Author Frances Chan

News
Vegemite’s cheesy name
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With nearly 50,000 names submitted, including the inventive Wow Chow, Ruddymite and 2ritemite, Kraft Australia has named its new Vegemite spread, wait for it … iSnack2.0. WTF? The winning name came from 27-year-old Dean Robbins, a web designer (no kidding).

Responding to a demand for a spread that did …

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Aussies won’t pay for online news
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Despite Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp making serious noises about charging for its online news, a recent Pure poll of 18,000 Australians are not impressed; 78 per cent don’t want a bar of it.

Only 5 per cent said they would pay for “high-quality articles” and only 7 …

News
Ads@6: 18-24 Sep
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A week of the most expensive ads on NZ telly for your viewing pleasure. New campaigns by Fresh’n Fruity, Sovereign and a very curious cat collection launched this week.

TV3, 24 September 2009

Arnott’s Vita-Weet crackers Harvey Norman, 10, 10, 10 deal G-Force movie Bunnings Pearl …

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Facebook leads the social media revolution
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Further to our story of Nielsen shacking up with Facebook to create a 300+ million market research base, our mate David MacGregor alerted us to this vid from Socialnomics, which claims if Facebook was a country it would be the fourth largest in the world. Test your memory retention in …

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Oldies, foodies & girlies clicking the most
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No real surprises that the most visited lifestyle websites for unique browsers last week were Stuff, Yahoo and NZ Herald, according to Nielsen analysis. Stuff.co.nz is the clear winner, and looks the nicest too in a category that suffers from a lot of cluttered design. Voxy also makes …

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Throng TV launches first online episode
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Congrats to Throng TV for launching its first online episode on its website this week. It’s NZ’s first digital portal dedicated to all things TV. Some teething problems with sound but it’s early days and there’s no holding back this gung-ho gang of media wannabes.

Producer …

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Nielsen gets poked by Facebook
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It’s a weighty brand match made in marketing heaven – Nielsen and Facebook are joining forces in a “multi-year strategic alliance to help marketers better use the Internet to develop and market new products”.

Facebook has the ability to reach a ginomous global consumer network and Nielsen has the market …

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Direct and transparent mail marketing
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Are you a marketer that can’t be bothered with the un-fun fiddly bits of a large-scale direct mail campaign? New Zealand Post Targeted Communications to the rescue with the launch of DM One.

DM One is an all-in-one solution for print, data, mailhouse and lodgement services that lets advertisers …

News
Effies for cardboard signs?
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Those señors of shrewd comment, Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner of Freakonomics, have compiled a selection of cardboard signs from Flickr and ponder the secret to a sign’s success. See below for appeals to a sense of family responsibility, sobriety, revenge, romance and more.

Pic by mistermuckle

Pic by …

News
2 degrees
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Who by: TBWA. Production co.: Film Construction. Director: Steve Saussey.Who for: 2 degrees launchWhy we like it: Rhys Darby is like the nerdy version of our cool publisher Vincent Heeringa

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Pure blonde sweet as
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Here’s a little local plug for this chuckle-worthy ad for Pure Blonde beer by Clemenger BBDO Melbourne. It was shot in Auckland and the production company was The Sweet Shop, founded in Ak by Paul Prince. The company also has offices in Sydney, London, New York, Los …

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Cream of the crap
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We give you the good, now here’s the bad and the ugly. The Tracy Awards are like Hollywood’s Razzies, except they ‘celebrate’ lamo US print and TV ads. There are some real shockers for Pristiq anti-depressant and McDs, among others. But there’s nothing stopping you submitting a …

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Tourism NZ wants Brits to go all the way
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In the wake of New Zild winning favourite long-haul destination in UK Conde Nast Traveller recently, Tourism New Zealand is picking up ball and running with the momentum of the NZ profile.

Next month it launches a campaign specially marketed towards UK backpackers and young travellers through the STA UK …

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Vote for your fave envelope art
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The 2009 Art of the Envelope Awards September finalists are:

The Lantern MailerClient: HSBCAgency: JWTCreative: Mike Ramsay

Daylight RobberyClient: Bond and BondAgency: Draft FCBCreatives: Jane Jamieson and Leisa Wall

Koru Mountain ViewClient: Air New ZealandAgency: Trio Group / Aim ProximityCreative: Andrea Cummerfield …

Awards
Get creative at the AWARD Copy Academy
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Calling all budding writers and creatives keen to make an investment for their career – applications are open for the Australasian Writers and Art Directors Association (AWARD) Copy Academy.

Learn the nuances for writing for all types of media. Hone your skills for creating the perfect headline. Impress the hell out …

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Genius label for Johnnie Walker ad
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Too long for a woop but too good not to include on StopPress, this six-minute ad for Johnnie Walker whisky featuring Robert Carlyle is an impressive piece of filmmaking.

Some points to spout off at dinner parties: The agency is Bartle Bogle Hegarty (BBH) London. The film was …

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Tops in Toronto
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In case you haven’t heard, The Topp Twins: Untouchable Girls has won the Cadillac People’s Choice Award for Best Documentary at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF).

The TIFF description reads:In this elegantly compiled work – part biopic, part concept film, part comedy – [director] Leanne Pooley provides a …

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Work distracts life
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Attention HR managers: ever wonder how much actual work you’re getting out of your employees? If computers rule your life, your production output is constantly hampered by distractions. See it large here and spend a few more minutes not doing whatever is it you’re paid to do.

News
The marshmallow test
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Psychological research never looked so cute. Our friends at Idealog alerted us to this re-enactment of the infamous marshmallow test that was first done in the late 1960s.

To test self-discipline and delay gratification, four-year-olds were put in room alone with one marshmallow. They were told they could …

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Shock, horror – Aussie telcos tell the truth
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Three top Australian telecommunications companies have promised to be more truthful in their advertising. What a novel idea.

In an effort to stamp out dubious and misleading claims in the telco industry, Telstra, Vodafone and Optus have assured the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) that they will improve their …

News
What Kiwi blokes want
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Not rugby, racing and beer, but babes, Beemers and, er, more babes. That’s according to the stats on MSN’s new NZ Men page.

Launched two weeks ago, the site has notched up 273,779 page views (PVs) and more than 18,000 unique browsers. The most popular slide …

News
It’s cool to be eco
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ecostore has won the Large Business Trailblazer award and named the Sustainable Business of the Year for the northern region in the Sustainable Business Network Awards held this week.

This follows the results of the Creo/Perceptive Corporate Trust Survey in July, in which ecostore was viewed as the top …

News
Instant Kiwi celebrates 20th anniversary
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Congrats to the little Kiwi that could – Instant Kiwi scratchies turn 20 years old this month. Interbrand has been the design company responsible for all the Instant Kiwi designs since the very first scratchie in 1989. Two new IKs have been released to celebrate the birthday – a collector’s edition …

News
Finally, a NZ comedy show that’s funny
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Have you seen TV3’s Friday night comedy panel show 7 Days yet? Funniest thing since Melody Rules. No seriously, it’s good.

Based on the BBC show Have I Got News For You, 7 Days pits two teams of comedians against each other to summarise the last week of …

News
TiVo does deal with Telecom
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Telecom and Hybrid TV, the exclusive licensee of TiVo products in NZ and Australia, have struck a mighty deal – but only for Telecom broadband customers.

From November they can download all the movies and shows they want from the TiVo media device without paying more for their monthly data allowance …

Awards
Rockin’ in the online world
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Will you be one of only 40 people that will attend a value-for-money event organized by our friends at IAB (Interactive Advertising Bureau) NZ? The not-for-profit organization is holding a seminar in Wellington called ‘Online Strategies that will Rock your CEO’. Sounds funky. Three industry experts will explain how to …

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Twenty20 cricket goes with the flow
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Home ventilation company HRV is the new sponsor of New Zealand’s Twenty20 cricket tournament. The three-year deal also heralds a new name for the competition – the HRV Cup.

Next year’s HRV Cup matches take place from January 2 to 31. With money, high profile and increased media coverage …

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Money can buy you Facebook friends
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Are you one of those sad sacks that has a Facebook profile but no friends to talk to? Now Aussie advertising and promotions company uSocial.net is selling friends for Facebook users.

Building a fan base has never been easier – you can buy packages of up to 5,000 or …

News
Ogilvy opens biggest production studio in NZ
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What has 10 video editing suites, offers services in 3-D animation, audio production, print management, photography and artwork/photo retouching and is open 16 hours a day? It’s RedWorks, the new state-of-the-art production facility created by Ogilvy NZ.

Executive director Paul Manning (formerly in charge of OgilvyMetro) and general …