‘Tis the season for office Christmas parties, and at Y&R, they’re combining the year’s jolliest holiday with the departure of managing director Steve Kane.

The news this week of veteran news heads Mark Jennings and Tim Murphy launching a news service was widely celebrated across journalism circles, with many applauding the arrival of a publication dedicated to, as Murphy said, focusing on quality and “doing the news”. But was that excitement a bit pre-emptive? And – the question of the ages – how is it going to pay for it all?

NZ Story has announced the first eight production companies selected for the ‘Creative Collective’, a pre-qualified supplier list for local businesses looking to share their message globally. We talk to director Rebecca Smith about the selection process and what it means for the production companies involved.

Our weekly wrap of good things, strange things, funny things, inspiring things and other things from inside the intertubes.

In the war for consumers in on-demand streaming, Quickflix is changing tack from a subscription-based model to one based on pay-as-you-go. But the question remains, will it work?

New Zealand ad-tech company ikemu has secured an international deal with one of Japan’s largest crowdsourcing platforms, Lancers Inc.

Viceland is set to launch as a 24-hour television channel on Sky on 1 December this year. But is it going to attract the young audience Sky hopes it will. And, if it doesn’t, does that really matter?

“In the meadow we could build a snowman” suggests the song Winter Wonderland, but what it doesn’t mention is that the snowman might leave to go in search of colder temperatures.

As we start the lead up to Christmas with a daily chocolate treat, Wellington Regional Economic Development Agency (WREDA) has launched the seventh edition of the Wondrous Wellington Advent Calendar, counting down the days till Santa arrives with a 360-degree view of the city.

Air New Zealand has kicked off its Christmas celebrations this year by commissioning a rendition of hit festive song ‘Winter Wonderland’ a little better suited to the Southern Hemisphere.

In an effort to reach more markets and offer more services, two Auckland-based digital agencies are coming together.

Jean-Claude Van Damme may have the thighs, but it’s New Zealand’s own Louise Marriott that has the driving nous in Volvo Trucks’ latest live test

Former Herald editor Tim Murphy gives us the lowdown on Newsroom, a news venture he’s launching with his co-conspirator Mark Jennings. And as it turns out, they’ve already had some free PR from the Commerce Commission.

Over the weekend, a new comedic web series hit Facebook feeds, as These Two rolled out its first two episodes. And in good Kiwi spirit, it had some help to get it there with local brands providing the crew well earned refreshments.

If there’s one thing that the US presidential election taught us, it’s that speaking about your competition (even if you have a very compelling argument) probably isn’t a good idea.And with this in mind, it’s somewhat surprising that Skinny mobile would reference the 2degrees Christmas campaign in a new advertisement, recently seen at the Spark offices, saying: “Don’t waste your time hunting for 2degrees’ data”.

Danish not-for-profit organisation BØRNEfonden is pushing parents into uncomfortable territory in a new campaign that asks fathers how they would feel if a 30-year-old man asked to marry their 13-year-old daughters.

V Energy drink is making the life of its fans easier by sharing some super essential life skills in a series of quirky videos, which see a selfie taker descend into a volcano and Taylor Swift give budgeting advice.

The digital age has made us accustomed to the pairs of shoes and gym memberships that follow us around the internet taunting us to respond, but are we ready for job ads to pop up while we browse? Recruitment advertising specialist Big Splash is using programmatic advertising in recruitment to help companies target ideal candidates and take the stress out of trawling through irrelevant CVs.