Author Deirdre Robert

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The unauthorised and curious history of DNA
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It was a time when Vanilla Ice was cool, Windows 3.0 was released and Tim Berners-Lee came up with a little thing called HTML. But 1990 also saw the birth of a company in Wellington called BNA design. Fast forward through an impressive client list that has included the likes of Telecom, Solid Energy, Formway, National Bank, NZTE and Yellow Pages, add in a rather scientific name change, and you get to the auspicious milestone of design agency DNA’s 21st birthday. To mark the occasion, DNA showed this video to clients and staff at its recent 21st parties in Auckland and Wellington. And having partied with the DNA folks at the Auckland bash, we felt the rest of you might want to have a gander at the entertaining documentation of the DNA story as well. 

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Ecostore, Special Group and friends freshen up with hefty brand and design overhaul
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In 1993 Malcolm Rands, together with his wife Melanie, launched a small mail-order business supplying green every day household products, all with the aim of creating a healthier, more sustainable world.
 19 years on and the ecostore brand has come a pretty long way from its roots in the Rands’ basement of their eco-village property in Northland. But with a range that spanned over 100 products as of last year, and with complacency a known enemy of innovation, ecostore has undergone a massive formulation and design makeover, the results of which were revealed at an event at the company’s home base in Auckland last night.

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ANZ brand implementation grabs international nod
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While murmurings of a possible merger with the National Bank remain shrouded in secrecy, what is certain is that ANZ’s super-regional strategy, and more specifically the associated brand roll-out that comes with it, is doing something right after Asia-Pacific brand delivery company Diadem won an award for best brand implementation for its ANZ project as part of the seventh annual REBRAND 100 Global Awards.

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Colenso receives slap on the hand one day, international honour the next, and remains in AXIS contention
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Its DB Export TVC may have been pulled off air after a complaint was upheld by the ASA in connection to the misuse of historical footage, but Colenso BBDO must be feeling  pretty good right about now after news the TVC has picked up an honourable mention as part of the inaugural Ads Worth Spreading challenge, established by non-profit organisation TED.

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Bloomsberry hops to the top
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A sense of humour and some design prowess can get you a long way. In fact, for Kiwi-founded and now London-based designer chocolate bar company Bloomsberry & Co, it can take you all the way from New Zealand to the UK, and beyond.

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Snap, you’re on kindness camera
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Consumers crave realness and human touch, according to Trendwatching.com. And Botany Town Centre is attempting to get real by performing what it describes as random acts of kindness on its customers.

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From New Zealand, with love
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Def Leppard sings love bites, Air New Zealand says love bytes with yet another clever and unique viral marketing campaign. Together with Affinity ID and Spoon TV, the folks at Air New Zealand paid a visit to Auckland’s international departures gate last night, recording messages from sky-bound passengers to loved ones they wouldn’t be seeing on Valentine’s Day.

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Word to the Earthwise
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When Tom Robinson was inspired to create a range of natural plant-based products back in the 1960s, hippies might have been the best he could have hoped for by way of customers. His inventive spark began in 1964 when he created an organic fertiliser. His creations quickly expanded to include a range of plant and mineral based home products, therapeutics, garden care and pet care, all born under the name Earthwise Group.

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$129,000-per-second commercials take Super Bowl centre stage
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It’s Super Bowl time. That time of year when Americans go mad for budget-blowing commercials, patriotic musicians belting out the Star-Spangled Banner and, oh yeah, American Football.

But while Christina Aguilera grabbed everyone’s attention when she messed up the words to the national anthem, as per usual, it …

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Bullet enters Ogilvy
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Ogilvy NZ liked Bullet PR’s online nous and Bullet PR liked Ogilvy’s technical cred, so they’ve joined forces under the unified (yet slightly ungainly) banner of Ogilvy 360˚Digital Influence.

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Glassons throws a weird haunted attic hoedown party
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Who’s it for: Glassons by Mojo Publicis

Why we like it: Because it’s a real mish-mash of extremely well shot imagery and sounds that leave you a little bit confused (albeit pleasantly). Plus, it makes the banjo and accordion look raucously hip.  Who knew hauntings could …

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Colenso BBDO puts up a fight
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There’s nothing quite like a very public dog-fight to garner attention. But not an animal dog-fight mind you.

On Sunday, Colenso BBDO launched another clever visual spectacle on public eyes with a re-enactment of a WW11 dogfight in honour of the epic new TV ONE miniseries, The Pacific. The ten-part mini-series focuses on the stories of three marines during America’s battle with the Japanese in the Pacific during World War II.

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Radio for breakfast
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In spite of the breakfast door shutting on TV3’s Sunrise show last week, it seems breakfast shows on the radio spectrum are doing just fine and dandy, if the results of the latest radio survey (available on The Radio Bureau site)  are anything to go by.

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Ads@6: 1 April – 7 April
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For this week’s fix of Ads@6, we’re sad to report the absence of two notable days of the week – Friday and Sunday. Come Easter, even days of the week deserve a little time off. But fear not, that still leaves plenty of other days of the week for your commercial fix.

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Ads@6: 26 February – 5 March
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This week on ads@6, finally we get to see Mark Ellis attacked by gigantic mosquito’s thanks to HRV; Tower shows us what a petrified man looks like when he ignores a phone call from his wife; a clever Toyota Hybrid Camry ad gives you a glimpse into how …

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God’s Big Break
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Last week we posted a story announcing the five finalists in Tourism New Zealand’s ‘Your Big Break’ competition, in which budding film makers from around the world were asked to submit a three minute video that best captures New Zealand’s youthfulness.

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Radio Grande
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March signals exciting times ahead, like the end of the tax year (!!)  For others, particularly advertising industry creatives, it’s the chance to bathe in the glory of knowing you have created something of an outstanding radio commercial, with the announcement this coming Wednesday of the Grande ORCA winner.

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What’s in a dog biscuit?
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Here’s a video we just had to share. You may never look at your dog the same way again once you see the determined focus that goes into acquiring just one dog biscuit.

Using nothing but a Phantom camera at 1,000 fps (frames per second), director …

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The juicy goodness of the kumara
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Who is it for? New Zealand Cricket

Why we like it? When don’t we like to give the Aussie’s a good ‘ole ribbing? And there’s something therapeutic about telling the Aussie’s to “suck a kumara”. Still at the end of …

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Jason speaks
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Jason Paris has spoken out about his new appointment as chief executive of TV3 and C4.

In an interview with StopPress, Paris describes the move as exciting and a natural career progression.

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Cheer(leading) ‘n’ Chairs
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There’s something oddly satisfying and just  oddly odd about seeing a cheerleader getting gobbled up by what looks to be a giant red Pacman.

This next one is long but well worth the watch.

Contemporary furniture designers Blu Dot simply wondered, “what would happen if …

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Ads@6: 18 February – 24 February
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This week on ads@6, a grown man lives out his childhood dream and finally gets his woman by dressing in a spiffy white sailors suit, courtesy of Lotto; talking toothbrushes (a favourite in toothbrush advertising) and can we have a show of hands for Webjet? Just two hands will …

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‘Vinnie’s View’ tops ratings war*
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Fed up with constantly being mistaken for Rhys Darby, our very own Vincent Heeringa has stepped out of Rhys’ shadow, with his own television segment, ‘Vinnie’s View’. We’re so proud.

In his debut performance this morning, Heeringa discussed tidal power and road trains as part of TV3’s …

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Goodbye yellow brick chocolate road
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It seems the chocolate reviews written by our StopPress readers have caused Yellow chocolate to sell out! Well, perhaps we’re being a little presumptuous, but the sweet yellowish concoction has all but vanished from supermarket shelves, making it the fastest selling chocolate bar over the past year. Not bad considering its chocolate creator Josh Winger, only got assigned the ‘mission’ to create the yellow chocolate six months ago.