This post was created by one of the small but mighty StopPress team of journalists. Among their number are: Zahra Shahtahmasebi, Niko Kloeten, Penny Murray and Rachel Tsai. Send your news to [email protected].
Special Group managed to take home 4 Caxton awards in 2011 for its Orcon Business banner, including the Quinlivan Black Best in Show, and it’s kept its name in the hat for the next round after winning the Oct/Nov ‘Could be a Caxton’ award for its ‘Send a Newspaper’ ad for the Newspaper Publishers’ Association.
Shopper marketing and retail activation is still in its infancy in New Zealand, but, given some figures show up to two thirds of purchasing decisions are made instore, things are starting to heat up. And Ogilvy New Zealand, which already has a solid presence in this space with connections to the Greg Partington-owned instore media company Hypermedia and product demonstration company Demoworks, is aiming to tap into this growth area by bringing these entities under one name and launching a new local office called OgilvyAction. And, in its first month of existence, it has already won the New Zealand Pork account in a competitive five-way pitch.
Plastic is bad, mmmkay. And SodaStream NZ, with the help of the PR Shop, is following in the footsteps of overseas markets and using shock and awe tactics to show it, with a large travelling cage filled with 2,000 empty cans and bottles that aims to visually represent the average amount used by a Kiwi household in a three-year period, educate the locals about the world’s recycling problem and, of course, show that SodaStream is a better, eco-friendly option.
As everyone knows, Telecom’s Abstain campaign died a horrible death before it was even born and it was a regular inclusion in the ‘least favourite’ campaign category in our Year in Reviews. Vaughn Davis managed to pin down the former head of marketing Kieren Cooney for a chat about the campaign, the thinking behind it and its unfortunate leakage for Idealog before he headed off to Australia and we’re pretty sure you markety types will be interested in what he had to say. So put your finger on this.
Is Latte-Land really nothing more than a rabid trash hole filled with Remuera tractors and rude, abrasive people who think life doesn’t exist south of the Bombays? Idealog doesn’t think so, and it’s standing up for Aucklanders everywhere (yes, even the ones who don’t live in Auckland any more). The latest issue contends why the Auckland hate must stop and that embracing the inner wanker is key to our wealth and happiness. Property Council head Connal Townsend, Waterfront Auckland chief executive John Dalzell, and Heart of the City’s main man-about-town Alex Swny explain why Auckland is now so much more than just an international airport and endless traffic snarl-ups. Plus: former Telecom marketing head Kieren Cooney spills the beans on the company’s provocative pink fist (and how the campaign unravelled), inside IBM’s secret Kiwi lair, Peter Jackson’s tiny aero-empire that’s capturing the hearts of bearded middle-aged men all over the world, and some local blokes who turned down MTV’s millions (and lived to tell the tale). Fill your boots now. In fact, we’ll fill them for you. Subscribe to six issues of Idealog and 6 issues of NZ Marketing here and we’ll give them BOTH to you for the fantasmagorical price of $60 + GST! Hoorah!
With the huge—some might say completely OTT—number of courses available in New Zealand, education is a very competitive sector. And, as is usually the case over summer, a range of academic institutions are currently ramping up their marketing activity in an effort to get more students to sign up. The last phase of Unitec’s year-long docu-ad series went live recently, AUT is pushing its interesting new campaign, and many smaller, more specialised schools are also advertising. But two new ads caught our attention this week: one featuring the inspiring ‘and not but’ message for the Open Polytechnic, which was created by Ogilvy Wellington and follows up from the very successful ‘Open World’ campaign, and the other a nice animated spot for the Manukau Institute of Technology, which was created by BCG2 and Cirkus.
Every year, tickets to one of the best events on New Zealand’s sporting calendar, the Wellington Sevens, sell out in minutes. The 2012 edition, which now has Hertz as naming rights sponsor, has already sold out, but never fear, because our cauliflower-eared friends at NZ Rugby World have got a couple of tickets to give away. All you need to do is send a message from your brain to your fingers, click here and fill in a few details. Then, if you win, you just have to come up with an amazing costume idea like this.
Just before the RWC began, Sonny Bill Williams’ management kicked up a bit of a stink when the NZRU decreed that he wasn’t allowed to sign a sponsorship deal with a drinks company considered to be a rival to official All Blacks sponsor Coca-Cola. It turned out he should have been thankful for the denial, because the interested suitor, South Pacific Beverages, used actor Ben Barrington to front one of the biggest turkeys of the year for its Pure Energy brand and Coca-Cola then decided to sign up the man mountain themselves (for an undisclosed sum, of course) as an official ambassador to help launch its new fizzy 300ml Powerade Fuel+, which aims to snatch a share of the energy drink market.
The RWC certainly got the outdoor sector’s tills ringing loudly, with a 36 percent increase clocked in Q3 when compared to the same time in 2010. And while the full year totals aren’t quite that massive, the Outdoor Media Association of New Zealand (OMANZ) announced a strong finish to 2011, with gross media revenue increasing by 16 percent over 2010 to $72.4 million, the equivalent of a $10.1 million boost.
Early in 2010, Pernod Ricard’s Montana wines were given a bit of a design refresh, with Dow Design embracing the Marlborough mountains for the brand’s global push. It then rebranded the products sold overseas to Brancott Estate, apparently because of confusion that the wine was from the state of Montana and Marlborough was deemed to be too close to cigarette brand Marlboro. And now, after a big year of RWC sponsorship and above-the-line activity (including this TVC as part of the ‘Stay Curious’ campaign), it’s just had another label spruce up, with new packaging launched across the entire Brancott Estate range.
New Zealanders could soon have a new way to proclaim their Kiwiness online, regardless of where they are, as Dot Kiwi Limited enters into the application process for the .kiwi domain.
While the mass-market weeklies continued to struggle last year, ACP popped a few corks when Woman’s Day finally edged out Woman’s Weekly in both circulation and readership after a very long wait. Elsewhere in 2011, special interest magazines largely seemed to hold firm despite the gloomy economy—and the predictions of death from the digitally-focused doomsayers. Sales manager Paul Gardiner goes to town on 2011.
2011 was another good year for the indies, which are often playing in the same sandpit as the big boys and occasionally stealing their spades and buckets. And, with a range of experienced big agency campaigners now plying their trade outside the walls of the multinationals, this trend looks set to continue. Running With Scissors’ two main brains Friday O’Flaherty and Andy Mitchell get their freak on.
2011 was a big year for Adshel, with the departure of Australian-based chief executive Steve McCarthy and marketing director Elvira Lodewick, the reinstitution of the much-loved Adshel Rally after a six-year hiatus and the added buoyancy—and, in many cases, frustration—brought to the outdoor sector by the RWC. So, take it away national sales director Nick Vile.
Frucor, with the help of its long-time agency Colenso BBDO, maintained its consistency in 2011, with V continuing its run as one of the country’s most innovative brands and Mountain Dew Skate Pinball taking experiential marketing to a whole new level of massiveness. Marketing director Scott Wright spills the beans.
With the big shoots few and far between these days, it’s pretty tough out there in production land at present. But there’s still no denying the power of the visual medium to get a message across and, whether it be Mammoth Dips, Whittaker’s ‘Swear by the Slab’, or Sky’s ‘Do Nothing’, Flying Fish managed to churn out plenty of stellar work last year. Executive producer James Moore pipes up on 2011.
Mediacom won a few big awards last year, including B&T’s overall agency of the year title and the Media Agency Network of the Year award for the third consecutive year at the M&M International Awards. In New Zealand it was behind KFC’s Double Down launch as well as the placement of media for the Z launch, and to top it all off, it also took the Revlon account off DraftFCB. Managing director Nigel Douglas pours his heart out.
With public broadcasting increasingly seen as a ‘nice to have’ by the National government, it’s all about the money for TVNZ these days. The $14-ish million TiVo mistake was obviously on the wrong side of that ledger, but the national broadcaster also had some big wins in 2011 and, judging by the extravagance of the 2012 new season launch, confidence is high for more success—both for ratings and ad spend—this year. General manager of marketing Annemarie Duff offers her two cents.
2011 was a fairly challenging year for MediaWorks, with management restructures, debt problems and tax bills. But there were plenty of positives too, with the new dual-channel approach that saw TV3 trying to snatch away some of TVNZ’s wrinklier viewers and FOUR becoming a mainstream entertainment channel seemingly starting to pay dividends. Amanda Wilson, head of marketing at TV3 and FOUR, lets her opinions on 2011 be known.
New year, new (and even some pre-Christmas) news in this bumper edition of Movings/Shakings, as Saatchi & Saatchi kicks off its Creative Collective with two hires, DDB adds a six pack to the creative coterie, tributes flow for Wellington’s Mike Boekholt, Adshel announces its new marketing director, Michelle Boag farewells Ogilvy, Courtney Lambert exchanges Fairfax for Xero, Kath Hurley swaps the MPA for the MA, NZ Lotteries chooses its new chief, Holly Dean takes a break from The Sweet Shop, and Cliff Joiner switches allegiance.
Big ups to Colenso’s Nick Worthington (pictured) who was crowned best executive creative director in the world, and James Hurman the second-best planner. Colenso BBDO Auckland was ranked fifth best agency in the world on this year’s Big Won list by Directory. Big Won awards are won by winning the most awards. Worthington can now brag that he’s officially got a Big Won.
It was something of an annus mirabilis for the outdoor sector last year, with a revenue increase of 36 percent in Q3 over the same period in 2010 that was largely attributable to the additional activity around the RWC. There was also some intense jockeying for position in the market with APN and iSite each adding to their arsenal and purchasing Oggi and OTW respectively. APNO’s general manager and chair of OMANZ Phil Clemas shares the love.
Young & Shand, a digital agency that flicked the switch at the end of 2009, has laughed in the face of the Great Recession and grown at a rapid rate, with a total of 45 clients now on its books and an office in a new creative hub in Auckland’s Britomart. Here’s founding partner Ben Young’s take on 2011.
Having spent over 30 years picking Kiwis’ brains, Colmar Brunton is pretty close to a household name in New Zealand. But it decided to get itself out there a bit more last year, with a new award on Fair Go rewarding companies with the best customer service and the Ad Impact Award on StopPress to celebrate the ads that have the biggest impact on consumers. Managing director Jacqueline Ireland tells us about a few of her favourite things from 2011.
Fraser Gardyne graduated from design school in 1976, was a director at Designworks for ten years, has worked closely with a massive range of Kiwi businesses and, as a result of his committed service to clients and the industry, was awarded the coveted Black Pin at last year’s Best Design Awards. Here’s some of the goods, bads and uglies of 2011 as seen through his eyes.
Moa has gained a reputation as the trickster god of the Kiwi beer fraternity with its cheeky, often controversial and, some might say, 42 Below-esque approach to marketing. Last year it gave the French the finger and became a slightly unexpected sponsor of the New Zealand Olympic team. And now it’s put the cat amongst the pigeons by kicking off a rather heated debate about what it calls ‘craftwashing’. Moa’s marketing manager Sunil Unka looks back on 2011.
M&C Saatchi has had a good couple of years since snaffling three of AIM Proximity’s big dawgs. It won a host of new accounts last year, it recently added Orcon to the stable and it’s released some stellar work for the Police and Fire Service this year. Here’s what executive creative director Dave King made of 2011.
He’s released his first book, he’s chaired the Effies and he’s chewed people’s ears off at Christmas parties all around town about the importance of creativity in business. And now Colenso BBDO’s planning director James Hurman has his say on 2011.
It’s been a massive year for Simon Coley, one of the main men behind both Powershop, which was judged the fastest growing company in New Zealand this year when it was awarded top prize at the Deloitte Fast 50, and All Good Organics, which won the sustainability gong at the TVNZ-NZ Marketing Awards. Here’s his pick of the 2011 bunch.
