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IABNZ lets foreigners play in Bolly Awards sandpit

IAB New Zealand’s Bolly Awards are all about showcasing and recognising great online creative and Aveeno, Metservice, Plunket, Orcon and House of Travel all popped a few Bollinger corks after claiming victory (or a ‘special mention’) in 2010. And, to help keep the local creative juices flowing, IABNZ has decided to open its doors to entries created overseas that have featured on New Zealand websites.

“Online creative for brand advertising continues to develop and improve in New Zealand as marketers see the value and effectiveness with their marketing campaigns,” says Liz Fraser, IAB chair. “However, when we compare New Zealand to international markets, brands such as Lynx, Nestle and Nissan are embracing online and exploring many creative boundaries. We want to inspire local creative agencies and publishers and showcase their creative excellence, including the growing channels of online video, mobile marketing and rich media solutions.”

New Zealand is renowned as something of a creative advertising powerhouse, but digital—perhaps because of a lack of humans, a lack of budget and, up until recently, the lack of competition in the domestic telco market—isn’t such a strong point. Things are changing, however, as Kiwis fully embrace the online space and decreasing data rates make mobile internet more of a reality, but it will be interesting to see how many of the Kiwi entries can foot it with those from larger, more mature online markets.

IAB’s general manager Alisa Higgins has seen the quality of entries increase since the awards started a year ago.

“Recent IAB ad spend figures show growth of almost 20 percent for the total market year-on-year. This is a huge increase for a year that was still recovering from the recession. As more and more advertisers test the online waters, online creative is starting to be taken more seriously and not just an online execution of a print ad for example.”

The first deadline for 2011 is Friday 18 March. And it’s free to enter, so visit www.bollyawards.co.nz for an online entry form and criteria.

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