CAANZ has rung plenty of changes to the awards programme this year. And, for the first time, it asked industry big brains to apply or be nominated for their positions on the judging panel in an effort to add a bit of gravitas. And after 96 applications and 20 nominations were received, the CAANZ Media Awards Committee has announced 89 successful candidates for the preliminary round of judging.
15-29 year olds make up 25 percent of New Zealand’s total visitors. And while they may not spend as much as the older folk, they stay here for a longer and are an important chunk of revenue for the industry. Due to a combination of new, exciting and probably cheaper destinations coming into fashion and a lack of activity directed at the youth market over the years, New Zealand has fallen off the radar slightly for this demographic, but Stories Beat Stuff, a digital campaign launched by Contagion last year that asks potential travellers to give something up in exchange for a trip to New Zealand, is helping to change that.
The Phantom Billstickers Poems on Posters initiative has seen posters of Kiwi poetry pasted up all over the world; in London, Glasgow, Paris, Austria, Australia and the United States. It’s the brainchild of Jim Wilson, who started the project in 2009. His aim is to use posters to share the heart of the Kiwi poet with people outside of New Zealand, and to that effect, eight Kiwi poets are flying to New York next week for a live poetry performance at Saatchi & Saatchi on 28 February. To help spread the word about the event, Phantom have put Janet Frame’s poetry poster, The End, up in bright lights on a billboard in Times Square.
Naked announced the appointment of Guy Cousins as its managing partner last week. And as he comes in the front door, highly regarded strategist and planner Simon Bird has snuck out the back for a role as the head of planning within Whybin\TBWA.
Life is tough. There are many undesirable situations in the world right now. The Greek economy, world hunger, Justin Bieber … Idealog doesn’t claim to have all the answers but its latest issue can help with some of the lesser details, like how to read your rival’s financial statements, shut down a dinner party bore, give a winning speech, get on the front page, self-publish and more.
Who’s it for: DB Export Dry by Colenso BBDO and The Sweet Shop
Why we like it: Everyone loves the ’80s. Or at least laughing at them. And this brilliantly-made piece of masculine nostalgia for DB Export Dry’s ‘say no to wine’ campaign is a gem …
I first met Harry in the late ’70s when he applied for a job at Survey Research (now called Research International). He was fresh out of university, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. Despite his unpronounceable name, there was something about him that I liked and he was hired for his first job.
Guy Cousins swaps SparkPHD for Naked, Yahoo! promotes two of its own, Rachel Broadmore swaps five-star for financial services, Ian Finch presides over New Zealand’s patent attourneys, Margaret Zabel takes the reins at The Communications Council in Oz and Renee Bushby changes tack.
In the two weeks leading up to Christmas it’s no surprise most TVCs, including those from Harvey Norman, Briscoes, Telecom, Sky, Lotto, Farmers, Postie, Warehouse Stationery, and the Warehouse were Christmas themed. Cadbury came up with the most original one, building an enormous snow globe in the middle of Auckland, at the height of summer. Bunnings bravely went against the grain, not mentioning Xmas at all, instead showing just how much fun can be had with a few good chainsaws…
Heather Roy’s Education Freedom of Association amendment act brought an end to compulsory membership to student’s associations at a tertiary level. And while it would be easy to write off the effects of the legislation as minor, the loss of the small payment included with the usual student fees has led to some big changes to Massey’s student publications.
All around the world, things go a little bit green on St Patrick’s Day as token Irishfolk embrace the festivities and set about downing 13 million pints of Guinness. And, as part of a global effort to make March 17 officially the friendliest day of the year, Lion and Zephyr have put Guinness back on TV for the first time in 12 years with a campaign featuring very funny Irish comedian Jimeoin.
MSN’s recent investment in local news production and global news and video content is paying off big time, with latest Omniture figures showing a whopping 48 percent year-on-year upswing in unique browsers (UBs) visiting MSN’s news portal, up 250,000 to 771,000. In contrast, over the same period, UBs visiting rival Yahoo’s news offering dropped more than ten percent, from 1.7 million to 1.5 million. (Source: Nielsen MI).
As part of its efforts to push the barrow of ideas-led PR and discuss its impact on business in the modern world, the CAANZ Marcomms Leadership Group is putting on the Re-imagining PR event in Auckland on 21 March and bringing the brains behind the Cannes 2011 PR Grand Prix winning NAB Break Up campaign and the PR Gold Lion winning Bundaberg Watermark campaign, as well as Lynne Anne Davis from Asia Pacific PR agency of the year, Fleishman Hillard Asia Pacific, to New Zealand. We know it’s easy to come up with examples of PR gone wrong, but if you post an example of good PR that has helped a business or person, you could get yourself a ticket to the event worth $290.
It’s been a rough old time in the movie industry lately. The last few years have seen a general decline in ticket sales, partly from the competition of video-piracy and video-games, but also because some punters actually prefer watching the latest releases on DVD from the comforts of their own home. With advances in home entertainment rapidly evolving, cinema owners are having to up the ante, launching sophisticated technology not available in the average home. Synchronised motion effects built into cinema seats are the industry’s latest tactic to attract moviegoers—and they could offer some creative advertising opportunities as well.
It’s pretty tough going in the retail sector at the moment. And, as the digital wave keeps breaking, it’s increasingly important to try and keep up with the play. And, thanks to Westfield, local retailers will be able to get their heads around some of the issues affecting the sector at the inaugural Retail Brain Food for Breakfast Seminar in Auckland next month.
As of yesterday, Kiwi FM could add “60 percent” in front of its name, as MediaWorks announced a new format that will see the introduction of 40 percent international music. But while the fully New Zealand playlist is set to be sacrificed, the government cash it receives won’t be.
In a move that creates the largest design group in all Australasia, Designworks has expanded its Australian presence by welcoming branding business Yello Sydney into the group.
The country’s favorite food magazine turns 25 years old this month, but Cuisine editor Sarah Nicholson isn’t resting on any laurels, in fact she’s set her sights even higher.
The ’80s were a wonderous time. Big hair, big lunches, big phones. But back in 1987, wine was in and beer was out, so it was also a time of pain and suffering for many bemulleted, beer-loving Kiwi males. And the latest historical campaign celebrating DB Export Dry’s 25th anniversary aims to bring the brown stuff back into fashion by poking fun at wine.
The bastion of business news, The National Business Review (NBR) is looking for fresh blood, as staff leave the building in droves in search of greener pastures.
Hudson has released its latest salary and employment insights document for 2012. And, with modest optimistic hiring intentions across the sales, marketing and communications (SMC) profession in both Australia and New Zealand, it’s picking plenty of competition in the quest for talent this year.
“The review will be completed by mid-October 2011.” Those were the words used in a statement sent by Vodafone in late July last year after it decided to shift from its agency of four years Colenso and move the troops up the road to .99 during the RFP process. Now, almost seven months later, and after a pitch was held in December, no decision has been made. So what gives?
After successfully completing initial projects through the year, BCG2 has been awarded the Canon New Zealand consumer business, which includes cameras, lenses, printers and printing consumables. It replaces Ballantyne Taylor, which maintains its role as Canon’s B2B agency.
A media review by ANZ has seen SparkPHD get the call up as the bank’s Australasian agency, which means Ogilvy Media now misses out on the spoils in New Zealand and Spark PHD will resign the BNZ account it currently holds.
Kiwi director Taika Waititi is currently trying to drum up some cash in order to get Boy shown in the US. And, after being nominated for an Oscar, directing a couple of Flight of the Conchords episodes and starring in The Green Lantern, his star keeps rising, as evidenced by this big musical number he directed for NBC that showed before its superbowl coverage.
It’s nearly a year since the Canterbury region suffered one of the biggest earthquakes our country has seen. It’s time to reflect and remember those who lost their lives, homes, jobs and loved ones, even forgo a latte or two to show some support for the region. So what are you doing on 22 February? How about showing Christchurch you care?
Kono is already exporting its wares to 25 countries, but the Nelson-based Wakatū Incorporation’s food and beverage business arm is hoping to increase that number—and its exports to Asia—after being given a big brand spruce up by Wellington agency Mission Hall.
For one night only New Zealand’s best cheesemakers will showcase their award-winning fare at Monteith’s CheeseFest on Wednesday 29 February. Keen as mustard? We have three double passes to give away…
Consumers generally aren’t too enamoured with large corporate entities, even less so in this climate of occupation. And Telecom, with its monopolistic heritage and less than enviable recent track record, is looking for all the love it can get. So, in an effort to show that it isn’t just a faceless corporation and really does care about its customers, its direct agency Rapp Tribal came up with a creative way for the employees of one of the country’s biggest companies to show their thanks.
In the rush to satiate our appetite for smart phones, manufacturers are launching newer smarter mobiles every other day. Yesterday Nokia launched its new Lumia Windows phone. And Samsung’s getting in on the act for its soon-to-launch Galaxy Note with a clever marketing mix of pop culture and celebrity endorsement.