Fashion Quarterly has released a new campaign through FCB raising the profile of its recently launched site FQ.co.nz for which seven of New Zealand’s top designers have stylistically come together under one roof to promote.
Last year, as part of the Herald Advertising Challenge, NZME asked agencies to come up with a big media idea for a client that used its assets in an interesting way. FCB Media came out on top with Sony’s Sideline Challenge, a campaign that saw the Herald relinquish editorial control to a handful of passionate photography readers and publish weekend sporting highlights captured on the Sony a6000 DSLR camera (it went on to win three Axis Awards and four golds in the Beacons this year). Since then, the many media strands of the company have come together, so this year it has renamed the competition the NZME Ad Challenge—and the deadline has been extended by a week.
Recently, the One Weather sponsorship served as a pre-roll battleground for major car brands, as Ford touted the superiority of the Ranger over the Hilux through a faux weather reporter moulded on the lovable pie-eater from Toyota’s advertising. The car brands have since put away their monobrows, and Vodafone has now stepped into the One Weather slot—and the telco is also hoping to give its sponsorship a distinctly Kiwi feel (hopefully, without the monobrows).
If two recent additions to the Kiwi advertising canon are anything to go by, then it would appear that New Zealanders have difficulty keeping track of the whereabouts of their four-legged co-habitants. Following on from Vodafone’s recent spot chronicling the struggles of a courier driver trying to locate the owner of a piglet named Piggy-Sue, BP is now also pulling at the heartstrings with a 90-second spot (by Ogilvy and Waitemata Films) that shows a motorcyclist going to extreme measures to reunite a bunny with its owner.
FCB head of studio Simon Pengelly runs one of the largest agency studios in New Zealand. And despite having a schedule with very few gaps, he recently took a few minutes to chat to Creative Store founder Louise Lawton about what his high-pressure role entails.
A piglet named Piggy Sue and a Southern Mail courier driver Keith will replace James Rolleston as the face of Vodafone on Sunday night when the telco launches a new brand campaign developed by FCB.
After a year of judging new brand ads in New Zealand, Colmar Brunton has announced that Vodafone and FCB’s festive ad ‘Dinner for two’ has taken out the award for 2014’s Most Impactful Ad, with Samsung’s G5 Days and Nestle Purina’s ‘Herding Cats’ also claiming big fist trophies for the most persuasive and most enjoyable awards respectively.
Kiwi retailer Paper Plus and its agency FCB have enlisted the help of a goofy-looking alien character to bring excitement and imagination into the in-store experience. FCB’s general manager of retail Kamran Kazalbash and head of planning David Thomason talk us through the rebranding journey.
For many, getting ink on your fingers after reading a newspaper is probably a rather quaint notion. But SparkPHD, NZME and ANZ embraced it for a Cricket World Cup supporter’s ad and came away with the win in newspaper ad the Ad of the Month.
We’ve seen Tweeting sharks and honey badgers, driving dogs, armed dolphins, soothsaying cows, live streamed eagles and even erotic cats. And now we’ve got an octopus photographer—AKA Octographer—after Sony and FCB gave ‘Rambo’ a camera and taught it how to take photos of visitors to Kelly Tarlton’s aquarium.
The Effies Worldwide Index was released last week and, after tallying up the points earned through finalists and winners in the local Effie awards shows, FCB New Zealand and Colenso BBDO were ranked fifth and eighth respectively in the individual agency rankings, with Barnes Catmur fifth in the independent agency rankings. PLUS: all the Kiwi wins from the Asia Pacific Effies.
FCB has won an Orca for the second month in a row, this time for its radio ad called ‘The Tale of Bertie the Dancing Pig’ as part of a campaign for Gregg’s Rich Red Tomato Sauce.
FCB senior planner Keith Pinney looks at how electronic giants are harvesting our data while keeping one eye on the future in preparation for a time when the ones and zeroes we voluntarily relinquish become incredibly valuable.
A round of applause goes to Anchor, Pak ‘n Save and World Vision this week.
Industry happenings at FCB, TVNZ, MediaWorks, RadiumOne, ApolloNation, Raydar, Ad2one, Snakk Media and Pead PR.
Holden has launched a new campaign via FCB to promote its latest Cruze vehicle, and the spot places most of the emphasis on the always-obedient in-car technology of the new model.
Air New Zealand has launched a new ad campaign to promote its mobile app and, like a combination of the most interesting man in the world and Cadbury’s airport dancer, it aims to show that using the airline’s tech makes flying an absolute breeze.
FCB’s current chief executive and Australia New Zealand chair Bryan Crawford took on a bunch of international responsibility with the FCB network last year. Those responsibilities continue to grow, so Brian van den Hurk, the current managing director, has been promoted to the role of chief executive.
Technology was meant to make life so much easier. Paperless offices. Cheap communication tools. And, of course, robot vacuum cleaners. But instead we’re lonelier, more stressed and getting our hair eaten by our electronic assistants. Woman’s Day has noticed this shift as well, so, as part of a big—and quite rare—$1.5 million campaign via FCB, it’s foisted a Zsa-Zsa Gabor-esque character upon the nation in an effort to give its readers permission to take a break without feeling guilty about it.
Since launching its ‘Do your thing better’ brand a few years back, Vodafone has generally looked for laughs rather than warm fuzzies (although it managed to tug a few heartstrings with its Warriors stunt on mother’s day). But it decided to focus on the emotional power of connection for its Christmas push and it’s taken Colmar Brunton’s Ad Impact Award for its efforts.
Spark, nee Telecom’s, Giganaire was a pretty polarising campaign, as most ads involving rapping generally are. And Pak n Save’s comical frontman has riffed on that in his inimitable style for its latest promotion by asking punters if they will become the next ‘Giftcardionaire’.
Warehouse Stationery has released a new campaign with an emphasis on its ability to “connect” customers, focusing on the technological side of the business as opposed to the paper and pens.
After a creative pitch last year, it is thought the NZ Fire Service is set to appoint FCB as its creative agency. UPDATE: Ministry of Justice confirms it is also working with FCB.
Last year, NZI and FCB told the tale of a cursed chair wreaking havoc on various businesses in a fictional, aninated town called Port Avon. The primary focus was for the brand to get noticed and, more importantly, liked—and all in one of the dullest, least-engaging categories possible. They succeeded and ‘Devil’s Chair’ became one of New Zealand’s most popular TV commercials. But, as the ad says, bad’s not going anywhere, and the evil has spread to other inanimate workplace objects.
In keeping with an ongoing tradition, a few industry players gave us their take on the year for our annual opinion harvest. Here’s what Bryan Crawford, chairman and group chief executive of FCB New Zealand and Australia and vice chair of FCB’s global network, thought about 2014.
The final tip of the hat, 21-gun salute and celebratory cheer of the year go to Sky, the Health Promotion Agency and Air New Zealand.
FCB has continued poking fun at beer drinking culture with a series of three satirical videos that showcase the Not Beersies versions of home brewing, pouring that perfect drink and hosting a beer garden.
Plenty of good stuff to choose from this week, so we’re embracing the festive season and giving everyone props.
Unlike the UK, where marketers still seem quite partial to launching a massive festive campaign, New Zealand brands tend to keep things slightly more understated. In the UK, Vodafone got the entire country to sing ‘Let it Go’ from the movie Frozen. But the New Zealand outpost has taken a more lovey dovey approach, with a classic telco ad that focuses on the emotional power of the Christmas connection.
