As the recent CAANZ research shows, experiential marketing is so hot right now. And AmbientX, which is part of the Australian-owned Ambient Advertising Group, has long been at the forefront of that scene in New Zealand. Now, in an effort to distance itself from the obvious associations with ‘ambient’ and specialise in experiential, co-founder and creative director Mark Pickering has bought the business and will be re-branding the company as Fluxx beginning in June.

Throughout the history of marketing, various maxims have rung true: sex sells, ‘magic’ sells and giving away free stuff sells. The incredible success of gaming, particularly online gaming, proves a new maxim: fun sells.

Megan Clark has been elected chair of the CAANZ Marcomms Leadership Group (MLG), replacing Claudia Macdonald, who is stepping down following her two-year term in the hotseat. 

Paul Head, the managing director of his own consultancy business Strategic Thinking, has been appointed as the new CAANZ chief executive, replacing the outgoing Rick Osborne.

MediaWorks will be dishing out a new honour to a member of the media fraternity at this year’s CAANZ Media Awards in memory of long-time staffer Sandy Smith. So get your nominations in for the inaugural Inspiring Individuals Award. 

CAANZ has extended its generous hand unto you and given tardy entrants an extra week to get their material in for the Media Awards. Entries are now due on 21 March.

CAANZ has announced the three foreign dignitaries for Axis 2011, with Kiwi expat Andy Fackrell of 180 (Amsterdam), Bryan Rowles of 72 and Sunny (Los Angeles) and Dejan Rasic of Colman Rasic (Sydney) making up the illustrious international award hogging panel.

After three years as the chief executive of CAANZ, Rick Osborne has announced he will be stepping down from the role to take up the job of  group general manager, external relations at Fonterra, which is responsible for government relations, trade strategy and regional relations.

PR and experiential marketing have long been valuable tools for marketers. But are these disciplines gaining prominence in the marketing mix? And if so, how is this affecting more traditional channels? The CAANZ Marcomms Leadership Group and the Marketing Association, with the help of online research company Buzz Channel, decided to find out. But they need the help of New Zealand’s marketers.

The Yellow Treehouse and Tourism New Zealand’s Giant Rugby Ball campaigns have been identified by the CAANZ Marcomms Leadership Group as two of ten examples from around the world that best show the value of PR and experiential marketing as part of the marcomms arsenal.

Colenso BBDO’s planning director James Hurman will be delivering his ‘Thinking3’ course at the CAANZ/AUT Communications School from Monday 20 to Wednesday 22 September. And there are still places left for anybody in the advertising and marketing industry who wants to improve their strategic thinking abilities.

The CAANZ Digital Leadership Group (DLG) has been expanded to include a Wellington sub-group and it will be lead by Craig Osborne, head of digital at Omnicom Media Group.

Tiger Tiger photography

Ah, awards ceremonies, let us count the ways we love thee: delicious foods, free flowing beverages, moments of envy, moments of happiness, moments of appreciation. It’s just like being at a wedding, really, except with a few more fake smiles and occasionally awkward encounters with competitors.

Facebook updated its terms of service in December 2009 and in doing so incurred a user backlash against some of the changes. This backlash largely related to ownership of material posted onto users’ and brands’ Facebook pages, with the new terms of service suggesting that content posted on Facebook pages becomes the property of Facebook.