Author Erin McKenzie

Features
Don’t be evil?
By

Google. Firstly, let’s get one thing clear: I love Google. Well, one half of Google, the half that perfected the search engine, made email better, mapped…

News
Trans-formula your car to go trans-Tasman
By

Crowd Goes Wild is inviting viewers of the show to pimp up their rides as part of a competition that offers an all-expenses-paid trip to Melbourne to watch the 2014 Formula 1 race to be held in the city between 13 and 16 March.

News
Mums/Moms: the good, the bad and the ugly
By

Procter & Gamble and Wieden + Kennedy decided to celebrate mothers’ roles in the creation of world-class athletes in a campaign that ran as part of its sponsorship of the London Olympics. And it’s back with another earnest spine tingler focusing on winter sports for the upcoming Sochi games in Russia. P&G-owned brand Old Spice also released an ad about mothers recently, although the musical ode to those who can’t let their teenage boys go is quite a bit different from that of its parent company.

Opinion
The power of perspective
By

Those in this industry often suffer from the ‘Curse of Knowledge’, says Andrew Lewis. So it’s important to get outside ourselves to understand the everyday consumer.

News
Looking down on pizza
By

It seems the travellers and the aviation industry weren’t the only ones captivated by British Airways’ recent #lookup campaign, which used surveillance technology to hook billboards up with its planes passing overhead. Domino’s Pizza in the UK has followed suit with a ripoff that asks up to #lookdown at a large pepperoni.

Movings & Shakings
Movings/Shakings: 6 November
By

Russell Browne heads to Brazil, Angela Spain gets some Asia-Pacific props, Veitch subs in for Deaks, Brent Smart moves up the Saatchi chain, 3rd Eye adds twins, Otago University students impress at Australian Planning Idol and Kenexa names New Zealand’s top workplaces.

News
Kids on candy
By

Kiwi ads have used many visual metaphors to illustrate the power of fast telco networks. Telecom had coloured flares and exploding balloons in their 4G ad, Vodafone took us back to the future in a speedy Delorean. US provider AT&T’s new spot sympathises with parents everywhere whose kids have been on a candy-induced sugar high.

News
Chokes all round
By

An unfortunate coincidence perhaps, but it was chokes from all quarters on the Stuff website earlier this morning as the lead headline screamed about Emirates Team New Zealand’s America’s Cup loss while further down on the front page there was a story about a US doctor saving a lady who choked on a piece of meat.

Movings & Shakings
Movings/Shakings: 29 August
By

Boucher takes the editorial wheel at Fairfax, APN’s Johns on the hunt for partnerships, veteran Mike Yardley jets into the editor’s chair at For the love of travel website, Kristina Rapley is the Creme of the crop, Hotwire gets its first board members, market research outfits join forces, and Simon Sievert is DraftFCB’s new digital architect.

News
Finding the perfect endorsement
By

Roger Federer is good at a lot of things: tennis, making boatloads of money and not really sweating much on court. But he’s not too highly regarded for his acting skills, as this groaner for Lindt shows. But through the wonders of modern technology, help might be at hand for those agencies hoping to get sports stars to better endorse brands. It’s certainly assisted NBA star Blake Griffin’s commercial skills.

News
The Apple manifesto
By

You may have noticed an inordinate amount of frothing at the mouth from Apple acolytes yesterday as the company announced some significant changes, including a newly redesigned iOS and Mac Pro, as well as iTunes Radio and multi-tasking. And it’s promoting its changes, the importance of design and the human experience its products offer with a new and intimate campaign via TBWA\ in the US.

News
Add some gloss to your package
By

Over the past year and a bit we’ve been showcasing some of the best magazine advertising in the country through The Glossies. And the time has come to hand out the annual award—and the $10,000 travel prize, which has been provided by the good folk at OMD. We’ll also be handing out the StopPress people’s choice award (a poll will be going up on the site next week so make sure you vote). The event will be taking place on 6 March in the printing hall at Image Centre Group and food and booze will be provided. Invites are going out today, but if you missed out and want to come along, email the MPA’s commercial director Katrina Horton.

News
Happy Kiwi snappers show their stripes in New Zealand Geographic photographer of the year comp
By

The winners of the New Zealand Geographic Photographer of the Year competition were named in an awards ceremony at the Auckland Museum last week and Bruce Mercer, a Cambridge-based photographer, took out the coveted photographer of the year award, as well as the photo story category, for images taken after the MV Rena ran aground on Astrolabe Reef in the Bay of Plenty on 5 October last year.

News
Fairfax looks on the bright side, prepares for the future with continuation of intern scheme
By

There’s been plenty of press lately about media companies being forced to adjust the way they did business in fast-changing circumstances, chief among them Fairfax, which announced the cutting of 1,900 jobs in Australia and host of other big changes (check out this anonymous opinion piece by a Fairfax journalist in Australia that painted a rather vivid picture of the current situation at the company). But according to Fairfax Media’s group executive editor in New Zealand Paul Thompson—and as evidenced in Oriella’s global study—journalism remains a career of huge variety, opportunity and importance and the company says its continuation of the intern scheme in 2012 is “a sign of its belief in itself, its journalism and the future”. And, given that future will likely be digital, this year applicants will have to upload a video clip of no more than 90 seconds about themselves to YouTube as part of the process to show they’re up to the task.

News
Social media is dead, long live the website
By

“Could this be the last SMC event? Is social media an over-hyped distraction from the real centre of activity online: your website?” This is the provocative topic for a Social Media Club discussion being held this evening at Telecom’s flash new premises. There’s been some interesting pre-event roasting and, as a keynote speaker, I thought perhaps a video blog would be a fun and interactive way for those who couldn’t make it a long to feel like they were there. For those who want to follow the conversation and participate in heckling, check #smcakl.

1 … 11 12 13 14