When Ogilvy launched Kiwibank’s tenth birthday ad a few months back, we said: “Wait for the moaners to see the kid jumping off the rock”. And whaddya know, the haters hated, the moaners moaned, and, in its latest round of decisions, a complaint was partially upheld, with a majority of the ASA complaints board finding the ad had “not been prepared with the due sense of responsibility to consumers and to society”.
Of all the NZ Olympic sponsors, Moa is perhaps the most unlikely, given its oft-controversial approach to marketing and the fact that it’s, well, beer, a substance not particularly well-renowned for improving athletic performance. But even though the NZOC is an organisation renowned for taking things pretty seriously, Moa, which celebrated a solid medal haul of its own recently, has still been able to have a bit of fun with its sponsorship activity.
ZenithOptimedia has once again gazed into its crystal ball and released its global adspend forecasts, including predictions for the New Zealand media marketplace. And both the global and local trends make for interesting reading.
Anna Gervai joins JWT, a couple of changes at DB, Sarah Fenton moves up the Yahoo! chain, Vodafone gives Jane Wilson a call, Stephen Williams joins Adcorp, Senate adds a pair, Hypermedia adds Hobday, Terabyte Interactive gets the nod in AUT Excellence in Business Support Awards and the EMANZ crew wag chins.
Sugar is on the receiving end of some extra attention at the moment for its supposed effects on health and, as this very interesting piece in The Guardian shows, the finger is being pointed at the food we eat and drink we swallow for leading to an average 19kg increase in weight since the mid-’60s. But hey, at least the ad campaigns for these sugary elixirs are cool. Right? Anyway, the next instalment of V’s Motion Project has gone live, with “technology experts, motion graphic artists, dancers, Burundi drummers, guitarists, marching bands and the vocal talent of Brandon Black from The Wyld” banding together to create the track, ‘Can’t Help Myself’. Pull your hoody up, let your pants hang low and download it here.
No local acts made the shortlist for the design lions, not even Alt Group’s well-received Auckland Art gallery identity, but a rightful grand prix winner emerged: Serviceplan Munich for its solar powered report for Austria Solar. The two local radio shortlistings—Saatchi & Saatchi for Tui’s ‘Father’s day Morse Code’ and BCG2 for Jesters pies—didn’t have anything to write home about, with Brazilian agency Talent Sao Paolo taking top prize for its ‘repellent radio’ work for Go Outside, which saw a high frequency broadcast essentially turn a radio into a mosquito repellent.
Earlier this week we pointed out a billboard for the new True Blood series on Prime. And the folks at DraftFCB and Phantom have sent us even more billboard fodder confirming the adult-orientated humour of the campaign. Sally Willis, Prime’s account director at DraftFCB, says the aim was to shake any teenage preconceptions people held about the show, differentiating it instead as a “raunchy, intense and gritty raw drama”. And as these latest examples from the campaign show, there’s more raunchy humour than you could stab a stake at.
Last year, we wrote a story about SodaStream’s The Cage, a global PR campaign that aimed to draw attention to the effects of packaged soft drinks on the environment. But the campaign has earned the ire of one of its targets, Coca-Cola, with the South African outpost issuing a cease and desist letter to SodaStream demanding its bottles be removed from The Cage at the Johannesburg airport because it claims to own the used bottles.
We were interested to read about Ian Smith’s apparently coincidental attack of the Pures during his commentary of the first All Blacks vs Ireland test, a three match series being sponsored by Steinlager, which is soon to launch its 2012 campaign featuring a new ambassador ($10 says it’s Ian Smith). Lion and Sky denied there was any attempt at nefarious aural product placement. But even if there was, it’s highly unlikely it would do anything: remember the old wives’ tale about subliminal messages being played in movie theatres that supposedly made people buy more Coke and popcorn?
Fresh from being named as New Zealand’s best online bank by Canstar, and following on from the world’s first virtual Facebook branch in late 2010, ASB has taken the next logical step, with users soon able to make payments directly to their Facebook friends.
Digital shop R/GA won the grand prix in the Cyber Lions for Nike+ FuelBand along with Volontaire Stockholm for Curators of Sweden. And Colenso BBDO took silver for Mountain Dew Skate Pinball in food and drinks.
Just as Braniff airways shook up the fairly dull US airline sector in the ’60s by painting its planes bright colours and putting its hostesses in bright uniforms, Air New Zealand changed the way everyone looked at inflight safety videos by making them entertaining and, with its previous agency .99, it basically created a whole new—and quite powerful—media channel. So far we’ve seen painted bodies, All Blacks, lycra-clad, OTT aerobics instructors and puerile puppets. And for the first time the airline has decided to take an animated approach, with a new ’hand-drawn’ safety video featuring the voice talent of Kiwi-born actress Melanie Lynskey and Modern Family’s Ed O’Neill, as well as a range of “cameo appearances”.
Colenso BBDO’s ‘The Wine is over’ campaign for DB Export Dry has already taken a few local awards, including the most recent Glossie, and it was the only Kiwi winner at the Press Lions at Cannes last night, with ‘The Wine List‘ winning a silver for best copywriting.
Kiwi agencies have added to the Cannes Lions haul, with two silvers and two bronzes in Media. Clemenger BBDO/OMD Wellington picked up two silvers, one for Dulux ‘What’s your Dulux colour of New Zealand‘ in best use of integrated media and the other for Tranz Scenic ‘See more of New Zealand by train’ in best use of print. Saatchi & Saatchi NZ/AIM Proximity Wellington/Starcom took bronze for Toyota FJ Cruiser ‘Top to Bottom‘ in best use of social media marketing, as did Colenso BBDO for Monteith’s ‘Sorry about the twigs, folks’ in FMCG.
Slowly but surely New Zealand’s Cannes tally continues to rise with the announcement of the Outdoor category winners. Eight Kiwi entries made the shortlist of 588, with three taking home awards. First hat tip goes to Colenso BBDO for taking out New Zealand’s only Gold in the category, awarded for its ‘Sorry about the Twigs’, folks‘ campaign for Monteith’s Crushed Cider, adding to the gold, silver and bronze the campaign picked up in the Promo & Activation category. The agency’s ‘Skate Pinball’ campaign for Mountain Dew also nabbed a Bronze Lion.
As one brave man does the half-time mercy dash to the liquor store to replenish stocks for the group during a footy match, it seems there’s little that can distract him from his sport, not even a slew of hot women who just happen to be lining the liquor store route. And, whether you agree with the stereotype or not, Tui’s ‘Halftime Distractions’ campaign by Saatchi & Saatchi and The Sweet Shop’s Stuart McDonald certainly seems to have hit its mark, taking out Colmar Brunton’s Ad Impact Award for May.
Who’s it for: RNZAF by Saatchi & Saatchi and 8com
Why we like it: Showing the range of exciting things recruits can get up to if they join the Air Force certainly isn’t a new approach. But this fast-paced, well-made TVC does its job and gets that message across very well. And almost 26,000 views on YouTube isn’t too shabby.
Vampires have been a part of fictionalised culture for some time now. From Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel Dracula, to the fuzzier Count von Count in Sesame Street, and heroine Buffy the Vampire Slayer, humans seem endeared with the idea of blood sucking creatures roaming the earth. But popular culture seems to now, more than ever, be entranced by the mythology of these fanged creatures. There’s The Vampire Diaries, movie series Twilight and you may have been unfortunate enough to catch the movie preview for, wait for it, Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter. Which is why the folks at DraftFCB are keen to make sure their billboard for the new series of Prime’s True Blood differentiates the show from the rest of the teen-vampire genre.
Kiwis have quite the penchant for running and even in the colder months it’s not uncommon to see many a dedicated runner pounding the Winter pavement. But while it’s all too easy to snigger as you drive past in your heated car whilst stuffing a bag of chips down your throat, Powerade is hoping to lure in these avid runners with its Powerade Challenge after a successful debut of the event last year saw over 2000 runners take part.
The first awards show has taken place at the Cannes Festival of Creativity, with the Direct, Promo & Activation and PR category winners announced. And Colenso BBDO is off to a good start, winning a gold for Pedigree ‘Donation glasses’ Adoption Drive and a gold, silver and bronze for Monteith’s ‘Sorry about the twigs, folks’ in the Promo & Activation category and a bronze Direct Lion for its ‘The Wine That Sold Beer’ campaign for DB Breweries. DDB scored bronze for Steinlager’s ‘We Believe’ in Promo & Activation. There were no New Zealand entries awarded in the PR Lions.
We wrote about the launch of Colenso BBDO’s very cool V Motion Project a few weeks back. And after an “epic journey to create music using the body’s movement”, the creators took their bootleged technology and a projector to an Auckland carpark on Saturday night to show the people what happens when the power of dance is harnessed.
New Zealand’s largest life insurer Sovereign, which is part of the ASB group of companies, has appointed Carat to manage its media strategy and buying, taking the account from OMD without a pitch.
Coinciding with a few new business wins, recent recognition at the Pharmacy Awards and the promotion of Robin Powell to creative director, BCG2 has expanded its creative department with four new arrivals: Alex Dyer, Anita Young, Matthias May and Matt Watts.
As we delve further into the depths of winter and you busy yourself with avoiding the rain and eliminating unsightly goosebumps and chapped skin, we warn you the following story includes references to lucky bastards lapping up the Summer sun in the South of France. The 59th Cannes International Festival of Creativity kicked off Sunday evening (local time) and the first two shortlists (which are actually very long ) have been released, revealing seven New Zealand finalists, a number of which have also received finalist nods in multiple sub-categories.
As far as years go in the history books, 1932 wasn’t exactly a winner, after all, it was a time when New Zealand was plunged deep in the murky depths of the Great Depression. But that apparently didn’t mean women had to forgo their love of lace knit jumper, cut pattern services or home craft competitions and on December 8 that year, journalists Otto Williams and Audrey Argall launched New Zealand Woman’s Weekly, a magazine that preached the “gospel of usefulness, cheerfulness and happiness”. Eighty years on, in a more exuberant way it continues to equip women with their weekly fixes of fashion, food, weddings and gossip and to mark the auspicious milestone, it’s released a special birthday collector’s edition.
Wine may be heralded as a sophisticated and premium product, but it seems an increasing number of wine labels are seeking to expand their reach by matching their liquid offering with newfangled and arty presentations, most recently exemplified by Kiwi winery Invivo. The label, founded in 2007 by Tim Lightbourne and Rob Cameron, has released a limited edition range of bespoke graffiti wine boxes produced by prominent Kiwi and British street artists, in a move to target a younger audience of wine enthusiasts.
As you wind down and get set for your two days off ahead of the next week, spare a thought for Colenso BBDO’s copywriter Simon Vicars. The poor bloke was sitting in an airport lounge when we called him, getting ready to wing his way to Fiji for a week’s “work”. Then we had to break the news Colenso BBDO had won the May round of The Glossies with 34 percent of the votes for its ‘Idiot’ print ad in NZ Rugby World. ‘Idiot’, part of DB Export Dry’s ‘The Wine is Over’ campaign, put itself a fare distance ahead of its closest rivals. Bettle’s Langham ad, featured in New Idea, placed second with 22 percent of votes while BCG2’s effort for Audi in Metro earned it third place with a 16 percent share of votes.
Komli brings all its businesses under one banner, VW adds another high-profile sponsorship to its list, Ispos announces two big hires, Prodigy gets a pair of Underpants, plus ça change at Jobmedia and All Good and KidsCan dish out the bananas to schools.
I was lucky enough to recently attend the largest Event & Experiential Marketing summit in the world in Chicago. I immersed myself in three days of learning with over 500 others from around the world and came away feeling a whole bunch of things: inspired (absolutely), brain whipped (definitely), and connected (in a myriad of ways). But mostly I feel charged up about the future of the industry in New Zealand.
Wattie’s general manager of marketing Tim Skellern called the battle of the shelf ‘the next big land grab‘. And in-store media and shopper marketing agency Hypermedia has released some information to prove its worth.