Author StopPress Team

Most notable this week is TelstraClear with a raft of metaphors in a rather politically directed effort to convince us that netball hoops should stay the same height at each end of the court. Countdown are still staying exclusive with One News, which means we went for the second ad slot for a few of One’s breaks. As for the rest, creepy Dan Carter continues to lounge around at precarious heights for Daikin; George Clooney, it seems, likes Nespresso more than beautiful woman (it can’t be that good); The home of eggs is Hokitika, just kidding, love Eggs throw in a weird ad; Learning Crochet sounds like so much fun and of course Mazda have a long list of reasons why zoomzooming is good.

Loyalty NZ’s Fly Buys programme has captured the attention of another telco after Telecom pulled out of its partnership with the rewards programme close to three years ago. 2degrees has announced it has joined up with Fly Buys to rake in some loyalty points with its ever rising number of customers.

Smartphones just keep getting smarter and smarter. Even the NZ Hi-Tech Awards think so, hence awarding mobile voucher company VoucherMob the Ministry of Science & Innovation Best Hi-Tech Start-up category at the Hi-Tech Awards held in Wellington last week.

The 64th Cannes Film Festival kicks of this week in France and while we mentioned a couple of week’s back that Sweet Shop director Sam Holst’s short film ‘Meathead’ has been selected to compete for the prestigious Palme d’Or, there’s another Kiwi nominee thrown into the mix.

Omnilab Media’s online delivery baby Adsend has launched its new digital asset delivery surface for NZ and Oz, called Certified Soft Proofing (CSP). Successfully launched and well received over in the UK, the soft proofing tool is selling itself on its ability to, in the words of Adsend chief executive Grant Schuetrumpf, “accurately simulate a print ad on the desktop as it appears when printed in the magazine or newspaper publication”.

With the rise of daily deal sites, smart phone technology and e-commerce, the way we’re shopping is changing rapidly and a discount culture has well and truly taken hold. And while New Zealand may be lagging behind slightly in comparison to other tech-savvy nations, lasoo.co.nz is hoping to remedy that slightly with the launch of its “smarter shopping assistant” on Android and Windows Phone apps, which allow shoppers to find and select the best deals while wandering in ‘meatspace’.

‘International indie’ bcg2 has picked up an account double, and they’re at opposite ends of the ad spectrum: the Tongan tourism business and Pfizer’s Avigra from Viagra incumbents M&C Saatchi.

Fairtrade products are going off at the moment, with sales increasing by more than 100 percent in Australia and New Zealand in 2010. And to draw more attention to the benefits these more ethical products can provide, both for the well-being of the growers in the developing world and the inner glow of those buying them, The Sustainable Business Network, Heart of the City, Café L’affare, Kokako, All Good, Tangible Media, Oxfam NZ and Fairtrade NZ are holding a Breakfast in the City at Britomart Country Club next Thursday during Fairtrade Fortnight. Attendees will get to sample delights from All Good bananas, Caffe L’affare, and Kokako, Michele A’Court and Jeremy Elwood are on hosting duties, a Fairtrade tea producer from Sri Lanka will speak about the impact of Fairtrade on his community and everyone gets a free Keepcup. We’ve got a double pass to give away and all you have to do to win it is name a part of on orang-utan. If it’s the part we’re thinking of, you’ll get to partake. For all those who are unfamiliar with orang-utans, tickets are going for $15 from here. 

The world of the consumer is an ever-evolving one and for business it presents many an opportunity, though it is certainly not without its challenges. And that commercial intimacy is something design agency DNA is keen to tap into with the re-launch of its Open website this week.

Despite the prevalence of screens in our lives, just two percent of retailers use digital signage to promote their wares. Enter n.gage, a conference in Auckland on 31 May that aims to educate marketers in the dark but increasingly important arts of retail digital signage.

It seems there’s an app for almost everything now and, combined with people’s apparent fondness for sharing details about what’s going on in their lives, New Zealand Post-run directory and social media service Localist has launched what its chief executive Blair Glubb describes as a “visual Twitter stream”.

Ever since New York ad agency Doyle, Dane and Bernbach started promoting ‘Hitler’s car’ to the Americans in the 50s and 60s with what is widely regarded as some of the best advertising the world has seen, Volkswagen’s marketing, much like its cars, has developed a reputation for reliability. As a large global brand, the work seen in New Zealand usually comes from overseas, but DDB NZ has joined in the fun from time to time, with the recent ‘Milk Run’ TVC and the award-winning ‘Finance Director’. Now it’s had another hoon on the German car behemoth and come up with another entertaining retail spot that plays on a truth universally acknowledged: weddings cost too much.  

Even Ads@6 gets an Easter break. Minus a couple of days, this week’s offering includes a really long Countdown ad about pears (both hard and soft), Hammer Hardware still going strong, the IRD make an attempt at humour, Genesis Energy continue to gather the troops to help in the Christchurch neighbourhood muck in, Freeview gets animated, Dilmah maintains its ethical stance and the Topp Twins develop multiple personalities.

APN has been focusing on upping the Herald’s game in the digital and mobile space of late, and it’s done a very good job, with a well-received and award-winning iPad App and mobile site and more on the way soon. As a result of this focus, some brands in its stable have been left behind in this regard and The Listener is a prime example of that. Well, now the website has been completely redesigned by the in-house team to bring it into the modern media era. But the advertiser-funded strategy remains—for the moment, at least. 

GrabOne first offered $4 tickets to Event Cinemas in Auckland in July 2010 and, just ten months later, it sold its one millionth coupon (a 61 percent off Canvas Print in the Northland region, in case you were wondering). To celebrate this milestone, it’s giving away two $50 GrabOne credits to lucky, bargain loving StopPressers. Like social media platforms, daily deals sites all seem to require a strange, suitably catchy name. So all you have to do is come up with a ridiculous name for a fictional new entrant to this crowded market and all your discount dreams could come true. Extra credit given for ridiculous slogans.

There’s a stack of digital marketing surveys coming out of the United States and Europe these days. But what’s happening in our own backyard? Well, here’s your chance 
to find out. If you want to gauge how your digital approach compares to that of your marketing countryfolk, complete this quick survey from the Kookmeyer Institute and you’ll get sent the full results. Click here to get amongst it.