Almost 30 years after New Zealand’s infamous snap election, a Wellington based distiller is bringing old-fashioned fun and satire back to modern day politics. Ulf Fuehrer, maker of traditional German schnapps Zumwohl, says one of his greatest passions in life, aside from schnapps, is politics. Now he’s found a way to bring the two together.
When it comes to valuable marketing commodities, celebrity chef, food writer, publisher and TV star Annabel Langbein is basically the Dan Carter of cooking. And Silver Fern Farms has signed on to use Langbein as its meaty ambassador for her property Fresh Everyday.
Coca Cola Amatil (CCA) has taken three more brands off incumbent Ogilvy and awarded them to Saatchi & Saatchi.
Sometimes you see an ad and wonder what those responsible for it were thinking. And we couldn’t help but notice this one starring The Almighty Johnson’s Ben Barrington for Pure Energy, an all-natural ‘healthy’ energy drink. It’s made by South Pacific Beverages, the company that got knocked back by the NZRU (and, by extension All Blacks’ sponsors Coca-Cola) when it tried to get Sonny Bill Williams to endorse the product. But, judging by this ad, he’s probably thankful for the supposed double-standard.
Craig Herbison returns from Australia to take up the chief marketing officer role at BNZ, Paul Henry gets shoulder-tapped by Lachlan Murdoch, Adshel welcomes Simon Paul as a senior account director, Tania Burgess takes on the night shift at The Breeze, and Anne O’Brien is handed the artistic reins for the Auckland Writers & Readers Festival.
The 24 Hour Movie Marathon is now the Fatso 24 Hour Movie Marathon after the online DVD rental company took up headline sponsorship of the event dedicated to true film buffs with a minimum two year commitment. This year marks the 12th annual event and it has once again been masterminded by film aficionado, producer and distributor Ant Timpson. Sadly, the event on Saturday 19 November at Auckland’s Hollywood Cinema has already sold out, so we can’t give away any tickets, but Fatso is offering a prize pack to help you replicate it all at home with a free three month Super Plan subscription, a Movie Marathon t-shirt and a Fatso Movie Marathon poster, designed by the immensely talented Tane Williams. So add a strange name for a movie to the comment wall (here’s some inspiration) and it could all be yours.
The Air New Zealand business is thought to be up for pitch, with a rumoured list of Saatchi & Saatchi, DraftFCB, Special Group and the incumbent .99/Colenso all gunning for one of the country’s best-loved brands.
Don’t miss out… time is running out to register for the Marketing Today Conference 2011. The Big Day Out for the marketing industry is only 12 days away and the line up is top notch.
For the love of camping.
More football goodness from Wieden + Kennedy.
In honour of this week’s celebrations, felony or treat?
Google gets behind Movember.
Attack of the flying humans.
The anatomy of an ad agency, John Key in other …
MediaWorks revealed its new season line-up in fairly understated fashion last week. But TVNZ was ‘avin it large on Wednesday night and took it back to the good old days with a big, expensive, Hollywood-esque launch event for its 2012 season.
GrabOne has presented its retailers with an early Christmas pressie – 2000 android tablets to redeem coupons. It is in response to some irate Grabbies who’ve had trouble redeeming their vouchers using their phones. Seems some retailers were refusing to accept vouchers unless they’d been printed out.
Ondemand is proving very popular with Kiwi audiences, with the stream view worm heading swiftly upwards for both major broadcasters and online video content on the major news sites going through the roof. And TVNZ is aiming to replicate the success of its interactive, digital Emmy award-winning, Ondemand-only show Reservoir Hill with a follow-up along similar lines: a new spoof comedy show called Auckland Daze.
The printing presses may be slowing down across the board, but online channels are starting to take up some of that slack. And, in an effort to capitalise on the mobile and online momentum and make it easier for retailers to get their wares in front of modern shoppers, Reachmedia has released the next version of its catalogue viewing platform, which effectively takes catalogues, resizes them and publishes them in a Facebook environment and on mobile apps.
Just as sales of tennis racquets always go up in the UK after Wimbledon when mere mortals are inspired to play, thousands of rugby balls were being kicked around the day after the All Blacks’ victory as kids all over New Zealand dreamed of becoming the next Beaver. And, in an effort to tap into the increased interest in the sport at all levels and, at the same time, prepare future stars for life in the professional era, NZ Rugby World and the New Zealand Rugby Players Association (NZRAP) are set to release a special annual publication dedicated to First XV rugby.
Not convinced about the sustainability argument when it comes to the purchasing behaviour of consumers? Think again. The latest Colmar Brunton ‘Better Business Better World’ survey results reveal that sustainability influenced the purchasing decisions of 88 percent of respondents. That bodes well for purchasing potential, but on the flip side the survey also found that 72 percent couldn’t think of any brand leaders in sustainability. And if ever there was concern that the term ‘sustainability’ is still perhaps ambiguous in definition to some people, the survey found 20 percent of respondents didn’t know what it meant.
Rugby World Cup advertising continued to dominate throughout October, some say to the detriment of both quality and originality. And after being told to ‘touch pause engage’ one time too many, the NAB judges have decided no one deserves the October Newspaper Ad of the Month award. The obvious headlines and groan inducing puns featured across too much of the material – at times to the detriment of art direction.
