Although it doesn’t come as much of a surprise, an independent survey commissioned by Reachmedia has found that Kiwis are becoming skilled at avoiding advertising in new forms of media and are utilising technology to assist them. StopPress takes a look at what the results of the survey say.
Since normal companies tend to be dissatisfied with their levels of innovation, it might be time to take a slightly more abnormal approach, argues James Hurman.
Collectively, the top 10 Kiwi-based YouTube channels have over four million subscribers and, although that obviously also includes an international audience, this number is impressive given that New Zealand, as starting base, only has a population of around 4.5 million people. Here’s a rundown of the ten YouTube channels with the highest number of subscribers.
Spark gave New Zealand a bit of tease before it launched its new ‘Never Stop Starting’ campaign with some unbranded billboards and digital ads. And there’s some more mystery afoot, with a teaser video featuring Kiwi NBA star Steven Adams being released last night.
Our weekly wrap of good things, strange things, funny things and other things from inside the intertubes.
Aside from one small and entertaining Cupertino Effect-related glitch and some criticism of the Thanks reward scheme, most would agree the Spark rebrand went extremely smoothly given how big it was. And it’s continuing its quest for the hearts and minds of younger Aucklanders—and keeping with the trend towards creating experiences rather than just running ads—with the launch of Spark Lab, a new innovation and ideas workshop in Britomart.
According to Nielsen’s stats, approximately 934,000 Kiwis currently have a mortgage. And when this considered alongside the issue of housing prices, it’s clear that this is a major source of revenue for banks. So, in an effort to consolidate its position as the biggest mortgage provider in New Zealand, ANZ has launched a new campaign that features a slow-motion auction scene playing out to an operatic score.
Truth is meant to be stranger than fiction. And while the history of Scottish whisky brand Ballantine’s certainly has its strange bits, the fictional story of what might have been if it hadn’t stayed true to its origins and dabbled in brand extensions is much weirder.
A number of premium brands are starting to take advantage of longer-form benefits of using YouTube as an advertising channel as recently seen with Guinness’ ‘Sapeurs’ mini-documentary, Corona’s short surf films and Johnnie Walker’s ‘The Gentleman’s Wager’. As illustrated in each of these videos, brand dollars can translate into high production videos, which are entertaining despite falling into the advertising category. Having seen its branding counterparts enjoy success on YouTube through longer form content, Chanel No 5 has recently commissioned Baz Luhrmann to direct a short film, and the result steps very close to the line of utter madness.
Changes at OMD, MediaWorks, Grace, Designworks and Ambient Group.
On 15 October, StopPress attended Google’s Brandcast event in Sydney, and the general theme delivered over the course of the 90-minute show was that YouTube stars provide an effective means by which brands can communicate with various target market. Here’s what some of the speakers had to say at the event.
Earlier this week, Glassons provoked the ire of its Facebook fans, Twitter followers and an eating disorders expert for featuring a mannequin that was designed to have its ribs showing. Auckland-based psychotherapist Anna Drijver, who specialises in a range of eating disorders, told the Herald that the use of the mannequin was “absurd” and added that this approach to window promotions would have a “negative effect” on both young boys and girls. Yet, despite this controversy still simmering on social media networks, Glassons has now unveiled a new campaign that will undoubtedly also raise a few eyebrows for featuring the controversial act of bull-riding.
Mediacom won the grunty Fonterra business off OMD a few months back and now it will be taking on another big food account after Nestlé handed its Australasian media business to Groupm.
A comedy club in Barcelona is experimenting with a new way of charging patrons. On a per laugh basis.
Music often plays a big role in memories, reminding us of good times and bad. And Spotify is promoting its vast library with a nice campaign based around the slogan of ‘you have the story, we have the song’ and the hashtag #thatsongwhen. PLUS: what fellow streaming service Pandora is up to.
This coming Sunday a sports event bigger than the NBA final playoffs will be happening in Seoul, and chances are you’ve never heard of it.
Advances in technology have rapidly changed the way we pay for things. Whether it’s tap and go credit cards, in-app payments or mobile wallets, the benefits for consumers are endless. But on the other side of the coin, charities dependent on real currency and street collections fighting against a huge range of other organisations for the donated dollar are starting to suffer as cash carrying declines. So what are the options to prise open increasingly electronic wallets?
While the press and pretty much anyone with a Twitter account seemed to jump on the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus launch like it was going out of fashion (it’s not), Samsung launched the Galaxy Note 4 this week with a notable lack of column inches in the press.
Much in the same way that client demand has driven the search for more granular audience insights, the outdoor industry has also been making moves to meet the growing expectation of digital solutions. APN Outdoor was first to that large-format party with its digital billboard network in Auckland and now it’s set to switch on New Zealand’s largest high-resolution digital billboard at Auckland Airport in December. PLUS: Two new screens coming to ASB Showgrounds.
On 25 September 2013, skipper Jimmy Spithill led Oracle Team USA to victory in the final race of the America’s Cup, orchestrating one of the unlikeliest comebacks in sporting history while simultaneously breaking the hearts of every Kiwi that had stopped working to watch the race. Undoubtedly, there are more than a few sailing fans who would go to great lengths to take on Spithill and reclaim New Zealand’s honour. So, in a new mobile campaign launched on 14 October, Vodafone is giving Kiwis a chance to do just that. But to take on Spithill in a live race, Kiwis first need to show their thumb-tapping prowess by playing Vodafone’s new America’s Cup-themed sailing game hosted on the microsite Vodafonesailing.co.nz.
Got a spare six hours? Well, you’ll need it if you want to sit through Virgin’s strange—and strangely compelling—new online campaign.
… and that’s a wonderful thing, says Sugar & Partners’ Dave Nash, who’s putting on an event tonight where three speakers will argue that ‘done is better than said’.
In recent months, on-demand streaming and subscription video on-demand services have enjoyed column inches in pretty much every publication even mildly interested in the changing media landscape. The emergence of Lightbox, the decision of Slingshot to launch Global Mode to give customers access to Netflix, Sky’s plans to launch an SVOD service in the near future and the on-demand streaming deals signed by MediaWorks and TVNZ have been just some of the areas of intrigue that this space has delivered—and a Kiwi public that previously had very limited viewing options suddenly finds itself spoilt for choice. So what exactly are Kiwis choosing and which shows are attracting the biggest audiences?
With the launch of Apple Pay last month, Semble last week and various other schemes, being able to pay with your mobile phone is fast becoming a reality. But bank customers have been doing it for a few years now. And ASB says financial transactions through its mobile app have increased by two thirds in the past year, pushing internet banking firmly into second place.
A great digital user experience has an absolute correlation to a great brand experience, says Springload’s Adam Cansino.
“Orcon is shining the spotlight on bandwidth throttling used by big telcos, including Vodafone and Spark, in a new campaign that encourages Kiwis to look at the fine print before signing up to broadband plans that could unnecessarily be slowing then down,” touts the media release from Orcon that accompanies the launch of its new campaign featuring a plum-dressed dictator of ambigious origin removing the wig of what is meant to be the chief executive of a major telco (seemingly Spark, if the colour scheme of the faux promotional material is anything to go by). UPDATE: ASA confirms that complaints have been lodged.
While trying to buy the latest Ken Ring book, StopPress inadvertently put a thoroughbred on the company credit card instead. So help us give it an appropriate name and the best suggestion will win two tickets worth $95 to the Melbourne Cup festivities at Ostro on November 4.
Volvo has the honour of creating what many view as the best truck ad ever made with Epic Split. But two can play at that surreal game and Mercedes has decided to let a couple of its creations get freaky in a Dirty Dancing-inspired ad for the Vito van.
MyRepublic, a new internet service provider offering ultra-fast fibre broadband, has touched down in New Zealand in its big purple rocket, and it’s using William Shatner to communicate with us slow-internet users.
To celebrate the world’s ‘Universal Pen’, Bic has sought to discover the world’s ‘Universal Typeface’ .