Monthly Archives: October, 2015

News
I Spy with my little eye a looming lifestyle rivalry
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NZME has officially announced the launch of a new women’s lifestyle magazine called Spy, which will be inserted into the Herald on Sunday every week from 25 October. The media company has pitched the move as an attempt to fill in the market left by New Idea after the publishing partnership between Pacific Magazines and NZME came to an end. And while NZME has said the publication will be covering much more than just celebrity news, it will see former co-workers Simich and Glucina going head to head for scoops in this space.

News
The Big Game: Cadbury, Beats by Dre, Barkers and Jono and Ben
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Another day, another step towards assured glory for the All Blacks, and another few attempts to squeeze some more blood out of the rugby stone. And this week’s winner of The Big Game, a prestigious award dished out by StopPress to the best example of desperate euphemism usage from non-sponsors hoping to ride the attention train, goes to Cadbury for its classy Photoshopping. PLUS: rugby fever from Beats by Dre and Barkers.

News
They like me, they really like me. Right? Brands and the misguided allure of participation
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TNS presented the results from its Connected Life 2015 survey on Friday. And, speaking at the event, Jacqueline Smart, head of planning at JWT, said brands had developed an unhealthy obsession with getting customers to participate in marketing campaigns. PLUS: TNS’ Ian Wentworth on how to get consumers to spend more and The Warehouse’s Craig Jordan on why the lines between ecommerce and retail don’t exist anymore.

News
Spark shares the love with Shine and Colenso BBDO
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It’s no secret Spark is on a mission to transform its business and as part of that it’s transforming its agency model, with Shine confirmed as a key strategic partner and, as widely expected, Clemenger Group rounding out its previous wins after Colenso BBDO was appointed as its above-the-line brand agency.

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Innuendo party
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Testo and Schick are currently running ads loaded with sexual innuendo, but this isn’t the first time it’s happened and it certainly won’t be the last. Here’s a rundown of some cheeky ads we spotted online.

News
An audience with the future
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Following on from our last round-up, no-one seems to have been able to avoid the excitement over the recent arrival of Back to the Future’s date. News broadcasters talked to people with DeLoreans and discussed what the film got right. And, as cultural parasites, brands tired to get a piece of the action too. Herewith, a few more examples.

News
Chocolate horror and holiday lust
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In the lead up to Halloween, Cadbury has quirky video that positions humans (or at least their disembodied hands) as the villains. The short clip shows a solitary chocolate block walking through a Halloween-themed world, all the while stalked by a great big human hand. And then, as the hand snatches the block, the clip orchestrates a classic horror film twist ending and shows a host of chocolate blocks watching a film at the big screen.

News
Finland’s Facetime with Vanilla Ice
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In a bid to persuade Finns that vanilla ice cream isn’t the most boring flavour available, Stockholm-based creative agency Perfect Fools recruited none other than 90s rapper Vanilla Ice to appear in a somewhat bizarre campaign for Consumo. But rather than flying the rapper to Finland and having him appear in person, the agency instead just video called him through the internet. What follows after this is a strange video in which a quartet of Finns engage in a range of games with the rapper.

News
Colenso BBDO dabbles in telekinesis for latest V Energy stunt
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Colenso BBDO recently deployed a bit of telekinesis in a teaser campaign for V Energy. And from the outset, there were hints that V Energy (the brand that brought us the V Motion Project) was going to deliver another experiential marvel. The references to telekinesis and the chords sticking out the can seemed to allude to technology that enables users to move items with their minds. And the energy drink company lived up to promise of the teaser campaign by hosting an experiential campaign that gave Kiwis an opportunity to levitate a ship container.

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Wellington Zoo and Clemenger BBDO show New Zealanders how lucky they are
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Some believe the reason Australians and New Zealanders are so different is because everything in the Lucky Country is always trying to kill you. And there’s a chance you’ll get munched by something if you venture outside in a number of other countries too. Now the benefits of New Zealand’s relatively placid wildlife are being talked up to get punters along to Wellington Zoo’s new walk-through precinct ‘Meet the Locals, He Tuku Aroha’.

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Bauer muses on the meaning of influence, aims to link brands with its talent
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Last week, Bauer assembled media and agency types at the Auckland Museum Auditorium to deliver findings of research it has conducted on what influence means to Kiwis in the modern context. With the emergence of social media stars that have accumulated millions of followers online, the word influence has come to be synonymous with the likes of Jamie Curry, Jay Alvarrez and their ilk, and brands are rushing out to tap into the opportunities they offer. And while there is certain value in engaging with the massive audiences of these new-age characters, Bauer’s research shows that the Kiwi understanding of influence is by no means limited to kids producing grainy videos from their parents’ bedrooms.

News
‘The world’s first Instagram made of chocolate’
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Whittaker’s is one of the most loved Kiwi brands on Facebook, with almost 500,000 fans—and a knack for launching new products directly to them. It’s hoping to replicate that success on Instagram. And to launch its account, it appears to have invited the chocolate whisperer back into its midst.

News
Upper class code
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Sick of tossing around that crusty old Gilbert? Feel like you deserve the best in life? Want to celebrate an All Blacks victory with that special something? Then you need some Chanel rugby balls.

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