A blog for the New Zealand creative advertising industry, now at www.campaignbrief.com/nz. Email news to: michael@campaignbrief.com

Wednesday, October 31, 2007

TALBOT TO HEAD ADFEST PRESS + POSTER JURY


DDB New Zealand executive creative director Toby Talbot has been appointed next year’s Jury President of the Asia Pacific Advertising Festival (ADFEST) Press & Poster jury.
Talbot was Chairman of Judges of this year’s Australian AWARD and of the Poster Jury of D&AD last year. Says Talbot: “Asia is the home of some of the world’s best print advertising, so it is a real honor for me to be chairing this particular jury.
”Having just chaired the AWARD juries, I know the importance of getting the right people around you to judge the work. The debate needs to be fair and balanced. Of course, that is not going to happen unless you have fair and balanced judges. So that’s the organisers’ priority right now. What I’d want for ADFEST is a similar experience to the one we had at AWARD two weeks ago. Plenty of positive and inspiring debate, no self-interest and a refreshing lack of egos on display.
“Asia has a fantastic reputation for world-class print. Rightly or wrongly, it also has a reputation for doing world-class scam ads. This year, if one is thinking about entering anything vaguely scammy in print for ADFEST, here’s my advice. Don’t! You’ll just be doing more damage to the reputation of your industry. What I’d love to see ADFEST showcase this year in Press and Poster would be big ideas for real clients that actually ran. Not another exquisite campaign for a model shop.”
Talbot is currently ranked No 2 Creative Director in Australasia in the Campaign Brief Creative Rankings. He has won at every major award show worldwide, including Gold Lions at Cannes, Gold Pencils at One Show, Gold Clios and a Silver Nomination at D&AD.
Asia Pacific Advertising Festival is the biggest annual regional advertising events celebrating creativity in the Asia Pacific Region. In 2007, ADFEST celebrated its 10th anniversary. ADFEST 2008 will be held from March 26 to 29, in Peach Conventional Exhibition Centre, Pattaya, Thailand.

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

ADSCHOOL'S OUT NOVEMBER 8


Invites for the 8th AXIS Adschool End of Year Show should be on everyone's desks by now. School head David Bell says it's been a cracking 36 weeks, so there'll be lots of smart ideas on parade: "Plus we have a couple of ideas knocking around to make the evening even more fun than usual- ghost's from all sorts of top peoples' portfolio pasts, and possibly a TV crew or two."
Things kick off at 4.30 on Thursday 8th November, and as usual it's one night and strictly by invite only. If you haven't received your personalised 'Quality Controller' badge yet, contact simon@mediadesign.school.nz or call 09 3030 402.

GOODBY CHARMS TOUGH CAXTON AUDIENCE


Here's Jeff Goodby's speech at the Caxtons at Byron Bay, Australia on the weekend, filmed for the Caxtons by Charles Clapshaw of The Furnace, Sydney.

PARK ROAD POST PRODUCTION ADDS TO DIGITAL INTERMEDIATE OFFERING


Park Road Post Production will soon have the biggest Digital Intermediate infrastructure in New Zealand. The facility is adding a second Quantel 4K Pablo suite to its current DI offering of the Quantel 4K Pablo, iQ, Pandora and Spirit Telecine.
The new setup will enable Park Road to work simultaneously on several projects, dramatically improve workflow, and deliver the facilities world-class results in much shorter timescales.
The new 4K Pablo will work in conjunction with the existing Pablo suite. The suites will be connected and share the same 32 terabytes of storage, enabling both Pablo suites to work on the same clips at the same time. Projects can be moved between suites without the need to export or import any data.
Head of Digital Intermediate Adam Scott says the new Pablo will create a very elegant way to share projects.
“Our clients will love that we can have two 4K Pablo suites working together on the one project without one slowing the other down, for example, colour grading on one and VFX fixes on the other.
“Essentially we will be able to offer maximum operation with minimum interruptions. Clients are a lot more techno-savvy nowadays and demand a better, faster, cheaper result. Our clients will love it.”
Since Park Road installed its first Pablo 12 months ago the following feature films have gone through the suite: Bridge to Terabithia, Lucky Miles, The Ten Commandments, Gun of Mercy, The Water Horse, 30 Days of Night, The Tattooist and Rain of the Children.
In addition, Park Road is also getting SAM, a CIFS server, to provide open read/write access to all media on the shared storage. SAM integrates the media management and relationships between third party products like Shake and Combustion to access the files directly from the Pablo storage and put back when finished.
This technology will save a huge amount of time with regards to data transfers and the like and will dramatically change workflows.
SAM enables DCI (Digital Cinema) and DVD authoring systems to access the final files all without any interruption to the two Pablo suites.
The new Pablo is to be installed over the Christmas break and will be up and running in January 2008.

Monday, October 29, 2007

GOODBY WOOS CAXTON CROWD IN BYRON BAY

Campaign Brief's Heather Jacobs reviews a top weekend.

Co-creation, trust and collaboration were the catchcries of the Caxtons on the weekend, something Ant Hatton of George Patterson Y&R Melbourne put into practise when he got his mate from Clemenger Sydney to wax his balls live on stage in an excruciating act which saw him win the talent quest with a score of 1000 and something. Apart from the painful display of bodily parts and a stolen golf cart by two allegedly drunk creatives at 5am Eastern Standard Time, there was very little indecent behaviour at the Caxtons, which was held at the gorgeous Byron on Byron Resort this weekend.
In between ‘fucks’ - this expletive was used a record number of times during the speeches - clients, media directors and even researchers said they want to work more closely with creatives to create better work.
And unlike the last time The Commonwealth Bank sent a marketing director to the Caxtons with Graham Ford slagging off creatives by saying they were out of step with the times, Mark Buckman was the picture of decorum and came through the weekend unscathed and even with a few new friends.
International guest of honour Jeff Goodby (left) of Goodby Silverstein & Partners, San Francisco, which this year snagged the bank’s advertising account, opened his speech with a tongue in cheek peace offering by revealing the phone number for the marketing director of Elizabeth Arden inviting Australian agencies to try to win the account, preferably before the launch of the next Britney Spears perfume. The laid-back Californian with his trademark ponytail even apologised for the behaviour of George W Bush before wooing the crowd with his amazing work for clients including Sprint, Hyundai, Comcast, Rolling Rock and the Got Milk campaign. As part of a complete restructure of the agency to allow it to create work for the digital world, creatives at the agency were told they needed to learn to do everything from TVCS to designing web sites and if they didn’t like it they could get their books together and start interviewing. While some did leave, the agency has been in expansion mode rapidly hiring people outside the traditional sphere including stand up comics, lawyers, rappers and videographers as part of the restructure instigated by co-managing director Derek Robson who analysed the business, only to find the staff didn’t reflect the skill base required for a digitally led agency.
It doesn’t mean they didn’t stuff up some traditional jobs, admitted Goodby, but clearly they are doing something right, considering the agency won $US2 billion worth of new business over a four week period. Two billion dollars! (See next issue of Campaign Brief for full story).
The funniest speech of the weekend was that of Colenso BBDO's Richard Maddocks (right), the incoming creative chief for Clemenger BDDO Sydney, who gave a rollicking account of his top ten advertising agencies. Sorry Jeff, it’s not GS&P but places like McMahon and Tate, the agency in Bewitched, to Warren in How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days and D&D Advertising in Melrose Place. Maddocks has a starring role in each of these agencies, he has an affair from Samantha of Bewitched and gets her to use her magical powers to make all the planners disappear and find all the people who write nasty things about him on the Campaign Brief blog site. He is best mates with Warren’s Matthew McConaughey and calls him to profess his love, he cracks a brief for the VP of D&D Amanda Woodward (played by Heather Lochlear) and unsuccessfully propositions her, teaching him one of advertising’s most valuable lessons - rejection. While advertising is about 80% rejection, he said his first boss said for him it would be 95%.
Speaking of constant rejection, researcher George Stent of Stent Research & Planning used his time at the podium to tell creatives that although he loves and respects creatives, they don’t seem to return the sentiment. He gave the top 10 tips on how to get work through research including flattering the researchers, bribing them with hints about a huge project in the pipeline if only the research turns up favourably, 9am debriefs, using intimidation tactics like hinting how much easier it is to sack the researchers than change the agency and re-frame the responses so the one person in the room who liked it is an opinion leader.
Belinda Rowe, CEO of Zenith Optimedia and the new head of the AFA, also called for increased co-operation, this time between media and creative agencies, saying the two would never come back together in the same agency so it was best to accept this and get on with making it work as best you can. Research with creative directors on what they think of media directors came up with some enlightened insights as “they interbreed and create acne-free children”, or “it’s all about free tickets and goodie bags”.
Instead, Rowe says, ‘co-creation’ is at the centre of a new business model for the advertising industry with the turf war between the two proving detrimental. As a starting point she suggests breaking down the silos and getting creative people involved in the MFA and media people invited to the Caxtons. This was the first time she’s been invited and she loved it.
Matt Eastwood (left), national CD of DDB Sydney, encouraged creatives to look beyond the obvious and have fun with storytelling, taking the audience through several great examples of branded content he worked on while he was in the States, including a series of short films called Meet the Lucky Ones for the car brand Mercury (which helped sell 378 cars in its first four weeks) and the Conde Nast TV channel for Jetblue. His most recent brainchild is to create a TV network to be shown on the plasma screens in McDonald’s stores. However, what will most be remembered about his talk was that he loves cheese flavoured Goldfish biscuits and that somewhere in LA is a proposal for a pilot TV show called Crackers based around a cheddar flavoured animated fish called Fin, a pizza flavoured fish called Linda and a timid pretzel flavoured fish called Gilbert interlaced with moral messages for children about good behaviour which should be mandatory viewing for all future Caxton delegates.
In other speeches Mick Hunter, creative parter of Brain Surgery, Sydney, enlightened us with a great film from the archives of JWT about a client systematically stuffing up a print advert with lines like “I’m not a copywriter but…” and shared what shits him about clients (basically everything); Dennis Koutoulogenis of BMF revealed a Facebook page he’d created for William Caxton and pleaded for people to understand the power of words, calling on the might of the Greek empire.
Rebecca Carrasco (right), creative partner of Colman Rasic Carrasco, talked about The Matrix-esque theory she has about reality, something she calls ‘the program’ which regulates our behaviour and something the best advertising executives step outside of to create great work; Annabel Crabb, political journalist for the Sydney Morning Herald dished the dirt on the politicians she’s covering for the election (sorry can’t share, it’s libellous), but the final word goes to David Thomason, general manager marketing, Meat and Livestock Australia, who said that sometimes there’s going to be an ad that bombs and he accepts that – because if you don’t get the occasional lame duck it means you are not trying hard enough or taking enough risks.
If only everyone could be so understanding, but that hippie-like sanguine view of the world where everyone works together and loves each other may make perfect sense in Byron Bay but will probably disappear as quickly as lamb chops on a BBQ on Australia Day, with January now the top selling month for lamb thanks to a fast talking Mr Sam Kekovich.

Sunday, October 28, 2007

SAATCHI'S NEW ZEALAND BLITZ CAXTON AWARDS


Saatchi & Saatchi New Zealand headed an exclusive clutch of just eight shops to score gongs at the 33rd Annual Caxton Awards and Seminar, held this weekend at the Byron at Byron Resort, Byron Bay, NSW.
Saatchi’s won an impressive four Caxtons from their five finalists, the only NZ shop to win. Host Sydney, Happy Soldiers Sydney and Publicis Mojo Australia each scored two Caxtons.
Publicis Mojo also won the Quinlivan Black Chairman’s Award for their Tourism Victoria ‘Maze’ advertisement.
Four agencies won one Caxton apiece: DDB Sydney, Ad Impact Perth, KWP! Adelaide and M&C Saatchi, Melbourne.
A highlight of the night was the presentation of the Denis Everingham Award to the legendary John Bevins, one of Australia’s greatest ever copywriters.

  • CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD CB'S 16 PAGE AWARD SUPPLEMENT
  • Friday, October 26, 2007

    MICROSOFT ADDS Y&R TO ROSTER

    Microsoft New Zealand today announced the appointment of Y&R as its relationship marketing agency of record. Y&R will manage the company’s direct marketing services as well as have responsibilities for Microsoft’s interactive advertising and media placements in New Zealand.
    The appointment, effective November 1, 2007, follows a thorough review of Microsoft’s agency arrangements and the company’s need to integrate its traditional and online marketing with its communication strategies more effectively.
    Microsoft New Zealand’s Marketing Director, Brent Colbert, said the agencies participating in the review demonstrated world-class calibre in their thinking and that the evolution of Microsoft’s customer and partner communication needs formed the critical aspect of the consideration.
    “We are pleased to welcome Y&R as our relationship marketing agency partner,” said Mr Colbert. “Their ability to apply brand experiences and communication strategies creatively, and inject new insights into how relationship marketing can act as a catalyst for connecting with customers online and through traditional mediums, proved to be the decisive factors.”
    Jon Ramage, CEO, Y&R said the addition of the Microsoft brand to its portfolio would add impetus to the agency’s growth in New Zealand.
    “Microsoft is a brand that naturally a lot of agencies would be keen to have in their stable,” said Mr Ramage. “Relationship marketing in both digital and non-digital forms is an exciting discipline, but for most agencies the true potential of the interactive world for relationship marketers has still to be realised. Through our Wunderman brand, Y&R already has a strong foundation which we are confident will be further enriched by working closely with a technology leader like Microsoft.”
    Microsoft’s incumbent marketing agency, Republik Communications, will continue to service the Xbox®, Microsoft hardware and entertainment account. Republik will manage existing briefs for other Microsoft business groups until December 30, 2007.
    “Republik’s understanding of our consumer business has been a cornerstone for our brand-building efforts with Xbox, entertainment and our hardware devices,” said Mr Colbert. “While our business needs has necessitated some agency changes, Republik has driven unprecedented levels of success for Microsoft across a number of our product and service offerings. Republik has a talented team and we appreciate being able to retain their skills and passion for our games and hardware peripherals business.”

    THE BOB ISHERWOOD ENCOURAGEMENT AWARD – DEADLINE MONDAY


    The deadline to enter the Bob Isherwood Encouragement Award is this coming Monday 29th October.
    AWARD’s long-standing tribute to unparalleled junior creative stars, the Encouragement Award, is being sponsored for the second year running by Saatchi & Saatchi Worldwide.
    Isherwood is the inspirational Australian who has been Worldwide Creative Director of
    Saatchi & Saatchi for 10 years. Sponsoring this Award is highly appropriate given his reputation for spotting and engaging new talent. Isherwood will judge the entries and Mike O’Sullivan, ECD of Saatchi & Saatchi New Zealand, will hand out the Award out on November 30th in front of 800 industry leaders at the AWARD Awards Presentation Evening in Sydney.
    The Encouragement Award has honoured young creatives since 1992, recognising those who have demonstrated an outstanding ability to answer briefs with a freshness of thought and creativity.
    Previous winners include Ted Royer, Dejan Rasic, Leo Premutico and Guy Rooke.

    Eligibility Criteria – Deadline Monday 29th October
    Maximum three years in an agency creative department
    Nominations taken by Creative Directors or Agency Management only
    Australian and New Zealand Applicants only
    Submissions – as jpeg, mpeg and word.doc/pdfs - max 4MB per file, on CD only – no email submissions accepted
    Four examples of the entrant’s work; aired/published within the last 18 months
    One written reference from CD or Agency Management - .doc or pdf
    Entrant’s biography - .doc or pdf


    Send CDs to:
    Postal Address; Hannah Morden, The Bob Isherwood Encouragement Award, c/o AWARD, QVB 1055 Sydney NSW 1230.
    OR Via Courier; Hannah Morden, The Bob Isherwood Encouragement Award, AWARD, Level 11, 89 York St, Sydney NSW 2000.

    Deadline Monday 29th October 2007 – No Extensions

    Contact hannah@awardonline.com or telephone 02 8297 3877 for more information on the Call for Entry process.

    Credits for Ad:
    Agency: Saatchi & Saatchi Sydney
    Art Directors : Eron Broughton & Vince Lagana
    Copywriter : Steve May
    ECD : David Nobay
    Retoucher : Kerry McElroy

    Tuesday, October 23, 2007

    EXPAT ANDREW McKECHNIE NAMED YOUNG PROFESSIONAL OF THE YEAR IN SINGAPORE


    JWT Singapore's highly awarded kiwi copywriter, Andrew McKechnie, clinched the Young Professional of The Year award at the Institute of Advertising Hall of Fame Awards on Friday night. McKechnie, 28, was the only creative nominated for the coveted trophy. The Young Professional of The Year award celebrates young talent from various disciplines in the advertising industry. This year, five finalists from areas such as
    media, planning and account management, were in the running for the award.
    McKechnie has been based in Singapore for the past 7 years. During this time he has worked at FCB, BBDO and JWT creating work for Samsung, SC Johnson, Visa, KFC, Unilever, Mercedes-Benz and HSBC.
    His work has been awarded at every major regional and international award show, including D&AD, The One Show, Clio, Cannes, Communication Arts and Young Guns. He recently won the Outdoor Grand Prix at AdFest for his Wrangler print campaign and was also selected as one of Clio's Top 12 Young Creatives in the world.
    "If 'The Young Ad Professional' is supposed to reflect what the future professionals of the industry are going to be like, then I'm happy Andrew won. He's a good example to follow", said Ali Shabaz, Creative Director, JWT Singapore.

    Friday, October 19, 2007

    SAATCHI NZ LEADS AWARD FINALIST PACK

    Following two weeks of intense judging with a total of 83 judges participating, AWARD celebrates a total of 360 finalists, up by 52 on last year. Saatchi & Saatchi lead the finalist tally with an impressive 24 acceptances, followed by BMF Sydney and Saatchi Singapore with 17 apiece. DDB New Zealand, Publicis Mojo Auckland and The Sweet Shop, Auckland each had 10 finalists.
    See the
  • FULL LIST OF FINALISTS

  • Australia has 157 finalists, compared to a 160 in 2006. New Zealand has 102, up by 15 from last year. Asia recorded an outstanding surge with 101 this year, up by 50 on 2006. This is a reflection of the large increase of entries from Asia this year in particular from China, Malaysia, The Philippines and Singapore.
    Toby Talbot, Chairman of Judges, says: “I want to thank everyone involved in chairing the juries and the tireless work of the organisers, led by Lucy Mckee and her team. When you consider that over 50 judges flew in from interstate and overseas this year, the AWARD management have done a great job ‘herding cats’.
    "The judges were evenly split between Asia, Australia and New Zealand. This has resulted in a more balanced, more outward looking Award show. The feedback from each jury has been really positive. The judging, though rigorous, was refreshingly free of politics.
    "Not only did we have more entries this year, we also had 52 more finalists than last year. It appears our industry is in pretty good shape. If you’re one of the finalists, congratulations because you’ve done something bloody good. If you go on to win more on the night of November 30th, then you’ll be fully entitled to broach that pay rise with your CD. This year, we have an exciting new venue for the AWARD Awards Presentation Evening, the stunning CarriageWorks. We will have some great and worthy winners on the night. I hope the industry turns out in force to applaud them all.”

    FINALIST LEAGUE TABLE:
    Saatchi & Saatchi New Zealand - 24
    BMF Sydney – 17
    Saatchi & Saatchi Singapore - 17
    Exit Films, Melbourne - 12
    DDB New Zealand - 11
    @radical.media Sydney - 10
    McCann Erickson Kuala Lumpur - 10
    Ogilvy & Mather Beijing - 10
    Publicis Mojo Auckland - 10
    Saatchi & Saatchi Australia – 10
    The Sweet Shop Auckland - 10
    Leo Burnett Bangkok - 9

    The AWARD Awards Presentation Evening is being held on Friday 30th November 2007 at CarriageWorks at Eveleigh Rail Yards, Eveleigh. Tickets will go on sale next week. For bookings please visit www.awardonline.com. All AWARD Members and Non Members welcome.

    THE IMPOSSIBLE DREAM


    Honda’s ‘Impossible Dream’ has been digitally remastered with English flags throughout. Running in the UK right now. (And the track becomes strangely appropriate!)
    One for the Kiwis to hate anyway....

    CAANZ APPOINTS NEW CEO


    The Communication Agencies Association of New Zealand (CAANZ) has appointed Rick Osborne as its new CEO.
    Osborne is currently Government and International Relations Manager at Air New Zealand and replaces Mark Champion who leaves CAANZ at the end of November to take up the position of Executive Director of the Australian sister organisation, the AFA.
    “We’re delighted that Rick has accepted the position. He brings a wealth of knowledge and experience of dealing with government ministries and political leaders at the very highest level,” says CAANZ president, David Walden, CEO of TBWA\Whybin.
    “We believe he is just the person to take the organisation, its membership and our industry to the next level and deal effectively with the many challenges we currently face – not only in the regulatory arena, but in promoting the value of our industry to the broader business world,” he said.
    Before Air NZ, Osborne was with Telecom's Corporate Communications unit and was responsible for managing the regional stakeholder programme. He has a Bachelor of Commerce and Administration from Victoria University and is married with 2 young children.
    “Rick’s personal style and approach will be a great asset to CAANZ and I believe will help continue the positive engagement we have with our stakeholders,” said Walden.
    Osborne said that he was excited about joining the high performing CAANZ team and helping to raise the profile of the industry and meeting the challenges.
    He will take up the role on November 21.

    LOST: A GOOD IDEA


    Whilst the very same print ad run in this month's issue of Campaign Brief for Cranbrook Films director Roger Tompkins has been very well received in New Zealand, with the talented mega director already receiving a couple of red hot scripts, the same ad has brought a very different view from the Australian industry, says Tompkins: “look, I was just trying to have some fun wot with the work coming out of oz being so iffy over the pass few years, either you get the same old totti or a good idea mangled by the suits, client or research. That or you find some old lag of a CD trying to get a handle on cross media platforms, sending the creative department down the crapper. So the last thing I expected was death threats just for asking for a good TV idea, bloody hell TV is still the best medium. One stonkingly good TVC and mum’s got dad's wallet in her little hot hand…”

    RT'S New print ad:
    Agency: Whybin\TBWA, Sydney
    Creative: Matt Kemsley & Garry Horner
    Photographer: Chris Beghin
    Finished Art: Danni Sweeting

    NB: RT will in the stocks at the Rose Five Ways from 5pm Friday. Two bucks for a bucket of rotten tomatoes or forty five for a descent shiraz…

    Thursday, October 18, 2007

    THE SWEET SHOP SIGNS NEW DIRECTORS

    The Sweet Shop have signed two new directors for worldwide representation.
    New Zealand-based, Taika Waititi, has joined the roster after gaining the company’s attention with his debut feature film ‘Eagle vs. Shark’, (official selection Sundance Film Festival) and his direction of HBO comedy-hit series, ‘Flight of the Conchords’ episodes. Not to mention his Oscar-nominated short film ‘Two Cars, One Night’.
    Also added to the roster is The Sweet Shop’s youngest director, Sam Holst - who has spent the past year as in-house director’s assistant to Steve Ayson.
    Prior to joining The Sweet Shop, Holst’s award-winning short film, ‘Swing’ won the ‘Make a Film. Make a Difference’ competition hosted by the Transport Accident Commission (TAC) in Australia. It went on to appear at numerous showcases and festivals around the world - including the shots / CFP-e Young Director Award Showcase in Cannes.
    It also picked up a Silver Clio, saw Holst profiled in shots - New Directors and nominated a Finalist for Best Film Direction at the Melbourne Art Directors Club (MADC) Awards in Australia up against a handful of the nations top directors.
    Paul Prince, Managing Director of The Sweet Shop explains: “It’s not often The Sweet Shop adds new talent to its roster, but I have so much respect for Sam and Taika. I’m honoured to have them join our team. I’ve been working with Sam in-house over the last year, while he’s been working with Steve Ayson and his contributions were obvious. So when we decided to add new directors to our roster, Sam was the first person we asked. I really looking forward to seeing him express his craft in The Sweet Shop environment”.
    Prince continues: “We’ve been watching Taika’s work for a while, absolutely loved
    ‘Two Cars, One Night’ and we knew he had a strong comedy bent. When his feature came out he was too hard to ignore - and I was over the moon when we sat down and discussed the possibility of him working in the commercial film environment. Taika is a true creative in his own right and I have a lot of respect for his imagination and versatility. I’m sure he’ll be presented with some great opportunities and will contribute powerfully to strong ideas”.

    Wednesday, October 17, 2007

    FORMER MOJO SENIOR DESIGNER JOINS THE POND

    Former Publicis Mojo and Brit Designer Simon Cohen is now on board at The Pond. A look at his folio shows he can don on kiwi culture no problems, moving effortlessly from designing the global branding of BP Ultimate to tackling kiwi icons Steinlager Pure and Swanndri by Karen Walker. Quite a feat from a muso and North London lad who breaks out in a cold sweat when you mention fresh air, wide open spaces and NZ PM Helen Clark’s eco campaign to dispose of (gulp) beer fridges. To see his portfolio, visit www.thepond.co.nz or call Clinton on 021 442 295.

    AWARD ANNUAL OUT AT LAST!


    The 2006 AWARD Annual is finally out. Yes, it is late, for which AWARD apologises.
    A lot of time and effort has gone into it, and AWARD was determined to save members’ money by having the Annual printed offshore. This has resulted in a significant saving, which is being put to other uses including an increased number of events to involve more of their membership.
    By now, Members will have received their copy, and all overseas members should have them next week.
    Non Members can purchase their copy online at www.awardonline.com – AWARD Annual. Price: AUD 170 + GST and postage.
    The other good news is that this year’s annual is already in production and will be available early in 2008.

    CANNES RADIO LIONS CD FREE WITH CAMPAIGN BRIEF THIS ISSUE


    Don’t forget to collect the free CD of this year's Cannes Radio Lions, which is on the cover of the September/October issue of Campaign Brief. Showcasing all the winners at Cannes 2007, this bonus audio CD is not to be missed. It will provide an invaluable library of some of the best radio ads in the world. This is the official 2007 Radio show reel courtesy of the Australian Siren Awards. To subscribe to Campaign Brief, email your details to: perth@campaignbrief.com

    DROGA FOR D&AD


    D&AD has produced an
  • ANIMATED FILM
  • for the Awards Call for Entries. It’s a tongue-in-cheek Q&A with Dave Droga and the first in a series of three short films designed to encourage entries to the D&AD Awards 2008.
    This year’s campaign for D&AD is themed, “But is it a Pencil?” inspired by debates that happen every day in agencies and studios as creatives evaluate the merits of a new idea. The entry site launched on 10 October at www.dandad.org/awards08.
    The films feature interviews with Yellow Pencil winners who reveal how they came up with that elusive great idea; how by repeatedly asking the question, “But is it a Pencil?” they produced work that colleagues, clients and juries wished they’d come up with. The films were animated by D&AD Student Award 2007 winners.
    Saatchi & Saatchi, London created this year’s campaign which includes print ads and three films. The agency has worked with D&AD since 2006 and this is the first time an agency has been retained by D&AD for more than one annual cycle.

    Credits:
    Created by Brian Connolly at Saatchi & Saatchi, London
    Animated by Johnny Sanders from Ravensbourne College of Design & Communication

    Monday, October 15, 2007

    SHARON HENDERSON RESIGNS FROM DDB

    DDB’s Managing Director, Sharon Henderson today announced her resignation from the agency. She leaves DDB on November 9.
    In her announcement to staff, Sharon commented: "Most of you will know I am not one to do things by halves. And the last 19 months have been action-packed, enormously stimulating and incredibly rewarding – for me, and ultimately DDB."
    After 19 months at DDB, Sharon says she wants a break with her young family but admits she’s unlikely to sit still for long.
    "Sharon joined DDB in March 2006 and has made a major contribution to our business," Marty O’Halloran, DDB Australasia’s Chairman said. "She has had a real impact on the company during her tenure, including a number of new business wins."
    DDB New Zealand Group’s CEO Sandy Moore said Sharon’s energy and passion will be missed by everyone at the agency.

    SINCLAIR TO HEAD M&C SAATCHI WELLINGTON


    M&C Saatchi has appointed Paul Sinclair, former General Manager, Marketing & Communicat- ions at SPARC, as the new Managing Director of its Wellington agency.
    M&C Saatchi CEO Nick Baylis says of the appointment: “Hiring somebody as hugely respected and capable as Paul is indicative of our commitment to the Wellington market and our clients. We make no bones about our ambitions to be Wellington’s top creative agency, and Paul’s appointment is a big step towards that aim.”
    In his two year tenure at SPARC, Mr Sinclair has transformed the government agency’s profile, more than tripling brand awareness to make it one of the most high-profile organisations in New Zealand.
    Sinclair says of his appointment: “M&C Saatchi is an agency with a lot of equity in Wellington. It’s great to be coming back agency-side with them after two years client-side. Public sector experience has given me a sharper appreciation of the issues clients face, and I’ll be bringing those insights to our existing and prospective clients’ businesses. Nick’s building a fantastic team here, and I’m in no doubt that the appetite and opportunities are there for us to produce outstanding work that works, and really shake things up in the capital.”
    Sinclair commences his new role on 23 October.

    Saturday, October 13, 2007

    PREMUTICO AND JACOBS LEAVE SAATCHI'S NYC


    Former Colenso BBDO star creative Leo Premutico (left) and his partner Jan Jacobs (right) have departed Saatchi & Saatchi, New York, where they were joint executive CDs under chief creative officer Tony Granger. The pair helped Saatchi NYC win the Cannes Agency of the Year title this year, and the No 3 spot last year.
    Where they are off to next is a mystery, although one presumes it's to start their own shop. When contacted by NZCC, Premutico could not reveal their future plans as they are still contracted to Saatchi's until the end of October.

    Friday, October 12, 2007

    A FEW GOOD CREATIVE MEN

    SAATCHI, OGILVY THE BIG WINNERS AT EFFIES

    The 2007 CAANZ EFFIE Awards were presented at last night's big show in Auckland.
    Presented annually by the Communication Agencies Association of New Zealand (CAANZ), the EFFIE’s are awarded in recognition of the year’s most effective advertising campaigns that have delivered superior results. Eight Gold EFFIE’s were awarded this year, in recognition of the high level of quality work submitted.
    Convener of judges, Brian Weaver, was impressed with the outstanding work submitted by agencies; in particular the work submitted by Ogilvy’s for its work with Rabobank, which won this year’s Best in Show.
    “The launch of RaboPlus into the New Zealand market demonstrated more than any other entry how effective advertising communication can deliver outstanding results. A great strategy, brilliant execution that delivered the results for the client,” says Mr Weaver.
    “By positioning RaboPlus as the ‘significant other’ bank in customers lives, Ogilvy captured the hearts and wallets of thousands of Kiwis,” he said.
    Saatchi and Saatchi NZ was awarded the Agency Effectiveness award, which recognises the most significant contribution made by an agency to the success of its clients.
    “Saatchi and Saatchi has secured a number of EFFIE awards this year across its breadth of clients, clearly establishing its place as an agency with a great ability to build winning partnerships with its clients and delivering outstanding results-orientated advertising campaigns,” says Mr Weaver.
    Westpac New Zealand Ltd was awarded the Advertiser of the Year award for its ‘Grab Life’ campaign that resulted in a major turnaround for the brand with emotionally compelling television, supported by striking out of home, online, magazine and cinema work.
    The 2007 New Zealand EFFIE Awards were held in association with its major sponsor TVNZ, and ANZA, with support from Fairfax Media, AdMedia, TNS Conversa, Nielsen Media Research, National Business Review, The Radio Bureau, Yahoo!Xtra, New Zealand Post, jobmedia, and The Internet Bureau.

    THE ‘BIG’ EFFIE AWARD WINNERS

    Best in Show
    Agency: Ogilvy
    Client: RaboPlus
    Entry Title: A Billion Dollar Affair

    Agency Effectiveness Award
    Winner: Saatchi and Saatchi NZ

    Advertiser of the Year
    Winner: Westpac New Zealand Ltd
    Agency: Saatchi and Saatchi NZ

    GOLD EFFIE AWARD WINNERS

    Category: Charity/Not for Profit/Public Service
    Agency: DraftFCB
    Client: Ministry of Health
    Entry Title: National Depression Initiative

    Category: New Product or Service Introduction
    Agency: Ogilvy
    Client: RaboPlus
    Entry Title: A Billion Dollar Affair

    Category: Sustained Success/ Grand EFFIE
    Agency: Clemenger BBDO
    Client: Land Transport New Zealand
    Entry Title: Road Safety National Campaign 2003 – 2006

    Category: New Product or Service Introduction
    Agency: Lowe Rivet
    Client: Vodafone New Zealand
    Entry Title: BestMate

    Category: Small Budget
    Agency: Clemenger BBDO
    Client: New Zealand Netherlands Foundation
    Entry Title: World Press Photo Exhibition 2006

    Category: Consumer Services
    Agency: Saatchi and Saatchi NZ
    Client: Westpac New Zealand Ltd
    Entry Title: Grab Life

    Category: FMCG
    Agency: Publicis Mojo Limited
    Client: Coca Cola Oceania
    Entry Title: Powerade - Help your Body Keep Up With Your Mind

    Category: FMCG
    Agency: Colenso BBDO
    Client: Frucor
    Entry Title: Fresh Yourself Up

    For a full list of award winners, award winning case studies and images, please visit the CAANZ website - www.caanz.co.nz.

    Friday, October 05, 2007

    YAMAHA GRIZZLY VOTED BEST, YELLOW PAGES WORST, AT FAIR GO AWARDS

    NZ's best and worst ads, as voted by TV One viewers, have been revealed on an hour-long special edition of Fair Go.
    As well as announcing the ads New Zealanders love and hate, the Fair Go team took viewers behind the scenes of a couple of high-profile spots - Telecom's Clever Toys and ASB's Goldstein series - that have got people talking.
    They also took a look at the ever changing world of advertising, the creative ways marketers fight for consumers' eyeballs, met some creative Unitec advertising students and discussed the power of music in ads.
    But what you were all waiting for was the best and worst Ads of the year as voted by the punters.

    Best Ad: Yamaha Grizzly Farm Bike via Barnes Advertising, directed by Steve Saussey @ Film Construction.
    Worst Ad: Yellow Pages Wandering Hands via Saatchi & Saatchi


    To view all the best and worst go to:
  • Fair Go Best and Worst
  • Thursday, October 04, 2007

    CRAYFORD AND McGREEVY JOIN OGILVY



    Following a 10-year stint at Lowe Auckland, senior creative team Daniel Crayford (top left) and Paul McGreevy (below left) have been lured to Ogilvy.
    “As part of our commitment to develop and nurture world class creative product, I’m privileged to announce that Daniel and Paul are joining us in this role,” said ECD Jeremy Taine.

    Tuesday, October 02, 2007

    WHERE ARE ALL THE GREAT ADS?

    If you're wondering why all the latest ads are no longer on the Blog, the very best of them are on www.bestadsontv.com, along with other great work from around the world. Check out the best TV, Press, Print, Outdoor, Ambient, Viral, Interactive and Integrated. Now updated daily, make sure you check in daily.
  • www.bestadsontv.com
  • Monday, October 01, 2007

    YOUNG GUNS' AWARD SHOW VIRGINS: FINAL ACT


    At last, the end is nigh! Feast your eyes upon our three Award Show Virgins as their sordid tale culminates in an immense and blistering finale. Top creative director Glenn stars as the young creative hit maker, who is finally allowing his anxious young virgins the fleeting chance to grip fame. Be enchanted by cameo appearances from some of advertising's most influential apostles. Be jostled from your ergonomically enhanced office chair by an unexpected surprise twist ending that has the potential to make sense of the universe we live in. And best of all, revel in the glorious completion of what could have been the greatest amount of cheap sexual innuendo ever woven into what could very well be the most ridiculous (and expensive) way to promote an award show ever! These sentences may run on, but the show will not. Find the link for the Finale in the theatre programme at
  • letusbeyourfirst.com
  • Experience the crushing drama that is the final act of 'Award Show Virgins - Let us Be your First.' Online now.

    THE 2007 YOUNG GUNS AWARD:
    GET ENTERED BY 12 OCTOBER
    GO TO:
  • LETUSBEYOURFIRST.COM
  • STEPHEN DOUGLAS TO JOIN DIGI POST


    Film Construction GM Stephen Douglas will make a return to post production as the new GM at leading Tran-Tasman and international post facility Digi Post.
    Douglas began his career in NZ in 2002, when he was brought over from running Condor Digital Media London to help establish Auckland’s Oktobor post production. In 2005 he moved to production to take up the role of GM at Film Construction. After three years at FC, Douglas leaves the production company as ‘Production Company of the Year (Axis 2007) and Cannes 2007 Silver and Bronze winners.
    Says FC’s Peter Hewitt and Perry Bradley: “He’s been an instrumental catalyst as part of our team in us having huge success in NZ, Australia and around the world. Not only has he been a tremendous advocate for Film Construction, but for the New Zealand industry around the world, and I’d expect that to continue in his new role’.
    Douglas takes up his new position at the end of October.