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.
Super Bowl 49 delivered the goods on the field yesterday, with a last gasp victory for the New England Patriots, a brawl at the end and some impressive dancing sharks for Katy Perry’s halftime show. Once again, it proved to be a ratings goldmine for NBC, ranking as the “highest overnight rating in Super Bowl history and a four percent increase on last year”. That’s why advertisers pay around US$4.5 million for a nationwide spot—and why so many people seem to be interested in the ads. Herewith, a collection of the goods, bads and uglies.
Last year, Countdown jumped onto the collectibles bandwagon by distributing DreamWorks Heroes 3D cards to customers who spent $20 or more in stores. And despite this previous campaign being criticised for relying on pester power and for not being environmentally friendly, Countdown is going for another collectibles ride—and this time it’s all about the inhabitants of the wild.
Following this week’s announcement that NZME had established events and experiential divisions and since Fairfax made a similar move last July, StopPress contacted Mark Pickering, the chair of the Experiential Marketing Association of New Zealand (EMANZ), to share his thoughts on how these moves might impact the Kiwi experiential market.
Skycity has launched its first new campaign since selecting Colenso BBDO as its creative agency in August last year. Dubbed ‘It All Starts Here’ and brought to life by the production team at Finch, the new campaign lets staff members tell their stories from behind the walls of the casinos, hotels and restaurants that make up the company.
Following on from a similar move by Fairfax in July last year, NZME has now announced the launch of NZME Events and NZME Experiential in a bid to further consolidate its business in these two areas.
You might not think there are too many similarities between treating syphilis and differentiating brands, but you’d be wrong, says Andrew Lewis, because it illustrates the importance of combining theory with practice.
Last week, a listener’s decision to thumb up Steely Dan’s Josie while logged into Pandora took the platform to the milestone of 50 billion thumbs up across the United States, Australia and New Zealand. PLUS: Pandora reveals most-liked songs in New Zealand.
To make it a little easier for brands to navigate the treacherous social media terrain and tell their stories more effectively, Jonathan Hendriksen* launched Shuttlerock, a platform that lets businesses aggregate socially sourced content, photos and videos on their websites. And Lady Gaga’s even using it.
OnScreen Advertising has announced the commission of two new outdoor LED screens at the main entrance to ASB Showgrounds. Installed in January, the large LED screens face in opposite directions providing long range views in both directions down Greenlane West.
Nielsen has released its list of the ten brands that spent the most on advertising in 2014, according to rate card data. And, as has been the case over the last few years, Progressive Enterprises and Foodstuffs once again slogged at out for the top two spots. Here’s a rundown of which other brands spent big over the course of last year.
Our weekly wrap of good things, strange things, funny things and other things from inside the intertubes.
Newcastle Brown Ale has already attempted to hijack Dorito’s Crash the Super Bowl campaign, the crowd-sourced ad competition. And global advocacy group Sum of Us has followed suit by releasing a parody ad showing that a penchant for corn chips is impacting the rainforests of Asia.
McDonald’s Balmoral franchise along Auckland’s Dominion Road is currently piloting a new initiative that brings a slightly more gourmet twist to its menu in an attempt to tap into the lucrative market currently occupied by the likes of Burger Fuel and Burger Wisconsin. The introduction of ‘Create your taste’ allows customers to customise their burgers via an digital touchscreen kiosk that offers a list of 20 ingredients.
As the popularity of the these guys on YouTube attests, humans are partial to slow motion. And, with the help of Camistry, Burger Fuel decided to slow things down for its Christmas party.
When traditional advertising isn’t quite enough to get the attention brands so desperately crave, they sometimes take extreme measures and attempt to get themselves a Guinness World Record. So, as GSK’s oral health brand Sensodyne gets set to embark on the worthy mission to create the world’s largest model tooth, here are a few other strange record attempts from brands.
Industry happenings at Prime News, Colenso BBDO, Satellite Media, Finch and Font.
From relatively small-scale beginnings in Whangarei in 1979, Michael Hill has over the last 36 years grown into an international enterprise that today has 280 stores globally employing about 2400 staff in a variety of roles. And as a culmination of this ongoing growth, the company is set to feature alongside the world’s major brands in what is arguably advertising’s biggest showcase, the Super Bowl.
In many developed markets, digital ad spend has overtaken print. But, despite consistent drops over the past few years, the local publishing sector has held firm in second place behind television, according to ASA figures. The IAB has predicted the change will happen in New Zealand next year, but, according to year-on-year SMI data, which collects ad spend from the 15 top media agencies in the country, that’s already happened.
Nielsen has released its annual list of the top ten websites Kiwis visited over the course of December. And while the list was populated by the usual suspects, there were a few surprises in terms of the year-on-year changes for some of the websites.
