Samsung’s entertaining sales pitch and Tonga’s classic tourism marketing approach pass go, collect $200.

A couple of years ago Barnes, Catmur & Friends employed the services of some LED lights and a thermometer to rub salt in the wintry wounds of Kiwis and draw attention to the temperature in Fiji. And now, to draw attention to the fact that Asahi has been ‘Brewed in the Future since 1987’, it’s added a digital clock to a billboard in Ponsonby Road that, as Paul Catmur says, has been “causing a wee bit of confusion all around” and keeping revellers on their toes.

When it comes to self-promotion, it’s fair to say the coolest little capital in the world has had it over the big little city for a while now. And while the lure of the exotic foreigners is hard to ignore, both cities have launched campaigns recently to attract more domestic visitors, with Auckland taking a self-deprecating approach to try and knock a few stereotypes on the head and Wellington offering up a few treats to potential guests from its biggest market.

Per capita, more Subarus are sold in New Zealand than anywhere else in the world. And it’s not entirely surprising, as one in every three kilometres of New Zealand road is unsealed and there’s no telling when you’ll need to haul some golf clubs/diving gear/surfboards/groceries/kai moana/compost/children/dogs/drugs harvests in the back of your steed. So, to showcase the fleet-footed Legacy in its natural habitat, Barnes, Catmur & Friends has given a nod to the taxonomists of yore—and to the Department of Conservation—with its ‘Great Wagons of New Zealand’ spot. 

Yesterday, the Fijian government banned inbound tourists as flash flooding wreaked havoc. But, after a global pitch thought to have received more than 60 submissions, it’s thought Colenso BBDO will now be responsible for trying to get more of them to visit after beating out agencies from New Zealand, Australia and the US to become the new global agency for Tourism Fiji.

Hell Pizza is well-accustomed to gaining media attention with its controversial marketing stunts. But it has taken that to a whole new level with its Pizza Roulette promotion, which has been featured in the New York Times, TIME, Huffington Post and Reddit and also formed the basis of a story about sado-masochistic trends like the cinnamon challenge on CNN. We’ve got ten Pizza Roulette vouchers to give away to anyone foolish/brave enough to give it a go, so email [email protected] if you’re game and we’ll let our robot of randomness decide who gets them. The only prerequisite is that you have to agree to film the process. 

Back in the day, my mother occasionally used to make lamingtons. One of her favourite party tricks was to cut a square piece of mattress foam, cover it with chocolate icing, coconut and cream, put it on the plate along with all the actual lamingtons and then laugh maniacally when some unlucky sod bit into the trick treat. So a wave of nostalgia surged through me when I noticed this pizza roulette campaign for Hell Pizza by Barnes, Catmur & Friends that aims to tap into the sado-masochistic pizza-eating market.

Think neon-filled skylines, The Strip, epic experiences, and of course a wedding chapel. Cody’s new TVC, made by Barnes, Catmur & Friends and Curious, marks Cody’s first foray into television commercials, and takes three good mates on a man-cation to Sin City… so, will it measure up to the real Vegas, back home?

The masters of the contextual newspaper ad have done it again. The day after the first snow in Auckland for 72 years, Barnes, Catmur & Friends ran this national newspaper ad for Subaru to reassure concerned Aucklanders that, yes, the streets were still passable.

A couple of weeks back, a group of ridiculously good looking, extremely important and intimidatingly intelligent advertising, marketing and media folk from Skyline Garages, Barnes, Catmur & Friends, ThinkTV and StopPress took a wee trip to the new and particularly classy Auckland Viaduct establishment Snapdragon to celebrate a famous, if slightly controversial, victory in the inaugural Think TV TVC of the Year competition with a good old-fashioned long and fairly wet lunch. We promised some photos of this auspicious event to inspire jealousy (and possibly even vitriolic comments), so fill your boots. And if you’re looking for a venue for your next event (or power lunch), we can assure you Snapdragon is a very good option.

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It looked like Lotto’s ‘Lucky Dog’ had it in the bag the whole way. But some excellent campaigning at the final stages of voting last week saw the animated spot for Skyline Garages created by Barnes, Catmur & Friends (BC&F) and Cirkus beat out the big boys with the big budgets to take the inaugural StopPress/ThinkTV TVC of the Year award.  

As the cheesy Telecom slogan says, from here we can do anything—including, as Barnes, Catmur & Friends can attest, making weird calendars for Berlin-based bag retailers.

Independent Liquor’s marketing manager Adam Maxwell, who won the TVNZ-NZ Marketing marketer of the year title a month or so ago, says the company has doubled its beer business in the last two years. And it intends to repeat that performance. Cue the first ever TV campaign for its Ranfurly beer brand and the release of two new mainstream varieties, Ranfurly Frontier Lager and Ranfurly Station Pale Ale.