Of note in this glut of ads from the gloaming, Sunday Star Times loves origami, Visa finds a Gem, Whittaker’s looks to the little people with a small peanut slab, Hyundai goes large and, of course, the crazy yelling dog that will stop at nothing to get bacon.
As we’ve seen recently, a dose of bad PR can bring big brands to their knees fairly quickly. But when used for good rather than evil, it can add momentum to marketing, as Claudia Macdonald wrote last week. And to show the best examples of PR-led campaigns from around the world, the CAANZ Marcomms Leadership Group (MLG) has chosen its top ten from the past two years.
They just won the rugby. And soon the Aussies might also be photoshopping Dan and Honor, designing our Y-fronts and marketing a range of clothing, shoe and houseware labels because it seems Pacific Brands has decided to close down the marketing and design departments in New Zealand and move the whole shebang to its Melbourne base.
After the huge success of Powerswitch, Consumer NZ has waded into the murky waters of the telco industry and set up another price comparison website called Tel Me, which covers internet, landline, mobile, TV and mobile broadband services and hopes to clear up some of the confusion that has long characterised the industry.
It’s a prerequisite for any bonafide rock god or goddess to drive a cool car. And Audi New Zealand is coming to the party for this Thursday’s Battle of the Ad Bands at the Kings Arms, offering the winning band a brand new Audi A1 Sport Plus to share for a month.
In a highly controversial move, Flying Fish has just announced the addition of Bob Kerrigan to its line up of directors, an appointment executive producer James Moore calls “strategic”.
After ‘pinkfistgate’ and ‘Adidebacle’, the nation is on high alert for more RWC-related marketing clangers. And while nowhere near the same degree, we felt duty bound to tell you about one that’s just been outed in Nelson.
On the back of some solid advertising revenue increases, TVNZ has reported underlying earnings of $32 million for the financial year ended 30 June 2011, a $19.8 million or 164 percent increase on the previous financial year. And across town, Sky also announced impressive financial results and subscriber numbers.
Australia’s third annual Effie Awards were announced yesterday in Sydney, with Happy Soldiers taking out The Grand Effie for its Tontine ‘use-by’ pillow campaign and Clemenger BBDO Melbourne taking out The Effective Agency of the Year.
Your Song
Your Song
Twist
Gentle Waves
There’s been a bit of a hullaballoo in the loo paper industry this week after Asia Pulp and Paper subsidiary Cottonsoft was accused by Greenpeace of using Indonesian rainforest timber in its products. But while one manufacturer attempts to quell the consumer and retailer backlash, another is attempting to link itself with high fashion with the unveiling of this year’s Kleenex Cottonelle Couture Collection.
When it comes to out-of-home, size matters. And New Zealand hasn’t seen anything too much bigger than the 23 metre wide and 54 metre high wrap that’s been stuck on to the Tower Building in Auckland.
News that tech talisman Steve Jobs would hang up his black chief executive turtleneck due to ongoing health issues sent Apple’s stock price swiftly downwards. Of course, the company’s phenomenal success can be put down to the amazing products Jobs and his team created, but also to the savvy marketing campaigns that promoted them and Ad Age has compiled a retrospective of Apple’s top commercials, including classics like the now slightly ironic Orwellian ad to launch the Mackintosh, PC vs Mac, the iPod silhouettes and a range of clever interactive trickery.
iSite Media, New Zealand’s largest out of home advertising supplier, has entered into an agreement to purchase all of OTW’s billboard sites. But the deal will only go ahead if the Commerce Commission believes it won’t substantially lessen competition in the market.
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The pics from the Amazing Travelling Photobooth were a feast for the eyes. But we know you’re not full just yet. So make sure you tuck in to a big helping of Getty Images’ snaps from the TVNZ-NZ Marketing Awards at the Langham last night. Mmmm, glamorous.
You marketing types can’t resist pulling out a blue steel or two in a photo booth after a few wines. Click the expand button on the bottom right to see all the glamour shots/compromising evidence up close. And if you want the wonderous machine to come to your next event, check out the Amazing Travelling Photobooth website here.
The 2011 TVNZ-NZ Marketing Awards were dished out last night at the Langham in Auckland in front of around 450 industry bods and a host of game changers and bar-raisers—some well-accustomed to collecting such awards, some venturing up on stage for the first time—were announced. But it was Progressive Enterprises that came away with the most coveted award of the night for merging three of its supermarket brands into one and forging a bold new positioning based on an enhanced definition of consumer value.
At a time when traditional retailers are struggling, the trendsetting soothsayers believe pop-up stores and venues are one of the next big marketing things. And judging by the number, er, popping up for the Rugby World Cup, maybe they’re right.
The Design Issue of the recently redesigned and relaunched Idealog is out now. And it’s the first mag with ex-NBR advertising newshound Hazel Phillips’ name attached as editor (“It’s awesome. Buy it. Or else,” she says with positive aggression). Highlights include the cover story on Avanti’s success, a man who’s selling coffee machines to Italians and Vincent Heeringa’s look at design-led food and beverages. Check out everything else that’s on offer here and, for all those with fancy jabscreen machines, you can download the latest issue on Zinio for a measly $6 here.
The smell of sponsorship campaigns gone wrong is wafting around the country at the moment and, with just over two weeks left until RWC kick off, there are probably a few nervous sponsors hoping they don’t get flamed like Adidas and Telecom. But there’s little chance of that happening with Landrover, KPMG or recently announced official watch sponsor TAG Heur, which have all got in on the act.
A few weeks back agencies around the country were asked to put their thinking caps on by The Press and come up with a campaign to support the fundraising efforts required to rebuild the new Court Theatre in Christchurch. And the indie pairing of Shirtcliffe and Co. and Lassoo have come away with the win—as well as a long lunch and a chopper ride—for a campaign that used well known Shakespeare quotations.
We all know Kiwis suck at getting their tickets early and love nothing more than giving event organisers coronaries by leaving it all until the last minute. So, for all of you who fit into that category, there are still some tickets available to the TVNZ-NZ Marketing Awards being held tomorrow night at the Langham. Get ’em here and bask in the glory of the nation’s biggest game changers. And while you’re at it, check out the last instalment of TVNZ’s sponsorship leveraging, this time featuring the night’s MC Te Radar and One News newsreader Greg Boyed offering up some handy tips on effective networking.
Online spending always seems to be on the up every time the IAB releases its quarterly year-on-year ad revenue reports. Figures released for Q2 are no exception with total online advertising spend in Q2 up 19.46 percent to $84.15million. In fact, IABNZ chair and general manager of MSN New Zealand Liz Fraser is feeling so optimistic, she’s already predicting 2011 will experience an overall growth of approximately 20 percent.
Direct and digital specialist Affinity ID has a proud history of boxing above its weight—both in its home market and internationally. And it’s now helping a trio of new internationally focused clients—Les Mills International, publisher PQ Blackwell and magazine stable Trends—do the same by taking their ideas into the global marketplace.
Adhub has won the rights to a couple of rather attractive online properties, becoming the sole agency for display advertising and sponsorship sales representation for allblacks.com and acquiring the New Zealand sales account for LonelyPlanet.com through its relationship with BBC.com.
… as another MediaWorks executive feels the heat, Jeremy Corbett farewells the wireless, Michele Teague departs her Campaign Palace gig, Alt Group’s Dean Poole joins an elite club, Interbrand adds two more humans, Jade Software appoints an international marketing manager, NZ Women’s Weekly names just its fifth ever food editor, a couple more Kiwis are named in Spikes Asia juries, well-known TV director Stuart McDonald joins the Sweet Shop and Sony Ericsson welcomes a new Oceania chief.
Who’s it for: Cadbury by DDB NZ and Goodlife films
Why we like it: Creating a song from the sounds of joy was a brilliant idea for a campaign. And, as this final musical instalment shows, the whole thing, from the experiential elements down to the involvement …
There have been a few savvy campaigns capitalising on the RWC without breaking the rules around sponsorship recently. And there have also been a few campaigns trying to capitalise on the own goals scored by adidas and Telecom. This ‘interactive’ print ad for Tuatara beer by Y&R Wellington cleverly combines the two.
Journalism is dying a slow and painful death. At least, that was the argument put forward by award-winning UK reporter Nick Davies in his 2009 book, Flat Earth News. Well, I disagree entirely.
Whether it’s banks, bacon, lamb, insurance or telcos, there’s no shortage of brands trying to tap into the idea of New Zealandness. And McDonald’s and DDB have just launched a campaign for two particularly Kiwi products that fits snugly into this jingoistic genre by focusing on idiosyncratic domestic habits.
Much like the domestic magazine sector, newspaper readership remained relatively stable in the latest Nielsen reports and the overall trend for circulation continued downwards. And while the online and mobile properties of the two big publishers are continuing to lure Kiwi eyeballs, recent financial results show the digital dimes still aren’t replacing the lost analog dollars.