Author Ben Fahy

The founder of The Warehouse, Sir Stephen Tindall, is putting plenty of energy into philanthropic causes these days. And the chief executive of The Warehouse Group, Mark Powell, has given the brand a boost with the promise of a living wage for some staff and discussions about the size of his own salary. And, as part of the company’s communities and environment strategy, it’s also built a high-tech truck for Noel Leeming that promises to bring the wonders of technology to New Zealand’s most remote and least advantaged communities.

Lewis Road Creamery, which was founded by Assignment Group’s Peter Cullinane, kicked off with a range of premium and ‘mass premium’ butters before launching its milk range. Both have found plenty of success, with the brand now stocked in a number of Countdown and New World stores around the country. Its ambition is to continue down the dairy aisle, and as part of that process, it’s hooked up with Whittaker’s to launch “New Zealand’s only chocolate milk made with real milk chocolate”. And it seems to have sent New Zealanders into a dairy-related frenzy.

The Sensible Sentencing Trust is on a mission to bring an end to permanent name suppression for prominent perpetrators unless the complainant or victim requests and/or agrees to it. And that fight spilled over into the ad world recently after a High Court decision to grant a 42-year-old Auckland advertising executive and father of two who was convicted and sentenced for possessing and exporting child rape imagery in June this year permanent name suppression. So should his name be released so that potential clients know? And what would that mean for the agency that employed him?

Paul Mant took over the role of general manager at New Zealand’s biggest digital sales house/ad network ​Adhub almost two years ago. And as ad spend continues to head online, the business has grown at around 20 percent per year. So is the banner dying? What’s so great about native? And are brands that use ad networks destined to be everywhere and nowhere at the same time?

Back in 1994, a “punk zine” called Vice was launched in Montreal. 20 years later it has offices in over 30 countries and it has expanded into a global youth-focused media company that runs a range of magazines and websites, a music label, a film-making arm, a TV show, a news outfit and an ad agency. And, because it has been able to attract the tough to reach millennial market, brands are increasingly looking for some of its magic dust. We chat with Melbourne-based director Myki Slonim about Vice Media’s strategy, how brands can get past young people’s sophisticated bullshit detectors and how the company is faring in this part of the world.

Back when newspapers (and, to a lesser degree, magazines) were happily floating down their rivers of gold, the church and state of editorial and sales were kept very separate. But desperate times call for what some may see as desperate measures and as publishers search for new revenue streams, many of them are increasingly offering their skills to help tell the stories of businesses. Now APN has joined that club with the launch of Brand Insight.

The changes are coming thick and fast at APN NZ under new chief executive Jane Hastings, with a new exec team announced this week, a more integrated sales approach across its media portfolio and some clever new products like ShopViva. And now the Business Herald is getting in on the action, with more tools, more content and more interactivity added to the website in an effort to deliver “more relevant digital news to New Zealanders”.

With the prospect of an IPO on the horizon that would potentially see 60 percent of APN New Zealand’s media assets carved out, a number of new senior humans have joined the organisation to “drive collaboration benefits across the group and fulfill a bold new vision to fully engage Kiwis anywhere, anytime with the content they love”.

Kelly Addis has returned to the homeland after 14 years in Melbourne to open an Auckland branch of ad agency Zoo. And he’s confident its model—and its trans-Tasman knowledge—will make it an attractive proposition for New Zealand and Australian clients.