Author Ben Fahy

Here’s one for the quite funny but presumably completely unintentional stuff-ups category. As you can see, the image is intended to promote the sale of supporter gear for the FIFA World Cup at Stirling Sports. But the logo they’ve chosen to use on their homepage had been modified slightly, most notably with the addition of a large gun. Ah yes, it’s the kind of woopsie the internet was invented for.

Of note this week on Ads@6, Magnum puts out a couple of teasers for the ‘golden age of ice cream’; Olivio changes its name to Bertolli and gets hip with the lingo; Domino’s releases a new lunch-time sandwich (and the year’s worst press release to go with it); and Tourism Queensland takes the prize for what is quite possibly the most cringeworthy jingle ever to be heard on New Zealand television, snatching it off Suzuki (see the ousted winner near the end of this clip). And how could we forget Stacey Jones, who gives a bravura performance for Instant Finance and even hangs out with his own cardboard cut-out. A triumph! A tour de force!

The editorial in last week’s Listener, ‘Turbulence Ahead’, was based around Air New Zealand’s proposed trans-Tasman allegiance with Virgin Blue and how it seemed as though the national carrier was on its way to becoming a budget airline, which, according to the writer, contradicted the ‘premium carrier’ tag it was using in its marketing. Turns out chief executive Rob Fyfe was so incensed by the article that he felt the need to respond on camera in an effort to draw attention to the facts.

Twenty three of New Zealand’s top footballers received some good news this week when the All Whites squad was named to play at the Football World Cup in South Africa. And the sport as a whole also got some good news after Volkswagen signed on as a major partner of football in New Zealand.

Australasian cinema advertising company Val Morgan is currently whistling as it walks, after it announced the results of a study showing that cinema advertising, when used in conjunction with television, increases consumer propensity to buy and drives return on investment for advertisers.

Fast Forward, a social media agency, is currently finalising the questions it will ask for an extensive social media survey that aims to show how – and how many – New Zealand marketers are using the tools on offer, how much they’re spending, what works, what doesn’t, the challenges, the benefits and everything inbetween. Of course, social media is all about sharing, so StopPress wants some input from the readers: if you’ve got a burning question about social media and marketing, either add it to the comment wall or email [email protected] and the five best questions will be included in the survey.

A campaign aiming to highlight the importance of the printed word in everyday life has been launched this month by PrintNZ, with over 100 Kiwi “print champions” so far forking out $200 to confirm their support for the industry association’s Part of Life initiative.

Planners and strategists crave it. Creative types (particularly Geoff Ross) typically loathe it. But whatever your feelings on the role of market research, it’s an important aspect of the marcomms landscape. So how can researchers enhance the effectiveness of their work? And what is its role in the modern business environment?

134 years ago, rugged Southern Men roamed the Mainland prairies and would religiously swig from their bottle of Speight’s after a tough day of clearing gorse, lambing ewes, breaking in horses, tilling soil and mining. And it’s exactly the same down there today. Of course, New Zealanders hate change, but there comes a time when it’s unavoidable, so the Speight’s box is getting a bit of a spruce up. And what better image to signify the Pride of the South than the tussock-clad fields of the Lindis Pass.