After a competitive pitch, Contagion has been chosen as the full creative and media partner for New Zealand’s largest shoe retailer, Number One Shoes.
After a competitive pitch, Contagion has been chosen as the full creative and media partner for New Zealand’s largest shoe retailer, Number One Shoes.
It’s certainly not the sexiest of products, but that hasn’t stopped Blu Tack’s colourful little monster from capturing the attention of Kiwis and taking out Colmar Brunton’s Ad Impact Award for January.
Monteith’s time traveller, Westpac’s human ATM and Dulux’s DoC hut love FTW.
Some see the National Government’s ‘Conservation for Prosperity’ mantra as oxymoronic. But whatever your thoughts on the approach, it’s clear that public/private relationships will become an increasingly common funding model for the Department of Conservation. And Dulux has followed on from Air New Zealand and signed up for a three year $1.5 million deal that will see it provide a total of 54,000 litres of paint to keep the department’s huts, buildings and assets looking their best.
It’s become something of a tradition to post the latest Old Spice ad, and while there have been a few misses, there have many been more hits in recent years. And Mr Wolfdog, Old Spice’s new predatory director of marketing, is definitely in the latter.
It hasn’t been a particularly good day for the banks. Westpac seems to have unintentionally offended a few Greeks with its latest ad and a massive class action suit over “the unlawful overcharging of Kiwis for many many years” was also announced. But that hasn’t stopped ASB from continuing on its empowering, successful path with the first product-specific ad after the launch of its Succeed On campaign.
‘Hand Outs’, the next instalment in DDB’s ‘Start Asking’ campaign for Westpac, puts the spotlight on the ‘sandwiched’ generation. But the ad, which puts a humorous spin on the group’s endless plight to keep their family financially supported and uses the Zorba the Greek track, has managed to rile up a few Greeks who believe the ad is racist.
Ian Moody switched from Westpac to BNZ to take up the head of brand role in early November last year, which made for a fairly difficult acceptance speech when he was named as marketer of the year while between jobs. And he has resigned just a few months in to the new job due to what external relations manager Emily Davies calls “personal reasons”.
In the battle of the premium cars, New Zealand is something of an anomaly, because unlike most markets around the world Audi has been top of the pile for the past six years. But by rethinking its marketing tactics, tailoring its products and comms to suit the New Zealand market, standing up to HQ and targeting new customers, BMW managed to reclaim the throne last year.
Get the right people in the room, and magic can sometimes happen. Synapses fire, tangents are explored and ideas are developed. And Lifehack is hoping the same is true when it comes to dealing with youth mental health issues.
Over the years, the worst case scenario approach has typically been favoured to drum home road safety messages in New Zealand. And a degree of complacency has now developed among some who simply block those messages out. But the new ‘Drive Social’ campaign by NZTA and Clemenger BBDO has moved away from targeting specific groups with blood and guts and into targeting all drivers with warm fuzzies.
When we spoke with TVNZ’s head of sales Jeremy O’Brien last year about its new branded content initiative, he said he made no apologies for TVNZ being a commercial broadcaster. And, unlike many other commercial broadcasters in this part of the world, it’s actually making a profit and is on target to meet its full year Statement of Intent forecast.
After last year’s Axis Awards, shit hit fans when two of the country’s best campaigns—NZTA’s Ghost Chips and Steinlager’s ‘We Believe’—were largely snubbed. Since then, CAANZ, the CAANZ board and a collection of the country’s executive creative directors have been working together to make sure it doesn’t happen again. And a few important changes were announced at an event last night at The Bluestone Room in Auckland.
Last week was a rough one for Ogilvy, with Kiwibank deciding to scratch its seven year itch and shack up with its STW stablemate Assignment Group. But it’s balanced out the bad with a bit of good after winning the remainder of the Pernod Ricard New Zealand account and being installed as its strategic and creative communications agency.
Digital, online, interactive, cyberspace, the intertubes … whatever you like to call it, there’s no denying it’s all up in everyone’s face at the moment—and it’s growing rapidly (not your face, the techy space). And, as we’re sure you’ve noticed, this evolution is having a rather large impact on the marcomms industry. So, not surprisingly, there is a huge appetite for stories and information on the subject from those who are hoping to harness it. As such, the March/April edition of NZ Marketing magazine is dedicated to all things digital, from search engine marketing to the changing face of TV to the importance of social media to the need for agile thinking to the rise of collaborative consumption and plenty more inbetween.
Understanding what gets consumers buying is a core marketing skill, but in the world of retail, experimentation is often limited to a few variables—and expensive. So Colmar Brunton has launched a new product called CXS, or Customer Xperience Simulation, to solve those issues by allowing products and shopper marketing campaigns to be tested virtually.
Outdoor media is doing it pretty tough at the moment, but Adshel had a stellar 2013, both here and in Australia. And now it’s got something else to shout about because, after 15 years of loyal service from the old brand, it has unveiled its new one.
Ogilvy’s ode to the magical, wonderful pig, Lisa Carrington’s gentle encouragement for Southern Cross and Sorted’s closure of the loop reach the dais.
According to the latest figures, Kiwis consumed 20 million fewer litres of beer in 2012 than the year before, something put down to a combination of average summer weather and a general shift away from the brown stuff towards wine and spirits. But there is growth in craft beer and Lion is continuing to get in on that act with its new Crafty Beggars range, “a craft beer you can actually drink”.
Kiwibank has split up with Ogilvy in an effort to, as general manager of marketing Nicky Ashton says, stay fresh and vibrant. And to do that it’s given the business to Ogilvy’s STW stablemate Assignment Group without a pitch.
There’s been plenty of news about hacking in recent weeks, from local examples like Telecom and Yahoo’s email debacle, to the takeover of Burger King and Jeep’s Twitter accounts, to break-ins to Twitter, Apple and Facebook. It’s a fairly common occurrence these days, and while we might add in an exclamation mark instead of a 1 to our password and feel a bit more secure about our data, a fairly terrifying Wired article from late last year that looked into the world of online security shows that “no matter how complex, no matter how unique, your passwords can no longer protect you.”
Since it won the New Zealand Pork account early last year, Ogilvy has been on a mission to change outdated perceptions and “drive purchase behaviour through a journey of digital awareness, engaging in-store communications, promotions and demonstration”. It brought chef Simon Gault onboard as spokescook for the Extraordinary Kitchen campaign and focused heavily on retail. But, like its recent change of direction for Holden, it’s tried to bring a bit more emotion to the table and, as executive creative director Angus Hennah says, “tell simple human stories that make pork the hero”.
It seems we can chalk up yet another win for .99, with the retail specialist thought to have taken the Warehouse Stationery business in a competitive pitch, beating out incumbent M&C Saatchi and rumoured contenders of Y&R and DDB.
Cupcakes all round for ASB’s beardy new mascot and Mitre 10’s romantic instructional video.
In an effort to create more efficiencies across departments—and, of course, reduce the $60 million spent on the purchase of advertising and media services in New Zealand in 2011—the Government has been on a mission to assemble a panel of trusted advertising soldiers to join its army. And, after a bit of a delay, it’s chosen its longlist and asked successful parties for their “best and final offer”.
Ecoya came in for some unwanted attention for its very visible nudity in 2011, with its Lady Godiva-inspired billboard getting a slap from the ASA (and also getting stolen). And in the latest campaign it’s maintained the sans clothes approach, although this time it’s claiming the nudity is ‘invisible’.
ASB has a good pedigree when it comes to using likeable characters in its marketing. And, after seven months of planning with its agency Saatchi & Saatchi, it’s hoping it has created another one after foisting the bearded, booming Brian Blessed on the nation to help get New Zealanders to celebrate success, no matter how small that success might be.
Aside from a classy print ad, and some classic Spring home loan activity, ASB largely kept its powder dry during the Great Bank Wars of 2012. But now it’s ready to play and, with the help of Saatchi & Saatchi and Brian Blessed, an able but much hairier replacement for its last foreign thespian, Dame Judy Dench, it’s launched its new ‘Succeed On’ campaign, which aims to get us humble Kiwi folk to indulge in a bit more healthy self-congratulation.
Radio Hauraki is in the midst of an existential crisis. And, after rather forthrightly saying it had been pretty shit for the past few years and that it had to kill that station to save it, The Radio Network brand has come out of rehab with a new line-up (Martin Devlin and Laura McGoldrick, Angelina Boyd, Greg Prebble, Matt Heath and The General and Mikey Havoc) and a new campaign at the hands of Saatchi & Saatchi. And, as part of its ‘intervention’, legendary turntablist and Beastie Boys DJ, Mix Master Mike is venturing to New Zealand to celebrate the official relaunch.