In the wake of Electric Kiwi reaching the 40,000 customers mark, we sit down with chief marketing officer, Andrew Cooper, to hear how the brand has evolved its marketing strategy by tightening up its target audience and tackling the creative in-house.

Our weekly wrap of good things, strange things, funny things and other things from inside the intertubes.

We’ve given the mic to the industry’s future leaders. Tom Davies, a creative at Special Group, shares his thoughts on adland.

Labour came to power promising big boosts to public broadcasting but last week’s Budget offered only stop-gap increases “pending major policy decisions.”

NZME’s punt on the paywall appears to be paying off, with CEO Michael Boggs saying New Zealanders have put a high value on the importance of quality journalism by backing NZ Herald’s digital news subscription service – the paywall has reached 10,000 subscribers in just six weeks.

A round of applause to Meridian, Lotto NZ and Ford.

We’ve given the mic to the industry’s future leaders. Jae Woo Park, a digital designer at Saatchi & Saatchi, shares his thoughts on ad land.

Meridian has launched a new brand platform that celebrates how Kiwis will go to great lengths to keep New Zealand clean and beautiful.

Our weekly wrap of good things, strange things, funny things and other things from inside the intertubes.

Air New Zealand continues to sit above the rest of the brands on the social scoreboard – dominating all social media platforms except YouTube.

The inherent generosity of New Zealanders serves as the inspiration behind Lotto New Zealand’s latest campaign with DDB, ‘Kiwis Helping Kiwis’.

Ford’s gone back in time in a new campaign by BBDO New Zealand to show how it’s become embedded in Kiwi culture.

When the Government Inquiry into Mental Health and Addiction report was released in December last year, it painted a grim picture. “New Zealand is experiencing a rising tide of mental distress and addiction,” it said. “The cost of poor mental wellbeing and addiction is high. It is a high cost to individuals, families and whānau, businesses and organisations, communities, government and the country as a whole.” While the spotlight has been shone on specific demographics, one sector that is also toiling under pressure is our creative industries. We all know the squeeze of creative work well: late nights, long hours, client demands, unrealistic deadlines, impostor syndrome, self-criticism. This, coupled with the sensitive disposition creative people tend to have, often creates an environment where mental health issues can flourish. However, these people also have a talent for communicating ideas at a time when New Zealand has a base-level awareness of the problem, but not a deeper understanding or the tools to fix it. In part two, Elly Strang talks to the new wave of creators who are coming up with inspiring solutions to confront our mental health problem head on.

A round of applause to McDonald’s NZ, Air New Zealand and Countdown NZ.

When the Government Inquiry into Mental Health and Addiction report was released in December last year, it painted a grim picture. “New Zealand is experiencing a rising tide of mental distress and addiction,” it said. “The cost of poor mental wellbeing and addiction is high. It is a high cost to individuals, families and whānau, businesses and organisations, communities, government and the country as a whole.” While the spotlight has been shone on specific demographics, one sector that is also toiling under pressure is our creative industries. We all know the squeeze of creative work well: late nights, long hours, client demands, unrealistic deadlines, impostor syndrome, self-criticism. This, coupled with the sensitive disposition creative people tend to have, often creates an environment where mental health issues can flourish. In part one of a series, Elly Strang looks at the scale of the mental health problem in New Zealand’s creative industries.

Every Saturday for the last 16 years, the Weekend Herald’s glossy lift-out lifestyle magazine, Canvas has indulged readers with its signature blend of leisurely weekend content while sister lift-out Weekend has given readers a rundown on the weekend’s happenings. Now, the pair are joining forces to make a one-stop-shop lift-out for weekend content. We chat with NZME Weekend magazines editor Sarah Daniell about shaking things up.

Our weekly wrap of good things, strange things, funny things and other things from inside the intertubes.

Pead PR’s ownership has had a changeup this week, with managing director Sarah Munnik and group account directors Anna Farrera and Louisa Kraitzick joining CEO and founder ​Deborah Pead as shareholders.

The local marcomms industry has come together to help Pet Refuge New Zealand — a charity aiming to build the country’s first shelter dedicated to housing pets affected by family violence — with a campaign that’s raised over $250,000 in its first week.

Kiwi insurer Tower has announced the appointment of Shine as its strategic and creative communications agency, as well as its partnership with MBM for media planning and services. Both appointments follow a competitive pitch process.

A round of applause for NZTA, Discover Rotorua and Sylvia Park.

At any one time in New Zealand, there are hundreds of people speeding in cars who don’t want to be. In a new campaign, NZTA and Clemenger BBDO shine a light on who has to cope with the consequences of losing control of a car at high speed – and it’s not just the driver.

EightyOne’s announced Chris Bleackley as its full-time executive creative director alongside the appointment of new team members and a new offer called Drive-thru.

Rotorua’s connection to the natural world is on show in a new campaign for Destination Rotorua by KingSt Advertising and Marketing.

Our weekly wrap of good things, strange things, funny things and other things from inside the intertubes.

Clemenger BBDO creative JP Twaalfhoven was a finalist in the Side Hustle category at D&AD Awards 2019 for KYT – short for ‘Keeping You Together’ – bags handcrafted and designed for life with diabetes. The idea stemmed from his partner and co-founder Bridget Scanlan’s own Type 1 diagnosis eight years ago. He travelled to London to present live on stage at D&AD and on his way talked StopPress through the bags.

Sanitarium’s new out-of-home campaign uses bold colours and hands popping out of holes to remind Kiwis about their breakfast cereals.

PHD Group has announced the appointment of Nick Scott as strategic partnerships director, and the promotion of PHD group business director Helen Brown to group investment director.

MediaWork’s FY 2018 results are out and with a net loss after tax of $5.5 million, the company is showing signs of moving towards profitability.

Facebook’s role in the Christchurch terror attacks, and Mark Zuckerberg’s placid response, brought with it widespread condemnation. Now the social media giant has finally responded to the public scrutiny by banning users from live streaming if they “violate our most serious policies” and invested $7.5 million in research to improve video analysis technology. Idealog asked local social media experts whether the world’s most powerful company could have done more to prevent social media hate crimes.