Author Ben Fahy

These days the idea of New Zealandness is a dime a dozen in advertising. But it certainly wasn’t always that way, with British accents and values typically being favoured in the nation’s early television advertising. ​Colenso’s ‘Who are we’ campaign for BNZ in 1990 is widely regarded as one of the first to “consciously reflect a distinctive New Zealand identity”. And for the first time that full series is available to view online.

Regina, one of New Zealand’s original confectionery brands, has been laying dormant since 2001. But it has now been reborn, with a new look, some quirky new Kiwi-fied products and a new ad campaign that focuses on the first world problem-solving ability of its creations.

There’s been plenty happening in the digital signage space recently. Prices for screens are coming down, big global players are making big orders and digital-out-of-home is responsible for a lot of the growth in outdoor sector around the world. APN Outdoor just launched the country’s first digital billboards in Auckland. And Ngage is also riding that wave, with a recent roll-out of digital signage across the BP network and some big projects on the go.

Jaguar drivers seem like they’d probably be more familiar with ‘tally ho old chap’ than ‘OMG! LOL!’. But that hasn’t stopped the premium car brand and its agency Big from using the line ‘WTXF?’ in a new campaign for its XF model that’s appearing on super-sized billboards in the main centres and on extra large online banners.

Paper has had a pretty rough time of it recently, with big printing company closures, publishers haemorrhaging cash and direct mail struggling to get the same amount of attention that other ‘sexier’ channels like online or TV get, despite NZ Post’s recent study into its effectiveness. But advances in printing technology mean there are a number of creative possibilities now available, and a few recent Kiwi examples have caught our eye.

While Telecom is currently focusing on the advertising of its major competitor, with proceedings lodged today in the High Court over aspects of what it believes are misleading claims in Vodafone’s recent SuperNet campaign, it will be focusing on its own advertising come Sunday night, because it’s launching a new campaign for its Business Hubs, the local (and often locally-owned) business-only locations offering services and products to SME customers.

Academic advertising isn’t typically renowned for its creativity and often tends to focus on the facilities or the wonderous achievements of its students. The University of Otago certainly does a bit of that, but it’s also continuing to push the uniqueness of the southern student experience and, after a big research project to see if it was still on the right track with its ‘Take your place in the World’ campaign, Zephyr has given it a refresh.

Advertising largely exists to draw attention to products and services. But communications can also help foster social change, and DraftFCB, an agency with an undoubted strength in this area, is aiming to do just that by offering 1000 hours of comms expertise to an organisation that’s focused on reducing child abuse in New Zealand.

The global ad industry has moved closer to a duopoly with the proposed merger of Publicis Group and Omnicom set to create the world’s biggest ad network, beating out WPP. But, according to DDB Group’s executive chairman for Australia/NZ Marty O’Halloran, the creation of a company valued at US$35 billion with revenues of US$23 billion is unlikely to have much of an impact on the local agency landscape.

Last year, after six years in second place, BMW knocked Audi off its perch and reclaimed the top selling premium car mantle in the New Zealand market. But Audi isn’t far behind, it’s still growing and it’s decided to tap into the nation’s patriotic fervour with one of the German brand’s first locally shot campaigns.

Rekorderlig Cider has brought a piece of Scandinavia to Auckland’s Shortland St with the arrival of a Swedish-themed bar and restaurant that will be open to the public for just ten days. All up, around $400,000 was spent on constructing and promoting the tree filled, wood-panelled Winter Garden. And when you look at the growth of cider in New Zealand and around the world, that seems like a pretty good investment.