Damon Stapleton is fresh off the boat from Cannes and today is his first day as DDB NZ’s chief creative officer. Here’s his view on the importance of the world’s biggest festival of creativity.
Following on from its Australian branch, DDB New Zealand has now also launched an in-house innovation lab called Shaper. Established with the bold goal to “solve real human problems and create new revenue streams”, the new addition to the DDB offering will aim to “own and monetise ideas developed in the lab”. In a release, DDB’s chief operating officer Chris Riley says that the creative skills available at the agency provide the potential of delivering more than just advertising. PLUS: find out why author Leif Abraham thinks ad agencies struggle to innovate.
Two of New Zealand’s four shortlisted entries picked up gongs in the film category at Cannes, with Clemenger BBDO’s ‘Mistakes’ winning a gold lion and DDB’s ‘Be the Artist’ winning a bronze.
Four Kiwi entries have been shortlisted for awards in the Cannes Film category, with DDB, Clemenger and Saatchi & Saatchi all in with a chance to pick up some silverware at the ceremony.
Last month DDB announced it was working with Sky Television to share the text streaming technology Spritz with Kiwis. And the first example of this went live this week in a digital campaign to promote the catch up weekend of True Blood season six on SoHo, before the seventh and final season begins.
Three of the local campaigns many hoped would appeal to the Cannes judges didn’t get the golds they were hoping for, but they did come away with bronze overnight, with DDB taking two bronzes for Sky’s #Bringdowntheking and Paw Justice’s Animal Strike and Colenso BBDO getting one for Samsung’s Smartphone Line.
New Zealand enjoyed a 60 percent success rate in the Outdoor category at Cannes as three of the five entries shortlisted picked up awards at the festival. DDB’s ‘#BringDowntheKing’, FCB’s ‘Bottled Walkman’ and Colenso BBDO’s ‘Smartphone Line’ all won the approval of the judging panel—leaving the Kiwi contingent with smiles and a trio of bronze lions.
Whybin\TBWA\DAN’s decision to do a pro-bono project for Minds for Minds has paid off, with the agency being shortlisted in the press category at Cannes for its work on the ‘Meeting of the Minds’ campaign, which was released in January this year. And, after winning big in the print category at the Axis Awards earlier this year, DDB’s ‘Be the Artist’ campaign for Lion is now in contention to pick up a few gongs on the international stage.
Five Kiwi entries from five different agencies have made it through to the shortlist stage in the outdoor category at Cannes this year, with FCB, Whybin\TBWA, DDB, Saatchi & Saatchi/ApolloNation and Colenso BBDO all still in contention for Lions.
Three Kiwi submissions have been shortlisted in the PR category at the 2014 Cannes Lions. Saatchi & Saatchi leads the charge with two beer-related nominations, while DDB is in contention for creative executed for animal rights.
Lion has put its digital business up for pitch, with the incumbent DAN, Gladeye and Young & Shand/Tailor thought to be in the running.
In days gone by, the only thing a plastic beer bottle at the rugby was good for was throwing in the air during a Mexican wave (and making your beer warm). But Steinlager and DDB have found a way to make the bottle more useful with a social media campaign called #AllBlackSnap that’s running during the three test series against England.
Tux, TVNZ and Greenpeace raise their bats and ackowledge the crowd this week.
After choosing DDB to take over from FCB as its creative agency late last year, BMW has completed its line-up, with Rapp taking over from Twenty as its CRM agency and Dynamo, which had been working with the company on a short-term contract, being appointed as the media partner.
Sky has given its ‘come with us’ microsite a facelift by introducing an interactive browsing feature that takes the visitor on a short promotional journey through the programming currently on offer to subscribers. PLUS: The broadcaster has also announced a partnership with Boston-based, text-streaming company Spritz, which recently unveiled technology that allows viewers to read text on screens one word at a time without having to move from word to word or around the page.
To launch its new Hatch, Mini New Zealand recently embarked on a mission to bring a slice of Kiwi cinema history back to life. And after asking Kiwis to show their true Blondini colours, participate in a few challenges and compete to win a place in the passenger seat during the reshooting of Goodbye Pork Pie’s classic chase scene around Lake Hawea, it’s now moved on to the second phase of the campaign and released some behind-the-scenes footage of the shoot.
As one of the FIFA World Cup sponsors, McDonald’s has released several new menu items themed to specific countries participating in the global spectacle. In addition to this Australasian campaign, the fast-food chain has also launched a Kiwi-based competition that will give one lucky future star the opportunity to attend the World Cup in Brazil. But while such initiatives are getting kids to drop the Xbox controllers and head outside, some commenters still question whether fast-food chains should advertise in ways that appeal to children.
At the end of 2012, in an effort to step out of the stuffy boardroom atmosphere that typifies the rigid corporate world, DDB’s management team instructed the agency’s then in-house interior designer Campbell Johnson (now owner of Campbell Johnson Design) to renovate the Auckland offices and make the space more inviting to visitors.
A gold star for Vodafone, Rebel Sport, McDonald’s, Rinnai and Samsung this week.
Mercury Energy is believed to have kicked off a pitch process for its below-the-line business, with a rumoured list of contenders thought to include FCB, DDB-owned RAPP and the incumbent Chemistry Interaction.
Since launching its over-arching Winning Happens tagline, NZ Lotteries and DDB have been aiming to show punters what it feels like to win. First up was its Instant Kiwi campaign, and next came Powerball and an overly-enthusiastic high-fiver called Craig. And it’s done the job and caught some attention, because that campaign has taken out the February round of Colmar Brunton’s Ad Impact Award.
Last week, DDB announced that Damon Stapleton would become the agency’s first chief creative officer. So we chatted to him about winning awards, the challenges of working in different countries and what he hopes to achieve in New Zealand.
Last night, Sky and DDB held a small celebration at The French Cafe to mark the pair’s 20 year relationship (check out some of the best ads here). And, perhaps because of the positive response its last music video/love song received, DDB decided to whip up another one for Sky, which includes an amazing performance from the creepy envelope licker Lloyd.
Ogilvy & Mather has won the inaugural News Works Agency League competition, which since last March has has been celebrating the nation’s standout newspaper adverts on a monthly basis.
In an industry renowned for its chopping and changing, there aren’t too many agency/client relationships that can claim to have lasted 20 years. But Sky and DDB have found their happy place and they’re breaking out the china to celebrate one of the country’s longest-running—and most successful—unions.
One of the benefits of social media is that, when used well, it can get punters to do something, unlike the vast majority of typically one-way commercial messages. And, as Simon Veksner wrote recently, “it’s well known that getting people to do something makes them more likely to buy”. To launch season four of Game of Thrones, Sky and DDB asked fans to tweet #bringdowntheking and help topple a seven-metre statue of the despised King Joffrey that was constructed in Aotea Square by Finch. And, judging by the big numbers, it would have to rank as one of the country’s most engaging social campaigns in recent memory.
Colenso BBDO and Whybin\TBWA are the only Kiwi agencies in the running for a Webby Award, with DDB, Terabyte Interactive, Saatchi & Saatchi, DNA and Y&R also honoured.
Season four of Game of Thrones screens in the US today and on SoHo in New Zealand tonight. Sky and DDB have ensured Kiwis know about that with its very well-received, social-media fuelled campaign to bring down a statue of the much-despised King Joffrey. But HRV is also getting in on the act with a tactical spot called ‘Winter is Coming’ that’s set to run in the slot just before the premiere. Plus: Hell Pizza supports the bad guy and other entertaining parodies of the show.
Sky and DDB have some good news for haters of King Joffrey, the most despised character from the SoHo-screened series Game of Thrones. As the fourth season looms, fans won’t actually be pushing down a seven-metre-tall replica of Joffrey, but they can use their social media voice to the same effect.
