David Thomason and Lew Bentley take on Effie responsibilities, DDB Worldwide shifts its creative nerve centre to Shanghai, Mick Connolly joins Waitemata Films, Senate Communications nabs two senior bods, Miles Gandy kicks off his new biz with New Zealand Geographic, Datamine adds two to the flock and AUT trumpets another win for its students.
DraftFCB saw its creative director Chris Schofield take up a role with DDB in October last year, following on from Justin Mowday’s shift there a year or so before. And, in the latest example of the ongoing inter-agency hostage swapping saga, DDB’s deputy creative director Regan Grafton has joined the fray as joint executive creative director with Tony Clewett. Executive creative director James Mok will become group ECD of Australasia.
Sponsors Wetspac attracted entries to the NZ Dairy Industry Awards with a newspaper ad appealing to the innate sense of style dairy farmers are renowned for. And the creative culprits behind the ad, .99 have been rewarded for their efforts by taking out NAB’s Decemeber Newspaper Ad of the Month award.
In case you hadn’t noticed, the way we watch TV is changing. Appointment viewing is still surprisingly popular and according to Nielsen’s new Unitam figures, which factor in time-shifted viewing, just three percent of total viewing last week was time-shifted and 97 percent was live. In homes with personal video recorders (PVRs), time-shifted programming made up about nine percent of total viewing and people with PVRs watched about seven percent more TV in peak time than those in homes without. Away from the living room, however, the ‘what you want, when you want it’ culture and more reliable streaming means Ondemand content is becoming increasingly popular in New Zealand. And to push its online viewing platform iSky, Sky and two of DDB’s up-and-coming creatives Jay Hunt and Pete Gosselin have created a very funny campaign about a woman spurning her old, decrepit and rather bitter old telly for a shiny, vibrant and cocky new laptop. And, just like ‘Your Happy Place’, the slogan ‘Cheat on your TV’ is spot on, too.
Advertising is a very competitive business. Accounts are coveted, staff are constantly being poached and awards are hotly contested. And it seems that competitive streak also applies to extra-curricular activities, as evidenced by events that took place at the Colenso towers this week.
New year, new (and even some pre-Christmas) news in this bumper edition of Movings/Shakings, as Saatchi & Saatchi kicks off its Creative Collective with two hires, DDB adds a six pack to the creative coterie, tributes flow for Wellington’s Mike Boekholt, Adshel announces its new marketing director, Michelle Boag farewells Ogilvy, Courtney Lambert exchanges Fairfax for Xero, Kath Hurley swaps the MPA for the MA, NZ Lotteries chooses its new chief, Holly Dean takes a break from The Sweet Shop, and Cliff Joiner switches allegiance.
DDB’s executive creative director Toby Talbot had a bit of a leaving do last night. And, to acknowledge his departure, a couple of his cheeky cohorts decided to create a rather unique farewell card that was strategically placed across the road from SPQR on Auckland’s Ponsonby Road and referenced a long-standing agency in-joke about his oft-misspelled name.
He’s about to head back to the homeland for a plum posting with RKCR/Y&R in London after five successful years as DDB’s executive creative director. So, since he’s breaking up with us, we figured the least Toby Talbot could do is fill in our end of year questionnaire.
The Death Star has landed a couple of big fish, won some big awards, launched some big ideas and welcomed—and farewelled—some big creative boffins this year. DDB’s managing director Justin Mowday dives into the choppy waters of 2011.
DDB’s Dave Brady heads to Australia, Mark Addy joins GPY&R, The Listener appoints another deputy editor, Independent Liquor bolsters its marketing team, CAANZ DLG adds a few new digi-boffins, and Rhema Broadasting Group’s chief executive steps down.
It was announced a couple of months ago that DDB NZ’s creative sage Toby Talbot was leaving to take up a role within the DDB Network based in London where he would be working on global clients like Volkswagen and McDonald’s and doing a creative MBA. Everyone was assured it was a short-term thing and he’d be back to take up his position after his year-long overseas sabbatical. But he’s “made the most difficult decision of his business life” and instead made a clean break from the DDB Network to take up a role as executive creative director with one of the UK’s top agencies, RKCR/Y&R.
The finalists of the direct and interactive marketing showcase that is the John Caples Awards have been announced, with Colenso on top from the local shops with 18 nods, followed by DDB and Rapp Tribal with nine, DraftFCB with seven, AIM Proximity and Republik with three, and .99, Publicis Mojo, Clemenger BBDO and Special Group on one. And in other awards news, Colenso dominated the Digital Media Awards Asia awards recently with two golds and three silvers, while Naked won silver for Powerade Challenge and Rapp Tribal won bronze for Telecom.
RappTribal, part of the DDB Group NZ, win the November BollyAward for their client, SkyTV. The banner/takeover ad encouraged users to click to their hearts content with comments from the drill sergeant egging them on.
JWT announces a new creative force, Pead PR adds to its brand and digital arsenal, Haystac launches a new events division, DDB gives Adschool pair a leg up, Adi Staite is lured away from self-employment by Synovate, Crossmark opens its Kiwi office, and The Sweet Shop picks a US boss.
It’s fair to assume most of us have experienced that horrible feeling when you push send on an email and realise it’s gone to the wrong person. It’s a peril of the modern world and, in many cases, the email chain that ends up going public usually offers up a healthy dose of schadenfreude. So, in an effort to drum up some interest in the end of year graduation show for AWARD school tonight, DDB, Colenso and a couple of AWARD School students conducted something of an experiment with a ‘leaked email’ that showed up the industry’s insatiable desire for whoopsies.
The dust has largely settled after the glorious Rugby World Cup shindig. But Heineken has kept up the momentum of the 46 percent increase in total sales it recorded in September/October when compared to the year prior after being awarded the Ad Impact Award for October for its new ad ‘The Entrance’, which was launched Super Bowl style at half-time during the final.
With shareholders voting overwhelmingly in favour of splitting Telecom in two at the annual general meeting recently, the fall out from the “Abstain for the Game” campaign and the appointment of new marketing boss Jason Paris, change is most definitely in the wind for Telecom at the moment. And it’s thought the first phase of that change is cranking into gear.
Marcomms folk chatted, the huddled masses voted, a fair amount of live broadcast awkwardness ensued at Tyler St Garage and common sense eventually prevailed at the always extremely popular Fair Go Ad Awards, with DDB, Lotto and The Sweet Shop’s ‘Lucky Dog’ epic taking out Best Ad and ‘Kerrrazeee Lily Salter’ from Big Save Furniture fronting up to accept Worst Ad honours.
Who’s it for: NZTA by Clemenger BBDO and The Sweet Shop
Why we like it: When it comes to social messaging, making at-risk groups feel bad about their behaviour often has a habit of leading to more of that bad behaviour. But this excellent ad aims to …
From a marketing perspective, the battle between All Blacks sponsors Steinlager and RWC sponsors Heineken was one of the most enthralling. Steinlager played the local card very well with its savvy ‘We Believe’ and Heineken played the international card with ‘This is the Game’. And both parties are keeping the marketing momentum going.
The last time 180 Amsterdam’s creative sage Andy Fackrell visited New Zealand, it was as one of the fancy international judges wheeled in to decide who wins the Axis Awards. And soon he’ll be returning for a bit longer after taking up a one-year contract as executive creative director of DDB Group New Zealand.
If you were ranking car brands on the quality of their ads, VW would certainly be near the the top of the pile. And here are a couple of newbies, one a creative retail spot from DDB NZ and Robber’s Dog that follows on from the darkly humorous ‘Wedding Day’ and the other from DDB Singapore, which employed the services of Yukfoo Animation and director Julian Stokoe for a cool, crayon-heavy, 60 second spot to promote the new Jetta.
DDB has been on the hunt for a creative director since Adam Kanzer departed in mid-2010 and, just as it did when Justin Mowday shifted from DraftFCB to take up the managing director role, the Death Star has managed to secure the services of another senior DraftFCBer: creative director Chris Schofield.
Who’s it for: ASB by Droga5 and The Sweet Shop
Why we like it: It’s a good way to explain why ASB is better than its competitors. It’s got some added gravitas with the voice talent of Dame Judi Dench. And it’s a nice …
Whether it be at the urinal, in the elevator, at the pharmacy, at the adult concept store or even when someone is shown on the big screen for too long, ‘uncomfortable time’ is an enduring comedic device. And Sky, DDB and Flying Fish have embraced this concept wholeheartedly with a new, entertainingly awkward ad that celebrates the fact its customers don’t need to do anything when the digital switchover arrives next year—and, at the same time, parodies the prevalence of ‘non-threatening brand spokespeople’ on our TV screens.
Who’s it for: Toyota Hilux by Saatchi & Saatchi and Thick as Thieves.
Why we like it: Advertising is, by nature, hyperbolic. But this rather surreal spot for the new Hilux takes that hyperbole to another, absurd but entertaining level. It already appears to have split the commentators …
Almost like the Dan Carter of advertising, DDB New Zealand’s creative sage Toby Talbot is set to depart Kiwi shores temporarily after arranging a 12-month secondment to DDB London.
It was a 21 gun salute for Kiwi agencies at Spikes Asia, and Colenso BBDO was the sharpest shooter, taking the Digital Grand Prix for its Pedigree adoption drive, two golds, a silver and two bronzes.
Things are looking pretty rosy for Sky at the moment. Huge demand saw it briefly run out of MySky HD recorders in the lead-up the RWC and, judging by recent revenue and subscription figures, one could argue that it’s actually the national broadcaster. But, as this typically entertaining new ad from DDB and Curious Films shows, the company’s not content with its lot just yet and is adding to its product offering with ‘Guest Select’, which gives its hotel and motel customers the opportunity to put a decoder in every room.
After a record 3647 entries, the 55 jury members for Spikes Asia have released the shortlists for Print, Outdoor, Media, Direct, Promo & Activation, Design, PR, Radio, Digital, Mobile and Film. And DDB NZ is at the front of the Kiwi pack with 15 nominations, with Colenso BBDO close behind on eight.