2011 was another good year for the indies, which are often playing in the same sandpit as the big boys and occasionally stealing their spades and buckets. And, with a range of experienced big agency campaigners now plying their trade outside the walls of the multinationals, this trend looks set to continue. Running With Scissors’ two main brains Friday O’Flaherty and Andy Mitchell get their freak on.
2011 was a big year for Adshel, with the departure of Australian-based chief executive Steve McCarthy and marketing director Elvira Lodewick, the reinstitution of the much-loved Adshel Rally after a six-year hiatus and the added buoyancy—and, in many cases, frustration—brought to the outdoor sector by the RWC. So, take it away national sales director Nick Vile.
Mediacom won a few big awards last year, including B&T’s overall agency of the year title and the Media Agency Network of the Year award for the third consecutive year at the M&M International Awards. In New Zealand it was behind KFC’s Double Down launch as well as the placement of media for the Z launch, and to top it all off, it also took the Revlon account off DraftFCB. Managing director Nigel Douglas pours his heart out.
2011 was a fairly challenging year for MediaWorks, with management restructures, debt problems and tax bills. But there were plenty of positives too, with the new dual-channel approach that saw TV3 trying to snatch away some of TVNZ’s wrinklier viewers and FOUR becoming a mainstream entertainment channel seemingly starting to pay dividends. Amanda Wilson, head of marketing at TV3 and FOUR, lets her opinions on 2011 be known.
He’s about to head back to the homeland for a plum posting with RKCR/Y&R in London after five successful years as DDB’s executive creative director. So, since he’s breaking up with us, we figured the least Toby Talbot could do is fill in our end of year questionnaire.
After another year of nurturing, moulding and shaping young creative minds and preparing them for a life spent pushing commercial messages/sipping champagne on superyachts, The AdSchool’s course leader Kate Humphries delivers her verdict on 2011’s work.
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.
Proudly Kiwi-owned indie agency Federation kicked off in 2008 and it pumped out a lot of work this year, with good campaigns for the likes of Warehouse Stationery, Cavalier Bremworth, Fisher & Paykel Finance and The Royal New Zealand Foundation of the Blind. DDB NZ’s ex-managing director Sharon Henderson opines on 2011.
As Warner Music’s Eric Morse said at the Marketing Today conference, the growth of the web is now letting brands and agencies target individuals, not just markets. And justONE’s Ben Goodale has been trying to ride that 1-to-1 wave in 2011. Here’s his take on the year that was.
It’s been around one year since Andrew Holt joined Clemenger BBDO in Wellington as managing director. And quite a year it’s been, with the agency winning the New Zealand Post account, an AXIS Gold for its creative Radio NZ radios and launching new campaigns for Dulux, Mitsubishi and the New Zealand Transport Agency. Here’s what caught his eye in 2011.
There were a host of enthralling PR disasters this year. And, perhaps as a result of all the humans wandering the streets during the Rubber Wool Cup, there was also a noticeable increase in the number of brands using experiential marketing in their campaigns. So who better to spill the beans on 2011 than Claudia Macdonald, managing director of PR, events and experiential agency Mango and a founding member of the CAANZ Marcomms Leadership Group.
There’s been a lot of chatter about the benefits of sponsorship and the threat of ambush marketing over the past few months. Some believed the All Blacks were a more valuable property to be associated with, others believed the Rugby World Cup was worth the sizable investment. So we were interested to see this Nielsen data showing which brands the hoi polloi perceived as sponsors of the event in June and then again in October.
Not surprisingly, the All Blacks’ celebrations with Old Bill in the changing rooms was the most popular photo gallery of the tournament on nzherald.co.nz. But, given the marketing battle royale that has played out between Steinlager and Heineken, we couldn’t help but notice one photo in particular. If you look closely you’ll see some members of the team—and the Dear Leader who never misses out—drinking the team sponsor’s product (good to see Andrew ‘The Seal Killer’ Hore rocking a white can) in the supposedly ‘clean’ stadium. But, blow me down, Piri Weepu is supping from a bottle of Heineken. Someone call the IRB. A fine must be dished out.
Who’s it for: NZTA by Clemenger BBDO and The Sweet Shop
Why we like it: When it comes to social messaging, making at-risk groups feel bad about their behaviour often has a habit of leading to more of that bad behaviour. But this excellent ad aims to …
From a marketing perspective, the battle between All Blacks sponsors Steinlager and RWC sponsors Heineken was one of the most enthralling. Steinlager played the local card very well with its savvy ‘We Believe’ and Heineken played the international card with ‘This is the Game’. And both parties are keeping the marketing momentum going.
Steinlager’s impressive ‘We Believe’ campaign to celebrate 25 years sponsoring the All Blacks has so far managed to evade the legal clutches of the IRB/IMG gatekeepers, despite stepping on Heineken’s toes and stealing a big chunk of its RWC thunder. But it hasn’t managed to evade the legal clutches of the ASA, which has smacked Lion on the hand for a print ad that featured a picture of the white can with the line ’30 names we can believe in’. The ad featured in the papers the day after the All Blacks squad had been named and was deemed by a majority of the complaints board to contravene the restrictions around heroes of the young. But does this ruling show the letter of the law is being taken too far?
Designing furniture, creating photography books and making documentaries about the world’s worst football teams. Not the most obvious definition of a communications agency but for Engin Celikbas, a former DDB international and now partner of Amsterdam start-up agency Kesselskramer, it’s all about tapping into the wide depth of talent within the company and experimenting. Celikbas recently made an appearance at We Can Create and in this video interview, he tells us why he admires Steinlager and Droga 5, shares his thoughts on Telecom’s failed All Blacks campaign, and explains how the agency managed to position the Hans Brinker Budget Hotel as the world’s worst hotel that has been “proudly disappointing travellers for forty years”. The hotel has never been so full.
These days advertising seems to encroach on almost everything, public transport especially. But apart from DDB’s Instant Kiwi campaign back in 2010, which saw scenes from the Sistine Chapel installed on the ceilings of buses throughout the city, there hasn’t been much by way of skyward advertising, particularly when it comes to trains. But while the practice may be common in places like the UK, Auckland trains is only just now getting its first dose courtesy of a campaign run by Fly Buys to promote its Star Deals initiative.
Where there is rugby, there is often beer, as anyone who’s visited the clubrooms after a game anywhere in New Zealand could probably well attest. And Lion and Tangible Media’s NZ Rugby World have joined forces to put out a special collector’s edition that takes an in-depth look at the All Blacks’ tremendous achievements over the past 25 years and is sponsored exclusively by Steinlager to coincide with the 25th anniversary of its support of the All Blacks and the launch of its new ‘We Believe’ campaign.
Who’s it for: Westpac by .99 and Robber’s Dog
Why we like it: There’s no doubt dressing babies up in funny costumes and using them as props is both cute and hilarious (even when they’re dressed up as dictators, it seems). Westpac has done …
In case you haven’t noticed, it’s Rugby World Cup year. There will be plenty of big battles on the field, but there will also be a few big battles off it, as evidenced by these three recently released rugby-themed campaigns.
Not satisfied with simply being the beer sponsor for the All Blacks, Steinlager has gone all gadgety with its latest venture—an iPhone app that helps All Blacks supporters find their way around town whislt keeping them up to date with real-time stream of All Blacks news. And, because ending up passed out in a gutter somewhere isn’t ideal, the app also helps ensure you get home safely.
It’s no secret that Lion Nathan has been perusing the agency field for someone to give its Steinlager brand a bit of fresh lovin’. And now the winning agency has been revealed as DDB. But Scott Wallace, group business director at DDB, wants to make it clear the agency will only be working on one project for Steinlager this year.
Lion Nathan has put some project work for Steinlager out to stud and, while lead agency Publicis Mojo is involved in the agency review, losing the business has the potential to be another slap in the face for the incumbent after it lost Waikato Draught and Lion Red last year to Assignment Group and DDB respectively.