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News
Testing mettle/testing metal as Audi opens up its Driving Experience Days
By

Aside from being a perennial favourite in the most hated jobs list, another peril of being a journalist is what some may call ‘income disparity syndrome’. Those from the fourth estate often liaise with successful types who earn too much, eat at nice restaurants and drive nice cars, before heading home to eat gruel for dinner, keep warm by hovering around the fire in the 40 gallon drum and wrap up lumps of coal in newspaper to give to their children for birthday presents. So it was with a mix of excitement and depression that I ventured out to Hampton Downs last week to test my driving skills in an array of magnificent German machines that I will probably never be able to afford. And in a new move for Audi, it’s opening up its Driver Experience Days to corporates and individuals.

News
Show punmanship, win beer
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Independent Liquor’s craft beer division Boundary Road Brewery, along with the creative assistance of Barnes, Catmur & Friends, has done a stellar job of spreading the word since its launch—and all with a pretty miniscule budget. And now, in addition to welcoming new US brewer Spike Buckowski to the fold to whip up a a few new variants, it’s also welcoming two new brews into the family: the Mumbo Jumbo, a 5.2 percent ABV India Pale Ale that was selected by 500 tasters recruited to try two variants, and the Chocolate Moose, a 4.5 percent ABV full-bodied chocolate porter. We’ve got four prize packs to give away, so conjure up some beer-related punmanship and tell us what Boundary Road Brewery should call its next version.

News
Good ideas vs bad taste: what ‘creativity with no boundaries’ looks like
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Many of the world’s award shows require client approval, the dates campaigns ran and minimum media spend to ensure scam ads aren’t honoured. But The Chip Shop Awards are “about fostering and recognising creativity with no boundaries and no rules”. The work does not need to have been broadcast, printed or mailed, the clients don’t have to be yours, and you can even make up your own categories. So, since its launch in 2002, the website claims the awards “have produced some of the cleverest, funniest, worst taste advertising and design ever seen”. Some, like M&C Saatchi’s Dave King think they’re grubby and worthless; a blight on the industry. Others like Leo Burnett’s John Jessup embrace the unrestrained creativity on display. Here’s a collection of this year’s finalists (including .99’s Safe Distance), so you can make up your own mind.  

News
Tui bathes in the comical ‘donate-gate’ waters
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The RadioLive interview and 3 News clip featuring John Banks make for rather comical, cringe-worthy viewing. And, as the anonymous donation saga continues to unfold, the contextual humourists at Saatchi & Saatchi and Tui have jumped on board the Banksy train with a new billboard.

News
Puma loosens Lassoo, claws Zenith
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Fresh from its gobbledeegook-heavy global brand relaunch, the local branch of ZenithOptimedia has announced it has won the Puma New Zealand media account from incumbent Lassoo, which will continue to work with the brand in a PR capacity.

News
Remember this? Merino New Zealand’s marketing master-stroke
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For 150 years, New Zealand’s Merino fibre was largely invisible, as it was sold into a world commodity market that was dominated by high-volume producers and then diluted into blends. But in 1995, the growers decided to take a stand and Merino New Zealand was set up. And in 1999, it was awarded the Supreme Marketing Award and Business-to-Business award for lifting the fibre out of the commodity basket and positioning local merino at the highest end of the international market.

News
StopPress/ThinkTV TVC of the Year 2011
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Television viewing in New Zealand is at its highest ever level and television advertising took the top spot off newspapers for the first time ever last year according to the ASA ad revenue figures. So reports of its death appear to be, as the saying goes, greatly exaggerated. Of course, recording technology means interruptive advertising ain’t what it used to be and you can’t just buy attention like you used to, but despite the many digital distractions that are now available to brands and agencies, the power of a good TV ad is still unquestionable, primarily because it is one of the best ways for brands to convey emotion, tell stories and, in most cases, get their messages in front of as many humans as possible.

News
Remember this? Family violence is a crime
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It’s 1994 and punching your wife was not so much a crime as ‘just a domestic’. Times have changed—kind of. There’s just as much punching these days but at least it’s called what it is: family violence. And a multichannel, multiple partner campaign by The Police which won the Supreme Award and the not-for-profit category at the 1995 TVNZ-NZ Marketing Awards helped lay the foundations for what it hoped would be a better, safer country.

News
Greed, swiping, sex, eagles and distractions
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Who’s it for: RaboDirect by Shine and String Theory

Why we like it: It’s a common trick for challenger brands in the banking space to target the big boys, but this spot communicates the savings message and it’s very well made (take a bow, String …

News
Rural delivery: FMG and Saatchi & Saatchi take to the Tube
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In late 2010, FMG shacked up with Saatchi & Saatchi Wellington, embarked on a bit of a brand refresh and ramped up its advertising, both to position itself as risk advice specialists with an in-depth understanding of the unique issues New Zealand farmers face, but also to try and move it further into the mainstream insurance market. And it’s taken a fairly novel, and some might say fairly un-rural approach to attract customers: a YouTube channel that was launched mid last year.

Movings & Shakings
Movings/Shakings: 1 May
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Droga5 appoints bcg2’s Chris Long, production house 8com opens up in New Zealand, three agencies fly Kiwi flag at Asian Marketing Effectiveness awards, APN announces its new motoring editor, The Sweet Shop welcomes award-winning UK director to the family, Yahoo! adds two to its sales stable and Aegis Media appoints a shopper marketing specialist.

News
Watch sexy vids, tell joke, win 7 Days LIVE tickets
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When it comes to comedy, the Kiwi cultural cringe seems to have steadily departed and many of our local humour mongers are now popular drawcards, both on TV and in person. MediaWorks has focused heavily on comedy with its programming on both 3 and Four, and it continues to sponsor and broadcast the New Zealand International Comedy Festival (it is showing last week’s sold-out comedy gala tonight from 8.30pm-10:30pm). To celebrate this year’s edition, it’s put a few of its seductive stars in front of a well-vaselined camera and created some channel idents around the theme ‘Comedy is Sexy’. But if that’s not enough comedy for you, we’ve got a 7 Days VIP Prize Pack to give away, which includes 2 x tickets to 7 Days LIVE at SkyCity Theatre on Thursday 3 May. So tell us a joke and we’ll give the funniest one the booty. 

News
APN switches off Volume
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APN launched its weekly street-zine Volume on September 6, 2011 and started competing head-on with Groove Guide and a host of other online outlets. But the tough music/youth/pop culture media market has claimed another victim, because APN has decided to discontinue the print edition after just 33 issues—and on the first day of NZ Music Month. 

News
Colenso BBDO launches online social faux pas avoider for NZ Comedy Festival
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In a world where political correctness often seems to rule, taboos are plentiful. Thankfully, busting them is still an integral part of good comedy. But there’s still potential for embarrassing social mishaps with every attempt at edgy humour. So, to help provide some guidance as to what is and what isn’t appropriate, the NZ International Comedy Festival gathered together an elite team of stand-up comedians, sit-down mathematicians and Colenso BBDO digital folk to try and solve a riddle that has plagued mankind for centuries: when is it too soon to joke about something? 

News
As questions linger over 60 Minutes, MediaWorks expands current affairs offering with Three60
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There’s been a bit of chatter in the media recently about whether MediaWorks will renew its licensing deal with CBS and whether the end is nigh for its flagship current affairs show 60 Minutes. That decision is still up in the air, but what is clear is that 60 Minutes host Mike McRoberts and new arrival Guyon Espiner are involved in a new international current affairs show called Three60 that’s screening on Sunday mornings and is being sponsored by Massey University. 

News
The art of distraction: Tui and Saatchi move away from the brewery—and into the lounge
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The relative lack of sun—and therefore barbecues—over the summer months hasn’t been ideal for the booze industry (craft beer continues to grow, while the overall beer market is thought to be down around five percent). But as the inside months approach and the rugby season gets into full swing, Tui’s new ‘Halftime Distractions’ spot by Saatchi & Saatchi and The Sweet Shop’s Stuart McDonald (he of Summer Heights High fame) is hoping to ensure the boys will focus on the brown stuff should they be required to provide for the group.

News
State-funded media gets a fillip as Nielsen report puts Radio New Zealand National on top
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Supporters of publicly-funded media in New Zealand are feeling fairly tormented at present, with the National Government’s apparent ‘nice to have’ stance manifesting itself in a five year funding freeze for Radio New Zealand and the imminent switch-off of TVNZ7. But Nielsen’s Year That Was report, which includes info on New Zealand media trends, has provided more proof of the importance—and popularity—of Radio New Zealand National by showing it was the top ranking radio station in New Zealand in 2011 with a market share of 11.1 percent.

News
AX12: terrible facial hair, tight sweaters and self-deprecating robotic in-jokes
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Special Group won a couple of AXIS awards this year for its ‘Most Creative Country on Earth’ awards theme in 2011. And when Colenso BBDO was handed the reins for this year’s awards it ran with the idea of a metal detector and tapped into the rich vein of science-based humour seen in shows like Look Around You. So for those who weren’t there on the night, or for those who were there but were seeing how many breadsticks they could fit in their mouth, here’s the ’70’s-inspired opening sequence.  

News
Remember this? A TVNZ-NZ Marketing Awards retrospective
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Ah the past, it’s another country. To celebrate 21 years of the TVNZ-NZ Marketing Awards—and to reference the fact there are just 21 days to get your entries into this year’s awards—we’ll be trawling through the archive to bring you 21 winners from the past. First up, the Supreme Winner from 1996, ASB’s Robert the Robot. Has it stood the test of time? You be the judge.

Opinion
Learn to Spin: a review
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At last, a handbook for PR at its best. Spin was turned into an art form by former Tony Blair acolyte, Alistair Campbell, during the second Gulf War. So it’s been a surprisingly long time before someone finally codified this essential PR discipline into a ‘best practice’ manual. And …

News
Things that go Bump in the night: TSB puts the power in customers’ hands with new bank-building app
By

TSB has a stellar record when it comes to customer service and customer satisfaction, and it is, as its advertising says, New Zealand’s most recommended bank. And its latest innovation aims to enhance the banking experience even further with an impressive—and significant—new mobile banking app called {my}bank that was more than one year in the planning, comes complete with Bump technology and employed the branding and design services of Special Group. 

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