Lürzer’s Archive is considered to be one of the most prominent and influential voices in the world of advertising and design. And with four issues of the bi-annual 200 Best Ad Photographers worldwide and three issues of 200 Best Illustrators worldwide under its belt, it’s now added the 200 Best Packaging Design worldwide 2010/2011 to the list. And we’ve got some Lürzer’s goodies to give away.

Matt Shirtcliffe from recently born agency Shirtcliffe & Co and Darryl Wong and Kenton Osmond from RAPP, will be the guest speakers for the New Zealand Post Targeted Communications’ hugely popular and completely free direct marketing workshops. So get in quick if you want to hear their numerous pearls of wisdom.

Bloomsberry calls itself the inventor of the world’s most fashionable chocolate. And the Kiwi-founded, London-based company is living up to that reputation: its trendy, chocolatey wares are now being stocked in selected outlets of one of the UK’s most fashionable High St clothing chains, Top Shop.

It was an offer too good to refuse and after just six months in operation, indie agency Josh & Jamie have made their first creative signing: the entire Assignment Group staff roster. Or, slightly more accurately, J&J founders Josh Lancaster and Jamie Hitchcock will soon be nestling into the nurturing bosom of Assignment Group.

Air New Zealand’s daily deals website grabaseat.co.nz has appointed Trade Me’s advertising sales team to manage its existing advertising placement programme from 1 August, making it the second external website along with interest.co.nz to have its advertising exclusively sold by the Trade Me team.

Candida, Kinetic 121 and New Zealand Post Targeted Communications have sounded the horn for entries into this year’s Art of the Envelope awards. And while the creative postal interpretations will be sure to arouse all who lay eyes upon them, the bcg² campaign that shows some well-known marketing characters bringing the sexy back to the humble envelope is possibly even more stimulating.

After some big account wins last year, DraftFCB has gone on a bit of hiring spree to keep up, signing on Nick Smith as the head of craft, Steve McCabe as senior writer, Roslyn Koskela as the new HR manager, and four other humans for account service, media planning and creative.

Five years ago Gary Lee, the founder of E2 Digital, and Neil Cameron, the managing director of Christchurch advertising agency Harvey|Cameron, had lunch. And what they talked about at that lunch—joining forces to create a fully integrated communications company—physically came to fruition earlier this week. 

When New Zealand Post isn’t deciding what marketing-related events to sponsor, it’s devising ways to make some more money to pay for them all. And the Targeted Communications team thinks it has a big one on its hands with Genius, a ground-smasher of a new data segmentation product that aims to provide Kiwi marketers with the most targeted consumer information available in New Zealand.

Japanese tech behemoth Toshiba has followed up its sponsorship of the Rugby World Cup in 2007 by signing on as an official sponsor for next year’s event. And Pernod Ricard New Zealand, with its newly named international version of Montana, Brancott Estate, is also on board.

Tabulations are complete and the calculators have done their business for the 2010 Qantas Film and Television Awards, with a total of 637 entries being received. And while it’s two down on last year’s total, the award organisers feel it is a clear indication of the continuing “strength and resilience of New Zealand’s film and television industries”.

While most normal people merely think about ridiculous ideas and never actually go through with them, the beauty of the ad industry is that agencies are often given a big bunch of cash to make those ridiculous ideas come true. And that’s exactly what Colenso has done with its latest—and awesome—ladder-inspired campaign for V’s new Isokinetic, guarana infused energy drink.

With a solid crowd to make the obligatory live crosses from Breakfast weatherman Tamati Coffey look good, the spray painting talents of the Cut Collective and a host of confused-looking commuters gazing up at a giant billboard as they powered to work, Cadbury kicked off its nationwide roadshow for the Billboard to Bags campaign this morning at ‘experiential venue’ 1 Queen St in Auckland.