Author Jessy Edwards

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Politicians help Powershop cash in
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Powershop is cashing in on the gaffes of politicians through a refer-a-friend campaign that laughs at our past and present leaders in various states of strife. After poking fun at Judith Collins and pissing off John Banks, the retailer is back with a campaign that has Mana Party MP Hone Harawira the butt of the joke.

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Stuff gets hip, joins WhatsApp
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News websites are finding new ways to engage with their audiences, with Stuff.co.nz announcing Auckland users can now receive its news alerts through messaging app WhatsApp. Four days in and the new service is going great guns.

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Fairfax gets Neighbourly
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Fairfax media has bought in to a company where neighbours can chat about where to get the best flat white in their area, offer up spare bags of sheep dung to people nearby (true story), or find out what happens to the old clothes they’ve been putting in the bins by the church all these years. Neighbourly, an online social network for neighbourhoods, has partnered with Fairfax for a 22.5 percent share in its company, with the potential for more investment if the relationship pays off for both parties.

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Fly Buys gives the gift of free parking—UPDATED
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There aren’t many things more tedious than trying to find a park around Lambton Quay, Wellington, even on a good day. But if there is one thing that can quell how harrowing it is driving around in circles just to be pipped at every post by aggressive drivers with sharp parallel parking skills, it’s free parking.

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Apple helps Christchurch-based indie film achieve world first
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When Apple first contacted the producers of ‘Sunday’, an independent film set in post-earthquake Christchurch, made by a group of New Zealanders and Australians, the producers weren’t surprised. What they’re doing is a world first in film distribution, and an experiment in tackling Internet piracy. As of 7 December, ‘Sunday’ will be the first independent film to be launched over five different distribution platforms at the same time.

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Clemenger creatives on making NZTA’s ‘Local Legends’
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This morning NZTA released its latest ad ‘Local Legends’, this time aimed at curbing drink driving among younger men. We spoke with Clemenger BBDO creatives Mark Dalton and Mike Gwyther, who also co-wrote NZTA’s ad ‘Blazed’, about what it took to write ‘Local Legends’, what makes it work, and how to cut through the noise so you’re not forgotten.

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Clemenger shows bravery in action in new NZTA spot ‘Local Legends’
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Clemenger BBDO has done it again for NZTA, this time with a new TVC that shows how everyone has a part to play in stopping a drunk driver. Released this morning on NZTA’s Facebook page, the ‘Local Legends’ ad plays close to home for anyone who might feel anxious trying to convince someone they don’t have much influence over not to drink and drive.

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Double trouble for Powershop Darth Vader campaign
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Powershop Australia has been forced to pull a billboard campaign, featuring a power socket as Darth Vader, due to a complaint from LucasFilm. This is the second time Powershop has used the Dark Lord’s image in vain – in 2011 they also pulled an ad referencing Darth Vader after copyright scares.

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The curtain falls on Gigatown campaign
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After thirteen months and 5.95 million tweets, the Chorus Gigatown campaign is now playing its closing scenes, and there can only be one winner. Next Wednesday the long-awaited Gigatown victor will be announced.

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Vending machine for mutts: coming to a park near you
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The first dog vending machine has arrived in New Zealand, dispensing doggie treats and balls to fetch. But the vending machine-in-marketing category is not a new one. Heck, even vending machines for dogs aren’t new. We take a look at some more illustrious examples of zany vending-machine marketing stunts.

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Vice re-launches with NZ documentary to follow
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Punk-zine turned media-empire Vice re-launched its website this week with the promise of an “explosion of new content,” and New Zealand is not being left out of the blast. Vice head of communications for Australia and New Zealand Josh Gardiner says Kiwis can look forward to more local stories, including a New Zealand documentary.

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Nine marcomms-related businesses that made their mark on the Deloitte Fast 50
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New Zealand’s fastest growing companies were announced yesterday at the NZ Deloitte Fast 50 event. It’s a chance for some of our most successful businesses to show off their revenue (and, in some rare cases, maybe even their profit), with a number of these companies making it on to the top 50 index with eye-popping growth. We count down a list of companies associated/loosely associated to the marcomms sector.

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Resn gets FWA Hall of Fame nod, but managing director Rik Campbell is already eyeing the future
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Since starting out in Wellington in 2004, Resn has risen to being a world-leading digital agency with one office in the capital, one in Amsterdam, and the majority of its clients in the United States. The agency has been recognised time and time again by the Favorite Website Awards, and last week completely cracked it by becoming the distinguished 23rd member of the FWA Hall of Fame. So what does managing director Rik Campbell think of all the hype?

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Making museums and airports buzz: the story of STQRY
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Two years ago, after a trip to Wellington Zoo, Chris Smith and Ezel Kokcu founded STQRY, a “storytelling mobile experience company”. The story goes that the pair was reading about pelicans at the zoo and wanted to know more, sparking the idea of an app where people could garner more of an experience from an object. This idea was pitched to the zoo, which picked up immediately. Soon thereafter, Gareth Morgan also threw its weight behind the company. Now, STQRY has 17 staff, and the company’s young founders have set their sights on a range new projects. So, StopPress sat down with the pair to find out where they’re headed next.

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Knobs and knockers: Consumer NZ calls for action against doorstep violators
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Consumer New Zealand is calling for door-to-door salesman to be locked out in a new campaign released earlier this week. The consumer watchdog’s chief executive Sue Chetwin says the organisation often gets complaints about the “hard-sell and exploitative sales tactics” the doorknockers use. To counter against this problem, the organisation is distributing free “Do not knock” stickers to protect consumers from unwanted intrusion.

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By the numbers: how the lives of advertising executives stack up next to regular Kiwis
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The advertising executive is a strange but predictable beast. It shares similarities with the average New Zealander, but is different in pertinent ways. While the advertising executive’s raison d’être is to know and understand the shopping, watching, working and lifestyle habits of the average New Zealander, it does not practise these habits itself. Latest statistics from Nielsen compare the lives of ad executives, or ‘adlanders’ to the lives of average New Zealanders, and unsurprisingly there is quite a divide.

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