Indie music darling FKA Twigs has been commissioned by some of the cooler Google executives to produce a new ad for Google Glass.
Monthly Archives: October, 2014
It’s nigh-on impossible to drive through the small North Island town of Bulls and not pull out a few cringeworthy puns. And science shows that the more you do it, the funnier it becomes, especially if you’re a dad. The town has fully embraced the bovine-based verbal gymnastics, and here’s a selection of brands that have done the same.
A bull-riding babe, a sightseeing couple and an eyebrow-raising basketballer get a gold sticker this week.
If the winner of Colmar Brunton’s Ad Impact Award is any guide, you still can’t beat a celebrity endorsement, because New Zealanders absolutely loved Samsung’s ad featuring All Black Izzy Dagg and the new Galaxy S5.
Nielsen has released its statistics for New Zealand’s most-visited websites by unique audience, and the figures once again confirm New Zealand’s preference for Stuff over the NZ Herald website—although the gap has narrowed substantially following Nielsen’s correction of its data collection in April this year. StopPress chats to Fairfax’s Sinead Boucher and NZME’s Brad Glading about the figures.
One youtuber shows us that iPhones can be used for a lot more than just taking selfies and texting your BFFs.
Marketing, particularly the advertising part thereof, is often vilified for its soulless commitment to pandering items with the goal of producing a profit. And while there is a fair amount of truth to this, every once in a while the very skills and creativity that generally cause the public to criticise advertising are used for causes nobler than selling random items. One such instance recently occurred with the announcement of the Cannes Chimera winners, an initiative, backed by Bill and Melinda Gates, which aims to bring ideas to life that can make the world a better place.
50 Wellington locations were captured in four days of shooting for Positively Wellington Tourism’s new commercial, which follows a young couple on a whirlwind tour around the capital. And it has even the most hardcore Wellingtonians watching again to try and pinpoint every location in the clip.
Around five years ago, the NBR started charging for its online subscriptions, with its corporate IP subscription offer arriving on the scene around a year ago. Publisher Todd Scott says it’s now bringing in $1 million in digital subs revenue and it will be hoping for more after launching its redesigned website and a mobile-only offer over the weekend and also announcing plans to establish an NBR radio service.
Not all superheroes wear spandex tights and possess other-worldly powers that defy the laws of physics. Some just have an inhuman capacity and willingness to help others. And these are the kinds of superheroes that are honoured in a new spot by creative agency Don’t Panic and Unit 9 directors Greg Hardes and Jacob Proud for not-for-profit organisation Save the Children.
If you’re going to attach a tagline like ‘vanguard until death’ to your company’s name, then you’d better make sure you live up to it. So, in an effort to live up to the expectations set by its branding, three Michelin-starred restaurant Diverxo has commissioned the creation of a macabre short film that depicts a collection of diners eating the creations of a mysterious chef.
Paul Catmur, the creative managing partner of Barnes, Catmur & Friends, shares his views on life, advertising and other annoyances, such as the unwillingness of the magazine industry to accept the unvarnished truth.
The Thug Kitchen Cookbook launched in bookstores this month, and with the tagline “Eat like you give a fuck”, you can tell their brand ethos revolves around using a lot of swear words.
Although it doesn’t come as much of a surprise, an independent survey commissioned by Reachmedia has found that Kiwis are becoming skilled at avoiding advertising in new forms of media and are utilising technology to assist them. StopPress takes a look at what the results of the survey say.
Since normal companies tend to be dissatisfied with their levels of innovation, it might be time to take a slightly more abnormal approach, argues James Hurman.
Collectively, the top 10 Kiwi-based YouTube channels have over four million subscribers and, although that obviously also includes an international audience, this number is impressive given that New Zealand, as starting base, only has a population of around 4.5 million people. Here’s a rundown of the ten YouTube channels with the highest number of subscribers.
Spark gave New Zealand a bit of tease before it launched its new ‘Never Stop Starting’ campaign with some unbranded billboards and digital ads. And there’s some more mystery afoot, with a teaser video featuring Kiwi NBA star Steven Adams being released last night.
Our weekly wrap of good things, strange things, funny things and other things from inside the intertubes.
Aside from one small and entertaining Cupertino Effect-related glitch and some criticism of the Thanks reward scheme, most would agree the Spark rebrand went extremely smoothly given how big it was. And it’s continuing its quest for the hearts and minds of younger Aucklanders—and keeping with the trend towards creating experiences rather than just running ads—with the launch of Spark Lab, a new innovation and ideas workshop in Britomart.
According to Nielsen’s stats, approximately 934,000 Kiwis currently have a mortgage. And when this considered alongside the issue of housing prices, it’s clear that this is a major source of revenue for banks. So, in an effort to consolidate its position as the biggest mortgage provider in New Zealand, ANZ has launched a new campaign that features a slow-motion auction scene playing out to an operatic score.
Truth is meant to be stranger than fiction. And while the history of Scottish whisky brand Ballantine’s certainly has its strange bits, the fictional story of what might have been if it hadn’t stayed true to its origins and dabbled in brand extensions is much weirder.
A number of premium brands are starting to take advantage of longer-form benefits of using YouTube as an advertising channel as recently seen with Guinness’ ‘Sapeurs’ mini-documentary, Corona’s short surf films and Johnnie Walker’s ‘The Gentleman’s Wager’. As illustrated in each of these videos, brand dollars can translate into high production videos, which are entertaining despite falling into the advertising category. Having seen its branding counterparts enjoy success on YouTube through longer form content, Chanel No 5 has recently commissioned Baz Luhrmann to direct a short film, and the result steps very close to the line of utter madness.
Changes at OMD, MediaWorks, Grace, Designworks and Ambient Group.
On 15 October, StopPress attended Google’s Brandcast event in Sydney, and the general theme delivered over the course of the 90-minute show was that YouTube stars provide an effective means by which brands can communicate with various target market. Here’s what some of the speakers had to say at the event.
Earlier this week, Glassons provoked the ire of its Facebook fans, Twitter followers and an eating disorders expert for featuring a mannequin that was designed to have its ribs showing. Auckland-based psychotherapist Anna Drijver, who specialises in a range of eating disorders, told the Herald that the use of the mannequin was “absurd” and added that this approach to window promotions would have a “negative effect” on both young boys and girls. Yet, despite this controversy still simmering on social media networks, Glassons has now unveiled a new campaign that will undoubtedly also raise a few eyebrows for featuring the controversial act of bull-riding.
Mediacom won the grunty Fonterra business off OMD a few months back and now it will be taking on another big food account after Nestlé handed its Australasian media business to Groupm.
A comedy club in Barcelona is experimenting with a new way of charging patrons. On a per laugh basis.
Music often plays a big role in memories, reminding us of good times and bad. And Spotify is promoting its vast library with a nice campaign based around the slogan of ‘you have the story, we have the song’ and the hashtag #thatsongwhen. PLUS: what fellow streaming service Pandora is up to.
This coming Sunday a sports event bigger than the NBA final playoffs will be happening in Seoul, and chances are you’ve never heard of it.
Advances in technology have rapidly changed the way we pay for things. Whether it’s tap and go credit cards, in-app payments or mobile wallets, the benefits for consumers are endless. But on the other side of the coin, charities dependent on real currency and street collections fighting against a huge range of other organisations for the donated dollar are starting to suffer as cash carrying declines. So what are the options to prise open increasingly electronic wallets?