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A child promoting the joys of coffee might not initially seem like a good idea for a campaign, but Caffe Aurora’s ‘Stop Searching’, which follows Modern Family’s Rico Rodriguez as he hunts for the perfect espresso, has obviously caught the attention of the masses, because it has taken out the December round of Colmar Brunton’s Ad Impact Award.
If your Facebook feed has been cluttered with those look back movies, you might like a few that take the mickey out of the social network’s idea that celebrated its tenth birthday.
It seems a mother’s work can actually be done, at least in the imagination of a young daughter. This is no ordinary work, because it’s that of global giant General Electric, in a vast range of fields.
Honda has unleashed the beast in a visual effects spectactular that turns its brand into a dark horse. Underneath the technical wizardry it’s a race between robots, real horses and cars.
Those Nordic countries are all the rage at the moment, what with their food, furniture, literature, social policies, architecture, vehicles (or, more particularly, ads for vehicles), expensive stereos and diversified economies. And New Zealand business folk will be able to get a taste of the region’s rich design pedigree with Norse Code, a full day event similar in format to the Better by Design summit that features five of the biggest names in Scandinavian design. Plus: win a ticket worth $195.
Newspapers may be struggling to deal with a few fairly serious business model issues at the moment, but that hasn’t stopped The Guardian from creating some great ads to promote it wares. And The Sunday Times has followed suit, with its single-shot, two-actor Icons spot promoting its refreshed coverage of art, music, film and TV and its month-long culture series.
Although Guy Williams isn’t actively involved in the advertising industry beyond appearing in the odd promo for one of his shows, his ability to consistently deliver a humorous message no matter which medium he is working in is something that many marketers and brands strive to do with their campaigns. So, in order to learn his secrets, we sent the lanky comedian a few questions.
Amidst the photos of dodgy hotels, news of security threats and occasional sporting events at the Sochi Winter Olympics (why the amazing ski ballet was canned, we’ll never know), there are the ads riding on those coattails. So here’s a collection of the best.
As the Agency Wank Tumblr shows, agencies trying to elucidate their point of difference can easily veer into cringeworthy business cliches and terrible jargon (Canadian agency John St, on the other hand, has consistently nailed it with brilliant films that mock current advertising trends). But direct and digital specialist Twenty, which has added a number of new clients and a host of new staff in the past few years, has avoided that self-promotional fate with an animated trip back in time to explain the power of the 80/20 rule to the world of business.
In this series, we talk to Kiwi keyboard tappers that have managed to shift from the personal realm of blogging to create online media brands that are widely read (and in some cases profitable). In the fourth segment, we chat to Megan Singleton about her online journey with Blogger at Large.
While most movie releases still rely on the classic cliched poster/over-the-top trailer combo, there have been plenty of creative (and sometimes quite violating) attempts to get attention in recent years. And The Lego Movie, which is currently number one at the global box office, joined that elite group with a great stunt conceived by Warner Bros. and media agency PHD that saw four well-known UK ads acted out in the style of the movie.
The annual league of corporate musical chairs continues with key moves made by Bauer, Whybin\TBWA, Pfizer, Mango, Tourism New Zealand and Network Ten.
The creative love may have been shared in the call for entries campaign, but now the creative competition begins, because the 2014 Axis finalists have been announced and Colenso BBDO/Proximity is in a familiar position atop the list with 56 nods, followed closely by DraftFCB on 54, DDB on 37 and Saatchi & Saatchi on 30. Plus: Clemenger BBDO’s new Axis logo.
Lorde’s letter of thanks to fans in the lead up to last month’s Grammy Awards and her Auckland Laneway makeup gig was the judge’s pick for January’s News Works Ad of the Month. And they reckon it wouldn’t have worked in any other medium except the venerable newspaper.
Waitangi Day is often mired in acrimony and argy bargy, partially because that’s what the media tends to focus on. So, in a heady combination of self-promotion and national pride, Wellington creatives Think Suite and Unlimited Ltd—with the help of some well-respected historians—aimed to create a new kind of conversation about the Treaty with its “Kiwi ‘Trojan Horse”, The Sweety of Waitangi.
Our weekly wrap of good things, strange things, funny things and other things from inside the intertubes.
Last week, APN NZ announced the arrival of the Herald Advertising Challenge, an initiative designed to showcase the opportunities for large scale, integrated campaigns across Herald media channels and get agencies thinking about the possibilities. And, along with the previously announced prize pool, which includes $250,000 of agency rate card media to bring the winning campaign to life and a trip for two members of the team to attend the Festival of Media Global 2014 in Rome, it has announced that teams will also be playing for the Andrew McNally Cup.
Given that Delta, Virgin and other airlines have started emulating Air New Zealand’s novel approach to safety videos, the original innovators have decided to take things to the next level by inviting the Sports Illustrated swimsuit models onto their planes. Update: Air New Zealand arranged the sponsorship and True developed the creative for the project.
Right after warming our icy hearts with two poignant stories that were brought to life with eerie animations and haunting soundtracks, Chipotle has now released a trailer for its next ambitious advertising project: a satirical series comprising several 30-minute episodes.
In response to Russia’s continued condemnation of homosexuality as a mental illness, The Canadian Institute of Diversity and Inclusion has released a public service announcement that presents the two-person luge in particularly risqué fashion. The customary back and forth movements associated with the sport are accompanied by a backing track of The Human League’s ‘Don’t you want me baby’. And then at the end of the 30-second ad, text saying “The games have always been a little gay. Let’s fight to keep it that way,” appears on the screen.
Cape Town-based ad agency King James has just launched a new Bells whisky advertisement that doesn’t just pull at the heart strings; it yanks at them, ferociously.
For the second year in a row the Church of Scientology has slipped an ad into the Super Bowl, and this year’s offering is impressively high on claims and equally low on explanations.
The corporate shuffle continues at Scoop, Bauer, Lily & Louis, The Radio Network, the Public Relations Institute of New Zealand and TVNZ.
Jockey is the latest company to sign up for a sponsorship deal with the NZRU. And, to celebrate the announcement, Jockey has released a behind-the-scenes clip shot by Augusto of the nine All Blacks stripping off, oiling up, mucking about and sucking in.
Pete and Andy Walker managed to entertain a big chunk of the nation with their cheeky quips and farm boy antics on the last season of The Block NZ. And they’re making hay while the sponsorship sun still shines by hitching themselves to Hirepool’s wagon.
Mobile marketing agency Mobile Embrace is set to enable another campaign that makes the most of banners on hand-held devices, this time with a trailer for the movie I Frankenstein.
Auckland-based Media Design School says a new collaboration in the US will provide a talent pool for blockbuster filmmakers and games studios in California. It’s launching Media Design School of Digital Arts at NewSchool of Architecture and Design in San Diego.
In this series, we talk to Kiwi keyboard tappers that have managed to shift from the personal realm of blogging to create online media brands that are widely read (and in some cases profitable). In the third segment, we chat to David Farrar, the founder of Kiwiblog.
Having grown tired of the approach taken by conventional journalists, a group of self-professed philosophers has founded a new news media outlet that aims offer a different take on the issues that usually pervade tabloids. Part satire, part insightful, the stories published on the site reimagine seemingly meaningless events as moments of newsworthy importance.
Our weekly wrap of good things, strange things, funny things and other things from inside the intertubes.