2013-05-29 10:46:55 // Hazel Phillips
// The Idealog Blog
| 4 comments
The story of New Zealand's advertising history is more than just a collection of anecdotes about long lunches and bad behaviour – it pulls in politics, economics, deregulation and the loosening of social mores (to name a few).
2013-05-10 09:16:55 // Idealog
// The Idealog Blog
Late Night is a newly launched website dedicated to hosting parties and functions, including anything from pre ball parties to divorce parties.
2013-05-02 12:33:31 // Michael Goldthorpe
// The Idealog Blog
| 2 comments
If grammar rules are ours for the breaking, does that mean it’s okay to use the serious slang of acronyms du jour?
2013-05-01 10:23:57 // Sim Ahmed
// The Idealog Blog
Fly Buys has installed a giant vending machine in the Britomart Transportation Centre providing Auckland commuters with 60,000 Jaffas.
2013-04-30 11:47:27 // Sim Ahmed
// The Idealog Blog
Beer is fragile and precious cargo for many Kiwi blokes and blokesses, so Lion's 'Beer Insurance' campaign for its Crafty Beggars range isn't nearly as absurd as it might sound.
2013-04-24 12:14:19 // StopPress Team
// The Idealog Blog
Just what does one standard drink constitute? Y&R and the Tomorrow Project, a social change initiative run by the country's beer, wine and spirit producers aimed at educating consumers about responsible drinking, are on the trail to clear up matters once and for all by designing a special glass.
2013-04-17 10:40:02 // StopPress Team
// The Idealog Blog
| 2 comments
All Blacks fans have the chance to win a corporate box to watch their team play France in the Rugby World Cup Final rematch at Eden Park on June 8 – but there’s a catch.
2013-04-12 16:02:01 // StopPress Team
// The Idealog Blog
Rejoice, industry award cravers, because go has been pushed on the call for entries for the TVNZ-NZ Marketing Awards.
2013-04-11 11:35:30 // Idealog
// The Idealog Blog
DraftFCB Media’s ‘MINI Driving Dogs’ were an unqualified success, making headlines around the world in 2012, and the campaign has just been recognised as the winner of the 2012 Yahoo! New Zealand Digital Strategy Awards.
2013-04-09 12:16:27 // Design Daily team
// The Idealog Blog
| 1 comment
Interbrand has re-designed the iconic V can to complement the V Robbers campaign, which kicked off in February.
2013-04-08 09:58:53 // Sim Ahmed
// The Idealog Blog
As BNZ clearly demonstrates in its latest Kiwisaver campaign on Facebook, Jib Jab hasn't completely cornered the market on animations with people's faces stuck on them.
2013-04-02 11:51:12 // Ben Fahy
// The Idealog Blog
Some might argue there's a degree of trickery every day of the year in the world of marketing and media. But it's taken to much more preposterous levels – and is almost actively encouraged – on April Fool's Day. So here's a collection of the best pranks, fakes and subterfuges from New Zealand and around the world.
2013-04-02 09:50:19 // Dennis Kibirev
// The Idealog Blog
The second installment of a recap of this year's Marketing Association’s ‘Smarter Data’ event.
2013-03-27 14:18:06 // Dennis Kibirev
// The Idealog Blog
This year's Marketing Association’s ‘Smarter Data’ event was an exploration of the various permutations of data and how these developments are shaping the digital world that we exist in.
2013-03-25 09:55:04 // Allan Yeoman
// The Idealog Blog
| 3 comments
The launch of My Food Bag in Auckland over the last couple of weeks has attracted a lot of media attention, not all of which was intended.
2013-03-15 13:47:59 // Hazel Phillips
// The Idealog Blog
| 5 comments
It’s Pead PR and My Food Bag’s government-given right to hand out trial bags to whomever they damn well please
2013-03-12 09:55:38 // Sim Ahmed
// The Idealog Blog
| 3 comments
Facebook is a chronic tinkerer when it comes to design and its latest News Feed facelift shows the company wants more to offer its advertising partners.
2013-03-06 11:56:37 // Sim Ahmed
// The Idealog Blog
| 1 comment
Despite a somewhat confused launch, 100,000 Kiwis have managed to pre-register to buy stakes in Mighty River Power this week.
2013-03-05 10:38:43 // Dennis Kibirev
// The Idealog Blog
In addition to the usual suspects of ‘market share’, ‘customer retention’ and ‘campaign ROI’, warm-and-fuzzies such as as ‘lives changed’, ‘worthwhile causes supported’ or ‘communities improved’ were cited at the Marketing Association's first ‘Not-For-Profit’ event last week.
2013-02-27 13:43:16 // StopPress Team
// The Idealog Blog
Auckland is currently in the midst of the kookiness that is Fringe Festival, and as a sponsor of the festival, taxi media company Taxi Impact wanted to celebrate the creativity and originality on display with its Taxi Art Project, which asked entrants to plaster a taxi with whatever the hell they wanted.
2013-02-27 10:55:20 // Ben Fahy
// The Idealog Blog
Kiwis consumed 20 million fewer litres of beer last year than in 2011, something put down to a combination of average summer weather and a general shift away from the brown stuff towards wine and spirits. But there is growth in craft beer and Lion is continuing to get in on that act with its new Crafty Beggars range, "a craft beer you can actually drink".
2013-02-26 09:30:39
// The Idealog Blog
It's not just about advertising and promoting harder – it's about going one better, Michael Schrage writes in the HBR.
2013-02-25 10:36:11 // Robert Bruce
// The Idealog Blog
| 14 comments
Despite advances in technology and smartphones that do everything except butter your toast, the humble business card is still the best business tool by far.
2013-02-25 09:51:39 // StopPress Team
// The Idealog Blog
Colenso, justONE and Barnes, Catmur & Friends stood out at the NZ Direct Marketing Awards (previously known as the RSVP and Nexus Awards) on Friday, with sports personality Clint Brown tasked with entertaining New Zealand’s marketing industry professionals and keeping them quiet at the same time.
2013-02-25 09:50:45
// Idealog #42: workshop
Simpson Grierson media litigation expert Tracey Walker has penned a guide to reputation management in the digital age.
2013-02-22 15:35:52 // Lance Walker
// The Idealog Blog
I don’t see loyalty programmes or the offering of loyalty cards going away any time soon. And I think both consumers and retailers would be worse off if they did.
2013-02-22 10:29:39 // Esther Goh
// The Idealog Blog
Bus stops are generally not happy places. They're where ones goes to lose faith in all humanity, or at least in urban planners and local government. But here's a clever promotion by Qualcomm that both surprises and delights, turning public transport commuting into a joy (at least for a little while).
2013-02-20 08:30:13 // Idealog
// The Idealog Blog
New Zealand's total online advertising spend in 2012 was up 9 percent from the previous, to a new high of $363 million, according to the Interactive Advertising Bureau New Zealand Insight report.
2013-02-19 10:51:41 // Simone McCallum
// The Idealog Blog
| 18 comments
Retailers should just chuck in the loyalty cards and give us back some wallet space. Please.
2013-02-14 08:27:17 // Idealog
Sanitarium has settled up with an importer of Queen’s Jubilee UK Marmite, which will see 1,908 jars of the black gold, currently detained by Customs, released for sale as a one-off.
2013-02-12 08:49:37
// The Idealog Blog
| 4 comments
Most organisations have at minimum a Facebook page and Twitter account. Most are also wondering what to do with them and how to resource them.
2013-02-05 10:32:03 // Ben Fahy
// The Idealog Blog
Planking, owling, batting, breading, milking, Tebowing, horsemanning ... There's certainly no shortage of ridiculous participatory memes these days. And, to launch its new Beetle, Volkswagen and DDB have tried to create another one: Beetling.
2013-02-04 10:33:54
// The Idealog Blog
In one sense, the ultimate cachet is having such a famous brand that you don't need a logo, writes Mitch Joel at HBR.
2013-02-01 09:39:13 // Sim Ahmed
// The Idealog Blog
The folk at Resn have reason to feel smug at the moment, with a haul of five Favourite Website Awards last month.
2013-01-30 10:31:46 // Idealog
// The Idealog Blog
Got some Monopoly game money lying around? Until midnight tonight, McDonald's is accepting cash from the board game bank in return for a small frozen coke.
2013-01-29 14:24:56 // Josh Martin
// Idealog #42: interact
| 1 comment
With a colour palette taken from fashion rather than food, the artist formerly known as Omaha Organic Berries is getting a makeover. Say hello to OOB.
2013-01-29 11:12:56 // Idealog
// The Idealog Blog
Will Twitter's new video app Vine take off? Only time will tell.
But a few organisations have leaped at the opportunity to use these short video slots to promote themselves online.
2013-01-24 13:14:36 // Elizabeth Davies
// The Idealog Blog
| 3 comments
Auckland agency BRR has snagged a place in graphic design enterprise Under Consideration’s Best Identities of 2012 list, with its work for the New Zealand Antarctic Research Institute coming in ninth out of 12 brands.
2013-01-09 13:57:42 // Elizabeth Davies
// The Idealog Blog
| 1 comment
Ray Avery's Medicine Mondiale is raising funds with a series of TradeMe charity auctions offering everything from advertising services to designer clothing.
2012-12-19 10:15:16 // Idealog
// The Idealog Blog
PHDiQ and Fracture are encouraging Kiwis to indulge their dreams of musical megalomania through the Lipton Ice Tea Summer Festival project, a Facebook app where users can create their own dream summer gig.
2012-12-19 09:30:25 // Esther Goh & Rachel Ramsay
// Idealog #42: interact
Snackle Smart Posters. The term might not seem familiar yet, but it won't be long before the distinctive sheets of paper look as normal in any restaurant as a set of menus.
2012-12-17 09:48:01 // Idealog
// The Idealog Blog
Air New Zealand’s next Social Media Breakfast will be headlined by Teddy Goff, the digital director of President Barack Obama’s 2012 election campaign.
2012-12-13 11:04:11 // Idealog
// The Idealog Blog
| 1 comment
Where would New Zealand tourism be if it weren't for Peter Jackson? Tourism New Zealand’s 100% Middle-earth, 100% Pure New Zealand campaign has been named World's Leading Destination Marketing Campaign in the World Travel Awards 2012.
2012-12-06 16:04:19 // StopPress Team
// The Idealog Blog
As the Auckland Zoo gets set to mark its 90th birthday this month, it's received an early birthday present in the form of a rebrand.
2012-11-26 09:43:06 // Idealog
// The Idealog Blog
Air New Zealand lifted the lid on its Hobbit-themed plane over the weekend ahead of the movie's global premiere in Wellington this Wednesday, decked out with scenes and characters from the Peter Jackson film.
2012-11-22 15:54:15 // Idealog
// The Idealog Blog
Auckland branding agency Redcactus picked up three gongs at the global Pentawards recently and it's celebrating another coup with the completion and publication of Col. Harland Sanders – The Autobiography of the Original Celebrity Chef for KFC.
2012-11-15 14:42:27 // Steve Ballantyne
// The Idealog Blog
| 4 comments
You know all those B2B marketing whitepapers, articles and blogs heralding the benefits of content generation? They forgot to tell you something.
2012-11-15 14:16:00 // Josh Martin
// The Idealog Blog
| 2 comments
The revolt against exorbitantly priced water bottles and their trail of unrecyclable waste is upon us – well for 5,000 backpackers this summer at least.
2012-11-14 15:10:28 // Design Daily team
// The Idealog Blog
| 1 comment
Resene does some pretty innovative things in the name of brand-building, from pop art murals to the annual Colour Awards. And now it's launched the Colourmatch app, further extending its reach into consumers' lives.
2012-11-08 15:56:13 // Ben Fahy
// The Idealog Blog
String Theory's last brilliant viral effort for the Good Books charity, Metamorphosis, recently took gold and bronze at the London International Awards – and it could have another winner on its hands with the latest innuendo-heavy, bodice-ripping Mills and Boon-themed instalment, Havana Heat.
2012-11-07 12:13:09 // John Ascroft
// The Idealog Blog
| 8 comments
The only problem comes when our expectations don't match what the airline is selling.
2012-11-07 10:22:19 // Idealog
// Idealog #41: workshop
So you're all over Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn like a fat kid on cake. But what's the next social media thing to look out for?
2012-11-06 16:13:28 // Ben Fahy
// The Idealog Blog
| 1 comment
Metro is playing to its strengths and moving to where its audience is increasingly looking with the launch of Metro Eats, a new mobile app.
2012-11-02 11:46:54 // Ben Fahy
// The Idealog Blog
Speight's Gold Medal Ale remains our most popular beer brand by volume, but as the craft category grows and palates change, the brand has recently tried to become more craft-like and even branched out into – block your ears Southern Men – cider. So, in an effort to create a more cohesive family unit and ensure the flagship variety continues its reign, the brand has been given an overhaul by Dow Design.
2012-11-01 09:29:10 // Esther Goh
// The Idealog Blog
Pointy ears, hairy feet, bushy beards and heavy armour – it's Middle-earth in mid air, or in other words, Air New Zealand's latest air safety video tapping into the cash cow that is The Hobbit.
2012-10-30 10:52:01 // Idealog
Ogilvy's Tony Gardner is moving to the family-owned Orange Group to take up the newly-created position of chief executive.
2012-10-29 10:29:01 // John Dee
// The Idealog Blog
Media and creative need to play nicely together – and stop being so darn precious about their respective disciplines.
2012-10-24 16:36:55 // Idealog
// The Idealog Blog
Recycling really should be second nature by now, but it doesn't take much more than a look around to gauge the veracity of that claim as truth. In an effort to fill up those 1000-odd recycling bins all around the country, Love NZ has just pushed play on a six-week campaign, It's A Karma Thing, exhorting Kiwis to 'do the right thing' and earn points they can then redeem for prizes.
2012-10-24 10:18:49 // Idealog
| 5 comments
QR codes have slowly started to infiltrate the local scene (see our story on how to use QR codes in your business), but it'd be a stretch at this stage to say they've rocked the marketing world. Enter Boxtcode, patent-pending smartphone technology that aims to resolve the limitations of QR codes.
2012-10-24 09:34:02 // Idealog
// The Idealog Blog
| 4 comments
Experiential marketing agency SublimeNZ has been swallowed up by Professional Public Relations, in what's being touted as a "natural partnership".
2012-10-19 13:52:10 // Ben Fahy
// The Idealog Blog
The country's biggest home services franchise Green Acres turned 21 this year, and marked the milestone yesterday right here at Image Centre with an unveiling of its smart new contemporary look.
2012-10-18 10:37:40 // Idealog
// The Idealog Blog
Colenso BBDO grabbed the elusive Diamond Award for its Doggelganger adoption drive campaign at the 2012 International ECHO Awards this week, making 14 honours to date for the web app that matched homeless dogs with new owners, analysing users' faces and finding their canine equivalent.
2012-10-17 13:24:01 // Steve Ballantyne
// The Idealog Blog
Whether you’re a pirate, a prostitute, or a priest, everything we do is based on emotion, and satisfying an emotional need.
2012-10-17 10:01:04 // Ben Fahy
// The Idealog Blog
Changes are afoot in the marketing and advertising world affecting interactions with consumers online.
2012-10-16 10:24:14 // Chris Bell
// The Idealog Blog
This is the message we're currently sending to visitors from our vitally important Asian growth markets.
2012-10-16 10:07:48 // Eric Crampton
// The Idealog Blog
| 1 comment
A small brand like Moa Beer can afford to have half the world hate it – so long as it gets a few people who love it.
2012-10-12 09:42:45 // Ben Fahy
// The Idealog Blog
Walking away with the grand Effie and three other golds, Steinlager's 'We Believe' campaign dominated last night – and with awards for Yellow Toolbox and more glory for Volkswagen after it won the supreme award at the TVNZ-NZ Marketing Awards, DDB made it a double by taking the crown as the year's most effective agency.
2012-10-10 15:23:00 // Idealog
// The Idealog Blog
Green is cool – but sustainability measures beyond the simple and cost-effective are being chucked into the 'too hard' basket.
2012-10-10 09:05:43 // Idealog
// The Idealog Blog
| 1 comment
Even sans Steve Jobs, consumers' emotional connection to his brand remains stronger than ever: Apple has gained six rungs in the ranks of Interbrand's 13th annual Best Global Brands report to take second place behind reigning champion Coca-Cola.
2012-10-09 13:08:22 // Idealog
// The Idealog Blog
| 14 comments
The Kiwi masses were whipped into a frenzy last month by Coca-Cola's announcement that it was looking for 50 new names to plaster on Coke bottles through its Share a Coke campaign and now it's voting time.
2012-10-08 16:11:14 // Deirdre Robert
// The Idealog Blog
The Shopping Channel launched last week to no shortage of fanfare, and there’s no question awareness of the channel was boosted significantly by the appearance of Eva Longoria. But by and large, unlike a certain online trading website that launched this week, the Shopping Channel’s much-hyped debut seems to have gone relatively smoothly, and both ACP, which announced its partnership with the channel at a gala event on Wednesday night, and Ogilvy, have big plans for the brand.
2012-10-08 11:05:30 // StopPress Team
// The Idealog Blog
| 1 comment
Domestic visitors are often overlooked by the tourism sector in favour of the glitzy foreigner market, but Rotorua is starting up a three-year, $2.25 million conversation called ‘Famously Rotorua’ that aims to get affluent northern urbanites to head past the Bombays for a bit of nature, culture and excitement.
2012-10-05 13:19:29 // Peter Kerr
// The Idealog Blog
This is an argument that if we give ourselves a helicopter view of what we produce, and much more importantly how we produce, then we automatically link consumers with our farmers.
2012-10-04 11:38:46 // Kaleb Francis
// The Idealog Blog
It started out with a red hot branding iron sizzling on bare flesh. A name and marque was added. A tagline followed. Then the embellishments of colour, fonts and language.
2012-10-03 15:28:41 // Idealog
// The Idealog Blog
| 1 comment
The industry’s brightest young things turned out in droves last week to kick off the inaugural event for Young Bright & Broke, a collection of young people working within the communications industry established by CAANZ.
2012-10-01 15:34:47 // Darcy Cowan
// The Idealog Blog
| 4 comments
We actually value things more highly if we are forced to go through hardship to get them.
2012-09-28 14:53:23 // Josh Martin
Fly Buys' motto 'Every time you swipe, something good happens' became quite literal this week, with some interactive adshels in Auckland and Wellington injecting some fun into the city streets.
2012-09-20 10:43:05 // Ben Fahy
| 2 comments
The coolest little capital in the world has had it over the big little city for a while now in the self-promotion stakes. But both are going head to head again with new campaigns.
2012-09-19 07:12:00 // Robert Bruce
// The Idealog Blog
| 3 comments
All our jobs include selling something, whether it’s a dream, a solution, a candidate, a product or an idea. Embracing the art of selling will get you a long way, writes entrepreneur Robert Bruce
2012-09-18 11:11:17 // Ben Fahy
Lindauer and its new ad agency DDB fight for female freedom by showing hapless, weeping men. BYO tissues, unless you're a VIP media type
2012-09-14 10:47:57 // Idealog
// The Idealog Blog
| 156 comments
Some of you lot were unimpressed with the 150 names Coke recently chose to feature on its New Zealand bottles. Well, here's your chance to remedy that: it's on the hunt for another 50 new names and calling on Kiwis to have their say.
2012-09-10 13:12:30 // Ben Fahy & Josh Martin
// The Idealog Blog
| 4 comments
British American Tobacco recently took the unusual step of launching an ad campaign to state its case against the plain cigarette packaging proposal and now it has launched the next phase of its campaign focusing on the issues it believes plain packaging could create for other New Zealand export industries.
2012-09-04 10:04:36 // Ben Fahy
// The Idealog Blog
The 'new Telecom' has taken the fairly brave step of opening itself up to the masses and launching a new website called whytelecom.co.nz that's part PR campaign, part customer service innovation and part public service announcement. And, in quintessential Telecom fashion, it's gone heavy on the animals.
2012-09-03 10:19:02 // Idealog
// The Idealog Blog
Data is today's currency of choice. But managing big data is something few, if any, marketers feel equipped to do.
2012-08-31 10:57:36 // Ben Fahy
// The Idealog Blog
The TVNZ-NZ Marketing Awards turned 21 this year, and marked its newly minted adulthood with a new central theme of Everything Marketing and eight new categories, including financial, technology, automotive, utilities/communications, lifestyle/travel/leisure and sponsorship.
2012-08-27 09:43:40 // Idealog
// The Idealog Blog
| 46 comments
As brands go, it doesn't get much more multinational than Coca-Cola. But the soft drink giant is getting down with the locals from today, with new bottles on sale from today featuring 150 first names on its famous red labels including Rangi, Hemi, Tamati, Tavita, Sione and Aroha.
2012-08-24 09:05:38 // Idealog
// The Idealog Blog
Tourism New Zealand's latest advertising campaign invoking the magic of Aotearoa has been unveiled, leveraging off the upcoming film The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and extolling the virtues of the real Middle-earth to would-be travellers.
2012-08-22 15:12:01 // Greg Williamson
// The Idealog Blog
| 2 comments
A handful of Kiwi exporters are leveraging 100% Pure for all it's worth – and the rest of us could learn a thing or two from them.
2012-08-21 10:24:41 // Ben Fahy
// The Idealog Blog
| 4 comments
Vodafone has played the exotic foreigner role for eons, but it's now entering patriotic territory with the all-out Do Your Thing Better brand campaign, fronted by Boy star James Rolleston.
2012-08-20 15:39:52 // Dan Winfield
// The Idealog Blog
There is a big difference between “environmentally friendly” and “environmentally friendlier”, and the Advertising Standards Authority just gave Masport a reminder to that effect.
2012-08-20 11:55:39 // Idealog
// The Idealog Blog
The saying goes that dogs have owners and cats have staff – and these gourmet broths for felines take the phrase right to the limit.
2012-08-20 09:33:05 // Deirdre Robert
// The Idealog Blog
ASB's Moodulator, with Spotify and Saatchi & Saatchi, got Facebookers involved through leveraging the year's biggest event, the Olympics.
2012-08-20 09:16:48 // Josh Martin
// The Idealog Blog
| 1 comment
iKEMU, an Auckland-based online gaming platform, is merging the virtual and real, rewarding online players with real-life rewards for their efforts.
2012-08-15 17:04:45 // Idealog
| 2 comments
'100% New Zealand' has served this country well, but the government has plans to augment it with a new, broader 'New Zealand story' as part of a new push behind overseas exports.
2012-08-13 17:32:31 // Robert Bruce
// The Idealog Blog
| 1 comment
If you can afford a $400,000 fire-engine-red Ferrari you probably don’t mind showcasing your status on your wrist.
2012-08-09 15:59:46 // Kaleb Francis
// The Idealog Blog
| 20 comments
All consumers want from a brand is for the brand to be honest and to fulfill its promise.
2012-08-08 13:10:20 // StopPress Team
// The Idealog Blog
Tile Warehouse opened its doors in 1989 with two workers and a forklift, and 23 years on, has over 100 staff, 28 stores around the country – plus a shiny new brand courtesy of Publicis Mojo to "celebrate being New Zealand’s market leader".
2012-08-06 13:01:50 // StopPress Team
// The Idealog Blog
It’s tough out there in charity land at the moment, with organisations fighting for funding and consumers counting their pennies.
2012-08-01 09:34:27 // Idealog
| 1 comment
The Commerce Commission has warned fruit importer Dole it may be in breach of the Fair Trading Act on three separate counts relating to the company’s Ethical Choice marketing scheme.
2012-07-30 09:46:10 // Ben Fahy
The communications industry will be governed by a formal set of rules after CAANZ introduced its new ‘Code of Ethics, Practices, and Obligations of CAANZ Members', in an effort to show that it is in fact what chief executive Paul Head calls a reputable and professional industry that adds value to businesses.
2012-07-27 12:56:05 // David MacGregor
// Idealog #40: workshop
Television is undergoing a renaissance. Advertisers need to consider including social dimensions to their messages.
2012-07-27 09:35:17 // Hazel Phillips
// Idealog #40: workshop
Brandwashed, a new book from leading marketing researcher Martin Lindstrom, reveals how brands exert their influence over us in the most subtle of ways.
2012-07-26 12:17:02 // Trey Ratcliff
// The Idealog Blog
| 14 comments
If you make awesome stuff, the internet will eventually find you. Social media is basically word-of-mouth, on steroids.
2012-07-26 09:47:51 // Josh Martin
// The Idealog Blog
| 1 comment
DraftFCB’s project The Journal with the Ministry of Health reaped rewards far beyond snagging a 2011 New Zealand Innovators Award.
2012-07-25 13:08:28 // Idealog
// The Idealog Blog
The digital age is changing the way we live and work. And whatever your industry or interest, you're part of the wave, like it or not.
2012-07-24 15:39:52 // Design Daily Team
// The Idealog Blog
| 11 comments
Back in 2009 and 2011, we saw the first toilet paper dresses from Kleenex grace the runway at New Zealand Fashion Week. Students at fashion school NZ Fashion Tech in Auckland and Wellington were challenged to design and make a dress out of toilet paper, and this year Kei Ho, Kapi Fonua and Tanya Jeffrey are the lucky three finalists.
2012-07-18 15:09:11 // StopPress Team
// The Idealog Blog
| 1 comment
Baby boomers are often portrayed as greedy, BMW-driving, house-hogging, tax avoiding luddites. But they also use the internet, have Facebook pages and watch YouTube. So why should they miss out on all the viral marketing fun?
2012-07-17 12:36:02 // Idealog
// The Idealog Blog
The advertising and marketing approaches of old are, in most cases, ineffective in today’s marketplace.
2012-07-17 10:15:34 // StopPress Team
| 1 comment
Whybin\TBWA's digital consultancies Tequila and Shift have officially been melded into DAN\Auckland following the worldwide unification of TBWA's digital ops into the Digital Arts Network.
2012-07-11 10:20:44 // Idealog
// The Idealog Blog
| 1 comment
With Z Energy and Hyundai already on board, New Zealand app Showcase launched this week to business users of iPads and Android tablets all over the world.
2012-07-11 02:17:53 // Idealog
// The Idealog Blog
| 2 comments
Coca-Cola South Pacific, giffgaff and comparethemarket.com from the UK, KidZania from the US and Digital Alchemy from Australia arrive next week to spill the beans to New Zealand marketers on how they've harnessed modern direct marketing to take their businesses to another level.
2012-07-04 14:21:22 // Kaleb Francis
// The Idealog Blog
| 7 comments
We're now halfway through 2012 and traditionally posts about new trends are written at the beginning of the year. But like the seasons, things change and they do so quickly.
2012-07-04 09:50:35 // Idealog
// The Idealog Blog
The vast majority of New Zealanders want to buy more sustainable products and services, and are more likely to evaluate products and services on ethical and environmental criteria than ever before.
2012-07-02 15:19:07 // Tim O'Neill
// The Idealog Blog
A shot-gun approach is sometimes the best approach. A shot-gun strapped to a cannon may be even better.
2012-07-02 14:42:19 // StopPress Team
// The Idealog Blog
The APMA Star Awards, which celebrate the past year’s finest promotional efforts, took place last week in Oz, with New Zealand marketing agency Belowtheline the only Kiwi agency to take home a gold.
2012-07-02 09:51:07 // Ben Fahy
// The Idealog Blog
After a hiatus from Kiwi TV screens as its big brother’s white cans took over during the RWC – and with DDB now as its lead agency – Steinlager Pure launched its new campaign yesterday during TV One’s Sunday Theatre.
2012-06-28 15:57:13 // Idealog
// The Idealog Blog
Toyota has held onto its number spot in the 2012 rankings of the best global green brands, but Johnson & Johnson isn't far behind and Danone (#9), Ford (#15), and Starbucks (#36) are rising fast.
2012-06-28 10:11:24 // Idealog
| 1 comment
Skinny mobile has lost its head honcho, Paul O'Shannessey, just as the brand makes its first push into traditional advertising media via TV commercials and a full-page ad in the Herald.
2012-06-28 09:35:06 // StopPress Team
// The Idealog Blog
Our very own Farmers Club and Subcard loyalty programme have snagged places in the finals of the retail category of the prestigious Colloquy Loyalty Awards, with .99 and New World for its wine sale eDM the only other finalist in that category. And Fly Buys and Air New Zealand’s co-branded card is a finalist in innovation in loyalty marketing.
2012-06-27 10:01:33
// The Idealog Blog
It's easy enough to activate private browsing online these days, and increasingly, that's what consumers are opting to do, says Adam Lehman in Ad Age.
2012-06-27 09:14:54 // Jenene Crossan
// The Idealog Blog
| 2 comments
In a city that's home to the equivalent of the entire population of New Zealand, where do you even start?
2012-06-21 21:13:09 // Idealog
// The Idealog Blog
Asia is the future – you've heard it enough times. And if you're in the tourism biz, Auckland Airport's new Tourism Asia Marketing Fund could be just your ticket.
2012-06-18 13:35:53 // Idealog
// The Idealog Blog
Next Tuesday is the kick off of the two-part Gamification Lab - New Zealand’s first workshop on applying games psychology to your marketing.
2012-05-30 16:16:42 // Ben Fahy
// The Idealog Blog
| 2 comments
Auckland-based dairy producer The Collective has embraced social media as its major marketing channel in an effort to better connect with its ‘herd’ and, in many cases, get them to assist with product creation – a strategy vindicated by its recent naming as the first and only New Zealand brand to feature in The Social Brands 100 list – "the authoritative ranking of brands leading the way in the social age” – coming in at number 57 ahead of brands like Dell, Groupon and Intel.
2012-05-29 13:07:24 // Kaleb Francis
// The Idealog Blog
| 15 comments
We've moved on from writing letters to making irate phone calls that gave us only limited satisfaction, and now to crafting 140 well placed characters on Twitter.
2012-05-29 11:39:07 // Alan Carnaby
// Idealog #39: workshop
Three enterprising Kiwi blokes decided to skateboard across a South American desert. But the first thing they did was get their trip carboNZero certified.
2012-05-29 10:24:53
// The Idealog Blog
A trio of Kiwi agencies have made the cut as APMA Star Award finalists, alongside 28 other shortlisted outfits.
2012-05-25 14:40:00 // Idealog
// The Idealog Blog
Earlier this month, prime minister John Key recently came out and said he's not against gay marriage, following on from US president Barack Obama announcing his support for it. And this week the local marriage equality movement forged ahead with a punchy new campaign, known simply as WTF?
2012-05-24 12:03:22 // Stephen Knightly
// The Idealog Blog
| 4 comments
FourSquare has a lot to answer for! Mitch Olson explains how to go beyond buzzwords and hype to create a business case for gamification for your brand.
2012-05-21 09:56:28 // Ben Fahy
// The Idealog Blog
Very rarely does the medium get the message across and also have the ability to soak up grease, but OMD’s novel campaign for Fly Buys Visa that will see deep fried goods up and down New Zealand being wrapped in branded paper has managed to do exactly that.
2012-05-17 13:08:07 // StopPress Team
// The Idealog Blog
| 1 comment
Telecom holds around half of the total residential ISP market, but it's looking to increase that, sweeten the deal its for existing customers and get more people streaming by doubling the amount of data for all Total Home broadband packages for no extra charge (Ed: In fact, just the other day a nice Telecom rep came knocking at my door offering TRIPLE data on Total Home).
2012-05-17 10:01:57 // Idealog
// The Idealog Blog
You'd have been hard pressed to miss the brouhaha over the over-familiar carpet cleaner who got busted busting one out on Target this week – and the accompanying hashtag.
2012-05-15 15:55:57 // Idealog
There's a new PR agency on the media scene and it already counts Cloudy Bay wines, BMW, Auckland Ring Company, Neutrogena, Aveeno, and Clean & Clear among its clients.
2012-05-10 13:38:43
// The Idealog Blog
Less shouty, more crafting of an experience. Vincent Heeringa on what's wrong with the tourism industry and how it can lift its marketing game.
2012-05-09 10:39:52 // Esther Goh
// The Idealog Blog
Tourism New Zealand is cosying up to Qantas with new marketing partnership worth a cool $4 million over two years.
2012-05-04 12:32:15 // Idealog
// The Idealog Blog
Websites for boutique beer brand Moa and fashion designer Collette Dinnigan have been judged among the best in the world, helping Auckland digital creative agency Gladeye earn a total of five Communicator Awards.
2012-05-03 14:47:33 // Vaughn Davis
// Idealog #39: now
Auckland's second best-known goat farming aeroplane flying ad agency owner Vaughn Davis drops into the new but definitely not ostentatious offices of newborn events company Celery Productions.
2012-05-03 14:41:16 // Esther Goh
// The Idealog Blog
Like many of the consultancies that sprung up in the wake of the social media wave, Social Kiwi has been hands-on helping businesses with their social efforts. But it hopes to increasingly hand over the reins to companies with the launch of Facebook DIY, a tool designed for SMEs to build and manage their own Facebook apps for a small monthly fee.
2012-04-27 13:20:39 // Idealog
// The Idealog Blog
Positively Wellington Tourism's city advent calendar was a smash hit last year, and it has drawn on those findings to create its latest digital marketing campaign – Welly Cable Chase.
2012-04-26 14:35:14 // Hazel Phillips
// Idealog #39: workshop
| 14 comments
Loath as I am to start labeling various advertising and marketing campaigns as ‘fails’, there’s one that needs a good hard smack.
2012-04-24 09:26:02 // Esther Goh
// The Idealog Blog
Droves of Kiwi tweeps and organisations from the NZ Herald to NZ Music Month have added virtual poppies to their Twitter avatars in honour of the RSA Poppy Day appeal in a movement reminiscent of the Twitter avatar blackout against the Section 92a copyright legislation, albeit with a much more positive spin.
2012-04-20 09:25:01 // Ben Fahy
// The Idealog Blog
The TVNZ-NZ Marketing Awards turn 21 this year, and to celebrate this milestone, it’s received an oversized key, downed a yardie, taken a good hard look at itself and emerged into adulthood with a snazzy new ’Everything Marketing‘ brand and eight new categories.
2012-04-17 09:49:07 // Idealog
// The Idealog Blog
Boundary Road Brewery scoured the globe to find the perfect candidate to travel to New Zealand and create its newest range – and they've found their "genius" in the deep south of the US.
2012-04-17 09:28:38 // Idealog
// The Idealog Blog
Auckland War Memorial Museum has embraced social media to great effect and now has a global award under its belt as reward for its efforts.
2012-04-16 09:47:08 // Idealog
// The Idealog Blog
| 4 comments
Trade Aid is bringing consumers and producers closer together this month with the help of instore touch screens.
2012-04-12 14:00:19 // Ben Fahy
// The Idealog Blog
| 2 comments
Tasti products are taking on a spiffy new look as the company celebrates 80 years of making bars and baking bits this year.
2012-04-12 08:48:49 // Ben Fahy
// The Idealog Blog
| 9 comments
Starring David Duchovny, McKenna's latest New Zealand campaign is chasing the 'urban bourbon' market.
2012-04-10 17:08:12 // Idealog
// The Idealog Blog
| 2 comments
New Zealand Pork has a brand new initiative underway targeting consumers via in-store and online activity, including Facebook and YouTube, drawing on the star power of chef Simon Gault.
2012-04-10 15:03:49 // Kaleb Francis
// The Idealog Blog
| 2 comments
If you've been ignoring the rise of e-commerce and social media, it's not too late.
2012-04-10 09:19:10
// The Idealog Blog
The social media strategist behind The Hunger Games’ elaborately planned campaign explains how Lionsgate turned an online fanbase into box office success.
2012-04-04 17:01:08 // Peter Griffin
Greenpeace has been censured by the Advertising Standards Authority for running an advert the ASA considered exaggerated the loss of birdlife that resulted from the Rena oil spill as part of a hard-hitting multi-platform campaign last year.
2012-04-04 16:23:15
// The Idealog Blog
"Make this go viral!" commands the client.
Easier said than done. But there are some things you can do to boost the odds.
2012-04-03 15:51:27 // Idealog
// The Idealog Blog
Westpac’s Richie McCaw Chopper Challenge picked up Campaign of the Year last week at the Asia-Pacific PR Awards in Hong Kong, with the bank the only Kiwi organisation shortlisted.
2012-03-30 11:36:27 // Idealog
// The Idealog Blog
Fly Buys managed to increase its Facebook fan base ten-fold in December, thanks to an original 1974 Volkswagen Kombi van.
2012-03-28 15:41:58 // Ben Fahy
// The Idealog Blog
| 3 comments
Following on from DB Export Dry's 'Great Wine Depression' TVC, wine lovers have a few new print ads to get up in arms about.
2012-03-20 15:40:19 // Esther Goh
// The Idealog Blog
| 2 comments
Internet Explorer is trying to reverse its fortunes with a new web campaign, The Browser You Loved To Hate.
2012-03-19 12:36:09 // Design Daily Team
// The Idealog Blog
Ice cream maker Ben & Jerry's in the UK has renamed its apple pie-flavored ice cream Apple-y Ever After. Why? To raise awareness about the importance of marriage equality, of course.
2012-03-19 10:21:14 // Ben Fahy
// The Idealog Blog
While the NZTA, Clemenger BBDO and OMD’s short, sharp mass media blitz to educate Kiwi road users about two changes to the country’s give way rules that kick in on March 25 at 5am probably won’t win any Gold Axis awards, the $1.2 million campaign could certainly help save a few insurance claims and/or hospital stays.
2012-03-19 10:08:52 // David MacGregor
// Idealog #38: workshop
| 1 comment
You'd be surprised what you can cook up on the advertising stove if only you let it simmer a while.
2012-03-15 09:35:07 // Idealog
| 1 comment
Nice Blocks, the new darlings of the frozen treat market, have created a brand new flavour in conjunction with the Child Cancer Foundation, which is aiming to raise $1 million this month to support children with cancer and their families.
2012-03-05 15:35:51 // Design Daily Team
// The Idealog Blog
These days, it's almost a constant competition to see who can come up with the zaniest idea for a business card.
2012-03-05 12:02:24 // Jonathan Shaw
Next week will mark the launch of a new superpower in PR, InfiniteLatitude – a behemoth bringing together more than 20 communications professionals from all corners of the globe, including Auckland-based Strata Communications as a founding partner.
2012-03-01 09:59:44 // Idealog
The Inbound Tour Operators’ Council (ITOC) has revamped itself and is now known as the Tourism Export Council of New Zealand.
2012-02-29 09:47:07 // Idealog
// The Idealog Blog
Auckland Tourism, Events and Economic Development Ltd (ATEED) is trying out a new approach to promoting tourism to the fast-growing market in China, using one of their own – film star Dong Xuan – as a drawcard.
2012-02-28 12:22:33 // Esther Goh
Getting Cantabrians to rediscover their city and kickstart business growth is all part of a new marketing push launched this week.
2012-02-28 10:15:34 // Idealog
| 1 comment
The print bell is tolling at Yellow Pages Group, which has announced it will lay off around 20 percent of its staff.
2012-02-24 14:31:42 // Idealog
Global integrated PR and communications agency Hotwire has rebranded its New Zealand operation Creo to bring it under the family name.
2012-02-21 15:19:36 // Hazel Phillips
// Idealog #37: workshop
| 3 comments
This hefty tome will definitely put your back out when you try and pick it up, but you'll at least be entertained during those long hours recuperating on the couch.
2012-02-20 09:39:40 // Idealog
Eight of New Zealand's top ski fields have joined forces to create the largest commercial ski network in New Zealand in a bid to capture more of the international tourist dollar.
2012-02-15 13:45:05 // Ben Fahy
Air New Zealand and its Aussie agency Host Sydney are showing a bunch of ‘Kiwi Sceptics’ what they're missing out on by tricking them into a trip to the other lucky country.
2012-02-14 14:25:09 // StopPress Team
// The Idealog Blog
Nothing says I love you like a massive sign outside a mall – so to tap into the romantic spirit of the day, Westfield has once again let New Zealanders publicly declare their affection on 12 billboards around the country as part of its second Truly, Madly, Hugely campaign.
2012-02-09 12:57:14 // Ben Fahy
| 1 comment
For a utility company, Meridian Energy has released some consistently good ads over the past couple of years and created a point of difference by loudly banging its renewable energy drum.
2012-02-07 10:47:14 // StopPress Team
Directing collective Special Problems has gotten on board with The Sweet Shop to execute commercial and branded content work worldwide.
2012-02-03 10:02:19 // Idealog
Measuring the effectiveness of social media campaigns is something marketers have been grappling with for some time.
According to a survey of more than 700 marketers worldwide, however, a quarter are looking at increases in revenue, while 38 percent count raw increased “likes,” comments and interactions on Facebook.
2012-02-01 11:39:11 // Idealog
// The Idealog Blog
Where there's Hell Pizza, there's drama, and the ever-controversial chain is now under fire for using fake-blood filled syringes in a promotion.
2012-01-31 11:47:39 // Siobhan Leathley
| 2 comments
As Brancott Estate rolls out a contemporary new look across its entire wine range, it's also releasing a new app bringing together the worlds of wine and entertainment via QR code.
2012-01-27 09:25:54 // Siobhan Leathley
// The Idealog Blog
Tourism Australia has released a list of 100 'must-do' activities to mark Australia Day in New Zealand in a bid to get Kiwis enthused about crossing the Tasman on their next holiday.
2012-01-24 16:43:14 // Siobhan Leathley
// The Idealog Blog
Lemonade Design is by no means a newbie to the design game with several prominent clients including Eden Park, Jucy Rentals and Burger Fuel under its belt – so it’s no surprise the agency was the clear choice for cheeky new ice cream brand Holy Moly.
2012-01-20 09:58:50 // Siobhan Leathley
// The Idealog Blog
| 4 comments
We Kiwis aren’t the clean, green, recycling machines we think we are: 77 percent of plastics go unrecycled each year, resulting in 252,000 tonnes of plastic waste in our landfills. And SodaStream has decided to tackle this head-on with a bit of a PR stunt aimed at giving us a wake-up call about what all that rubbish looks like.
2012-01-18 15:00:00 // Vaughn Davis
// Idealog #37: now
| 9 comments
Vaughn Davis joins Kieren Cooney for a coffee and retrospective deconstruction of his 18 months in one of the nation's top marketing jobs.
2012-01-12 16:07:02 // Siobhan Leathley
// The Idealog Blog
| 5 comments
New Zealand’s increasing levels of obesity and Type 2 diabetes can be linked to fast food corporations sponsoring charities and sports events, according to Waikato District Health Board.
2012-01-12 12:09:39 // Idealog
Colenso BBDO Auckland has been picked as the fifth best agency in the world, as well as best direct agency with the best ECD.
2012-01-11 17:25:11 // Kaleb Francis
// The Idealog Blog
| 9 comments
IntoNow, Shazam, Twitter and YouTube have managed to successfully merge the offline and online worlds.
2012-01-06 14:02:24 // Idealog
| 1 comment
It's been two years since the ill-fated iSnack 2.0 fiasco, but Vegemite is once again messing with its name.
2012-01-05 15:03:30 // Andrew Lewis
// The Idealog Blog
Those aged over 45 account for a massive chunk of consumer spending. So why don’t marketers and advertisers ever attempt to connect directly with them?
2011-12-19 16:01:14 // Idealog
// The Idealog Blog
‘Stay the night. Steal the art’. That's the slogan employed by one of the Art Series Hotels in Melbourne, where guests are encouraged to attempt to steal a hidden piece of artwork.
2011-12-16 14:25:09 // Cath Winks
| 2 comments
Powerful, emotive and starkly original, Publicis Mojo‘s latest multi-platform campaign for Greenpeace is a simple yet stunning piece of PR, incorporating everything from pop-up art galleries to support from Radiohead.
2011-12-15 16:08:19 // Idealog
| 4 comments
More and more companies are waking up to the imperative of social responsibility – but the golden age of the sustainability label is over, a report by London consultancy SustainAbility has concluded.
2011-12-15 09:21:33 // Siobhan Leathley
| 2 comments
Tauranga's newest bid to step up economic development comes in the form of a campaign showcasing some of the region's most successful and innovative companies.
2011-12-15 09:08:34 // Idealog
Are you an event planner looking for someone with cash to throw your way? Then rejoice, for Auckland Tourism, Events and Economic Development (ATEED) is calling for applications from parties looking for sponsorship of major events.
2011-12-13 12:41:49 // Penelope Whitson
// The Idealog Blog
| 9 comments
As anyone who’s had a bad dentist knows, the good ones are worth travelling to.
2011-12-13 12:35:14 // Ben Fahy
| 3 comments
And as the global sports giant shifts its focus away from rugby and towards other sports, so the focus also shifts away from the New Zealand branch and towards the two agencies it uses in Australia.
2011-12-08 17:22:34 // Cath Winks
// The Idealog Blog
| 4 comments
Kiwi startup Stolen Rum's product has been judged world class, and it’s got the requisite feel good back-story, but a cheeky guerrilla marketing campaign led by Pead PR hopes to put the brand name on everyone’s lips – including the spirit-making behemoth it’s competing with, Bacardi.
2011-12-07 09:55:39 // Ben Fahy
// The Idealog Blog
| 7 comments
If it was all about manvertising earlier this year, with the likes of Mantrol, Mammoth and Lion Red’s Manpoints all being launched around the same time, Colenso's new fully integrated campaign for Pepsi including TV, web, radio, Juice TV promo and even a brand ambassador, is probably closer to boyvertising.
2011-12-06 10:07:35 // Esther Goh
// The Idealog Blog
So says Kiwi Bacon, which is counting down the next two weeks with a Baconanza featuring such goodies as bacon wallets, mints, soap, shoes, and and lip balm.
2011-12-02 14:51:31 // Ben Fahy
// The Idealog Blog
In typically dramatic fashion, Rico's been killed off with a flourish and a smart digital tie-in to the boardgame Cluedo.
2011-11-29 14:52:21 // Cath Winks
| 6 comments
Paper Plus has just cause for celebration – the wholly New Zealand-owned and operated group has gone from strength to strength over the last few years in a pretty tough market.
2011-11-24 09:28:05 // Esther Goh
// The Idealog Blog
Oh, Qantas. Offering up free PJs and toothpaste in exchange for glowing tweets may have seemed like a good idea at the time. But as the airline quickly learned, hashtags can be hijacked in the blink of an eye.
2011-11-23 09:28:10 // Idealog
| 4 comments
The land of the long white cloud is officially the third strongest country brand in the world behind Canada and Switzerland, as judged by the seventh annual FutureBrand Country Brand Index (CBI).
2011-11-22 16:35:37 // Esther Goh
| 2 comments
New Zealand businesses are still behind the ball when it comes to social media, but less than half of users actually want to engage with brands.
2011-11-22 15:57:30 // Esther Goh
| 1 comment
Marketing honchos are "drowning in data" and feel ill-equipped to deal with the volume of information available through social platforms today, an IBM study shows.
2011-11-21 10:28:44 // Idealog
// The Idealog Blog
Look out for rapping hiphop hamsters coming to a screen near you – Kia's award-winning, music loving rodents are heading down under.
2011-11-21 10:13:44 // Cath Winks
// The Idealog Blog
Along with help from ad agency Sugar, online DVD rental company Fatso has been busy capitalising on paranoia about new video piracy rules with a clever new campaign.
2011-11-17 15:08:52 // Ben Fahy
Tempting Gen Ys back to Aotearoa for some backpacking with Storiesbeatstuff.com is the driving force behind Tourism New Zealand's newest work, something agency Contagion believes is “possibly the largest social media campaign a New Zealand agency has produced”.
2011-11-16 15:19:33 // David MacGregor
// Idealog #36: workshop
| 3 comments
Smartphones are no longer just for the upwardly mobile – and if you haven't figured out how to use them to your advantage, you need your head read.
2011-11-15 13:47:42 // StopPress Team
Government agencies spend more than $60 million on the purchase of advertising and media services in New Zealand every year and there are some fairly rigid structures in place to make sure public entities get the best partner for the best price. But, after 12 months' work by a team of senior agency and government communications practitioners on establishing Government Best Practice Guidelines for Selecting Advertising and Media Agencies, CAANZ and the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet have come up with a few more.
2011-11-10 09:24:52 // Idealog
// The Idealog Blog
One Hutt Valley distiller is bringing old-fashioned satire back to modern day politics almost 30 years after New Zealand’s infamous snap election.
2011-11-08 10:39:01 // Idealog
| 1 comment
Jetstar and Tourism New Zealand have signed a $9 million marketing deal in a push to attract more international visitors from Australia, Singapore, Japan and across the Asia region.
2011-11-07 16:07:50 // Ben Fahy
Celebrity chef, food writer, publisher and TV star Annabel Langbein is basically the Dan Carter of cooking. So it's quite a coup that Silver Fern Farms has signed her up to be its meaty ambassador for the new Fresh Everyday campaign.
2011-11-04 10:10:02 // StopPress Team
Capitalising on the mobile and online movement, Reachmedia has released the next version of its catalogue viewing platform, which effectively takes catalogues, resizes them and publishes them in a Facebook environment and on mobile apps.
2011-11-03 14:16:07 // Ben Fahy
// The Idealog Blog
TVNZ is out to reproduce the success of interactive, digital Emmy award-winning, Ondemand-only show Reservoir Hill with a follow-up along similar lines: a new spoof comedy show called Auckland Daze.
2011-11-01 15:13:20 // Cath Winks
| 2 comments
The Herald’s TimeOut section has been reinvented as an interactive print product, leading APN to claim to be the first New Zealand publisher to launch an augmented reality app.
2011-11-01 11:31:09 // Cath Winks
Forest & Bird is getting in on the election action, reminding us to think of nature when we cast our vote with a “vote for nature” campaign.
2011-10-28 09:58:08 // Ben Fahy
// The Idealog Blog
Common sense prevailed at this week's Fair Go Ad Awards, with DDB, Lotto and The Sweet Shop’s ‘Lucky Dog’ epic taking out Best Ad and ‘Kerrrazeee Lily Salter’ from Big Save Furniture fronting up to accept Worst Ad honours.
2011-10-27 21:59:31 // Kaleb Francis
// The Idealog Blog
| 1 comment
Brands are like people – and people want to socialise. So listen first, and respond last.
2011-10-27 09:23:53 // Idealog
// The Idealog Blog
New Zealand Mint is immortalising the world’s most famous sea sponge, SpongeBob SquarePants, on a square silver bullion coin, along with some of his friends.
2011-10-26 10:32:41 // Idealog
// The Idealog Blog
| 1 comment
The Tongariro Crossing has become the first national park to get its own interactive smartphone app, just in time for the summer swell of keen hikers and walkers.
2011-10-25 11:05:37 // Idealog
| 4 comments
Expect to see more black planes gracing the skies – Air New Zealand has re-signed as a major sponsor of the New Zealand Rugby Union until 2015.
2011-10-21 12:02:29 // Esther Goh
// The Idealog Blog
It's not easy to get passionate about HR software, Sonar6 chief executive Mike Carden freely admits.
2011-10-21 10:41:22 // Cath Winks
Blind WeekThe Royal New Zealand Foundation of the Blind has launched a new online collection tool for its Blind Week appeal (October 25-31), making it the first charity in New Zealand to do so.
2011-10-20 09:15:55 // Ben Fahy
Vodafone has launched an augmented reality application to celebrate its sponsorship of the Vodafone New Zealand Music Awards in what it says is “the first large-scale AR application of its kind” in the country.
2011-10-19 18:01:44 // Esther Goh
// The Idealog Blog
Gamification may be the new buzzword in digital marketing, but if you're hoping to ride the merry wave to the top, it pays to do your homework.
2011-10-19 16:10:18 // Idealog
// The Idealog Blog
| 1 comment
Telecom is upping its creative cred with a new online collaboration with an eclectic group of Kiwis including Huffer founder Steve Dunstan, internationally acclaimed hairstylist Richard Kavanagh and up-and-coming musicians Junica and Zowie.
2011-10-19 15:20:12 // Cath Winks
// The Idealog Blog
Echoing the All Blacks’ heroics over the weekend, New Zealand’s Brandspank has walked away with a respectable bit of recognition at this week’s Australasian PROMAX awards.
2011-10-14 10:40:05 // Cath Winks
| 1 comment
The Newspaper Publishers’ Association is out to prove that print still works, and today it's launching a fresh campaign playing on the emotional connection Kiwis around the world have with New Zealand.
2011-10-14 10:08:28 // Idealog
| 2 comments
New Zealand's small group of 'technology evangelists' have the ability to powerfully influence the purchase decisions of more than a third of Kiwi consumers, according to an IDC consumer survey.
2011-10-11 09:18:26 // Idealog
// The Idealog Blog
Should you long for gold-plated wisdom in spades, MSN's Digital Marketing Summit next month promises to offer a fresh range of talking heads.
2011-10-07 09:18:52 // Ben Fahy
| 5 comments
DraftFCB and the Ministry of Health are a pretty bloody good team, going by the numerous awards the duo has won in recent years – and, as of last night, taking out a fair swag of the big gongs at this year’s Effies.
2011-10-06 11:27:15 // Esther Goh
// The Idealog Blog
| 3 comments
In a first for New Zealand, Farmers has launched a groundbreaking fully interactive product catalogue, which it says customers have embraced wholeheartedly.
2011-10-05 11:26:16 // Esther Goh
| 1 comment
Coca-Cola leads Interbrand’s 2011 Best Global Brands report for the 12th consecutive year – but it's Apple, whose brand value increased 58 percent, that is the top riser of the year.
2011-10-04 14:08:13 // Ben Fahy
Following on from its Creating Futures rebrand, ASB is taking a step in a slightly different direction with the launch of its new ‘Experience ASB’ campaign over the weekend.
2011-10-03 13:23:11 // Penelope Whitson
// The Idealog Blog
| 4 comments
What makes us buy one brand over another? I reject items because of how they’re spelled. For others, it’s the smell.
2011-09-30 13:58:51 // StopPress Team
// The Idealog Blog
An entire New Zealand community has joined together to sponsor a national sports team in its quest for Olympic glory in what it's calling a world first.
2011-09-27 13:23:28 // Ben Fahy
// The Idealog Blog
| 1 comment
The two good eggs behind Campermate embarked on a road trip with 60 kg of bacon to promote their free app for freedom campers.
2011-09-26 17:40:28 // Idealog
Trading cards are getting the Web 2.0 treatment in GrabOne’s first Facebook app, featuring 30 collectable cards emblazoned with the brand's aqua fan-created mascot, Gimme.
2011-09-23 10:30:02 // Idealog
Kiwi marketing agency Traffic has muscled its way past campaigns for the likes of Hilton Hotels to triumph in the business-to-business category of the Summit Marketing Effectiveness Awards in the US.
2011-09-21 15:12:03 // Lisa Arthur
// The Idealog Blog
Digital media is all about marketing to a highly segmented audience. But better consumer engagement takes work
2011-09-20 09:36:51 // Ben Fahy
The new TSB campaign charts the journey of a man who has just fallen to Earth and does what anyone who has just fallen to Earth would do: question the principles of modern banking.
2011-09-14 16:28:15 // Ben Fahy
// The Idealog Blog
While at first glance the Fire Service and Hell Pizza might seem an unlikely pair, they've teamed up to put the ‘Don’t drink and fry’ message on more than a million pizza boxes.
2011-09-12 10:33:36 // StopPress Team
The 2011 RSVP and Nexus Awards have officially opened for business, and marketing gurus are once again being encouraged to showcase shining examples of the campaigns and projects they’ve created.
2011-09-08 14:16:24 // Vincent Heeringa
// Idealog #35: features
| 1 comment
Vincent Heeringa eats ... and eats ... and eats, all in search of design-led food and beverages
2011-09-06 11:28:51 // StopPress Team
Silver Fern Farms and Bidvest are doing everything they can to get Kiwi meat into RWC visitors' gullets by supplying New Zealand-grown lamb, venison and beef to 138 leading restaurants around the country
2011-09-06 09:53:18 // Esther Goh
// The Idealog Blog
Laundry never looked this fun, thanks to a Saatchi & Saatchi marketing campaign in Europe combining Facebook, robotic guns and copious amounts of jam.
2011-09-06 09:09:09 // Ben Fahy
// The Idealog Blog
| 1 comment
When it comes to making successful branded apps, there are generally two rules: either make it useful or give it some novelty value. And, if possible, combine elements of both.
2011-08-30 16:37:44 // StopPress Team
// The Idealog Blog
Universal McCann’s Maybelline Baby Lips campaign has taken out the second quarter of Yahoo! New Zealand’s Digital Strategy Award.
2011-08-25 09:20:29 // Ben Fahy
Progressive Enterprises walked away with the most coveted award of the night for merging three of its supermarket brands into one and forging a bold new positioning.
2011-08-24 16:08:48 // Ben Fahy
At a time when traditional retailers are struggling, the trendsetting soothsayers believe popup stores and venues are one of the next big marketing things. And judging by the number, er, popping up for the Rugby World Cup, maybe they’re right.
2011-08-24 15:45:39 // David MacGregor
// Idealog #35: workshop
David MacGregor took a front row seat at the Ministry of Science and Innovation’s conference UX11.
2011-08-15 12:26:57 // Idealog
Banking underdog Kiwibank has launched its latest attack on the big players with an interactive experience that exhorts users to "leave all your bad banking experiences behind".
2011-08-11 15:12:49 // Idealog
// The Idealog Blog
Everyone's buzzing about the Adidas PR fiasco. Why has the frenzy over a black shirt gripped the entire country? Vincent Heeringa talks branding – and the Best Awards – on Kiwi FM.
2011-08-11 12:47:18 // Idealog
There's plenty of money to be made in merchandise, something the Star Wars franchise has demonstrated over the years with video games, books, toys and kitchenware to name a few, and now fans can get in on the action with the release of a coin set featuring characters from the series.
2011-08-09 16:39:01 // Esther Goh
// The Idealog Blog
| 2 comments
With the tide of public opinion turning firmly against Adidas, Rebel Sport is digging into its own pockets and showing it's on the side of consumers, not corporates.
2011-08-09 12:21:04 // Ben Fahy
Life insurance is often seen as something of a morbid necessity and insurance companies often tap into the guilt factor to sell it.
2011-08-02 20:07:14 // Ben Fahy
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After the birth of the supercity and the lure of all those domestic and foreign visitors expected to hit the streets during the Rugby World Cup, Auckland's promotional efforts have been cranked up.
2011-07-25 17:46:25 // Ben Fahy
Moa is now officially the ‘Beer for Olympians’, the first time a craft brewery has held this level of sponsorship in New Zealand or, as far as the Moans know, the world.
2011-07-25 16:54:26 // Idealog
The public has chosen St John as the most trustworthy brand around, marking the first time a charity has ever topped the Reader’s Digest list.
2011-07-20 11:47:14 // StopPress Team
That little man with the frizzy brown hair, squeaky voice and bright coloured lycra might have agitated some, but he’s been part of a marketing recipe for success that has earned Air New Zealand a prestigious global win.
2011-07-15 11:48:12 // Vanessa Ellingham
| 7 comments
Our picks of the persnickety trademark bunch, plus predictions for the near and not-so-near future.
2011-07-13 14:14:11 // Vanessa Ellingham
// The Idealog Blog
The latest social experiment film stars a Hollywood actress, Toshiba, Intel—and maybe even you.
2011-07-11 15:54:42 // Ben Fahy
Not content with merely encouraging buyers to opt out of using nasty chemicals, ecostore is trying to get consumers’ entire Facebook networks to do the same.
2011-06-22 11:25:31 // StopPress Team
The public has spoken and the public will be required to participate after Palmerston North-born Pulusea Seumanu’s idea was named the winner in ANZ’s ‘Welcome the World’ campaign.
2011-02-23 13:06:39 // Sam Eichblatt
// Idealog #32: now
Nathan Goldsworthy’s self-assembled furniture is the first step in the designer’s move offshore
2010-10-07 06:00:00 // Jehan Casinader
// Idealog #29: features
| 1 comment
Companies used to merely yell at us: buy this! Now they want to know what’s inside our heads (and a hand with their marketing, please). But Jehan Casinader sounds a warning—most brands just aren’t worth the conversation.
2010-10-04 15:47:24 // Mark Roach
// Idealog #29: workshop
It’s the left-of-centre stuff that makes The Great New Zealand Songbook, Volume 2 such a gem.
2010-09-27 12:16:21 // StopPress Team
// The Idealog Blog :: The Idealist
The lactose enthusiastic among you will have probably noticed the cleaner look of anchor’s milk packaging on your recent jaunts to the supermarket. Creative agency Colenso and Dow Design are behind the rebrand and the aim, says Dow Design’s creative director Donna McCort, “...was to find a simple and powerful visualisation of freshness, to represent the modern dynamism of Anchor”. StopPress ventures further into the rebranding.
2010-09-03 15:05:26 // Dwight Whitney
// Idealog #29: export
Think of your exporting journey decisionmaking as something akin to investment portfolio theory. Your goal is to balance risk and reward— or more specifically, opportunity and your chance of success. Make exports a part of your business plan and identify key target markets before jumping in.
2010-09-03 15:05:26 // Dwight Whitney
// Idealog #29: export
If your enterprise is up and running and you haven’t yet cast your eyes offshore, it’s time to get with the programme..
2010-08-04 12:04:06 // Simon Young
// Idealog #28: workshop
| 3 comments
Cars have been sold the same way for decades. It's time for a grand experiment.
2010-07-27 12:25:42 // Vicki Holder
// The Idealog Blog
| 1 comment
Driving upside down along the second floor roof-top of the Mini Garage, a bright red Mini is turning heads in the heart of Ponsonby. The car appears to defy the forces of gravity. But it’s really just a 160kg fibreglass shell that the BMW designers in Germany have created to draw attention to this fun, lifestyle brand.
2010-03-08 10:36:24 // Matt Cooney
// Idealog #26: now
| 2 comments
Mistreated by the music biz, Hollie Smith says she almost gave it away. But she’s back—and funky.
2009-12-11 11:09:23 // Andy Kenworthy
// Idealog #25: guide
Why is a low-end Lexus more sought after than a top-of-the-line Toyota, given they are made by the same people? Why do you feel all international and summery when you drink Sol and staunch when you drink Lion Red? It’s because everybody judges a book by its cover.
2009-11-13 09:57:54 // Matt Cooney
// The Idealog Blog :: The Idealist
Well, this was only a matter of time: Guardian columnist takes a quick look at our green credentials and doesn’t like what he sees. “My prize for the most shameless two fingers to the global community goes to New Zealand, a country that sells itself round the world as ‘clean and green’.”
2009-10-06 16:31:11 // Chris Tobias
// Idealog #23: celsias
John Key is doing his best to scythe sustainability from the government dictionary—and maybe he’s right. The S-word has baggage. It's about disagreement, good and bad science, frugality and fear. Chris Tobias suggests how to move beyond the arguments.
2009-09-25 08:57:33 // Mike Booker
// Idealog #23: celsias
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Johnny Rotten once mocked the Queen; today he saves his sneer for New Zealand butter. Our key export markets are increasingly in the grip of environmental and social activism, led by a virtuous circle of consumers and supermarkets. Some Kiwi exporters are on to this rapidly growing and mutating phenomenon. Others, Mike Booker discovers, haven’t a clue.
2009-08-15 08:49:26 // David MacGregor
// The Idealog Blog
| 1 comment
A slightly surreal experience with an advertising guy who acts like an artist … or should that be an artist who acts like an advertising guy?
2009-08-08 16:24:30 // Ben Kepes
// The Idealog Blog
Doug Casement from Renaissance tells about building relationships and pitching for coverage with mainstream media
2009-08-07 12:59:25 // James Hurman
// Idealog #22: features
| 3 comments
Nobody believes business anymore. So who’s in control of your brand? It’s all of us. Here’s how the truth has been democratised, distributed and Google-optimised. It’s goodbye to the mass message and welcome to The Conversation.
2009-07-31 09:49:03 // Matt Cooney
// Idealog #22: features
| 2 comments
When guitarist Ben Fulton went electric, he found the only way to get the right sound was to make his own gadgets—and other guitarists agreed. But how do you turn a garage business into an international boutique brand? First, you find someone to share your dream—like Geoff Matthews.
2009-07-17 10:04:05 // Anya Kussler
// Idealog #22: features
| 1 comment
A dry, stony bit of Hawke’s Bay, once a speedway and a quarry, now produces full-bodied red wines the equal of thousand-bucks-a-bottle Bordeaux. What’s the secret? Anya Kussler discovers what lurks in the once-unwanted soils of Gimblett Gravels. Plus beau Bordeaux and the top six.
2009-07-14 12:06:15 // Matt Cooney
// The Idealog Blog
Jetstar should be grateful its aggrieved passengers aren't also country musos—unlike Dave Carroll, who is more than a tad annoyed at the way baggage handlers in Chicago handle guitars. The result: 2.5 million views on YouTube—and nearly 14,000 comments—in just a week.
2009-06-26 12:00:00 // Simon Young
// Idealog #22: workshop
A well-targeted interview in the media can be worth thousands in advertising. But most interviews don’t “just happen”—they’re the result of business owners or PR people pitching stories.
2009-06-26 12:00:00 // Simon Young
// Idealog #22: workshop
| 1 comment
Above and below the line, online and off, where do you put your marketing energy? Take a tip from the experts: start first with getting to know your customers
2009-06-24 14:57:34 // Amanda Cropp
// The Idealog Blog
Concerns about souvenir rip-offs have led to a Commerce Commission investigation of dietary supplements favoured by Chinese tourists. The possibility of legal action under the Fair Trading Act comes after Tourism New Zealand discovered visitors were paying up to four times the going price for some health products.
2009-06-12 14:29:01 // Mike Booker
// Idealog #21: features
| 3 comments
Mountain Buggy looked like a model company for New Zealand’s design-led future, yet in January it reported debts of $22 million and the receiver was called in. What happened to one of our brightest export prospects? Mike Booker discovers why the wheels fell off. Plus a tale of two buggies.
2009-06-06 18:42:45 // Jason Kemp
// The Idealog Blog
One of the developing trends I have been noticing is the big rise in uber-connected people leveraging their social and business networks for a common cause. I support this but wonder if some of the media ripples from the all of this activity are being somewhat discounted?
2009-06-05 09:28:42 // Andy Kenworthy
// Idealog #21: features
Kiwi golfer Michael Campbell has nurtured hopes of morphing into a global sports brand ever since he beat Tiger to win the 2005 US Open. It hasn’t happened yet. Andy Kenworthy spoke to Cambo about what could be the toughest challenge of his career. Plus Amazing Race host Phil Keoghan talks about his Enzed brand endeavours.
2009-05-29 12:46:45 // Francis Farrelly & Michael Beverland
// Idealog #21: workshop
Keep clients in tough times. Nine ways to keep your company innovative—and essential
2009-05-23 15:05:06 // Lauren Bartlett
// Idealog TV
| 1 comment
Shape your brand one tweet at a time, says social media expert Juliette Powell. You can kiss us if you want, Juliette.
2009-05-07 11:51:32 // Vincent Heeringa
// Idealog TV
If you’re the incumbent, disruption spells disaster. Right? Not so, say Andy Blood & David Walden of TBWA\Whybin. Here’s how they they welcome disruption
2009-04-24 09:40:36 // Amanda Cropp
// Idealog #20: features
| 6 comments
New Zealand pitches itself as a tourism hotspot—the world’s adventure playground, pure, clean and green. But when it comes time for our guests to leave, what do they have to remember us? By Amanda Cropp
2009-03-20 12:41:34 // Steven Shaw
// Idealog #20: features
For Alt Group, an Auckland design firm that scooped 55 design awards internationally in 2008, good brand design is more than just a Helvetica love-in. Steven Shaw gets with the Alt approach
2008-10-17 08:25:08 // Jehan Casinader
// Idealog #17: workshop
| 2 comments
Our cities compete for visitors’ attention. How about giving the locals some love?
2008-04-07 11:58:36 // Melanie Cooper
// Idealog #14: now
| 1 comment
New Zealand’s mobile-phone marketers are getting international traction—but they’re held back at home.
2008-03-20 15:56:11 // Simon Young
// Idealog #14: workshop
Facebook, Bebo, Linkedin … what’s the big deal? If markets are conversations, social networks are the biggest markets around. Here’s how (and why) to get involved, without getting in the way. Plus the birth of Bebo, brewing social alcohol and the history of social networking
2007-11-23 10:40:53 // James Hurman
// Idealog #12: features
| 1 comment
Traditional marketing is all talk and no trousers. Your customers don’t care what you say, they want to know what you do. James Hurman makes the case for more walk and less talk
2006-12-14 01:00:00 // Matt Cooney
// Idealog #7: features
| 4 comments
Josef Roberts turned Red Bull, a little-known energy drink with legal problems, into a pop phenomenon in New Zealand and Australia—and made millions in the process. He talks exclusively to Idealog about guerilla marketing, taking on the big boys, life after the Big Deal, and the down-home Kiwi company he plans to build into a global superbrand. By Matt Cooney
