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Kiwi brands experiment in six seconds of fun on Vine

Since Vine launched in January 2013 it’s fair to say the six-second video app has taken off for marketers, so much so that there is a Vine marketing category in the Shorty ad awards.

But are Kiwi brands slower on the uptake than our global counterparts? Many of our leading companies are noticeably missing from the platform.

According to Vine, every month now more than 100 million people watch Vines across the web.

Owned by Twitter, the social media platform boasts 1 billion views or ‘loops’ of videos every day, with the majority of users being teens. The largest age group on Vine is 18 – 20 year olds.

Sound like a good platform for digital marketing? So do plenty of other brands.

General Electric, Oreo and Samsung Mobile US have all got onto Vine in a big way, using the app’s six-second platform and stop motion function to create funny, quirky and amazing mini-videos for their audiences.

Other brands are opting to hook up with Vine’s most popular users to push their marketing message out through product placement, riding on the user’s organic following.

According to Business Insider Australia, a product endorsement in one Vine can go from $2000 to about $20,000 dollars for a campaign.

Branded content accounts for about four percent of the top tracked Vines, according to an infographic from Tamba.co.uk.

New Zealand brands have been a little slower to catch on, probably because less of our market is using the app.

So far companies like BNZ, Z Energy, Greenpeace, and rugby league team The Warriors are leading the space with their witty six-second clips.

BNZ has 193 followers and 19,371 loops.

The bank gets off to a good start with a tagline that shows they get the medium: “Being good with 6 seconds.”

Their social media team has taken an often-humourous approach to marketing on Vine, for example making little product-linked animations.

This one is Talk Like a Pirate Day themed.

While this one, another little animation, manages to fear-monger in a very cute and endearing way.

Z Energy is another company who have the 6-second medium down pat, and aren’t afraid to use a little humour.

The New Zealand energy company has 66 followers and 1298 loops, many of which may have been from me playing this hilarious video, plugging Z Energy’s super long hoses at gas stations, over and over again.

We’ve got #superlonghoses at your local Z. Park either side and #ZipthruZ today!

The brand also used the stop motion function to good effect in this cake clip with a message.

Be in to win your share of $40,000 of Prezzy cards when you fuel up at Z this Fri or Sat! www.z.co.nz/awesome

New Zealand rugby league club The Warriors is one of the most prolific brands on Vine.

It posted its first six-second masterpiece in May 2013 and since then has accumulated more than 80,000 plays, or ‘loops’ and 1486 followers.

The Warriors know its market, and Vines include clips of practices, behind the scenes footage, and funny vids of their stars.

Cult of personality is a winner for The Warriors with class clown Konrad Hurrell one of its biggest hitters. Silly six-second videos of the player clock up thousands of loops each.

The sports club also uses the platform to push their sponsors and merchandise.

Yesterday’s post also saw the new purchasable Rastafarian-themed Warriors ‘Zion’ practice jersey introduced through Vine.

Vodafone NZ, a principal sponsor of The Warriors, has 405 followers and 11,460 loops and has been on Vine since May 10 this year.

A lot of their content is linked to the Warriors in their #sociallounge at the games.

Good on them for being on Vine, but their content is pretty vanilla. This is probably the best of the bunch, a clip showcasing the launch of their Daily Roaming promotion in May.

There have been no updates since then. 

Greenpeace is one of our more successful and creative Kiwi Viners

It posted a number of Vines under the hastag #savethearctic including this intricate stop-motion one sponsored by Lucy Lawless.

And this  very funny unimpressed bouncer at SkyCity dealing with one of GreenPeace’s stunt polar bears.

McDonald’s New Zealand has also used Vine’s stop motion function to keep followers up to date on its latest specials, although with only 182 followers and two posts the fast-food retailer might need to step up its efforts.

Spark is another Kiwi company on Vine that hasn’t got around to posting anything. Somehow they still manage to have 413 followers.

Flight of the Concords have 2396 followers despite having no posts, which is a shame because I bet they would have been funny, and 2396 people seem to agree.

Marketing on Vine has become so mainstream overseas there is even a category for them in the Shorty Awards.

For a look at some of the best from last awards, or to enter, click here.

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