Following public assessment of last month’s ads, Colmar Brunton says brands have set a high standard for the rest of the year. But only one could come out on top for January, and it was Air New Zealand that proved to have the most impact with its ‘Love’ video.
2011 was another good year for the indies, which are often playing in the same sandpit as the big boys and occasionally stealing their spades and buckets. And, with a range of experienced big agency campaigners now plying their trade outside the walls of the multinationals, this trend looks set to continue. Running With Scissors’ two main brains Friday O’Flaherty and Andy Mitchell get their freak on.
Proudly Kiwi-owned indie agency Federation kicked off in 2008 and it pumped out a lot of work this year, with good campaigns for the likes of Warehouse Stationery, Cavalier Bremworth, Fisher & Paykel Finance and The Royal New Zealand Foundation of the Blind. DDB NZ’s ex-managing director Sharon Henderson opines on 2011.
There’s been a lot of chatter about the benefits of sponsorship and the threat of ambush marketing over the past few months. Some believed the All Blacks were a more valuable property to be associated with, others believed the Rugby World Cup was worth the sizable investment. So we were interested to see this Nielsen data showing which brands the hoi polloi perceived as sponsors of the event in June and then again in October.
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.
Not surprisingly, the All Blacks’ celebrations with Old Bill in the changing rooms was the most popular photo gallery of the tournament on nzherald.co.nz. But, given the marketing battle royale that has played out between Steinlager and Heineken, we couldn’t help but notice one photo in particular. If you look closely you’ll see some members of the team—and the Dear Leader who never misses out—drinking the team sponsor’s product (good to see Andrew ‘The Seal Killer’ Hore rocking a white can) in the supposedly ‘clean’ stadium. But, blow me down, Piri Weepu is supping from a bottle of Heineken. Someone call the IRB. A fine must be dished out.
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.
Heineken’s global ‘Enjoy Heineken Responsibly’ campaign aims to “inform and educate consumers about the safe and responsible consumption of alcohol”—and, ideally, the safe and responsible consumption of Heineken. And now it’s ramping up its efforts to drill that message in at the business end of the RWC with the official launch of its ‘let a sober driver take you home’ taxi campaign in Auckland.
When it comes to making successful branded apps, there are generally two rules: either make it useful or give it some novelty value. And, if possible, combine elements of both. And Heineken and &some have done just that with a new smartphone app that shows locals and visitors where to find official RWC bars, as well as their mates, their rivals, a taxi home and, if they’re lucky, even some tickets to the final.
New Zealand is getting set to put on a bloody good show for our RWC visitors in the coming months. And there’s plenty on the menu to keep them all entertained, from the REAL NZ Festival to the Taste of New Zealand to trade and innovation shows and a whole heap inbetween. But some guests require a bit more impressing and the local events and activation scene is buzzing as official sponsors and plenty of other businesses hoping to use the tournament as a chance to butter up guests and potential clients look to roll out the branded red carpet.
In case you haven’t noticed, it’s Rugby World Cup year. There will be plenty of big battles on the field, but there will also be a few big battles off it, as evidenced by these three recently released rugby-themed campaigns.
Despite continuing media fragmentation and the rise of digital, TV remains the undoubted glamourpuss of advertising. And the boffins on the Film jury at Cannes, an awards ceremony widely regarded as the gold standard for the creative industries, chose what they deemed to be the best TV ads in the world recently. So here they are, in all their glory.
The promotional onslaught from Rugby World Cup sponsors hoping to make good on their significant investment into the tournament has begun in earnest, with the dangling carrot of Cup tickets already being used to lure the punters. Heineken is already offering finals tickets with its on-pack promotion and it’s dishing out a few more in the Heineken Trivia Series.
Clare Morgan, the general manager of marketing at DB Breweries, has been busy ‘inspiring good times’ in 2010, presiding over a massive refresh of the DB Export family, the launch of a new ultra premium beer called Monteith’s Single Source and the efforts to leverage Heineken’s Rugby World Cup sponsorship. And here’s what piqued her interest in the world of marketing this year.
Like retailers, charities are also fighting for New Zealand’s Christmas dollar. So it takes something pretty special to rise above the rabble. And this year’s campaign for the Auckland City Mission by Publicis Mojo is heavenly. Or, more accurately, angelic.
Penis graffiti and prophylactics collide head-on. Warning: animated genitalia with human characteristics and raunchy cartoon sex scenes involved (speaking of genitalia, check out this, perhaps apocryphal, tale of an Italian power company with an unfortunate name).
If we ever get a new flag, surely Justin Brown …
It’s still 18 months until the Rugby World Cup kicks off, but a massive behemoth of a billboard has already been erected on the corner of Albert Street and Custom Street East in Auckland to mark the auspicious occasion and Heineken New Zealand thinks the rather lovey dovey text (“Turning great rivalries into even greater friendships, since 1873. It’s almost time”) hints at the experience tournament attendees can expect from the beer brand in 2011.
Heineken has been sponsoring New Zealand’s premier men’s tennis tournament, the Heineken Open, for 12 years. And that relationship is set to continue until at least 2013, after it renewed its sponsorship agreement with Tennis Auckland for three more years.