Shine’s Julian Andrews goes free range, APN announces its new Herald line-up, DDB welcomes back a prodigal duo, Admission admits many, TradeMe seeks out Vivaki, DraftFCB activates a rising star, Komli launches its mobile ad network, Ngage gets its FIX and Steve Price spruiks Panasonic’s smart TVs.
Back in 2007, Radio New Zealand kicked off the Sounds Like Us campaign, which entailed creating ten radios in the style of iconic New Zealand cultural expressions, from wool sheds to gumboots to pavlovas (2007 was also the year its funding was frozen). Another five models were added in subsequent design contests in following years, constructed by the sharp tacks at Weta Workshop, and then exhibited at galleries around the country. It was a nice branding exercise on the part of the public service broadcaster, and it won an Axis Award last year, and now the concept is being extended into the wearable arts, with RNZ selling t-shirts at its new online store for $34.95.
In September last year, Coca-Cola Australia put people’s names on its cans and bottles for the first time in the company’s history. The campaign won loads of gongs at Cannes and its global marketing chief Joseph Tripodi said the idea would be exported to other markets. Now New Zealand is getting the personal treatment, with 150 of the country’s most popular names being put on millions of Coca-Cola bottles and cans “to remind and inspire people to connect”.
Around one year ago, Mi9’s Dan Robertson put his hand up to be a representative of the ‘dark side’ on the ASA complaints board. To his surprise, that label turned out to be bang on, with advertising that would in most cases generate complaints in other mediums often flying imperiously online. And, as online advertising takes a bigger slice of the pie, he thinks that needs to change.
Anyone who doesn’t use a high-rigidity 165g competition quality disc deserves to be ridiculed. And that’s exactly what Paul Henry has done in the local—and, in our humble opinion, slightly underwhelming—execution of Snickers’ ‘You’re not you when you’re hungry’ campaign.
Earlier this year, Jack Daniel’s Properties, Inc issued a cease and desist letter to author Patrick Wensink regarding the cover design of his recent novel, Broken Piano For President, which closely resembled the Jack Daniel’s whiskey label. And, as AJ Park’s Damian Broadley and Jude Antony write, the company’s response is a great reminder that the tone and approach of any communication should be carefully considered.
Last year’s rather risky ‘Change Starts Here’ docu-ad campaign for Unitec Institute of Technology aimed to address some long-standing misconceptions about the institution among parents and potential students and led to a significant increase in enrolments. And now it is hoping to, ahem, build on that by celebrating the achievements of graduates of its Faculty of Technology and Built Environment with its new campaign, ‘We make the people who make it’.
Tourism New Zealand has just launched its 100% Middle-earth campaign in an effort to bask in the reflected glow of The Hobbit trilogy. Here’s what general manager of marketing and communications Justin Watson had to say about it.
Steph Pearson from DraftFCB and PHDiQ’s Brendan Hewitt have been named winners of the inaugural Yahoo! New Zealand Digital Stars Awards, beating out 16 other young digital media exponents.
New Zealand advertisers’ love affair with digital continued in this quarter, with the total in Q2 2012 hitting $91 million, up 16 percent from Q1. But as more local eyeballs head to international sites and more ad spend heads overseas with them, is the level of digital expenditure actually being underestimated?
Studies have shown and experts agree Friday is the best day to show infographics. And Air New Zealand has come to the party with a selection of stats to celebrate 30 years of flying to LA and London.
There is no question the media landscape is changing and the pace of technological advancements means that change is happening more rapidly than ever. This is changing the way people live their lives and the way that they consume media. At APN we spend a lot of time listening to consumers and understanding the affect these changes have on their relationships with our news and entertainment brands. There is no denying that more and more people are reading, watching and listening to our content across print, digital and mobile platforms. But rather than seeing that as a negative trend, we believe this is a strong signal for a positive future.
Is a single agency model the best approach to fulfill New Zealand’s growth targets? Courtney Lambert doesn’t think so.
The 100% Pure New Zealand campaign is now in its 13th year, is held up as a master-class in tourism marketing and has helped turn New Zealand into one of the strongest country brands in the world. And Tourism New Zealand is aiming to replicate the international influx of visitors following The Lord of the Rings trilogy with the release of a new global campaign by the Sydney and Auckland offices of Whybin\TBWA and Curious Film that “invokes the magic of Middle-earth”.
As the bean counters might say, if advertising doesn’t improve the bottom line, it’s really just art. And expensive art at that. And the agencies that improved their clients’ businesses the most this year have been announced, with perennial Effie performers Colenso BBDO and DraftFCB on top with 22 and 16 finalists respectively, followed by the bolter Barnes, Catmur & Friends on ten and DDB on nine.
The newspaper industry is certainly not without its naysayers, but in spite of dwindling numbers and organisational shake ups, it’s also full of people that will gladly proclaim the ongoing vitality of the medium. In fact you can expect newspapers to emerge stronger from their current circulation woes and enter 2020 as a leaner, more valued and trusted medium than at any time in the past 50 years, according to Peter Thomson, founder and former chief executive of M2M International. And you can find out for yourself why he’s so sure when he arrives to our shores in September as a keynote speaker at the revamped News Works NZ Advertising Awards.
Toyota has been busy this year. It’s launched a host of cars, including the Prius, Prius c, Prius V, Camry, Aurion, Lexus GS, Lexus RX and new Corolla Wagon. And the 86 has also taken to the streets, but not before receiving some attention from the Fun Police, a campaign developed by AIM Proximity Wellington to launch its sportscar.
It’s estimated that tablet use will triple in New Zealand in the next six months, which bodes well for publishers hoping to find a way to distribute their content electronically without giving it away for free. But while apps and jabscreens are all well and good, you still can’t beat the feeling of wood pulp in your hands, especially if it features a quality cover like Idealog’s design issue.
Telecom’s Tommy and Boris campaign has been going great guns but while the masses are busy fawning over Tommy and his cute turtle, elsewhere Telecom is busy rallying up young’uns in school to spread the word on the potential of ultra fast broadband (UFB). Its Amazing Ideas Search (AIS) was launched last month, inviting pupils across the country to consider what UFB will make possible in the future and what that future may look like.
While New World is busy trying to win shoppers’ hearts with nostalgia, and Pak ‘n Save with stickmen, Countdown is once again tugging at the most powerful of consumer heartstrings, free stuff. Off the back of its popular knives promotion, which saw more than 700,000 free Thomas Knives snapped up by customers, the supermarket has launched its Royal Worcester glasses promotion, and it’s confident this one will be just as successful as its predecessor.
‘Tis a tussle of the telcos this week, with Vodafone’s ‘Do Your Thing Better’ and the return of Tommy and Boris for Telecom scooping the prize.
Stories about ASA complaints that weren’t upheld are generally the marcomms equivalent of ‘there was no accident on the bridge today’. But in the case of an advertisement for Carefree Acti-Fresh Panty Liners, otherwise known as vagina discharge-gate, we’ll make an exception, because none of the 18 complaints received will get to have their day in court.
Over the past few months, discussions around the future of the media have come to a head, thanks in part to a couple of big announcements from the other side of the Tasman and a big one here in New Zealand too. This has brought about loads of discussion within the New Zealand industry about the role of media in society and changing trends in how consumers select and consume news. Worryingly, lots of commentators have been all too willing to eulogise New Zealand’s robust newspaper market. So I’m putting my hand up to remind you all that newspapers and magazines are alive and well in New Zealand.
We had a chat with Telecom’s chief marketing officer Jason Paris yesterday for a profile that will feature in the next edition of NZ Marketing magazine and he said one of the best things about the new Tommy and Boris work is the fact that everyone thinks it’s a brand campaign. That’s understandable, given the set-up ad is the only one that has been released so far. But it’s actually a retail platform that’s being used to promote different aspects of the Telecom business. And the first examples of that strategy were launched last night, with one spot focusing on ‘New Zealand’s best pre-paid pack’ and another classy number showing some of the lesser known benefits of broadband.
When it comes to inspiring fear, public speaking is up there with spiders, heights and getting stuck in the lift with John Banks. But a Kiwi app development company called Sush Mobile hopes it can reduce the number of sweaty palms, dull thuds in the chest and embarrassing stutters with a new iPhone app called Speak Like a Pro. And it’s already proving popular, with the app reaching No. 1 in the iTunes entertainment app charts and, within 48 hours of its launch, No. 9 in the iTunes business app charts.
Spark PHD welcomes back an old friend, CAANZ announces its international Effie judge, Healthy Life Media’s allergic reaction, Adshool students have something to crow about, The PR Shop goes corporate, TEDx announces its speaker line-up and Adobe appoints a new communicator.
The Rock is certainly no stranger to controversy. The radio station is aimed squarely at men, and, more specifically, 18-35 year old male bogans, so on-air hijinks like win a divorce and un-PC promotions like win a wife (after some mild outrage the comp name was changed to ‘WIN A TRIP TO BEAUTIFUL UKRAINE FOR 12 NIGHTS AND MEET EASTERN EUROPEAN HOT LADY WHO MAYBE ONE DAY YOU MARRY’) are often the order of the day. Such activities don’t always go down to well with, for example, those who listen to The Breeze or Concert FM. But rather than shy away from these complaints, the station has embraced it as part of a new campaign.
As the numerous press releases attest, the launch of the “smaller, but smarter and deeper” weekday New Zealand Herald is seen as a pretty important step for APN NZ. And along with the new format, readers can expect to see a new masthead on 10 September—and, in the future, a bill for the content they consume online.
Vodafone has just launched its new brand positioning ‘Do Your Thing Better’, a very quirky, very Kiwi ode to the inventiveness of New Zealand that stars actor James Rolleston in the lead. Vodafone’s chief marketing officer Greg Campbell and DraftFCB’s planning director David Thomason tell us about the thinking behind it.
Last week we welcomed Telecom’s new mascots Tommy and Boris, which took the telco steaming back into its heartland territory of New Zealandness and connectivity. Vodafone has long played the exotic foreigner role and, for obvious reasons, hasn’t really played—or needed to play—the patriotic card. But that’s all changed now, because it’s gone the whole Kiwi hog for its big new brand campaign, which features the tagline ‘Do Your Thing Better’ and celebrates the fact that New Zealand is a nation of doers.