YouTube vids are soooo passe. Interactive ‘pick a path’ YouTube vids, like the recent one from Hell Pizza, are all the rage. But this one from Tippex is one of the best efforts we’ve seen. And, as it offers you the opportunity to write something to make a hunter do anything to a bear (well, almost anything: it couldn’t handle lambast, operate on or tackle), it’s way more interactive than most.

It’s no ridiculously brilliant Old Spice live Twitter response campaign, but it’s still a pretty cool combination of online utility, interesting content and advertising that actually gets across the practical use of the product. So give it a try. Apparently it was done by a French agency called Buzzman.

Since the start of 2009 Holt has been responsible for managing the Vodafone business across the Clemenger Group as well as the highly awarded Yellow account.

Hailing from the UK (bloody hell, another one?), Holt began his career at BMP DDB in London in 1997 working across major clients including Anheuser Busch, British Gas, Kraft Foods and the Government Central Office of Information.

He moved to Australia in 2003 and worked for Lowe Hunt where he became a client services director and in 2006 he joined the management team at Saatchi & Saatchi Sydney, leading the Foxtel, Fox Sports and Aussie accounts alongside new business wins for Macquarie Capital and NSW Department of Commerce.

Clems’ Previous managing director Lesley Brown, who took over from Peter Biggs, departed about two years ago to have a baby and chose not to come back after maternity leave. She was replaced by Kevin Stroud, but this was only ever as an interim measure as Stroud had worked there for 20 years and was keen to escape to daily advertising grind. He announced his resignation in April but he will still be consulting.

Clemenger Group chief executive Jim Moser says the powers that be had “started looking at what we needed long-term”, so Holt’s appointment is hoped to inject some spark into the Wellington operation.

“I have known and respected Andrew for years, first in Sydney and now in Auckland. Since his arrival at Colenso BBDO almost two years ago, he has made a hugely positive impact on the agency and most importantly, on our clients’ business,” Moser says. “Andrew was always destined for an agency leadership role and we’re thrilled that his next challenge is within the Clemenger Group.”

Clems executive creative director and chief executive Philip Andrew say Holt has a strong strategic skill set and he also ‘gets’ the work.

“He is a passionate advocate for challenging creative work converting to business success. I can’t wait for him to start and we are all looking forward to the time when he will call Wellington home.”

Holt will start his new role on 1 December and his replacement at Colenso will be announced in the coming weeks.

While the managing director role has been filled, creative director Paul Nagy, who left in May to start as creative director at Clemenger BBDO in Sydney, has not been replaced. A few months ago, Philip Andrew said the CD role is a very important one and it’s not a decision to be rushed into. Added to that, he said “they’re few and far between at the moment”. And while Moser says the group is always on the look-out for creative talent, having Holt start as the new managing director means there’s a chance it might not hire anyone to replace Nagy, as he says Duster is looking at doing a bit more of the creative directing.

Off the beaten Tracta

It might surprise the city-dwellers, but apparently those country folk have got a bit of money to spend. And Adplus has been helping to sell things and ideas to heartland New Zealanders for over 19 years. But times are changing, as are clients’ needs, so the agency that general manager Olly Van Arts calls the “indie battler from Hawke’s Bay” is embarking on a major step-change, setting up a new agency focused in the Heartland and Kiwi consumer brand sectors called Tracta (it’s certainly a pretty cool name and, dare we say it, sounds almost urban).

Andy Walker

Olly Van Arts

Chris Howden

“We’ve long recognised that local understanding of the heartland market is one of our great strengths,” van Arts says. “We also see it as one of the major weaknesses of the Big City agencies. So we have decided to rebrand our agency not just to signal our focus on the heartland market, but to also announce our own dynamic changes.”

Van Arts says Tracta will be driven by (tsk tsk) himself, alongside relatively recently appointed creative director Chris Howden and managing director Andy Walker.

And while we’re speaking about Tracta, check out these cool promo posters they did for Napier.

Flying Cossacks

Air New Zealand continues to dole out parts of its marketing work to different agencies, with the Cossack Consultancy appointed to represent the national carrier in the sale of 3rd party advertising opportunities, including Air New Zealand and Koru Parking displays and promotions, product sampling and more.

The online properties (primarily grabaseat) and KiaOra Magazine will continue to be handled by Trade Me and ACP Media respectively.

Adam McGregor, director of The Cossack Consultancy, which “offers a range of services in the Out of Home Advertising Sector, from market intelligence and evaluation to the creation of new communications channels, special displays and media sales representation” says the company has been developing steadily since opening its doors in 2007.

“We enjoy working with some of New Zealandʼs biggest brands and agencies but this appointment takes us onto the next level. We are delighted Air New Zealand has chosen to work with us and we see a very bright future ahead.”

And in other Air New Zealand news, it has decided to win yet another award, this time a pretty big one after being voted the Best Long Haul airline in Conde Nast Traveller’s readers’ choice awards because of “its excellent food/catering and child-friendliness”. And it’s also well-loved among Kiwi business leaders, coming out top of the reputational table in a recent survey by global management consultancy Hay Group in association with NZ Management magazine.

Fonterra came in second place, Fletcher Building  third, engineering consultancy Beca Group was fourth and Kiwibank, the highest ranked SOE, was fifth. Salvation Army topped non-profit organisations, and, perhaps surprisingly, police were at the top of government departments list.

Oh Boy

Just in time for Father’s Day, Taika Waititi has reprised his role from Boy in what is a fairly entertaining attempt to sell a few more of his DVDs at The Warehouse. So, with the recent return of the Warehouse Kiwi and now a guest appearance from Shogun, DDB seems to be trying to breathe a bit of life into the retail behemoth.

Techno party

MediaWorks has appointed its current TV engineering manager, Roger Randle, to the group role of director of technology.

Group managing director Sussan Turner says an international search for this key executive appointment was conducted, but it was great that someone from within the existing pool of managers fitted the bill.

“Roger came through a rigorous recruitment process with flying colours. His technical skills, strategic ability, leadership strength and his respect from within the industry were all important factors in his appointment,” says Turner. “He thoroughly understands the MediaWorks culture, and his appointment will make for a seamless transition.”

Randle has been with MediaWorks since 2001, and has been TV engineering manager since 2004. He has enjoyed a 20 year career in the broadcast and IT industry, commencing in the UK before relocating to New Zealand where he worked for Fisher & Paykel and Panasonic New Zealand prior to joining MediaWorks.

In the new role, Randle will oversee all technology requirements for MediaWorks across the radio, TV and Interactive divisions of the company.

“In the years ahead strength in the technology arena will be a critical success factor for all media companies. I know with Roger in this leadership role we are well positioned for the future,” she says.

Randle’s appointment is effective immediately, as he steps into the role replacing industry veteran John Allen who announced he was stepping down from his position two months ago. Allen will continue to work with MediaWorks in a consulting role.

Off the Kumfs

New Zealand footwear company Kumfs Shoes (which is also one of the few manufacturers still making most of its stuff in New Zealand) has unveiled its new identity, Ziera, with a newly designed product range, all 43 of its stores across Australia and New Zealand remodelled and a bit of a marketing push (Kumfs did always seem a little too close for comfort in the linguistic department, almost like the Shihad/Jihad of the shoe world).

The whole rebrand is said to have cost around $8 million and Kumfs worked with brand strategy company Brian R. Richards, Saatchi Design Worldwide (which developed the new logo and brand look), .99 for the creative and Ice Interactive for the website.

You can check out the new commercials here.

Calling air time

In the year that marks half a century since he began his career in the radio industry, Wellington radio personality Justin du Fresne has announced he will step down as host of the flagship morning show on Newstalk ZB, Wellington at Christmas after a massive run of twenty three years.

“This is my decision. I’ve had an amazing time but feel I need to enjoy life without the pressure of a daily radio show. I would like to thank my listeners for the sustained support I’ve had,” he says.

An announcement on his replacement will be made in the coming weeks. But he says he’s still keen to be involved with the station and “we’re in the process of working through those scenarios now”.

du Fresne got his start in the radio industry as a clerical cadet at the New Zealand Broadcasting Service in 1960. He became an announcer for 2ZB in 1962, and was the inaugural host of the trail-blazing “Sunset Show” in 1963. He left broadcasting in 1966 to take up a career in the textile industry. In November 1983 he returned and has been at 2ZB, now Newstalk ZB, ever since.

John McElhinney chief executive of The Radio Network says he was a consummate broadcaster who will be remembered as one of New Zealand’s most successful personalities.

“Justin has been a fixture on Wellington’s airwaves for well over two decades and has been a key reason behind Newstalk ZB’s status as a market leader in talk radio”, says Rhys Nimmo, Wellington general manager of The Radio Network.

Room with a brew

DB Breweries has been crowned 2010 New Zealand Champion Brewery at the BrewNZ Awards in Wellington, capping off a triumphant night for the 80 year old company, which collected five trophies and eight medals in total, the most for any entrant.

DB Breweries’ managing director Brian Blake says credit for the company’s success lies with DB’s team of experienced and passionate brewers.

“I’d like to congratulate our brewers on their achievements on winning five trophies and eight medals across a wide range of categories and beer styles. After 80 years of brewing the brands Kiwis love, it’s rewarding to see our brewers’ passion, talent and commitment to quality recognised by the international panel of judges.”

A record number of breweries entered this year’s awards with 450 entries, up from 349 in 2009. And the quality of entrants continues to improve each year says Chairman of the Brewers Guild of New Zealand, David Cryer.

“The great result of DB’s win at the BrewNZ Awards is that it shows that any brewery big or small can win. Tuatara in 2008, Emerson’s in 2009 now DB in 2010. Add to that the close race between Three Boys and DB for the title, this all goes to show that great beer is the winner. The most challenging aspect of a broadly ranged brewing competition is allowing one man operations to compete with larger breweries. BrewNZ Awards has achieved this with heightened credibility and salutes DB as worthy champions!”

Wall styles

www.paperroom.co.nz has just launched a new feature and Annabel Taylor, one of the two women behind the operation, claims the new unique wall art it offers with its commerical and revolutionary wallpapers is “a marketeers dream”.

“These three wallpaper products are perfect for customisation, and great to use for retail and hospitality promotions. Corporate logos can also be reproduced onto one of three matt finish basis.”

She says the wallpapers are ideal for retail stores and hair dressing salons, where changing out seasonal promotions is paramount, and great in the hospitality sector to create instant impact in a bar, café and restaurant setting.

Big balls

New Zealand’s Giant Rugby Ball is back in action and has hit Sydney, marking the start of the Ball’s fourth and final international appearance.

The 25-metre-long, 13-metre-high giant inflatable audio-visually enhanced venue (Spyglass is the company responsible for the technology inside) has been a big hit around the world and is already in place at its Circular Quay location.

It was opened yesterday morning and the opening ceremony was attended by the Māori King, Kiingi Tuheitia Paki, and Australian and New Zealand dignitaries. The ceremony also involved Aboriginal and Māori elders.

Tourism New Zealand chief executive Kevin Bowler says the ball’s presence in Sydney is timed to coincide with the Bledisloe Cup Match on 11 September and, as it has done in every other location, it will be making the most of the numerous media opportunities the ball seems to create.

From a marketing perspective, the packaging section is a good’un (we’re gunning for Dollop, only partially because the Dollop girls sent us some glorious sticky date pudding last week, and Yellow chocolate’s packaging also made the cut). There’s also plenty of amazing work in the identity development category (retail agency .99 is a finalist in the large-scale category, as is designwork’s much discussed rebranding of Telecom, while Special Group’s Mr Vodka features in small scale identity design category along with another StopPress fave The Honesty Box).

For the clients, Icebreaker, Monteith’s and Cloudy Bay feature prominently across the graphic categories. And in the interactive marketing category, it’s a race between the offerings from Orcon + Iggy , Urbis, Radio NZ, Tourism NZ and Storm of Inquiry

The PS3/TVNZ Ondemand collaboration was recognised in the interactive applications category, with NZ Post’s Send a Card also making the cut. And the product category is fairly full, despite client belt-tightening, with the pick of the bunch being the Trimax Mowing Systems ‘Trident’ by Formway ad Air New Zealand’s Skycouch.

Of course, all the usual design  suspects are up for awards: Dow, Guy Pask, Alt Group (which dominates the corporate communications category and plenty of others, with Dean Poole a definite contender for over-achiever of the year), Shift, Methven, DNA, Designworks and Warren and Mahoney. Although, surprisingly, there’s nothing in the spatial design realm from Jasmax.

Lionel Richie remixes himself for (and possibly sells his soul to) Walkers crisps.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Jack Black pans Orange in a spoof Gulliver’s Travels trailer for Orange.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Bud Light’s take on the consequences of the swear jar.

Arcade Fire, Chris Milk and Google’s amazing interactive music video experiment (well worth downloading Chrome to experience it properly); get some business inspiration with this start-up idea generator; the perfect father’s day gift; the Chinese approach to public transport and the memory of Diana; 25-year-old forex wunderkind John Key profiled on Close-Up back in 1987; and one for the ‘pedantophiles’, a blog that details the use of unnecessary quotation marks.

YoungGuns aims to recognise the hottest creative talent under 30 and the awards organisers made special mention of Colenso BBDO as the only agency to have been named YoungGuns Agency of the Year twice (2001 and 2008). BBDO has been named YoungGuns Network of the Year three times (2001, 2004 and 2008) and it has been awarded more Gold Bullets than any other network.

Executive creative director Nick Worthington says it’s always great to see young talent recognised on the international stage, but it’s even better to see how well New Zealand does against the best countries in the world.

“We’ve always been told New Zealand punches above its weight, but it’s nice to have a bit of proof,” he says.

Kristian Barnes, co-founder of the YGAward says BBDO has, over the last decade, clearly demonstrated that it consistently incubated some of the best young talent globally.

“This award is significant in that it recognises the investment BBDO has placed in nurturing young talent. The creativity and young talent within the network speaks for itself.

Dave Brady

The August judges were Philip Andrew from Clemenger BBDO in Wellington, Peter Ogden, ECD from JWT, and Phil Yule from The Voicebox.

The judges commented: “Good production values and nice observation of the brand name mispronunciation” and “Nice and simple with a subtle send-up of itself at the end.”

You can listen to the winning radio gems here.

Pfala via Flickr

Stuff.co.nz dominated the digital categories at this year’s Qantas Media Awards and it appears as though the advertisers have responded, with Fairfax Media claiming it has “significantly outperformed the market” in terms of its display advertising revenue, “almost doubling” the 38 percent increase achieved by the market since last quarter. But there are a few Fairfax figures that aren’t quite so forthcoming.

Fairfax Media NZ chief executive Allen Williams says its performance in the display space is particularly impressive considering the total New Zealand online market measured the second highest level of growth on record.

According to the recent IAB/PWC online expenditure report, display was the slightly surprising winner in the latest round of figures, overtaking classifieds for the first time ever (year on year display was up 26 percent). As a result, display increased its share of the total online advertising spend from 27 percent to 33 percent since the first quarter, something that deviates from international trends, where paid search advertising, social media and mobile are the major growth sectors. Total online ad spend increased 13 percent over the April-June 2010 quarter to $62.58m, up $7.26m on the Q1, 2010 result.

“Our performance [in display] is just as noteworthy year on year, again significantly higher than the 25.8 percent achieved by the market,” Williams says.

Fairfax wouldn’t supply specific figures on what ‘significantly higher’ or ‘outperformed’ meant in actual numerical terms. And also no word on how its classifieds and search and directories performed (overall IAB/PWC figures show classifieds are down 0.76 percent from Q1, 2010 but up 19 percent from Q2, 2009 and search and directories is up nine percent from Q1 2010 and up 13.59 percent year on year).

Traditionally, the first quarter is always a bit skinny on the revenue front, due to the post-Christmas lull, so growth in the second quarter is to be expected. Which means year on year comparisons are generally seen as a more accurate gauge of performance.

MSN, which recently trumpeted a big increase in readership numbers across its network of sites, was actually willing to offer a specific year on year figure, with its display advertising revenue growing by 45 percent from Q2 2009.

Unlike Fairfax, APN has a wee bit to crow about in terms of its printed offering (as well as its well-received iPad app), but when asked to respond to the Fairfax claims, APN Online, the publishers of nzherald.co.nz, wouldn’t release its figures either, and also didn’t talk specifics, which generally means there’s not much good news to talk about. Instead, it took the holistic approach, with advertising director Donna O’Keeffe saying how happy it was with the growth of the whole advertising market in New Zealand.

“Digital advertising is fast becoming a mainstream medium and an essential part of so many campaigns,” she says “The growth nzherald.co.nz and the industry as a whole has experienced over the past year is phenomenal.”

Fairfax Group sales and marketing manager Sandra King says the result was a reflection of the company’s continued innovation across its digital platforms, accompanied with brand solutions that deliver real value for advertising partners.

“Our performance can be attributed to Fairfax’s market-leading sales model that successfully creates integrated advertising ideas in and around quality content across multimedia platforms. The figures show that this integrated sales approach has been wholeheartedly embraced by the market.”

Fairfax Media, which owns Trade Me, The Dominion Post, The Press, the Sunday Star-Times and stuff.co.nz in New Zealand, recently announced a turnaround in its business fortunes, reporting a A$282.1 million profit across the group, which is a big contrast to its A$380 million loss in 2009.

Trade Me played a big part in that result, increasing revenue by 15 percent and helping Fairfax Digital achieve a 22 percent rise in earnings to A$111m. Fairfax’s online revenues now account for 12 percent of the group’s total revenue and it’s looking to take its major Aussie papers further down the online road soon.

Colenso nabbed 19 finalist placings (a few of which are joint efforts with .99), with nominations for most its major clients (Vodafone Symphonia, Yellow Chocolate, Fonterra’s Kapiti on a stick and Perfect Italiano, TVNZ’s The Pacific, Mars Whiskas and Frucor’s V Rocket Man). It has three out of the five nominations (TVNZ, Frucor and Yellow) for the best use of PR/Experiential in a marketing campaign and it also featured prominently in most integrated, FMCG, paradigm shift and consumer services.

James Hurman, Colenso’s planning director, a man renowned for falling into a deep swoon whenever the word ‘effectiveness’ is mentioned (and a man who’s soon to lead the Strategic Thinking CAANZ/AUT Communications School workshop) says it’s pleasing to see that many of the campaigns shortlisted for the EFFIEs are the same ones that have won creative awards.

“We are lucky to partner with clients who understand that in order to deliver business-transforming results they need to back great work,” he says.

Strangely, given the EFFIES often follow in the footsteps of the TVNZ-NZ Marketing awards, 2degrees and TBWA\ only managed to get two finalist placings in the consumer services and new product or service introduction categories. And Air New Zealand doesn’t feature at all.

With 12 finalist placings, DraftFCB continued its dominance in the social marketing sphere, including three from three in the social marketing/public service category for ALAC and the Ministry of Health and World Vision as a finalist in the charity section. It’s not a one-trick pony, however: it also got nods in other categories for clients that have some cash, with Mini, Whitcoulls and Mitre 10 in the running.

Showing its diverse portfolio, Barnes Catmur & Friends is third on the ladder and the leading indie with seven nominations across Subaru, Tourism Fiji and Southern Cross. Special Group was next with five, although its only contender is the greedy ‘Orcon + Iggy’ campaign, and BCG2 is next on the indie list with three nominations for Lion Nathan and Audi.

As for the other bigguns, Ogilvy, Clemenger BBDO and Saatchi & Saatchi (including one bittersweet nomination for Westpac in the sustained success category, which has recently gone to Colenso) got three. .99 also got three, or five if you include its dual nominations with Colenso, while Y&R got two and DDB only managed one for McDonald’s.

In the big one, the Grand EFFIE for Sustained Success, the five nominations are .99 and Farmers, Barnes, Catmur & Friends for Subaru, BCG2 for Audi, DraftFCB for Mitre 10, Saatchi & Saatchi Auckland for Westpac and TBWA\Tequila with our old, potentially departing friend Goldstein in ASB.

The executive judging is taking place on Monday 6 September with effectiveness guru Tim Broadbent in attendance (his event at TVNZ tonight has sold out). And tickets for the 7 October show at SkyCity are now on sale. Get ‘em here. You can download the full list of finalists here. Finalists_EFFIES_2010r

Satisfaction reported by customers of the five major banks increased year-on-year by 0.9 percent to 77.6 percent. The biggest improver was the National Bank which rose 2.4 percent, followed by ASB, which was up 2.2  percent.

Among the five major banks, the highest satisfaction scores were achieved by ASB Bank 82.1 percent, followed by National Bank on 81.6 percent and BNZ on 76.6 percent (although surely this will skyrocket after the announcement of an expensive logo redesign).

Despite a well-liked campaign, ANZ’s rating has declined and it’s now at the bottom of the pack, hovering around the 70 percent mark, with Westpac just below the 77.6 percent average of the five major banks. There’s still a big gap between TSB and Kiwibank and the five majors, however, with both banks improving their position over the previous year.

Despite trending downwards recently, TSB retained its position as the bank with the highest satisfaction level at 89.4 percent, while Kiwibank had 85.5 percent satisfaction, although Kiwibank’s satisfaction levels have been on the up in recent months, edging closer to TSB.

Mark Dansey, head of New Zealand operations at Roy Morgan Research, says the results show that positive sentiment towards the major banks is growing.

“While TSB and Kiwibank remain out front in terms of customer satisfaction levels, some of the major banks are showing strong growth. The ASB and National Bank in particular had strong performances in the past year. ASB have the highest satisfaction scores amongst the five major banks. The challenge for all major banks will be to continue this positive recent trend and to close the gap set by TSB and Kiwibank.”

Satisfaction levels for main financial institution (MFI) customers (those who are usually more committed to one bank) are also up. MFI satisfaction for the five major banks was 84 percent, up 1.6 percent against June ’09 and up 3.1 percent against December ’09. The three banks that were driving these lifts were ANZ, ASB and National Bank, with all three having year-on-year increases of around 2.5 percent.

TSB had the highest level of MFI satisfaction at 93.2 percent, although this was down against recent quarters. Kiwibank had a 91.9 percent MFI score, which was up 1.0 percent against the previous year and up 2.8 percent against the March period.

• If you’ve got a spare $2490, you can download the New Zealand Banking Customer Satisfaction Report by visiting the Roy Morgan Online Store.