April 2009 Archives

So, you work at a big corporate, huh?
And you're not allowed to use Twitter...
Wouldn't it be awesome if there were a Twitter tool
that looked just like Excel?
Check this out, office workers: A Twitter air app disguised as a spreadsheet

Mitchell Communication Group Limited today announced the appointment of Philip O'Neill as managing director of Media in New Zealand. O'Neill was previously managing director of M&C Saatchi New Zealand and Whybin\TBWA, Melbourne and in between those two roles, he was general manager of TBWA\Whybin, Auckland.

Colenso BBDO's hilarious 'Offensive' spot for the New Zealand International Comedy Festival is the only Kiwi commercial to make the Clio Radio shortlist.
There were only 35 spots in the world that made the cut - of which Australia scored five.
The Clio Awards will be presented in Las Vegas on May 12-14.

New Zealand's AIM Proximity was today announced as the world's most awarded agency for the first quarter of 2009 by the prestigious Won Report. BMF Sydney came in at number 8 and Rapp New Zealand at number 19. Each year the Won Report ranks the best communications based upon the quantity and quality of the awards won.

AIM Proximity also had three of the ten most awarded campaigns for the quarter, Warehouse 'The Great Love Conspiracy' was fourth, iPhone Jonny for Yellow was sixth and Innovation Fold website for Vodafone was ninth.

New Zealand has scored two nominations for Yellow Pencils and 10 in-book at the D&AD Awards 2009. Australia has also done much better, with a record 10 Nominations and 23 in-book. A list of Nominated work can be downloaded HERE.  Download the Australia and NZ list:
D&AD-Aus_NZ.xls. In-Book work will be available tomorrow (30 April).

D&AD has just announced the interim results for the 2009 Awards, with a record breaking 165 nominated entries, including 2 from New Zealand and 10 from Australia.

New Zealand has two Nominations: Warehouse 'The Great Love Conspiracy' via AIM Proximity Auckland and New Zealand Book Council 'Read a book at work' via Colenso BBDO Auckland.

Aussie Nominations include the Carlton Mid 'Woman Whisperer' via Clemenger BBDO Melbourne, TED696 Project from BMF Sydney, Schweppes 'Burst' via Exit Films, Melbourne, UN Voices Project from Saatchi & Saatchi Sydney, Sony 'Quantum of Solace' from Euro RSCG Sydney, and Sydney Dogs & Cats Home 'Throw us a bone' from M&C Saatchi, Sydney.

Matthias May and Steve Ogilvy from DDB New Zealand have been judged Professional YoungGuns of the Month for their STIHL 'Butter' campaign, selected by Galen Graham from DDB Chicago.

Student YoungGuns of the Month were Tomas Jonsson & Carl Fredrik Jannerfeldt from Berghs School of Communication, Sweden for Maglite 'Liteart'

The Student Runners up were André Gidoin, Markus Johansson and Aleksander Hoel from Westerdals School of Communication Norway for Norwegians People's Aid 'A Virtual Minefield'.

CLICK HERE to see their work showcased and read a commentary on all the selected work. This can all been seen on the YoungGun of the Month Showcase.

Don't forget to enter your work into the April YoungGun of the Month competition and be affirmed as upcoming young talent.

2 DAYS UNTIL ENTRIES CLOSE FOR APRIL 2009.

The next judge for the coming quarter is Rebecca Carrasco, ECD at coleman rasic carrasco, Sydney.

Bestads Top 6 Commercials of the week in the world now ready to view, reviewed by Dennis Ryan, chief creative officer of Element 79, Chicago: http://tr.im/fopw

YouTube and Cannes Lions have launched a global competition for young creative talent aged 28 or under to attend this year's Festival and compete in the Young Lions Film Competition.

Hip hop superstar and Hollywood film star Chris 'Ludacris' Bridges will present The One Club's first-ever 'Green Pencil' award honoring excellence in the field of environmentally conscious advertising at the 34th Annual One Show on May 6th.
The One Show is the centerpiece of an ambitious festival celebrating all forms of creativity called 'Creative Week NYC'.  The week's events take place in New York from May 4-8th at several venues around the city. Creative Week NYC includes three prestigious awards shows honoring the year's best achievements in advertising, integrated branding and design in addition to events devoted to digital, music, film and the fine arts.
The Creative unConference hits New York for two days (May 7 & 8) marking the first time ever that the advertising community in New York has hosted this hip and unique event.  For complete information, www.creativeunconference.com.

Mike O'Sullivan, executive creative director of Saatchi & Saatchi New Zealand was foreman of the Ambient Jury at D&AD, which convened last week in London. Here is his report, exclusive to the Campaign Brief Blog.

Being asked to be foreman of a D&AD jury came as an unexpected honour.

When Toby Talbot, Paul Catmur and I were working in London, getting into 'the book' was an act of God. When the letter arrived that said your work has been 'accepted into the annual' it was enough for any creative to throw a party. Thankfully, Catmur and I weren't that talented. On our 10,500 quid year salary, we could afford few parties.

Before I start, I'll tell you what a jury foreman actually does.
My official role was to inspire debate, ensure a thorough session, and make everyone stick to the rules. My other duty is to attend the Black Pencil judging in early May.
That's when all the jury foremen convene to decide on D&AD Gold.
 
Every show has its own unique style, and D&AD is no different. In the next few paragraphs I'll try and bring to life my experiences of the last few days.
So far a few people have blogged and posted photos of their jury experience, so I'll keep my diary short and simple.

New Zealand has several entries shortlisted at Clio, with Colenso BBDO Auckland and Clemenger BBDO Wellington leading the way...

INNOVATIVE
Business Equipment/Services
Yellow Pages 'Treehouse Restaurant'
Colenso BBDO, Auckland

INNOVATIVE
Public Service
New Zealand Book Council 'Read A Book At Work'
Colenso BBDO, Auckland

INTEGRATED
Integrated Campaign
Yellow Pages 'Treehouse Restaurant'
Colenso BBDO, Auckland

PRESS
Public Service
Anti Binge Drinking 'Big Glasses'
Clemenger BBDO, Wellington

PRESS
Public Service
Driver Fatigue 'Crashed Beds'
Clemenger BBDO, Wellington

PRINT: DIRECT MAIL
Collateral
Azheimer's New Zealand 'Blank Photos'
Colenso BBDO, Auckland

TELEVISION/CINEMA/DIGITAL
Public Service
Starship Children's Hospital 'Blow'
DDB New Zealand, Auckland

TELEVISION/CINEMA/DIGITAL
Retail Stores
Whitcoulls 'Ruby'
DraftFCB New Zealand, Auckland

Despite cutbacks to the big parties in Cannes several agency networks are still investing in their sessions and workshops. Y&R is continuing their tradition of flying in big name speakers with their presentation this year featuring legendary rocker Roger Daltrey and one of the music industry's top impresarios, Harvey Goldsmith.
From his early days as the iconic frontman of The Who to his solo efforts, from his acting triumphs to his philanthropic roles, Daltrey remains one of rock 'n roll's most enduring and most exciting artists.

The Spikes Asia Festival is now open for delegate registrations. The three-day Asian Advertising Festival will take place at Suntec City in Singapore, 16-18 September 2009.
This year the Spikes will inaugurate as an Asian Advertising Festival offering a three-day programme, instead of being fundamentally an awards show for the past 23 years.
Full registration is priced at SGD$1,150 with a Young Creatives package offered at SGD$650.

Saatchi & Saatchi Malaysia ECD Adrian Miller is in London for the D&AD judging and is writing about the experience on the Press Jury for the CB Blog. You won't believe how few ads survived...

DAY 1
At 9:06am I found myself standing in front of 1267 print ads. Our jury coordinator then proceeded to tell us that last year there were 1800 entries and 45 made it into the book.
One of the British judges shook his head in dismay and muttered something about the jury being overly generous last year.
Another British judge saw this as a chance to admonish any ads made for Scrabble. I looked up and in my line of sight were three campaigns for Scrabble. I silently said my goodbyes.
Then the conversation turned to scams. Apparently they are okay as long as they are brilliant and not for board games. 

Leading Auckland Digital Agency Tango has been nominated for a Webby Award in the Associations category for its work on Designing for Climate for Think Brick Australia.

WANTED; HOT NEW DIRECTORS
To qualify, directors must have been shooting commercials for no more than two years, if at all. But they must be available to shoot commercials now.

The Saatchi & Saatchi New Directors' Showcase is one of the highlights of the annual Cannes International Advertising Festival. It is the best attended event after the Gala Award ceremonies.

Australia's jury representative on the D&AD Cyber Jury is Mark Ashley-Wilson, digital director at Three Drunk Monkeys, Sydney, who reports daily from London, exclusively for the CB Blog. For more D&AD insight Follow him on Twitter. Look out for other daily reports from Dejan Rasic and Mike O'Sullivan later this week.

Day 3

By the time we got started today it seemed like we had been here for a week. As a group of jurors we have become a close bunch of mates. We have spent over thirty hours over the past three days in a small dark room together talking about what all of us are seriously passionate about - websites. The 'group' are a collection of CD's, ECD's, Strategists from the best interactive agencies across the globe - they are all amazing people.

Going for Gold Eight-Volume Box Set:
SPECIAL DISCOUNT - Save 35% off the original price.

Determined to document the very best creative work of the Australasian advertising industry in 2008, AWARD assembled a jury of the highest calibre and put them through a grueling 14,400 minute adjudication process. The result is Going for Gold. A startling eight-volume magazine series that comes housed in a magnificent red box set holder. Showcasing the finest TV, Craft in TV, Print, Integrated, Poster & Outdoor, Ambient, Print Craft, Radio, Direct Marketing, Design, Interactive and None of The Above work, this unique collection is also accompanied by two DVDs containing over 400 minutes of dazzling finalists and awe-inspiring winners.

US creative mag Creativity has a Q&A with Darren Spiller, the regional ECD of Publicis Mojo Australia and New Zealand, who takes over as chief creative officer of Fallon USA in June.

While the CB Blog had the scoop on Spiller getting the Fallon gig on April 14, AdNews reported it only on Monday (April 20), and B&T has yet to do so.

Australia's jury representative on the D&AD Cyber Jury is Mark Ashley-Wilson, digital director at Three Drunk Monkeys, Sydney, who reports daily from London, exclusively for the CB Blog. For more D&AD insight Follow him on Twitter. Look out for other daily reports from Dejan Rasic and Mike O'Sullivan later this week.

Judges Diary - Day 2

This morning was buzzing because the remaining juries arrived and the lounge area was packed. Interesting to note that the interactive jury is the largest out of any category this year for the first time.

Bestads Top 6 Commercials + Print of the week now ready to view, reviewed by Joel Clement, deputy ECD at Saatchi & Saatchi Asia.

Download the free weekly  BESTADS PODCAST
Follow Bestads on Twitter

AIM Proximity, Auckland has won a Bronze Award for their Air New Zealand 'Grab a Plane' campaign at the New York Festivals' 2009 Innovative Advertising Awards.

The 2009 competition awarded one Grand Trophy, fifteen Gold awards, nineteen Silver, twenty-nine Bronze awards and one hundred twenty-eight Finalist Certificates.

The 2009 AWARD Call For Entries will open Tuesday, 19th May. Entries submitted by May 27th receive a 10% early bird discount. Deadline for all entries is Tuesday, 30th June 2009. Eligibility: Any work first published or aired between 16th July 2008 and 8th July 2009. Full details on the AWARD site.
The 2009 AWARD Awards Presentation Evening will be held on Thursday 12th November 2009 in Sydney.

Australia's jury representative on the D&AD Cyber Jury is Mark Ashley-Wilson, digital creative director at Three Drunk Monkeys, Sydney, who reports daily from London, exclusively for the CB Blog. For more D&AD insight Follow him on Twitter. Look out for other daily reports from Dejan Rasic and Mike O'Sullivan later this week.

Judges Diary - Day 1

Today was fast and furious, jet-lagged and scary.

We all met in the hotel reception at 8am and introduced ourselves. The juries are made up of the best people in our industry from all over the world (you know like the people you have watched and admired from afar for years) and I quickly made my way to a small dark corner until the taxis arrived.  Luckily I had 5 people in my taxi who were all very big in their fields from Crispin's, R/GA, Weiden's etc who also happened to be very nice - no egos here which was so great! Everyone is just as intrigued in what I do as I am in them. Phew! So we are headed to Olympia, a major exhibition center in the heart of London. Just the scale of the outside of the place and the street posters (like the street flags on Macquarie St when something's on) all around it yelled "this thing is big".

New Zealand's fairer rugby fans can now see a bit more of their favorite Rebel Sport Super 14 rugby players, thanks to TBWA\Whybin and adidas who recently launched a unique interactive site called 'Jersey Swap'.
 
The site encourages female fans to be part of the Super 14 and actively show their support by buying their favorite team's colors, going to games and getting involved in the game. A mere fortnight since the date of launch it has attracted more than 120,000 visitors to the site who have downloaded in excess of 200,000 videos. 
 

You know the Cannes organisers are worried about numbers this year when they send emails like this out

Two of New Zealand's leading online display advertising networks - Think Digital Media and AdHub - have joined forces to become the undisputed number one player in the market. The new business, which will be known as AdHub boasts more than 20 category leading websites and delivers over 1 million unduplicated readers every month.

Kiwi mobile advertising agency The Hyperfactory is up for nine Webby Awards and four honoree selections, more than all New Zealand finalists combined and second in the world.

And to cap off a great start to the international awards season, the Auckland-based global agency has two nominations in both the Ad-Tech and One Club awards.

Hilton Auckland, May 22nd -24th 2009

International Investment analysts looking to fund local digital media ideas. 

Investors and Business Analysts from the US, UK, China, India, and New Zealand are attending the X|Media|Lab Auckland "Commercialising Ideas" event looking for the best local ideas to help bring to market.

A topical Black Friday ad for Booksellers NZ has been announced as the 2009 February/March winner of the Could Be a Caxton competition that recognises and showcases great creativity on a bi-monthly basis.

Client: Booksellers NZ
Agency: Saatchi & Saatchi Wellington
Creative Director: Tim Hall
Copywriter: Henry Kember
Art Director: Scott Henderson

Auckland based multidisciplinary design firm, Alt Group's Create an Effect campaign, which was devised to raise the profile of New Zealand TVC production companies, has been nominated for the Best Associations Award in the 13th Annual Webby Awards - the 'Oscars of the Internet'.
Hailed as the "Internet's highest honour" by the New York Times, The Webby Awards is the leading international award honouring excellence on the Internet, including websites, interactive advertising, online film and video and mobile websites. This year's awards attracted more than 10,000 entries from over 60 countries.

Adidas has gone digital, launching an online channel dedicated to international sports content at: www.adidas.tv
The first rugby content on the channel follows The All Blacks on their 2008 Grand Slam tour of the UK and Ireland.
Made by 180 Amsterdam / Riot and directed by Helena Brooks from Joy@RSA, 'Inside the Black Jersey' shows life as an All Black over five chapters and through five different perspectives: The Captain, The Rookie, The Joker, The Coaches and The Playmaker.
The documentary gets closer to the All Blacks than ever before, with access to pre-game rituals, previously unseen training routines and in depth one-on-one interviews.
See the teaser and first chapter at www.adidas.tv

Client: Adidas
Agency: 180 Amsterdam / Riot
ECD'S: Richard Bullock (ex OZ) and Andy Fackrell (ex NZ)
Creative: Stacey Lee (ex-Saatchi & Saatchi Auckland)
Producer: Claire Finn
Director: Helena Brooks (Joy@RSA London and Flying Fish NZ)
Title: Inside the Black Jersey 

New York - From can't-live-without mobile apps to offbeat guerilla marketing campaigns on Facebook, the nominees unveiled today for the 13th Annual Webby Awards reveal how interactive advertising is increasingly shaping popular culture.
Hailed as the "Internet's highest honor" by the New York Times, The Webby Awards is the leading international award honoring excellence on the Internet, including Websites, online film and video, interactive advertising, and mobile Websites.

The  BESTADS PODCAST brings you the Best 6 Commercials in the World every week on your iPhone or iPod. It's the #1 video ad podcast in the world, which has just passed two million downloads, six months after launch. It's in the iTunes Top Video Podcast Charts in New Zealand (#2), Australia (#7), UK (#23), Ireland (#7), Canada (#13), Greece (#9), Portugal (#3) and Finland (#14).
Not with Apple? Get the Bestads Podcast HERE

BBH Chairman & Worldwide Creative Director Sir John Hegarty was the keynote speaker at this year's AdFest. He presented his views on "What makes great work". He broke it down to seven factors:
The power of Advertising.
The power of Strategy.
The power of Ideas.
The power of Fame.
The power of Truth.
The power of Irreverence.
The power of Product Demonstration.
Download a Quicktime of his presentation here.

The shortlist for One Show Design has been announced, with Alt Group Auckland snaring four entries, with one each to Colenso BBDO Auckland and Clemenger BBDO Wellington.

The shortlist for One Show Interactive has been announced, with Clemenger BBDO Wellington leading the New Zealand pack with two entries through, with one apiece for Colenso BBDO Auckland, AIM Proximity Auckland, Saatchi & Saatchi Auckland, The Hyperfactory Auckland and Resn Auckland with one apiece.

The 'First Cut' for The One Show has been announced, with Colenso BBDO and DDB New Zealand heading the NZ pack with six entries through each, followed by TBWA\Whybin, Auckland with three.
Clemenger BBDO Melbourne head the Australian list with seven entries through, followed by Saatchi & Saatchi Sydney with six, Leo Burnett Sydney with five then BMF Sydney, DDB Sydney and Publicis Mojo Sydney with four apiece.
These entries have made it to the final round of judging which will take place in New York on May 1-3. This is not a winners list and does not guarantee a Pencil or Merit.

The deadline for entering Cannes has been extended by an extra two weeks. You now have until 24 April to enter your work. Enter now
If you have any questions, please email Cannes or call +44 (0) 20 7728 4040.

The entry deadline for the 11th annual Young Director Award has been extended to Thursday, April 30, 2009.
The award has a simple submission rule: films that are submitted have to be among the first four commercials ever made by a director and have to have been made during the year preceding the award. 

AWARD School Wellington welcomed the next creative generation at the opening lecture and welcome drinks last night with an inspirational line-up of speakers.
AWARD Committee members, students, tutors and lecturers, all came together last night to celebrate the opening of the ideas-based training program for aspiring creatives.
Speakers included AWARD Executive Committee Member Paul Nagy - CD of Clemenger BBDO, Philip Andrew, ECD of Clemenger BBDO, and Dan Moth, previous AWARD School graduate and writer at Clemenger BBDO.

If you're not into Twitter after reading and viewing these two posts, you never will:
What can Twitter do for you?
More than you might imagine, says Edward Boches
Building a Twitter-based ad agency for entertainment companies.
Tweeting Star Carri Bugbee explains her 'Mad Men' success.

Here's some thought-provoking pre-Easter fare...

Dave Trott has some straight-shooting comments on advertising awards: "They're very nice, but they are not what we actually do", he says.

BBH Asia ECD Steve Elrick has posted a detailed reply in response to comments made on this story on the CB Asia Blog on February 25.

By Roger Tompkins

Isn't it ironic how fiction parodies fact? When I sat down and penned the idea for the Australasian Union of Commercials' Production Companies, it was in cahoots with Lynchy for the CB blog.
It was written purely as a joke, tongue firmly in the cheek. I thought: here's a funny way of highlighting some the issues facing the production industry. I thought it might act as a reminder to one and all of the growing rift between agencies and the tvc production industry.

Y&R Auckland's Burger King 'Toll This' press ad is New Zealand's only finalist in the World Retail Awards coming up in Barcelona. (It is also a finalist in the latest 'Could be a Caxton'.)
Earlier this year Auckland's new Northern Gateway motorway was due to open on the Auckland Anniversary holiday weekend with a $2 price tag for the pleasure of knocking 20 minutes off the journey north.
Burger King thought, 'burger that' and decided to pay the toll for holidaymakers by way of a 2 buck discount. The full-page ad 'Toll this' ran on the Friday and immediately caused a media storm.
The Minister for Transport department even rang up requesting a copy of the advertisement. By Saturday, the day when the new road opened, there was an announcement in the NZ Herald newspaper saying the Minister for Transport had backed down and decided to make Anniversary weekend toll-free.
Obviously, the Burger King strap-line of 'Let Nothing Get in the Way' had worked in a way Y&R had never imagined.

Clemenger Group New Zealand has expanding their digital talent across their agencies. Tony Burt (former AKQA London) is now at Aim Proximity as Head of Planning. Says Adam Good, executive director of digital innovation for Clemenger Group Australasia: "Tony is driving direct and digital thinking that provides not only insight into consumer behaviour but is going further into the customer journey by crafting a blueprint and ongoing plan on how brands can continue to be personalized and relevant to brands using both traditional and digital channels. Aim Proximity has been one of the first agencies in NZ to embrace consumers in control in their communication programs and as such they have responded to this by integrating the direct, digital and technical planners into one strategic planning department led by Tony."

Off the back of the Clemenger Group great showing at the Axis Awards where digital thinking won Best in Show for Colenso BBDO's Read Work, the BBDO aligned agency group is holding a free Digital Summit in Auckland.
The first event will be held at the Stamford Plazza in Auckland on the afternoon of April 30th. Registration and more details can be found on the summit web site. The plan is to hold a similar event in Wellington, Sydney and Melbourne over the coming months.

The topical Booksellers New Zealand 'Black Friday' ad, via Saatchi & Saatchi, Wellington, has won NAB's March Newspaper Ad of the Month. 
"A well written and well crafted topical ad," said judge Marianne Harvey, winner of last
year's $10,000 Newspaper Ad of the Year. The other judges included Tim Hall, creative director of Saatchi & Saatchi Wellington (who abstained from deciding final winner) and Paul Nagy, creative director of Clemenger BBDO, Wellington.
 
Client: Booksellers New Zealand
Agency: Saatchi & Saatchi, Wellington
Writer: Henry Kember
Typographer: Geoff Francis
Associate Creative Director: Scott Henderson
Creative Director: Tim Hall
Account Service: Cameron Harland
Client: Anna Burtt
 
Runner up was VW 'Worth a second look' created by DDB New Zealand.
See full details of all ads at www.nabs.co.nz (Inspiration/Ad of the Month).
The winning ad will be sponsored into the 2010 Axis Awards, and the winning creative team will receive $250 cash. The ad will also appear in the "What's New" section of the April issue of AdMedia and is an automatic finalist for The Newspaper Ad of Year.
There are just two more opportunities remaining to win Ad of the Month and receive automatic entry into The Newspaper Ad of Year and its $10,000 cash prize. Competition round ends May 31st, 2009. 

Colenso BBDO executive creative director Nick Worthington has just returned from Hawaii where he has been judging The One Show, one of only a handful of non Americans on the prestigious jury. These are Worthington's last thoughts for the blog:

OK, so I'm back in NZ after the first round of judging,  I still have no idea of the finalist list, and you'll know as soon as I do as they'll publish the results on line in a week or so.
Fingers crossed for all of us. We then reconvene in NYC for three days of judging what goes in the book, what gets bronze, silver and gold.
It'll get ugly and bitter then I guess but until then I'll assume all the work I liked is in.
Which includes yours of course.
The overwhelming legacy of the judging so far is the importance of craft. It's what takes average ideas and makes them seem brilliant and takes brilliant ideas and makes me feel sick.
Note: Must try harder.

The organisers of the 3rd Dubai Lynx Awards have withdrawn the Agency of the Year award from FP7 Doha and the trophy will subsequently now not be awarded this year.
Investigations after this year's award show have revealed numerous examples of work from FP7 Doha that did not meet the Dubai Lynx entry criteria and subsequently these 18 submissions and the associated seven awards have been withdrawn. Those awards were: 1 Gold Print campaign, 1 Gold TV/Cinema campaign, 3 Silver Print campaigns, 1 Silver Outdoor campaign and 1 Bronze TV/Cinema campaign. In addition, ten pieces which were shortlisted in the Print and Outdoor sections were also disqualified. FP7 is part of the Interpublic Group.
UK trade website Brand Republic carried a story two days ago on a scam controversy featuring a Samsung ad that was not authorised by the client. Brand Republic quotes the client Sunny Hwang, the president of Samsung Electronics Levant, who stated: "At no time was Samsung Electronics aware of these advertisements and the company has not approved or commissioned FP7 to create any advertising campaigns." See full story here.

A commercial for Stihl chainsaws, via DDB New Zealand, that makes light of a deathbed scene, has drawn criticism for being insensitive and offensive.
The TVC has just been selected as Bestads top spot of the week.

Hugh Hefner's new holiday home - a "boost" for Rotorua tourism

After various newspapers published articles about the recent research findings in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, where scientists at Italy's University of Naples had discovered a link between hydrogen sulphide - the gas that gives Rotorua (New Zealand) its rotten egg smell - and male sexual arousal, KingSt Advertising saw an opportunity for an April Fool's Day prank to raise awareness of Rotorua's natural aphrodisiac properties.
They ran full page "articles" in The New Zealand Herald and The Dominion Post, and released PR kits announcing that the research findings had caught Hugh Hefner's attention - and that excited by the architectural similarities to the Playboy Mansion, Hugh had brokered a deal with the Rotorua Trust to convert the final stage of the Rotorua Museum development into his Playboy Holiday Mansion.
View the video interview with Hugh Hefner at www.rotoruaNZ.com

Agency: KingSt Advertising
Account Directors: Chris Williams, Joelle Cross
Creative Director: Tony Aubrey
Design: Sheree van den Broek, Hone Tutua
Viral production: Konrad Smith, Patrick Hui

At a meeting of the Australasian Union of Television Commercials Production Companies (AUTCPC) held in Sydney on the weekend all Australian and New Zealand television commercial production companies have agreed to be represented under the auspices of the AUTCPC.
All TVC production companies, along with Directors and Producers, are being made to comply under the authority and mandates of AUTCPC and its associate Unions. 
All production companies must comply with tough new mandates and all agencies, and consequently their clients, failing to comply will face scrutiny from the brotherhood of unions associated with AUTCPC.
Apart from many new and revised mandatories covering issues such as workplace safety, compliance and insurance, here are some key points agreed by all attending the meeting (leaked to the CB Blog) that will affect agencies and their clients: