Monthly Archives: May, 2014

News
Be social, don’t just do social: Giles Tuck’s global showcase of social creativity
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The first rule of speech club is to insert an inspirational quote at the start. The second rule of speech club is to show a whole lot of case study videos. Giles Tuck, head of Google’s inhouse agency The Zoo-APAC, failed on the former in his presentation about social creativity—the first Champion Speakers event for the recently rejigged CAANZ PR, Experiential and Social Media Committee (PREScom)—but he embraced the second. And the main outtake for the 150-strong crowd of gathered marcomms folk was that you can’t just do social, you’ve got to be social.

News
Professional spin session in your house
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In an effort to remove the hack of going to the gym from consumers’ daily schedules, US-based startup Peloton developed an exercise bike that comes with a specially designed tablet, which connects users to professional spin classes. Through this system, bike owners can access pre-recorded sessions with a range of different trainers—thereby making it possible to enjoy the benefits of a spin class without having to leave the house.

News
Creative matchmaking: The Pond updates website, makes it easier for businesses to find talent
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Creative talent placement agency The Pond recently redesigned its website to make it fully compatible and responsive on iPads and iPhones—meaning that iOS users can now access their accounts on the go. The new website, which was designed by Wellington-based digital agency Heyday and serves largely as a creative matchmaking service, enables company owners to browse through the profiles of creatives to find someone suitable for a certain job.

News
APN and TRN open the door to cross-channel collaboration with advertisers
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With last week’s announcement that Jane Hastings would take on the newly created chief executive role, APN centralised control of its offering across its publishing, radio and digital properties. And now, in continuing this trend of cross-channel collaboration, APN has launched an initiative called Collaborative Media Solutions (CMS), which will provide media agnostic advertising services to clients across the available platforms.

News
A touching campaign: Playable Posters in the wild
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Humans can’t seem to resist pushing buttons. And Beck’s and Shine’s Playable Posters, created as part of the brand’s sponsorship of NZ Music Month, tapped into that with a great example of old and new coming together to create some interactivity in the real world. And it’s just released a clip showing some of the reactions and remixes.

News
Hot in the city
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Heineken has been trying to inspire men to explore the world through its Legends series, which has resulted in some brilliant ads and increased sales around the world. But it’s gone down the domestic road in its latest spot and is tapping into the power of FOMO by showing them what they could be missing out on in their own cities.

News
24 hour party people
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Soulwax has just released the final edition to their set of 24 hour long mixes, with 60 minutes of awe-inspiring audiovisual goodness from their 2002 mashup classic As Heard On Radio Soulwax Pt 2, which was released under their alias, 2ManyDJs.

News
Boosting staff morale, BC&F-style
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Whether it’s free drinks, new mobile devices, early finishes on Fridays in summer or maybe even a share in the company, there are a number of strategies employed by agencies hoping to get a bit more out of their staff. But Barnes, Catmur & Friends has taken an old-school approach with a tongue-in-cheek employee of the month scheme. And the first winner is creative Brad Stratton, in recognition of “excellence in haircut”.

Movings & Shakings
Colenso BBDO cramps up after golden run
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There hasn’t been much bad news for Colenso BBDO in the past few years, with a host of big account wins, some big hires and a regular stream of big awards. But managing director Nick Garrett has confirmed it has had to shuffle the deck and say goodbye to a handful of staff on account of what he says are changing client demands and a couple of projects that didn’t come to fruition.

News
Social issues writ large
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Despite the rampant adoption of social media and mobile technology, there’s been a bit of a backlash against that shift recently, with Gary Turk’s Look Up clip being watched 35 million times on YouTube (as pretty much everyone has pointed out, it is slightly ironic that it’s probably being watched on the devices he hopes to get humans to put down). And now State, a “global opinion network” that allows people to “quickly state about whatever matters to you, get counted, and connect to like-minded people around the world. No need for hashtags, followers or fame”, has added another clip to the growing oeuvre of anti-social media.

News
The fall of an empire: a look at the Publicis-Omnicom non-merger
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The ad world was in a bit of tizz last year when it was announced that the world’s second and third largest holding companies, Publicis Groupe and Omnicom, would merge to create the world’s biggest holding company and knock WPP off its perch. When we spoke to DDB NZ and Australia chair Marty O’Halloran at the time, he said the US$35 billion mega merger (the companies had combined revenue of around US$23 billion in 2012​) was unlikely to impact too heavily on this market. And it definitely won’t impact on this market now, because the lovers called the massive deal off late last week. Here’s a rundown of what the two parties and the international media are saying.

News
A book that saves lives
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DDB NY has teamed up with not-for-profit organisation Water Is Life to produce the drinkable book, a short publication printed on specially designed filter paper capable of removing life-threatening bacteria from unclean water.

News
40 years, 40 hours, over 40 countries: World Vision’s poetic tribute to hunger helping the hungry
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Since the 40 Hour Famine kicked off in 1975, World Vision says over one million Kiwis have taken part in it and raised $72 million to help people in over 40 countries. And to promote the 40th year of the initiative, which this year is focused on helping Malawi, Sugar & Partners enlisted the talents of renowned poet Sam Hunt, Exposure’s Brooke Benton and a number of other charitable young Kiwis to show how New Zealand’s largest youth fundraising event has become something of a rite of passage.

News
Kiwi’s online portfolio shows off mind-blowing stop-motion animation
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The personal portfolios of cinematographers and directors often offer an unfiltered glimpse into the creativity of those working in the industry. And although the videos held within these portfolios rarely have a point beyond exhibiting art for art’s sake, the level of expertise on show often results in a worthwhile expenditure of viewing time. Looking at the work of Wield founder Ryan Kothe (previously a motion animator at MediaWorks), it’s quite evident that he’s a patient man with an almost obsessive-compulsive commitment to his craft, stop-motion animation.

News
Clemenger picks up New Zealand’s only gold at One Show
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On 9 May, about three weeks after the finalists were first announced, the One Show awards were handed out, and the results were somewhat underwhelming for the Kiwi agencies originally shortlisted. Of the 18 awards that the Kiwi contingent could’ve won, only four resulted in silverware, with Clemenger BBDO, Colenso BBDO/Proximity and Shine picking up gongs.

News
Clement and Waititi invite Kiwis to design promotional poster for ‘What we do in the Shadows’
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Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement are outsourcing the design of the “unofficial poster” for their upcoming film ‘What we do in the Shadows’ to regular Kiwis by launching a competition that requires entrants to send in their best creative efforts. This winning poster, as decided by the vampires and the public, will be used in cinemas across the country and the designer will win a double pass to the New Zealand premiere in either Auckland or Wellington. The top ten will also be on display at the premiere events.

News
Mum’s the word
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P&G has been beating its ‘Proud Sponsor of Mums’ drum for a few years now, largely in support of its Olympics sponsorship. And, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Mother’s Day, it’s launched another heart-string tugger that’s already clocked up six million views. But not everybody appreciates the sentiment, with Mia Frazier laying into the patronising, regressive stereotypes in the New Republic.

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