The FujiFilm Finepix X100S looks as if it fell through a crack in spacetime leading to the 1960s. This is a camera designed to imitate the beautiful “space age” cameras of the era. But with a $1,800 price tag, it’s a pretty hefty premium to pay for looks. Is the X100S a hipstery fashion accessory or a handy little camera in its own right?
Premium cars have long associated themselves with fashion brands. And BMW has become much more fashionable in New Zealand in recent years, with Kathyrn Wilson named as an ambassador and NZ Fashion Week added to its sponsorship portfolio last year, which saw a fleet of X1s getting a wrapping. BMW-owned Mini has been on that track for a while, having been officially linked with local fashion house Stolen Girlfriends Club for three years. And to celebrate both the launch of the new Mini Paceman and the label’s new range, the “muscular coupe” has become a model itself after being wrapped in the Death Moth print.
JC Penney was recently named as one of ten US brands that might not be with us by next year. It’s certainly had a rough time of late and, to its credit, it came out an apologised in a new ad. But sometimes you just can’t win, and now it’s getting a pasting for a billboard featuring a kettle designed by Michael Graves that looks a little bit like Hitler.
Following news of Dole’s decision to ditch its ‘ethical choice’ label, Kath Dewar offers the company some advice and looks at how consumers might respond to its greenwashing.
Sustainability is an increasingly important issue for the business community. But how do you best show it? Getty Images’ research into visual trends aims to find out.
There’s been plenty of action in the produce section recently, with All Good taking a pot shot at the corporate banana with a recent campaign and Oxfam—and the Commerce Commission—questioning Dole’s use of the ‘Ethical Choice’ label. And it all came to a head yesterday after Oxfam released a report showing Dole’s apparently dubious labour and environmental practices in the Philippines.
The Serious Fraud Office has today laid Crimes Act charges against Glenda Mary Wynyard (48), the former director and owner of The Media Counsel, in the Auckland District Court.
A host of advertising luminaries—and plenty of non-advertising non-luminaries—ventured to AUT’s beautiful new building on Monday night to celebrate the launch of Idealog editor Hazel Phillips’ new book Sell: Tall tales from the legends of New Zealand Advertising. Here she is on how it all came about, what’s changed over the years and, of course, where you can buy it.
Jon Ramage back in the game, DDB goes digital, Thick as Thieves hauls Oates, Super Liquor man moves up the chain, CAANZ believes the children are our future, and Pack & Co adds another impressive establishment to its portfolio.
As they always say, those in typo-ridden online glasshouses shouldn’t throw stones, but we couldn’t help but point out a little faux pas by our national carrier, which is using the 60th anniversary of the ascent of Mt Everest to promote $5 domestic fares on Grabaseat. Pity it—and nzherald.co.nz—spelled Sir Ed’s name wrong.
The cynics say that Coca-Cola has harvested happiness as a marketing concept over the years in an effort to avoid dealing with the unhappiness sugary drinks can bring through obesity (this was brilliantly skewered by ‘The Real Beers’ video). But ever since the famous multi-cultural ‘I’d like to buy the world a Coke’ ad, Coca-Cola has claimed that it uses its global reach to try and bring people together. And it’s tried to do just that on the sub-continent with a three-minute clip by Leo Burnett that links up Pakistanis and Indians through a pair of connected vending machines.
Samsung’s entertaining sales pitch and Tonga’s classic tourism marketing approach pass go, collect $200.
As they say in the embalming business: you’re never too late. So it is with the TVNZ-NZ Marketing Awards. The official entry date has closed but there’s still time to get your entries in. With a stellar line up of judges and 23 fancy trophies to win, there’s every reason to get your story of marketing success in.
The last time Cadbury made major changes to its blocks in 2009, it decreased the weight from 250g to 200g, added palm oil and reduced the amount of cocoa butter. And we all know what happened there. But general manager of marketing Iaan Buchanan says the company has learned from its mistakes and its latest changes mean consumers now get ten percent more chocolate for the same price on specially marked ‘Extra Joy’ family block packs.
ZenithOptimedia has had a fairly difficult few months since the controversial closure of its sister agency Publicis Mojo just before Christmas. But, in what general manager Sophia Quilian sees as “the start of a rejuvenated [agency]”, it’s been appointed to the Palmers Gardenworld business without a pitch. The incumbent was Total Media.
How do you promote the launch of ‘Europe’s first fully-digital mobile bank’? You connect 227 mobile devices together and get a 60-strong orchestra to play a digital version of Georges Bizet’s opera Carmen.
As evidenced by campaigns like Push to Add Drama, Carlsberg’s entertaining trickery and, more locally, Pedigree’s Donation Glasses and the Metservice see-through billboard, campaigns that exist in the real world can be seen by many more as a result of online magnification. And Auckland Transport, Val Morgan, Work Communications and Zoomslide are hoping to do just that with a stunt in a movie theatre that aimed to illustrate how deadly distractions can be when driving.
Bay of Plenty gets a new attitude (and along with it a new slogan) as the region attempts to squeeze into the top four tourist destinations in New Zealand.
The community of tech aficionados who participate on the Geekzone forums are some of the harshest critics of Telecom. It’s interesting to see then the country’s largest telco tap into this pool of switched on geeks to help design a new consumer modem it plans to sell to the wider New Zealand.
We rarely recognise the power of really radical ideas and the messy process of making them great, says Powershop’s design director and co-founder of All Good Organics Simon Coley. But that’s exactly what design thinking requires.
The Cannes Lions are looming and, as Colenso BBDO’s managing director Nick Garrett said in a recent interview about the refreshed Axis Awards, “something has a better chance at the end of a 12 month cycle if it’s had exposure and has started to do well at international awards”. So can we predict how the Kiwi agencies might do at the world’s most prestigious industry awards? Here’s a league table from the Axis Awards based on the same points system used by Cannes (and CAANZ), with one point for a finalist, three points for bronze, five points for silver, seven points for gold and ten points for grand prix.
The Manukau Institute of Technology and bcg2 took the animated approach in its last campaign. And it’s gone to the other end of the ad spectrum this time with a campaign starring Samoan media personalities Sela Alo and Pua Magasiva that confronts the misunderstandings many prospective students can have about studying in an effort to boost mid-year enrolments.
The man who discovered the Keep Calm and Carry On poster at the bottom of a box of books and then sent it hurtling into pop-cultural orbit is currently fighting to retain the right to use the phrase. AJ Park’s Kim McLeod and Catherine Fry tell us what this legal stoush teaches us about trademark protection.
Weekly magazines continue to slip in readership and circulation but there’s signs of life for lifestyle and niche magazines, according to the latest readership and circulation results from Nielsen and the Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC).
Another fairly dark set of results for New Zealand’s newspaper industry, as the latest Audit Bureau of Circulation (ABC) results and Nielsen’s readership numbers showing further year-on-year declines throughout the country.
A digital duo for Colenso BBDO, Fleur Herscott farewells The Radio Bureau, Steve Saussey and Yolande Dewey embark on a new (ad)venture, Goodfolk grows by two, a change at CAANZ, Media Design school gloats, Mi9 welcomes three more new humans, Darryl Edradan joins The Orange Group, PPR gets moving with Zumba and Ad2One adds a few more strings to its bow.
Ahhh, the Falcon, that most graceful of winged creatures, and that most boganic of wheeled machines. Following news that Ford was ceasing manufacture in Australia, the 56-year-old model—one of the longest running nameplates in automotive history—will be no more come 2016. So in honour of the beast, here’s a collection of classic Falcon ads from the region that have run over the years, including the classic 1989 campaign that reportedly saw requests to drive the new ‘Ford Lately’ go through the roof.
As a chap by the name of Doug Kessler once said, traditional marketing talks at people, but content marketing talks with them. And, like an increasing number of brands, New Zealand Beef & Lamb is combining the two, with its above-the-line Iron Maidens—Sarah Walker, Sophie Pascoe and Lisa Carrington—raising the profile of its meaty wares and the redesigned Meat magazine starring MasterChef winner Chelsea Winter aiming to provide some easily-achievable culinary inspiration.
A weekly wrap of funny things, good things, weird things and other things seen on the intertubes.
