The Breeze has released its latest marketing campaign, which features classic ’80s band Spandau Ballet performing their classic hit ‘True’.

Creative agency Bcg2 has released its first brand campaign for rural insurer FMG, and is rolling out over multi-media channels after winning the account last September, basing it on the tagline ‘We’re here for the good of the country’.

According to Google’s statistics, more than a million advertisers are using Google platforms to advertise. And with the proliferation of video over the last few years, YouTube is increasingly becoming a vehicle that brands use to spread their messages. The problem, however, is most of these one million advertisers are small businesses, which simply don’t have the budget to invest in production companies or advertising agencies to produce content for the channel. Quite often this sees businesses with little other option but to develop amateur videos that do not belong in the public domain. One company that has identified this gap in the market and is now offering brands with cheaper video alternatives is Tandem Studios.

WWF in Russia has launched a cool new initiative created by the crew at Hungry Boys in Moscow to help save tigers by getting people to race them through a new app. If participants lose they have to donate.

E-commerce brands like Airbnb and Net-a-Porter are launching magazines. Media companies are opening cafes. And now Google has opened its first bricks and mortar retail store in the UK to compete with its High St rival, Apple.

Although most consumers aren’t rushing out to purchase CDs anymore, the record industry is still chugging along. But, as illustrated by the latest stats from Recorded Music NZ, the revenue for the industry is increasingly coming from a very different source.

Here at StopPress we like our whisk(e)y to taste like the inside of a fireplace. But there are a variety of beverage predilections and Portland man Tony Peniche has made nearly $196,000 on Kickstarter by offering to cater to them with oak sticks that claim to cheat time.

In the latest edition of the ‘Rise of the machines’ series, we chat to Vodafone’s general manager of digital and social media Geri Ellis on how the rapid progression in digital technology is impacting the teams that sit on the client side of the industry.

2degrees is attempting a fairly difficult telco trick at the moment as it tries to morph from a challenger brand with lots of low value customers into a grown-up company that’s more appealing to the high-rollers—and it could be argued its agency Special Group is on a similar trajectory as it evolves from a small indie with small clients into a serious multi-national network that’s competing with the bigg’uns. And now the pair are set to launch a very grown-up stunt to celebrate Auckland’s 175th anniversary, its new phone plans and the launch of Samsung’s new Galaxy S6 by turning the Auckland Harbour Bridge into an interactive light show.

With the Cricket World Cup set to enter the quarterfinal stage next week, we thought we’d do another rundown on what the big brands and sponsors have been up to. This time we have news from the Alternative Commentary Collective, Pepsi Cola, Tui, Hyundai and a few others to boot.

The Turing Test is often used as a benchmark for establishing the humanity of artificial intelligence and the media was frothing at the mouth last year when a chatbot called Eugene Goostman posed as a 34-year-old boy from Odessa and supposedly passed the test by convincing 33 percent of the participants they were conversing with a human. There’s no doubt machines are getting smarter (or, at least, getting better at answering questions). So can you tell the difference between human and robot writing? Find out by taking a test created by The New York Times.

Following on from last week’s release of its Infinity software suite, advertising technology company Kenshoo has now released an app update that enables advertisers to manage their marketing campaigns remotely. Added to the foundation of Anywhere app, the update enables marketers to adjust elements of a campaign in real time in response to any changes in circumstances.

An awareness campaign conducted by Cancer Research UK earlier this month illustrated how people tend to ignore things that are blatantly obvious. Developed by Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO and titled ‘The Lump’, the campaign features a bulge on a busy street that grows with each passing day.

Back in 2011, Vogel’s received plaudits for a pun-laden outdoor campaign that cheekily tapped into the hype around the Rugby World Cup, even though it wasn’t a sponsor. And it’s trying something similar during the Cricket World Cup.

Yup, you better belieb it, Justin Bieber has now parodied his own “not photoshopped” Calvin Klein ads with Jeff Ross dressed as model Lara Stone. Too soon? Apparently not.

We see them everyday. These strange, hyper-real, ultra-bright, excessively cheesy stock images. They hardly penetrate the consciousness anymore, but with a bit of tweaking and some superior photo-shopping skills, the stock photos used to promote Vince Vaughn’s new film Unfinished Business do.

Mac’s has undergone something of facelift, which has seen the brand livery across its range of beers and ciders change. And this news has also coincided with the announcement that Mac’s drinkers will have seven new options to choose from.

Modern humans already have plenty of gadgets around them. Now they have gadgets to put on them. And Apple is the latest to enter the wearables market with the launch of the Apple Watch, which will go on sale in April 24 in nine countries and in New Zealand later in the year. And, in traditional Apple style, the product has taken centre stage in the advertising.

The way we see men and women is evolving, and many brands have started noticing and reflecting this in their advertising. To highlight some of these examples during International Women’s Day, Getty Images recently compiled short list of the international ads that are leading the charge in representing women as powerful, independent and capable. Plus: Getty looks at the growing trend of androgyny in representations of men and women.

Following a competitive pitch, Shine has won the Huawei account and will now take charge of the tech company’s creative and strategy in New Zealand.