Author Holly Bagge

News
Lumojo looks to make a buzz in the honey market with elegant design
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While many of us probably take the honey sitting in our pantry for granted, mentally placing it in the same family as the marmite, jam and peanut butter, if you really think about it, honey is a small miracle. There are so many vital variables that make the production of the golden sweetener possible. Newly launched honey brand Lumojo has attempted to reflect honey’s value as a premium product through strong design, creating minimalist and streamlined packaging with Alt Group to, as it says, pay homage to the “natural designers” aka the bees. PLUS: we delve into the apparent increase of ‘premium’ products and take look at the honey industry in New Zealand.

News
Cash for time-travel: Pop-up Globe proves a hit among experience-hungry Kiwis
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Wouldn’t it be amazing to step a few hundred years into the past for just a couple of hours? Well, a to-scale replica of the second Globe Theatre (1614) erected in commemoration of the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare’s death is about as close as it gets for the playwright’s fans, and it’s popped up right in Auckland city. The masterminds behind the Pop-up Globe have themselves labelled the experience as a kind of time travel, and given that tickets are selling like hot cakes, it fits with a recent shift in spending behaviour, where consumers are increasingly spending more on experiences over material items.

News
Green Ideas and FishHead call it a day; Fairfax sheds another title
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Despite great circulation growth and increasing subscriber numbers Healthy Life Media’s Green Ideas magazine has had to cease production this year. And this isn’t the only magazine to do so in recent times. Quintessential Wellington publication FishHead also called it a day, and this news comes as Fairfax sells on another one of its own magazines. We chat to Healthy Life Media publisher Pip Mehrtens about the end of Green Ideas and what it takes to succeed in the magazine industry when audiences are becoming increasingly fragmented, and opting for digital over print.

News
MediaWorks gives Kiwis a 360-degree online tour of its news digs
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Following on from our last 360 video story, MediaWorks has now jumped on the 360 bandwagon, producing the first 360-degree news studio video in the country with Reel Factory to show off the Newshub studio’s new features. We chat to MediaWorks head of digital news Jono Hutchison to find out more about the clip and the potential of 360-degree video as an immersive news storytelling tool.

News
Protestors, F-bombs and vox pops: TPPA coverage shows the ups and downs of live streaming
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On 4 February, thousands of TPPA (Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement) protestors filed onto Auckland’s city streets carrying signs, chanting and blocking off access to motorway access points to mark their objection to the agreement as our government was putting pen to paper. And among all the chaos were the nation’s media outlets, all competing to get the best coverage of the event and live-streaming it directly to thousands of online viewers. Here’s a rundown of how the media used live-streaming to create a more immersive experience for viewers, and a look at what the dangers are of live-streaming events like these.

News
The cog at the centre of it all: a look at the Newshub app
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Sometimes I wonder why we download mobile news apps and allow oft depressing and sensationalist headlines to be zapped to our phones to give us bursts of misery and existentialist angst throughout the day. But we’re suckers for it, we want to know what’s going on when it’s going on, and the major news outlets know this (they also know our phones are practically glued to our hands or pocket insides). Which is why MediaWorks has wasted no time in launching a dedicated Newshub app with all the bells and whistles, which, 18 hours after it launched became the most popular app downloaded from the App Store.

Features
Dancing on the ceiling: the worrying absence of executive women in advertising
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When it comes to the role of women in advertising, things have come a long way from the days of sexism, smoking and secretaries portrayed in Mad Men. But the top positions in the industry are still dominated by men. So why are there ‘too many dicks on the dancefloor’? Is anything being done to address the issue? And what are the benefits of more gender diversity? Holly Bagge investigates.

News
Not just for old, rich men: NZ Golf and Augusto look to get girls onto the green
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The traditional perception of golf usually evokes images of diamond-patterned shirts, cheese cutters, pastel sweaters, loafers and affluent white men. This long-standing myth is so entrenched that it even led to the urban myth that the word golf was in fact an acronym for ‘gentleman only, ladies forbidden’. This, of course, isn’t true, but the stereotype has long prevailed in golfing, leading to it being seen as a rich man’s sport or a hobby for retirees.

News
Crafting the craft: illustrators use creative flair for beer
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Since the craft beer industry started booming over the past few years in New Zealand, we’ve seen some beautiful labels adorning supermarket shelves and bar taps. These labels are often less about trumpeting the brand and more about celebrating the distinctive personality of the beer, often expressed through creative illustrations and inventive names. We had a chat with The Wireless’s Toby Morris about his experience illustrating for beer brands, and look into why illustration has become a popular promotional tool.

News
Twisting perspectives: Kiwi brands dive into 360-degree video
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360-degree video, which has been described as the next big thing in tech for 2016, is slowly gaining traction in New Zealand as brands begin experimenting with it in creative ways. Here’s a rundown of how a few of them have been using it so far. PLUS: a first-hand account of Augusto’s experience with the technology.

News
Checkpoint with John Campbell kicks off with ‘good problems’
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RNZ’s long-awaited multi-platform Checkpoint with John Campbell debuted last night, and the show caused so much buzz that RNZ’s website crashed from all the traffic. We chat to RNZ head of content Carol Hirschfield about the teething issues, the benefits of multimedia broadcasting and the overall response of the show.

News
The life and times of Lemmy the Karma Cola drink lid
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When life gives you lemons, take them on fun adventures. That’s what a Marlborough schoolgirl did with the lid of a Karma Cola ‘Lemmy’ drink, which she shared on a dedicated Instagram page. Lemmy has been surfing, singing, gone on a safari, cycled and made art, and all this happened with no prompts or knowledge (initially) from Karma Cola; but, as to be expected, the brand is pretty stoked Lemmy’s living the good life.

News
Surf2Surf drops into the paywall
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To paywall or not to paywall? That is the question bouncing around many-a-publisher’s head. Of course, if it works, extra revenue is brought in, great. But, what if the audience doesn’t go for it? And the product ends up in a worse state financially than pre-paywall, with dwindling advertisers to boot. Surf forecast website Surf2Surf has decided to take the risk, and though it’s very early days yet, results so far are promising.

News
We grammin’—and Spark wants to gram it with you
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Spark is continuing to utilise its younger, cooler post-rebrand persona by venturing into target market territory. Its most recent effort is its summer Instagram campaign, developed with its PR agency Sherson Willis, which rewards the most creative fans with credit (or as Spark calls it, ‘social currency’) if they capture and share Instagram shots (based on trending images on the platform) with the correct hashtag. And halfway through the campaign, the telco has already given away thousands of dollars of credit, increased sign ups and seen a growth in its Instagram following.

News
Postr teams up with Skinny Mobile, trades data and minutes for ad endurance
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Opt-in ad serving platform Postr has teamed up Skinny Mobile to create a new android app called Skinny Collect, which allows Skinny customers to earn free data or minutes in return for allowing ads on their lock screen. It’s taken off pretty well and in the first fifteen minutes after launching it had a download per second. We spoke to Postr CEO Milan Reinartz to find out more on the new app and Postr’s partnership with Skinny.

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