Nearly 30 years after Bob Jones famously smacked over TV reporter Rod Vaughan, Jones has beaten the unlucky Vaughan a second time – to win New Zealand’s most famous media award. In a cruel twist, Jones fought off Vaughan to win the latest Alcohol Press Sponsorship Award (ASP) as a result of the National Business Review’s announcement that Vaughan had joined the business newspaper’s staff.
Last year, Droga5 launched an online trailer for a campaign created for Fiveight, the local distributor of Turtle Beach, a manufacturer of high-end headsets and gaming gear. The clip showed an avid—and fairly cocky—Kiwi gamer who had agreed to head to Iraq to see what a real warzone was like and a fair bit of controversy erupted after its launch, which meant most didn’t get a chance to see it reach its denouement. But the full version is out there—although now under the Fiveight name—and there’s an interesting twist to the tale of the Kiwi gamer known as StatiC.
Do you love downloading music, but are afraid of the copyright laws? Luckily, there’s now a totally guilt-free, legal way to feed your ears. So, fish out that old library card of yours that’s been tucked away in the depths of your wallet since last millennium, and voila! All Auckland library members (from all 55 libraries in the Auckland region) now have access to millions of music files from the Sony Music back catalogue – for free!
Auckland indie Federation has been chosen by Emirates to handle its creative account in the New Zealand market. Federation won the account after a robust pitch lasting several months, understood to have involved at least two other agencies, including the incumbents Saatchi & Saatchi. As the agency of record, Federation will be responsible for brand, digital, direct and trade marketing, working alongside the Emirates corporate communications team in Dubai.
The myth of the stereotypical gamer as a young, male, energy-drink swilling, junk food-eating light-avoider is (mostly) just that, a myth. An Interactive New Zealand 2010 report found the average video game player was 33, 44 percent were female and 85.5 percent of households had a device to play games on. And the advent of more accessible tech like Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii has continued to bring new demographics into the fray. So, in addition to the global launch campaign for Sony’s new handheld PlayStation device Vita, the local Sony Computer Entertainment office and Satellite Media have released five YouTube webisodes featuring Ben “some dude from TV” Boyce and a few guest stars showing off the new gadget to a bunch of old folks in a resthome.
Yesterday’s ASA figures showed a $10 million decrease in ad revenue for the mag industry. And fairly tight times are forcing publishers to innovate, whether it be through branded content, new advertorial products, online initiatives or special issues like Tangible Media’s just-launched NZ Rugby World 1st XV and The New Zealand Weddings Planner.
After a referral from an existing client, Omnicom-owned Total Media was appointed as Merisant Equal’s full-service media agency at the start of the year. And it’s done it again after taking over the Sunday Star Times account following a good word from existing client and Fairfax cohort stuff.co.nz.
Throughout history, the arrival of new mediums has continually upset the apple cart. The printing press, the novel, film, sound, TV, 3D, and the list goes on, have all changed the way humans tell stories—and all taken a long time for the storytellers to come to terms with. And, as Frank Rose, Wired writer, media analyst and author of a new book called The Art of Immersion said this morning at a breakfast hosted by DraftFCB, exactly the same is true in this digital age.
The Advertising Standards Authority’s annual media turnover figures have been released, and while there are a few significant changes, there are no real surprises, with a slight overall increase on 2010 for the whole industry, TV doing as expected and claiming first place for the first time, interactive and outdoor charting significant rises and the rest of the media channels remaining fairly static.
You may have noticed a few pictures of Special Group’s flash new Drake St offices gracing the homepage of StopPress last week when it was helping to edit the site as part of our Hog the Blog Axis prize. And the 16th fastest growing company in New Zealand/Creative hotshop nominee has recently added a few humans to help fill those flash offices up, with Hilary Cootes being promoted to the role of general manager, Nigel Sutton and Rahat Chaudry joining as head of production and strategic planner respectively, and Claire Beatson returning from maternity leave.
DDB New Zealand was among the few to win Gold at this year’s Asia Pacific Advertising Festival (ADFEST 2012) Lotus Awards. The agency won Best in Show in the Promo Lotus category for Steinlager ‘Believe’. And the team also took home a Gold at the Film Lotus awards, one of only eight handed out for Sky TV ’60 things in 60 seconds’ and a Silver Press Lotus for Campaign for Best of Social Engagements for Coastguard New Zealand’s Mayday Appeal.
Who’s it for: Good Books by String Theory and Buck
Why we like it: It’s a brilliant, extremely well written tribute to the late great Hunter S. Thompson, it’s for a great cause, and the animation is stupendous.
Who’s it for: Dulux …
There’s been no shortage of action in bankland recently, with agency shifts galore and fairly sizeable profits being announced by the big boys that could potentially lead to some fairly enthralling market-share battles this year. And one of the big ones is set to be between ASB and ANZ.
The wise spokesrodent for sorted.org.nz has been helping to enhance Kiwis’ money smarts for almost ten years now and the website is renowned as one of the best financial literacy programmes in the world. New Zealand’s love affair with debt appears to be declining slightly, but there’s still plenty of work to be done and plenty of gaps in the educational process. And, with the help of GSL Network, DoubleFish and Yukfoo, the newly refreshed and renamed Commission for Financial Literacy and Retirement Income has launched the first phase of a new campaign that hopes to get the punters planning.
Last year's winner DraftFCB's Murray Watt
Voting for the 2012 People’s Choice Award is now open at The Radio Bureau (TRB). Last year, Murray Watt from DraftFCB took out both the Grande ORCA and the People’s Choice award. What happens this year is up to you.
To raise awareness of Good Books’ benevolent raison d’être, which is purely to raise money for Oxfam, String Theory teamed up with Buck to create the first of three videos in a digital campaign called Good Books Great Writers. It’s a stunning homage to the High Priest of Gonzo – Hunter S. Thompson, and deserves plaudits for its incredible script and spectacular imagery.
As Tequila\’s creative director Ross Howard wrote in a past issue of NZ Marketing, there’s a fine line between creative theft and creative inspiration. And a recent release from Kimberley-Clark’s Huggies brand about a campaign offering new parents personalised OHBaby! magazines got us wondering about the rather thorny issue of creative IP.
One of the perennial bug-bears of the marketing industry is the fact that it’s often seen by the bean counters as a cost to be cut in times of economic hardship, rather than an investment that will pay off when things pick up. And, according to the research of a top marketing professor who’ll be speaking in Hamilton on Friday March 30 as part of the Excellence in Practice seminar series offered by Corporate and Executive Education at Waikato Management School, billions of dollars of shareholder value are destroyed each year by companies that tie their marketing budgets to the business cycle.
In November Saatchi & Saatchi, the Breast Cancer Research Trust (BCRT) and Prodigy films met Natalie Murphy, 20 months after she was diagnosed with breast cancer. She was laid to rest in late December, one of the two New Zealand women who lose their battle against breast cancer every day, but in that time they created a very powerful—and very beautiful—film that tells her story and the story of the scientists working to find a cure by 2018. So watch the clip, check out the Facebook page, share it around and donate some cash to help them reach that goal.
Back in 2008, swarthy old seadogs Roger Holmes and Jamie Duff ditched their fancy London day jobs and returned to New Zealand to launch Stolen rum. Since then, the sugary nectar has won a few awards, added names like Peter Gordon, Nick Worthingon, Brent Smart and James Hurman to the investor list and, through a combination of savvy PR and branding and a good product, is now stocked in a number of classy bars, swanky restaurants and luxury lodges. And, to launch a new rum variety called SX9 that’s aimed squarely at the hospitality industry, it’s taken a leaf out of the 42 Below book with a potentially controversial campaign enlisting the services of local mules to help smuggle its illegal contraband into Australia.
M&C Saatchi and the New Zealand Fire Service have launched a new multi-media campaign ‘Could you live with yourself?’ to promote the installation of smoke alarms. Currently over 90 percent of fire fatalities the New Zealand Fire Service attends do not have working smoke alarms.
On Wednesday CAANZ Marcomms Leadership Group (MLG) is hosting a special event, Re-Imagining PR. It’s PR, ‘but not as you imagine, or know it’–because with social media constantly evolving, PR business models are also having to. Lynne Anne Davis, managing director Fleishman Hillard Asia Pacific, is one of the speakers at the forum, and she answers a quick Q&A for those of you who can’t wait for Wednesday’s gig.
PHDIQ wins Yahoo! New Zealand Digital Strategy Award, and in doing so, finally knocks Draft FCB off its winning streak.
From 1 April 2012 APN Online’s adhub will solely represent Interest.co.nz – NZ’s premium source of financial information. The website is one of New Zealand’s biggest online publishing successes, with many of its video presenters and journalists, like the esteemed Bernard Hickey, now key commentators on everything financial, from mortgage rates to personal finance. The site has a solid stable of advertisers and an ever-increasing, loyal fan-base. Interest.co.nz has been represented by the Trade Me advertising team since 1 May 2009.
News surfaced this week that Sky and TVNZ had a date with the Commerce Commission after a complaint was laid about their joint venture Igloo and whether it met merger obligations under Section 47 of the Commerce Act. So if the decision goes against it, will it put the kybosh on the new mid-play TV network?
The NZTA, Clemenger BBDO and OMD’s short, sharp mass media blitz to educate all Kiwi road users about two changes to the country’s give way rules that kick in on March 25 at 5am probably won’t win any Gold Axis awards. But the $1.2 million campaign could certainly help save a few insurance claims and/or hospital stays.
Unlimited hunts for a new helmsman, MediaWorks plays some more news and current affairs swapsies with TVNZ, Rodney Hide sharpens his pen for the NBR, Grownups.co.nz finds some independence, EMC names new marketing director, Village PR adds to the flock, and Hamilton company Torpedo7 hops into bed with an Aussie suitor.
For a time, it seemed as though men—and quite a few ladies—couldn’t get enough of FHM’s tall-tales, humour and glamour shots of well-endowed models. But ACP has made the decision to close the magazine after it lost almost half of its circulation in the last six months of 2011 in Australia. And, as of May, it will also be taken out of the market in New Zealand.
After BNZ’s parent bank NAB recently shoulder-tapped Clemenger Group and asked Colenso BBDO to hop into bed with BNZ, Westpac was pushed out onto the floor and swiftly put its account up for pitch. At present, the Clemenger-owned .99, which recently had to show around 15 staff the door after the loss of Air New Zealand and Vodafone to DraftFCB, is Westpac’s retail agency but this new regional alignment and other agency changes for BNZ means it might be pretty tough to keep it that way.
Publicis Mojo’s executive creative director woes have continued, with Mike Barnwell resigning after 15 months in the job to return to his South African homeland and take up a role as the executive creative director at DraftFCB Cape Town.