Last night our nation’s finest agencies gathered together at Galatos for the Battle of the Ad Bands (BOTAB) held by Flying Fish productions. There was singing, there was dancing, there was no lack of feathers and glitter, and most important there were some very deserving winners.
You may of heard of the story that went viral in New Zealand and further abroad about an Auckland man who works in advertising and brought a clown as a support person with him to the redundancy meeting. DDB regional chief creative officer for Australia and New Zealand Damon Stapleton recently hired this man, and shares how the story struck him as an example of how creativity can change the rules of any situation and get your power back.
Hunch founder and managing partner Michael Goldthorpe asks why CX has such an over-emphasis on tech and an under-understanding of people.
In October 2018, former FCB managing director Rufus Chuter and former OMD chief digital officer Kris Hadley announced they were launching a new strategy, technology and media management agency, Together. In the time since they’ve focussed on establishing their agency while operating on a simple philosophy: creating a great work environment, to attract great people, to produce great work. Chuter and Hadley fill us in on how they’re running their agency with the future in mind.
Two days ago, Instagram started experimenting in Canada by hiding likes on Instagram. If executed, this change will impact influencers, content creators and brands that until now – rightly or wrongly – have valued likes as a measure of engagement, and therefore success. CEO of Socialites Wendy Thompson shares her thoughts on why this might be a smart move by the social media giant.
Lush UK recently released a bold and cryptic message that slammed social media channels, their algorithms and their pay-for-play strategy, and said it would be going dark on their social media channels and talking with their community in other ways. Chief executive of Socialites, Wendy Thompson, shares her thoughts on why this decision by a major brand doesn’t put the customer first.
If the terror attacks on two Christchurch mosques proved anything, it’s that one senseless act can leave a nation in despair. But what does the data tell us about human’s ability to commit acts of love, versus acts of hate? AUT professor Mike Hutcheson reflects on a Twitter experiment carried out years ago that measured just this – and says there’s hope for us yet.
Innovation and creativity are two terms that can tend to get muddled when it comes to talking about business. Advertising guru Mike Hutcheson explores the difference between the two.
TRA’s Colleen Ryan looks at the importance of understanding the nuances of new migrants to New Zealand.
Nikki Wright, managing director of Wright Communications, writes about her learnings and observations after attending the PRovoke18 Conference in Washington DC.
TRA’s Colleen Ryan looks at the importance of understanding the nuances of new migrants to New Zealand.
In light of NZME and Fairfax’s merger appeal rejected by High Court, following the Commerce Commission refusing to approve the deal, we take a look at a piece from TRA’s Collen Ryan about how love doesn’t always last in mergers.
Young & Shand co-founder Duncan Shand says that much of the debate on programmatic misses the mark because it focuses on only one element of digital advertising.
While the industry focus is often placed on flashy bits happening on the surface, Contact Energy chief customer officer Vena Crawley says it’s often the hard graft beneath the surface that makes the difference.
Damon Stapleton tells a personal story to show that doing something the wrong way can sometimes deliver a marvellous result.
Anthony Gardiner reckons that the SVOD incumbents should be very wary of Facebook’s growing interest in this space.
What makes a conversation memorable? Damon Stapleton believes the answer might lie in the words of a few taxi drivers he’s encountered over the last 20 years.
From banner ads to crowdcultures, TRA’s Tim Gregory takes a historic perspective at what’s worked and what’s hasn’t in digital marketing.
Chemistry Interaction’s Susan Young recounts her experience judging the 2017 Caples Awards, and says that while the direct and digital space is more challenging than ever to work in, great ideas are still possible, even in an environment as fast-moving and cramped as New York.
While the Ad Contrarian, Bob Hoffman, is often on the mark, Pead PR content director Konrad Kasiske reckons the blogger missteps by imploring the industry to “call content shit”. To Kasiske, this is too broad and it overlooks the fact that Shakespearean sonnet should never be dumped in the same category as a cat’s arse.
Amidst the sea of change sweeping over the media industry, the Commerce Commission has the temerity to stand like King Canute – doing its best to thwart the waves of progress by saying ‘no’ to mergers like this one, writes JustOne’s Ben Goodale.
Receptive.tv director Sam Aldred reckons that the growing prominence of live video on social feeds will play an important role in defining the future of broadcast television (despite all the controversies concerning extreme footage).
TRA consultant Vanisha Narsey shares her experiences of Auckland’s nightlife to examine how we meet people, react to storytelling and why customer experiences matter.
New technology means there’s a demand for new ways to tell stories, says TRA head of design Kate Snushall.
To show the perils of a seemingly innocuous Google update, Surefire Search managing director Glenn Marvin recently ran a quick test search on WorkflowMax (a Xero product), only to be served a series of sponsored ad results, many of which comprised a number of competitors to the Xero-owned product.
TRA’s Amber Coulter takes a look at our post-material world to see how food has become an experience from the way we eat it to the way we share it.
TRA’s Colleen Ryan navigates the behavioural patterns people use to make decisions to help marketers use them to their advantage.
The desire to disengage from the digital world and reminisce over ‘real things’ has been a key driver of the analogue counter culture. TRA senior consultant Dulcie Tauri reflects on the rise of the tactile buzz.
TRA’s Shaun Fitzgibbon takes a look at how corporate sustainability has come a long way in the last decade, with many of the most successful businesses, both large and small, implementing sustainability strategies.
We thought we were getting pretty good at empathy but 2016 showed us that we have a lot to work on. The shock of Brexit, Trump and similar events around the world suggest that we have been perhaps a bit selfish and selective in how, when and with whom we are empathetic. 2017 sees a ramped-up call for empathy – it’s now more important than ever. But it needs to be empathy that is authentic, humble and self- aware.