Mike Hutcheson, one of the founders of Colenso and executive director of the Image Centre Group, is a well-renowned raconteur, gadabout and occasional oratorical stuntman. But no matter how many times you may have heard his anecdotes, he tells them so well and so humorously that you don’t actually mind hearing them again. And, as his holistic, semi-philosophical presentation on the future—and the past—of television advertising showed, telling stories is what advertising is all about—and, in his opinion, television is still the best way to tell them.

Around 50 industry heavyweights, middleweights and lightweights shunned the Ranfurly Shield match last night and instead gathered together at Studio Lumiere in Parnell to talk television. And, particularly, to talk about what the future held for television advertising. Colenso’s planning director James Hurman, MediaWorks chief executive Jason Paris and Image Centre Group’s Mike Hutcheson enlightened, extrapolated and entertained in equal measure as part of Pure Production’s Death, Taxes and TVCs event and, in the first of three posts about each of the presentations, we delve into James Hurman’s thoughts on what he feels is a misconception about the death of mass marketing and media.

It seems Kiwis have found plenty to grumble about, well, when it comes to advertisements anyway. The folks at the Advertising Standards Authority have been kept very busy according to their 2009 Annual Report, receiving complaints about 829 advertisements (up from 703 in 2008), with 1339 total complaints.

Numbers are very handy things (particularly when they’re working in your favour). And Freeview, Mindfood magazine and the Healthy Food Guide have employed their services to show off a bit.

A plethora of crepuscular television advertising brought to you by the good folks at Adstream. Ads@6 is best served lukewarm and goes perfectly with lasagne toppers, corn chips and a vigorous session of Zumba. Zumbaaaa! Good to see ‘The Dictator’ splashing out on a new tourism campaign with a rather enticing TVC by the Sydney office of Flying Fish for Barnes, Catmur and Friends (although Monocle, that venerable, besuited, smoking jacket-wearing gentleperson of the monthly magazine world, recently dished out an upper class burn by claiming that countries need to sell themselves with the right words “and Fiji Me are definitely not the right ones”).

Broadcast programme maker Screentime has rebranded its corporate television arm as Screentime Communications, referencing the fact that its non-broadcast business is providing a growing portion of the company’s turnover.