Westpac has unleashed a delightfully awkward, tinfoil-hat-wearing protagonist in a new spot that aims to show that contactless payments are so secure that even the most paranoid person in existence would be okay with using them.
Kiwibank has been beating the drum of independence since it was founded in 2001 and it made it very explicit in its last ad when it printed out a bunch of bank records, made them into a huge banner and shouted it from the rooftops. That ad featured a range of proudly independent staff and its next effort, also via Assignment, features proud customers dancing a dance of financial independence.
In a country as diverse as New Zealand, simplicity in writing is essential when it comes to large-scale publications that aim to reach readers of different backgrounds (not all native English speakers) and varying education levels. So, are Kiwi publications obeying this rule of simplicity and is it being reflected in the articles published on mainstream media on a daily basis? To find out, StopPress ran some of the nation’s websites through a readability test. Here’s how they fared.
New Zealanders love when famous people mention their country. Eating Media Lunch devoted a section to it back in the day. And, with Breaking Bad spin-off Better Call Saul premiering in New Zealand tonight on Lightbox, we’ve got a special (manufactured) message from Bob Odenkirk, better known as seedy strip-mall lawyer Saul Goodman.
No stranger to controversy, electricity company Powershop says it’s bringing power “back to the people” with its latest campaign, which is based around famous acts of protest and standing up against the status quo.
As we wrote recently, SMI data shows the country’s top 15 media agencies are spending much more on digital than print, while TV maintained its place at the top with $412 million of the total $882 million. So how does that compare to other markets?
Just over 30 years ago, on 1 January 1985, while standing in London’s Parliament Square, Michael Harrison called his father Sir Ernest Harrison, the founder of Vodafone, using the (barely) portable Vodafone VT1—a moment that would go down as Britain’s first commercial mobile phone. Over the next three decades mobile phone technology would progress and proliferate and become a ubiquitous part of the modern landscape.
ANZ launched its GAYTM campaign last week, following on from a successful effort in Australia. And this video shows how Kiwi artist Reuben Paterson spent 300 hours bedazzling a Ponsonby cash dispenser with 120,000 rhinestones. PLUS: Is Kevin the ATM destined for a jzushing?
Ex-Saatchi & Saatchi Worldwide chief operating officer, STW director, Assignment Group co-founder, NZME board member and Lewis Road dairy don Peter Cullinane offers up some hard-earned pearls of advertising wisdom on ideas, multi-culturalism and chocolate milk.
Our weekly wrap of good things, strange things, funny things and other things from inside the intertubes.
Carnivore Club, an artisan meat club thay delivers monthly to its members, has launched a hilarious new advertising campaign under the guise of a fake insurance company called ‘F-up insurance’.
Coca-Cola has been forced to suspend its #MakeItHappy campaign after an elaborate prank from blog site Gawker had the brand relaying several lines from Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf.
Charity organisation Shine is raising awareness of domestic abuse after sporting matches with the launch ‘No Excuses,’ a hard-hitting radio campaign by creative agency Whybin/TBWA that features high profile rugby commentators Tony ‘TJ’ Johnson and Scott ‘Sumo’ Stevenson in three different radio clips.
According to TVNZ’s Lyndsey Francis, Tech in a Sec is the only piece of communication that crossed over from the Telecom rebrand into Spark. And, as evidence of its popularity, it’s into year three and has added a few new mascots. Vodafone also wants to help customers ‘Do their thing better’ so it has released a clip online promoting a digital activation that lets users pick their top three interests from the Top 30 Things Kiwis most love to do and then delivers a selection of the best smartphone apps and online articles. But it’s not of the quality you’d expect from one of the world’s biggest telcos.
Redditors are renowned for their unique sense of humour/aggressive trolling. And, following on from some interesting discussion about the legality of gardens in New Zealand recently, now the world is learning some interesting facts about New Zealand’s penchant for arachnid cuisine.
As mentioned last week, ANZ decided to embrace the rainbow by bringing GAYTMs to New Zealand. And, as of today, they’re out and proud in Auckland and Wellington.
The Alternative Commentary Collective (ACC) has since its inception in 2012 become a standard part of the Kiwi cricket experience for many fans, who tune in to enjoy a comedic twist on the usual ball-by-ball rundown of the games. Following on from the success of the iHeartRadio-hosted show, frequent contributors Leigh Hart and Jason Hoyte in March 2014 launched Sports Bhuja, a sports-related chat, comedy and music show, which initially aired on radio Hauraki on Saturday mornings—and the segment has proven so popular, that the pair have now been given a slot on Radio Hauraki’s drive time show.
Jockey is continuing its long tradition of stripping the All Blacks down to their tighty whiteys with its latest winter All Colour campaign. But this year it’s all about the bright colours.
Over the past five years, chief executive Nicky Bell, the recently departed Antonio Navas, head of planning Murray Streets and many others have helped Saatchi & Saatchi regain some of its former glory after what they all admit was a fairly rough patch. It’s won some big accounts, it’s put a few big awards on the mantelpiece and it’s lured a few big names across its newly renovated offices on The Strand. But due to a reduction in client spend—particularly from Spark—and an evolution in the kind of work the agency is being asked to do, it has had to restructure the business.
The young’uns are an attractive, but constantly moving, target for marketers. So how are they consuming media? As Colmar Brunton discovered, often illegally.
In December last year, research company Roy Morgan closed the doors to its New Zealand offices on Auckland’s Swanson Street and let three staff members go in the process. But the company’s deputy chief executive Hugh Amoyal says that this doesn’t imply the end of business on this side of the ditch.
Last year, NZI and FCB told the tale of a cursed chair wreaking havoc on various businesses in a fictional, aninated town called Port Avon. The primary focus was for the brand to get noticed and, more importantly, liked—and all in one of the dullest, least-engaging categories possible. They succeeded and ‘Devil’s Chair’ became one of New Zealand’s most popular TV commercials. But, as the ad says, bad’s not going anywhere, and the evil has spread to other inanimate workplace objects.
Hear that? It’s the sound of chocolate lovers nation-wide sharpening their pitchforks after Cadbury announced on its Facebook page that it will be downsizing its family-sized block—again.
Old gun Simply Squeezed and relatively new flatbread brand Farrah’s both lead their respective categories. And while the conventional FMCG wisdom when in this position is ‘don’t rock the boat’, both brands have called on the Dow Group to give them a makeover.
After two years at Whybin\TBWA, joint creative directors Lisa Fedyszyn and Jonathan McMahon have departed.
Love and family steal the limelight this week as Michael Hill and Our First Home impress with slick spots.
New Zealand’s main telco superpowers are butting heads after a billboard war, with both companies claiming to have the country’s largest 4G network. The skirmish has resulted in lawyers’ letters, threats of ASA complaints and general back-and-forth bickering, and a resolution still isn’t on the cards.
While everyone has been waiting with bated breath for the impending release of Neon, Sky this week released Fan Pass, a sports streaming service that will give viewers access to NRL, Formula One and Super Rugby. PLUS: the head of Fatso Cuan Gray has been given the reins to lead the new offering.
Reebok is a big player in the Cross Fit business. And its latest campaign, its biggest in a decade, attempts to show the benefits of exercise by showing that it’s not about being a better tyre flipper, people carrier or rope climber, it’s about being a better human.
Companies are always on the hunt for new and interesting ways to get our attention, even if they can hold it for just a few seconds. It’s a bit like trying to stand out amongst a large school of fish. Well, a Wellington company thinks it’s found the answer, and all you need is cardboard and a bit of magical production dust.