Many thousands of people from the global comms industry descend on Cannes every year to judge, learn and drink. But why? This film, which was produced as a collaboration between Lions Festivals and Jack Morton Worldwide to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the festival, explains what happens, how it inspires creativity and why it’s become so alluring.
The ’80s were a time of big hair, bright clothes and bold claims. And they don’t get much bolder than the ones uttered in a rich velvety voice in this glorious piece of automotive advertising for the very advanced 1984 Chevrolet Corvette. Look at those wonderous LCD displays, listen to those epic synths and sound effects and take a trip into the future.
Mainstream rock radio station Radio Hauraki has released a new app for iOS and Android, called Hauraki, with an optimised player for streaming the station live.
Who are brands really talking to on social media? The converted, says The Research Agency’s Andrew Lewis.
Some saw the feverish excitement—and feverish media attention—over the arrival of the royal baby as a sad indictment on humanity. Others saw it as evidence of the rising appeal of the British monarchy in New Zealand and around the world. And more than a few local media outlets and their advertisers saw it as a chance to capitalise on all the extra eyeballs, with Bauer Media pulling out all the stops to get its ‘Souvenir Issue’ onto the shelves five days earlier than usual.
In the spirit of past heretics, ranters and agitators, our resident angry outsider Claxton tells you what’s getting his goat about this industry.
The 2013 Global Effie Effectiveness Index has just been released, with Colenso BBDO maintaining its position as the fifth most effective agency in the world based on 2012’s award haul and Barnes, Catmur & Friends punching well above its weight to be recognised as the fifth best independent agency in the world and the leading independent agency in the Asia Pacific.
Men, show your dedication for your significant others by using DB Breweries Facebook app to let them know – with a video.
There’s been a whole heap of industry chatter about the proposed merger of Publicis and Omnicom, a merger that would create the biggest holding company in all the world (but would still pale in comparison to Google). And, in true modern style, there’s already a parody Twitter account (‘This is a parody. But then again, isn’t the ad industry’) that’s skewering the combined entity.
Audi, Warehouse Stationery, Sony and a Vietnamese hospital get a gold star this week.
Warehouse Stationery has embarked on its biggest brand transformation in 22 years, and it’s all about the new, with a new logo, new colours, new instore environments and a new brand campaign from its new agency .99.
While newspaper circulations continue to decline and the media companies behind them face massive upheaval, research from industry body News Works suggests that pulp and ink still play an important role in New Zealand current affairs – especially when it comes to credibility and trustworthiness.
Advertising largely exists to draw attention to products and services. But communications can also help foster social change, and DraftFCB, an agency with an undoubted strength in this area, is aiming to do just that by offering 1000 hours of comms expertise to an organisation that’s focused on reducing child abuse in New Zealand.
Since launching on 17 June, the Love Your City campaign has resulted in over 4,000 user-generated photos of Auckland on Instagram – and counting.
Elliot O’Donnell (aka Askew One) is a Kiwi street artist who’s transitioning between “just tags on a wall” to legitimate art. And with paintings of Ralph Hotere in Kingsland, work on Queens Wharf and his impressive creations in the Wynyard Quarter, he’s trying hard to turn his passion into a viable business.
Remember when the prudes got all wound up after Carefree busted a few feminine hygiene taboos and used the word vagina in its ad? If you were among the complainers, then you definitely don’t want to watch this video for Hello Flo, a tampon subscription service that features a 12-year-old girl who fully embraces the arrival of her ‘red badge of courage’.
Taking your design story global? Make sure you’ve packed your Kiwi-ness.
New Zealanders love nothing more than hearing their country get a mention, especially if comes from the mouth of a foreign celebrity. Facebook pages, articles both real and satirical, and TV segments have been devoted this strange and thrilling phenomenon. And we can add another one to the list, because the The Herald has made it into The Onion’s brilliant story about the birth of the royal baby.
Clemenger businesses on the move in Welly, Bauer looks inside and finds a new advertising director, The Radio Network lures a big radio fish back home, Fairfax hands Lions Festivals baton to Val Morgan, Mark Reekie heads for the islands and Spotify announces new ANZ head of sales.
The global ad industry has moved closer to a duopoly with the proposed merger of Publicis Group and Omnicom set to create the world’s biggest ad network, beating out WPP. But, according to DDB Group’s executive chairman for Australia/NZ Marty O’Halloran, the creation of a company valued at US$35 billion with revenues of US$23 billion is unlikely to have much of an impact on the local agency landscape.
Last year, after six years in second place, BMW knocked Audi off its perch and reclaimed the top selling premium car mantle in the New Zealand market. But Audi isn’t far behind, it’s still growing and it’s decided to tap into the nation’s patriotic fervour with one of the German brand’s first locally shot campaigns.
It shrunk its weekend edition back in 2000 and it joined an exclusive club when it implemented a paywall late last year. Now The Ashburton Guardian has continued to forge ahead and made the switch to a compact format for its Monday to Friday paper after 134 years in broadsheet.
TVNZ is scrapping TVNZ U, just over two years after first launching the youth-centric channel.
The media world is changing, and talent agreements need to change with it, writes Pip Mayne.
If every Chinese citizen purchased just one pair of NZ wool socks we would be right’ is a genuine quote I have heard more than once from those in the industry.
Big Data—or more specifically, Big, Bad Data—is coming in for plenty of scrutiny at the moment, with some calling Edward Snowden’s revelations about government snooping a precursor to the death of the cloud and many Kiwis protesting about changes to the controversial GCSB bill around the country over the weekend. But GE isn’t worried about such trifling issues around civil liberties and democracy. It’s worried about how big data can be used to stop zombies and alien cattle snatchers, with its Datalandia campaign.
A new look Sunday News will hit the newsstands this Sunday, the Fairfax paper’s re-launch sees a shift in both design and content strategy.
Our weekly wrap of good things, strange things, funny things and other things from inside the intertubes.
If you want to provoke a heated debate between marketing and advertising types asking this question is one way to get the feathers flying. For some, creativity is critical if you want to differentiate yourself and grab people’s attention. Others think it’s little more than ad agency wank designed to perpetuate an annual pilgrimage to the south of France. A votre santé!
