Questions are hovering over the Telecom account as a result of its planned demerger, and there’s some fresh uncertainty surrounding one of its main rivals, with Colenso BBDO’s hold on the Vodafone account seemingly up in the air.
A quick glance at Fonterra’s media site shows the dairy giant has quite a penchant for talking itself up. Last week it announced it was dropping the price of butter and cheese in line with international price decreases, but its decision to not drop the price of milk as part of a price freeze hasn’t won it any friends. Neither has news this week that it has gone after boutique cheese-makers, asking them to cease using the term “vintage” on their products, because it says it trademarked the term back in the 60s. Can you smell that? Like DB’s Radler, it’s the stench of a corporate attempting to wield its power. But will Fonterra’s case stand up in court?
Last year the PR and Experiential industry—and many from outside it—got into a rather heated debate about the merits of campaign measurement and, specifically, the controversial role of AVE (advertising value equivalents) in PR measurement. Now, after running a local survey, studying global trends and listening to a range of opinions, the CAANZ Marcomms Leadership Group has developed a guideline that sets out some clear parameters for measurement and offers a list of metrics for consideration, including our old friend AVE.
13 glorious days of advertising fodder for you in this edition of Ads@6. Of note: Vodafone shares a little too much information, split personalities via 2Degrees, Benadryl enlists the help of a creepy miniature monkey puppet and some dodgy special effects from Big Save Furniture.
It was announced yesterday that French group Ipsos has agreed to take global market research company Synovate off the hands of Aegis Group for NZ$987 million. But Synovate’s research director Jonathan Dodd says the change of ownership is unlikely to have much of an effect on Synovate’s New Zealand operations.
When Paul Henry was signed up by MediaWorks to host the drive show on RadioLive, there was an understanding he’d be involved in the occasional TV project as well. But aside from an interview on 60 Minutes, the bespectacled cackling offender has been slightly conspicuous by his absence on the telly. That will all change on Friday night when a self- (and dwarf) deprecating skit about his fictional quest to make the autobiographical potboiler What was I thinking into a movie airs on The Jono Project on TV3.
Out-of-home advertising often relies on purty pictures and/or catchy phrases to capture the attention of passersby as they go about their business. But Adshel and University of Melbourne neuroscientist Dr Phil Harris have compiled a report that demonstrates how merely noticing something is not enough for consumers to recall a campaign.
Telecom and the MED released a document on Tuesday about its plan to ‘demerge’ and split into two separate entities—the network division Chorus and the retail arm at this stage colloquially known as the ‘New Telecom’—as part of the conditions imposed by the government after its successful bid to build the Ultra Fast Broadband network. And the split, which still requires shareholder and bondholder approval, has led to a fresh round of speculation that it could be a catalyst for changes to its agency roster and might spell the end of Kevin Roberts’ position on the Telecom board.
Put yourself in the shoes of a rugby hater for a moment. Almost everywhere you turn you are bombarded by earnest, emotional ads from sponsors of the All Blacks or the Rugby World Cup talking about long-awaited victory, national pride, unwavering support and inner belief, while the ‘cluster ruck’ of domestic broadcasters (Sky, Rugby Channel, TV3, TV One and Maori TV) screening, repeating and analysing the Big Rugby Event (BRE) means it will probably be quite difficult to escape the tournament when it kicks off. No doubt, there is plenty of excitement in the air, but MediaWorks and Special Group have decided to zig while everyone else is zagging with a cheeky, entertaining new campaign for FOUR that references the overkill and positions the channel as ‘The Home of Not Rugby’.
It’s hard to know who to trust these days. Consumers are still being pushed, pulled and prodded every which way with persuasive claims, snazzy ad campaigns and engaging tweets. Thankfully the Reader’s Digest is here to guide them in the right direction with its Most Trusted Brands list and St John has come out on top in 2011.
bcg2 Health and Spitfire have snaffled a couple more Pfizer brands, after the two combined forces to win the haemophilia treatments pitch for the Xyntha and BeneFIX products in the Australian market against two Aussie agencies. This win adds to the New Zealand haemophilia business that was won in November last year.
Yet more wine to give away and this time it’s to celebrate GrabOne’s first birthday. We’ve got a whole case of the Ant Moore sauvignon blanc to dish out (three labels were designed especially for the occasion by Allan Wrath and a public vote on Facebook decided …
Who’s it for: Kiwi bacon by Buffalo Creative and Curious
Why we like it: Firstly, it’s an ad about bacon and everyone likes bacon (except for the militant vegetarians who complained about Idealog’s new meaty and apparently deeply offensive e-newsletter because it was called The …
There are a few old devastated cultural icons the Christchurch community wants to see rebuilt and the Court Theatre is one of those places. And The Press, whose own building was brought down recently, is getting behind the rebuild by tapping into the New Zealand agencies’ creative power to help with the launch of The Press Long Lunch Competition, a challenge that aims to showcase creativity in newspaper advertising while highlighting The Court Theatre’s upcoming fundraising appeal.
There have been a few charity auctions in recent times as various groups try to help out our beleaguered compatriots in Christchurch. But Saatchi & Saatchi has added a point of difference—and some heavy emotional resonance—to the typical charity auction for its 2011 Women’s Refuge campaign by using Trade Me as a portal both to tell the harrowing stories of those affected by domestic violence and to increase donations.
At a time when consumers are increasingly gravitating towards environmentally and socially responsible products, brands are increasingly ramping up their efforts to show their green stripes. Some of them are legit and based around a very real desire to create a better world, while many others appear to be indulging in a spot of greenwashing. But whatever the motivation, it’s a reaction to a definite and growing consumer trend and APN has responded with Element, “the country’s largest mass-reach social marketing magazine”.
Given Moa’s well-established reputation for marketing cheekiness and the involvement of Pead PR, Darryl Parsons and the lads behind 42 Below in the small but growing beer business, the StopPress cynics initially thought the announcement about the craft brewery signing on as a sponsor for the New Zealand Olympic Team had to be some kind of brazen stunt; another brave/foolish/possibly illegal attempt to gain attention at whatever cost. But, somewhat surprisingly, it’s all true, and Moa is now officially the ‘Beer for Olympians’, the first time a craft brewery has held this level of sponsorship in New Zealand or, as far as the Moans know, the world.
… as Saatchi & Saatchi adds two new senior hires, M&C Saatchi raids Clem’s coffers and signs up three newbies, Nick Worthington gets the nod for Spikes Asia, Kim Ellison departs Hotfoot for freelance fields anew and entries open for the New Zealand Geographic Photographer of the year.
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” class=”oembed” > Advertising is a funny old game. One minute you’re winning global creative accolades for clients, the next you’re wiping away salty tears after being cast aside. That’s pretty much what happened after Orcon dropped Special Group late last year and shacked up with DraftFCB and the new pairing have come up with their first major piece of work, a rather retro, extremely bright and entertainingly self-aware retail campaign to sell its flash new hero product, Genius.
Out-of-home advertising aims to be where the most eyeballs are. But that’s often not quite enough these days and, increasingly, outdoor media owners and agencies are getting creative in an effort to get cut-through and consumer engagement, as evidenced by Barnes, Catmur & Friends’ recent ‘Fiji Me, Please’ Adshel campaign.
A smaller group of Ads@6 this time round. Of note: The overly excited bacon-seeking dog that wishes it had opposable thumbs; Charting the evolution of television through Sony’s new Internet TV; some fine tic tac balancing skills and why wolf-whistling is never really a good look.
The ideal scenario for any ad is that it will leave a memorable impression on the viewer and, probably because of its “soap drama” format, most of us clearly remember Sam and her separated parents from the mini Anchor family drama that made its debut in 1989. That was more than 20 years ago, but anchor has plans to tap into the nostalgia with a new campaign to celebrate its 125th birthday in September.
It’s fair to say that South Pacific Pictures has been on a bit of a roll lately. Its success in developing likeable and sometimes dodgy characters (typically of Shortland Street origin) continues, this time with new TV ONE show Nothing Trivial. According to TVNZ, Wednesday night’s debut episode set a new millennium record for a New Zealand drama debut on television, with an average 516,300 viewers watching the first episode.
Tourism is one of Aotearoa’s biggest earners, so when volcanoes erupt halfway around the world, it tends to cast a bit of a pall over our pulling power.
Air New Zealand’s recent marketing win at the Airline Strategy Awards had some of you questioning the actual value of the campaign in regards to the airline’s bottom line. But it has continued its wit-inspired, celebrity-clad Rico videos and, much like Richard Simmons’ in-flight video appearance made some cringe, the latest celebrity to fly the online video skies with Air New Zealand could well have a similar shuddering effect. The latest online campaign sees Rico get Skycouch-cozy with a number of celebrities, first up, David Hasselhoff. That’s two seedy characters in one video folks.
It’s not always be a pretty sight, but you’ll struggle to pull your eyes and ears away nevertheless. Battle of the Ad Bands 2011 is quickly approaching and if you fancy repeating the success of last year’s winner, TBWA’s ‘Backslash’, you best get registering.
A decision to focus on the tourism sector is the main motivation behind publisher People Media Group’s decision to bid farewell to its Exporter magazine, announcing it has been sold to Adrenalin Publishing.
One glance down the toilet paper aisle reveals that, well, there’s a lot of toilet paper to be had. And so in a bid to stand out from its competition, two years ago Kleenex took its toilet paper and enlisted the help of some would-be fashion designers, asking them to make dresses out of the paper—dresses that were then modelled on the runway of New Zealand Fashion Week. And in 2011, it’s at it again.
That little man with the frizzy brown hair, squeaky voice and bright-coloured lycra might have agitated some, but he’s been part of a marketing recipe for success that has earned Air New Zealand a prestigious global win at the 10th annual Airline Strategy Awards held in London.
We know this much about Dan Carter: He likes heat pumps and certain brands of deodorant and underwear. He’s also an awesome first five-eighth. And now in his latest foray into sponsorship territory as the brand ambassador for Philips electric shavers, we’ve been told a different side of the All Black will be revealed.