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Movings & Shakings
The mutating Contagion: selling out or savvy strategy?
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When Contagion launched a few years back, it was loudly beating the digital and social drum. It still is, but it’s also doing more of what some would call traditional agency work. So is it selling out? Or is getting in on the groundfloor by offering specialist skills that clients seem to be looking for and then gradually taking a bigger chunk of the business a smart strategy?

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Westpac pushes its business banking with Wayne’s worrisome work/life balance
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We Kiwis like to think we’ve got it sorted, living as we do in our little slice of ‘100% Pure’ paradise. But we have plenty of demons and the truth is that New Zealand is “one of the worst-ranking OECD nations in terms of the percentage of the population that works ‘very long hours'”. So Westpac and DDB have dramatised that fact with another entertaining ad as part of its ‘Start Asking’ campaign that shows the pitfalls of owning your own business.

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Memes are bad, mmmkay
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Over the past few years, we have seen a series of memes that have had the potential to cause injury, such as planking, owling, batting and, of course, extreme ironing/hammocking. The Harlem Shake, however, never really seemed too dangerous. Ridiculous, yes, but not particularly life threatening. Fonterra disagreed, however, after it sacked two of its staff for shaking it on the Takanini factory floor.

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Man vs. bird
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One of the joys of this business is that companies are often willing to spend untold sums in an effort to bring often-ridiculous ideas to life. Red Bull has made an art form of it over the years and, with its increased focus on media, it’s creating some remarkable things, likes its recent project filming the fastest bird in the world, the peregrine falcon, hunting down one of the best downhill mountain bikers in the world, Gee Atherton.

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Obama’s checking your email
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There’s a Tumblr for everything these days, heck – there’s probably a Tumblr curating all the times the phrase “there’s a Tumblr for everything these days” is used in an article. So it’s not surprising that the biggest news story of the week, the NSA and PRISM cyber spying scandal, gets the full Tumblr treatment.

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When life gives you lemons, build a time machine
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When life gives you lemons, go back in time and punch it in the face. That’s the message behind BJ Golnick’s entry into Saatchi and Saatchi’s global Music Video Challenge, which saw hundreds of entrants remix their original video onto OKGO’s latest track ‘I’m Not Through’.

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Clean up in aisle five: the evolving world of retail
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Nielsen’s latest figures on online shopping show more Kiwis are clicking to buy. And from holographic retail assistants to interactive zombie gaming to mobile apps that allow users to purchase items via QR codes, retailers and marketers are donning their digital thinking caps to find the most creative ways to lure and retain customer attention in the colliding world of bricks, mortar and online retailing. Deirdre Robert shops on.

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In your space: The Better Drinks Company
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At the start of this month Charlie’s announced its new name: The Better Drinks Company. But that’s not the only change taking place behind the scenes for the drinks manufacturer. A new office space was commissioned to physically represent the company’s new philosophy.

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2degrees indulges in some subtle Aussie baiting
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To promote the fact that 2degrees customers on a Carryover Plan can call and text their Aussie mates at no extra cost, the cheeky telco has released an ad via TBWA that details the similarities between the two countries. But it still manages to stoke the trans-Tasman coals with a Troy McClure-esque disclaimer at the end.

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Name beer, win beer money/Beervana tickets
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The Crown, Pack & Co’s latest venue on Auckland’s Customs St in Britomart and the first of its Little Empire Brewery and Eating Houses, had its official opening last week. It plans on tapping into the craft boom and brewing its own beer in the near future. So no doubt it will need some help to name its different varieties. We’ve got two $50 bar tabs and two tickets to Beervana in Wellington on 9-10 August to give away. So add your best craft beer name to the comment wall and the top efforts (from those over 18, of course) will get the loot.

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A question of purity
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Peter Nuttall thinks New Zealand is playing a game of risk with its 100% Pure brand and believes it is bordering on greenwash. Wayne Linklater explains.

Movings & Shakings
Movings|Shakings: 7 June
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Rapp welcomes two (and says goodbye to Tribal), specualtion about the new MediaWorks board, another deputy ed for The Listener, APN hunts for new social media editor, Tamati Coffey returns to the nurturing bosom of TVNZ and Adam McGregor takes up some outdoor reins.

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Nokia teams up with Super Man
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Finnish phone manufacturer Nokia has teamed up with upcoming Super Man movie Man of Steel (out here in New Zealand 27 June) to coat tail on its coolness – and boy is it cool.

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Mind your head
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From elevator frights, to dropping friends right in it, to dramatic surprises in town squares, to fake attacks, marketers and agencies seem to love nothing more than scaring the bejesus out of innocent bystanders with their social experiments. But UK road safety organisation Think and its agency Leo Burnett have taken it to a new level with their #PubLooShocker.

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Name games
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TradeMe Jobs recently launched a campaign showing that nominative determinism was a thing of the past. Try telling that to the BBC.

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