Over the last three years, Richard Bourke, Daniel Mclaughlin and Mark Neal have toiled away behind the scenes to create the product that was recently released under the Rogue Society Gin banner. Here’s the story thus far.
For a few years now, the tech behemoths have been at the top of the chain in terms of brand value. That trend has continued this year in the BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands study, but there’s been a change at the top, with Google making an acquisition of a different kind—the number one spot ahead of Apple.
Red Bull’s new spot looks more like a stock-content provider’s attempt to tap into the extreme sports market than an advertisement for a sugary drink. Playing out to Pharrell Williams’ ‘Come get it bae,’ the ‘World of Red Bull’ commercial features the impressive exploits of surfers Jamie O’Brien and Sally Fitzgibbons, mountain biker Brook MacDonald, cliff diver Orlando Duque, five-time Dakar Rally champion Cyril Despres, and bands Awolnation and Skrillex.
Auckland’s ‘A’ brand has ushered in a new look with what it says is a cleaner, sharper logo. The refreshed sign was introduced as part of Auckland’s new domestic tourism marketing campaign ‘The Show Never Stops’.
Redwood Cider Co, which was purchased by DB Breweries last year, recently approached Running with Scissors to assist in the creation of a new product for the premium cider market, which is growing like topsy at the moment. And it responded to this challenge by creating the branding for Orchard Thieves, a fruit cider that’s available in either mandarin and lime or raspberry and vanilla. PLUS: is Rekorderlig actually a cider?
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.
To be a great brand, consumers simply need to get a sense of the personality though its actions, rather than have it delivered fully formed, says Andrew Lewis.
When was the last time you felt you could rely on a company slogan to honestly say what it stands for? Just as well Buzzfeed is on the case, then, to tell it like it is.
Absolut has a reputation for adding chutzpah to its brand through its various art projects, Frucor’s H2GO went down the designer route earlier this year and spruced up its bottles and French water brand Perrier is also getting in on the act with limited edition bottles inspired by pop artist Andy Warhol hitting the shelves as part of the brand’s 150th anniversary celebrations.
There’s plenty of excitement about craft beer at the moment. And plenty of debate about what that term actually means. But, after a big few days for the sector in Wellingtion, John Baker asks if it is the big boys making ‘faux craft’ or the new players making average product that are likely to do more damage.
Convenience stores are often busy and cluttered, but new premium coffee and food brand Motto hopes to offer an oasis amongst the mad rush, with a splash of colour and a chirpy tone.
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.
Parliament has announced today it’s introducing plain packaging requirements for cigarettes and other tobacco products, making New Zealand only the second country in the world to do so. Rachel Ramsay looks at both sides of the plain packaging argument, asking if where there is smoke , there is liars.
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.
Just as humans will always react strangely when they see themselves on the big screen at the cricket, it seems they will also react strangely when they have the chance to see their name on a can of Coke, something the Share a Coke campaign has tapped into, first in Australia and now in New Zealand with the help of Ogilvy. And, continuing its long association with the festive season and adding to the more than 200 popular Kiwi first names (as this chap found out, Osama wasn’t one of them) and colloquial terms like Mate, Sis, Bro, Mum and Dad that have taken the place of the brand’s cherished logo, Coca-Cola has released another limited edition set of cans featuring the names of Santa and his nine reindeer.
As Interbrand’s Tom Warden recently wrote, whether you go for a descriptive or associative brand name, choosing a name for your business is one of the most important decisions you’ll make. And The Namery, which claims to be Auckland’s first specialist naming consultancy, wants to help you with the process.
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.
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.
The Kiwi masses were whipped into a frenzy last month by Coca-Cola’s announcement that it was looking for 50 new names to plaster on Coke bottles through its Share a Coke campaign and now it’s time to vote.
Natcoll is dead – at least in name. Going forward, the design technology institute will be known as YOOBEE School of Design in line with its sister business units.
Alt Group’s rebrand of the Auckland Art Gallery, Sons & Co’s website featuring disembodied limbs and Designworks’ slick packaging for Silver Fern Farms were among the major winners at the 2012 Best Design Awards, the Oscars of the New Zealand design world.
Apple does a stellar job of cementing brand loyalty through hardship and scarcity. Maybe other brands should take heed.
The vultures have been circling for a while now, and the official announcement that the National Bank brand is finally heading for the knacker’s yard and will be folded into its Australian-owned parent bank ANZ over the next two years, with remaining branches rebranded at an estimated cost of $100 million, marks what will be one of the biggest changes to the financial marketing landscape in over a decade. NZ Marketing ran a cover story on the looming disappearance of the black horse and what kind of treasures were up for grabs back in May. Here’s an edited version of that story.
In the past, the tobacco industry has largely acquiesced whenever regulation has been imposed on it—and whether it be forcing manufacturers to put health warnings or graphic images on packs, smoking bans, retail restrictions like those implemented recently or seemingly imminent tax hikes, there’s been plenty. But the threat of plain packaging, which has recently been given the go-ahead in Australia, has been something of a tipping point for the industry and, in an effort to convince Kiwis that doing the same thing here is tantamount to theft, British American Tobacco has taken the unusual step of launching an above-the-line campaign.
Air New Zealand is going black for good, with its fleet set to sport a new livery from next year that was created in collaboration with leading Kiwi typeface designer Kris Sowersby and Designworks.
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.
Kono is already exporting its wares to 25 countries, but the Nelson-based Wakatū Incorporation’s food and beverage business arm is hoping to increase that number—and its exports to Asia—after being given a big brand spruce up by Wellington agency Mission Hall.
Gone are the days when homebrew was a byword for, as your dad might say, bloody undrinkable horse piss. Craft beer is one the major growth areas of the booze market and there are now plenty of interesting brews being concocted in garages, laundries, hot water cupboards, man caves and, of course, breweries all around the country. To tap into the growing number of refined palates, Ian Williams and Anders Warn spent five years developing the world’s first personal brewery, WilliamsWarn, and the design and brand work by Studio Alexander has matched the quality of the product by taking gold in the international Graphis 100 Best in Design awards.
We regularly see reports in the media about brands using Maori language or images in a way that’s offensive to Maori. There was the ka mate haka on the tea towels, the ta moko designs on the faces of models posing for a French magazine, the sale of the MAORI personalised plate on TradeMe, to name but a few.
Shopping is one of the country’s favourite leisure activities. But for certain, usually non-female, demographics, the thrill of consumerism quickly wears thin. In response to this, Ikea has just developed a male creche in Australia called Manland. And, in New Zealand, as part of a programme to keep the kids entertained, Westfield BrandSpace, Persil and DNA have joined forces to create a series of new branded indoor playgrounds.