Kiwi ‘post-punk revival’ band The Naked and Famous have recently been holed up in Los Angeles studio trying their best to overcome That Difficult Second Album Syndrome for In Rolling Waves (by the way, That Difficult Second Album would be a great name for a debut album). And the band has once again called on Special Problems to direct the music video for its new single ‘Hearts Like Ours’.

Academic advertising isn’t typically renowned for its creativity and often tends to focus on the facilities or the wonderous achievements of its students. The University of Otago certainly does a bit of that, but it’s also continuing to push the uniqueness of the southern student experience and, after a big research project to see if it was still on the right track with its ‘Take your place in the World’ campaign, Zephyr has given it a refresh.

A new, two-day expo focused around “digital entertainment” – that’s “video games” for the layperson – will be held by Auckland’s Vector Arena over the weekend of 28-29 September.

The great Kiwi campervan adventure is a right of passage as old as time itself. New Zealand-based camper rental Jucy is giving New Zealanders (and our Australian and American cousins) the chance to haggle down the price by tweeting.

As this news report shows, being able to read an entire newspaper—aside from ‘the pictures, ads or comics’—on a computer was a giant technological leap back in 1981. While this development has certainly been good for the readers, it hasn’t been too beneficial for newspapers. And you can see where it started to go wrong. As David Cole from the San Francisco Examiner says in the clip: “This is an experiment … We’re not in it to make money.” Some might say the same strategy holds true 34 years later.

Long gone are the days when writing a ‘to do’ list involved a piece of paper, a pen, and not much else. Toodledo is just one of many iOS apps that allows you to not just create a task, but to detail every intricacy of it.

The ’80s were a time of big hair, bright clothes and bold claims. And they don’t get much bolder than the ones uttered in a rich velvety voice in this glorious piece of automotive advertising for the very advanced 1984 Chevrolet Corvette. Look at those wonderous LCD displays, listen to those epic synths and sound effects and take a trip into the future.

Mainstream rock radio station Radio Hauraki has released a new app for iOS and Android, called Hauraki, with an optimised player for streaming the station live.

Men, show your dedication for your significant others by using DB Breweries Facebook app to let them know – with a video.

There’s been a whole heap of industry chatter about the proposed merger of Publicis and Omnicom, a merger that would create the biggest holding company in all the world (but would still pale in comparison to Google). And, in true modern style, there’s already a parody Twitter account (‘This is a parody. But then again, isn’t the ad industry’) that’s skewering the combined entity.

Advertising largely exists to draw attention to products and services. But communications can also help foster social change, and DraftFCB, an agency with an undoubted strength in this area, is aiming to do just that by offering 1000 hours of comms expertise to an organisation that’s focused on reducing child abuse in New Zealand.

Since launching on 17 June, the Love Your City campaign has resulted in over 4,000 user-generated photos of Auckland on Instagram – and counting.

Elliot O’Donnell (aka Askew One) is a Kiwi street artist who’s transitioning between “just tags on a wall” to legitimate art. And with paintings of Ralph Hotere in Kingsland, work on Queens Wharf and his impressive creations in the Wynyard Quarter, he’s trying hard to turn his passion into a viable business.

Remember when the prudes got all wound up after Carefree busted a few feminine hygiene taboos and used the word vagina in its ad? If you were among the complainers, then you definitely don’t want to watch this video for Hello Flo, a tampon subscription service that features a 12-year-old girl who fully embraces the arrival of her ‘red badge of courage’.

New Zealanders love nothing more than hearing their country get a mention, especially if comes from the mouth of a foreign celebrity. Facebook pages, articles both real and satirical, and TV segments have been devoted this strange and thrilling phenomenon. And we can add another one to the list, because the The Herald has made it into The Onion’s brilliant story about the birth of the royal baby.

The global ad industry has moved closer to a duopoly with the proposed merger of Publicis Group and Omnicom set to create the world’s biggest ad network, beating out WPP. But, according to DDB Group’s executive chairman for Australia/NZ Marty O’Halloran, the creation of a company valued at US$35 billion with revenues of US$23 billion is unlikely to have much of an impact on the local agency landscape.

Last year, after six years in second place, BMW knocked Audi off its perch and reclaimed the top selling premium car mantle in the New Zealand market. But Audi isn’t far behind, it’s still growing and it’s decided to tap into the nation’s patriotic fervour with one of the German brand’s first locally shot campaigns.