September 7, 2006
Welcome to Idealog Weekly, the free email newsletter for New Zealand commercial creatives, entrepreneurs and anyone rich with ideas. In this week’s issue: ideas from the edge, the man(nequin) in the Wellington shirt, in the blogs, books that changed the world, your decor can make you sick and the quote of the week. Ideas from the edge In an age when advertising seems to be everywhere, it’s worth considering that the entire local advertising industry probably numbers only around 2,000 people. When you’re that small you’ve got a challenge on your hands: how do you keep your best staff in the face of bigger budgets and bigger campaigns offshore? How do you keep the creative juices flowing with fewer people, less time and less money? Our ad agencies have found at least some of that magic formula. At the Cannes Lions awards this year Kiwi agencies picked up their biggest haul ever and placed in the top ten countries overall. As Catherine Smith writes in ‘Ideas from the edge’, there’s not a TV commercial among the winning entries. “All are marked by a clever idea, a willingness to step outside the confines of the medium, and most are interactive,” she writes. “In the emerging tech-savvy, everyone-is-creative society that we call Generation C, New Zealand’s advertising industry is showing a vision of the future of advertising. It’s also showing other New Zealanders how to make a mark with a limited budget, a great idea, ambition and skill.” Most importantly, our ad agencies are finding creative ways to prosper despite the constant stream of young talent headed to offshore agencies. Read our story online to learn how they do it—and don’t miss ‘Head honcho’, David MacGregor’s Q&A with Whybin creative director Andy Blood about winning big at Cannes, developing talent and publishing his own magazine. Don’t have time? Read this four-point summary: 1. Be ambitious at every level. In New Zealand the larger players come up with great ideas as readily as smaller outfits. That gives our industry an edge that is often missing in markets with established, conservative market leaders. When large agencies push brave ideas the role of advertising is taken more seriously down the ranks, says Whybin\TBWA chief executive Dave Walden. 2. Expats are a great resource. New Zealanders are popular at large agencies in New York and London, and they keep in touch with their colleagues in Godzone. Their appealing mix of creativity and can-do, practical skill gives our local industry a credible reputation and helps pick up work from abroad. When they return they’re well-connected, experienced and often delighted to be home. Young Kiwis will travel; our advertising agencies use that to their advantage. 3. Welcome new talent. Many of the local creative directors originally hailed from offshore. Sure, New Zealand is a nice place to live, but they’re here because there are career opportunities too. Our agencies are innovative, ambitious and recognise talent. “The hotspots used to be London or New York,” says Wayne Pick, a South African who won a Cannes Gold this year for a campaign for ASB Bank. “Moving to New Zealand or Aussie meant to retire or wrap up. Now we’re seeing the fresh thinking, the pure ideas. You can be a global player from here, so you get the best of both worlds.” 4. Let the youngsters have a crack. In offshore markets it takes years to be allowed to do the interesting stuff, and even then people have to specialise. In New Zealand, “our young talent gets thrown in the deep end,” says Tracey Lee, a Kiwi who has worked in agencies in Amsterdam and New York. “It’s a baptism by fire here. The wealth of experience and range of clients you get to work with pours gasoline on our knowledge and skills.” 
 The man(nequin) in the Wellington shirt It could be pure coincidence. It could be by divine plan. There’s certainly a nice circularity to a new ad campaign by Ogilvy & Mather for Wellington shirt maker 3 Wise Men. The ads are a twist on a David Ogilvy classic, ‘The man in the Hathaway shirt’. The 1951 Ogilvy ad, now compulsory viewing for advertising students, was one of the first to sell products through storytelling. Who is this man with the eye patch? Why the patch? And why does he choose Hathaway? The shirts sold like mad, doubling sales in five years. These days, storytelling ads are, like, so 1951—but can O&M repeat the success for 3 Wise Men? Take a look at this early preview on the right—are you compelled to ask why this man is vomiting in Vulcan Lane? Remind you of anyone you know? And does it make want you to buy his shirt?
In the blogs We’re blogging up a storm at Idealog. Recent posts include an examination of the radical new real estate company, The Joneses; measuring the value of the creative economy; musing on the significance of the MySpace music store that will bypass the major labels; and you can listen to our podcast, where Kiwi FM’s Wammo talks to Idealog’s Vincent Heeringa about the news that New Zealand’s screen production industry is now bigger than forestry. Visit us online and leave a pithy comment with our new, easier-than-ever commenting system. We’re planning to do some interesting new things with our podcasts in the coming months and you don’t need to wait for your Idealog Weekly to stay in the loop. Subscribe to our podcast with a program like iTunes or WinAmp and you’ll know whenever we release a new audio track. For more about podcasting, visit podcasting expert The Voice Booth’s website where there’s a short explanation and (naturally!) an audio track about podcasting from The Voice Booth’s Dave Dunlay.  Books that changed the world
Penguin is on its second series of ‘Great Ideas’—books that changed the world. From Marcus Aurelius to George Orwell, Sun Tzu to Saint Augustine, these books are, says Penguin, “the works of the great thinkers, pioneers, radicals and visionaries whose ideas shook civilization”. They’re beautifully presented too. As the digital mavens at 37Signals point out, Penguin’s beautiful designs make these books something you’ll want to buy, hold and keep. “These are classic books that look classic. The kind you want to keep on your shelf for years to come. A PDF can’t compete with that.” Can your decor make you sick? Yes. And good interior design can reduce pain, make you brainier and increase creative output (really!). Research into the impact of interior design in offices, hospitals and factories shows that views, natural light, desk shapes—even simple things like keeping strategically arranged piles of paper on your desk—can lift your output and make you a happier person. We discovered such stuff when colleagues at sister company HB Media wrote a series of papers for Matisse, the importers of Herman Miller furniture. You can download the first three papers for free from Matisse’s website. Matisse is also featured in the Creative Showcase in the current edition of Idealog. Quote of the week “We say we’re overworked here because there are not as many people, but it allows you have more shots at goal because of that. [Overseas] there is such a rigmarole: research, layers to approve at every step. By the time it gets through, no-one finds it offensive, but no-one likes it much either.”
—Cannes Gold winner Guy Denniston of Publicis Mojo More at Idealog online Read more on our website: Web exclusives, opinion, Idealog IP and the Idealog blogs. See you at idealog.co.nz. Matt Cooney
Editor
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