Author Ben Fahy

News
ASB fishes where the fish are with Snapchat challenges
By

Every year around this time, banks attempt to grease up the young’uns heading off to expand/erode their minds at University. But banks are rarely at the top of the priorities list at this stage of life and erecting a makeshift tent and handing out branded pens at a festival or over Orientation Week just doesn’t cut it anymore. So ASB is running a Snapchat campaign called Snap Scholarships—replete with the obligatory prizes—to try and lure them in.

News
Ford rubs pie in Toyota’s face after winning battle of the utes for first time in 32 years
By

2014 was a good one for the New Zealand automotive industry, with Motor Industry Association figures showing over 126,000 new vehicles registered. This beat the 30-year record of 123,247 units sold in 1984 and it was ahead of the 113,294 sold in 2013. And it was a particularly good year for Ford, which took New Zealand’s top selling ute title off the Toyota Hilux after a 32 year run.

Opinion
The last post: blips vs. curves
By

If you believe the headlines, humanity is going to hell in a handcart. Over-population, climate change, ISIS, Ebola, race riots … the list goes on. But for all the negativity seen in the news, the data tends to tell a different story over the long term. This also applies to marketing. And, as the annual period of reflection arrives and StopPress heads off on holiday, that’s worth remembering.

Movings & Shakings
The changes keep coming at MediaWorks as two more senior staffers depart—UPDATED
By

Last week, MediaWorks continued its restructuring process by announcing it would operate one newsroom across its TV, radio and online assets, with Mark Jennings taking on the top role. It also announced the integration of digital across the business and, as a result of these changes, the roles of TV chief executive Paul Maher and head of interactive Siobhan McKenna were disestablished. Chief executive Mark Weldon said there would be no more job losses in TV and interactive. But it’s thought two more long-serving senior MediaWorks staff members are also set to depart: senior legal counsel/company secretary Clare Bradley, who has been with the company since 2000, and chief financial officer and director of technology Peter Crossan, who has been with the company since 1999.

News
Barnes Catmur lays down the gift gauntlet with special High St whisky
By

As Mulberry’s #WinChristmas campaign showed, giving is basically a competitive sport these days. And that’s also true in the corporate realm, where many businesses attempt to one-up each other by giving expensive offerings of thanks to their VIPs. Just as The Downlow Concept took the opportunity to show off its skills and sense of humour with its Christmas message, Barnes Catmur & Friends has honoured its special friends with a bespoke whisky named in honour of the street where its office lies.

News
Fairfax fights against negative numbers, tries to shift focus to targeting abilities
By

After a host of senior management changes and a fair bit of hunkering down on the marketing front, Fairfax seems to have got its ducks in a row and regained some confidence and is once again promoting its products and capabilities. And its latest effort is a new trade campaign that aims to switch the focus from volume metrics to its ability to target different groups across its print and online assets.

News
Vodafone brings New Zealand into line, officially announces MEC as new media agency
By

After Vodafone made the decision to move its global media business to MEC earlier this year, it was expected that Vodafone New Zealand would eventually follow suit and, as reported last week in a story about the arrival of GroupM in this market, it was widely known that the handover had already begun. For some strange reason, Vodafone was at pains to point out that nothing had been signed, but it sent through official confirmation today that it is indeed swapping SparkPHD for MEC as its media buying and planning agency in this market.

News
Made Media joins the programmatic fray, trumpets local focus as a point of difference
By

The programmatic bus rolls on, with Magna Global predicting a 31 percent annualised growth rate through to 2017. And with Google’s latest consumer barometer showing Kiwis use an average of 2.7 devices each, a new Kiwi agency called Made Media—a collaboration between sales manager and partner Michael Buhagiar and Latch Digital—believes it’s found a gap in the market for a locally owned and operated demand side platform that brings those two elements together.

News
Speight’s and DDB grin and bear it as Karl Burnett makes an uncomfortable return
By

Speight’s comically masculine southern man campaign idea had a long and very successful run, and its previous agency Shine attempted to bring the idea into the modern era with the ‘Knowing What Matters’ campaign. DDB took over late last year and, in one of its first major campaigns, it’s moved it even further away from ‘Good on ya mate’, with its ad for Speight’s Alchoholic Ginger Beer featuring some major self-deprecation from ex-Shortland St star Karl Burnett and a massive pun.

News
Playing the long game: Todd Wheatland on why content marketers need to start measuring the right things
By

The inaugural Ad:Tech New Zealand conference took place yesterday at the AUT Business School, with around 400 people in attendance. And while measurement is one of the digital realm’s major strengths, Todd Wheatland, global head of strategy at content marketing agency King Content, used his time on stage to prove the famous quote (that wasn’t actually uttered by Einstein) of ‘not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts’.

News
Horse’s Mouth: Jeremy O’Brien and Lyndsey Francis
By

Good old fashioned interruptive display advertising is the golden goose that keeps laying for the local TV networks. But integration is so hot right now. And, whether it’s sponsorships, programme partnerships, production partnerships or one-off branded content projects, it’s a big part of TVNZ’s focus for the future. Following its new season launch this week, head of sales Jeremy O’Brien and general manager of media solutions and insights Lyndsey Francis talk turkey about its plans for next year and what the TV landscape might look like soon.

News
An exercise in trust: how Jono and Ben are cracking the branded content conundrum
By

Brands are increasingly looking to put their messages inside the content, rather than inbetween it. Formats like The Block NZ and Masterchef allow for what the broadcasters like to call ‘seamless integration’, even though it can sometimes be slightly gratuitous. And a rare few other shows, chief among them Jono and Ben at 10, are using their skills to weave brands into the content without annoying the audience or even creating content outside of the show. Chris Lloyd, sales manager at MediaWorks’ integration team, discusses its process.

News
Inside: Attitude Group
By

Attitude Pictures has been telling the stories of New Zealanders living with disabilities, recovering from injuries and dealing with health problems since 1992 and broadcasting on TVNZ since 2005. It brought those stories into the real world in 2008 with the creation of the Attitude Awards and, around one year ago, it moved online and into the world of live streaming when it launched its website Attitude Live. Producer Dan Buckingham and managing director Denis Harvey share their thoughts on running a successful niche media group, how it intends to make a profit and why corporates should get involved.

News
Horse’s Mouth: Paul Maher and Liz Fraser
By

MediaWorks has had a fairly rough ride over the past few years. But the big guns were all smiles last night at the new season launch. We sat down with two of them—chief executive of MediaWorks TV Paul Maher and group head of revenue Liz Fraser—for a chat about the company’s content strategy, results and evolution.

News
ANZ invests in the property market with Grand Designs production partnership
By

ANZ holds around one third of the country’s home loan market and it’s made a concerted push to retain that—and presumably improve that—recently with a new campaign showing the frisson of buying property at auction. Last year it put its name beside TVNZ’s Art of the Architect and now it’s backing the other team, signing on as a production partner for the upcoming New Zealand version of Grand Designs New Zealand.

News
Sky announces record profits, extension of rugby deal, big decoder upgrade and new SVOD brand
By

Earlier today, Sky officially announced it has signed another five year deal with Sanzar and NZ Rugby, giving it the rights to the precious code until 2021. And at its AGM at the Langham, it had more good news for investors and subscribers, announcing some impressive numbers, detailing how it will soon be embracing internet-delivered television and launching its SVOD offering Neon.

1 … 3 4 5 6 7 … 66