In this series, we talk to Kiwi keyboard tappers that have managed to shift from the personal realm of blogging to create online media brands that are widely read (and in some cases profitable). In this segment, we chat to Cameron Slater, the founder of Whaleoil.

Andrew McNally, New Zealand Herald’s group advertising director, died unexpectedly in June last year. But his legacy will live on, not only because of the acknowledgment he has recently received by having his name attached to the trophy that will be given to the winner of APN’s Advertising Challenge, but also with the establishment of the inaugural APN McNally Classic, a charity fishing tournament that aims to raise funds for men’s health. And entries are now open.

It’s not generally in the nature of those who work in this industry to stay under the radar. But that’s what Post Creative has purposefully done since it opened its doors in 2011. Now, with ex-DraftFCB and Ogilvy bod Matt Simpkins coming on board as a replacement for co-founder Adam Bryce and the ribbon recently cut on a new office in Auckland’s Freeman’s Bay, the team thought it was about time they stuck their heads above the parapet, showed off some work and explained their model.

It isn’t uncommon for radio broadcasters to give away complimentary concert tickets to listeners, but the way The Rock is going about it is pretty hilarious. As part of its online promotion titled ‘Don’t be at James Blunt,’ The Rock is inviting listeners to share their dislike of the troubadour to stand a chance of winning a ticket to see a “real rock show” outside the country on the same night that Blunt is set to perform on Kiwi shores.

As part of its strategic insights related to the marketing industry, Getty Images recently released an article by Catherine Toole, the chairman of Sticky Content, that discusses how the increasing popularity of content marketing is making brands look more like publishers.

A brief look at how advertisers are using guilt to encourage parents to put the nicotine sticks down.

In an effort to counter the chilly mornings, dew-covered cars and dusty TV blankets that typify the start of autumn, Coca-Cola Amatil has launched a new campaign via Saatchi & Saatchi New Zealand that gives Kiwis a way to hold onto the summer feeling for a little longer.

ANZ is a long-time supporter of Sydney’s Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras. And it became a principal partner this year. So, to celebrate that upgrade, promote diversity and ensure it gets its fair share of the pink dollar, it’s given ten ATMs throughout the city a proper jzushing.

Below the Line has crafted the Kiwi rewards programme for Sanitarium’s Weet-bix brand with an app that lets people redeem rewards for products, vouchers, experiences and competition entries. Identifying and signing reward partners was the biggest challenge for the agency, with more than $1 million of rewards offered.

New Zealand’s hottest little software company Vend took its ethos of JFDI and plastered it all over the show in its new premises. Chief marketing officer Nick Houldsworth talks about their mint new space.

Kiwibank and Assignment Group got out the craft knife last year for a quirky Welcome Home Loan promotion featuring a couple that lived in a cardboard house. And they’ve continued that crafty theme with a stop-motion ode to dough that aims to draw attention to its insurance products.

Last year Pepsi Max was behind a big hit after Nascar driver Jeff Gordon dressed up and took an unsuspecting car salesman on a scary ride. That clocked up around 40 million views, but a few cynics reckoned it was fake, including Jalopnik writer Travis Okulski. Bad move, Travis.

We’ve seen a giant duck, a giant lollie, a giant rugby ball and even giant bags of weed. Now Mike Pero has added to this nation’s huge oeuvre by financing “one of its greatest home purchases in its over twenty year history: The Mike Pero Flying House balloon”.

In 2009, when Alex Gledhill co-founded Quina Fina tonic water, he wanted to create a traditional variation of tonic water that contained the bark of cinchona. However, after following his research to the Ecuadorian province of Loja – the natural habitat of cinchona – he discovered that the tree was on the brink of extinction due to deforestation caused by the high demand for the antimalarial properties found in the bark. Rather than just accepting this problem, Gledhill decided to do something about it.

Mercedes-Benz has waved goodbye to the generic website advertising new car models with what is calls an interactive web special for the GLA SUV. A combination of static images, viewer clues and video, it also manages to sneak in some customer service tools to hook potential buyers.

Telecom continues to search for ways to reach a mobile-savvy audience beyond the traditional landline. Hard on the heels of announcing a name change to Spark and its planned internet TV and movie service ShowmeTV, it’s partnering with Spotify to offer the Premium version on certain mobile plans.

Earlier this year, it was announced that Image Centre Group* had won the Wendy’s account from King Street. And four weeks later the new account holder has launched a campaign via its in-house creative agency &Some to introduce the Pretzel Bacon Cheeseburger to the Kiwi market.

It’s one of the oldest digital shops in the country and it has done work for a huge number of clients. And, like the internet itself, Terabyte Interactive keeps on changing. Chief executive Doug Hanna logs on.

Ikea and German agency Thjnk have turned to RGB to make the best use of a nine square metre billboard and show how home owners can make similar space saving decisions. It’s a geeky but cool concept to advertise the furniture retailer’s small space solutions.

Rather than pelting consumers with a series of special deals in the typical infomercial style often employed in supermarket advertisements, German-based Edeka has instead taken a weird approach that both Adweek and Slate have compared to Gangnam Style.

Digital and content roles should attract bigger pay this year than the other creative and marketing sectors surveyed by Font in its Market Pulse report. Candidates with a diverse skill set and strong digital competency will be in high demand, with an integrated approach becoming the norm.

Socialize Media has created a new site, The Big Upgrade, aimed at showing off what Kiwis can do with ultrafast broadband. It’s created its first set of online videos and launched the site across a number of social media channels.

Econsultancy’s first Quarterly Digital Intelligence Briefing for 2014 shows a strong appetite for digital risk in spite of a lack of support from the top and squeezed budgets. Content, targeting, social media engagement and mobile optimisation were high on the agenda of surveyed companies.

A new clip for Sony’s Playstation Plus subscription service is out to explode the stereotype that gamers are a lonely bunch. It takes us on a ride through a series of experiences that could only happen in our imagination, or a game, and shows how these things are better done together. Or, using multiplayer.

First it was Coke telling us how it could cure our social media addiction, now a Brazillian beer maker has a solution that would make it impossible for drinkers to communicate using their cellphones. It proposes a cooler that would block connectivity and make bar dwellers very lonely indeed.