Author Holly Bagge

YouTube starlet has become something of a branding sweetheart in recent months. Last year, Coca-Cola commissioned her to promote its #colouryoursummer campaign in Australia, Google has included her on its YouTube stars roadshow and she is currently part of theContiki troupe of influencers currently sharing travel stories from Asia. And she also recently caught the eyes of marketing team at Netflix. Two weeks ago, Curry posted a video called ‘How to Netflix’ on her YouTube channel as part of marketing push by the SVOD player to expand its reach across Australia and New Zealand.

The Building and Construction Industry Training Organisation (BCITO) has launched a new campaign with the aim of recruiting 5,000 new apprentices. And it’s doing it by focusing on the pros of working in construction, such as not racking up a huge student loan, being fit and muscular, spending time outdoors and being a total babe magnet.

NZTA has been talking about the perils of distraction for a while now. And Auckland Transport is on the same page. So it’s released a new campaign that calls dangerous distracted drivers out—and asks witnesses to do the same.

With the rise of smartphone photography, it’s tough out there for most camera manufacturers. The experienced and enthusiast photography market is the logical place for them to play and Canon is doing just that in a new campaign to show off its lenses and the difference they can make to telling a story. PLUS: how Apple, Samsung and other mobile manufacturers are changing the industry.

Yup, it’s that time of year again (already?), when FOMO-suffering tech lovers get all wound up about another new gadget. And this time it’s Samsung’s turn, with the Samsung Galaxy S6 and the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge released in New Zealand over the weekend. Here’s how Samsung and the main telcos are ensuring the upgrades continue. PLUS: the environmental perils of obsolescence and the idea of modular phones.

Nielsen data from 2014 shows interest in cycling is increasing across all our major cities, with Christchurch showing the highest interest relative to its population size at 32 percent (since 2010 Auckland’s interest in cycling has increased the most, at seven percent to 29 percent). This is leading to a few tense discussions about safety and appropriate infrastructure to inspire more of it. But Spark has decided to tap into that interest and, in another slightly surprising marketing initiative that it says aligns with its ‘Never Stop Starting’ tagline, has announced it will be helping to launch a public bike share scheme in Christchurch in June.

Lightbox has released two new TVCs by creative agency Consortium and production company Kontent in a continuation of its campaign, which has been rolling out since March with the aim of drawing attention to some of the SVOD provider’s more popular shows. But the Spark-owned SVOD service is by no means the only player in the market eager to get viewers’ attention, as Netflix, Quickflix and Neon also running campaigns that showcase their respective shows.

The Whittaker’s Big Egg Hunt NZ in support of The Starship Foundation ran again this Easter and saw 100 giant eggs created by leading and emerging artists hidden in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch. The public had to scramble the streets for the artworks and download the app for a chance win four gold Whittaker’s Wabbit necklaces crafted by Partridge Jewellers. And of course, there were several brands involved.

Wellington or Wellywood as it is affectionately (or scathingly) known remains the film capital of New Zealand, while Auckland is the TV capital, according to information released by Statistics NZ on the screen industry revenue from last year.

After nine years of owner and directorship of Bare PR, Rebecca Purdy has announced she has sold the business in order to focus on The Generalist PR, a company she started to represent clients who did not fit under the natural umbrella.

Throughout the month of March, Auckland was host to an international fleet of racing yachts and their crews taking part in the Volvo Ocean Race. After winning a three-way competitive pitch, experiential agency Fluxx was asked to come up with activation and sponsorship concepts for the SCA (known as Asaleo are in NZ) all-female racing team. In response to this brief, Fluxx worked with the global SCA and local Asaleo Care teams to bring their activation ideas to life.

Digital agency Touchcast has released an online game called ‘Get Out Stay Out’ for the New Zealand Fire Service to help educate young Kiwi kids about fire safety.

Every year, brands tend to jump on special occasions with the enthusiasm of a cat attacking a red dot on a kitchen floor. And without fail this sees consumers inundated with promotional material related to Christmas, Easter, Valentine’s Day and pretty much any other day that has even slight significance to someone. So, in what has come to be an annual tradition, here’s a rundown of how various brands—including Google, Campbell Live, GrabOne and BMW—attempted to trick gullible consumers this year.

Auckland brand and packaging agency Brother Design maintained its good form at the Vertex Awards by picking up gold, silver and bronze awards at the latest edition of the annual show.

Hirepool has brought mediaR onboard as its new full service partner following a “rigorous” creative pitch that is understood to have involved five agencies.

Quitline is rolling out phase two of its ‘crayons’ campaign, joining up with Screentime creative Toni Urlich, and has released the first of two TVCs, which provide a strong reminder of the impressionable nature of children and their desire to emulate the actions of family members they look up to.

Despite how joyful we become when we see fundraising school kids knock on our door with a box full of chocolate or cookies, sadly, we know it’s not good for us—and this is what Ecostore is pushing in a fundraising initiative campaign where it’s teamed up with four-time world shot put champion Valerie Adams for ‘Good Soap for a Good Cause,’ which might see some fundraising groups selling bars of soap instead of chocolate.

Last year, Spark announced it was teaming up with Kiwi NBA player Steven Adams on a project dubbed ‘The Boroughs’ which would see it partner up with Auckland City Council to open five high-tech basketball courts. And today Spark and the Ōtara-Papatoetoe local board started construction on the first court at Otamariki Park in South Auckland.

One of the joys of Wellington is its compactness. And that means residents do a fair bit of walking. In the past five years, however, an average of 13 pedestrians have been involved in accidents on the golden mile each year. So Wellington City Council created a safety campaign that aimed to get Wellingtonians crossing the road with a “clear head” and it has slowly been rolling it out over print, video, outdoor and social media.