While the research industry as a whole shrinks, The Research Agency continues to grow, with new staff, new clients and a few awards in 2012. Main brains Andrew Lewis, Amber Coulter and Connon Bray speak their piece.
1) Favourite campaign
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTu9X1IUiMoPedigree Doggleganger.
Map your face to find the perfect dog doppelganger. Genius.
2) Least favourite campaign
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-YiklY7qF4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nt4rdfbMSvcA tie between BNZ ‘Be Good With Money’ and Westpac ‘Start
Asking’. Big banks getting very parental and ponderous. A disconnect
with where banking is going from a consumer perspective, in terms of the role
it plays in their lives and the values they seek.
3) Best brand
Crane Brothers. Small,
crafted, fabulous website, stay true to their brand essence and deliver every
time. Could teach the big brands a thing or two.
4) Best stoush
Kim Dotcom vs.
‘the Johns’ (Key and Banks). He’s the gift that just keeps giving.
5) Heroes
Barrack
Hussein Obama.
6) Villains
Brendan Horan. As John Key
says, the range of opinions on the future of MP Brendan Horan is similar to people’s
reaction to pornography. “It’s shades of grey. It’s like pornography,
everyone knows it if they see it but everyone has a different definition of
it.”
7) Most memorable marketing moment
The Obama
campaign. Visionary use
of research and data science to create ‘hyper’ strategy and targeting. Along
with clever use of social media to engage the target. And The Research Agency winning the Excellence in Marketing Award at the Westpac Business Awards. Showing research companies can market themselves as well as anyone else can.
8) A few predictions for 2013
Marketers will start to
realise that no-one really watches TV ads properly/at all anymore.
Businesses will decide that a
social media strategy beyond simply building up likes is required. Questions
will be raised about what consumers want from business in this space.
Xero to replace 42 Below as
our go-to success story.