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.
The latest magazine circulation and readership figures came out last week, replete with a few significant changes to the research methodology and mostly downward-trending numbers. But, as ex Saatchi & Saatchi big wig and current Assignment Group don Peter Cullinane discussed at the Nielsen Innovation Seminar this week, magazines still have a very good story to tell because they have higher levels of engagement than other mediums, something a few publishers are trying to tap into with recent changes to their products.
What GFC? The beans have been counted, the results are in, and it’s all good news for online. The IABNZ/PwC Insight report released today had the total online ad spend up nearly a quarter on the previous year. Display advertising has overtaken classifieds for the first time, up $1.27m (4.80 percent) on its previous quarter, making it the biggest quarter for display since PwC started measuring, back in 2007. The total online advertising spend in New Zealand for 2011 was $328.11 million, up 24.16 percent from 2010.
Barfoot & Thompson, New Zealand’s largest privately owned real estate company, has appointed Big Communications as its advertising and direct marketing agency, taking over from Voice.
Poor old Dick. A big load of stores appear to be on the chopping block here and in Australia. And, as this photo by Ana Samways shows, its Valentine’s Day promotion may have gone a bit hard on the innuendo. It’s almost as good as its ‘floating phone’ promotion.
Judging by the amount of recruitment news this week, it appears plenty of folk began the year looking for greener pastures. Thick As Thieves has stolen Colenso BBDO’s art director Jae Morrison, marketing maven Simone Iles finds a new Post, Wellington Tourism gets some absolutely positive additions to the team, Paul Gardiner crosses the line wearing lycra, Gareth Davies joins RedYeti Films, Fee-fi-fo-fum finds the Ideas Shop, Market Pulse reaches for ignition, Hitchcock directs Flying Fish (no birds in sight), APN Outdoor’s Friends in High Places line-up gets a shakeup, The Sweet Shop moves even further into Asia, Prodigy signs Bradstreet boy, and Blair Haeata joins Ngage.
Larrie Moore, the founding marketing director for 2degrees, has quit the mobile operator.
A radio stunt giving away an all-expenses paid divorce on Valentine’s Day on The Rock FM has backfired in spectacular fashion on the shock jocks behind it. Notorious pranksters Robert Taylor and Jono Pryor, ran the ‘win a divorce’ competition on Valentines Day, despite a raft of negative media attention both here and overseas. A listener could win the divorce on condition they broke up with their unsuspecting spouse live on air. But it was a lesbian couple who had the last laugh, sabotaging the competition and turning on the presenters, leaving them speechless for the first time.
As sponsors of the Wellington International Sevens, Nikon set out to build brand awareness amongst the thousands of fans that turn out for New Zealand’s biggest annual party. With a bit of help from BRR Ltd, it created an integrated campaign that stood out in the stadium and saw its fan base rocket up a whopping 850 percent.
Given the commercial slant of Valentine’s Day, and the willingness consumers have to shell out for objects for the objects of affection, there’s never any shortage of interesting creative ideas clamouring for attention at this time of the year. Some of them are pretty good, most of them aren’t. But here are a couple of local examples that caught our attention.
MediaWorks TV is recruiting for a director of sales to replace Linda Farrelly, who has resigned and is taking complete time out for six months. She will rejoin the company in a consultancy capacity later in the year.