Monthly Archives: January, 2011

News
The hills are alive with the sound of increasing outdoor revenue
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Much like Julie Andrews, the Outdoor Media Association of New Zealand has been seen bursting into song to express its emotions recently after the revenue numbers for 2010 were announced. And fair enough too, because with a year-end total of $62.1 million, gross media revenue for the year was up 7.3 percent over 2009, with the second half of the year delivering a 12.2 percent increase on the same period of 2009.

News
FOUR takes flight as Special Group’s handiwork goes live
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FOUR, TVWorks’ great mainstream entertainment hope for 2011, launches in February and, with a 15 percent boost in ad revenue since the changes were rung to C4 last year, chief executive Jason Paris is pretty excited about what the year might hold for the network. Much to the relief of those who pleaded with MediaWorks to enlist the services of an agency instead of doing its creative inhouse, Special Group got the nod last year and proceeded to get stuck into the promotional work for the launch. And this is what the talented gang have come up with (yes, that is the real number for the BSA).

News
From Ogilvy to Boagilvy
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PR and communications specialist, past National Party president and general woman-about-town Michelle Boag has been hired to fill the newly created role of executive director at Ogilvy NZ and will take up the role from February.

Opinion
The year in review: Friday O’Flaherty
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The indies weren’t just nipping at the heels of the big boys last year, they were occasionally biting off their legs. And, with many clients recognising that the big shops don’t have a monopoly on creativity or international quality work, a number of sizable accounts ended up in unexpected hands. Friday O’Flaherty, one of the all-powerful leaders of Running With Scissors, wields his mighty pen on 2010.

News
Paris is burning: MediaWorks spices up 2011’s TV battle with new channel—and new targets
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The New Zealand television scene is already über-competitive. But, with a range of new initiatives from the broadcasters, a slowly increasing sense of economic optimism and an array of new technology that’s changing the game for everyone, things look set to get even spicier in 2011. In an effort to eat into the more lucrative older demographics that have long been the domain of TVNZ, TV Works is changing its focus slightly and is set to launch its mainstream entertainment channel FOUR very shortly. And it’s a decision chief executive Jason Paris says is already bearing fruit.

News
Optimistic TVNZ targets the yoof, aims to improve on ‘fantastic’ 2010
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Aside from a couple of very well-publicised PR disasters and a host of aggrieved agency folk who seemed mightily pissed off about the halving of their 20 percent commissions, TVNZ had a stellar year in 2010, with solid ratings, steadily increasing ad revenue and an array of impressive innovations—both for viewers and advertisers. It also welcomed new sales director Paul Maher into the fold in August and, while he thinks it will be slow and steady as she goes this year, he’s confident TVNZ can repeat—and maybe even exceed—the performance of 2010.

News
The year in review: Sadhana Raman
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With a combination of effective, unashamedly jingoistic advertising, a solid product offering and consistently high rates of customer satisfaction, Kiwibank has performed the role of challenger brand brilliantly and given the big boys plenty of grief since it was set up in 2002. Hell, ASB even took aim at it last year in the misguided ‘We’re a Kiwi bank’ campaign and Sam Neill signed on to be the bank’s mascot, so it must be doing something right. Sadhana Raman, Kiwibank’s general manager of brand and marketing communications—and a finalist in last year’s Marketer of the Year awards—goes back in time.

News
SparkPHDIQ snatches digital victory with Sunsilk campaign
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Spark PHDIQ has taken out the third quarter round of the Yahoo!Xtra Digital Strategy Awards for its Unilever Sunsilk Co-creations campaign, which the judges—Yahoo!Xtra’s Laura Maxwell-Hansen, Mohawk Media’s Helen Baxter and guest judge Gavin Pook, Red Bull’s marketing manager—felt succeeded in re-launching the brand through a range of digital channels and firmly established it as an expert in hair care.

News
New year, fresh moves
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Hark! This is the first exciting instalment of Moving/Shakings for 2011, and there have been a few staff profits and losses at the Marketing Association, Insight Creative, The Research Agency, AWARD, MTV and The Pond.

News
The year in review: Liz Fraser
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Following the events of the past few years, most media have been busy licking their wounds—and, in many cases, focusing on survival rather than growth. But, after consistently good revenue results and signs that there is more growth to come, the Kiwi digital sector has developed quite the swagger. Liz Fraser, the chair of the Interactive Advertising Bureau of New Zealand and head of MSN NZ, opines.

News
A journey to the future: design legend David Carson soon to hit Kiwi shores
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Creative Review magazine called David Carson “the most famous graphic designer on the planet” and “art director of the era”; his first book The End of Print, is the top selling graphic design book of all time, selling over 200,000 copies; and he and his work have been featured in over 180 magazine and newspaper articles around the world, including a feature in Newsweek magazine and a front page article in the New York Times. Well, Kiwi design lovers rejoice, for you will be able to bask in his reflected glow when he conducts seminars Auckland and Wellington in February.

Opinion
The year in review: Chris Pescott
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Perceptive has made more than a few waves in the marketing and research biz since it was established in 2004, having taken 24th place on the 2009 Deloitte Fast 50 list and signing up over 90 clients in New Zealand, Australia and Hong Kong. Here’s what Chris Pescott, the founder, big cheese and 2009 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year finalist, thought about 2010.

News
Mud, sweat and Marc Ellis’ tears: Toyota’s Top to Bottom goes long—and off road
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Hardly a day goes by without someone announcing another journey that will see the protagonists walk/run/bike/kayak/forward roll the length of New Zealand to raise awareness for something (StopPress is considering driving half the length of New Zealand to raise money for McDonald’s). And, to celebrate 60 years of Land Cruiser, Toyota is getting on the bandwagon, taking the newly launched FJ Cruiser truck on an epic journey. But the difference with this journey is that it will all be done off-road, with Marc Ellis bouncing around in the driver’s seat.

News
PlaceMakers takes JWT’s hand in ad marriage
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JWT’s desire to become a more potent force in the Kiwi ad landscape just got a big fillip with the announcement that it has won the PlaceMakers account and will take control of the whole shebang, including creative, media, trade, loyalty and retail. 

News
Adshel looks inside to fill three new positions
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After one particularly big staff shift late last year, Adshel has rung in the new year with a few more changes to its sales and marketing roster and, in what new sales director Nick Vile believes is testimony to the quality and performance of the team, all three of the new positions have been filled by existing staff members, with Raewyn Anderson promoted to sales manager in Auckland, Phil Lucy to sales manager position in Wellington and Rochelle Weaver moving into the reinstated national marketing manager position.

News
Born to be wildcards?
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Creativity can come from anywhere. And the Media Design School obviously recognises that, because it’s calling for wildcard entries to fill two positions on this year’s creative advertising course.

News
Double—or nothing
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Who’s it for: Vodafone by Colenso BBDO and Robber’s Dog

Why we like it: We’re suckers for a good internet meme. And the Double Rainbow man, known to his mum as Paul “Bear” Vasquez, was one of last year’s most impressive, with his video …

News
Major RWC players thought to have settled on 500 metre advertising exclusion zone
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Despite promising to make a decision by September last year on how far the advertising clean zones, clean transport routes and clean periods for the Rugby World Cup would extend, the Ministry of Economic Development is yet to formally announce its decision. And, as you’d expect, media owners, buyers and planners have been getting a bit titchy about it, because they want to get stuck into the RWC goldrush but can’t sell their packages. Well, we have it on good authority that all the outdoor assets 500m from the stadia and the main transport routes have now been sold to Rugby NZ 2011 for use by the RWC sponsors.

News
Young & Shand take nation’s digital marketing pulse, large growth diagnosed
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Late last year, up-and-coming digital agency Young & Shand asked 150 New Zealand chief executives and marketing managers about their organisations’ spending intentions and planned commitments to digital marketing in 2011. And while the results showed there’s no doubt Kiwi businesses see digital as an integral aspect of the marketing mix, there still appears to be an unwillingness to splash too much e-cash.

News
OMANZ fires warning shot as Mobile AdVert’s ‘unsubstantiated claims’ roil rivals
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Late last year we received an email from Rogers and Rutherford law firm. Lawyers letters are rarely, if ever, nice to receive (and they’re particularly stressful if you’re a smart arse working in the media). But, thankfully, the letter was only partially related to something we had done and instead related to an ad featured on StopPress for Mobile AdVert (MA), the outdoor media company run by Urgent Couriers.

Opinion
The year in review: Nick Vile
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It’s been fairly tough going for the out-of-homers over the past few years. But, with the numbers now going in the right direction, the Rugby World Cup expected to up demand substantially and OMANZ starting to regain its teeth, there seems to be a bit of optimism—and even industry cohesion—afoot. Adshel’s new sales director Nick Vile, who took over from Pauline Hanton late last year, speaks his piece.

News
Colenso and DDB show off their Big Wons
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If you thought ad agencies were only in it for the accolades, then the Directory Big Won may lend a little bit of credence to that, because it’s an award show that gives out awards to agencies that have won the most awards. How post-modern. Anyway, after the numbers were crunched, DDB New Zealand and Colenso BBDO were the only two agencies from the Asia Pacific region to make the top 20 list for 2010, ranked as the 18th and 20th most successful creative agencies in the world respectively, the first time either agency has made the list.

Opinion
The year in review: Darryn Melrose
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It was heads down, bums up for M&C Saatchi last year. And the hard work obviously paid off, because the agency picked up nine new pieces of business, including Jetstar, NZTE and the new NZ Post-run directories service Localist. Darryn Melrose, who took over from Nick Baylis as chief executive in late 2009, puts in his $0.02 on 2010.

Opinion
The year in review: Matt O’Sullivan
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Naked Communications is a force to be reckoned with overseas, but it’s only been on the local scene since late 2009. In that short time, it’s certainly had a big impact, taking a fair swag of strategy and channel planning work off some of its larger competitors and winning a couple of media award golds for its work with Diet Coke. Matt O’Sullivan, who left his posting at Carat to set up the Auckland office with Simon Bird, is one man who’s never short of opinions. So here are a few on 2010.

Opinion
The year in review: Nick Garrett
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Yeah, yeah, we know it’s 2011, but due to moderately popular demand (and also due to the fact that we’re running at about 34 percent brain functionality at present and good old reliable Q+A’s are a good way for everyone to ease back in), we’ve decided to post a few more year in reviews from esteemed industry opinionistos/opinionistas that we didn’t have space/time to run last year. First up, Nick Garrett, the man who took the reins from Colenso BBDO’s outgoing managing director Brent Smart and, after winning a host of big awards, snaffling some big new business and doing a fine impersonation of Mini Me at the Colenso Christmas party in his first year, can’t have too much to complain about. Here’s what tickled his fancy last year.