The MediaWeb debacle has concluded with a jail term for former director John Clark, who was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment earlier today at the Auckland District Court.

V energy are sparking interest yet again with their latest promotional campaign asking people to use letters on cans and bottles of V to spell out their heart’s desire then share it on social media for the possibility of winning their wish as a prize.

With the annual slam of Christmas commercial messaging hitting us from all sides, it comes as little surprise that 59 percent of Kiwis feel that Christmas has become too commercial. So are brands doing themselves a disservice by focusing on sales rather than more authentic Christmas messaging?

Are you afraid of the dark? Lynx Pitch Black has taken its campaign all the way by turning out the lights at a Seekae concert.

WestJet asks people to complete 12,000 “mini-miracles” and share on social media.

It’s no secret that 2015 has been punctuated by some horrific moments, with the Nepal Earthquake, the Paris attacks, the refugee crisis and the Charleston Shooting standing out as some of the more harrowing examples. But interspersed alongside these events, there were also many positive moments that saw people celebrate and express their creativity online. YouTube, Facebook and Twitter look back at the moments that defined the year.

The upcoming New Year’s resolutions may be easier to achieve thanks to athletic polar bears, vibrating belts, smart socks and maybe even wearable bananas.

Those who blurt out spoilers without considering the consequences of their actions have become widely reviled species that are simply met with groans and sighs of disgust from those in their company. And the new Netflix spot educates viewers on the etiquette that viewers must exercise when in the company of fans of particular shows.

Alongside the recent announcement of Vodafone Xone, the telco released a short video clip explaining the story and motivations behind Vodafone Xone. What was interesting about this clip was that it wasn’t presented as a conventional PR spiel, filled with grandiose commentary on how amazing the business was. Admittedly, the clip was still promotional, but it felt and looked much more akin to a news segment that wouldn’t be out of place on any of the news shows of any of the mainstream television broadcasters. We chat to Vodafone consumer director Matt Williams about how Vodafone tapped into the journalistic credentials of Libby Middlebrook to produce the clip.

Videos shot with 360-degree capabilities are becoming more popular, giving viewers the ability to twist around and see the action unfolding in a clip from myriad angles. Both YouTube and Facebook have released launched 360-degree video capabilities, and various brands have already tapped into the immersive opportunity this offers. As is to be expected, Go Pro has been one of the early adopters, releasing an incredible clip that shows a surfer in Tahiti catching a wave and tucking into a barrel.

McDonald’s is currently showing that it knows how to be boring by running a campaign that simply live-streams footage of the new bacon and egg pies baking in the oven. But while others take their live-streaming and slow TV very seriously, McDonald’s is clearly taking a more tongue-in-cheek approach, calling the live stream Baking News and treating it like a TV news show.

As the year hurtles toward a deadline-driven close, top ten lists of things Kiwis did the most during the year will inevitably stream in. And in keeping with its tradition of breaking down the most popular videos into regions, YouTube has again provided a list of the ten clips that Kiwis were most drawn to over the last year.

A picture tells a thousand words but how will brands tell their visual stories in 2016? Getty images predicts visual trends.

In October, Republik won the Unitec account, inheriting a brand that has over the last few years outspent both the University of Auckland and AUT University in its bid to attract new students to its classrooms. And despite having a new agency, the educational institution has continued this trend of investing in marketing by hosting an elaborate experiential activation at Auckland’s Britomart just over a week ago.

Poet Ralph Waldo Emerson and countless travel bloggers might have you believe that “life is a journey, not a destination”, but a new campaign from Fullers by Motion Sickness Studio shows that sometimes the destination matters a little more than the journey—and this is especially true when it comes to the Waiheke and Tiritiri Matangi Islands.

Pepsi is too good to share. Fizzy drink pokes fun at Coke.

We bow humbly before DB Breweries, Toyota, Hunter Furniture and SBS Bank this week.

Industry happenings at Ogilvy, Spark PHD, Spark, The Edge, Yellow, The Sound.

The rise of “wellness” products and services such as cold-pressed juice bars, raw and paleo eateries, boutique yoga studios and alternative therapies has brought with it a specific vocabulary. Some of these wellness words sound like science; some, especially those coming from Deepak Chopra, have the ring of religon, and quite a few are so divorced from meaning that they’re uncategorisable. After overdosing on YouTube philosophical debates one night, Australian web developer Seb Pearce wrote some code to randomly generate New Age copy at the push of a button.

Interactive advertising revenue continues to grow, with segment surpassing $200 million in a quarter for the first time in the third quarter of 2015.

Volvo follows up its ‘Epic Split’ campaign by giving a four-year-old control of one of its latest truck. But things don’t go quite as poetically this time round.