There have been plenty of changes at Whybin\TBWA over the past few years, both in terms of staff and clients. But after winning a few pitches, including the Auckland International Airport business, trying to establish the right model and operating as part of a trans-Tasman team, chief executive Todd McLeay and chairman Scott Whybin reckon it’s on the right track.
AA Smartfuel has released a new campaign that features three TVCs promoting its loyalty card, which provides “petrol cheap and sometimes free”. The campaign, created by Rainger & Rolfe and shot by Exit Films and follows Edward, a Korean immigrant who moved to New Zealand a number of years ago, as he hoons through the streets of Auckland in his taxi and humorously narrates what it’s like being a taxi driver in the city, discussing the nature of his job and the people he meets.
Over 900 ridiculously well-dressed media types took their seats at the Viaduct Events Centre last night for the 2015 edition of the Beacon Awards. Throughout the evening, each of the company tables gave partisan cheers when their co-workers stepped onto the stage to collect awards, serving as a reminder of the competitive banter that typifies the industry on a daily basis. And although most winners will no doubt feel a sense of pride—and the mild throb of a hangover—today, the most successful agencies on the night were MBM, FCB Media and Spark PHD.
TRA has always positioned itself as one of the cool kids of its sector and its previous High St office looked more like a trendy agency than a dowdy research company. It’s taken that even further with its new office in Britomart, which developer Peter Cooper has pronounced “as the best fit out in the precinct”. And it’s bringing a few new clients along with it after winning the Spark, Toyota and Te Wananga o Aotearoa research accounts.
Earlier this week, Bauer and Mobile Embrace were confirmed as the latest additions to the IAB NZ board, which already includes NZME, Fairfax, Yahoo NZ, Yellow, Seek, Vodafone, Google NZ, Mi9, TVNZ, MediaWorks, Trade Me and Met Service. StopPress chatted to the conglomerate’s head of digital Michael Fuyala to find out more about the strategy that underpinned this move.
Devin Graham, an American videographer who produces adventure and extreme sport videos under the name Devin Super Tramp, has become one of social media’s biggest names, with more than 2.9 million YouTube subscribers and over 530 million total views. Tourism New Zealand got him to come for a visit and it ended up being the most successful social influencer work it has done to date.
Smartphone app Postr, which puts brands and money into consumers’ pockets by serving ads on their smartphone lockscreens, added its name to the list of apps trying to own the mobile last year. It’s managed to attract 12,000 downloads so far, and it’s hoping some new features that will enable users to browse news, weather and deals from The New Zealand Herald, GrabOne and MetService without having to unlock their mobile phone will grow that number significantly.
The buzz phrase ‘programmatic ad buying’ has been picking up momentum in recent months, and is now commonly heard in discussions on the state of modern media. And despite the frequency with which the word is used, it still carries enough uncertainty to motivate ad tech company Chango to recently run a sponsored web series on Adweek explaining key concepts to the US market. Similarly to the US, New Zealand is also coming to grips with programmatic ad buying. And to find out a bit more, StopPress recently chatted to Zane Furtado, the programmatic director at Acquire Online.
The way the world is going, it probably won’t be too long before the mobile phone renders cards obsolete. But until that happens, ASB is using the phone to make using cards easier by allowing customers to set temporary locks and maximum withdrawals and restrict contactless, international and online payments.
YouTube starlet has become something of a branding sweetheart in recent months. Last year, Coca-Cola commissioned her to promote its #colouryoursummer campaign in Australia, Google has included her on its YouTube stars roadshow and she is currently part of theContiki troupe of influencers currently sharing travel stories from Asia. And she also recently caught the eyes of marketing team at Netflix. Two weeks ago, Curry posted a video called ‘How to Netflix’ on her YouTube channel as part of marketing push by the SVOD player to expand its reach across Australia and New Zealand.
Outdoor digital advertising has had a slow roll out in Auckland due to council regulations about visual impact and safety, and this means that Auckland doesn’t quite have the digital glow of New York’s cityscape just yet. However, outdoor digital advertising is gaining momentum in the Super City, and the Auckland Council is showing a willingness to engage with out-of-home media owners on the incorporation of new digital sites. While outdoor advertising company APN was the first to unleash a digital billboard in Auckland city, other companies were soon to follow. And one of the latest is iSite, which has just announced a new billboard collection called ‘Aura’ that will feature two high profile sites in the heart of Newmarket in June, according to iSite Media chief executive Wayne Chapman.
This article originally featured in the March/April edition of NZ Marketing. History is littered with examples of short-term gain leading to long-term pain, whether it’s the…
The marketing world is keen on vending machine stunts, with stunts allowing them to accept everything from hugs to Canadian passports to piano playing to motionlessness (this trend was skewered nicely by Taxi). Now, in an effort to tackle pollution, Volkswagen has created one that accepts batteries instead of currency in Russia.
Over the last year, various media organisations—StopPress included—have on numerous occasions asked Facebook for user information specific to New Zealand, but the social media juggernaut was been unable to provide much beyond international stats and the fact that around two million Kiwis visit the site an average of about 15 times a day. However, yesterday, during a press conference held at the Seafarers building in Britomart, Facebook gave a room of journalists what they had been asking for by presenting a statistical breakdown of how New Zealanders use Facebook. PLUS: Facebook financial results for Q1 2015.
For some strange reason, unboxing videos are quite popular and some of the channels are making millions. But Samsung played with the artform to launch its new phones, showing some much more exciting activities than normal.
Advertisers are increasingly questioning the brand value offered by banner ads that seemingly do little more than annoy web users. And for this reason, media owners and agencies are being forced into producing innovative online banner campaigns that include interactive elements. So recently, when FCB and the Pandora international ad development team set out to create a campaign for the release of the new Holden Cruze, the pair decided to give users a look inside the vehicle.
The Maybelline cosmetics brand started out in 1915 when Mabel Williams combined coal dust with Vaseline to create a more dramatic eye—and it has since grown into a beauty product juggernaut. We take a look at some of the brand’s print ads over the years.
The Building and Construction Industry Training Organisation (BCITO) has launched a new campaign with the aim of recruiting 5,000 new apprentices. And it’s doing it by focusing on the pros of working in construction, such as not racking up a huge student loan, being fit and muscular, spending time outdoors and being a total babe magnet.
Sky’s History channel and DDB have teamed up for a unique Anzac activation in which fake trenches were set up in Auckland and Wellington with actors dressed as soldiers re-enacting what it would have been like during WWI.
A meaningful slow clap goes out to NZTA, Mitsubishi, Tasti, Spark and Coca-Cola this week.
During the Cricket World Cup, Hyundai promoted its new Genesis sedan by putting cars on plinths—and in the path of some sixes—inside the grounds and trying to get people to answer a few questions about the car’s various features in its animated TV ads. But they do things bigger in the US, so it used a few of them to send a message from a girl called Stephanie to her astronaut father.
A big part of GoPro’s marketing strategy is to promote great footage captured by its users. And that often just proves how dull your own life is. Or is it? One office worker who strapped on a camera and made the footage into “an exciting GoPro commercial” doesn’t think so.
Industry happenings at Adhub, NZTE, NZME, Vodafone, Socialites, Anthem, Beat Communications and Contiki.
NZTA has been talking about the perils of distraction for a while now. And Auckland Transport is on the same page. So it’s released a new campaign that calls dangerous distracted drivers out—and asks witnesses to do the same.
Back in December, the blood alcohol limit was lowered from 80 milligrams to 50 milligrams per millilitre, and while every human is different, that equates to about two standard drinks over two hours before drivers blow the bag. NZTA and Clemenger BBDO announced that change with a simple informational campaign. But, as they have been doing for years, they’re now playing the emotional card. PLUS: How the changes have impacted the booze business.
Pascall has changed the recipe of its Milk Bottle lollies and removed the milk. And as is the case with most changes like this, customers are unimpressed with the new taste—and the concept.
Growth HQ’s James Kemp ran 65 of New Zealand’s top sites through Google’s Mobile Tool to see how ready they were for the algorithm changes introduced today. And there were quite a few surprises in the mix. Plus: what Google says about the changes.
The Campbell Live saga has shown that commerce and current affairs often make uneasy bedfellows. But across on a different medium, the publicly funded Radio New Zealand and the commercially minded NZME are jumping into bed, with iHeartRadio now streaming Radio New Zealand National, Radio New Zealand Concert and Radio New Zealand International. And both sides think it’s a win-win.
Mitsubishi and Clemenger BBDO have had a fairly good run on the advertising front, with the retro campaign for the Mirage and the humorous take on hybrid technology to launch the MPEH Outlander standing out. Now it’s released an ad promoting the just released Triton ute that talks up its reliability with the tagline ‘You can bet on it’.
Where brands used to simply advertise, now they’re regularly ‘creating content’—and often hoping to inspire warm fuzzies. Vodafone and True nailed it, Air New Zealand did it over Christmas, Samsung made a very special delivery in Australia and to show how it is helping to preserve our national icon, Tasti has got in on the act with ‘Project Nest’.