Tomorrow sees the launch of the first “broad-appeal” free-to-air TV station in more than a decade in New Zealand. And Choice TV is taking a slightly different approach to its programming by featuring shows based around a different theme each night—and trying to align sponsors with them.
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 …
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.
POS material for the new campaign
There’s a long history of using animals in advertising, from Saatchi & Saatchi’s geese, to Telecom’s meerkats to Toyota’s Bugger to Cravendale’s Cats with Thumbs and thousands of others inbetween. And Visique and Republik are tapping into that rich vein—and aiming to inject some light-hearted relief into the somewhat clinical New Zealand optometry sector—by launching a new advertising campaign using bespectacled animals to encourage people to look after their eyes.
The MPA has chosen its new board, with Tangible Media’s John Baker replacing Fairfax’s Lynley Belton as chair and ACP’s Paul Dykzeul replacing acting deputy chair Cathy Parker from Adrenalin. And the new heads have some big plans to breathe life into the sector—and, more specifically, promote the unique benefits of the medium to advertisers and eventually increase its share of the revenue pie.
Contagion welcomes a new, very experienced partner, merger she wrote as Method Studios and Magnet Design join forces, Suzanne Dale says adios to Taste magazine, glossy mag ME adds a new partner, and Let’s Travel editor-at-large Gary Dickson picks up an international writing award.
Roy Morgan has a long history of customer satisfaction research, particularly in the banking space. But it’s expanded its reach with its latest initiative in an effort to reward Kiwi brands across 24 sectors that have the best customer satisfaction ratings.
A new study by McKinsey & Company has confirmed advertising is a driver of economic growth. And while this is not anything that hasn’t been reported before (specifically the 2007 seminal report by Maximilien Nayaradou that found that ad spend was a driver of growth), what is of interest in this report is its specific research and reporting on the contribution of digital marketing towards GDP.
The outdoor sector had a pretty good 2011, not just in terms of the sizeable revenue increase of $13 million over 2010 to reach its highest total yet of $83 million, but also because the industry body OMANZ was given a bit more love. The brand was overhauled, the website was redone, it is hoping to resurrect the Outdoor Awards, and this month it has taken to the streets to spread the outdoor gospel with an out-of-home advertising campaign.
Following on from last week’s story about Fairfax Media halving agency commission, it has sent out a release detailing the changes to its business model and its effect on customers. And it’s also announced some changes to its sponsorship programme by aligning itself with Spikes Asia rather than Cannes Lions.
The IAB recently dropped the Bolly from its awards and renamed them the IABNZ Creative Awards in an effort to bring them in line with other international IAB competitions. And the first winner of the newly modified awards is Special Group, with the Mash-up banner for Four.
The Webby Awards aim to honour general internet awesomeness, and fighting it out for gongs with big global beasts like Facebook, YouTube and Pinterest are local hopes Shift for Tourism New Zealand, Resn for Toyota’s Camry Effect, Xero and DDB/Rapp Tribal for McDonald’s. And they need your votes.
Print and TV are usually fairly uneasy and rather competitive bedfellows. But the once disparate media realms are steadily converging as TV websites embrace print and print titles increasingly embrace video. And TVNZ and ACP’s North & South have converged on each other with a new show based on the long-running My Space section in the magazine that will screen on its patriotic pay TV channel Heartland.
Who’s it for: TVNZ’s Judge the Jury app/website at the AXIS awards by Contagion
Why we like it: There’s almost nothing better than Bad Lip Reading, so this in-housey, piss-takey spoof ad to draw attention to an AXIS gimmick got our vote.
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Media multi-tasking is on the rise in New Zealand, with nearly a third of us consuming multiple forms of media simultaneously according to Nielsen’s Year That Was, a new report exploring the key consumer, retail, media and advertising trends that have shaped New Zealand over the past year.
There was joy, despair, controversy, awkward humour and even a foil-wrapped baked potato that was removed from the host’s pants. So now that you’ve digested and discussed all the winners, here’s your regular helping of visual evidence from AXIS 2012.
12 years ago a bunch of mates who loved good beer got together in a modest brew house and packaging line that was built from scratch in a disused crocodile farm near Fremantle, Western Australia, and created a pale ale. Now Little Creatures is expanding its range in New Zealand with three new brews – Little Creatures Pilsner, Bright Ale and Rogers’ Beer. So tell us what the coolest real-life little creature is (Pistol Shrimp all the way) and we’ll send out a few six packs to the best efforts.
In keeping with the burgeoning–and some would say, worrying—trend for the Department of Conservation to align itself with corporate benefactors (as outlined in a story about ‘Conservation for Prosperity’ in a recent issue of North & South), and in keeping with Air New Zealand’s environmental push, the national airline has signed up for a three year partnership with DoC worth the equivalent of $1 million annually.
Billy McQueen goes back to the brush, ZenithOptimedia launches its new global positioning, Duncan Garner heads to RadioLive, Crossmark gets its teeth into Cadbury, two new toys for Toybox, Phantom welcomes ‘Queen of the Flyers’, Pluk closes in on 50,000 users and Ideas Shop makes it a double.
We’ve got a long way to go in New Zealand when it comes to managing B2B customer relationships. Overseas, particularly in the UK, Joe Public won’t settle for substandard service and is typically very vocal when it comes to dishing out feedback. Whilst being on the receiving end of this is never a pleasant experience, it comes with two extra lifelines. First, a second chance to do right by that one customer and, secondly, the opportunity to spare future customers from a similar experience.
It’s been a fairly exciting ride on the banking merry-go-round in recent times. ASB is now with Saatchi & Saatchi, BNZ is now with Colenso BBDO and we have it on good authority that DDB has won the Westpac account.
The massive pile of magazines filled with Post-It notes stacked up on the StopPress desks (which are, of course, made of rich mahogany) indicates the April round of The Glossies is now open. And we need your votes. So get in there and choose your favourite.
They say there’s no truth in advertising. But PlaceMakers and JWT flouted that rule with their fly on the wall campaign focusing on a team of tradesmen building a house in Huntly—and the role of PlaceMakers’ expertise to ensure it all happens smoothly. And while the campaign was aimed at the trade, consumers have given it the big tick as well because ‘The Job’ has taken out Colmar Brunton’s Ad Impact Award for March.
When Kiwibank was launched in 2002, there were plenty of doubters. But, according to its new website, 804,221 customers have signed up to the bank in its first ten years and to celebrate the milestone it’s launched a new campaign featuring a few other adventurous and industrious Kiwi ten-year-olds.
Mobile advertising in New Zealand is very much in its infancy. But, according to the Interactive Advertising Bureau’s new global mobile anthology, which provides insights into different countries’ experiences with mobile media, it has enormous potential for growth and with the significant increase in smartphone penetration in recent years to around 30 percent of all handsets and the increase in mobile internet usage, the local IAB office is predicting more media dollars being spent on this channel in the near future.
It might not have done as well as many expected at AXIS last night, but NZTA, Clemenger BBDO and The Sweet Shop’s ‘Legend’ well and truly made up for it by nabbing a very hard to win Yellow Pencil in the earned media section at the D&AD awards, the only New Zealand work to receive the nod this year. Legend also made it In-Book in the Writing for Advertising category.
Sam RB, writer and performer of NZ's Olympic song
Former prime minister Helen Clark
As is customary at this time of year, StopPress is suffering from some serious AXIS-related brain functionality issues today. And not even early morning sausage rolls have been able to help. So, in honour of last night’s winning Doggelganger campaign–and to fill some space without really having to think—here’s a lookalike.
Malcolm Boyle hangs up the boots, Zia Mandviwalla gets the Cannes call up, Corin Dann gets a sleep in, TNS completes its merger with Research International, Tangible adds to the sales flock, 3d Interactive takes a study break, and PriceMe launches a new financial comparison tool.
In what’s being called a world first, Tequila\ is taking ANZ Bank’s fundraising campaign for the RSA into the realm of social media by allowing Kiwis to donate funds to the Poppy Day Appeal via SMS and rebadging their Twitter avatars with the familiar poppy icon in the corner.
The Public Relations Institute of New Zealand (PRINZ) has announced the finalists in its annual industry awards, with category winners and the Supreme Award winner announced in Auckland on Friday May 11 following the close of the upcoming annual conference.