27 years ago, Telecom was given its name. Today it’s officially giving itself a new one. As one of the country’s biggest ever rebrands rolls off the production line, we talk internal enthusiasm, teaser campaigns, customer sentiment, competitive responses and man-hole covers with Spark’s general manager of home, mobile and business Jason Paris and Spark Digital’s general manager services and solutions Jo Allison.

Big Pipe, Telecom Digital Ventures’ naked broadband offering, officially launched a few months back and, to draw attention to its offer, it recently asked its followers to have a bit of fun with its logo for the chance to win some loot. Here are some of the results.

Tango is moving away from being a full services agency creating brand campaigns to a marketing services company that will provide digital services to medium-sized businesses who want to grow. And managing director Boyd Wason says it’s more than just tinkering with a logo.

Whether it’s TV, taxis, travel or titillation, the world is becoming increasingly ondemand. And Flossie.com is aiming to tap into that trend with a new smartphone app aimed at the hair and beauty industry that connects willing buyers with willing sellers.

As Telecom poises to jettison its three-syllable moniker for the punchier Spark title, it’s worth looking at Vodafone’s 1998 rebrand that saw the company change its nationwide identity almost overnight, a move that is today considered by some as one of the best examples of rebranding in the nation’s history.

At the 2014 Cannes Lions there were over 3,000 entries into the activation category alone. And, anecdotally, at least, brands in this market are spending more of their budget on real-life experiences that can then be amplified with digital and social tools. Here are a few local examples.

Shakira’s new ‘La La La’ music video, which doubles as three-and-half-minute advertisement for Activia yoghurt, has officially become the most-shared spot on the internet, knocking VW’s ‘The Force’ off its perch after three years.

On 2 August, Facebook went down for what was reported to be about 19 minutes. And while no one in New Zealand seemed to pay much attention to this catastrophe of social media breakdown, the rest of the world responded with a combination of fear, confusion and downright madness.

On Monday, APN Media launched TrueCommercial, a digital hub dedicated to commercial property and ‘businesses for sale’ listings. For the most part, the initiative serves as an online extension of the Herald’s Commercial Property section, which has until now been published twice a week. The section, which according to Nielsen has a readership of approximately 138,000 Kiwis, will now also be rebranded TrueCommercial from 6 August to give the offering uniformity across the print and digital channels. But how does it differ from the services already offered by Trade Me and RealEstate.co.nz. Updated with additional comments from TrueCommercial brand manager Maria Zolezzi.

Since Antonio Navas first arrived in New Zealand in 2011, there have been murmurings about his impending departure. “I heard that Antonio is leaving” almost became as common a phrase as “integrated cross-channel marketing initiative” in conversations between those in the industry (they had to get it right eventually). And despite this speculation, Navas just shrugged it off and focused on what he came here to do in the first place: create ads that get noticed. Here are a few thoughts from Navas on his time in New Zealand.

There’s been a whole heap of discussion about the rise of native advertising recently. Some see it as the future of marketing; a way to insert relevant commercial messages into editorial content. Others see it as subterfuge; the advertising equivalent of mutton dressed as lamb. John Oliver appears to be firmly in the latter camp, so, as he says in typically comical fashion, if you can insert an ad into news, why can’t you insert news into a product?

Touchcast will work with Tourism New Zealand to zjush up TNZ’s digital brand asset management platform that helps all New Zealand’s various tourism activities appear unceasingly epic to the world. TNZ has large image and footage libraries online that currently tourism industry businesses can apply to use, as long as it is used to promote New Zealand as a holiday destination, is mostly be distributed outside of New Zealand, and is not used in paid advertising. In the last year over 65,000 downloads were made from the system.

The Sunday edition The New York Times featured a full-page ad promoting medical marijuana, following state legislators’ passing of the Compassionate Care Act, which allows doctors to prescribe marijuana to people with serious ailments. This change in law does not however mean that thick plumes of Mary-Jane are going to be obscuring the view of the digital billboards at Time Square any time soon, because the legislation only permits the prescription of non-smokeable forms of marijuana.

The Sweet Shop’s Joel Kefali has done his fair share of ads (often along with Special Problems cohort Campbell Hooper), but he’s gaining a reputation for his music videos, having got behind the camera for Lorde, Tame Impala, The Presets and The Naked and Famous. Now he’s done the same for Katy Perry.

Getty Images takes a look at how online publishers (whether brands or bloggers) can use images to help tell stories that move audiences.

Telecom and Designworks unveiled Telecom’s new spark logo in 2009, and the move to fully rebrand as Spark—and change the orientation of the business from home phones and dumb pipes to a technology company and business enabler—has been out in the open for a few months. But now it actually has to make the change, and it’s taken the first, very symbolic step by removing the name from its HQ in Auckland.

The country’s last major teaser campaign aimed to get people talking about the pros and cons of money in the lead up to the launch of BNZ’s ‘Be good with money’ brand. And we’ve noticed another one recently, with a few unbranded Adshels featuring a man standing in a field surrounded by mountains popping up around Auckland. At first, it looks like another ad for a male clothing brand. But it’s not. So in the spirit of teasing, we’ve decided to let our dear readers guess who it might be for. The first to answer correctly will receive a copy of yesterday’s Herald and a 70g packet of Wattie’s Spicy Pumpkin Squeeze and Stir soup.

Social creativity is becoming increasingly important in the world of marketing, with a number of brands trying to convince punters to either come up with ideas for ads or submit content to create them. Last year, Unilever’s Rexona brand got its pound of sweaty flesh with the treadmill of devotion. And now, as part of its Do More brand platform, it’s asking them to submit clips to support the All Blacks and help create a special film that will be written by, directed by and star everyday New Zealanders and be curated by director Taika Waititi.