Spank-branding novelty next week

Welcome to Idealog Weekly, the free email newsletter for New Zealand commercial creatives, entrepreneurs and anyone rich with ideas.

Spank-branding novelty next week

Oh yes, there’s a new issue of Idealog coming out to see you through the Christmas hiatus. On Monday in fact. Savvy subscribers will of course get it sooner than that (and if you’re not one yet, head over to idealog.co.nz/subs to become one).

Continuing cataloguing creativity, the new issue features 100 pages of gloom-defying ideas: how your mistakes can still make you millions, the secret revolutionaries inside your business, and our summer special IdealGear (our pick of design-led delights). Enjoy!

It is rocket science

HThere’s a payoff to sending payloads into space and retrieving them, something Kiwi company Rocket Lab has discovered. Founded by Peter Beck, Rocket Lab sends 250kg rockets well above the skies, laden with all kinds of stuff onboard, like human ashes. Read about Rocket Lab and Beck on our website.

This business is a lemon

“It’s the credit crunch and the lazy days of playing games are over,” says Bina Klose of Lemon Fresh in Kerikeri, the citrus capital of New Zealand. She got together with Rhona Mackenzie, who put her kids, 3 and 7, to work in that classic business, a lemonade stall.

Taking the concept of teaching kids business savvy a bit further, Bina and Rhona set up the Lemon Fresh Business Camp for kids. Check it out.

Licence or lose out

The Rugby World Cup 2011 is almost around the corner and now’s the time for businesses to start thinking about merchandise for it—and licensing deals. Next year is the time to swing in action, because 2010 will be too late.

Licensing in Motion (NZ) has been awarded the master licensing rights to RWC 2011. It will oversee the global licensing programme, excluding South Africa and Europe.

An expected 60,000 visitors will come to New Zealand for the RWC 2011, and a worldwide television audience of four billion will watch the games. (Photo by Steve Punter)

Roll out the barrel

Of Diogenesian tub-thumping art

Essence of NZ design

Next time you’re in downtown Manhattan, head over to 909-911 Broadway. That’s where Kiwi design store essenze has its NYC home.

Founded by Clare Mora, essenze represents a large number of New Zealand’s best designers. The Broadway showroom opened on November 19, and houses designer contemporary objects, home accessories, furniture, rugs and lighting.

Philately phantastic

Ten British design classics commemorated by Royal Mail in a set of first-class stamps. Editor notes that the typeface used for the stamps is appropriately enough Gill Sans, by the great typographer Eric Gill, and as timeless and beautiful as the designs themselves.

Catch the Webstock worm

Early bird rego for Webstock closes Monday, December 1. That’s right, Monday next week. Action required, in other words, if you intend to attend New Zealand’s foremost web event in February next year. Idealog is one of the proud sponsors of Webstock 2009.

Webstocker Mike Brown tells us that the workshops still have places available, but they’re filling up fast.

Register at the Webstock website. You’ll find the full programme for the main conference there too.

Job of the Week

Group Account Director – Melbourne (INT0487)

Our client is a well respected Australian design agency, who specialise in strategy and branding. They have offices in both Sydney and Melbourne and have a great selection of clients.

This role will be based in Melbourne, with an initial one day a week travel to Sydney for the first couple of months, thereafter once a month. Looking after one of their major banking clients—this is a very busy and demanding role, where high expectations are required.

The projects are varied from conceptual through to brand architecture, spatial, sub brand and strategy—therefore you will be strategically astute and able to lead and develop your clients in all aspects of their creative needs.

You will be responsible for a team of 3, directing and mentoring, so previous leadership skills are required.

If you are looking to make a move to Melbourne and can start prior to Christmas or early in the New Year contact Louise Lawton to discuss this position in further detail, apply on our website.

No, and no again

Steinlager is back with a brand new celebrity to tell us Kiwis why our disapproval is so appreciated. Who might it be? Find out with this sneak preview to the cool new Steinie ad, featuring the US Navy and due for public release very soon. And check out Line in the Sand, a viral featuring the words of the iconic New Zealander who knew how to say what he didn’t like.

Life sciences

March next year will see the NZBIO 2009 conference in Auckland, covering agriculture, food and health applications, as well as industrial and environmental biotechnology plus the development of second-generation biofuels. Fascinating stuff, and NZBIO is calling for abstracts for the conference, so get yours in now.

Great Hall of Digital Media People

X Media Lab is hitting Beijing between December 17 and 19 with its acclaimed digital media event, Creative Industries. This is held in the Great Hall of the People in partnership with China’s largest creative industries event, the International Culture and Creative Industries Expo or ICCIE. Speakers include Shekhar Kapur, who directed Elizabeth, Chinese vice minister of culture, Zheng Xinmaio and Kim Dalton, head of ABC TV in Australia. Creative professionals from New Zealand are welcome to attend. Register at www.xmedialab.com

Quote of the week

It’s often said to build a rocket is quite simple: you can just buy hardware and off you go. That’s a source of frustration because it’s not the case. Everything is integrated, and it’s expensive.

—Peter Beck of Rocket Lab says it really is rocket science

More at Idealog online

Read more on our website: web exclusives, opinion, creative directory, Idealog TV, the Idealog blogs and the Idealog podcast. See you at idealog.co.nz.

  Juha Saarinen
  Ideologue, Weekly