System of a Down frontman Serj Tankian has taken on a slightly different career direction in recent years in developing a cross-sensory art exhibition that features a range of original paintings that have accompanying soundtracks.
The outdoor industry is chugging along nicely at the moment, with a good increase in ad spend in the latest ASA figures and plenty of action on the digital front from the big players. And two of those big players—oOh! Media and APN Outdoor—have released studies they hope will put a bit more wind in the sector’s sails.
We’ve all seen the rolling hills, smiling faces, water sports scenes, kiwi birds and rustic charm that have populated the nation’s tourism video canon over the years. And while these representations sure do help to sell the flights that drive one of New Zealand’s biggest industries, everyone that lives here knows that they aren’t 100 percent true most of the time.
Industry happenings at JustOne/.99, PHD, Designworks, TVNZ, Springload, DDB, Interbrand and Cannes Lions.
Our weekly wrap of good things, strange things, funny things and other things from inside the intertubes.
Air New Zealand has launched a new ad campaign to promote its mobile app and, like a combination of the most interesting man in the world and Cadbury’s airport dancer, it aims to show that using the airline’s tech makes flying an absolute breeze.
Fairfax has actively been tweaking its strategy to facilitate better digital storytelling. This has included a recent update of its content management system, training journalists on how to film video on their smartphones, investing in an experiential and events unit, running digital marketing campaigns, and purchasing stakes in Neighbourly and Pricemaker. Now, off the back of yesterday’s ASA report showing that newspaper ad spend had dropped year on year by $25 million, Fairfax has announced a series of changes that will introduce more digital-centric approach to its news service. And these changes include news of the proposed de-establishment of seven editors’ jobs and the introduction of 12 other senior positions.
As part of a SXSW stunt for American mobile battery case company Mophie, St Bernard rescue dogs have been given smartphone battery packs instead of brandy barrels, giving some of those who tweeted the company detailing their lack of juice a much-needed charge for its Stay Powerful campaign.
Originally established as a pre-press company in 1990, Image Centre Group has gradually moved into other areas like design, web development, full service printing, publishing, digital signage and advertising in an effort to bring the idea of an independent, marketing communications group to life. Now it’s added a crucial—and up until now missing—cog to that wheel: the creative heft of Mike O’Sullivan and his business The Collective.
Toyota has teamed up with Marc Ellis’s small creative agency Media Blanco to launch an online showcase of the musical talent of buskers worldwide via a campaign called ‘Feeling the Street’. Hosted on a specially dedicated website, the campaign asks visitors to vote for their favourite buskers, with the overall winners becoming part of super group that will perform in New Zealand later this year.
Virtual reality is something Facebook bet big on with its acquisition of Oculus Rift for $2 billion. Google has also entered the fray with its very clever, low-cost solution Cardboard. And Samsung is also onboard with its Gear VR, which it’s showing off with a clip showing a dad experiencing the birth of his third child from afar and a bunch of Aussies diving with sharks in an unexpected location.
Subscription video on-demand is often compared to linear television as a superior alternative that gives users the freedom to watch what they want when they want to, without the annoyance of advertising. Yet, despite these advantages, Kiwi SVOD provider Lightbox still sees value in using the reach of traditional television to spread the news about its offering and has just released a new, somewhat crazy, campaign for Vikings.
Last year, the WWF and the Zoological Society of London released a report saying that Earth had lost half its wildlife in the past 40 years. It was a harrowing statistic and there are many more creatures in a perilous state. So, Species in Pieces, a very clever online interactive exhibition, aims to raise awareness about 30 of them.
Buzzfeed got a group of people together and made a video of them sampling chocolate from five different countries. The aim was that the participants had to guess the chocolate’s origin according to the taste. And yes, you’d be pleased to know, Pineapple Lumps got a well-deserved mention.
Bruce Murray, the executive digital producer at Y&R in Auckland, questions whether it’s the right time for agencies to start looking into how virtual reality could be integrated into their comms strategies.
Everyone becomes a little bit Irish on St Patrick’s Day. And plenty of brands do too. Here’s a rundown of some of the best efforts from here and around the world.
Digital agency Resn unleashed some bad luck upon the world on Friday the 13th with a mobile game, appropriately titled ‘F*ck Luck’.
The overall ad spend pie grew by 4.2 percent to $2.39 billion in 2014, according to the Advertising Standards Authority’s figures for the 12 months ended December 31. And once again it was interactive leading the charge, overtaking newspapers and getting close to TV.
Netflix, which is soon to launch in New Zealand, has been leading the way when it comes to native ad content, with some classy, expensive and bespoke executions. And its latest effort via The Atlantic aims to promote the third season of its original series House of Cards by focusing on the real partnerships and power dynamics between US presidents and their spouses.
Andrew Hawley, the managing director of Touchcast was recently elected to the CAANZ executive board, an appointment that served as commendation for the quality of the digital work his agency has delivered since its inception. Recently, Touchcast was ranked 6th fastest growing company in New Zealand, and 46th fastest growing tech company in Asia Pacific. Touchcast’s work has featured at the RSVP and NZDM Awards in New Zealand, the Caples Awards in New York, at Cannes, the Future Marketing Awards for Asia Pacific Region, and the Best Design Awards in New Zealand. He has been on the digital jury of the Clio awards in Miami, and has judged the Axis and Effie Awards in New Zealand several times. And given his interest in creating digital experiences, StopPress recently sent him a few questions on how the interactive channel is evolving and what challenges this is introducing.
Back in February, Google made an announcement that said, as of 21 April, a website’s mobile-friendliness will increase as a ranking signal. And with 23 percent of all web searches now conducted on mobile, moving down the rankings could lead to a very real impact on the number of leads or sales a website generates, says Richard Conway, so you’d better get your mobile house in order.
In the early ’90s, video cameras for personal use were large clunky devices that most often delivered grainy footage to video cassettes that would almost invariably collect dust in a box located in some forgotten corner of the house. But as technology advanced the cameras became smaller and cheaper, and the quality they delivered improved drastically. Nowhere is the this trend more evident than in the story that underpins the rise of Go Pro. The evolution of camera technology has allowed an entire generation to capture footage and share experiences that were once restricted to only the person participating in them.
Durex has poked a satirical stick at tech advertising in a new campaign that questions what type of smartphone technology might help to improve a couple’s sex life. In keeping with the irreverent tone that has come to typify the brand, the ad then concludes by saying that the answers lies in the off button.
FMG, Tourism Fiji, Daikin and Cuca have the luck of the Irish this week.
Ahhhh, y-fronts. The long-serving, long-suffering undergarment of choice of Homer Simpson, Walter White and probably millions of Kiwi men over the years. And Jockey is celebrating its invention of the famous style 80 years ago by taking us back to 1960.
In the latest edition of the Orca awards, FCB’s Matt Williams and Freddie Coltart picked up the award award for their outrageous 45-second sale radio campaign for AS Colour.
MediaWorks’ decision to fire X Factor NZ judges husband and wife duo Natalia Kills and Willy Moon, after their scathing comments towards contestant Joe Irvine, has had a positive impact on the show’s rating, lifting viewership by 100,000 sets of eyes. Plus: a look at some of MediaWorks’ other missteps over the last few weeks.
Recently, a quirky Kimberly-Clark ad for its U by Kotex Ultrathins range, was transported from Australia to the Kiwi market. Featuring a selection of ladies putting on exaggerated cowboy walks, the new campaign, called ‘Ditch the cowboy walk’, aims to draw attention to that fact that the new product eliminates the “gross feeling” that accompanies wearing a pad.
Last Friday, Volvo senior vice president Alain Visser stepped off a plane at Auckland Airport and headed to Greenlane to open the doors to a new showroom set to house the Swedish brand’s range of vehicles. We stepped into the flash new location to chat Visser about the evolution of the brand in New Zealand and abroad.
Daikin has launched a new ad campaign sans Dan Carter, saying it was time to change up its brand positioning and stand on its own two feet. Instead of Dan there’s now a boy who has some serious separation issues with his friend’s heat pump.