Lorde’s insistence to produce something that’s of true quality and distinctiveness, yet also absolutely mainstream, is the hallmark of truly great commercial innovators. That’s exactly what New Zealand is striving to be, says Y&R New Zealand’s James Hurman, and he believes her rise has plenty of relevance for those working in this industry.
Columbus Coffee kicked off in 1995 and it’s grown considerably since then, with 54 stores now dotted around the country. But after an 18 month project to breathe some new life into the brand, the chain is celebrating a new look, a new menu, new fit outs, new products and a host of new partnerships.
Marketers could be excused for thinking that not-for-profit sector brands learn from commercial consumer brands, not the other way around. But Insight’s Steven Giannoulis says developing a new brand for a long-established NFP organisation has been a salient reminder of the wider, strategic roles that a brand can play.
As the AskewOne piece on the wall beside Auckland’s south-western motorway says, ‘better never stops’. And Charlie’s Trading Co. has acknowledged that philosophy by creating a new corporate brand called The Better Drinks Co.
It’s always interesting to observe how brands have evolved over the years. As this infographic shows, companies like Canon and Mercedes-Benz have refined their iconic logos in fits and starts over the decades, but some are more or less unrecognisable alongside their original incarnations.
Outdoor media is doing it pretty tough at the moment, but Adshel had a stellar 2013, both here and in Australia. And now it’s got something else to shout about because, after 15 years of loyal service from the old brand, it has unveiled its new one.
Sir Bob Jones says Sonny Bill Williams ‘seems to be an idiot adrift on a float of publicity.’ But Kaleb Francis thinks he’s an immensely physically talented individual—and a branding freak.
As the Auckland Zoo gets set to mark its 90th birthday this month, it’s received an early birthday present in the form of a rebrand that was launched this week.
Huffer, which turned 15 this year, joined forces with Absolut last year to design its own bottle and now it’s putting its special touch on premium cars, because 15 unique Audi A1s—the result of a collaboration with local fashion man and Audi ambassador Steve Dunstan—will hit Kiwi shores in January.
Beginning as just a way to use up leftover apples in the 1960s, one of New Zealand’s classic juice bevvies, Fresh up, is celebrating 50 years of production this month.
In the vacuum cleaner industry, the consumer perception is that a defining characteristic of a quality hoover is its low hum. This and other interesting tidbits related to audio branding were overheard during breakfast by Dennis Kibirev at the final presentation for the year organised by marketing research firm Ipsos.
Less talky talky about brand, more worky worky on reputation, says Oliver Haydon.
Yesterday in the Image Centre Group’s boardroom, a company was reborn, with the country’s biggest home services franchise Green Acres launching a new, more contemporary brand.
It might be our national fizzy drink but you’d probably be hard pressed to describe the flavour of L&P. And explaining what L&P tastes like is the central theme of four new TV spots launched in a new campaign by Saatchi & Saatchi, along with the Taste-a-liker – an app that encourages the brand’s 190,000 strong Facebook community to share their own thoughts on the flavour.
The government has an eye on changing the way it markets the country as a whole, and in a recent StopPress column, Courtney Lambert argued that a mixed agency model was the way to go.
When Pernod Ricard asked bars across New Zealand to come up with a fresh way to engage customers with Absolut Vodka, a group of AdSchool students at Media Design School took up the challenge – and won.
Despite Steve Jobs’ passing, consumers’ emotional connection to his brand remains stronger than ever, with Apple climbing up the ranks of Interbrand’s 13th annual Best Global Brands report to second place behind reigning champion Coca-Cola.
Apple does a stellar job of cementing brand loyalty through hardship and scarcity. Maybe other brands should take heed.
During the Rugby World Cup, the off-field battles between sponsors—and, often, non-sponsors—made for fairly interesting viewing. And the same is certainly true with the Olympics. Thankfully, MediaCom has its finger on the pulse with its Twitter Tracker, which ranks sponsors by a unique Olympic Twitter Score that includes total volume of mentions, engagement and reach metrics and, importantly, positive or negative sentiment.
Porirua chocolate maker Whittaker’s has been voted New Zealand’s most trusted brand in the annual Reader’s Digest Most Trusted Survey, moving up three places to top the 2012 list, knocking last year’s number one St John’s from its perch down to number two.
New Zealand has a special connection to Antarctica, due to a combination of our close proximity, the past efforts of explorers like Edmund Hillary and our ongoing investment into scientific research on, protection of and stake in the icy continent. And, in an effort to draw attention to some of the altruistic, world-leading work the New Zealand Antarctic Research Institute is doing to unlock the secrets of Antarctica and the Southern Ocean, the appropriately named BRR was enlisted to create a new identity.
Just as restaurants often find it difficult to operate successfully as bars, it’s tough for ad agencies to succeed as design shops—and vice versa. That’s partially because there seems to be an element of patch protection at play on both sides of the fence, perhaps as evidenced by some of the comments in the article about Designworks’ foray into advertising with the University of Canterbury’s latest campaign. But, as one of the few agencies that’s won both Best Awards for the likes of the ecostore rebrand and Four’s big yellow duck as well as a whole host of prestigious creative awards, Special Group seems to be doing a pretty good job of striking a balance. And its latest effort is the creation of a new brand identity for Omaha Organic Blueberries (OOB).
Toyota has held onto its number spot in the 2012 rankings of Interbrand’s second Best Global Green Brands report, but Johnson & Johnson isn’t far behind and Danone (#9), Ford (#15), and Starbucks (#36) are rising fast, with tech and automotive brands dominating.
With the recent opening of New World and Countdown Metro in Auckland’s CBD, it seems New Zealand supermarkets are following in the footsteps of their overseas counterparts. While I can’t hide my excitement in having convenience re-enter my life, I do wonder if this may be the start of a slippery slope. Once the supermarket giant shows its face, it’s only a matter of time before the own brand phenomenon takes hold, a development that could mean the bounty of boutique food producers that currently grace our shelves may be squeezed out.
Auckland-based dairy producer The Collective has embraced social media as its major marketing channel in an effort to better connect with its ‘herd’ and, in many cases, get them to assist with product creation. And that strategy has been vindicated, not just because it is one of the fastest growing companies in New Zealand, but because it was also named as the first and only New Zealand brand to feature in The Social Brands 100 list—”the authoritative ranking of brands leading the way in the social age”—coming in at number 57 ahead of brands like Dell, Groupon and Intel.
For many years, Brother has focused on promoting printers, copiers, sewing machines, labellers and other products from its “home and business IT peripherals” range, usually with a host of low-budget TV ads and that well-known tune at the end, ‘Brutttthhhher’. But it’s attempting to come out of the shadows in New Zealand—and, at the same time, showcase the Japanese company’s technological prowess—by signing up as naming rights sponsor of the Brother Rally New Zealand and the Brother International Rally of Whangarei.
May not be a picture of painting spiderbots
Robots, social media, spray cans and three of the world’s leading design creatives are coming together in Auckland this month at design conference Semi-Permanent as part of Orcon’s Spider Art, which is believed to be the world’s first art painted by Twitter-controlled ‘spiderbots’.
Roy Morgan has a long history of customer satisfaction research, particularly in the banking space. But it’s expanded its reach with its latest initiative in an effort to reward Kiwi brands across 24 sectors that have the best customer satisfaction ratings.
The TVNZ-NZ Marketing Awards turn 21 this year. And like all good 21-year-olds, it’s received an oversized key, downed a yardie, taken a good hard look at itself and emerged into adulthood with a snazzy new ‘Everything Marketing’ brand and eight new categories.
Last year outdoor apparel brand Patagonia took out a full-page ad in the New York Times and other papers for Black Friday and Cyber Monday—the days around Thanksgiving that get the tills ringing loudest for US retailers—with the bold headline ‘DON’T BUY THIS JACKET’. Urging consumers to buy only after making a considered choice was obviously a risky move, but despite this, its sales were still up 28 percent on Cyber Monday. And, according to chief executive Casey Sheahan, who was speaking at the Better By Design CEO summit in Auckland today, this bold attitude permeates the brand.