The latest agency news, campaigns and client wins (and losses) making headlines across Aotearoa.
Beware the rumour propelling ways of the Twittersphere. The latest to catch our attention is that APN is getting set to launch its very own free music street press, competing face-on with the recently sold Groove Guide, purchased by Juice TV programme director Grant ‘Grunta’ Hislop back in May. But this looks to be more than just a rumour.
Titan Media Group, a relatively new player in the Australasian outdoor advertising and media market that focuses on small format media panels, has established a New Zealand arm and will launch on September 1 with 300 sites installed into mall car parks at grocery entrances and trolley bays, with installations continuing to approximately 1400 nationwide.
With the help of .99, justONE and the marketing team led by last year’s marketer of the year finalist Dean Cook, Farmers has undergone a fairly remarkable business and brand transformation in the past few years. And now, in an effort to build on the success of the Farmers Beauty Card, which boasts over 700,000 members, it’s just launched the Farmers Club to extend the loyalty and rewards offering storewide.
Back in June, UK’s Campaign magazine published a Ltd Edition Emerging Talent Portfolio that showcased “the world’s best young creative talent, as chosen by the world’s best, er, old talent” and sold it at Cannes this year for 20p a copy. And two Kiwi entries made the top 50, TBWA\’s Agency Plankton and North Shore animation house Cirkus.
The three-day CAANZ/AUT Communications School Strategic Thinking Course is kicking off this month, and there are still places left. And for all those non-CAANZ member companies, you can get your tickets at the CAANZ member’s rate.
Colenso BBDO is currently dealing with the loss of one of its biggest clients. But there was a ray of light last night at the Aotea centre when its ‘Home Alone’ ad for Pedigree Dog Food was given the newspaper ad of the year award and the creative team responsible for it took home the $10,000 booty.
How do you make vodka that much more fashionable? Absolut has an idea or two and it’s strutting those ideas around as part of the upcoming New Zealand Fashion Week. The vodka brand has announced plans for its 2011 Absolut Fashion campaign, which includes the unveiling of its own Absolut fashion studio, along with some fashionable cocktails courtesy of top Kiwi designers Adrian Hailwood, Huffer and Lonely Hearts.
Auckland Tourism, Events and Economic Development has just released a report that sheds some light on Auckland’s diverse creative workforce and its impact on the local economy. And the results make for surprising—and, if you like rubbing it in to Australians, impressive—reading.
Synovate has announced some big changes to its senior roster, with Debra Hall announcing her early retirement effective October 29 and long-time independent researcher Duncan Stuart joining the team in a “suitably loose role”.
The big news from the past few weeks was that Vodafone has decided to review its agency partners, which left the role of incumbent Colenso up in the air and led to speculation that a decision had already been made to move the account elsewhere without the agency being involved in a pitch. And while Clemenger Group chief executive Jim Moser admits Colenso is now out of the picture, resources have been shifted to .99, which will be the epicentre of the account for the next three months and is “going to participate aggressively” in the upcoming pitch.
The television revenue numbers for the year ended 30 June are out and, despite the March results being heavily impacted by the February Canterbury earthquake, overall, the year saw a 5.1 percent growth. The figures, fresh from ThinkTV, show advertising revenue reached $613 million, compared with the $583 million gathered from the previous 12 months.
In the last edition of NZ Marketing, DDB’s experiential creative director Steve Kane said about sponsorship: “What brands need to remember is the audience is not there for them, however vital their role in making the event happen.” adidas obviously pays a pretty penny to the NZRU for the privilege of sponsoring the All Blacks, but the launch of the new jersey, the debate over its hefty pricetag and the lack of action in response to calls to drop the price has pegged it as a brand that is trying to hijack ‘our’ team. And just when you thought the PR poop couldn’t get any more pungent, it’s getting some more stick for choosing a slightly galling location to hold its Black is Beautiful party.
“Could this be the last SMC event? Is social media an over-hyped distraction from the real centre of activity online: your website?” This is the provocative topic for a Social Media Club discussion being held this evening at Telecom’s flash new premises. There’s been some interesting pre-event roasting and, as a keynote speaker, I thought perhaps a video blog would be a fun and interactive way for those who couldn’t make it a long to feel like they were there. For those who want to follow the conversation and participate in heckling, check #smcakl.
As any good lifeguard will tell you, struggling against the rip is futile. Often the best approach is to go with the flow and embrace it instead. And DDB NZ has done just that with the surprisingly entertaining—and self-deprecating—contacts page on its new website.
3 News has already had a swipe at TVNZ’s poor coverage of the Christchurch and Japanese earthquakes with some comparative advertising earlier this year. And it’s keeping the pressure on the national broadcaster with a new campaign to promote the variety of news offerings available throughout the day.
Take a radio fashioned out of pavlova, some interactive nappy packaging, a 21st birthday party invite, mix it with a giant rubber duck and a home brewing system and what do you get? A snapshot of Kiwi creativity by way of the finalist entries for this year’s Best Awards, thanks to the folks at The Designer’s Institute of New Zealand.
Everyone who’s anyone in the research biz will be heading to Auckland’s Orakei Bay on September 2 to spread their gospel and/or expand their minds as part of the Market Research Society of New Zealand’s conference. And the organisers have zsushed proceedings up a bit this time round.
When it comes to misusing statistics, the media has been guilty of its fair share of whoppers. And the Stats Chat blog wants to hear some of your best examples for a new weekly competition.
Who’s it for: Royal New Zealand Air Force by Saatchi & Saatchi, Resn, Paragon Electronic Design and Kennedy Model Making.
Why we like it: We featured an ad that employed the services of miniatures in this section last week, but this week’s miniature thing has …
Life insurance is often seen as something of a morbid necessity and insurance companies often tap into the guilt factor to sell it. But Sovereign’s new campaign ‘Choose Life. Choose Sovereign’, which was developed by Whybin\TBWA and Tequila\ and continues a rebranding journey that began three years ago, aims to take a new, more positive stance on the role insurance plays in Kiwis’ lives with “a message of light-hearted empowerment”.
Last year, Wellington digital agency Heyday embarked on a big project to celebrate the 21st anniversary of the nation’s connection to the internet with www.downtothewire.co.nz. And the boffins are baying for blood after DraftFCB got its facts wrong for the latest Orcon campaign, which claims the internet arrived in New Zealand 18 years ago.
We love a good loophole here at StopPress. And despite the strict MEMA rules that aim to protect sponsors’ investments, there are still plenty of them available to savvy marketers hoping to make some hay while the Big Rugby Event shines. Official sponsor Heineken is already slightly aggrieved with Steinlager’s nostalgic white can campaign because of its focus on the tournament rather than the All Blacks and now Independent Liquor and Barnes, Catmur & Friends are getting in on the act with a cheeky billboard at the Auckland Airport.
It looked like the writing was on the wall for Publicis Mojo when DDB was given the big 2011 project for Steinlager and Shine was handed the Southern Finishing School work a few months back. And the relationship is now officially over, with DDB taking over all things Steinlager and Shine taking over all things Speight’s.
When Saatchi & Saatchi launched its ‘Get What It Takes’ campaign for the New Zealand Army in September last year, the campaign ended up becoming the most watched branded or sponsor channel on YouTube. Now Saatchi’s is at it again, this time with a unique, crafty and pretty entertaining interactive online game for the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF).
The NAB Newspaper Ad of the Year awards have rolled around once again and, with the first Great Advertising Debate, advertising legend Neil French coming on board to help choose the big winner and a new digital category, it looks like it could be a good’un.
When co-founder and creative director of AmbientX Mark Pickering bought the company from Australian-owned Ambient Advertising Group, he announced he’d be re-branding the company to Fluxx and focusing on making it “the best agency in New Zealand dedicated specifically to experiential marketing”. But now it looks as if Pickering has another competitor in the Kiwi market, none other than Ambient Advertising itself. The company has decided it’s not quite ready to part with experiential and managing director of Ambient Advertising NZ Chris Monaghan has announced the launch of a new experiential and events arm of the agency.
Special Group took over Lion’s suite of Diageo products after it won a competitive pitch in June last year. But a decision to use more global creative for its Smirnoff brand means the local boys have been cut out the action for the time being.
Toyota’s leadership in making the environment a core management priority, while also engaging in a meaningful way with audiences around the world, has seen the company take out the top spot in Interbrand’s Best Global Green Brands 2011 report, which ranks the top 50 “green” brands with a global presence. But some of the very brands that ranked highly in environmental sustainability performance lagged behind when it came to public perception of their performance, suggesting many companies have a ways to go when it comes to communicating their corporate social responsibility efforts.
… as Colenso group account director Lou Kuegler heads for Asia, DraftFCB makes a surprising hire, Los Angeles calls for one of the Resn crew, Kiwi copywriter Cam Brown joins Arnold Furnace and Sunday Star Times reporter Jonathan Marshall leaves Fairfax.
Slacktivists the world over see Che Guevara as the personification of rebellion and often wear t-shirts to show just how rebellious they are. As such, he’s become something of an unlikely advertising icon, used to sell everything from lip balm to Smirnoff to mousepads. But local electricity retailer Powershop, fresh from a well-received satirical campaign featuring various dictators using their power differently, is up in arms after an Aussie energy drink company called Powerbeverage ripped off an online banner featuring the freedom fighter.
Print is often seen as the poor cousin of the media mix when it comes to creativity in advertising, especially when compared to some of the tricks now able to be performed in the online realm. But occasionally a publisher shows what can be done with good fashioned old paper and ink and NZ Rugby World has backed up its supreme accolades at the recent Magazine Awards with a very well-timed ‘barndoor’ cover on the August issue featuring our Dear Captain resplendent in Adidas’ new All Blacks jersey.
A gentle prod from CAANZ to remind all those clamouring for recognition in one of the most sought after awards of the year that the extended Effie deadline arrives on Monday 8 August. So you’ll have the whole weekend to sweat over your entry. Aren’t they kind.
Auckland mobile marketing company POCKETvouchers has a bit of a spring in its step after signing deals with global payment processor ePay and local daily deal site GrabOne recently. And chief executive Todd Wackrow says the new partnerships have streamlined the voucher process for marketers and allow the business to expand into other markets.
As it gets set to host the leather-clad man with the big voice and a penchant for very long songs, otherwise known as Meatloaf, the Bay of Plenty’s largest venue Baypark has unveiled a new branding effort that comes complete with a pun. The rebrand features a new and much more colourful logo carrying the new strap line: ‘Where there’s plenty going on’.
We could tell you about the e-gremlins that meant Fairfax failed to deliver some of its papers yesterday, or the bombshell that Tourism New Zealand’s PR company in the US helped get John Key on the David Letterman show. But we decided this supposed world-first from Wellington digital agency Resn, which brought a whole new, ridiculous and very interactive meaning to the term Twitterfeed, was much more important.
The chance to bathe in the Maggies limelight of award-wining cover design is quickly passing with entries closing this Friday 5 August. And, as long as you are in possession of a snazzy cover and can operate a mouse, entering is easy, “just choose a cover, tell us why, and press go”.