Glenn Jameson has “been putting out fires his entire career and now wants to start some”, Raydar’s long serving creative director hands over the baton, James Coleman gets up early, ex APNer Greg Hornblow moves into real estate, and, fresh from swallowing Mitchells, Aegis launches a new innovation unit.
Super Bowl ads are known for generating buzz—and viewers—but not all creatives are created equal. Chrysler courted controversy and won kudos for a two-minute Super Bowl advertisement that was less a car sales pitch than a rousing political message in election year. Chrysler ignored the unwritten rules of Super Bowl advertising – to be brief and funny, for the second year in a row. But it was still voted best ad of the event. Volkswagen’s The Dog Strikes Back was a distant second and M&M’s dancing candy ad polled third (results here).
Earlier this year All Black hero Piri Weepu recorded his third Smokefree advertisement, made by the Health Sponsorship Council and Base Two. His appearance in two earlier Smokefreee ads had been so successful they inspired both his brother, and his mum Kura Weepu, to quit smoking. But now, a furore by the ‘breast-is-best brigade” has seen a two second clip of Weepu dropped from the new 2011 ad, for *gasp* bottle feeding his baby daughter.
Apparently retail is dead. Online shopping is destroying it and, if you believe the hype,all the malls will soon be full of tumble-weeds. Due to constantly improving and sophisticated e-commerce, e-tailers like Amazon, or little online ‘stores’ set up and run through TradeMe it would seem that consumers have very little incentive to shop at brick and mortar stores any more. The social aspects of shopping are now being attacked by start-ups like Svpply. And group buying and the tipping point theory are still there as well. So why are the malls are not empty yet?
Brands increasingly need to look for creative ways to make the most of their sponsorship dollars. And bands increasingly need to look for creative ways to make money. So, what better way to do both of these things than by filming and editing a pretty bloody good music video in one rather manic day at Auckland’s last Big Day Out, something Kiwi band I am Giant and Speight’s Summit did.
As smartphones become more prevalent, QR codes are picking up steam and are now seen more regularly on ads, on products and even on t-shirts at festivals in Poland. Most of the time, the fairly ugly, alien-esque black and white shapes are employed to disseminate information—or offers—but there are some pretty creative options now available (Kiwi company Set QR is leading the way in this regard) and one of the coolest QR executions we’ve seen recently is this print ad for Panasonic that was made by Publicis Mojo Auckland to go on the cover of trade publication Wares Magazine.
Given the recent overhaul to the CAANZ awards programme, those hoping for glory at this year’s Media Awards are being pushed in the direction of the ‘How to write an award winning entry’ workshop next Thursday so that entry writers can adapt to the changes.
An ongoing investigation into a bug found under a plane tree has won New Zealand’s most coveted media prize. Number 8 Wire, an online community news service in Waikato settlement Gordonton, scooped the latest Alcohol Sponsorship Press Award with its breaking stories about the life cycle of a caterpillar.
BCG2 Health appears to be revelling in its niche at the moment after a couple of good wins and it’s toasting to more good health because, after a competitive pitch, Fisher and Paykel Healthcare has shacked up with the agency to launch a digital consumer and trade campaign in the US, a key market for its range of sleep apnoea medical devices.
Special Group duo Kim Fraser and Sarah Frizzell took the combined Dec/Jan ORCA with their ’91 Days of Summer’ campaign for Streets Ice Cream. They made 91 different ads, turning each day of summer into a national day. “December 4. National Weta Freak Out Day. Nothing says summer like a weta under that thing you just picked up. Is it a giant insect or a tiny brown crayfish? Doesn’t matter, your boyfriend still needs to man up, and grab a glass and a piece of cardboard.”
Once again, CAANZ and The Sweet Shop are set to send two young Kiwi creatives off to Thailand as part of its sponsorship of the Adfest Lotus Award. And another two Kiwis who have already shown their creative chops, the hot-to-trot directing collective Special Problems, have just signed up with The Sweet Shop for commercial and branded content work worldwide.
Tait Communications is one of New Zealand’s best under-the-radar business success stories and is a great example of a local tech company finding its niche and selling its wares in the international market. And, in an effort to better reflect the company’s transformation into a “world-leading solutions provider” rather than just a radio manufacturer, Designworks Wellington has given it a spiffy new visual identity, slogan and website.
It began as a cool marketing move by BMW: paying a paltry sum to have the name of its Mini Cooper Roadster associated with the cold snap engulfing Europe. But the car firm will rueing its decision now, after the freezing weather killed more than 130 people and sent over 500 to hospital.
British supermarket chain Sainsbury’s are enjoying a boon of newfound popularity, after a customer service response went terribly right.
There’s been a bit happening in the aviation scene lately: Air New Zealand has shifted to DraftFCB (and Saatchi’s), the nation’s alpha chief executive Rob Fyfe is hanging up his captain’s uniform in December, there are rumours of Emirates changes afoot and Qantas has just announced the appointment of Mango as its public relations agency in New Zealand after a competitive pitch.
The oft-stated wonder of the online realm for advertisers is the utility it provides and the creative opportunities it affords. And while that utility isn’t often harnessed as effectively as it could be, a campaign to launch Hellers’ new range of burger patties by Christchurch agency Simpatico, which recently rebranded from UMC, shows what can be done with a bit of nifty thinking.
What message would you give the love of your life, if you had the chance for it to be displayed on a billboard over two metres high, for everyone to see? This year, Westfield is giving everyone, not just out-of-home aficionados, the chance to take part in this ultimate display of public affection. And one winner will also receive a shiny sparkly diamond ring, to the value of $5999 from Michael Hill. Yuss.
M&C Saatchi has taken recycling up a notch, hiring former Clemenger BBDO group account director Jonathan Hales as its Wellington-based business director. Hales was recently laid off after 13 years at Clemenger, where he set up its design agency, Clemenger Design, and led accounts such as ACC, New Zealand Post and the Rugby World Cup 2011.
Digital communications agency Jericho doubles in size, hires two newbies and turns a corner, Richard Buddle buddies up with Aprais, JML strengthens its arsenal by hiring a number of double-barrelled guns, and technology company Optimizer HQ makes a strategic acquisition that would make Optimus Prime proud.
Following in the footsteps of Facebook Deals, Groupon Now and other large deal-providers offering location-specific discounts in real-time, GrabOne has launched its version in New Zealand, Instant. And, on the same day, Flossie.com has also relaunched itself as “a quiet-time appointment channel for the hair and beauty industry” in an effort to tap into the burgeoning deal-hunting consumer movement.
We’ve seen plenty of manvertising in recent times, with the likes of Mammoth, Lion Red, Speight’s Summit and NZTA all taking the over-the-top masculine approach to appeal to the guys (and, often, the girls). Obviously, the next logical step in this creative evolution was manchildvertising, so, to launch Arnott’s Shapes Roadies in the New Zealand market, Y&R Auckland and Finch director Alex Roberts constructed an oversized carseat, embraced the green screen and filmed “three manchildren on a roadtrip behaving like manchildren on a roadtrip” as part of its rather absurd but quite funny ‘Feed the Manchild’ campaign.
The booze laws are in for a bit of a tune-up this year, with a yet-to-be-announced, Government appointed panel set to bang heads over things like the role of alcohol sponsorship, price controls and industry self-regulation of advertising. Of all the beer brands, Tui is probably the one most often singled out for pushing the envelope, both for its controversial, long-running, PC-busting billboards and for supposedly using sex to sell beer with the Tui brewery girls. But the numerous complainers haven’t stopped it from continuing to use cheekiness and humour in its ads and, carrying on the popular tradition of using brewery raids, elaborate disguises and gnomes—Saatchi & Saatchi and The Sweet Shop have launched another entertaining brand ad for Tui Blond lager.
Amanda Stevenson
From the Police to marketing then consulting, Amanda Stevenson had multi-career success – a few years ago, she’d done it all, except graduate from university. But now the 51-year-old manager has realised her goal, completing the University of Auckland’s post-graduate diploma in business studies in 2010. She says it’s given her confidence and broadened her thinking.
Last year New Zealanders spent more time than ever watching television. While the average person’s viewing time of three hours and 22 minutes per day remained unchanged from 2010, more people tuned in each day, resulting in growth of total hours viewed up two percent.
The high-quality animation makes this latest Red Bull cinema commercial really stand out. So much so, we’re declaring it this week’s TVC of the week.
Credits: The ad was placed in NZ by Lassoo; but the agency and film company are not known.
Slim pickings today, in terms of industry comings and goings. Fortunately, hot on the heels of a news portal overhaul and freshly minted partnership with news agency AAP, online media company MSN New Zealand have kicked off the year with three new appointments.
Collaborations between musicians and artists have brought us some of the most memorable pop culture images of the last 50 years. Think iconic images such as the Sex Pistols’ God Save The Queen, or The Velvet Underground and Andy Warholʼs famous collaboration. And now Beck’s is hoping for similar success tomorrow when it launches a new series of limited edition labels designed with the help of local talent.
Tourism Australia has released a list of 100 ‘must-do’ activities to mark Australia Day in New Zealand, in a bid to get Kiwis enthused about crossing the Tasman on their next holiday.
As Brancott Estate rolls out a contemporary new look across its entire wine range, it’s also releasing a new app bringing together the worlds of wine and entertainment via QR code.
Liquidators for failed advertising agency The Media Counsel are briefing the Serious Fraud Office and the Companies Office on the company’s affairs, after unsecured creditors were informed they are unlikely to receive any money they are owed.