As a quintessential challenger brand, independent, family owned oil company Gull has tried a few things to get noticed, from themed toilets, to aggressive pricing (and criticism of the pricing structure of its national competition), to road rage reduction tools to docking wages of staff for customer theft. And, in an effort to draw attention to its biofuel, Gull Force 10, it worked with Contagion to create an edible billboard as part of its sponsorship of the Splore music festival.
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Given how common it is for those in their 20s and 30s to have their Facebook profiles inundated with images of babies, condom-manufacturer Durex has launched a Google Chrome extension called ‘babies to babes’, via Contagion, that replaces all the babies on a Facebook profile with pictures of attractive men or women.
Orcon, a double for ANZ, Lift Plus and Semble walk under our guard of honour this week.
Pita Pit has launched its first nationwide campaign via a new TVC conceptulised by Contagion, the agency which won the account for the food chain’s cross-Tasman business earlier this year. The 30-second spot, which was shot by Flying Fish and directed by Helena Brooks, features a middle-aged man, dressed in the garb of a stereotypical accountant, dancing awkwardly after having completed a meal from Pita Pit.
Peugeot has appointed Contagion as its New Zealand communications partner after a competitive pitch, with the agency set to handle strategy, media, creative and sponsorships.
Contagion has walked away with Realestate.co.nz’s media and creative account after a three-way pitch, which also involved Sugar & Partners and Republik.
As Kim Dotcom shifts his attention to the political arena with the formation of the Internet Party (and he’s a step closer to making it official following the approval of his sign-up app), his time as Orcon’s mascot is coming to an end.
Contagion’s Tom Bates got his hands on a pair of Google Glasses at this year’s SXSW, and the experience led him to think about the future of wearable tech and the various options currently avaialble on the market.
Anti-capping, pro-holidaying and station swapping make it onto the dais this week.
After a long period of flying under the radar, Auckland-based food company Tasti Products came out all Kiwiana guns blazing with a cliche-filled online and print campaign in September last year. A few months back it took the next logical step down that path, launching its first ever TVC with a very colloquial remix of OMC’s How Bizarre and some completely over the top, almost ironic patriotism. And while some in adland didn’t seem too keen on it, consumers seem to be, because the ad has taken out the August instalment of Colmar Brunton’s Ad Impact Award.
Contagion is adding its creative and media might to the new Supermarket Online site hatched by Nappies Direct founders Kevin and Pia D’Ambros-Smith.
The company credit cards are out in force this week for Spikes Asia and most of the shortlists have been announced, with, unsurprisingly, many of the campaigns that featured at Cannes also featuring in Singapore.
There are plenty of changes occurring inside Telecom at the moment, and while some significant staff culling has led to an increase in the amount of out-sourcing in some parts of the business, Telecom Retail is relinquishing Contagion of one of its responsibilities.
Contagion’s relationship with Air New Zealand cheeky little brother Grabaseat was enhanced last week after winning a competitive pitch against several other agencies thought to have included Special Group and Young & Shand.
There were a record 35,765 entries from 92 countries for the 60th Cannes Lions. Of course, we’re small-minded and patriotic so we’re focusing on the Kiwi contenders and here are the seven agencies in the running after the first shortlists for Creative Effectiveness, PR, Promo & Activation and Direct were announced.
When Contagion launched a few years back, it was loudly beating the digital and social drum. It still is, but it’s also doing more of what some would call traditional agency work. So is it selling out? Or is getting in on the groundfloor by offering specialist skills that clients seem to be looking for and then gradually taking a bigger chunk of the business a smart strategy?
‘Perfection erases humanity’. And in the coming years, Contagion’s channel director Richard Thompson says brands will need to master a strategy that helps talk with audiences in a more authentic, real way.
There have been some massive changes inside Telecom recently, with chief executive Simon Moutter announcing a restructure that plans to axe between 930 to 1280 jobs by the middle of this year a few months back. And as a direct result of the decision to reduce the headcount, it has outsourced a few previously internal functions and appointed Clemenger Group-owned Touch/Cast.
The One Club, one of America’s most prestigious awards programmes, has chosen its finalists. Herewith the locals gunning for a pencil in the three separate competitions, with Colenso BBDO on top once again with seven nods.
After a competitive pitch, Contagion has been chosen as the full creative and media partner for New Zealand’s largest shoe retailer, Number One Shoes.
Sean Parker, founder of Napster and an early investor in Facebook and Spotify, is a figurehead in the digital revolution of the past 15 years. In the wake of his new documentary Downloaded, which tells the story of the controversial music sharing service, Contagion’s Tom Bates pulls up a chair to hear his view on how we got to where we are now, how the world has changed and how to move forward.
Our intrepid honorary reporter Tom Bates of Contagion is at SXSW in Austin, Texas – looking into what trends from the world of marketing, media and advertising might affect us in New Zealand this year. Former US vice president and climate change activist Al Gore is up first, talking about the forces shaping the world today. Join us at 10:30am for the liveblog.
In an increasingly digital world, speed is of the essence. And Tom Bates says modern agencies need to think agile if they want to keep up.
Towering beanstalks, enormous tomes and lie detection are the ingredients in Contagion’s new campaign for TV2, which aims to enchant viewers into picking up the remote for the new season of programmes that started this week by focusing on Once Upon a Time and Revenge.
The media landscape has been transformed and fragmented by the power of digital, mobile and social technology. And it’s increasingly difficult to work out a plan to get traction for brands in this new, less certain environment. Contagion’s Tom Bates looks at three areas worthy of focus for modern-day marketers.
Fresh from judging at Young Guns, Contagion’s Verity Dookia says TV has most certainly got some competition in the form of maverick media, digital and ‘something else’. But it’s not quite as simple as trawling the internet for the latest gadget and then sticking a brand on it.
Auckland agency Contagion has taken out the latest Yahoo! Digital Strategy Award for its ‘Not Quite As Kiwi As’ campaign for New Zealand snack brand Tasti.
Digital isn’t just about technology, says Dean Taylor. It’s also about people.
There’s a lot of talk about ad agencies creating new, useful products, rather than just creating ads. And Contagion has tried to bring a bit of novelty value to the weed spraying market and add a bit of fun to a mundane weekend chore by creating a very literal version of a spray gun for Kiwicare’s Weed Weapon.
TVNZ is currently revelling in some massive numbers for New Zealand’s Got Talent, which went from an average 5+ audience of 935,000 in its first episode to 975,000 last night. It’s got another ratings tiger by the tail with My Kitchen Rules on TV2 and, in an effort to emphasise that it is less like a simple cooking programme and more like a character-driven, drama-filled reality show, it developed a campaign in conjunction with Contagion based around the idea that ‘Some things don’t mix’.