Following the ANZ-National fusion decision, there has been a seemingly endless stream of bank ads vying for New Zealand’s affection. And while Westpac has dabbled with a cheeky green vs. blue = red number and a bit of sneaky teaser hijacking, it’s kept its biggest pile of gunpowder dry until now, launching a new brand campaign by DDB last night that’s headed by a 90 second TVC imploring New Zealanders to start asking questions about money.
Browsing: Justin Mowday
After 18 years together, AMI has said goodbye to DDB and shifted the business to Colenso, which works on fellow IAG-owned brands State and NZI.
As expected, there’s been a fair bit of discussion about Lindauer’s new campaign on StopPress, some quite enjoying the gender-based hyperbole, some feeling it’s a little too abstract and/or sexist. We couldn’t get hold of DDB’s managing director Justin Mowday last week for a chat when it launched. But we caught up with him yesterday. So what’s the deal? And what else have they got up their sleeves?
When we sat down for a chat with DDB’s new executive creative director Andy Fackrell a few months back (see full interview below) he said he was enjoying being back in the Kiwi countryside and was pretty keen to stick around if he was enjoying himself. And that’s exactly what’s happened, because he has signed on to become the permanent ECD eight months into his 12 month contract.
Leo Burnett Sydney has won the McCafé and Family portfolios for McDonald’s across Australia and New Zealand, taking the business off DDB, which has held the account for more than 30 years.
Since Steinlager Pure was launched in 2007, Lion has used big name American actors to endorse the brand, with the likes of Harvey Keitel, Willem Dafoe and Vincent Gallo gracing our screens and stroking our egos in the past campaigns made by Publicis Mojo. But after a hiatus from Kiwi TV screens as its big brother’s white cans took over during the RWC—and with DDB now as its lead agency—it’s ready to launch its next campaign on Sunday. And for the first time the new mascot is a Kiwi: successful director, actor and all-round funny man Taika Waititi.
Penis graffiti is immature—and almost always funny. This effort in Hamilton was able to be seen from space, this effort on the Liteiny Bridge in St Petersberg had some serious scale to it, this one came to life to stop STDs, and then there was the recent effort in Australia where a long-time magazine designer went out with a bang by sneakily putting some cockinballs on the cover of Beat. Now our neck of the woods is abuzz with cartoon genital-related scandal after some unseemly goings on at DDB.
We called it in late April, and now the official word is out: Westpac New Zealand has appointed DDB Group as its sole creative advertising agency.
After a pitch involving a rumoured list of TBWA\ and the incumbent McCann, it’s thought DDB has managed to get a foot in the door with Coca-Cola after winning the Lift Plus account.
Success is fairly subjective in adland. Depending on who you’re talking to, it can be about the cash earned, growth rates achieved, accounts gained or creative plaudits won. And while DDB Group hasn’t quite had the run of things when it comes to awards of late, its “exceptional” business performance over the past year was enough to win it the 2012 Fairfax AdMedia Supreme Agency of the Year last night at the Imperial Lane Bar & Restaurant, adding to the agency of the year titles it has recently been awarded by the NBR, Campaign Brief and Campaign Asia Pacific. DraftFCB was a close runner-up, justONE won specialist agency of the year and OMD took the media title.
One of the great ironies of the advertising industry is the fact that advertising agencies, despite dispensing plenty of advice to their clients about the need to continue spending up large (especially during a recession), rarely advertise themselves. But DraftFCB has been the exception to that rule in New Zealand in recent years and it caught our attention with a campaign that showed off some of its remarkable powers of persuasion in Air New Zealand’s Koru lounges.
Colenso BBDO is licking its collective lips after snaffling up DDB’s hot young creative team James Connor and Christie Cooper in the latest round of agency swapsies. Connor, who has been at DDB for five years, and Cooper for nine, took out a bronze Young Guns Award for DDB three years ago for their out of home Fruit Burst campaign, and also worked on campaigns for Cadbury, Sky, Pascalls, and Pink Batts.
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.
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 New Zealand is already cracking open a few celebratory bottles after the cheeky and very clever Steinlager campaign helped win it the whole account (and managed to sell boatloads of classic white cans). And now it’s added another big Lion brand to the stable after being handed the Lindauer account without a pitch.
Telecom and the MED released a document on Tuesday about its plan to ‘demerge’ and split into two separate entities—the network division Chorus and the retail arm at this stage colloquially known as the ‘New Telecom’—as part of the conditions imposed by the government after its successful bid to build the Ultra Fast Broadband network. And the split, which still requires shareholder and bondholder approval, has led to a fresh round of speculation that it could be a catalyst for changes to its agency roster and might spell the end of Kevin Roberts’ position on the Telecom board.
There were rumours of a few hearty celebrations at Ogilvy yesterday and while nothing has been able to be confirmed, it seems the frivolity is on the back of news that it has, in line with most predictions, retained the big Auckland Council account, beating out Colenso BBDO/.99 and DDB. Standby for an update.
Being ranked 18th best agency in the world last week in the Big Won directory obviously wasn’t enough for DDB New Zealand, because since then it’s gone on to claim the prestigious Young Guns Agency of the Year title, it’s taken out the top spot on the Young Guns creative rankings and it’s also placed as the 28th most awarded agency in the world according to the recently released Gunn Report.
If you thought ad agencies were only in it for the accolades, then the Directory Big Won may lend a little bit of credence to that, because it’s an award show that gives out awards to agencies that have won the most awards. How post-modern. Anyway, after the numbers were crunched, DDB New Zealand and Colenso BBDO were the only two agencies from the Asia Pacific region to make the top 20 list for 2010, ranked as the 18th and 20th most successful creative agencies in the world respectively, the first time either agency has made the list.
It’s been a big year for DDB New Zealand. And it’s finishing on a high note with the launch of a massive new McDonald’s retail campaign in Australia and New Zealand that features (well, kind of) Shane Warne.
DDB New Zealand embarked on an international search to find a new managing director earlier this year. And they found the right man for the job just down the road at DraftFCB. So far, so good in the new role for Justin Mowday, with two big accounts in Cadbury and The Warehouse staying put and a host of top notch creative work being released (added to that, his old place of employ did very well at this year’s Effies). So, here’s his $0.02 on the year in marketing.
The advertising Lazy Susan continues to spin. And there’s been another big switcheroo: Justin Mowday has swapped his managing director cap at DraftFCB for a snazzy new one at DDB.
Welcome to our new feature, Hit for Six, where we put agency heads in the inquisition chair for six quick questions. Let’s get to know our marcomms community. Prepare to be enlightened. First victim, Justin Mowday from DraftFCB.
Name: Justin Mowday, Managing DirectorCompany: DraftFCBNo. of staff: 120 …