Author StopPress Team

Tui thrives on taking a slightly different approach to events or issues of national significance. So it’s not surprising to see a cheeky rugby-related billboard erection from the trickster beer brand that demonstrates the extent of Kiwis’ hospitable nature.

From psychic Kiwis to psychic cows to the TAB’s prediction chicken, New Zealand rugby augurs are looking for signs to give them confidence the All Blacks will break their 24 year Rubber Wool Cup drought. But, like GNS vs Ken Ring, we base our predictions on hard data rather than snake oil, as can be seen very clearly with the first of our weekly, alternative Rugby World Cup infographic predictions that generally have absolutely nothing to do with rugby and were created by infographics.co.nz. This week, if the RWC is to be won ‘up front’, here are the likely contenders based on average penis size, although it should be noted it may be something of a hollow victory for France as the data wasn’t available for Fiji, Tonga, Samoa and Namibia.

As you may have noticed, there are a host of rugby-themed promotions and, for the sponsors, RWC ticket giveaways being offered at the moment. And nzherald.co.nz and M&C Saatchi have come up with a good’un by asking Kiwis to send in their best rugby-related words or phrases, along with their definitions. And, thanks to official sponsor ANZ, the best ‘rugbyism’ added at rugbydictionary.co.nz and then voted for by the people will get tickets to the final. But wait, there’s more. There’s an extra special treat on offer for all you creative boffins in adland. 

The call for entries for the 2011 RSVP and Nexus Awards has been put out. So marketing gurus are once again being encouraged to showcase shining examples of the campaigns and projects they’ve created that stimulate a conversation, ask for a response, prompt some deeper brand involvement and lead to a sale, lead or other measurable change in behaviour. 

70 magazine covers were entered and the seven esteemed judges have spoken, with 25 magazines across five different categories making it through to shortlist stage of The Maggies, a national poll to celebrate and award the best covers of the past year.

If you like The Onion’s hilarious horoscopes or the many varieties of alternative fortune cookies, then you’ll probably also like Barnes, Catmur & Friends new Mis-Fortune Cookies for Hell Pizza, which offer a slightly different take on the typically positive messages usually found inside the traditional Chinese versions and are being sold in all 66 stores around the country. 

Grabaseat is known for its slightly risque promotions, such as last year’s Cougar Army at the NZI Sevens, and, with the arrival of Rico on the scene, the naughty child’s sense of marketing humour even seems to have rubbed off on its more staid parent Air New Zealand. Grabaseat has continued that trend for yet another pseudo RWC campaign called the World Trophy of Fun. 

A steady diet of rugby is expected for the next few weeks, but it’s important to get a regular dose of culture as well so we don’t all turn into Colin Meads. And where better to do that than Artworks, an exhibition where more than 100 New Zealand artists will be on show at St Mathew in the City, including the unique ‘Treasures’ collection, an assortment of never seen before drawings and sketches from renowned New Zealand artists including Dick Frizzell, Bill Hammond, Dame Louise Henderson and Max Gimblett. We’ve got six double passes (tix valued at $20 each) to give away and all you have to do is give us your best impression of a chinstroking art critic and come up with a ridiculous critique of one of these paintings. 

During the Rugby World Cup, close to 100,000 visitors are expected to grace our shores and, if the throng of diners at the new Wynyard Quarter is any guide, they’ll be spending plenty of time and money sampling our food and beverages inbetween games. It’s a great opportunity to show tourists what we can do and, as part of its in-restaurant marketing push, Fly the Flag, Silver Fern Farms and Bidvest are doing everything they can to get Kiwi meat into visitor’s gullets by supplying New Zealand grown lamb, venison and beef to 138 leading restaurants around the country, including Logan Brown and Pravda in Wellington, the Hilton in Auckland and Tatler and Millbrook in Queenstown.

In what appears to be yet another instalment of Attack of the RWC Loopholes, we received a rather excited email the other day with a photo of the newly repainted KFC Balmoral in Auckland that showed what they thought was evidence of KFC supporting the All Blacks. And while this would be the logical conclusion to jump to, the official line is that it has nothing at all to do with rugby. It’s simply to promote a new variety of Mountain Dew called Pitch Black. 

The cold snap in August that brought snow to much of the country—and brought many Aucklanders to the office windows as the first snow fell in the city for 72 years—proved a perfect topical foil for creatives. And two of them were acknowledged in the August round of the NAB’s Newspaper Ad of the Month, with Barnes, Catmur & Friends’ ‘Road Open’ ad for Subaru winning top spot and DDB’s Powerball ad receiving an Honourable Mention.

Child birth can be a brutal, primal and rather harrowing experience, especially for the men. But it’s also beautiful. And, for the first time in Australia, an ad for newly rebranded fertility clinic Genea that was shot by Kiwi director Zia Mandviwalla from Curious Film and features an original score by composer Don McGlashan, has shown a real birth as part of a commercial. 

…as the industry says goodbye to Brian Milnes, MediaWorks finds its PR man, ASB’s Deborah Simpson creates a new future, Radio New Zealand finds a voice of the Pacific, and Terabyte Interactive helps out the Aussies. 

Designing furniture, creating photography books and making documentaries about the world’s worst football teams. Not the most obvious definition of a communications agency but for Engin Celikbas, a former DDB international and now partner of Amsterdam start-up agency Kesselskramer, it’s all about tapping into the wide depth of talent within the company and experimenting. Celikbas recently made an appearance at We Can Create and in this video interview, he tells us why he admires Steinlager and Droga 5, shares his thoughts on Telecom’s failed All Blacks campaign, and explains how the agency managed to position the Hans Brinker Budget Hotel as the world’s worst hotel that has been “proudly disappointing travellers for forty years”. The hotel has never been so full. 

Intersections are dangerous places (and, with news that the give way rule is going to be changed next year, they could soon become even more dangerous). So to reinforce that message Ogilvy created a billboard campaign for Road Safe Hawke’s Bay placed at major intersections in the region that features new—and entirely unwanted—car brands Nissbaru, Toyazda and Volksubishi.  

In this round of advertising goodness, you just can’t beat the Mad Butcher’s meat, Z Energy gets matey with the nation, Localist shares the love, Sky TV gets Match Fit, Bell Tea puts out a groaner and Telecom decides to ‘change the way they do things’. 

Dads are busy creatures and require much sustenance to continue functioning at their optimum performance level. So instead of getting him a novelty tie or a Cliff Richard CD for Father’s Day, Subway thinks you should get him a gift card so he can fuel up on its array of delectable sandwiches—without the need for that pesky cash. For the design savvy dad, you can even choose from a range of different giftcards in store. We’ve got two cards loaded with $50 to give away. And, because we love dad jokes so much, all you need to do is add a dadly groaner to the comment wall. 

Rugby is infused into a vast array of marketing campaigns at the moment and there have already been a few savvy and seemingly legal attempts by non-sponsors to skirt the rules and cash in on the Big Rugby Event. Unashamedly patriotic bread brand Vogel’s and its agency Publicis Mojo are the latest to join that cheeky anti-establishment club with another simple but very effective outdoor campaign that welcomes the tournament and offers some support to the boys.

Of note in this glut of ads from the gloaming, Sunday Star Times loves origami, Visa finds a Gem, Whittaker’s looks to the little people with a small peanut slab, Hyundai goes large and, of course, the crazy yelling dog that will stop at nothing to get bacon. 

It’s a prerequisite for any bonafide rock god or goddess to drive a cool car. And Audi New Zealand is coming to the party for this Thursday’s Battle of the Ad Bands at the Kings Arms, offering the winning band a brand new Audi A1 Sport Plus to share for a month.