Taxi Impact went live a few months back and, at the time, its director Tim Dove promised to create the country’s first professional—and fully national—taxi media network. And if its first major client is any guide, it’s off to a pretty good start, with 2degrees employing the services of its taxis and taxi vans in Auckland and Wellington to spread the message about its mobile broadband offerings.
Despite a stellar year for the Clemenger Group gang, both in terms of awards won and cash banked, there have been a few mutterings around the traps of late about axes falling at Colenso and AIM Proximity. And while the seemingly OTT figure of 20 departures has been bandied about, Colenso’s managing director Nick Garrett says that’s certainly not the case and says it’s just slight reshuffling of the pack to respond to the current demands of clients.
Who’s it for: Sky by DDB and Thick as Thieves
Why we like it: Sky and DDB are making themselves pretty comfortable in the TVC of the Week La-Z-Boy of late, with a very consistent display of top notch work. And just as TVNZ announced a $15 …
Air New Zealand is making a habit of creating memorable inflight safety briefings. First it was the tasteful nudes, then came a cast of All Blacks, followed by a rather puerile puppet. And .99’s latest 80s inspired effort, which features Richard Simmons, Paul Henry, Phil Keoghan, Temepara George and, as expected, a little cameo from Rob Fyfe, has continued that trend and looks set to add a few million more views to the seven million the airline’s previous safety videos have already garnered on YouTube.
New Zealanders seem to have something of a love/hate attitude when it comes to marketing and advertising. Some despise it because it tricks people into buying things they don’t need, makes the nation fatter/drunker/more dangerous and is an industry supposedly filled with wankers. But others seem to be able to look past all that and simply enjoy biting into the fruits of the industry’s labour. Whatever the reason, there’s no doubt Kiwis are interested in it, as evidenced by the fact that the Fair Go Ad Awards is regularly among the country’s top rating shows. And CAANZ and TVNZ are hoping to tap into this interest and showcase the creative, innovative side of the business by filming the Axis award show and screening it on Ondemand.
Who’s it for: Sky by DDB and Prodigy
Why we like it: Once more, the latest entertaining instalment of Sky’s ‘Match Fit’ campaign hits the spot. And extra points have been awarded for the bravura performance from Grant Fox.
Who’s it for: ANZ …
As the industry worked itself into a gibbering mass of excitement after it was announced late last week that the ANZ account had shifted to TBWA\, ANZ, DDB and Ogilvy Media were getting ready to launch their ‘Welcome the World’ promotion as part of the bank’s Rugby World Cup sponsorship. And with a big TV blockout on Sunday, a flash mob-esque stunt to welcome commuters in Auckland and Wellington this morning and plenty more media activity planned to ramp up interest in the competition, it’s set to be the bank’s biggest promotion yet—and quite possibly the biggest of the tournament.
Despite the beliefs of slightly extremist doomsayers who claim television is dying and the days of big brand ads and mass awareness marketing are over, most would agree that television commercials are still one of the most effective ways for brands to convey emotion, tell stories and, in most cases, get their messages in front of humans. Since StopPress was sent into the wild in September 2009, we’ve been celebrating that collision of art and commerce in our TVC of the Week section, which, as the name suggests, showcases what we deem to be the best locally-created TV ad(s) of the past seven days. It’s supremely unscientific, of course: it has nothing to do with research, testing or sales figures, it’s simply based on gut feel; on whether an ad is funny, beautiful, engaging, well-made, memorable, creative or occasionally even so bad it’s good. Well, now we’re taking it a step further with the first annual StopPress/ThinkTV TVC of the Year Award. So get in there and vote for the ads that have tickled your fancy in the past year.
Eric Hertz
The last time 2degrees released its customer numbers in February 2010, it had managed to attract 206,000 New Zealanders with a combination of attractive pricing, smart marketing, a much-loved frontman and a giant ‘log-oh’. Just over one year later—and 19 months since it first opened its doors in August 2009—that figure has more than doubled to 580,112.
One of the unintended consequences of a natural disaster like the Christchurch earthquake has been a reaffirmed belief in human decency. There were, of course, the expected low-life opportunists trying to take advantage of the situation, but the vast majority of New Zealanders seem to have dug deep and tried to do what they could to help. While claims of ‘quake washing’ have already surfaced, it’s difficult to criticise members of the marcomms community who have decided to harness their communications skills to launch and run a range of worthy fundraising initiatives. And the Bands4Hope campaign is a good example of this industry cohesion.
Oktobor’s managing director Bruce Everett told Stuff in September last year that the company’s commitment to advertising was still deep, despite the fact it was steadily being transformed into “visual effects, animation and digital creative convergence studio”. Well, the connection to advertising wasn’t that deep, obviously, because Everett has announced that Oktobor won’t be offering TVC and VFX services to the advertising and commercials market on a day-to-day basis anymore and will instead shift resources across to the relatively recently christened but obviously very successful animation arm, Oktobor Animation.
Neil Livingstone has decided he will hang up his boots in June this year, officially bringing to an end a career in the ad industry that has spanned 33 years.
The tongues have been wagging fairly violently in agency land about the possibility of ANZ shifting agencies. And the speculation has now been confirmed, after Whybin TBWA was officially appointed as its global creative agency after a four month pitch.
The numbers have been crunched by the Advertising Standards Authority and an overall advertising revenue increase of $92 million for 2010 is welcome news for an industry that has grown accustomed to big declines over the past few years.
The Fairfax Admedia Agency of the Year awards were dished out at 1885 in Britomart this week. And while there were the usual mutterings about the decisions—and some other mutterings about changes to the judging criteria—DDB New Zealand came away with the biggest haul after being handed three of the top awards, including Agency of the Year, CEO of the Year for Sandy Moore and Rookie Suit of the Year for Zoe Macfarlane’s work on McDonald’s.
Mini’s advertising has been consistently good in recent years, both here and overseas, and it’s undoubtedly one of the automotive industry’s most innovative brands. In New Zealand, DraftFCB’s creative and media strategy during the Soho campaign was top notch and the experiment to get rid of car yards and see if people would buy new cars online was a particularly brave retail strategy (although the MINI Garage on Ponsonby Road does look suspiciously like a car yard). Well, now it’s got another hit on its hands with the Carmonica.
Who’s it for: 2degrees by TBWA\ and Digital Post
Why we like it: Once again, 2degrees has managed to entertain and inform simultaneously with its new Pay Monthly spots. As we’ve all come to expect, they’re funny, quirky, easily understood and also quite …
Last year, TBWA’s executive creative director Andy Blood predicted the future of the industry and, in something of a mission statement for the agency following the loss of ASB, said it was all about bringing the creative ideas of the advertising world closer to the utility now offered by digital technology. Well, that’s what TBWA\Tequila has done with a cool new interactive video catalogue for adidas’ Super Rugby merchandise.
TVNZ launched its new youth-centric digital channel U on Sunday. And while there’s plenty of talk about breaking ground, filling gaps and New Zealand firsts, there’s no talk about ratings data just yet. And there may not be any in the future, either.
The first episode of the new season of Country Calendar screened on ONE on Saturday night and it was interesting for a few reasons: 1) it’s the 45th year of the show. 2) Hyundai is the show’s new sponsor, bringing to an end a long relationship with the National Bank. And 3) it seems to add some weight to swirling speculation that the National Bank could be gearing up for a much-discussed merger with the big, blue ANZ mothership.
It worked last year when TBWA\ creatives Iain Neallie and Tara McKenty somehow managed to scavenge their way to Cannes by selling fictional stocks in themselves. And the disease is obviously catching at the Auckland agency, because another fledgling creative pair are hoping to get themselves a free trip to Adfest in Thailand by buttering up the nation’s muscliest silver fox through the power of song.
A number of contenders this week, but in PC gone mad Kiwi fashion, why choose one winner when you could have three winners instead?
Who’s it for: Tui by Saatchi & Saatchi and Flying Start
Why we like it: Kiwis pride themselves on their storytelling. And a wee …
We New Zealanders like to think of ourselves as fairly tech-savvy bunch of early adopters, and while there is no doubt the digital realm is rapidly expanding here—both in terms of overall internet use and as an advertising medium—a study of 50 of the country’s most popular websites to see how they took advantage of interactive tools such as blogs, social media and online communities has found many of them are still stuck in the Web 1.0 era and are not doing enough to engage and interact with their customers online.
We’ve been regularly updating the page of fund/spirit raising initiatives aimed at helping Christchurch residents, but we’ve been in contact with a few Christchurch business owners who want readers—and customers—to know they’re operational again. Of course, cashflow is crucial at this stage to keep the local economy going, so one week on and, while the cordon is still in place, some businesses in the wider marcomms industry are starting to kick back into gear and are eager for work. So if you’re open already, if you’re muddling through in temporary offices, if you know of any businesses that have opened, or you want to let readers know your plans for opening in the future, email [email protected] and we’ll update this page accordingly.
The All Blacks are everywhere these days, flogging houses, beer, Coke Zero, undies, national airlines, deodorant, sporting gear and a massive range of other products. And after the consumer votes were tallied by Colmar Brunton for February’s round of the Ad Impact Award, Rexona’s All Black-laden ‘Rituals’ ad by Naked Communications Sydney and Curious Film’s Lance Kelleher has taken out the top spot.
As part of its Better Business, Better World study, Colmar Brunton probed over 2500 New Zealanders to see what they thought of—or knew about—sustainability. And when it comes to the brands Kiwis perceive as being the most sustainable, ecostore, Toyota, Meridian, Air New Zealand and The Body Shop were named as the top five.
Who’s it for: Skyline Garages by Barnes, Catmur & Friends and Cirkus
Why we like it: It’s hinged on an insight that garages have been put to a range of inventive uses in New Zealand over the years, whether it be making rocket packs, boats, motorbikes or …
There are a number of companies, both small and large, trying to do their bit to help Christchurch. So if you’ve got something planned, if you’re giving a donation, or if you need to get a message out, let us know and we’ll update this page regularly and try to spread the word. The Ministry of Civil Defence says the best way to help people affected by the quake is through cash donations so if you haven’t already, visit Red Cross.
Between them they’ve worked under the Spark PHD roof for over 20 years and Nikki Grafton and Stuart Rutherford have been rewarded for their loyalty after being appointed as joint managing directors.
As a trade publication, there’s not much more we can add to the comprehensive media coverage of the earthquake being offered by New Zealand’s television, radio and print/online media outfits (Vicki Anderson’s take on events is particularly vivid). Obviously, industry issues are the least of everybody’s concerns when there have been so many fatalities in Christchurch and our families, friends and colleagues are going through utter hell, so first and foremost the thoughts of everyone here—and the thoughts of the industry as a whole—are with our embattled countryfolk. But the fact that TV3 and Stuff bid for Google search terms around the earthquake does raise some interesting ethical issues, particularly when the practice is frowned upon overseas. Judging by the comments on the story, some felt it was reprehensible, some felt it was kosher because the information was relevant and some even felt we were giving favourable treatment to TVNZ and nzherald.co.nz. But as of this morning, Tower was the only remaining advertiser on Google search and Stuff and TV3 had removed their paid listings, which seems to be an acknowledgment from the companies or their media agencies that doing so in the first place was bad form.