Author Ben Fahy

News
Acceptable or reprehensible? TV3 and Stuff buy Christchurch earthquake search terms
By

When it comes to increasing eyeballs, natural disasters are, rather perversely, usually good news for media owners. But where does the line get drawn? Is it acceptable for TV3 and Stuff to bid for search terms around the Christchurch earthquake? When TVNZ has committed to commercial free broadcasts from 6pm through to 12pm tomorrow and promised to make good on any campaigns impacted by the event and Google has set up a people finder (although it also benefits from the search purchasing), it seems awfully cynical to try and benefit from the disaster. As one media insider says, “this is not a time to increase traffic through to a website through paid means”.

News
Of swinging hips and hyperbolic corn chips
By

Who’s it for: Levi’s by Colenso BBDO

Why we like it: It’s easy to make a viral ad. It’s much more difficult to actually make that ad go viral. But at well over five million views on YouTube, that’s exactly what Colenso did …

News
MasterChef rides gravy train, brings home serious bacon for TVNZ
By

MasterChef drew plenty of Kiwi eyeballs in its first season last year. And it also drew plenty of advertiser dollars, whether during the ad breaks or, increasingly, during the show itself through product placement. So, with estimates putting the worth of the Australian version of the show and its associated enterprises at $100 million, how much are Kiwi brands paying to be involved? Does such obvious commercial involvement affect the credibility of the show? And how did the new season launch fare in the ratings?

News
Internet booty claimed by Colenso as Levi’s viral goes gangbusters
By

Colenso is always harping on about the conversation economy; about creating content that’s interesting and/or mysterious enough to get talked about by the masses. V’s Rocket Man succeeded in this regard, but the agency’s latest foray into the dark viral arts, a production/social experiment called the Rear View Girls that aims to promote Levi’s new range of Curve ID women’s jeans, has taken it to another, more international level.

News
Online juggernaut rolls on, gives radio and magazines the evils
By

PricewaterhouseCoopers and the Interactive Advertising Bureau have released the advertising spend figures for Q4 2010, and they make for pretty damn good e-reading if you’re in the digital biz, with a total of $71.11 million for the quarter, up from $67.93m in Q3 and up 26 percent year-on-year. Total spend was $257 million, up 20 percent from 2009 ($214 million) and up 33 percent on 2008 ($193 million).

News
The sound of joy and the taste of victory
By

Who’s it for: Cadbury by DDB NZ and GoodLife Films

Why we like it: Everyone knows there’s plenty of joy to be found in chocolate, but there’s joy everywhere during a New Zealand summer. And this acoustically-led visual feast is certainly a joy to behold …

News
Latest figures show Kiwi mags holding on—and, in some cases, booming
By

The launch of the iPad and the expected ‘tablet revolution’ has put some wind in the sails of publishers who have been beaten down by the internet. But as everyone goes gaga over the new technology, it’s easy to forget that good old-fashioned paper-based magazines are still putting up a very good fight, with the most obvious trend from Nielsen’s latest readership figures and Audit Bureau of Circulation numbers being that Kiwi consumers are still willing to pay for good-quality specialist magazines.

News
Questions answered as Publicis Mojo’s challenge-winning Fringe campaign goes live
By

Last year, as part of Adshel’s inaugural Creative Challenge, about 70 Kiwi creatives from 14 agencies gathered together at the Civic Theatre in Auckland to eat pizza, drink booze and, in just 60 minutes, develop a static poster campaign for the 2011 Auckland Fringe. When the final bell was rung, there were beautiful flowery turds, a range of moderately offensive slogans and even a picture of a woman smoking a baby in a pipe. But it was Publicis Mojo’s ‘Leave with more questions than answers’ idea that tickled the judges’ collective fancy. Well, that initial scribble has now blossomed in a fully-fledged visual treat, with the Auckland Fringe Adshel campaign being set free over the weekend.

News
Warning sent out as RWC authorities get set to pounce on opportunists
By

A senior Wellington intellectual property consultant is warning Kiwis and small businesses hoping to take advantage of the commercial opportunities afforded by the Rugby World Cup that, when it comes to protecting the interests of the tournament’s commercial partners, the authorities are likely to be just as vigilant as their FIFA companions were at the Football World Cup in South Africa. But not everyone thinks New Zealand’s business opportunists will have their hands completely tied by the supposedly draconian rugby overlords.

News
Tangible gets its hands dirty with launch of PGG Wrightson’s new bucolic bible
By

Primary magazine mock-up

The choppy seas of consumer publishing have been well-documented over the past few years. But one of the print sector’s major growth areas is in the field of customer publishing and Tangible Media has just added another title to its growing corporate flock with the launch of Primary magazine, an all-new agricultural business publication that will be distributed to 15,000 high-value customers of PGG Wrightson.

News
From giant birds to little babies
By

Who’s it for: FOUR by Special Group and Fatboy Films

Why we like it: It’s got a large yellow duck in it. And there’s quite possibly no better way to draw attention to the arrival of a new, edgy mainstream TV channel than by doing …

StopPress exclusives
Behold! The Colmar Brunton Ad Impact Award
By

In what some marketing experts claim is the best thing since sliced bacon, Colmar Brunton has joined forces with StopPress to bring you a new—and particularly useful—addition to the website. So, dear readers, let us introduce you to the Ad Impact Award, a monthly honour that will be bestowed on the TV brand ads that are proven to have the biggest impact on consumers—and therefore get more bang for the client’s buck and better results for the brand.

News
Hyundai drops Assignment Group off
By

It seemed like a match made in heaven, but poor sales figures—despite a big increase in media spend—appear to be the major driver behind Hyundai’s decision to say goodbye to its agency Assignment Group. 

News
ThinkTV set free, as positive revenue results for 2010 warm broadcasting cockles
By

For decades, TV has been seen as the go-to medium when it comes to mass awareness marketing. But, with other media eating into its share as consumers modify their media habits, it isn’t the eyeball powerhouse it once was. TV is still a very attractive proposition, however, and is undoubtedly the best way for brands to tell stories, so the major New Zealand broadcasters have joined forces in an effort to start talking themselves up and launched a spruced up, industry funded organisation called ThinkTV.

News
Rubber Ducky, you’re the one
By

New Zealand has a nigh-on unhealthy obsession with oversized novelty items. Carrots, L&P bottles, trout,  salmon, sheep, kiwifruit… the list goes on. So what better way to celebrate the arrival of MediaWorks’ new mainstream entertainment channel FOUR this weekend than to set a 12 metre high, 14 metre wide inflatable duck loose on Auckland harbour.

News
Advertising—now with real people
By

Who’s it for: Unitec by Special Group and Film Construction

Why we like it: Filming three students at the start of the school year to promote an academic institution is a particularly brave move, but taking the reality TV approach appeals to the …

News
North, South, East & West: the rag for the regions turns 25
By

There’s no denying that in this digital age, where, as the famous geek saying goes, ‘information wants to be free’, the print media industry has suffered. Many publications have died and some are only just holding on, but others have stuck to their guns, adapted where necessary and managed to maintain their audience—and their advertisers. And North & South, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary in March, is one of those publications. 

News
Devise ridiculous band name, win St. Jerome’s Laneway festival tickets
By

There’s nothing we love more here at StopPress than making up hilarious fictional band names (eg Quiver and the Groans), laughing at hilarious actual band names or coming up with hilarious lyrics about the wide array of situations in which you get sweaty legs (tennis in jeans, leather seats in Auckland, sex in a sleeping bag, pvc pants on the tube etc). We know the creative power of our readers is immense, and we want to harness it for good rather than evil, so add your own ridiculous fictional band name to the comment wall and you might just get your greasy mitts on one of the hottest tickets in town, because we’ve got one double pass to St. Jerome’s Laneway festival in Auckland’s Aotea Square on 31 January and three double passes to the Wellington event at the Town Hall on 1 February to give away.

News
Paris is burning: MediaWorks spices up 2011’s TV battle with new channel—and new targets
By

The New Zealand television scene is already über-competitive. But, with a range of new initiatives from the broadcasters, a slowly increasing sense of economic optimism and an array of new technology that’s changing the game for everyone, things look set to get even spicier in 2011. In an effort to eat into the more lucrative older demographics that have long been the domain of TVNZ, TV Works is changing its focus slightly and is set to launch its mainstream entertainment channel FOUR very shortly. And it’s a decision chief executive Jason Paris says is already bearing fruit.

News
Optimistic TVNZ targets the yoof, aims to improve on ‘fantastic’ 2010
By

Aside from a couple of very well-publicised PR disasters and a host of aggrieved agency folk who seemed mightily pissed off about the halving of their 20 percent commissions, TVNZ had a stellar year in 2010, with solid ratings, steadily increasing ad revenue and an array of impressive innovations—both for viewers and advertisers. It also welcomed new sales director Paul Maher into the fold in August and, while he thinks it will be slow and steady as she goes this year, he’s confident TVNZ can repeat—and maybe even exceed—the performance of 2010.

News
PlaceMakers takes JWT’s hand in ad marriage
By

JWT’s desire to become a more potent force in the Kiwi ad landscape just got a big fillip with the announcement that it has won the PlaceMakers account and will take control of the whole shebang, including creative, media, trade, loyalty and retail. 

News
Double—or nothing
By

Who’s it for: Vodafone by Colenso BBDO and Robber’s Dog

Why we like it: We’re suckers for a good internet meme. And the Double Rainbow man, known to his mum as Paul “Bear” Vasquez, was one of last year’s most impressive, with his video …

1 … 45 46 47 48 49 … 61