Monthly Archives: February, 2013

News
TVNZ Ondemand app spotted in the wild
By

TVNZ’s frustrated tech savvy fans of shows like Shortland St for many years by not providing an iOS version for Ondemand, but the wait is almost over with a launch slated for later this month. StopPress takes a quick look at the app which was demoed last night.

News
Referees to be pretty in pink after NZRU’s latest sponsorship deal
By

The New Zealand Rugby Union is on a mission to prop up the national game with more corporate money. Last year, AIG stuck its name on the All Black jersey. And now Pink Batts has signed up for a three year sponsorship deal that will see New Zealand’s referees stepping out in pink for the Investec Super Rugby, ITM Cup and renamed Pink Batts Heartland Championship. But, unfortunately for some sporting sadists, they won’t be forced to wear actual Pink Batts like the 2008 Snug campaign.

News
DDB savours summer with dual newspaper ad of the month victories
By

DDB has cleaned up the last two Newspaper Ad of the Month awards, with YWCA Auckland’s ‘Demand equal pay ad and Volkswagen’s ‘Beetle to win a Beetle’ taking out the December and January rounds respectively. The Judges for both rounds—Leisa Wall, DraftFCB; Paul Hankinson, Hanko; Lisa Fedyszyn, DDB (who abstained) and Kate Humphries, Media Design School—said VW’s ad “enticed people to make the iconic VW beetle shape with their bodies in order to win a VW, is an inspired way to induce beer gut envy, particularly if those beer guts have just enjoyed a good holiday season.”

News
Heinz Wattie’s and Running with Scissors celebrate the art of sauce extraction
By

Wattie’s tomato sauce is a staple of many a pantry, fridge or glove box in New Zealand. And whether it’s the heel of a hand planted on the base of the bottle, some vigorous shaking or an intense windmill action, passionate Kiwi sauce fans employ a range of techniques to get every last drop of that glorious red elixir out of the bottle. Now, to launch its new stuck-sauce solution, the Upside Down Bottle, Heinz Wattie’s and Running with Scissors have launched a new brand campaign that celebrates that ingenuity.

News
Hutchwilco and DDB Group aim to protect fisherman by protecting their secret spots
By

Getting any salty old sea dog to share their secret fishing spots is nigh-on impossible. And this reluctance can sometimes be dangerous, because if they get into trouble no-one knows where they are. So, in an effort to deal with this problem and stop its customers from dying, Hutchwilco, DDB and Rapp Tribal developed a clever and helpful iPhone app that allows fishermen to log their co-ordinates to a secure database and if they don’t come home, a loved one can log on, see where they like to go, and send the details straight to the Coastguard.

News
Bait and twitch: Ogilvy injects some local charm back into the Holden brand
By

It’s been a while between brand ads for Holden, with the car company favouring Clarke Gayford, a stark warehouse and a bit of glitchy electronica to spruik its various models recently. But, with the help of Ogilvy and Robber’s Dog, it’s taken a slightly more creative, emotional and story-based approach with a nice new spot featuring a twitchy main protagonist who, like the self-harming, car-loving cat in the Toyota Corolla campaign, finds unexpected peace in his vehicle.

News
TVCs of the Week: 5 February
By

Hyundai’s ode to towing, Pak ‘n’ Save’s Countdown takedown and the next instalment of NZ Fire Service’s powerful campaign get the nod this week.

Opinion
The risks and rewards of the Twitter cookie jar
By

Social media platforms like Twitter are a great way of getting your content out to a large audience. But just because content is available on a publicly accessible network does not mean that it can be used for commercial purposes, says Matt Adams.

News
Herald on Sunday follows in its big brother’s relaunched footsteps
By

There have been plenty of changes at APN NZ of late, with the relaunch of the Herald last year and restructures of both the editorial and sales and marketing teams. And now the Herald on Sunday, the country’s best performing newspaper, is getting its turn with what editor Bryce Johns calls “a complete revamp of the paper’s look and feel, and improved content mix”.

News
Review: Seven Sharp’s dull-edged premiere
By

I suck at watching awkward television because I always feel personally responsible for that awkwardness. I can’t get through an episode of American Idol without squirming into the back of my couch, flinching as every one of Simon Cowell’s barbed remarks pointed directly towards me. Their failures are my failures, and that’s why I couldn’t stand the first episode of Seven Sharp, which was more cringe-worthy than watching a chalkboard being scratched for thirty minutes.

News
StopPress’ best Super Bowl ads of 2013
By

The average game of NFL contains only 11 minutes of action, the rest of the three hours is spent on replays, shots of players, and commercials. It’s no wonder then that there’s so much hooplah around Super Bowl ads, because for some it’s the only entertainment amidst the spectacle that is American football.