The General Strike, The Springbok Tour, Bastion Point, the Aotea Square riots … There have been many famous New Zealand revolutions; many examples of the masses banding together and showing their dissatisfaction. But none of them really compare to the recent consumer uprising to get Tip Top to bring back the Mint Trumpet and the Grapefruit and Lemon Fruju.
After skipping last week’s #markchat due to the Pike River memorial, the Twitter stream will once again be flowing freely at 12:30pm today, with the topic being ‘personal authenticity vs professional brand – where do they meet and diverge?’ Also, for all those unable to ‘attend’ the chat, we’ll choose the five most salient/interesting comments made during #markchat and a link to the summary blog post.
It calls itself “the world’s largest online newsstand” and “the world’s premier magazine reader for iPad” and now Zinio New Zealand is offering digital versions of some of the country’s top selling magazines for just 99c during December. And, to sweeten this Christmas deal, you can get up to 25 percent off annual subscriptions from selected titles and the first 500 users to register and purchase a selected subscription in December will also go into the draw to win an iPad. Even if you aren’t trendy enough to have an iPad, the mags on offer can still be read on boring old PCs and Macs. Check out the magazines on offer here.
Earlier this year at Semi Permanent, Dick Frizzell gave Design Daily a taster of what he had planned by way of designs for the 2011 Rugby World Cup. And now the seven designs that will adorn the tournament’s official apparel have finally been unveiled.
… as Designworks gets its hands on an experienced British interactive campaigner; 18 more PR practitioners stick an internationally-recognised certificate on their fridge; Dubsat New Zealand announces a new general manager; Young & Shand add a couple more digi-boffins to the roster; and a new job site for the creative industries in Australia and New Zealand goes live.
A highly successful PR campaign for the New Zealand Rugby Foundation (NZRF) has won a group of AUT Communications students the annual Network PR Practice Award, which recognises excellence in the planning and executing of real life campaigns for not-for-profit organisations.
Dow Design has given those purveyors of meaty Kiwi goodness, Hellers, a bit of a makeover, rolling out a new logo, new packaging and a positioning statement of ‘NZ’s butcher’.
As we all know, it’s been a tough few years at the marcomms coalface. But StopPress is here to help. So if you’re gagging for a bit more business in 2011, then there are a couple of clients currently looking to be wowed, with New Zealand Post Group and the Royal New Zealand Ballet (RNZB) both calling for Expressions of Interest.
…Federation adds a big name and a few newbies to the full-time roster; Christchurch’s Carter Price Rennie says hello to two new senior consultants; Pead PR sends one of its own to set up a Sydney office; another change in the TVNZ marketing department; and the resignation of Fairfax chief executive Brian McCarthy is linked to a mysterious Kiwi newspaper executive.
Just as the media love a good end of year list, trade mags love to rank performance with a good end of year awards ceremony. And so far it’s Colenso BBDO, Special Group, DDB, AIM Proximity, SparkPHD and The Sweet Shop that are leading the Kiwi charge.
The DB Export brand team, Honor Dillon and Dave Shoemack
The rather interesting story of Morton Coutts, the serial inventor, crafty bugger, co-founder of DB breweries and brewer of DB Export, has been spread fairly widely across the ad landscape over the last few months after Colenso BBDO’s rather large relaunch of the brand. The father of the Export family, DB Export, is currently back on shelves for a limited period as part of a 50th anniversary celebration. And ‘Morton’ and a few of his friends are once again dishing out some liquid Christmas cheer as part of its ‘Workplace Shout’ promotion.
Following on from news about a billboard constructed from broken plates and glasses, DraftFCB has also launched a rather novel billboard for UNICEF. And, in a very impressive display of very time-consuming needlework, it’s made entirely of wool.
Christchurch certainly hasn’t had an easy time of it over the last few months. But one positive aspect of the earthquake has been the banding together of those affected and the lengths many New Zealanders have gone to to offer their support. The Restaurant Association of New Zealand has already raised money for its southern counterparts with events in Queenstown and at the Grove Restaurant in Auckland. And now a billboard constructed from broken plates and glass from some of the hardest hit restaurants in Christchurch has been employed to try and get the punters to book their Christmas parties and support the city’s local restaurateurs.
NZ Post announced its intention to snatch some of the Auckland directories market off Yellow and TradeMe in late October with a new start-up called Localist. And its first outdoor offensive has begun, with billboards going up around Auckland in the last few days. And, as well as talking up its own new offering, which is set to launch next year, they certainly don’t shy away from sticking the boot into the quality of the opposition’s services, something Yellow has acknowledged recently and is hoping to rectify with a big cash injection.
Who’s it for: Hallensteins by Publicis Mojo and Thick as Thieves
Why we like it: For a mainstream clothing retailer, this spot, filmed in black and white, set to the massive indie tune from US band Sleigh Bells and the first piece of work from Publicis Mojo …
After delving into the murky waters of PR measurement earlier this year, the CAANZ Marcomms Leadership Group, along with the Marketing Association and New Zealand online research company Buzz Channel, is now aiming to find out how much of the marketing pie the PR and Experiential realm has by conducting a nationwide survey.
You’ve probably heard of a blind taste test. But a blind test drive?
It’s that time of year again, when journalists and editors who can see the Christmas lights at the end of the tunnel start compiling end of year lists on a vast array of topics. StopPress is even lazier than that, however, because we haven’t created our own (yet) and instead we’ve just decided to point out lists that have already been created. Still, research suggests there’s nothing better than a good list, and these two compilations are most definitely in that category.
World-first alert! The next piece in the rather large ASB puzzle was released on Sunday, with 50 New Zealand consumers playing their part in what the campaign creators believe to be the world’s first-ever ‘mobile ad-venture’, an “immersive film” called Lost that was created to promote its new mobile banking services.
Not surprisingly, ’tis very retail heavy on the ad front this week and there’s not too much that’s rising above the rabble in the lead-up to the festive season. In fact, the most notable feature of the week was the decision by ONE news not to run any ads during its coverage of the Pike River Mine disaster.
New Zealand has one of the highest rates of per capita magazine consumption in the world. And, despite plenty of crowing from the online sector about increasing revenue—and more than a few digi-evangelists still predicting the demise of paper—the domestic magazine market continues to grow.
As we all know, it’s the thought that counts. But that really doesn’t matter at all if it’s a crap thought. As such, the amount of cash you splash is what counts in these consumerist days. And Kiwis’ Christmas shopping habits have been unwrapped (geddit?) in a new survey that has discovered stuff you probably already knew.
The 2011 Axis Call for Entries has gone out. And, in keeping with the event’s unashamed focus on creativity, new convenor of judges Tony Bradbourne says there are a few exciting innovations, like the move from a Word file to a PDF, the change from Times to the more modern typeface Gotham and a couple of subtle changes to some of the categories.
“Winning a Canon” will be the new goal for the nation’s journalists and publishers after news the electronics giant has taken over from Qantas as naming rights sponsor of New Zealand’s premier media awards.
Those cheeky creative Wellington chappies have been in stellar promotional form this year. And in a fitting farewell to 2010, Positively Wellington Tourism’s digital marketing team and Clemenger BBDO have launched their latest trick, a digital advent calendar.
Tangible Media announced that it would be making some changes to Good magazine back in October. Well, the makeover is now complete, with a fresh editorial direction from new editor Sarah Heeringa and a snazzy redesign by art director Sally Fullam. And, freegans rejoice, for the reluanch edition of the mag that goes on sale on Monday 6 December also comes with a free copy of very handy Good Shopping Handbook.
There’s nothing better than making fun of twee town slogans (aside perhaps from coming up with your own). And a contest run by grabaseat and BillieTees called ‘Love Your Town’ has unearthed a few crowd-sourced beauts, with Cecilia of the West Coast and her ‘She’ll be Whitebait’ effort chosen as the worthy winner.
I got three main insights from this week’s Marketing Forum, an annual assembly of New Zealand’s top marketers. Hats off to the Marketing Association which once again pulled in 100-plus of our most senior marketers to compare notes, share war stories and drink modestly. Well mostly.
The scramble for free television advertising space is on after TVNZ announced applications are open for its CSR programme, which gives a handsome $50k worth of filler time every month for two years to four national charities or NGOs.
You might know them as the directors of the uber-summery, very New Zealandy commercials for Tip Top and the Interislander. But before Louis Sutherland and Mark Albiston sold their souls to the Sweet Shop and got into directing ads, they made a couple of short films. And their last effort, the Six Dollar Fifty Man, has made the Academy Awards long-list.