Monthly Archives: March, 2011

News
Future calls, Colenso answers with pack reshuffle
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Despite a stellar year for the Clemenger Group gang, both in terms of awards won and cash banked, there have been a few mutterings around the traps of late about axes falling at Colenso and AIM Proximity. And while the seemingly OTT figure of 20 departures has been bandied about, Colenso’s managing director Nick Garrett says that’s certainly not the case and says it’s just slight reshuffling of the pack to respond to the current demands of clients.

News
Ogilvy gets on the drugs
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Fresh from winning the big Auckland promotional pitch for the Rugby World Cup, Ogilvy is crowing again, after it picked up the expanded portfolio of Pharmacybrands following a competitive pitch between incumbents Ogilvy and JWT.

News
Winning MasterCard’s PR business: priceless
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MasterCard Worldwide has appointed Acumen Republic as its New Zealand communications agency after a competitive pitch and it will manage MasterCard’s corporate, consumer and government relations, as well as marketing communications activity for its sponsorship of Rugby World Cup 2011 and the All Blacks.

News
Better out than in: OMANZ launches new brand, website
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The Outdoor Media Association of New Zealand (OMANZ) has been on a mission to raise its profile and kick back into gear after a period of inactivity, some might even say irrelevancy. A big part of that process was establishing industry cohesion, rebranding (with the help of DraftFCB) and creating a new educational website (with the help of ICE Interactive). And the “one stop shop to advertisers and agencies for all things out-of-home industry related” has just gone live. 

News
Oceans between us: WWF-NZ gets creative to up marine reserve ante
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New Zealand’s territorial waters are 15 times larger than our land mass, but just 0.3 percent of that area is fully protected in marine reserves, compared to around 20 percent of our land with equivalent status. And as part of a campaign to change this unbalanced attitude and eventually get 30 percent of our waters signed up as marine reserves, the WWF and its agency partner Ocean Design have enlisted some of the country’s leading creative minds to share their views on what New Zealand’s seas mean to them. And it’s asking Kiwis to do the same.

News
Westpac and Colenso push savers’ buttons with new nest egg-creating iPhone app
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Westpac and Colenso have been working on the Impulse Saver iPhone app for a while now and after successfully battling through the numerous technical and security issues, launched it around the same time as the earthquake with a few full page ads in the Sunday papers. Not surprisingly, the campaign was temporarily put on ice, but the cutesy banking gimmick/impressive technological innovation that, as the name implies, allows users to add some dosh to their savings account at the push a button, has gone live once again.

News
Air New Zealand sets inflight safety video bar even higher with Richard Simmons-led 80s extravaganza
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Air New Zealand is making a habit of creating memorable inflight safety briefings. First it was the tasteful nudes, then came a cast of All Blacks, followed by a rather puerile puppet. And .99’s latest 80s inspired effort, which features Richard Simmons, Paul Henry, Phil Keoghan, Temepara George and, as expected, a little cameo from Rob Fyfe, has continued that trend and looks set to add a few million more views to the seven million the airline’s previous safety videos have already garnered on YouTube.

News
New kids, old block…
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…as .99 snaffles an experienced Aussie campaigner as operations manager; APN Outdoor adds two more to the roster; Independent Liquor bolsters its marketing team with a new Boundary Road Brewery marketing manager; Adhub aims for digital world domination with three newbies; and The Pond adds its most experienced member yet to the freelance database.

News
Flame puts the aid into advertising, asks others to get on the billboard skin bandwagon
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After the earthquake New Zealanders everywhere quickly reached into their pockets, but many wished they could do something more practical to help. Well, small Tauranga-based advertising agency Flame had a stroke of inspiration after realising it had valuable assets lying around in the form of old billboards skins that would otherwise go unused, so a few quick calls to clients and billboard operators like iSite and Oggi and Flame’s Zak Lassey says it managed to round up a few hundred skins that were easily utilised as tarps for roofing, long drop covers, tents, or wherever else they were needed in Christchurch. And, as they’re still needed, he thinks other, larger agencies, clients and media owners should follow its lead.

News
TNZ tells the world: ‘New Zealand is Open’
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In the wake of the Christchurch quake and the intense international media coverage that followed, many businesses—and plenty of individuals—have been trying to let the world know that New Zealand is still able to be toured and explored. As you’d expect, Tourism New Zealand (TNZ) has been leading that charge and has launched a campaign called New Zealand is Open, which saw ads run in Australian and United Kingdom national Sunday papers last weekend.

News
Cudo adds to dizzying array of deals sites, but claims its secret weapon will conquer all
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Inboxes are groaning under the weight of the emails sent out by daily deal sites at the moment. And successful Australian group buying site Cudo and MediaWorks will soon be adding a few more. But while new collaborative buying sites seem to be a dime a dozen at the moment, the newest boy on the increasingly crowded block claims to have a big point of difference: the deals will be promoted regularly on television by a real live human.

News
Advertising advertising: Axis gets a starring role with TVNZ
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New Zealanders seem to have something of a love/hate attitude when it comes to marketing and advertising. Some despise it because it tricks people into buying things they don’t need, makes the nation fatter/drunker/more dangerous and is an industry supposedly filled with wankers. But others seem to be able to look past all that and simply enjoy biting into the fruits of the industry’s labour. Whatever the reason, there’s no doubt Kiwis are interested in it, as evidenced by the fact that the Fair Go Ad Awards is regularly among the country’s top rating shows. And CAANZ and TVNZ are hoping to tap into this interest and showcase the creative, innovative side of the business by filming the Axis award show and screening it on Ondemand.

News
Whole lotta shakin’ going on…
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…as the ASA announces its new chair; TBWA\ shuffles the management and says goodbye to its general manager; Affinity ID nails a hat-trick; Kate Alexander takes over from dad at Studio Alexander; Christina Force sells her stake in the “first dedicated photographers agency in New Zealand”; Envy Studios add two to the staff roster; and DNA welcomes a large man from Northampton.

Opinion
The marvellous one-minute man: DDB and Sky hit jackpot with ’60 things in 60 seconds’
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When it comes to fruitful agency client relationships in New Zealand, Sky and DDB are near the top of the pile and, over the past few years, a steady stream of very entertaining, award-winning and, judging by subscriber numbers and MySky’s complete domination of Tivo, pretty effective work has spewed forth. But for our money, the latest spot by Thick as Thieves for MySky’s ‘TV on your terms’ campaign, which shows 60 things in 60 seconds that husbands all over New Zealand could potentially be doing instead of watching TV, is one of the best yet. Just try not to like it.

Opinion
God defend New Zealand: is overlooking Kiwi comms talent a sin?
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I once heard about a wine industry meltdown when New Zealand wine wasn’t on the menu for an Auckland-based Tourism New Zealand schmooze function. And good on the winemakers for kicking up a stink, I say. Yet who would do the same if the branding, media services, website or PR wasn’t run by Kiwis? Overlooking New Zealand talent for ‘experts from out of town’ is a hate-crime against the country and, in front-facing services such as marketing and communications, it’s just bloody stupid.

News
Ads@6: 10-20 March
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In this round of Ads@6, Expedia taps into our frugal Australasian sensibilities with its ‘New York on $50’ spot; Westfield and Moccona continue to push their  big travel promotions; Countdown continues its TV domination; P&O’s ads somehow make going on a cruise seem like it would be enjoyable; Persil hits the spot with its Small Whites ad; Rexona gets uber fashionable for its ‘fragrance collection’; Burger King puts bourbon in its burgers; TV3 embraces comparative advertising; Hyundai gets bucolic—and patriotic—with its Country Calendar promotion; and if Harvey Norman’s shouting, the ITM 400 Hamilton promos and the Protex ‘wash wash’ jingle are just too much to handle, Maxalt and The Low Down are here to help.

News
The Great Deal Wars of 2011 heat up as GrabOne embraces television
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We’re accustomed to seeing marketing fluff from the seemingly never-ending range of new daily deal sites in our inboxes or on our web browsers. But, in what could be seen as evidence that group-buying has gone mainstream in New Zealand, GrabOne is facing up to increased competition and promoting its discounted wares with the help of a couple of new TVCs.

News
Big hits, fish ‘n’ chips and rural bits
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Who’s it for: Sky by DDB and Prodigy

Why we like it: Once more, the latest entertaining instalment of Sky’s ‘Match Fit’ campaign hits the spot. And extra points have been awarded for the bravura performance from Grant Fox.

Who’s it for: ANZ …

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