Author Ben Fahy

He’s been on the wall for Daikin, he’s been on a bike for Rexona, he’s been in a video with his dad for Adidas, and he’s been in his undies for Jockey, but brands just can’t get enough of the commercial dream that is Dan Carter, so now he is trying to keep up with a working mum in a new spot for Healtheries.

Land Rover started off not long after World War II when a farmer in the UK stripped a battered army jeep and decided to build something more appropriate. 65 years on and the cars are certainly a whole heap more luxurious, but the brand hasn’t forgotten its roots, and Big Communications is showcasing this evolution with a new campaign that has given the international creative a local twist.

It’s been a rough few years for New Zealand Post, with the decline in traditional mail leading to a number of restructures, the sale of assets and plenty of cost cutting. And there’s more change on the horizon, with comms manager John Tulloch saying there’s “a bit of a realignment going on” across various parts of the business at the moment, including the marketing team.

Our weekly wrap of good things, strange things and other things from the intertubes.

Airlines and tourism marketing entities go together like raspberry and Coke, and following some successful recent partnerships, Air New Zealand and Tourism New Zealand have upped the stakes, agreeing to a one-year, more than $20 million deal to promote travel to New Zealand, an increase of around 80 percent on the previous year. PLUS: Air New Zealand drops the blue in new livery.

Watties’ ‘Food in a Minute’ has been running for 16 years, and it hasn’t changed much in that time. But it’s just launched a national, multi-channel campaign to celebrate its new look and modified focus.

The Shopping Channel has had a pretty rough ride since it launched with great, Eva Longoria-inspired fanfare last year. But it’s still alive—albeit much leaner, in a different location and with a modified focus.

When it comes to ad spend, there are a few measures available, from the ratecard-based Nielsen AIS, to the industry-supplied figures released annually by the Advertising Standards Authority, or other quarterly releases sent out by various industry bodies. But a new player is about to take the field, with Standard Media Index (SMI) launching in the New Zealand market this month.

As the AskewOne piece on the wall beside Auckland’s south-western motorway says, ‘better never stops’. And Charlie’s Trading Co. has acknowledged that philosophy by creating a new corporate brand called The Better Drinks Co.

Goodby Silverstein and Partners’ Got Milk? campaign for the California Milk Processor Board was one of the most memorable campaigns of the ’90s and became part of the pop cultural furniture in the US. It helped increased milk consumption in California, it has spawned a host of parodies and it’s still going strong today. So why is the phrase being used by Fonterra to advertise its Anchor brand?

Premium cars have long associated themselves with fashion brands. And BMW has become much more fashionable in New Zealand in recent years, with Kathyrn Wilson named as an ambassador and NZ Fashion Week added to its sponsorship portfolio last year, which saw a fleet of X1s getting a wrapping. BMW-owned Mini has been on that track for a while, having been officially linked with local fashion house Stolen Girlfriends Club for three years. And to celebrate both the launch of the new Mini Paceman and the label’s new range, the “muscular coupe” has become a model itself after being wrapped in the Death Moth print.

The last time Cadbury made major changes to its blocks in 2009, it decreased the weight from 250g to 200g, added palm oil and reduced the amount of cocoa butter. And we all know what happened there. But general manager of marketing Iaan Buchanan says the company has learned from its mistakes and its latest changes mean consumers now get ten percent more chocolate for the same price on specially marked ‘Extra Joy’ family block packs.