Author Damien Venuto

The New Zealand Institute of Management has bought New Zealand Management magazine from McDonald Vague, the receiver appointed to the magazine’s previous publisher, MediaWeb. Following this acquisition, the new owner struck up a publishing partnership with Auckland-based Adrenalin Publishing to resume publishing of the magazine, which is in its 60th year of circulation. PLUS: While McDonald Vague receiver Tony Maginness wouldn’t comment on how much the magazine had been sold for, he did admit that it was less than initially hoped for.

To some degree, the quarterly results of Nielsen’s readership and ABC’s circulation surveys have become predictable in showing the newspaper industry in decline. And while this was largely the case with the latest figures, there were also a few surprises in the mix. Updated: statistics for provincial papers removed.

In a move that could cause a slight tinge of Orwellian panic in some, Telecom Digital Ventures (TDV) has confirmed that it is trialling a SmartHome prototype called DigiLife to determine if it has a place in the Kiwi market. Headed by Will Farrell-Green, the DigiLife team will over the next month monitor 20 to 30 Kiwi homes using the technology.

Since first launching 4G connectivity last year, Vodafone’s network has stretched to over 47 regions throughout the nation. And now, in an effort to take this a step further, the red telco is adding a little international flavour to its offering by extending this service to several international destinations. Speaking at a conference held this morning at the Air New Zealand Customer Innovation and Collaboration Centre, Vodafone’s chief executive Russell Stanners and consumer director Matt Williams announced that the telecommunications company was launching two new initiatives: daily roaming packages in 17 countries throughout the world; and 4G connectivity in five countries. PLUS: see the new TVC.

Over the last three years, Richard Bourke, Daniel Mclaughlin and Mark Neal have toiled away behind the scenes to create the product that was recently released under the Rogue Society Gin banner. Here’s the story thus far.

While Telecom finds itself in identity limbo and as 2degrees makes its first foray into the high-value business-owner market, Vodafone continues to sit atop the Kiwi telco pile as the network with the most active users. So, following Sunday’s release of Vodafone’s bowl cut TVC featuring James Rolleston, StopPress had a quick chat with the red network’s consumer director Matt Williams on the company’s consistency in an increasingly diversified and competitive market.

Rebel Sport is continuing to tell its brand story via a new poetic spot that’s narrated by the stirring voice of ex-All Black star Brad Thorn. Written by Ogilvy’s executive creative director Angus Hennah and directed by a Sweet Shop team headed by Joel Harmsworth, the one-minute spot couples gruff spoken word poetry with a gritty montage of sportspeople enduring the heaviness of playing a sport outdoors in winter.

Last month, when Vodafone launched its Gold Rush campaign for the release of the Samsung Galaxy S5, StopPress commented on how fortunate James Rolleston was to not have been given the same sadistic treatment as that thrown at Guy Williams for Telecom’s promotion of the snazzy phone. However, this observation may have been slightly pre-emptive because Vodafone’s latest spot, which although not resorting to physical abuse, will likely cause the actor a lingering sense of shame that can only come with seeing oneself—at primetime every night—with a bowl cut.

The legacy of Tui largely owes its existence to the fact that its founder Henry Wagstaff was so bad at cheesemaking that he was fired from the cheese shop where he worked. Given that his questionable fermentation tactics didn’t work for dairy products, Wagstaff took the logical step of applying them to hops and barley instead. As it turns out, Wagstaff was something of a not-so-bearded, brewing Da Vinci and by 1889 his skills had earned him enough money to build the brewery in Mangatainoka.

Given Tui’s recent history of covert plumbing activities, dishing out wads of cash at cricket and offending just about everyone in New Zealand with their infamous billboards, there was a sense of expectation that DB Breweries was planning something big for the 125th anniversary of the East India Pale Ale. And after a relatively quiet period, presumably planning the campaign, Tui has kicked off the celebrations with a new TVC via Saatchi & Saatchi NZ.