Skinny Mobile’s attempt to draw attention to the supposedly profligate ways of Vodafone has backfired slightly after it was forced to modify its campaign and remove pointed references to Vodafone’s sponsorship of the Warriors.
Parents, prepare to be pestered once again. Because New World is back with its second tiny promotion.
It’s Madden Season, which apparently turns actor Kevin Hart into a complete psychopath.
The All Blacks are attractive endorsers, and they spruik everything from undies to batteries to deodorant. Hell, even the coach Steve Hansen is the (relatively surprising) face of Kitchen Things. Now Repco has enlisted the services of Cory Jane for its father’s day-related Dad of the Year campaign.
As the campaign promoting MediaWorks’ The Block NZ warms up, TVNZ has launched its campaign for the first local version of My Kitchen Rules (MKR), which will screen in the same 7.30pm primetime slot. And Genesis Energy has been announced as the show’s major sponsor.
Being the one to tell people they’ve crossed the line is an unenviable responsibility at the best of times. But, despite having forged a career out of doing just that, Hilary Souter, the chief executive of the Advertising Standards Authority, which celebrated its 40th anniversary last year, is still smiling. So how does she keep it all together at the ASA?
The quarterly magazine readership and circulation figures have been released by Nielsen and the Audit Bureau of Circulation respectively, and, in what has been a consistent trend over the last few quarters, weekly publications continue to bleed readers while special interest magazines, released less frequently, continue to hold strong.
Our weekly wrap of good things, strange things, funny things and other things from inside the intertubes.
The Magazine Publishers Association has announced the finalists for the industry’s annual awards with 19 judges making the calls. Bauer has the lion’s share with 43 of its entries making the finals, Fairfax with 21, Tangible with 15, Kowhai Media with nine, as well as a few independent publishers and columnists making the list.
Following the receivership of MediaWeb, NZ Management Magazine was bought by the NZIM and given to Adrenalin to publish alongside its existing title NZ Business. MediaWeb used to own the Deloitte Top 200 Awards, which celebrate New Zealand’s most outstanding large businesses and their people, and the event was seen as a “cash cow and jewel in the crown” of the company. But it’s thought the IP was transferred to Deloitte when MediaWeb couldn’t pay the bills, so, without anyone to run this year’s awards, it recently put that business on the block and APN New Zealand has won it. PLUS: Toni Myers’ LinkedIn profile gets a slap from a former MediaWeb employee.
As part of our series dedicated to celebrating good work and inspiring a bit more generosity, Corey Chalmers, Saatchi & Saatchi’s recently appointed co-executive creative director, big ups the marketing campaign behind What We Do in the Shadows.
Industry happenings at Colenso, the MPA, Ideas Shop, HMC Communications and Colmar Brunton
The business world is infested with buzzwords, which is why it’s important for comical raps to try and jolt people back into reality and show them just how douchey they sound when using them.
Air New Zealand is crazy about rugby. And, given the number of Aussies that come to New Zealand for the snow, it’s also quite a big fan of skiing. Now, with the help of Host Sydney and Diaries Downunder, it’s combined the two in spectacular fashion as part of its online video campaign ‘Meanwhile in… New Zealand’.
A new anti-obesity campaign released by Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta has gone nuts on the internet for its portrayal of a pair of parents driving their child to an early grave by enabling his poor eating habits. The spot, shot in reverse chronology, moves from a scene of the son in the hospital through various key events that link to the moment. As the narrative progresses, it soon becomes evident that the parents have been integrally involved in not only creating the son’s bad eating habits but also in facilitating them.
In a world where attention is a currency, the sweet spot sometimes seems to be polarity. Let’s call it the Paul Henry effect, where some watch because of love, and some watch because of hate. That formula often applies to the world of advertising. And MasterCard’s recent efforts starring an over-zealous (and quite lucky) All Blacks fan called Tim are a good example of that in action. Now he’s back in his third appearance for the brand—and he’s as violating as ever.
Plenty has been written about the passing of Robin Williams in the past few days. And Michael Goldthorpe thinks it’s of relevant interest that one of his last pieces of work was a show about advertising, an industry that, like Hollywood, is pretty good at monetising mania.
Red Bull has appointed Vizeum to its media account, making the Dentsu Aegis-owned agency responsible for the Austrian-owned company’s media strategy, and planning and buying duties across New Zealand.
In moves parallel to Nextdoor in the US, Kiwi private neighbourhood website Neighbourly is shacking up with councils. Last month it signed an agreement with Rotorua District Council to be an official communications platform to complement existing channels, and Neighbourly says it’s in discussion with a further 26 around New Zealand.
All around the world, the advertising cash is flowing online. But, in some cases, it’s been proven to be flowing to the wrong places. The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) in the US has been doing all it can to deal with sophisticated scams involving non-human traffic that are thought to be stealing billions from advertisers, and the New Zealand outpost is attempting to ensure its house is in order too with the formation of a new standards and guidelines council.
Earlier this week The Edge was revealed as the brand behind Love You Man, a campaign that will undoubtedly ruffle the feathers of those with slightly more conservative views on the act of marriage. With the confirmation of Jay-Jay, Mike and Dom’s involvement came the announcement that the campaign forms part of a competition that will award a trip to next year’s Rugby World Cup to a pair of best mates who take their friendship to the next level by exchanging vows.
While Apple is busy showing off some of the esoteric ways you can use its smartphone, downloading an app that could make fart sounds is, for many, still one of the most attractive features of this technology. And Beat Bowel Cancer Aotearoa (BBCA) and Whybin\TBWA have decided to embrace the entertainment value of anal whisperings with bumsarefullofsurprises.org.nz, a website that lets the public add fart sounds to any YouTube video.
Vodafone has collaborated with Image Centre-owned* digital media agency Ngage and APN Outdoor to launch a series of interactive LED billboards that members of the public will be able to engage with via their mobile phones. The content displayed on each of the three billboards, currently on display in Ponsonby, Eden Terrace and Parnell, is delivered in real time via Vodafone’s machine-to-machine technology, which negates the need for additional cabling and infrastructure.
Mobile development company Sush Mobile kicked off in 2008 and quickly gained a solid reputation for its various apps and solutions. And just six years later it has been bought by Asia Pacific financial tech company Finzsoft for $1.9 million.
There’s been plenty of discussion about the rise of subscription video ondemand services recently, with Spark’s Lightbox getting set to launch, Sky announcing it is planning a new Netflix-type service and Slingshot offering a controversial workaround allowing Kiwis to access overseas providers. But sitting relatively quietly in the background is Freeview, which is now being used in 67 percent of New Zealand homes and is hoping to launch an ondemand service later in the year that will cater to the increasing number of New Zealanders with connected TVs. General manager Sam Irvine says it will offer “the seamless integration of linear broadcast TV and TV over the internet”, so what does it mean for the gogglebox scene?
For this year’s edition of National Rail Safety Week, KiwiRail and TrackSafe NZ have followed in the New Zealand Transport Association’s footsteps by launching a game to get their message across to the masses.
Mensa-wannabes rejoice – you can massage your neuroplasticity with a Mensa-supported Brain Training Zone by Russian cybersecurity company Kaspersky Labs. It’s a site with hundreds of brain training games, puzzles and IQ tests “to get your cognitive thinking up to scratch”.
Colenso BBDO has partnered with Mountain Dew to develop a novel range of skateboard decks that reveal a hidden message as the skater grinds away the bottom. And what makes this project even more interesting is that Colenso owns a share of the IP that comes with the innovation, meaning that the agency could stand to profit if the concept attracts interest from players in the skating industry (production company Finch officially owns the IP and Colenso shares in it).
Over the last few weeks the nation’s political parties have been furiously hammering stakes into the ground in an effort to erect their campaign posters. And while most political ads feature smiling politicians with perfectly combed hair, the Conservative Party’s Colin Craig has instead opted for a monochrome death stare for his campaign.
The Best Awards finalists have been announced, with a bevy of great design from New Zealand and Australasia. The annual awards are organised by Designers Institute of New Zealand and names the very best in graphic, spatial, product and interactive design, awarding a coveted purple pin to the winner of each category. This year there was a strong involvement in getting Australian designers to enter, wanting to put a spotlight on Australasian design, and CEO of Designers Insitute of New Zealand Cathy Veninga says standards have remained high.