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.
Brands are just coming of age in the new collaborative economy. Like any teenager though, a lot of their actions at the moment are a bit awkward. Most of us learnt at some point that joining in on an existing conversation is much easier than starting your own by shouting until you get someone to pay attention. But to join in and be heard means being relevant and on code, and of course the ‘on code’ bit is what brands need to work out because it is constantly changing.
TRA brand strategist Tim Gregory goes back to McDonald’s early days to see how its golden arches became a cultural symbol, and why there’s a fundamental category-culture disconnect between the values and worldview of a significant and growing segment of Western society and the everyday business the fast food giant.
TRA cultural strategist Antonia Mann reflects on Frances Valintine’s talk at TRA’s recent Mindframe Breakfast and the importance of being future-focused when it comes to innovation.
TRA business director Karin Glucina takes a look at cultural diversity in Auckland, why it’s important for marketers to understand the city’s make-up and how culture influences purchasing decisions.
Even though fake news has been identified as one of the big villains of 2016, TRA’s Colleen Ryan doesn’t believe we are now going to be immune to its influence.
Every year, StopPress asks players in the local industry for their reflections on the marketing year that was. Here’s what Andrew Lewis, managing director of TRA, has to say.
The rules that previously shaped the industry have been torn apart by digital disruption. So TRA managing director Andrew Lewis looks to rewrite the playbook.
‘Just do it’, it’s ‘Sure to rise’ and ‘Finger lickin’ good’. Read over these slogans and you immediately know the brands behind them. Slogans, in any context, can immediately trigger brand recognition and all a company stands for—something ASB recently confirmed when changing its slogan back to ‘One step ahead’. We take a look at the decision and why the once retired idea still works today.
TRA managing director Andrew Lewis thinks we would have seen Donald Trump’s victory coming if we listened to social media. But how? Zavy is raising funds to create a tool with all the answers.
New Zealand is one of the highest spenders on advertising and one of the lowest spenders on research. And this leads to decisions being made on some dodgy assumptions. Damien Venuto delves into the insights game as he sits down for a chat with TRA’s executive director Andrew Lewis and head of strategy Colleen Ryan.
TRA’s Colleen Ryan uses a positive experience at an Italian restaurant to illustrate the joy that consumers can experience when the freedom from choice is coupled with a dash of the unknown and unexpected.
We Uber, we Facebook, we Google, we Airbnb. So, TRA’s Colleen Ryan looks at whether the real test for branding success lies in a business becoming a verb.
To mark the Spice Girls’ 20th Anniversary, TRA strategist Antonia Mann has renamed the group’s members according to today’s cultural trends. Audacious Spice, Spice the Creator and Snap Spice make the list.
TRA’s Luke Procter unpacks Adidas’s successful brand culture from his own experience as a ‘sneakerhead’.
TRA research consultant Jeremy McDonnell finds that millennials’ shopping habits aren’t so different from those of earlier generations.
Industry happenings at One Plus One Group, PwC, Energi Advertising, TRA, Uno Loco, Kordia, Spark PR & Activate, Interbrand and RNZ.
Products don’t exist in a vacuum. And the circumstances they’re experienced in play a much bigger role than we realise, says Andrew Lewis.
TRA broke the champagne on its fancy new office in Britomart this year (and developer Peter Cooper called “the best fit out in the precinct”). And it’s about to do it again, this time in Wellington.
Shouting out random things in a public space isn’t the best conversation starter in real life. And TRA’s Colleen Ryan argues the same applies in social media.
The difference between consumers’ claimed behaviour and actual behaviour is often vast. And while marketers like to have concrete data to make plans, Andrew Lewis thinks they need to become better at observing customer behaviour.
Industry happenings at TRA, Dot Loves Data, Adshel, Comvita, Intelligent Ink, Better by Design and Asia Pacific Digital.
TRA has always positioned itself as one of the cool kids of its sector and its previous High St office looked more like a trendy agency than a dowdy research company. It’s taken that even further with its new office in Britomart, which developer Peter Cooper has pronounced “as the best fit out in the precinct”. And it’s bringing a few new clients along with it after winning the Spark, Toyota and Te Wananga o Aotearoa research accounts.
Whether it’s a set of knives, tiny groceries, a free coffee, a toaster, fuel discounts or Airpoints, reward schemes and collectables campaigns are so hot right now in marketing land. In conjunction with TRA, we’ve asked normal humans what they think about the various schemes on offer and now we want to hear from you in the industry, so help us out, fill in this survey and you’ll go into the draw to win your own reward in the form of a Timex Ironman Move x20 Activity Tracker Band valued at $180.
You might not think there are too many similarities between treating syphilis and differentiating brands, but you’d be wrong, says Andrew Lewis, because it illustrates the importance of combining theory with practice.
For most of the year, research agencies are the unsung heroes of the industry, with their insights outshone by the creativity that usually takes centre stage. However, last Friday, the limelight shifted and drew attention to examples of the most effective research conducted over the course of the last year. Hosted at Auckland’s Hilton hotel and attended by a full house of well-dressed researchers, this year’s edition of the biennial Research Effectiveness Awards was hosted by comedian and sausage ambassador Leigh Hart. PLUS: a brief look at the merger between the Market Research Society of New Zealand and the Association of Market Research Organisations (AMRO).
It’s fair to say the last major campaign launched by ASB didn’t go as well as planned, with the shouty, bearded frontman Brian Blessed being sent back to Blighty a bit earlier than expected. The bank’s Succeed On tagline remained, however, and, after being in a bit of a holding pattern as far as its comms were concerned, ASB has now returned with a new campaign via Saatchi & Saatchi that aims to show how New Zealanders really talk about money—and the ASB products and services that might be able to help them deal with it.
During the global financial crisis, the amount spent on research in New Zealand declined significantly, and the industry has struggled to gain back that ground after the recovery. But The Research Agency has grown at around 120 percent per year since it launched in 2007 and it has big ambitions to maintain that. Managing director Andrew Lewis discusses the reasons behind the company’s recent rebrand to TRA, the importance of embracing different disciplines, and why consumers need to be brought into the heart of the business.
The Research Agency has continued to grow rapidly this year, with big clients like ASB, VW, Vodafone, IAG, Fonterra and NZ Lotteries entrusting it with their research needs and a number of new staff added to the roster to help deal with the new business. Managing director Andrew Lewis, who has penned a host of great columns for NZ Marketing, and the team opine on 2013.