While RNZ exists on the periphery of the commercial world, the organisation’s chief executive sees it as increasingly important to work with the nation’s major media companies.
Browsing: Horse’s Mouth
After Craig Herbison was appointed as BNZ’s chief marketing officer in 2011, his first big act was to launch the new brand platform in the form of a polarising, existential teaser campaign that asked whether money was good or bad (answer: neither, it’s what you make of it that counts). Since then he’s made ‘Be Good with Money’ a central pillar of the business and around one year ago, he was promoted to director of retail banking and marketing. So, after saying goodbye to the Airpoints scheme and launching another confronting campaign about the perils of not planning ahead, are the marketing efforts paying dividends?
Over the past 11 years, Bridget Lamont has moved her way up the ranks at the green juggernaut of Kiwi retail to eventually become the general manager of marketing. She recently chatted to us about price wars, shouty retail advertising and the perception that Countdown isn’t a Kiwi company.
When Annie Baxter, Google’s comms manager for Australia and New Zealand, started at the tech behemoth in 2008, there was no Chrome, no Android, no hardware, and no Google Play. So she’s had to learn as she’s gone along. And she’s loving it.
If, as suggested in the media recently, New Zealand is set to be one of the world’s ‘rock star economies’, then Xero would have to be the rightful lead singer. General manager of marketing Jonathan Allan talks about ‘doing beautiful business’.
Malcolm Rands has been fighting the good fight for almost 20 years with Ecostore—and the charity the company helps to fund, Fairground Foundation. He released a book telling the story of his journey a few months back. So how is Ecoman planning on saving the world?
Andrew Shaw, general manager of acquisitions, production and commissioning at TVNZ, was his usual ebullient (and controversial) self during his speech at the TVNZ new season launch (“Last time I looked we were in show business. We’re the show. You’re the business”). We had a chat with him before the event about the importance of quality, the so-called Golden Age of TV and taking risks.
The founder of Dilmah, Merrill J. Fernando, and his son Dilhan have been in New Zealand recently signing off on a new round of ads created by small Kiwi agency Curtiss and Spence and overseeing the Real High Tea Challenge. We sent Dilhan, who is being primed to take over from his father as the face of the brand, a few questions.
Kevin Kenrick has been at the head of TVNZ’s table for around a year now. So what has he learned and what does he see in TV’s tea leaves?
After nine years at TBWA\, Andy Blood, one of the industry’s most awarded, respected and well-liked creative directors, is handing the reins to Toby Talbot. How’s that for disruption.
At 22, Derek Handley became the country’s youngest ever managing director of a listed company. Around ten years later, he sold The Hyperfactory to US marketing behemoth Meredith. And now, in between helping create the ‘future of reading’ with Booktrack, he has announced plans to list his latest venture, mobile media specialist Snakk Media, on New Zealand’s alternative stock exchange. He’s also co-founded an organisation alongside Sir Richard Branson called The B Team that aims to find a new and more sustainable version of capitalism. So what does the future look like to him?