New Zealand is known for being a fertile environment for the growth of challenger brands, The Challenger Project’s Suzie Plimmer asks why.
Consumers have become a lot more conscious these days, spending far more time researching before purchasing, not just picking up a product because it looks pretty on the shelf. We chat to Adrien Taylor about his cap brand Offcut Caps – which rose from scraps of offcut fabric – about his brand’s ethos and why it’s crucial for brands to have a purpose beyond making a profit.
Last year, Andrew Scott took over the chief executive chair of an agency that was enduring one of its most unstable patches in recent memory. And now nine months into his gig, he’s celebrated his first major account win and he thinks there might be a few more to come. We talk to him about what he’s done to steady the ship.
It’s no secret creatives work hard and like all of us, want to find some fulfilment in their roles. But as time shortens and the workload piles up, that satisfaction is replaced with stress and they want out. Erin McKenzie dives into adland to see what’s going on in agencies and what churn means for the wider industry.
Clemenger BBDO/Proximity might be considered a traditional agency, but it’s certainly not operating that way. We caught up with the agency’s three leading lights to find out what they’ve been working on, what they think of the industry at the moment and how their NZTA campaigns manage to nail it every time.
Tourism New Zealand has been shifting more and more of its ad spend to the digital channel over the last five years. And the organisation’s marketing director Andrew Fraser says the approach is working.
Tom Hyde, Facebook’s creative agency partner across New Zealand and Australia, dislikes the word ‘content’, almost as much as he dislikes the fact Facebook is being used as a dumping ground for so much of it. We chat to him about how he’s working with local agencies to move the platform from being a social afterthought to the centre of advertising to a mass market.
Margins in adland are being squeezed, leaving very little wiggle room. But where some see hopelessness, others see opportunity. And as Fleur Herscott does the indie rounds, she discovers there are a few players flexible enough to slip into the nooks and crannies in this new world.
Are branded magazines the new mail order catalogue? An increasing number of retailers are dipping a toe in the editorial waters, both online and offline. We talk to Crane Brothers founder Murray Crane and Barkers’ 1972 magazine publisher and editor Duncan Greive about this trend, and what it takes for companies to get into the content-creating business.
Graham Medcalf shops around for a few insights on the changing face of shopper marketing in the age of online retail and big data.
Graham Medcalf shops around for a few insights on the changing face of shopper marketing in the age of online retail and big data.
The advertising industry is renowned for its creative offices. And hot-to-trot independent agency True’s new space in Auckland doesn’t disappoint.
Following this morning’s news of the resignation of Jane Hastings from her position as the chief executive of NZME, we revisit Ben Fahy’s interview with her at the end of last year. (Look out for ‘long pause’ that hinted at this news).
At the end of 2014, Lewis Road Creamery founder Peter Cullinane said that after creating New Zealand-made butter he intended to move further down the dairy aisle. And since the company’s founding, this has come to fruition, with the dairy don moving from butter to milk and cream, to chocolate milk and now on to ice cream. We revisit Ben Fahy’s feature published in the November/December 2014 edition of NZ Marketing and discover the strategy behind the hype.
When it comes to the role of women in advertising, things have come a long way from the days of sexism, smoking and secretaries portrayed in Mad Men. But the top positions in the industry are still dominated by men. So why are there ‘too many dicks on the dancefloor’? Is anything being done to address the issue? And what are the benefits of more gender diversity? Holly Bagge investigates.
Following on from Nicky Bell’s recent resignation from Saatchi & Saatchi, we revisit Ben Fahy’s 2012 story of how she helped to turn the agency around after picking up the reins.
You didn’t ask. But we answered anyway. So, to celebrate the last day of the StopPress season for 2015, we’ve looked back on the year and compiled an extremely definitive list of the big pitches, the big ideas, the big balls, the big stoushes, the big moves and the big whoopsies. So long, and thanks for all the clicks dear readers. We’ll be back destroying lies and spreading truth on January 11. May your leisure be unbridled.
For innovation to be successful, it needs to solve problems and make life easier. Wayne Pick believes there are three major tech trends doing just that and ushering in ‘the internet of me’ era. And, given the future is where the profit is proven to lie, brands should be paying attention to them.
Mitre 10 and other home improvement brands like Bunnings have similar offerings, and most consumers would be happy to visit one or the other. Mitre 10 knew it needed to get an edge over its competitors so it got digging for ideas and pulled the Mitre 10 Gardening Club out of the ground.
Breast cancer is the third most common cancer in New Zealand. And given the pain it causes to Kiwi families, Farmers decided to fight back.
Following the global financial crisis, mortgage lenders sought to introduce more stringent lending criteria. But rather than viewing this as a problem, Data Insight saw it as an opportunity to commoditise its market research.
The modern radio audience has become divided, with streaming services and websites flooding onto the market. The Edge knew it needed to keep up, so it made its audience an offer it couldn’t refuse.
MediaWorks’ announced its unified news brand Newshub last Friday and, in the eyes of chief executive Mark Weldon, the multi-million dollar, nine month project to give its radio, TV and digital news assets more coherence is a big step on the journey to create “New Zealand’s leading integrated multi-media company”. He talks to Ben Fahy about how he intends to do that, why it needs to move past selling airtime and why collaboration is the answer.
To launch a new Unilever product called Persil Ultimate in New Zealand, Bauer was briefed to help show busy mums how using it could save them time to focus on the important things. To do that, it combined editorial endorsement from Woman’s Day, offered advice from food columnist Chelsea Winter and created an online hub where readers could share time saving tips. And, as Ben Fahy writes in the final instalment of the Beyond the Page series, the Moments that Matter campaign worked a treat for all parties and took out the best sales solution at the Magazine Media Awards.
In the first of two stories, Ben Fahy talks with MediaWorks chief executive Mark Weldon about the thinking behind its unified news brand Newshub, which has required a multi-million dollar investment, is modelled on the BBC and is set to kick off in Q1 next year.
As a still-nascent format, digital video can be a confusing realm for brands to navigate. So is it all it’s cracked up to be? And if it is, then what? Facebook video or YouTube? Long form or short form? DIY or through a publisher? Pre-roll or standalone? Fortunately, Lynda Brendish has done some of the legwork for you.
Landing a major deal is never easy. But turning that deal into a viable business opportunity can often prove more difficult than winning it in the first place. Fortunately, Westpac excelled in both these regards which was why it won the Financial and Banking categories.
The Syrian conflict had raged on for so long that the Kiwi public had become numb to it. So World Vision partnered with the New
Zealand Herald to remind the public of the human side of war.
A year ago, Mitre 10’s aisles were in disarray, with a plethora of its proprietary brands scattered throughout. So, the company did what any DIY enthusiast would do and went back to the drawing board.
Sam Forrest has quickly moved up the ranks at Frucor, establishing himself as one of the most promising performers in the industry. And if the last 20 months are anything to go by, there will be more to come from this young tyro.