertising and entertainment industries, Adsend has arrived in Australasia.

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