When compiling a list of classic Kiwi TVCs, there are bound to be a few Toyota Hilux ads in there. With the likes of Bugger and the Scotty and Crumpy series, it’s a product with a rich advertising heritage, so a new campaign is always cause for a bit of excitement, both for Toyota fans and for many in the marcomms sector. And Saatchi & Saatchi has gone to great, rather surreal and comical lengths with the ‘Tougher than you can Imagine’ campaign to launch the 2012 model. 

On 4 September 1991, a classic Kiwi slogan was born. 20 years later and, love it or hate it, the Absolutely Positively Wellington brand is still doing the business. So, to celebrate this auspicious anniversary, the good folk at Positively Wellington Tourism and Touch-Cast created a video charting the brand’s history. 

It used to be that everyone wanted to be like Saatchi & Saatchi. But, after the recent Telecom debacle, one agency has even resorted to taking out print ads out to ensure no-one gets confused. 

Moa, like many others, has already jumped on the randy bandwagon with its own pro-sex response to the widely rubbished and now-dumped Telecom ‘Abstain from the Game’ campaign. And the other most likely contender, Hell Pizza—with its agency Barnes, Catmur & Friends—has followed suit with this punny wee number. 

If a sign of a successful campaign is the courting of controversy, then Telecom and partners in crime Saatchi & Saatchi are well placed. But the wealth of opinions that have gushed forth following the unveiling of the ‘Abstain for the All Blacks’ campaign seems to have those involved retreating for shelter. Meanwhile others have offered alternative campaigns of a similar vein.

… as Saatchi & Saatchi adds two new senior hires, M&C Saatchi raids Clem’s coffers and signs up three newbies, Nick Worthington gets the nod for Spikes Asia, Kim Ellison departs Hotfoot for freelance fields anew and entries open for the New Zealand Geographic Photographer of the year.

As the Rugby World Cup edges ever so closer, there’s clearly no shortage of rugby-orientated marketing and promotion campaigns to be had. Sanitarium’s latest ploy is no exception, with the company last week finding the  time to embark on setting a new Guinness World Record for the world’s largest rugby scrum.

When it comes to smartphone usage overseas, the tipping point appears to be approaching rapidly. And while New Zealand is slightly behind in the smartphone uptake stakes, Telecom and Saatchi & Saatchi are hoping to increase the numbers by tapping into the emotional appeal of the devices and promoting their ability to aid all kinds of communication with its latest brand ad, one of the first pieces of work new executive creative director Antonio Navas has his name attached to.

Not getting enough taste from your regular beer? Want more ‘aggravation’ before the sweet, sweet nectar touches your lips? Think drinking out of a glass is for losers? Well then, DB has come to the rescue with its new vortex bottle for Tui blond and the new innovation is being promoted in quintessentially cheeky (teehee) Tui fashion with the return of a scantily-clad yet awfully intelligent brewery girl. 

Saatchi & Saatchi New Zealand has won the Pump water account after a four-way pitch, taking it off Sydney agency Smart. 

To celebrate 60 years of the Landcruiser in Kiwiland, Toyota embarked on a quest to take a newly launched FJ Cruiser from the top to the bottom of New Zealand, but, unlike many length of New Zealand excursions, there was a point of difference: the whole journey had to be done off road. It was put on hold after the Christchurch earthquake, but it’s kicked off again and it’s going great guns. 

Creative students at Media Design School’s AdSchool have triumphed at the 2011 Bees Awards winning the award for Best Student Brief, the only Kiwi win in this year’s awards. The international awards honour the best in social media marketing practices. Ben Andrews (art director) and Craig Douglas (copywriter), won the award for their campaign ‘Dreaming in a foreign language’, created to a special brief for client Mango Languages. The campaign shows innovative use of Facebook to market language learning software.