As part of our series dedicated to celebrating good work and inspiring a bit more generosity, Nick Worthington, Colenso BBDO’s creative chairman, gives some props to two great campaigns and one burgeoning brand.
Our weekly wrap of good things, strange things, funny things and other things from inside the intertubes.
He’s certainly no Christopher Walken, but Jude Law has shown he’s got a few sweet moves in an impressive branded film for Johnnie Walker Blue Label. PLUS: David Duchovny sides with the Russians.
It’s tough for brands and agencies to compete with the plethora of amazing GoPro surfing footage, but Samsung and 72 and Sunny Amsterdam have done a bloody good job with this two-minute film to promote its partnership with The Association of Surfing Professionals World Tour.
In an open letter sent to Reserve Bank governor Graeme Wheeler, YWCA Auckland is calling for Kiwi suffragette Kate Sheppard’s image to be removed from the ten-dollar note and replaced with that of a man. This request, which comes as part of a new campaign developed by DDB, aims to draw attention to the fact that a woman remembered for fighting for equality would not be pleased to have her face on the note at a time when for every ten dollars men earn, women only earn nine. PLUS: we take a look at whether the 10 percent reference is accurate.
During the global financial crisis, the amount spent on research in New Zealand declined significantly, and the industry has struggled to gain back that ground after the recovery. But The Research Agency has grown at around 120 percent per year since it launched in 2007 and it has big ambitions to maintain that. Managing director Andrew Lewis discusses the reasons behind the company’s recent rebrand to TRA, the importance of embracing different disciplines, and why consumers need to be brought into the heart of the business.
Digital out-of-home is a big growth area for the outdoor sector, with significantly reduced hardware costs and growing awareness of the benefits it has to offer putting some major wind in its sails in recent years. It’s coming off a low base and it’s still in its infancy in New Zealand, but the investment is starting to flow from owners and advertisers. Here’s what some of the main players—APN Outdoor, oOh! Media and Adshel—had to say about the state of DOOH in New Zealand and what they have planned for the future. PLUS: OMANZ announces a new billboard audience measurement system.
Industry happenings at TRN, Radio New Zealand, Lightbox, Bauer Media, Reactive, Designworks, iProspect, MediaWorks, DDB Group Sydney, TEDx and Spikes Asia.
Ford and JWT are currently aiming to draw attention to the Focus range with the help of five ‘precision drivers’ and a campaign tagline of ‘Move your senses’. It’s been running its ad in the immersive environment of the cinema, as well as on TV, and it has also launched a version of the ad that was recorded in holophonic or 3D sound, so punters can hear the cars moving around them.
The correlation between digital marketing excellence and revenue is on the rise, says Adobe’s Tamara Gaffney. And New Zealand and Australia are doing well when it comes to engagement and conversion rates.
Banking is becoming increasingly mobile, with all the major banks offering apps and a whole range of different ways to pay, from Bump to Facebook to NFC-enabled stickers. And now The Co-Operative bank has joined the fray, albeit slightly belatedly, with what it’s calling “a ground-breaking new mobile banking app”.
The classic Mac vs PC campaign was a master-class in comparative advertising and helped cement the impression of Apple as a brand suited to those striving to be cool and Microsoft as a brand suited to those who wore cardigans. But Microsoft is fighting back with a bit of comparative advertising of its own and showing that its Cortana system is smarter than Siri.
Last week, Vodafone released its Fantastic Fridays TVC, a creative effort that stoked the dying embers of hate that viewers still held for Rebecca Black’s 2011 viral song while simultaneously introducing the telco’s new reward programme. And while the spot was greeted with revile from some quarters, there were few complaints from the Vodafone customers who stand to receive rewards as part of the programme. Here’s a breakdown of how Fantastic Fridays has been incorporated into Vodafone’s existing MyVodafone app.
Interacting with a government department is not something most normal humans look forward to. But a new website www.govt.nz hopes to make those interactions slightly less wrist-slitty.
TRN has launched Kiwi Kids, a new iHeartRadio radio station that continuously plays songs and rhymes written for Kiwi Kids and performed by the nation’s top children’s musicians. And while, to some parents, this might sound like a scene borrowed from Dante’s Inferno, iHeartRadio’s artwork accompanying the launch carries the promise that the new station “won’t drive mum and dad crazy”.
Consumers—especially the younger ones—are increasingly checking out whether companies have been naughty or nice. And research shows an average of 55 percent of global online consumers are willing to pay more for products and services from companies that are committed to positive social and environmental impact. So, as Kath Dewar writes, it pays to keep it clean.
When it comes to the idea of self-driving cars, there are plenty of concerns over safety, primarily because the first stage of robot acceptance among humans is that “a robot/computer cannot possibly do the tasks I do”. But Dutch car insurance company Centraal Beheer is predicting other dangers from the rise of automation.
Amazon has launched a new 3D printing store that offers a catalogue of around 200 different designs, which range from a crane skeleton to a skull with a tree growing out of it. While most products can only be customised in terms of size and colour, the 27 products carrying the phrase ‘create your own’ offer greater flexibility. When it comes to these products, customers can log into Amazon’s personalisation hub and then alter the design in accordance to their preferences.
FCB’s ad for Air New Zealand’s new seating options blew “most of our norms out of the water”, says Harriet Dixon, account director at Colmar Brunton. The ad has stolen the Ad Impact Award for June.
Scandinavia is so hot right now. So hot, in fact, that when Lion decided to launch its new range of low-sugar sodas, the company chose an old Skaldic word thought to mean ‘connected’ as the name of the product. Dubbed Hӧpt and sold in bottles that that seem more suited to beer or cider, Lion’s new range of non-alcoholic drinks is currently being advertised via billboards as a soda alternative that “contains less than half the sugar of leading regular soft drinks”.
Frucor is continuing the shenanigans of the Give it a V campaign, choosing the crowd-sourced suggestion of “Give Darts a V” 24 hours ago which led to the idea of skydiving with giant darts today.
Colenso BBDO has long worked on Fonterra’s major brands like Anchor, Tip Top, Fresh ‘n Fruity and Mainland and it’s gradually been adding new chunks of the business to its roster, with the most recent being the addition of some smaller brands after Shine shacked up with Goodman Fielder. Now it’s added some more after the agency was appointed as the social media partner for all of Fonterra’s brands after a competitive pitch.
In this week’s edition, kudos goes to MediaWorks, VW, Honda and Instant Kiwi.
Honda has a reputation for making great ads, with the likes of Cog and, more recently, Hands, ranked among the best automotive spots ever made. Honda New Zealand’s new ad to promote the Jazz probably wouldn’t be placed in that category, but at least it’s injected a bit of local colour into the brand with its ‘It’s Jazz As’ campaign. PLUS: A newish agency, staff changes and a big sponsorship.
On Sunday night, MediaWorks unveiled the four couples that will gain palm calluses, lose sleep and drink copious cups of Wild Bean Coffee during the third season of The Block NZ. And given the solid ratings the show attracted in previous seasons, MediaWorks has given the latest edition a strong promotional push across its entire offering. Here’s a breakdown of how the broadcaster aims to hold onto its stong fan base. PLUS: find out which brands are partnering with MediaWorks for this season.
There was a fair bit of concern after the last election, with the 74.2 percent turn out the lowest since 1887 (the highest was 93.5 percent in 1946 and 1949). So the Electoral Commission is aiming to improve that with a campaign via Saatchi & Saatchi—and it’s even roped in Lorde to try and convince the young’uns to tick the box on September 20.
The Late Night Big Breakfast, a pisstake of morning chat shows that started off on Moon TV, is set in a furniture shop and stars Leigh Hart, Jeremy Wells and Jason Hoyte, is two episodes in and it’s a study in ridiculous, awkward and often-physical humour. Some, like the Herald’s Greg Dixon, haven’t seen the funny side of the interrupting hosts, the confused guests, or the surreal segments. But others seem to like it. And while parodies of advertorials are low-hanging fruit from a comedy perspective, this industry can no doubt see the funny side of Hoyte’s beskivvied perfomances in Health Corner.
A couple of years ago, Volkswagen was a brand struggling to combat the perception among mainstream New Zealanders that it was too stuffy, too expensive and too European. So it did some research, hired new staff, launched some new products, created more localised comms with DDB and did some serious discounting as part of its ‘a car for every Kiwi’ approach. These efforts led to big increases in sales and the top gong at the 2012 TVNZ-NZ Marketing Awards. But since then, it’s been fairly quiet. Now, with its new agency Colenso BBDO in tow, it’s celebrating its 60th anniversary in this market with a crowd-sourced ad called The People’s Film. PLUS: a few other classy crowd-sourced campaigns from around the world.
When it comes to media and advertising consumption, the denizens of ad land aren’t normal. While the rest of the world does everything it can to avoid pre-rolls and 60-second TV spots—however creative they might be—those employed by the advertising and marketing machine tend to be far more enamoured with promotional messaging. So, in an effort to remind ad people that their undying love for all forms of advertising might not be shared by everyone, Adshel has launched a campaign that encourages ad people to take a quiz to determine how in love they are with advertising.
Last night Campbell Live broadcast a show dedicated to the generosity of New Zealanders, GJ Gardner and various suppliers who pitched in to help a couple who had bought a house that was infested with termites. And it was a great example of the power of positivity—and the marketing value of good, genuine corporate citizenship.