New Zealand’s primary ambulance service, charity organisation St John has teamed up with Colenso BBDO and Thick as Thieves film company for its latest ‘Here for Life’ campaign, which celebrates the treasured moments a mother and daughter share, that they would not have otherwise, if St John wasn’t there to help.
Wendy’s has tapped into technology developed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) for the promotion of the return of the Big Kahuna burger. In a new spot developed by Image Centre-owned ad agency &Some, several Warriors players are shown playing music by tapping the ingredients, which usually go into the product. This bizarre occurence is only possible because of the MaKey MaKey technology, which allows users to turn everyday objects into touchpads for playing music.
Whether it’s the objectification of women (and, to a lesser degree, men) or the representation of male dunces incapable of doing the simplest of tasks, much has been written about the role of gender stereotypes in advertising. And now NZ Pork’s latest campaign, which aims to get men back into the kitchen, cook some pig and give their ‘missuses’ a break, has earned the ire of some for taking things back to the ’50s.
We already had Life Direct’s sloth and Speight’s ginger bear, and now the AA has introduced a pair of yellow sheep—via a life insurance spot by Rainger & Rolfe—to the growing catalgoue of animals in Kiwi advertising.
In a new section that explores the media consumption habits of reasonably well-known New Zealand humans, Guy Williams, regular 7 Days panelist, co-host of The Edge Drive Show and serial offender on Jono and Ben at Ten, explains his fondness for podcasts, social media, sport and big natural boobs.
Telco network 2degrees has again teamed up with Special Group for its latest ad campaign pushing its ‘Pay Monthly’ plans, one of the first ads that doesn’t feature quirky New Zealand comedian Rhys Darby.
With Sky’s Neon video-on-demand product having launched, Stoppress talks to the designers about developing a streaming service people actually wanted to use
Earlier this month, Colenso BBDO and Michael Hill waved the Kiwi flag at the Super Bowl via a pair of striking spots that featured the faces…
Last year the big free-to-air ratings battle was between The Block NZ and MKR NZ. This year it’s X-Factor NZ and Our First Home. And, early on in the piece, it’s a tight tussle, with the first episode of the second season of MediaWorks’ talent show charting slightly bigger ratings than TVNZ’s new reno-reality show. PLUS: TVNZ’s Our First Home game extends the show to the second screen.
Land Rover, 2degrees, Westpac, Wendy’s and Eclipse tickle our advertising fancies this week.
There was a fair bit of love for Westpac and DDB’s tale of a comically paranoid man on StopPress last week. And it’s followed that up with another fairly mad ad introducing Captain Destructo, a mad scientist/Kiwi dad/aspiring supervillain called Steve with grand plans—and, of course, the need for some financial assistance.
Some of today’s best audio-visual content is coming from slightly surprising quarters. Netflix, Amazon, YouTube, Vimeo and even brands like Chipotle are stumping up cash and proving that they can make great original shows, not just distribute them. And judging by a slightly misleading phrase on the promotional material for Breaking Bad spinoff Better Call Saul, it seems like Lightbox wants to be in that club too.
Since we’ve already done a bit of a run down on what Kiwi brands been up to this Valentine’s Day, we thought we’d better see what kind of stunts went on further afield during the romantically charged weekend.
Industry happenings at NZME, Bauer, The Business Herald, MediaWorks, Singapore Airlines, Rydges Hotels and CRV Ambreed.
For some, ink on paper is anachronistic and wasteful. For others, there’s still some romance to tangibility. And, unlike vinyl or CDs, books are still a pretty efficient delivery system for words and pictures as there are no batteries to charge, you can read it relatively safely in the bath and it’s resistant to sand. The media is predisposed to covering the old vs. the new. The old generally tends to lose, so ears pricked up after word of increased physical book sales and declining e-reader sales in major markets in December. So how are physical book sales tracking in New Zealand? And is it a blip or a curve?
Michael Goldthorpe was inspired by Steve Bayliss last week when he said if it ain’t good, it won’t work, if it isn’t achieving a sales metric, it doesn’t belong in marketing, and if people don’t talk about it, it’s dead. And if you want to know how to do it, there’s an acronym for that.
This past weekend again marked that time when advertisers tell us we’d better remind our loved ones of just how much we love them (because we don’t do it any other time of the year) by purchasing expensive jewellery, flowers or heart-shaped chocolates. We thought we’d take a look at what a few different brands got up to, to try and grab our attention on this year’s Valentine’s Day.
Flossie founder Jenene Crossan never shies away from a public debate, so it comes a bit of a surprise to hear that she is leaving Twitter. Here’s why she’s had enough of communicating in 140 characters or fewer.
Car brands love stunts, as evidenced by this cracker from Ford in the US. And car brands also love restoring old models/pimping out new ones, as evidenced by Holden’s 60th campaign and the bespoke Toyota Hiluxes created for Willie Apiata and Matt Watson. But Land Rover New Zealand and Y&R NZ have combined the two in a clever campaign that has brought joy to the hearts of many—and presumably some jealously to the hearts of those who wish it had happened to them. And there’s a special connection, as one of the recipients, Will Radford, is my tin-arse brother in law.
In December, the radio industry came to an accord that the radio survey scheduled for the first half of the year would not occur. However, it now seems that after several weeks of contemplation, NZME has taken matters into its own hands and earlier today announced it will fully fund an independent survey of radio audiences in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch. And this move has caught MediaWorks off-guard.
Scarcity is a powerful motivator, as anyone looking for a fancy chocolate milk in the past few months could probably attest, and the New Zealand Breast Cancer Foundation, with the help of Previously Unavailable and DDMMYY, is trying to tap into that by selling 1000 different t-shirts that are numbered one to 1,000 and cost the dollar value of their individual numbers.
Our weekly wrap of good things, strange things, funny things and other things from inside the intertubes.
Cricket mania, or, at least, slightly increased cricket enthusiasm, has hit New Zealand once again in the form of the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup, which kicks off tomorrow when the Blackcaps play Sri Lanka. And, like many large sporting events, plenty of big big brands are hoping to profit from all the attention. Here’s what KFC, Matua, Hyundai, the MPI and others are up to.
Some believe the Blackcaps are in the best form ever and have the best chance of winning the World Cup. And, given it’s taking place here, there are no shortage of supporters. Even the the World Wrestling Federation, which, as some have pointed out, are renowned match fixers, is backing us.
The Super Rugby season is about to start. And we all know what that means: ads directed at farmers. So, to show the toughness of Seed Force perennials, Tracta enlisted the services of renowned hard man Buck Shelford and got him to tell the now-famous and eye-wateringly painful tale of a dangling bollock.
Mat Yurow, the associate director, audience development, at The New York Times, wrote a great piece on Medium recently about the publishing industry’s “iTunes moment”. And it could be argued that TV is having an iTunes moment of its own as viewers are increasingly able to consume the shows (or, increasingly, the sports) they’re interested in on their own terms, online, and without the need for a channel brand or an all-you-can-eat subscription. TVNZ is embracing that change with its soon-to-be-updated Ondemand platform. And we had a preview to see what’s instore.
Following on from Auckland Council’s appointment of DDB as its lead agency, Goodfolk has been appointed the digital communications agency and Alt Group will be responsible for arts and culture communications. This announcement brings the long-running process to an end, and gives the agencies until the next mandatory RFP process to work with the Council. PLUS: Goodfolk wins Fletcher Building account.
The earnestness, thousand yard stares and various cliches seen in fashion ads are a fairly easy target, as seen in anything from Zoolander to Mercedes-Benz’ tongue in cheek Fistful of Wolves. But, given the importance placed on aesthetics in this industry, they generally look good and that’s certainly the case with a film shot by Vince McMillan, a director’s assistant at Exit Films, for AUT University’s fashion department.
Over the last few years, Getty Images has been tracking the type of imagery that companies prefer to use when it comes to representing their brands. And what the company has found, is that brands are shifting from the stereotypical stock types and opting for more varied and diverse alternatives. And these trends are also being reflected in terms of the imagery that brands are using to depict love in 2015. Rebecca Swift, the director of creative planning at iStock, shares her views on how Kiwi and Aussie representations of love are shifting.
