Locally owned companies Lumo Digital Outdoor and Pitchblack Partners both had a massive part to play in the re-opening of many New Zealand small businesses, thanks to their Up and Running campaign.
As Covid-19 resulted in the closure of many New Zealand businesses throughout Level 4 and Level 3, the campaign acted as a helping hand for small to medium-size enterprises that were in need of some free publicity.
Pitchblack took on the campaigns creative design, while the team at Lumo provided media placements across its 23 digital billboards in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, Hamilton and Tauranga.
“The lockdown period was a very tough time for most businesses so we felt it was important to use our media network for good by encouraging local people to support local businesses,” says Phil Clemas, Lumo’s co-founder and CEO.
“The team at Pitchblack Partners gave the campaign their all with ad design services and were supported by their friends at Assembly and Aux Digital, who built a new website and logo animation, within just a couple of days. This really showed their enthusiasm for the initiative and their desire to be involved.”
“And it was great to get industry support with other agencies chipping in to help with design, including True, Wood Studio and EightyOne.”
After launching on April 28, the campaign was so compelling that in just 48 hours, more than 500 submissions from small businesses had been made. Up and Running allowed many businesses to use click and collect or delivery services, which made it possible for them to be back on their feet durning Level 3.
“It was great to be involved in the Up and Running campaign, at a time where everyone was trying to figure out the next steps, the initiative gave us all some much-needed optimism and it’s helped us with the successful launch of our new store,” says Sam Hickey, co-founder of men’s clothing company Asuwere.
Peter Lorimer from Deep Down Wines and Kendal McSorely from KM Makeup were also extremely grateful for the support the Up and Running campaign provided them with.
“This brought me to tears. Thank you so much for your generous act of kindness throughout this time. What an exciting experience seeing my business on a large digital billboard. I can’t thank you enough,” says McSorley.
“To be honest it’s surreal seeing our brand in lights on Ponsonby Rd. This is an awesome initiative and spreads really positive energy amongst the gloom. We really appreciate the support during these challenging times,” says Lorimer.
Creative partner at Pitchblack, Tom Paine, says receiving such a large amount of positive feedback from small business owners was extremely heartwarming for the team.
“I’m just glad we could pitch in and help out so many small businesses around the country.”
Up and Running ran for five weeks, displaying more than 1,500 advertisements that helped hundreds of businesses, and was significantly rewarding for every party involved.
