Browsing: brands

News
‘It’s time to jump on that bandwagon’: Isentia’s Russ Horell on social media, influencers and the future of journalism
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Gone are the days of days of media monitors delivering clients a package of newspaper cutouts each morning, but that doesn’t mean monitoring is no longer required. Rather, it’s as important than ever clients have a pair of eyes on the news gaining attention across the expanding media landscape. Russ Horell, Isentia’s New Zealand country manager, talks to StopPress about the rise of social media, how it’s responding with AI and what the future of news and journalism looks like.

Opinion
September 21 2012: The day the social media dream died
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September 21 marks the five-year anniversary of the day when Facebook turned social media into just plain ‘media’. This date is probably worth noting, if not necessarily celebrating, as it marks the end of the dream of brands having unlimited conversations with their fans for free.

News
Sweden’s museum of failure
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Even the best brands in the world sometimes misstep. But rather than letting bygones be bygones, innovation research Samuel West is on a mission to ensure that brands don’t forget the worst of what they’ve dumped onto consumers.

Opinion
Riding the wave of social conversations
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Brands are just coming of age in the new collaborative economy. Like any teenager though, a lot of their actions at the moment are a bit awkward. Most of us learnt at some point that joining in on an existing conversation is much easier than starting your own by shouting until you get someone to pay attention. But to join in and be heard means being relevant and on code, and of course the ‘on code’ bit is what brands need to work out because it is constantly changing.

Features
From rags to dollars: the purpose behind Offcut Caps
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Consumers have become a lot more conscious these days, spending far more time researching before purchasing, not just picking up a product because it looks pretty on the shelf. We chat to Adrien Taylor about his cap brand Offcut Caps – which rose from scraps of offcut fabric – about his brand’s ethos and why it’s crucial for brands to have a purpose beyond making a profit.

News
Facebook video vs. YouTube: which should brands use?
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Shortly after its inception, YouTube became the go-to platform for watching and uploading videos, so brands begun uploading content to it to attract consumers. But in recent times Facebook has nudged its way in, placing an increased focus on the exposure of its video content to attempt to take a slice of YouTube’s marketing pie (or the whole pie if it can manage it). Here’s a look at Facebook video compared to YouTube, including some agency insights into the use of the two platforms for video sharing.

News
NZ brands jump on the Periscope bandwagon–UPDATED
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Live streaming app Periscope is relatively new on the scene, but already some big brands are finding creative ways to use the platform to market themselves. After finding some good examples of brands using it abroad we’ve had a hunt around for some New Zealand examples, and the feedback so far is promising. We also take a look at some of the dangers of live streaming and how the content is monitored.

News
Anzac activations: a rundown of how brands and government bodies commemorated the centenary
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This past weekend marked 100 years since the Anzac forces landed on the Gallipoli Peninsula. As a result, ceremonies and events were run up and down the country resulting in exhibition openings, parades and the building of a gigantic poppy. To put the scale of the event in context, the New Zealand Government alone is estimated to have spent around $42 million on centenary commemorations—and this only paints part of the picture given that promotional spending by brands is difficult to tally. And while most of the activations were in good taste here and across the ditch, the event once again served as a reminder of the fine line between commemoration and commercialisation of a tragic day in history. Here’s a rundown of some of the activations that took place.

News
All about the love
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Since we’ve already done a bit of a run down on what Kiwi brands been up to this Valentine’s Day, we thought we’d better see what kind of stunts went on further afield during the romantically charged weekend.

News
How brands courted Kiwis on Valentine’s Day
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This past weekend again marked that time when advertisers tell us we’d better remind our loved ones of just how much we love them (because we don’t do it any other time of the year) by purchasing expensive jewellery, flowers or heart-shaped chocolates. We thought we’d take a look at what a few different brands got up to, to try and grab our attention on this year’s Valentine’s Day.

News
Attracting a digital audience: New Zealand’s top ten YouTube channels
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Collectively, the top 10 Kiwi-based YouTube channels have over four million subscribers and, although that obviously also includes an international audience, this number is impressive given that New Zealand, as starting base, only has a population of around 4.5 million people. Here’s a rundown of the ten YouTube channels with the highest number of subscribers.

News
When politicians, brands and businesses all admit to being a little green
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While conspiracy theorists might infer that St Patrick’s Day has some deeper meaning or historically significant origins, we all know that the day is actually just a great excuse to wear green hat, sip on a dark brew and hop around like a leprechaun for a whole day. And given that it has become such a jubilant day of unrestrained revelry, businesses, brands and politicians all take it as an opportunity to get some additional exposure. Here’s a breakdown of some of the interesting St Patrick’s Day-themed efforts that emerged this year.

News
Brands get an honest face
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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.

News
Brand vanity
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Brands tend to inflate their importance in people’s lives. And The Onion has showed this phenomenon in its inimitable fashion with a clip featuring “fans from all over the country flocking to see all of their favourite brands” at the Lollapalooza music festival.

News
Lies, damned lies: the obligatory April Fool’s round-up —UPDATED
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Some might argue there’s a degree of trickery every day of the year in the world of marketing and media. But it’s taken to much more preposterous levels—and is almost actively encouraged—on April Fool’s Day. So here’s a collection of the best pranks, fakes and subterfuges from New Zealand and around the world.