Monthly Archives: February, 2014

News
The tyranny of distance: Y&R pair make ears bleed, win Orca
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There’s been a bit of coverage recently around mouthwash being ‘a disaster’ for health’, with those who swill increasing the risk of heart attacks and strokes. Turns out ads for mouthwash can sometimes have the same effect, if Tom Paine and Carlos Savage’s Orca-winning campaign for Colgate Plax is any guide.

News
Is this the most hipster creation yet?
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Just when it looked as though the hipster beard was starting to recede into the obscurity that swallows most fads, a group of Oslo-based designers has taken things to the next level by manufacturing a watch that doesn’t tell the time. And no, this isn’t a practical joke or satirical article from the annals of the Onion; it’s a legitimate project that’s based on the concept that time is subjective.

News
Print readership slide continues, but news brands grow
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Nielsen and the Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) have released 2013’s fourth quarter readership and circulation statistics for newspapers and magazines. And while the previous article on magazines held some good news, the numbers for newspapers are far bleaker. However, it must be remembered that Nielsen’s readership insights for newspapers are exclusively based on print. So while the statistics might not seem promising, they only offer a glimpse at one aspect of readership.

News
All natural, all bollocks
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As Theresa Gattung famously confirmed, confusion is a well-established marketing tactic. And there are plenty of examples of duplicitous techniques used by the marketing and advertising fraternity to help ‘increase purchase intent’. Now the term ‘natural’—and the shysters who employ it—is coming in for some attention in a mock campaign funded by US industry body Only Organic.

News
Britomart concourse becomes an art gallery
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The creative agency True has collaborated with Adshel and the mobile application business StQry (pronounced story) to turn Britomart concourse into an ad-hoc gallery for World of WearableArt (WOW) by putting up 22 large, photographic artworks, which have been carefully chosen from ‘WearableArt,’ a new book that celebrates the WOW Awards Show.

News
Inside: Satellite Media
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Satellite Media leaders Nikki Streater and Nick Lowe erased the company line between digital and media before they could foresee the avalanche of devices and channels that would bring the two areas together. Now it’s clients that cover a raft of touchpoints — and support its forays into connected retail and events — that interest the company most.

News
Time to get targeted as digital goes mainstream
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With digital an established part of the marketing mix, 2014 is the year brands should be targeting niche audiences more than ever, says Hotwire and 33 Digital’s Trends Report. And social media is one area where the explosion of channels has prompted marketers to think ‘digital by design’.

News
Selfies with a bite
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A US animal shelter has come up with a novel way of helping dogs get adopted and at the same time making selfies less about egotism and more about charity. It’s all thanks to Instagram and bit of creative poochery.

News
Radio New Zealand shuffles its lineup—UPDATED
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Radio New Zealand (RNZ) has announced that Simon Mercep will leave the Morning Report in April when Geoff Robinson, the co-host on the show, retires. And according to a Herald report, the empty seats left at the Morning Report by the imminent departure of the two hosts will be filled by Auckland-based Guyon Espiner and, if speculation is to be trusted, Wellington journalist Susie Ferguson, who has previously filled in on the show.

News
Special Group harnesses the power of needlework to tell the tale of Barnes, Catmur & Friends
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In the early days of America, it’s thought the colonisers gave blankets to the native Americans as gifts, but added in a surprise in the form of smallpox. And Special Group, as part of the Axis Share the Love campaign, has done something similar (without the murderous intent) by creating a “nine-panel, hand-crafted tribute” to Barnes, Catmur & Friends and lacing it with a dose of good-natured cheekiness.

News
Air NZ releases safety video: outrage simmers down
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Air New Zealand has officially unveiled its latest in-flight safety video, which was filmed by Josh Frizzel from 8com and features five models from the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit franchise. And the initial outrage that coincided with release of the behind-the-scenes clip now seems to have diminished substantially.

News
Looking back
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If your Facebook feed has been cluttered with those look back movies, you might like a few that take the mickey out of the social network’s idea that celebrated its tenth birthday.

News
A mother’s work
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It seems a mother’s work can actually be done, at least in the imagination of a young daughter. This is no ordinary work, because it’s that of global giant General Electric, in a vast range of fields.

News
Cars take their mark
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Honda has unleashed the beast in a visual effects spectactular that turns its brand into a dark horse. Underneath the technical wizardry it’s a race between robots, real horses and cars.

News
Scandinavia in the south: design conference aims to crack the Norse Code
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Those Nordic countries are all the rage at the moment, what with their food, furniture, literature, social policies, architecture, vehicles (or, more particularly, ads for vehicles), expensive stereos and diversified economies. And New Zealand business folk will be able to get a taste of the region’s rich design pedigree with Norse Code, a full day event similar in format to the Better by Design summit that features five of the biggest names in Scandinavian design. Plus: win a ticket worth $195.

News
Following the leaders
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Newspapers may be struggling to deal with a few fairly serious business model issues at the moment, but that hasn’t stopped The Guardian from creating some great ads to promote it wares. And The Sunday Times has followed suit, with its single-shot, two-actor Icons spot promoting its refreshed coverage of art, music, film and TV and its month-long culture series.

Opinion
Guy Williams on offensive Tweets, being a craplebrity and Kobe jumping over an Aston Martin
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Although Guy Williams isn’t actively involved in the advertising industry beyond appearing in the odd promo for one of his shows, his ability to consistently deliver a humorous message no matter which medium he is working in is something that many marketers and brands strive to do with their campaigns. So, in order to learn his secrets, we sent the lanky comedian a few questions.

News
The Winter Adlympics
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Amidst the photos of dodgy hotels, news of security threats and occasional sporting events at the Sochi Winter Olympics (why the amazing ski ballet was canned, we’ll never know), there are the ads riding on those coattails. So here’s a collection of the best.

News
The law of the vital few: Twenty’s treatise on ‘the science of persuasion’
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As the Agency Wank Tumblr shows, agencies trying to elucidate their point of difference can easily veer into cringeworthy business cliches and terrible jargon (Canadian agency John St, on the other hand, has consistently nailed it with brilliant films that mock current advertising trends). But direct and digital specialist Twenty, which has added a number of new clients and a host of new staff in the past few years, has avoided that self-promotional fate with an animated trip back in time to explain the power of the 80/20 rule to the world of business.

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