Author Holly Bagge

When I was about six (after sneakily watching one-too-many scary movies) I thought I could turn myself into a cool vampire with a special potion made out of potato chips and juice that had been left on a window sill overnight to gain extra “power”. Turns out old Raro and soggy chicken chips only makes you spew, yet I still had the confidence and imagination to try. And that’s the message this new ad by Tower is getting across by asking children the rather odd question: “What would you do if a penguin stole your bike?”

Powershop has ruffled a few feathers once again with an ad by Doublefish playing on the Greek crisis to promote its referral scheme for existing customers, but its flagrant use of advertising seems to be working as though its CEO admits the market is tough he says Powershop is holding its own.

I can still remember when I first began noticing Spotify back in 2012. Perhaps I was a little late in the game, but I didn’t start paying attention until my Facebook feed became filled with “[Insert friend’s name] listened to [insert track] on Spotify”. At first I found this mildly annoying thinking “What the hell is Spotify” while simultaneously feeling shocked to discover some of the crap my friends were listening to. But soon enough I found myself on the platform, figuring out what it was all about, running to my computer like most early users to turn down the blaring ads and like most other early users I was pretty adamant I wouldn’t be paying for it. But things change and New Zealand has embraced the service with open arms as one of the highest growing streaming markets in the world. We had the rare opportunity to have a chat with Spotify about how it’s doing in New Zealand, its branding partnerships, New Zealand’s piracy problem, the threat of Apple Music and more.

We’re sure many New Zealanders are in disbelief as to how nearly four years have passed since the last Rugby World Cup. Four years since we yelled out to strangers in the street whooping with collective joy after the All Blacks secured the Cup after a nail-biting game with the French and four years since the victory sparked a baby boom across the nation. But this year’s World Cup, which kicks off in September has no doubt been creeping its way into the public consciousness for sometime now, probably due to a few big brands which hope to profit from all the attention, here’s what a few of them are up to.

Lorde once said that all the internet is “ … is doing your own PR”. And in modern times this rings truer than ever. We curate the material we put on our social media accounts, crafting the image of ourselves that we want to present to others. You could say we are our own brand and social media is how we market ourselves, and while most of us get paid in ‘likes’ or ‘followers’, some social “influencers” are teaming up with brands and getting paid in cold hard cash. And on that note, here are the top ten followed Instagram accounts in the country and how a few of these media personalities are racking up the dollars from doing what they do best.

Brands are normally seen as the bullies; corporate monsters taking advantage of the little guy. But they aren’t just a logo, a uniform or an ad. They are made up of multiple individuals working in different branches on different levels. And often it’s the people lower down the chain who bear the brunt of angry customers, as any front of house hospo worker or call centre operator or social media manager will know. So in light of the Harmful Digital Communications Bill passing its third reading, and following some recent anger directed at the likes of Nestle, Cadbury, Ticketek and many others, we decided to ask a few New Zealand companies with ‘passionate’ followers a potentially stupid question: have they ever felt like they’ve been bullied online?

Wellington-based craft beer brewery Garage Project has grown from humble beginnings since Pete Gillespie, brother Ian Gillespie and Jos Ruffel started out in 2011 using a 500 litre “glorified home brew kit” to moving to a 2000 litre tank and say a large part of their success is not just the quality of the beer, but also its unique branding approach, hiring different artists to design the labels for individual beers. The brewery has also been a frontrunner in the canning of its craft beer, much to the scepticism of some. But it has worked. Demand is strong, and over 140 beers later, a slew of awards and a team that’s grown from three to about twenty, it’s showing no signs of slowing down yet.

Farmstrong is an organisation which looks out for the well being of farmers, which in recent times has become an area which needs attention, with 14 farmers taking their own lives during the second half of last year. The organisation has released a TVC addressing the issue in a subtle way, using a farmer as the protagonist who has a nonchalant approach to well being, which illustrates how easy it can be to slip into bad habits.

Wanaka is a place well renowned for its beauty, with its crystal blue lake, mountainous terrain and great slopes. And while stunning promotional imagery for the town is common to see, it’s not as often we get to see a hyper-fast compilation of the township through 4,000 images carefully stitched together by an experienced videographer, here’s Lake Wanaka Tourism’s latest marketing approach.

Social media marketing agency Socialites released its ‘SnapAuckland’ compilation today as part of its revolt against Snapchat’s ‘Auckland Life’, which it says failed to do the city justice. News of Socialite’s endeavor to remedy the situation and Aucklanders’ disgruntled reaction to Snapchat’s previous attempt blew up, with Snapchat Miami catching wind of the story and pushing word out through its own channels.

As Snapchat has nudged its way into the advertising world over the past year, businesses have made use of the tool to reach out to a younger audience. One of these businesses is ASB Bank, which has seen huge success through its use of Snapchat to reach tertiary students, and ASB general manager of marketing Shane Evans says it plans to keep using it.

Image and video-sharing mobile app Snapchat has put the spotlight on New Zealand for its “Life” initiative which features everyday clips from famous cities around the world and has thus far included the likes of New York, London, Dubai, Cape Town, Dublin, and Liverpool and as of Tuesday, Auckland. However, many Aucklanders aren’t too happy with how they have been represented and social media agency for businesses, Socialites, is having a crack at its own compilation.