When in-car tape and CD players were first released, various analysts predicted the possible demise of the radio industry on account of the fact that people could customise their own playlists to personalise the listening experience. And while the industry managed to survive the tape deck and CD shuttle, the digital age is posing a new threat to radio’s continued dominance of in-car listening.
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.
Nielsen and ABC have released the latest quarterly results for magazine readership and circulation and, to a large extent, the figures indicate a continuation of trends that have been taking shape over the last few quarters. There was however a shift in the sense that some special interest titles—which have until now have performed well—also showed signs of weakening.
APN recently sent out a release pointing out that Nielsen had been undercounting audience to the Herald’s mobile site for about nine months—meaning that the battle for mobile eyes was inadvertently skewed in favour of Stuff. This error has now been corrected, so we decided to have a look at which publication is winning battle for mobile eyes.
On 25 May, after screening the first episode of the second season of House of Cards, MediaWorks made all the episodes for the show available for online viewing via its on-demand service, 3NOW. The new season of the popular Netflix show will be available for 28 days from the release date, giving binge viewers four weeks to squeeze in all 13 episodes. But does this move make sense, given that television has traditionally relied on keeping viewers hooked all the way through? And what is TVNZ doing in this area?
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.
In 2002, 120 years after first being established, NZFarmer was discontinued. But Fairfax Media’s new AgriMedia division is bringing it back as a weekly print publication and rebranding Straight Furrow.
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.
At the end of 2012, in an effort to step out of the stuffy boardroom atmosphere that typifies the rigid corporate world, DDB’s management team instructed the agency’s then in-house interior designer Campbell Johnson (now owner of Campbell Johnson Design) to renovate the Auckland offices and make the space more inviting to visitors.
About a week after APN opened the door to cross-channel collaboration across its media properties, MediaWorks announced the conflation of its radio and TV direct sales teams.The unified team will be led by Paul Hancox, who has been appointed to the newly created position of commercial director of MediaWorks Radio and TV. Hancox will also work closely with The Radio Bureau and their agency team, ensuring the Radio agency business is well aligned with its TV and interactive counterparts, led by Nicole Jones and Graeme Underwood, respectively. And while initial speculation suggested that this move came as a knee-jerk reaction to the moves made at APN, the MediaWorks TV director of sales and marketing Liz Fraser countered such claims.
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.
Motorcorp Group has moved Jaguar and Land Rover from the incumbent account-holders BIG Communications (creative) and Total Media (media) to Y&R NZ, bringing the accounts in line with the global partnership the group holds with the WPP-owned agency.
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.
In contrast to the major advertising awards shows that are typified by large round tables, three-course meals and formal attire, the ORCA Awards, held last night at the Nathan Club in Auckland, was a stripped down affair that took a tongue-in-cheek look at the ads created by the six finalists. Over the course of the event, the organisers released a series of videos of radio personalities Bryce Casey, Guy Williams and Dave Fane sharing their often hilarious thoughts on the shortlisted ads.
StopPress understands that .99 has won the FIFA U20 World Cup account after a competitive pitch that involved what is thought to have been four agencies. But it isn’t all good news at the agency at the moment. It has also been confirmed that .99, like its fellow Clemenger-owned agency Colenso BBDO, is currently in the process of letting some staff members go. PLUS: TVNZ wins rights to broadcast 22 games during for the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
New Zealand Post and its in-house subsidiary Kiwibank have announced plans to bring their media accounts together, and several agencies are currently involved in a pitch for the new combined account.
With last week’s announcement that Jane Hastings would take on the newly created chief executive role, APN centralised control of its offering across its publishing, radio and digital properties. And now, in continuing this trend of cross-channel collaboration, APN has launched an initiative called Collaborative Media Solutions (CMS), which will provide media agnostic advertising services to clients across the available platforms.
Young & Shand has conspired with Telecom-owned Skinny Mobile to serve up a group dancing TVC that comes with a significant dollop of cheese. Playing out to Earth Wind & Fire’s 1978 hit ‘September’, the actors are shown lip-synching and dancing their way—sometimes awkwardly—through Owairaka Park in Auckland’s Mount Albert.
Although radio usually sits in the background while the in vogue content delivery mediums soak up the limelight, the last few weeks have bucked that trend and brought radio to the centre of a varied range of media discussions. And given that radio is currently attracting so much attention, it’s only fitting that the New Zealand Radio Awards last night celebrated the best talent among those who are often heard and rarely seen (although, this is changing). As was the case last year, MediaWorks again led the charge in terms of numbers by picking up a total of 29 gongs throughout the course of the night, followed by TRN with 15 and Radio New Zealand with nine.
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.
Yesterday’s announcement that Fairfax Media had proposed 80 redundancies in Australia could result in jobs moving across to New Zealand as the conglomerate continues to incorporate cost-cutting measures.
A new V Energy campaign launched via YouTube and Facebook by Colenso BBDO is offering consumers the opportunity to get their hands on a grand prize of a $20,000 experience. Hosted within the Vheadtohead Facebook app and promoted on billboards, can branding and through a YouTube pre-roll, the new campaign questions what type of ‘V Head’ consumers are and then encourages them to enter the competition by selecting one of four options: AdventureHead, PetrolHead, TechHead or MusicHead.
Although Margaret Hawker has welcomed change in recent months by ending her five-year stint as the head of agency channel and integration at TRN, one thing that remains consistent in her life is an enduring love for her car. Despite its British name, the proportionality, flair and sleek finishing in the design of Hawker’s Triumph GT6 hints at foreign influence, so it comes as little surprise an Italian was involved in the design of the vehicle.
APN is centralising management of its radio, publishing and digital business interests in New Zealand with the appointment of Jane Hastings in a redefined chief executive officer role. Previously, the Kiwi arm of APN had dual chief executive roles, with Martin Simons being in charge of the publishing and digital side and Hastings holding the reins at TRN. Updated with comments from Hastings.
As the curtains were drawn on the fifth season of MasterChef NZ, the TVNZ team could tap each other on the back for once again dominating the ratings for the duration of the hit show. And this accomplishment will taste even sweeter given that it came in year when MediaWorks attempted take over the food porn throne with its bold—and at first confusing—The Great Food Race.
Every time a GPS-connected vehicle drives down the road, data related to the speed, route and habits of the driver can be recorded. And while most of this information might seem arbitrary, Tower has just released an app that uses it to reward responsible drivers with reduced insurance premiums—thereby marking a shift from the generalisations traditionally used to determine the amount to be paid.