In a new series, StopPress talks to a range of newsmakers currently trying to shine lights into dark places while also keeping their own lights on and looks at whether commercial realities are leading to editorial compromise. Next up, Damien Venuto talks with NZME’s Dallas Gurney about his new role and how he sees branded content existing alongside journalism.
Air New Zealand has released a new brand campaign, called ‘Where to next?’ with quite a different, more emotive approach from its safety videos, online content and recent TVCs. The airline says this campaign will be around for “several years” and this is merely phase one.
In continuation of its ‘Imagine’ campaign online, Lotto Powerball enlisted the help of a hypnotist to trick a few Kiwi celebs into thinking they’d won the big one, then asked them what they would do with the money.
Studies have shown that as many 90 percent of all arsonists are male. And a few candle-making companies are trying to take advantage of this proclivity in men to set things alight.
Steinlager’s ‘We believe’ campaign in 2011 is rightfully held up as a brilliant example of sponsorship activation (and, given the All Black sponsor cleverly found a way to reference a tournament it wasn’t officially allowed to mention, impressive loophole management). Because it captured the nation’s imagination, became a “talisman of belief” and helped reverse Steinlager’s declining share of the premium beer market, it was always going to be a hard act to follow, but as the All Blacks get set to defend the RWC trophy in England soon, the long-time sponsor has brought the white can back again and made a connection between this European tour and another one that took place 110 years ago.
The Clemenger Group has announced that Colenso BBDO chief executive Nick Garrett will move across to Clemenger BBDO Melbourne to take up the chief executive role that was left vacant following the departure of Peter Biggs, who retired in September last year.
Graphite, Carnival, Reactor, Gnarly and Kaboom are just some of the flavours that V has introduced to varying degrees of success over the last few years, and the company is continuing this trend by releasing two fresh variations. But this time, instead of giving the drinks names that would be better suited to comic book villains, the energy drinks company has commissioned Jono and Ben to appear on the respective cans.
Private mental health, drug and alcohol centre Capri Hospital has released four new ads in conjunction with its brand refresh, with the help of Lachlan McPherson & Friends.
Worried about putting your greasy mitts all over your phone to take a photo while you’re munching on some dirty bird? Then this invention is not for you.
Like many entrepreneurs, Kirsten Taylor served as the guinea pig during the testing phase for her product. And after being impressed by the results, she decided to make it available to consumers.
“Is your skin colour holding you back? Are you tired of systemic prejudice ruining your day?”
Industry happenings at Mediaworks, Y&R, NZME and Blockhead.
Our weekly wrap of good things, strange things, funny things and other things from inside the intertubes.
Burger joints appear to be popping up left right and centre, emerging as a better quality alternative to traditional fast-food chains. And Britomart-based Better Burger is trying to create a point of difference with its eye-catching branding.
The human urge to collect is a powerful one (and makes for excellent television). And our local supermarkets have been tapping into this urge in recent years, whether through tiny groceries or animal cards. In pretty much every case, the nation seems to have gone completely mad for them, with swap meets being organised, black markets being established and kids regularly tugging on parents’ pants demanding the full set and the associated plastic tat. Now Countdown has struck up a deal with Disney Pixar for its latest collectables campaign, Domino Stars.
Bauer’s Fashion Quarterly released its latest offering Fashion Quarterly Life this month which includes content about stylish interiors, health and well-being, wine trends, inspiring people and more. We had a chat with Fashion Quarterly’s editor Sally-Ann Mullin to find out why it decided to release the issue in an already crowded home and lifestyle market and to see what feedback has been like so far.
The latest statistics show that New Zealand has more ethnicities than there are countries in the world. So, how do we ensure our marketing can talk to all these different groups in a genuine and authentic way? We need to go beyond looking for differences and instead look for harmonies, says Dean Taylor.
As the world becomes increasingly digital and intuition steadily gets banished to the naughty corner, data has become a new currency—and a language that needs to be learned by marketers. And Krunch, a “data-centric agency” being run by ex-auto marketer Darren Kirkland is hoping it can teach clients how to speak it.
While some big brands have been successfully using the likes of Snapchat and Instagram to market themselves, it would appear that Pinterest has been a little slower to take off here in New Zealand compared to abroad. However, with Pinterest announcing its Buyable Pins which began rolling out last month, we imagine many more brands will jump onboard once they’re available here. Here’s a look at the platform and a rundown of which New Zealand brands are using it.
Providing Kiwi families with everything from baby food to its classic tomato sauce, Wattie’s has a place in the heart of many New Zealand families. However, with its latest Google ad, it appears that Wattie’s has slightly changed its marketing strategy and is prepared to launch a new R-rated product.
With Google continuing its delve into Skynet territory, the internet conglomerate has brought us a new feature to “reminisce” over.
Agencies have many ways of wooing clients. They wine and dine them. They try to win awards. They send out press releases to trade media. They try to destabilise the incumbents. They invest in fancy offices to create the perception of success should they visit. And they also show off their work, their strategy and their talent to online visitors. The agency website is basically a digital shopfront and it’s often seen as an indication of the type of work it might be able to do for clients. Many agencies are guilty of creating boring and/or unfunctional sites and regularly slipping into cliche. But there are some good ones out there. So here are a few of our local favourites.
After launching halfway through last year Neighbourly is growing quickly, with 142,000 households now signed up and a number of big brands getting onboard too. Having just launched its business platform, we thought it was about time we caught up with Neighbourly to see what it’s up to and how these brand partnerships are coming along.
ANZ has released a (very) short movie commissioned from award-winning filmmaker Jane Campion to coincide with the launch of the bank’s Wise Women website and #equalfuture social media campaign, which aims to highlight the dismal stats around the male/female pay gap and the average woman’s woeful lack of preparedness for retirement.
“Integrated marketing—stitching complementary platforms together—is the real ‘silver bullet’ for marketers,” says Tom Reidy, Catalyst90 CEO.
New Zealanders are well-accustomed to getting whacked over the head with rugby ads and sponsorship activations. And that only increases in the lead up to—and during—the Rugby World Cup. Many of the tournament sponsors like Land Rover, Heineken, Mastercard and Coca-Cola have played their first promotional hands. And, among the All Blacks sponsors, Adidas has embraced the players’ inner animals for Force of Black, Air New Zealand has upped its sponsorship and its efforts around the #crazyaboutrugby platform, Steinlager has teased the return of the white can and NZ Rugby even decided to do its own campaign. Now Ford and JWT have joined in with an online video campaign called The Driven that talks to three All Blacks about their driving habits and their favourite models.
The second episode of Kiwibank’s KB Series featuring Jamie Curry is out. In this episode, Curry has moved into her new flat in Auckland and is attempting to navigate herself through the beginnings of adult life, which she does with much uncertainty and awkwardness.
Despite all the hype, reality food show Masterchef NZ’s first episode of the season has failed to deliver in the ratings department, no doubt another blow to Mediaworks as it struggles to compete with TVNZ which is still dominating with the most-watched shows on television.
Book snobs, cover your ears. Booktrack, the platform that provides intelligent synced audio content to e-books has just secured another NZ$7.5M in funding. And the education market is where much of the potential looks to be.
Tower Insurance, 2degrees, LG and Burger King deserve a pat on the back this week.