The ‘compact’ weekday Herald is just around the corner. But APN New Zealand’s digital team will also have a few new toys to play with, with a revamped nzherald.co.nz website, a new social reader for Facebook and updated mobile and tablet apps set to go live on Monday 10 September. And to help keep everyone up to date with “the most significant changes being made to the company’s print and online products for a decade”, it has even launched a new microsite, nzherald.co.nz/themoreyouknow.

The last time DDB created a campaign for Pink Batts back in 2008, it came up with a lovable pink sidekick who kept homeowners snug. And it’s back in the hotseat to celebrate the brand’s 50th anniversary this year, launching a campaign on Sunday that features two fairly mischievous kids who have had the game of ‘Hot and Cold’ completely ruined by ‘New Zealand’s favourite insulation’.

Last week, the Twitterverse was abuzz after questions were raised about the legitimacy of follower numbers and whether the system was being gamed by some to increase the perception of influence. And we’ve heard from a couple of people since who want to alert brands to what they believe is a social media scam—and a completely over-hyped metric.

Shop revenue is a primary source of fundraising for Hospices round the country. And the second annual ‘Give It Up for Hospice’ campaign, which runs from 13 to 31 August and encourages people to donate pre-loved spring and summer clothing for their local Hospice Shop, has been boosted by the help of a new association with Postie, with its 82 stores around the country collecting clothing donations.

Some would argue that when complainers fall into the trap of reacting to a purposefully provocative campaign (ginger lovers, wine snobs, conservative religious types etc), they only help inspire more purposefully provocative campaigns. And a similar rule could be applied to flash mobs, because the more often they’re featured, the more someone, somewhere, might think they’re a good idea. Ah well, too bad. Here’s a clip of over 500 people from the Harvey World Travel conference violating Sky City and dancing to terrible music.

MSN NZ has launched its new corporate umbrella brand Mi9, a joint venture between Microsoft and Nine Entertainment company, in New Zealand. And, at the same time, it has also officially launched the Microsoft Media Network (MMN), which general manager Liz Fraser claims is already the country’s largest advertising network offering behavioural targeting.

Tile Warehouse opened its doors in 1989 with two staff and a forklift. 23 years later the company has over 100 staff, 28 stores around the country and now a shiny new brand courtesy of Publicis Mojo to “celebrate being New Zealand’s market leader”.

If you’re anything like us, you’re wondering how Tom Selleck got involved in shot put coaching, why staying on your bike while waiting for the lights to change isn’t an Olympic sport yet, whether the Sunday Star Times cover was a casualty of coincidence or something more sinister, and what happened to Charlie Brooker to make him think the Olympics are better than they looked on the tin. You might also be wondering how an event like the Olympics develops its visual identity. Luckily, Design Boom has detailed the whole massive process to come up with a cohesive look for the games—and the pretty bloody impressive results.

Ambient Group and the Star Metro Retail Partnership have launched a new media portfolio consisting of fuel pump handles, door media at point of entry to the store, floor media in front of the payment till and fins on beverage fridges through 116 Caltex member sites covering Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington, Christchurch and all other major centre and roads networks nationwide.

It’s tough out there in charity land at the moment. There are lots of organisations fighting for funding, consumers are still counting their pennies and in EFTPOS-loving New Zealand the cashless society is a very real thing, which means the traditional street appeal doesn’t work quite as well as it once did. So to get around this and drive donations in the lead up to Daffodil Day on 31 August, the Cancer Society and &some have called on the ubiquity of the mobile phone to help smooth the process.

September is shaping up to be a watershed month for APN NZ—and, more broadly, New Zealand’s newspaper publishing sector. The New Zealand Herald is set to reveal its new compact weekday edition on 10 September and the newly redesigned nzherald.co.nz site will go live around the same time. There’s also a new Newspaper Inserted Magazine (NIM) on Mondays about food, health and well-being and readers will also be treated to a one-off premium glossy magazine on launch day called, appropriately enough, The Magazine. But what exactly is a magazine? Why are NIMs so appealing for newspaper publishers? And why is ACP’s Paul Dykzeul so fired up?

Back in May, Mercury Energy sent its experimental ‘Good Energy Taxi’ onto the streets of Auckland. At the time, Tequila’s main brains Ross Howard said the motorised version of a karma bank was a bit of a double whammee, with the experiential element meaning a range of Kiwis came into contact with the taxi—either in person or via social media—and the footage taken from inside the cab being made into a short documentary that captured some of the Kiwi good sorts. And now you can check that documentary out.