DDB NZ has been awarded a place in the top four of Advertising Age’s 2009 International Agency of the Year. Argentina’s Santo took the top prize, with Almap BBDO in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Sid Lee in Montreal and DDB NZ making up the foursome.

With a mix of pomp, ceremony, well-managed PR and a fair bit of international media interest, Air New Zealand today unveiled the final prototype of its new cabin upgrades for the soon-to-arrive fleet of five Boeing 777-300s.

Creativity and originality abound in this year’s New Zealand Post Student Marketer of the Year awards, which aim to honour excellence in marketing strategy, creativity and innovative thinking in tertiary students.

Despite the widely held consensus that the economy is beginning to recover, the effects of recent redundancies and higher levels of unemployment continue to make the sales and marketing job market extremely competitive. And gaining access to leading recruitment resources is crucial for job seekers and employers to find the right position or candidate.

A group of New Zealand’s ‘ultra-premium’ wine producers have established a new marketing group called The Specialist Winegrowers of New Zealand (TSWNZ) and the five founding members hope their obsessive desire for quality (a passion they say could possibly be seen as a mild-form of insanity) might help New Zealand wine escape the commoditisation trap they feel it is currently in danger of falling into.  

Awards are seen as something of a badge of honour in agency land. And so, too, is having staff members chosen as jurors to decide who gets them.

Two New Zealand film-makers, Tim McLachlan and Rajneel Singh, have made it through to the top five in 100% Pure ‘Your Big Break’ short film competition. And Tourism New Zealand is pretty chuffed with the campaign’s success.

Visual effects and animation studio Oktobor has appointed Bruce Everett as its new general manager. And his first task? Announcing a few more appointments, of course. 

“Did you miss me? You did, didn’t you. That’s a rhetorical question. I can see that you missed me by that look in your eyes. Well, I missed you too,” said a sentient Ads@6 to its followers after returning for the first time after the holiday break with an impressive tan.

Colenso BBDO executive creative director Nick Worthington has beefed up the agency’s roster with a couple of new foreign imports after snaffling young UK creative team Will Bingham and Victoria Daltrey.

The Internet Bureau (IB), “the original New Zealand online media buying agency”, is set to join forces with digital acquisition company Catch!Media, with the decision to merge based on continued online advertising industry growth and the need for a full-service digital offering.

It’s music to the collective ear of Kiwi marketers: according to the latest data from Statistics New Zealand, total retail sales in New Zealand were up 0.8 percent ($46 million) in November, following two months of flat retail results in September and October. Added to that, the latest Roy Morgan-ANZ poll showed New Zealand consumer confidence hit a three-year high in January, with a recovery in the housing market and a possible peak in the unemployment rate creating more optimism for both current and future conditions.

Our Dear Leader, tourism minister and meat-sizzling, beer drinking Kiwi bloke John Key has dished out $5 million of marketing cash in order to promote eight of the country’s biggest tourist regions.

There are already plenty of daily deal websites operating in New Zealand, but popular Australian shopping site Catch of the Day thinks there’s still room in the market for another one and will start offering its cheap wares to insatiable online shopping Kiwis on 1 February.

DraftFCB has scooped round two of MSN’s trans-Tasman Butterfly Award, a competition designed to recognise Australasia’s online advertising creativity.

An extremely scientific Twitter survey has revealed New Zealand’s most memorable advertising jingles. And the ‘winner’? John Rowles, with his irresistible sexy stuttering on the ‘GGGGGGGG-Gerard’ number, of course.

Hewlett-Packard has announced the appointment of Warwick Grey as the marketing manager for its South Pacific personal systems group (PSG).

JK Kids has appointed new indie agency Tenfold Creative to manage its advertising across New Zealand and Australia, choosing the six-month old company over an international agency in the hope it can deliver a greater return on investment. 

Most brands are happy to get a celebrity endorsement (even when it’s fairly incongruous) as long as it raises awareness of the product. And, thanks to Prince Willy the Charming (and his dutiful media army), the profiles of such things as brand New Zealand, Kia Kaha clothing,  Monteith’s New Zealand lager, over-budget legal buildings, barbecue culture and little spotted kiwis are now most definitely on the rise overseas.

Mark Rushworth, Vodafone New Zealand’s chief marketing officer, has resigned after returning to work after the holidays with what Vodafone’s communications manager Paul Brislen called “a luxurious matt” on his face, confirming fears that Christmas beard growth (and also having to wear shoes again) is inextricably linked with laziness.