At the end of last year, Pandora commercial director Melanie Reece handed in her resignation at the company. And she has now opened up about the circumstances that led to this decision and the legal action she has taken against the company.
Browsing: Melanie Reece
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 Melanie Reece, the commercial director at Pandora, thought about 2014.
Pandora’s commercial director for New Zealand Melanie Reece says there’s currently a lacuna in the law when it comes to the rules of mobile advertising. And this makes it important for mobile media owners to discuss the issue and share their insights, in the hope of forming a framework that benefits all the players in the industry.
In an effort to catch the attention of the increasingly uninterested youth segment of the population, the Electoral Commission has already commissioned Lorde to appear in a pair of videos in which she encourages eligible Kiwis to use the right she still doesn’t have. Tallying a cumulative total of about 30,000 views, these videos have attracted a decent level of attention, but they haven’t been shared sufficiently to reach all the young Kiwis who are yet to enrol. So, to consolidate these online and TV efforts, the Electoral Commission has now taken its message to a channel that is particularly popular among the younger segments of the population, Pandora.
When in-car tape and CD players were first released, various analysts predicted the possible demise of the radio industry on account of the fact that people could customise their own playlists to personalise the listening experience. And while the industry managed to survive the tape deck and CD shuttle, the digital age is posing a new threat to radio’s continued dominance of in-car listening.
The cards have been printed, the stationery has arrived, the team is now in place and the doors to the new office in The Generator in Auckland’s CBD have been opened. And to celebrate Pandora NZ’s launch—and its first commercial partner, Sonos Wireless—it is offering a Sonos prize pack worth over $3,800 to one lucky StopPress reader.
Radio streaming service Pandora has brought the functionality it introduced in its 5.0 app for iOS devices earlier this year to a new version for Android tablets. The interface of Pandora 5.0 for Android tablets has also been optimised for the larger screen size of these devices.
For years, pessimistic pundits have been talking about the death of TV. But TV viewership is still as strong as ever, and ad revenue is standing fairly firm. One thing that has definitely changed, however, is the integration of brands into programming and the ability of social media to light fires underneath content, as evidenced most recently by the launch of the X Factor NZ—and the way broadcasters are now working more closely with marketers and creative agencies to come up with original branded content ideas.
MediaWorks adds some more integration, Gordon Jon Thompson takes a gamble on Sky City, APN names Peter Hunt as its director and chairman of the board, and DB opens up its newly-renovated Monteith’s Brewery in Greymouth.
The Block is one of the biggest reality TV shows in the world. In Australia, where the show began, it remains the highest-rated television series of all time, and over 350 episodes have been produced in the UK, USA, Israel, Russia, Romania, Belgium, the Netherlands and Scandinavia. Given New Zealand’s penchant for property, it’s perhaps surprising it’s taken this long to arrive here, but it’s landing soon and MediaWorks is claiming a first for a major New Zealand television series by allowing foundation partners whose brands are integrated into the show the ability to use the stars in commercial campaigns outside the broadcast of the programme.
Mobile devices are basically seen as a necessity these days and, like a dog without its bone, there’s almost nothing more depressing than seeing a modern human try to function without its phone. For marketers, these devices offer some very exciting creative possibilities, and MediaWorks has jumped on the ‘social TV’ bandwagon and released what it believes is a world-first smartphone app called Pluk that uses audio recognition technology to deliver content from the TV straight to the user’s phone.
MediaWorks TV launched its new season line-up in Auckland this morning. And there’s sure to be some gasps, both of horror and delight, following the much anticipated announcement of the return to screen of controversial broadcaster Paul Henry.
MediaWorks has been in the news a bit recently, with the unexpected departure of its TV wunderkind Jason Paris and continuing discussion about the sizable debts of its owner Ironbridge. But it’s not all bad: its two-channel strategy appears to be paying off in terms of share, ad revenue is up and general manager of integration Melanie Reece says the “sleeping giant” of branded content and product placement is starting to wake up, as evidenced by the success of New Zealand’s Next Top Model and the inclusion of new sponsors like 2degrees into the show.