The Commercial Communications Council Executive Board is a body of elected members who jointly oversee the activities of the Association. Made up of eleven senior agency leaders, the Board ensures the organisation is focused on members’ needs and is delivering value.
Executive Board Members:
Alistair Jamison (President), Starcom
Bridgette Smith (Vice-President), Lassoo Media & PR
Entry Writing Workshop | 2021 Beacon Awards in association with oOh!media
Posted 16 December 2020.
Make your 2020 Beacon Awards entry grab the judges’ attention — come along to this writing workshop for the inside word on how to make a good entry great. This workshop will be facilitated by Simon Bird, Group Head of Strategy and Measurement at PHD and David McCallen, Chief Strategy Officer at OMD. They will take you through some excellent gold winning papers, help you understand how to put together your story and share some important do’s and donts.
Date: Wednesday 3 February 2021
Venue: NZME, 2 Graham Street, Auckland
Time: 2 - 4pm
Cost: $30 + GST per person (Comms Council Members and Sponsors)
$60 + GST per person (Comms Council Non Members )
ASA Releases New Alcohol Advertising and Promotion Code
Posted 15 December 2020.
This morning the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), released the new Alcohol Advertising and Promotion Code.
The new Code will be effective on 1 April 2021 for new alcohol advertising and promotion and from 1 July 2021 all alcohol advertising and promotion needs to comply.
Click here to download a copy of the new Alcohol Advertising and Promotion Code.
The Code has been developed by the ASA Codes Committee, which includes advertiser, agency, media and public representatives. For this review, the Committee also included a representative from the Ministry of Health and an industry marketing and corporate communications specialist. The ASA invited submissions on the draft Alcohol Advertising and Promotion Code from the public, a wide range of government agencies, non-government organisations, organisations within the health sector, advertisers, agencies, media and other groups.
Click here to download a report from the Committee on the review of the Code for Advertising and Promotion of Alcohol.
For any queries, please contact ASA Chief Executive Hilary Souter on 0800 234 357.
Thoughts from the 2021 Beacons Steering Committee
Posted 9 December 2020.
Coming up with ideas without thinking through how those ideas will connect with people is a dangerous business
“Media connections are where the rubber hits the road and with brand behaviour increasingly under the spotlight, how brands ‘show up’ and connect with people has never been more important.
The Beacons are here to recognise that importance. To celebrate what’s possible when creative media thinking and execution combine for maximum effect. And with the data and tech enabled landscape closing the gap between the impossible and possible, it’s an exciting time to be in our industry.
No one claims it’s easy, our industry can be tough especially in a year like 2020, but it’s definitely rewarding and worth celebrating. Clients, agencies, media and tech partners have all had to collaborate like never before, adapting to a constantly changing market. Various events and awards shows also adapted quickly to online formats in the spirit of “the show must go on”. So given the context of 2020 there’s a few important points to note, to ensure your entries are the best they can be:
There will be no COVID-19 specific category, so contextualising results will be even more important. It was debated by the committee and ultimately decided, alongside learnings from similar awards shows, that a specific category could create more problems than solutions. After a challenging year we don’t want entrants feeling restricted by mandating COVID-19 responses can only enter certain categories. So, whether a COVID-19 related challenge or another brand challenge, writers will need to help contextualise for judges if COVID-19 circumstances impacted your results. For example, sales growth may not prove success if the category benefitted from COVID-19 context, but market share proving you grew faster than competitors might.
The qualification period has been extended allowing more flexibility. Given potential campaign and reporting disruptions the qualifying period will still start October 2019, extending through to end of February 2021 instead of ending December 2020. So if you haven’t already, get in early and request results now.
Remember awards are ultimately about storytelling, so you’ll see the entry forms revamped. Insight and strategy are now together in the same section of the entry form, making it easier for writers and judges to connect the dots. A good litmus test during award writing is asking someone to review your entry who knows nothing about your campaign, it’s easy to get too close to it and miss key elements that can leave judges perplexed when they’re reading a stack of entries.
We wish you luck with your entry writing, enjoy crafting those stories and making your clients, media partners and your own hard work shine.
As we all know achieving finalist is a tough feat at the Beacons, so whether you’re toasting to a finalist, an award winner, or even just surviving 2020 we look forward to celebrating with you on the night.”
Anne Lipsham On behalf of the Beacons Steering Committee
Call for Entries Open | The 2021 Beacon Awards in association with oOh!media
Posted 9 December 2020.
Call for entry is now open for the 2021 Beacon Awards in association with oOh!media.
The spirit of the Beacon Awards is built on shared heritage that brings our finest media thinkers together under the spotlight to celebrate outstanding achievement.
Click here to download the Call for Entry document.
Call for entry closes Tuesday 2 March 2021 at 4pmLate entry closes Thursday 4 March 2021 at 4pm
Please find below this year’s Beacon Award categories. The Beacon Awards Executive Judges and Convenor of Awards reserve the right to re-categorise campaigns and split/redefine categories if entries received in a particular category warrant such action.
Across all categories, entries will need to demonstrate the media thinking that resolved a marketing problem by way of:
• An entry summary (no score allocated)
• The background and challenges
• The insight and strategy
• The execution
• The results
Each category also has its own specific requirements based on that category’s focus. Judges are instructed to evaluate entries against these requirements. Please ensure that your entry is tailored to address the specific requirements of the category it’s entered in and that the correct entry form is used.
General Categories
• NOTE: A campaign can only be entered into one category A to E once, i.e. a campaign cannot, for example, be entered in Category C and Category D. Entries in Category F – Charity can only be entered into Category F. (Multiple category entries outside of categories A – F are
welcome.)
A. Social Marketing/Public Service
This category recognises uses of media that have succeeded in meeting the objectives of government or publicly-funded bodies. Typically these include campaigns from government departments, local bodies, tertiary education institutions or for a community service. The judges will be looking for proof that the media strategy and execution has had an identifiable and direct contribution in achieving set campaign objectives.
Download entry form A here.
Download judging form A here.
B. Retail/Etail
This category recognises uses of media in the area of retail/etail. This includes fashion, clothing, accessories and fast food and also incorporates online retail. The judges are looking for proof that the media strategy and execution has had an identifiable and direct contribution in achieving set retail objectives and that success is not the result of other factors including pricing or sale activity.
Download entry form B here.
Download judging form B here.
C. Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG)
This category recognises media campaigns across the entire spectrum of FMCG. This can include food, grocery, household products, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, toiletries, alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages and pet. The judges will be looking for proof that the media strategy and execution has had a direct contribution in achieving set campaign objectives.
Download entry form C here.
Download judging form C here.
D. Consumer Durables
This category recognises media campaigns that achieve success for products that are not purchased regularly or those that have high involvement decision making. This could include motor vehicles, white goods, brown goods, household furniture and electronic goods. The judges will be looking for proof that the media strategy and execution has had a direct contribution in achieving set campaign objectives.
Download entry form D here.
Download judging form D here.
E. Consumer Services
This category recognises media campaigns that achieve success for companies whose main focus is providing a service to a consumer. This could include airlines, tourism, energy suppliers, financial services, telecommunications and entertainment (TV, music, movies or gaming). The judges will be looking for proof that the media strategy and execution has had a direct contribution in helping achieve set campaign objectives.
Download entry form E here.
Download judging form E here.
F. Charity
Entries in this category cannot be entered in other categories
This category is seeking to identify campaigns that make the greatest contribution to support charities, appeals, fundraising or various not-for-profit community programmes. The award may recognise innovation in media thinking but this is not mandatory. The judges will be looking for proof that the media strategy and execution has had a direct contribution in helping achieve set campaign objectives. This category is strictly for not-for-profit organisations only, entries from commercial brands or organisations are not eligible.
Download entry form F here.
Download judging form F here.
G. Best Small Budget (up to $100k per annum)
This category is open to any campaign with a total combined campaign cost to client of less than $100,000. All entries must prove they are a stand-alone campaign as opposed to a single execution within a larger campaign. The judges will be looking for entries that put the perceived budget constraints behind them to develop brilliant strategic thinking and outstanding activation to deliver results that punched way above the campaign’s weight.
Download entry from G here.
Download judging form G here.
H. Best Use of Event/Activation
This category recognises entries that deliver outstanding experiential campaigns via guerrilla marketing, live events, shows, concerts & festivals, experiential events, large and small scale stunts. The event will be physical in its core, but can have virtual elements around it. Judges will be looking for evidence that the event/activation was the central component of the campaign, rather than campaigns with an event/activation component. They will also need to understand what the brand narrative was for people present at the event/activation and how the event/activation was leveraged to deliver outstanding campaign results.
Download entry form H here.
Download judging form Hhere.
I. Best Use of Content
This category is looking for campaigns that have the use of content at their heart. By going beyond traditional advertising formats to seamlessly integrate into television programming, create branded music projects, use of native advertising such as sponsored stories, featured videos and messages via social media, the content should fit with the brand values, strategy and clearly address the marketing challenge.
Entries will not be judged on the creative content itself, but on the strategic thinking that led to content being identified as the core communication vehicle. Judges will also be looking to understand how that content was leveraged and developed across paid, owned and earned channels to deliver outstanding campaign results.
Download entry form I here.
Download judging form I here.
J. Best Use of Technology
This category celebrates the role of technology in driving media innovation. Specifically, where technology has enhanced the development, implementation or outcome of a media campaign or activity. The technology could be applied across all elements of the campaign, or to a particular component but there will need to be evidence of it being either: a proprietary or first to NZ market technology OR using existing technology/platforms in an innovative or distinctive way.
Download entry form J here.
Download judging form J here.
K. Best use of Mobile
This category recognises innovative and effective use of the mobile channel. It covers any form of mobile media including mobile advertising, mobile apps, mobile communication (ie SMS), mobile technology (ie Beacon’s, QR codes, Bluetooth), or any other communication that requires a mobile device. Judges will be looking for campaigns that demonstrate a clear role for mobile, highlighting why mobile was an effective channel to achieve the client’s objectives, is brilliant in its execution, and contributed to campaign results.
Download entry form K here.
Download judging form K here.
L. Best use of Data
This category recognises media approaches that have been led by a sharp data strategy. Judges will be looking to understand how this leading data strategy drove the media approach, directly impacting on behavioural or business outcomes. Results are worth 35% as this data strategy should be able to attribute its success with proof points such as targeted response, increased engagement, incremental leads, reduction in CPA and/or improved ROI. Judges will also be looking to understand how the use of data was an agency led initiative. This category is not reliant on a specific marketing campaign (it could be a subset or always on) but will still need to contextualise for judges why this approach is award worthy.
If your data source is proprietary research leading to an insight you may want to consider entering the Best Use of Insight category instead.
Download entry form L here.
Download judging form L here.
M. Best Use of Search Engine Marketing
This category recognises exceptional practice in the use of Search Engine Marketing to drive positive business or behavioural outcomes. This category is open to entries for paid search and search engine optimisation initiatives. Judges will be looking for a clear set of objectives, a strong strategic approach, excellent execution and demonstrable outcomes. This category is open to both short term campaigns or ongoing programmes. Judges will consider creative and innovative approaches, as well as campaigns with excellent application of fundamentals and best practice. You’ll need to contextualise for judges why your approach is award worthy. The search engine marketing initiative may be part of a wider campaign, however demonstration of the specific role and effectiveness of the search channel will be required.
Download entry form M here.
Download judging form M here.
N. Best Use of Social
This category celebrates socially led thinking - campaigns that use existing or emerging social platforms and/or social activity including blog, social networking sites and applications. Entries in this category should use social as a key channel, demonstrating a creative use of social platforms as well as a sound understanding of digital consumer behaviour. Judges will be looking for campaigns that have put consumers at the heart, through conversational strategies that have built powerful communities or other outstanding engagement strategies. There will be a clear rationale as to why social media was the right response to the clients’ brief, moving beyond metrics of likes or shares to offer a compelling argument of the contributing effect social media had on delivering campaign results.
Download entry form N here.
Download judging form N here.
O. Creative Media Idea
This category recognises invention or innovation within a channel or property that was driven by consumer, data or brand insight and creative thinking. Judges are looking for ideas that drive tangible benefit to the consumer or to the client’s communications objectives.
Download entry form O here.
Download judging form O here.
P. Best Use of Insight
This category recognises how the use of insight, analytics or market intelligence has resulted in media campaign and business success. Judges will look for entries that demonstrate how an agency has uncovered an insight, how this insight has shaped the media strategy development and execution and the business success that this has delivered. Sources of insight could vary from proprietary research, to social listening through to quantitative or qualitative studies. The insight section of the entry will account for 40% of the judges score.
Download entry form P here.
Download judging form P here.
Q. Best Communications Strategy (Note word limit 1,500)
This category celebrates strategic excellence. Judges are looking for a cohesive communications strategy with a central idea at its heart. It should show a carefully researched and well thought-out action plan designed to meet a clearly defined challenge. This should include novel ways in which media channels have been used, each with a clear link to the strategic idea. The winning entry will also have clearly articulated the insights used to inspire the communications strategy. The strategy section of the entry will account for 40% of the judges’ score.
Download entry form Q here.
Download judging form Q here.
R. Most Effective
This category recognises meeting a challenge and succeeding. Judges are looking for evidence that the communication drove a positive outcome or exceeded objectives. This could include generating positive business results (e.g. market share, sales value, profit), shifting brand health measures (e.g. consideration, preference, perceptions), or changing people’s behaviour (e.g. buying patterns or social habits). It will focus on effectiveness of a campaign above all other considerations – the results section of the entry will account for 40% of the judge’s score. All entries must include figures showing the campaign’s direct impact on stated objectives (indexes will suffice).
Download entry form R here.
Download judging form R here.
S. Best Launch
This category recognises brand, service or product launches or re-launches. To be eligible for a re-launch there must have been no significant activity for at least 36 months prior to re-launch. Judges will be looking to understand how the media thinking and launch media activity were key contributors to the campaign’s results and that those results are indeed outstanding within the entrant’s category.
Download entry form S here
Download judging form S here
T. Best Collaboration
This category is open to media owners and agencies and is designed to celebrate the work that is only made possible by the close collaboration of (1) one or more media owner/partner(s) AND (2) one or more media agency/ies and/or other relevant agencies. This category can be entered by either the media owner/partner or agency. The judges will be looking for demonstration of how collaboration has enhanced the result for the client. Entries could be proactive sales proposals or responses to briefs as long as the partners have worked together to execute and enhance.
Download entry form T here.
Download judging form T here.
U. Sustained Success (Note word limit 1,500)
This category recognises communications and media thinking that has significantly contributed to the overall success of a campaign that has been consistently in market across three years from 1st January 2018. Judges will be looking for demonstration of strategic thinking and how it has ensured the media campaign has remained consistent but also up-to-date and relevant. The effectiveness and results achieved should accurately reflect the objectives and media strategy. The judges want to see clarity of thinking, identification and application of insights and innovation. It’s important to remember that a campaign founded on a sound, solid and evolving strategy can be as effective as one containing significant innovation.
Download entry form U here.
Download judging form U here.
V. Media Business of the Year
This category recognises the years outstanding Media Business. The judges (Comms Council Media Committee) will be looking for the business that has set a clear vision and strategy and then implemented that strategy with success. In this case success will be assessed from a range of perspectives including financial, industry engagement and reputation, audience growth and/or engagement. The Comms Council Media Committee reserves the right to not award in this category if no entry meets the judging standard. The closing date for entries in this category is 2 March 2021.
Download entry form V here.
Download judging form V here.
W. Sales Person or Team of the year
This category recognises excellence within the crucial media owners’ sales function. Open to both individual or team entries. The Judges (Comms Council Media Committee) will be looking for evidence of a clear strategic roadmap that allowed for the delivery of outstanding business performance against well-defined KPIs. Examples of innovative campaign case studies and a solution-based approach to selling are more likely to resonate with the judges. The closing date for entries in this category is 2 March 2021.
Download entry form W here.
Download judging form W here.
X. Rising Star
The Rising Star award recognises an individual who has achieved incredible feats in the past 18 months and is making a serious mark on the New Zealand media industry. The judges (Comms Council Executive Board) are looking for individuals on the rise who are already being acknowledged for their contribution today, and importantly are likely to be significant change makers and leaders for our industry in the future. Nominees must be under the age of 30 and have less than five years’ experience at time of the entry deadline.
The closing date for entries in this category is 2 March 2021. Please email your form to awards@commscouncil.nz
Download entry form X here.
Download judging form X here.
Executive Awards
Advertiser of the Year
The award will be given to the Advertiser that is the most outstanding performer on the night of the Beacon Awards Ceremony. The award is based on the weighted value of Gold and Silver Beacon Awards won by the Advertiser. 10 points are awarded for Gold and 5 for Silver. A finalist earns 2 points. Points are calculated and the winner is identified.
Please note: Points will only be awarded for the highest award received. Therefore points for a gold or silver award will not also receive finalist points. Best in Show does not earn points and is not included in the count.
Media Agency of the Year
The award will be given to the Comms Council Agency whose business has made the greatest overall improvements to their business over the past year. It is open to Comms Council member media agencies of any size.
The winner will be chosen by a panel of independent judges to include a range of prominent business people from outside the industry.
Best in Show
All Gold Beacon Award winners will be eligible for the Best in Show. This award is selected by the panel of international judges.
2021 Beacon Awards Sponsors Logos
WINNERS | 2020 Pressie Awards
Posted 27 November 2020.
Congratulations to all of the winners from The 2020 Pressie Awards!
But in the midst of a global pandemic, our team of 5 million showed the world what we’re capable of.
As a brilliant little country we proved our resolve.
And as an industry we did too.
We adapted, we worked harder than ever, and we pushed on.
Big and small agencies, across every discipline.
Surrounded by uncertainty, creativity endured.
Now, New Zealand is the envy of the world.
We can enjoy trips to the beach.
Spending time with loved ones.
Going to dinner, a bar, a concert.
And on March 18th, we can enjoy being part of the world’s first advertising award show in real life.
Together, under one roof, to celebrate that collective resolve IRL.
To celebrate our creativity IRL.
We’ll gold, silver and bronze IRL.
Face to face in the face of adversity.
And as the world watches on in envy, we thought it would be only fair to share it with them.
Axis-21 is our chance to celebrate (with the world on Zoom) what we love about our country and our industry.
And after a year like that, we deserve it.
- Maria Devereux - Executive Creative Director, Colenso BBDO
Tickets ON SALE NOW | The Pressies 2020
Posted 10 November 2020.
It’s almost time for the third annual PRESSIE Awards; the awards programme designed to recognise and celebrate the best thinking and execution across PR, Experiential and Social campaigns.
Ladies get your party frocks out, lads shine your shoes, it’s time for The Pressies! Don’t miss out on the PR, social media and experiential agency event of the year!
Don’t miss out on the PR, Experiential and Social Media event of the year and our first in-person awards show since lockdown! Join us for bubbles and giggles!
Meet Our Sponsors | 2020 Effie Awards in association with TVNZ
Posted 20 October 2020.
We sat down with our amazing sponsors to find out why the Effies are so important to their businesses and what they believe makes a truly successful campaign. Watch below to get to know our sponsors and their predictions for 2021!
Jodi O’Donnell - Commercial Director, TVNZ
Nick Vile - General Manager, oOh!media
Peter Richardson - General Manager, The Radio Bureau
Caroline Rainsford - Country Director, Google New Zealand
Greg McCrea - Head of Agency Sales Operations and CreateMe, NZME
Tony Boyte - Executive Director, Nielsen Media NZ
Key Dates - 2021 Beacon Awards in association with oOh!media
An Effie® Award is recognised globally by advertisers and agencies as the industry’s most important award and represents the pinnacle in marketing effectiveness. This is also the second year we will be focusing on the individual marketers who have inspired great work from their agencies and fought for it in their organisations. The Effie marketers leader board will be re-calculated when judging is complete to determine the ranks of Effie marketers for this year. A panel of over 100 industry peers judged the preliminary round this year assessing a good crop of entries and selecting just over 80 finalists from the 19 Effie categories.
This year’s Convenor of Effies, Simon Lendrum said “it’s been fantastic to see so many entries from organisations and brands that demonstrate the concrete value that great marketing campaigns deliver back to New Zealand business. In tough times, the Effies clearly illustrate the
impact of creativity on business results.” All Gold Effie category winners will be eligible for the Grand Effie®, which is awarded to the campaign that achieved the most extraordinary commercial results for its client.
This year’s highly qualified Executive judging panel include:
Michael Healy, Chief Marketing Officer at Meridian Energy, Rachel Ellerm, National Marketing Director at Lion, Suraiya Phillimore-Smith, Marketing Lead at Westpac, Jonathan Waecker, Chief Customer Officer at The Warehouse Group, Bridget Lamont, Chief Customer Officer at Loyalty, Craig Irwin, Managing Director at Iri Worldwide and Jonathan Symons, Marketing Director at TVNZ.
The Comms Council thanks Commercial Partners TVNZ and oOh!Media for their ongoing commitment to Effie. We also thank important sponsors Nielsen, The Radio Bureau, Facebook and Google.
Meet the Executive Judges | 2020 Effies in association with TVNZ
Posted 16 September 2020.
Pivotal to the success of the Effies awards programme are high level Executive Judges; people who genuinely understand how marketing and advertising work, people with strongly developed analytical skills and sense of objectivity, people who like advertising and those that understand how to measure business success. This year we have an exceptional group of Judges. Read more about them below.
Bridget is Chief Customer Officer at Loyalty NZ and most recently has spearheaded the transformation of New Zealand’s favourite loyalty programme, Flybuys. She is an experienced marketing leader with over two decades of experience driving business results through relevant and valuable consumer marketing communications programmes and platforms.
Bridget has extensive experience in the retail sector, with 13 years at Woolworths NZ (Countdown supermarkets) driving brand, promotional, media, customer insight, loyalty and 1:1 communications strategy and implementation. Her team won the 2016 Keith Norris Direct marketing Organisation of the Year award. She has also held roles at NZ Post, SkyCity Entertainment Group and Ezibuy.
A self-confessed foodie, Bridget claims to make a spectacular bacon and egg pie, and lives in Auckland with her partner and two cavoodles.
Craig Irwin - Managing Director, IRI
Craig joined IRI from Fonterra in New Zealand and brings over 20 years’ experience in the FMCG sector across Australia, New Zealand and the UK. During his career, Craig has held senior management roles within Frucor Suntory Beverages and Pharmacare Laboratories.
He has a proven record of building and sustaining long-term partnerships with customers, and as a passionate and innovative leader he is responsible for leading the team to enhance IRI’s ability to meet the needs of our clients, as IRI continue to provide industry-leading insights and solutions to the marketplace.
Jonathan Symons - Marketing Director, TVNZ
Jonathan Symons is TVNZ’s Marketing Director, responsible for the Marketing, Blacksand, and the Research, Data & Insights teams. Jonathan previously held the role of GM Research, Data & Insights at TVNZ, where he led a massive shift in the way TVNZ listens to and learns from our viewers. Jonathan has also held executive level marketing positions at ASB and worked in a range of media and agency roles.
Jonathan Waecker - Chief Customer Officer, The Warehouse
Jonathan has been with The Warehouse Group since 2017. Beginning in the role of Chief Marketing Officer, Jonathan became the Chief Customer Officer in February 2020. Jonathan is responsible for attracting, engaging and retaining customers through marketing, communications, customer experience and eCommerce activities, leading brand strategy and driving customer engagement across the Group’s portfolio of brands, including The Warehouse, Noel Leeming, Torpedo7, 1-day and Warehouse Stationery.
Prior to joining The Warehouse Group, Jonathan was based in San Francisco as Vice President of Marketing Communications at Yahoo, the fourth largest online property in the world at the time, reaching over one billion users every month. In that role, Jonathan led the fully-integrated team responsible for delivering all marketing communications during a critical turnaround period for the company, winning numerous industry awards, while driving revenue and results for the business and brand.
Prior to Yahoo, Jonathan spent time in global marketing, brand strategy and business development roles at Zynga and The Walt Disney Company, two of the world’s most engaging and digitally innovative consumer brands. He has been named one of Brand Innovators 40 Under 40, received an MBA in Corporate Strategy from HEC Paris, a second MBA in Global Finance from the Chinese University of Hong Kong, and graduated from San Diego State University.
Michael Healy - Chief Marketing Officer, Meridian Energy
Michael is a fiercely commercial marketer with a relentless focus on driving business outcomes. He has held senior roles in advertising agencies, and large corporates in both New Zealand in Australia with exposure to FMCG, banking, energy, not for profit, and technology. He has a strong view on the importance of applying both creativity and science to business and marketing and finding opportunities to drive growth. As a result of supporting strong business performance Michael is one of NZ’s most seasoned commercial marketers, and a finalist for 2021’s Marketer of the Year award from the NZ Marketing Association.
Rachel Elerm - National Marketing Director, Lion New Zealand
Rachel is currently National Marketing Director of Lion New Zealand, leading a team of Marketers to deliver category, innovation and communication across a portfolio of market leading brands including Steinlager, Speight’s, Mac’s, Corona, Wither Hills, Lindauer and Smirnoff. Prior to this she led the Goodman Fielder marketing team, and held senior positions in marketing for KFC in both Sydney and London. As a strong values-based leader with over 19 years senior marketing experience, she has significant expertise in leading teams and agency partners to build high-performing cultures. Rachel is a strategic marketing and communications expert, storyteller and brand builder with global and local experience in FMCG and Retail with award-winning work in marketing effectiveness across multiple brands, and also the 2018 winner of the Individual Marketer of the Year Effie award.
Suraiya Phillimore-Smith - Head of Marketing, Westpac New Zealand
An international marketing leader with over 20 years experience, who has achieved great success in building high performing teams and developing people, to meet customer and business outcomes.
With global, regional and local experience, working for some of the world’s largest brands, her experience and expertise brings a unique blend of Brand Strategy, Advertising & Marketing Communications, Data Insight & CRM, Commercial P&L ownership, across B2B and B2C marketing.
Key Dates | Axis Awards 2021
Posted 16 September 2020.
Axis Awards Show: Thursday 18 March 2021
Call for Entries goes live: Thursday 19 November 2020
Closing date for entries: Tuesday 19 January 2021 at 4pm
Late entry deadline (late fees apply): Thursday 21 January 2021 at 4pm
Auckland Anniversary: Friday 29 January 2021
Waitangi Day (Observed): Monday 8 February 2021
Category Judging: Monday 15 - Friday 19 February 2021
Tickets on Sale: Wednesday 10 February 2021
Finalists Announced: Tuesday 23 February 2021
Executive Online Judging: Wednesday 24 to Wednesday 3 March 2021
Metal discussion meeting if required: Friday 5 March 2021 (only if required)
Executive Judging Session: Tuesday 9 March 2021
Axis Speaks (TBC): Thursday 11 March 2021 (TBC - evening)
Axis Awards Show: Thursday 18 March 2021
Meet the Executive Judges | Axis 2021
Posted 9 September 2020.
Convenor of Judges
Maria Devereux - Executive Creative Director, Colenso BBDO
Maria began her career at Colenso BBDO, Auckland where she won six Cannes lions in her first six years as an Art Director. Prior to being a creative, she headed up Colenso’s Design Department.
After Colenso BBDO, TAXI in Toronto called. As Creative Lead on McCain Foods shespent her days travelling back and forth across Canada in a private jet to taste test French fries. She’s held Creative Director roles at Y&R NZ, Special Group and after eight years away, she returned home to Colenso BBDO in 2016.
Her work for Pedigree SelfieSTIX has been awarded over 80 times at 23 shows. In addition to creating the world’s first doggie Snapchat, she has lit Auckland’s iconic harbour bridge with over 96,000 solar powered lights to demonstrate the city’s commitment to becoming 100% renewable, created a treehouse restaurant for Yellow, an in-flight fashion show for Air New Zealand (which took two years to receive civil aviation approval), built the NZBCF Pre Check app which teaches your hands to selfcheck through your phone screen, wrapped a New York water tower in 50 kilometres of yarn for D&AD’s call for entries and spent four weeks in an RV roaming from New York to Los Angeles to share the music of America from a smartphone.
She was recently named in Adweek’s Creative 100, awarded a Certificate of Excellence at Campaign Asia’s Women Leading Change Awards, and has collected over 100 international and local awards for her work at multiple shows including Cannes, D&AD, One Show, Spikes, Webby’s AWARD and Axis.
She has judged at D&AD, Spikes, Caples, New York Festivals, Webby Awards and local shows in both Australia and NZ.
Executive Judges
Christie Cooper - Creative Director, DDB
Christie is a Creative Director at DDB New Zealand, where she’s worked for most of her 18 years in advertising. During that time, she’s created work for everything from charities to banks, including an online Animal Strike that changed New Zealand’s animal testing laws, a Reverse April Fools’ for BMW, and the world’s first live-broadcast freediving event for Steinlager.
Along the way, she’s won some awards, been ranked in some rankings, judged on some juries, had a lot of fun, and worked with many amazing, talented people who helped make it all happen.
Christie has two children, a dog, a cat, and a pigeon. So, when she’s not working, she spends most of her time running around after them. And when she’s not doing that, she can usually be found on the couch binge-watching TV shows.
Shane Bradnick - Chief Creative Officer, TBWA
Shane has more than 20 years’ industry experience. Starting as an Art Director at DDB and then TBWA South Africa before emigrating to Australia to join M&C Saatchi Sydney, and then to BMF, the Australian Agency of the Decade. In 2013 he moved to New Zealand to join DDB as Executive Creative Director in Auckland. And then to TBWA, New Zealand as the Chief Creative Officer at the beginning of 2019, which he now considers home. He has been lucky enough to have won over 200 awards at international and local shows, including Cannes, D&AD, Ad Fest, Spikes, One Show, AWARD, Axis, Effies, Webbys and the Facebook Awards. In 2009 The WON report named him the third best Art Director in the world and in 2018 the fourth best Executive Creative Director in the world.
“I have a very simple philosophy when it comes to advertising - Make stuff that people love, with people you like. It’s an exciting industry, one in which you have to be constantly making in order to be moving forward. It’s important that the work we make connects with as many people as possible and finds a place in culture. It’s even more important to make work with people that are likeminded and nice; it’s too short a career to work with dicks.”
Outside of advertising, Shane lives a rather quiet life with a very patient wife, less than patient two sons and an orange bitey-cat named Steve.
Steve Cochran - Chief Creative Officer, Saatchi & Saatchi Steve Cochran graduated in graphic design in Auckland three weeks after the stock market crash of ‘87. Despite studios closing up left, right and centre, he found work as a designer. Two years later however, he did Award School which saw him walking his book around to find a copywriting job. After stints at various agencies he eventually joined Colenso BBDO in 1997. It is here he would remain for 22 years, becoming Executive Creative Director in 2010. Over that time he played a significant role in Colenso’s culture and building its outstanding reputation. Cochran has collected awards at most of the global and local creative and effectiveness shows you could name. And he’s worked with clients in most categories you could name. After two brilliant decades at Colenso, it was finally time to move on. And where better to go than to the first agency he approached as a young creative looking for a job back in 1990. They hadn’t hired him then, but they did suggest he come back when he had more experience. Cochran joined Saatchi and Saatchi New Zealand as Chief Creative Officer in 2020.
Steve Cochran did stints at various Auckland agencies before eventually joining Colenso BBDO in 1997. Here he would remain for 22 years, becoming Executive Creative Director in 2010. Over that time he played a significant role in Colenso’s culture and building its outstanding reputation. Cochran has collected awards at most of the global and local creative and effectiveness shows you could name. And he’s worked with clients in most categories you could name. After two brilliant decades at Colenso, having built a restaurant in a tree, delivered individual ice creams to people in a semi-trailer, created a chocolate bar that tasted of yellow, and played a city-wide game of poker, among many other whack things, it was finally time to move on. Cochran joined Saatchi and Saatchi New Zealand as Chief Creative Officer in July. That same month his family got a kitten that he affectionately nick-named ‘pancake’. A pre-emptive move on account that it’s continually running across their street.
Nina East - Creative Director, Wunderman Thompson
Nina is Creative Director for Wunderman Thompson New Zealand. She has worked in media and advertising for 20 years, across Europe and New Zealand.
At age 19, Nina dropped out of design school and moved to London where she somehow blagged work experience at MTV. An internship followed and it wasn’t long before she landed in the International Creative team. Here, she spent five years creating channel idents, pro social campaigns and branding and marketing MTV global properties, including the MTV Europe Music Awards.
In 2007 Nina was tapped to create and lead the Viacom in-house commercial agency. Nina and her team spent the following seven years delivering award winning global ad campaigns for some of the world’s most successful and most-loved brands; they launched the 21st century VW Beetle globally, created an upcoming artist platform for Swatch, and executed a four year partnership producing ad campaigns for adidas.
In 2014 Nina returned to New Zealand and was appointed Creative Director of Copper Brand Experiences. Under Nina’s strategic and creative direction, the agency grew to become New Zealand’s most awarded specialist experiential agency.
Nina joined Wunderman Thompson as Creative Director in 2017 and has been responsible for multiple award-winning campaigns, including the KiwiHarvest Read & Feed annual report and the University of Auckland Never Stop brand platform.
Nina’s career highlights include a 13 storey art battle on the front of an Auckland building, transforming Marilyn Manson into a pizza delivery man, starring as a goth in a Bloc Party promo and directing Tom Cruise.
Heath Lowe - Executive Design Director & Founding Partner, Special Group
Heath Lowe is Executive Design Director and a founding partner of Special Group in New Zealand and Australia.
Hailing from America’s Midwest, his career began in the US and Europe working alongside some of the world’s most ambitious companies — Nike, Tommy Hilfiger, Miller Brewing Co., Foot Locker — to bring their unique vision and products to market and connect their brand cultures to, well, real culture.
His design strategies encourage the listening and thinking it takes to define the customer needs that drive a brand’s purpose and a product’s promise, leading to experiences that matter. Whether it’s brand identity or packaging design, pop-ups or digital activations, this approach delivers the work and results that make a real and positive difference to audiences, businesses and creative culture.
In his twelve years behind the wheel of Special’s design business, Heath has been responsible for award-winning work that has helped to position New Zealand brands like ecostore, Karma Cola, OOB Organics and the Royal New Zealand Ballet among the best in the world. Work that has endeared hearts and homes to local brands as diverse as The Oyster Inn, Tip Top, Molenberg and the Green Party.
All-in-all, it’s what this rodeo-riding Illinois farm boy calls just another honest day’s work.
True Ltd
Posted 27 August 2020.
Call for Entries | The 2020 Pressies
Posted 26 August 2020.
Read entry categories and download entry forms below.
Entries closed - Online judging starts on Friday 6th November
We are now in the third year of The Pressies and hope the increased emphasis on PR, social and experiential in our industry will continue to ensure their success. We created the awards to celebrate campaigns with PR, Social and experiential elements at their core, at all budget levels. The Pressies continue to bring to light all the great work we are doing and enable us to judge it on our terms.
If this year has taught us nothing else it has shown us the profound effect social media and PR can have in and around our community. We have seen how we are using it to talk to, engage with and influence each generation. Covid’s appearance meant most of the nation’s advertisers had to suddenly pivot from traditional platforms to focus on the online landscape. As a result we will have numerous pieces of marketing brilliance that we look forward to judging at this year’s Pressies. Make sure your story is told! And good luck!
A. Best Use of Media Relations
This category recognises entries that deliver outstanding earned media coverage. The entry will demonstrate thinking beyond the standard media release; it will show how powerful storytelling and strong content delivered exceptional results in a competitive and cluttered market. Judges will need to understand the challenge and context, and will be looking for a clear strategy, the ‘hook’ and effective execution that resulted in outstanding media coverage.
This category rewards remarkable integrated PR, Experiential and/or Social campaigns that use media partnerships or sponsorships of events, content or charities to drive awareness and/or engagement. The sponsorship or partnership should be a core component of the campaign, and demonstrate how it was critical to success of the overall campaign.
C. Best Public Affairs or Stakeholder Management Campaign
This category recognises outstanding public affairs or stakeholder management campaigns. Focusing on government relations, media communications, issues management, social responsibility or a combination. Your campaign must influence public policy, build and maintain a strong reputation and/or manage stakeholders. Judges will be looking for clever use of insights and research, along with evidence of how and why stakeholders were successfully influenced.
This category recognises entries that deliver outstanding social media campaigns. We want to know how you brought all the pieces together to drive exceptional results. Judges will be looking for evidence of what the business challenge was and how you approached it with insights and social media strategy. Judges will look for creativity, innovation, sound communication and, of course, data and metrics, showing how your campaign measured up against objectives.
This category recognises entries that deliver outstanding influencer marketing campaigns. We want to know how you utilised social media influencers for the good of your brand and drove results, not just ‘likes’. Judges will be looking for evidence of what the business challenge was and how you approached it using insights - right from content creative, channel planning and influencer selection. Judges will look for influencer + brand alignment, creativity, innovation, sound communication and, of course, data and metrics, showing how your campaign measured up against objectives.
This category recognises entries that deliver outstanding experiential campaigns via live events, pop-ups, expos, product launches or large and small-scale publicity stunts and experiential campaigns. The campaign will be physical in its core but can have virtual elements around it. Judges will be looking for evidence that the experience was the central component of the campaign, rather than campaigns with an experiential/event component. They will also need to understand how the campaign integrated into the wider marketing strategy and how it was leveraged to deliver outstanding campaign results.
This category recognises entries that deliver outstanding sampling or retail-based activations via in-store sampling, mall sampling, product demonstrations, out-of-home sampling, event sampling and/or office sampling. Sampling must be the key aspect of this campaign, but judges will also be looking how the campaign integrates and leverages other media channels for amplification. They will also need to see clear evidence of how the sampling or activation delivered business results.
This category will celebrate the success of exceptional community management that has had impact on a brand, organisation or community. Community management has increasingly become a powerful engagement tool for consumers. Judges will be looking for an effective strategy that reflects the company’s personality, position and business objectives. Campaigns will need to show that they have delivered engagement, sentiment change or a positive impact on objectives for the business or community organisation. Judges will look for entries that define the role of CM and an effective and robust implementation plan that shows a profound effect on the campaign.
This category recognises campaigns led by PR, Experiential or Social that paved new ground, use emerging technologies, methods or ideas that achieve the campaign’s objectives and deliver outstanding results. The judges will be looking for disruptive thinking, revolutionary ideas and forward-thinking techniques that are implemented in new or unexpected ways.
In this category we are looking for an epic campaign that was implemented across a multitude of channels including PR, Experiential and/or Social. This category is not about simply listing multiple channels and executions. Judges are looking for evidence that the campaign was seamlessly, and cleverly, integrated across a multitude of PRES channels. Entrants will need to show that each channel or activity was deliberately selected to enhance the idea and that the core strategic and creative thinking was adapted appropriately for each channel, that components were designed to coordinate with each other, and that each component played a significant role in delivering the results.
This category recognises campaigns that demonstrate extraordinary insights and strategic thinking. The winning campaign will need to demonstrate the thinking process, highlight a clear strategic direction and how this directly contributed to the results. Judges will be looking for evidence of research, insight, quality of thinking and development of strategy.
This category recognises entries that required true bravery and backing from a client who was prepared to take risks and do things differently. This bravery will have manifested itself in one of the following areas: media relations, a sponsorship or partnership, an outstanding experiential campaign, a public relations activation, an influencer marketing campaign or a social media campaign.
Judges will be looking for evidence of how client bravery bought these campaigns to life. What client decisions were key? What risks were taken and why? What made the client brave in this instance? They will need to understand the client/agency working dynamic and how decisions the client made in partnership with the agency, delivered outstanding campaign results.
All Gold winners will be eligible for the Grand Prix. This award is given to the campaign that achieved the best results and is considered to be the best example of PRES by the panel of Executive Judges.
Note: This category cannot be entered in to but will be awarded by the Executive Judging Panel.
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Watch Now | Privacy Act 2020 Webinar
Posted 25 August 2020.
Privacy Act 2020 – What you need to know and how to adapt. A free webinar brought to you by the Comms Council and ANZA.
The full webinar recording is now available to watch below:
The new Privacy Act 2020 has been passed into law. It comes into effect on 1 December 2020. The drive for data privacy has become more apparent, spurred by anti-tracking moves by browsers as well as tighter data protection laws. The effect of this is that commercially available data may become less abundant, and ad buying and selling significantly affected. It is also claimed that the end of third-party cookie data is fast approaching, and the end of the road when it comes to their ability to buy and sell ads that use individualised targeting.
Where does the truth lie on these and other questions?
Just how much consumers care about their data privacy is a question that gets a lot of debate. There is a body of privacy activists that care a great deal about their privacy and misuse of their data within advertising. For the public and some in the media industry opinions are divided over just how much they would care if they understood how their data was used within buying and trading of ads on the open market. There is growing evidence to suggest that people do care about their data and its use or misuse.
In this webinar we discuss the changes to the Privacy Act and how the treasure trove of information can legitimately be captured and used by publishers, the media and ad industries.
The webinar is presented by Anthony Drake, a partner in the Wynn Williams national Dispute Resolution Team. He has more than 25 years’ experience in employment law. He provides advice and counsel to a wide range of major domestic corporates, New Zealand Government and various local government agencies, and state-owned enterprises, as well as acting for individual and private clients – with a particular focus on contentious issues involving privacy law and data protection, dismissals, discrimination, and employment implications for commercial transactions, redundancy, restraint of trade, confidential information, and industrial disputes.
As a founding member of the New Zealand Serious Fraud Office he has expert skills in major investigations and inquiries.
Anthony is a regular presenter and commentator on privacy and employment law topics. He is also an author of Lexus Nexus Forms and Precedents employment law section, Thomson Reuters UK publication on New Zealand Privacy law, and the New Zealand data protection section of One Trust Data Guidance UK publication.
Anthony also happens to be a descendant of the infamous privateer Sir Francis Drake and the son of a Polish war refugee to New Zealand.
Don’t miss out - send us your details and register now:
We are now in the third year of The Pressies and hope the increased emphasis on PR, social and experiential in our industry will continue to ensure their success. We created the awards to celebrate campaigns with PR, Social and experiential elements at their core, at all budget levels. The Pressies continue to bring to light all the great work we are doing and enable us to judge it on our terms.
If this year has taught us nothing else it has shown us the profound effect social media and PR can have in and around our community. We have seen how we are using it to talk to, engage with and influence each generation. Covid’s appearance meant most of the nation’s advertisers had to suddenly pivot from traditional platforms to focus on the online landscape. As a result we will have numerous pieces of marketing brilliance that we look forward to judging at this year’s Pressies
Gina McKinnon
Chair PREScom Committee
A word from Paul Head | CEO of Comms Council
Welcome to the third annual PRESSIE Awards; the awards programme designed to recognise and celebrate the best thinking and execution across PR, Experiential and Social campaigns.
The programme looks to recognise the best work the industry has to offer. And this year that work will in many cases look very different from what it did last year. As an industry we’ve had to be very nimble in the face of a global pandemic. This has had a huge impact on both the type and volume of work we’ve been asked to do by our clients.
Agencies across all three disciplines have had to look for new ways to engage with audiences, both during the early phases of the virus as brands and government responded to the immediate crisis and then post lockdown, as brands looked to reengage with audiences. This has led to some really innovative solutions and the judges this year are in for some very interesting reads in my view.
Any awards programme involves a huge amount of work to pull together, so a big thanks to Awards Chair Gina Mckinnon, Convenor of Judges Sean Brown and the entire PREScom Committee for their hard work in getting our third year off the ground under what have been difficult circumstances. Their efforts are genuinely appreciated.
Despite the fact that 2020 has been a shitty year by just about any measure, agencies have worked under tremendous pressure to deliver for their clients and we believe great work still deserves to be recognised and celebrated.
So, PR, Experiential and Social agencies, shake off those lockdown blues, give Covid the finger and get cracking on your entries.
At the Comms Council we believe strongly that Brands Need Building. After all, a brand is the most powerful competitive advantage a business can create. And the evidence suggests that holds true even in a recession. So we’ve taken our existing “Brands Need Building” campaign and updated it to reflect the latest thinking and evidence about marketing in a recession. The ideas in the campaign are based on a new report we were fortunate enough to co-publish with Peter Field and Rob Brittain, two of the world’s leading authorities on advertising effectiveness, ‘AUNZ Advertising Effectiveness Rules – Winning or Losing in a Recession’, containing valuable insights on the implications of Covid-19 and the resulting recession for the advertising industry on both sides of the Tasman. The report was released via a live webinar.
We believe this evidence in the report not only supports our case but also clearly establishes the premise that those companies that advertise in a downturn continue to reap the benefits long after the economy recovers. So, it seems only fitting that we follow our own advice and continue to advertise during the recession.
A massive thank you to DDB for the creative inspiration, Starcom for the media thinking and TVNZ, oOh!media, Stuff, Facebook, NZME and MediaWorks for their support in getting the campaign out there.
Keep an eye out for the campaign which will be running over Print, Digital, Radio, TV, Digital Outdoor and Social Media
Those who continue to invest in their brand during a recession and execute it well, will come out of the recession better than those who don’t. Have a look through these resources for invaluable advice on how you can yield the best results during a recession.
Introducing Axis 2021 Convenor Maria Devereux | 2021 Axis Awards
Posted 24 July 2020.
Maria Devereux Executive Creative Director, Colenso BBDO
Maria began her career at Colenso BBDO, Auckland where she won six Cannes lions in her first six years as an Art Director. Prior to being a creative, she headed up Colenso’s Design Department.
After Colenso BBDO, TAXI in Toronto called. As Creative Lead on McCain Foods she spent her days travelling back and forth across Canada in a private jet to taste test French fries. She’s held Creative Director roles at Y&R NZ, Special Group and after eight years away, she returned home to Colenso BBDO in 2016.
Her work for Pedigree SelfieSTIX has been awarded over 80 times at 23 shows. In addition to creating the world’s first doggie Snapchat, she has lit Auckland’s iconic harbour bridge with over 96,000 solar powered lights to demonstrate the city’s commitment to becoming 100% renewable, create a treehouse restaurant for Yellow, an in-flight fashion show for Air New Zealand (which took two years to receive civil aviation approval), built the NZBCF Pre Check app which teaches your hands to self-check through your phone screen, wrapped a New York water tower in 50 kilometres of yarn for D&AD’s call for entries and spent four weeks in an RV roaming from New York to Los Angeles to share the music of America from a smartphone.
She was recently named in Adweek’s Creative 100, awarded a Certificate of Excellence at Campaign Asia’s Women Leading Change Awards, and has collected over 100 international and local awards for her work at multiple shows including Cannes, D&AD, One Show, Spikes, Webby’s AWARD and Axis.
She has judged at D&AD, Spikes, Caples, New York Festivals, Webby Awards and local shows in both Australia and NZ.
31 July - Taking the Temperature of the Nation | Our Industry Insights
Posted 17 July 2020.
Julie Bramley, Insights Director has been gathering and curating the most useful and relevant research and insights from around the country and globe as a resource for you to refer to. The resources are here to help you move forward through the Covid-19 recession. Read on for Julie’s top picks and comments.
Click here to subscribe to receive the top picks of research and insights via email each week.
Insights - 31 July 2020
Yesterday I was very fortunate to be asked along to a think tank type session with a group of marketers to discuss the relevancy of marketing departments – it was provocative, mentally stimulating and totally fabulous. We plan to meet again so watch this space for updates. I hope your week has gone well, hang in there, it’s only four weeks until spring.
Orlando Wood has made a charming video for Cannes explaining his left-brain, right-brain theories. Filmed around the River Thames in Bray and Maidenhead in Berkshire, this great piece of work manages to be both relaxing and educational, with Wood putting his theories into practice. As System 1’s website says “it’s safe to say you’ve never seen an effectiveness video like this one before.”
This article by Tom Roach, Executive Strategy Director and Head of Effectiveness at adam&eveDDB, got a thumbs-up from Mark Ritson and is well worth a read. Roach doesn’t so much directly contradict Field & Binet’s work, but rather refines it for the real world. He says, “Brands should be aiming to create long-term communications engineered for immediate success. Long-term growth always has its roots in the short term. The two are connected, influence each other, and if you get the two working perfectly in harmony together, you’ll achieve the strongest, most sustainable growth possible.”
From an insights perspective, most interesting are his comments on measuring the long-term growth potential of campaigns in the short term. “Share of Google search” is emerging as a strong contender and work being done by Millward Brown, Google and Les Binet looks promising. Roach says, “Further research is needed, but monitoring a brand’s share of search could also help narrow the divide that exists in marketing between ‘brand’ and ‘performance’ marketers: it could be a rare example of a metric nearly everyone can get behind.”
Ideal for a wet Sunday afternoon when you have time on your hands… Mark Ritson’s “Monster” describes the talents required to be a great marketer. He uses movie extracts to bring this entertaining presentation to life.
Decoding Decision, Making Sense of the Messy Middle, which provides new understanding about the complex customer journey, is the latest work from the Insights team at Google UK. “This report is about the mental processes that have been activated by the abundance of the web. It’s about how consumers deal with scale and complexity using cognitive biases encoded deep in our pre-digital history.” The full report is 98 pages, so you’ll need a bit of time to read it, but key points include:
The messy middle refer to two mental modes – exploration; an expansive activity and evaluation; a reductive activity. According to Google, whatever a person is doing, across a huge array of online sources, such as search engines, social media, aggregatorsand review websites, they can be classified into one of these two mental modes.
Google has also identified six cognitive biases that influence why we choose one product or service over another:
1. Category heuristics: Short descriptions of key product specifications can simplify purchase decisions.
2. Power of now: The longer you have to wait for a product, the weaker the proposition becomes.
3. Social proof: Recommendations and reviews from others can be very persuasive.
4. Scarcity bias: As stock or availability of a product decreases, the more desirable it becomes.
5. Authority bias: Being swayed by an expert or trusted source.
6. Power of free: A free gift with a purchase, even if unrelated, can be a powerful motivator.
The IPA’s latest efforts look very handy. Divided by topic, these easy, succinct downloadables provide research and evidence to demonstrate how effectively advertising grows brands and pays back financially. You’ll need to register your name and then you get automatic access. So easy!
It’s been said that “biology is becoming the technology of the 21st century” and, as health becomes more personalised, the convergence of these two trends has seen the release of some pretty sophisticated new gadgets designed to help us achieve our health goals. Cassandra’s latest report highlights this new offering:
Lumen is taking metabolism measurement mainstream. Providing information that was once only available to elite athletes, this high-tech, hand-held gadget can read carbon dioxide concentration from just a few breaths. This information tells the user whether their body is burning carbs, fats or a mix of both. It then acts as a nutritionist, suggesting meal plans and foods to best fuel workouts, allowing for improved metabolic flexibility and fat-burning. Designed by two doctors in physiology, this data-driven device is all about science and strategy, and helps make the weight-loss process as personalised as possible.
Insights - 17 July 2020
Have we lost our sense of humour, asks Rory Sutherland? I bloody hope not. Humour enriches our lives in the best of times, and is essential during a global pandemic. You’ll see a link to Sutherland’s video from Cannes Un-Canned below. In other news, I’ve obtained three new clients for my husband’s fashion business and have asked to be referred to as “employee of the month” at all times; however, contrary to any rumours you may hear, I am still looking for a job or contract work.
Sutherland reflects on the important role humour plays in advertising and within agency company culture. He says they were always pranking each other years ago – behaviour that today, he adds, would more likely lead to a session with HR.
It reminds me of the time I returned to News Works (then known as NAB) after my honeymoon, to find the entire office empty of people and with everything seemingly packed up. The only thing on my desk was a letter stating that NAB had ceased to exist. I wandered around the deserted office in disbelief, slowly absorbing the fact it must be true. Suddenly, my mischievous colleagues came out of hiding, shrieking with laughter, to tell me the whole thing had been an elaborate joke! I still can’t believe the lengths they went to.
Why is advertising still not inclusive, asks the Geena Davis Institute? This study examines representations of gender, race/ethnicity, LGBTQ+, disability, age and body size in Cannes Lions ads from 2006-2019, with a focus on new findings from 2019. This is the first public report to analyse all six key identity groups in film-based advertising. The results show we’re still not representative in many cases.
Interestingly, at the start of the year I was working on a big trade research piece that looked at how women 50+ were represented in advertising. It wasn’t encouraging: 45% of New Zealand women 50-64 feel advertisers aren’t interested in speaking to them, increasing to 61% among those 65+. More than three in four New Zealand women agree advertisers should focus on their customers’ values, not their age, but 90% of the briefs in market target people 54 and younger. There’s some work to be done here and I welcome your feedback.
Canvas8’s behavioural analysts have distilled 15 hours of Nudgestock talks into seven actionable learnings, alongside examples of brands already applying them.
Going global Globalwebindex’s fifth global report, based on fieldwork June 29-July 2 with a New Zealand sample of 518 people, provides lots of trended New Zealand statistics on optimism, financial circumstances, delayed purchases, travel, media behaviours and attitudes to advertising. Of note, more New Zealanders now believe Covid-19 will last six months or longer in our country; now at 69% up from 52% in the last survey wave. Our levels of optimism have dropped slightly to 73% but we’re still far more positive about our situation compared to global responses. Two in every three New Zealanders say Covid-19 has had a small to no impact on their personal or household finances, and this has improved since the first wave. There’s a bit of delayed spend going on, but much of this is tied to travel.
Updated to include Covid-19 commentary, this trend report by Mintel identifies three key opportunities for the global food, drink and food service industries to act upon in the next 10 years. Firstly, they believe consumers will reward companies that show leadership and demonstrable change on environmental issues, ethical business practices and public health, among other important causes – also those that fuel the new era of conscious consumption. Consumers will be looking for eco-friendly packaging and products, while also seeking guidance on how to make their diets more sustainable. Secondly, personalisation in diet and health regimes, which include brain and emotional health, will continue to grow as consumers are able to gain more in-depth knowledge about their biology. And thirdly, what Mintel is naming High Tech Harvests explores how science will interlace with the food supply chain to boost yields and combat climate change. Alex Beckett, Associate Director, Mintel Food & Drink, says: “Celebrating the sustainable, health and cost benefits of lab-grown food will be crucial in educating consumers about such nature-identical alternatives. But the industry will be compelled to elevate the role of nature, and humans, in the storytelling of these new, modern solutions.”
With cool new terminology, such as Calm Commerce, Desynchronised Society and Equitable Resilience, this paper by WGSN, a global authority on consumer and design trends, is worth a look. It was presented at Cannes recently and you can view the video on demand here.
Yesterday marked three months since Bauer Media closed and to date there is still no news about where some of New Zealand’s most beloved magazine brands will land. On 17 June, Bauer’s entire Australia-New Zealand operations were acquired by Mercury Capital, but the New Zealand assets remain for sale. Three months is a long time to wait if you’re a subscriber of a weekly title and even longer for the former editorial teams. Hopefully, there will be some sort of resolution soon.
This week I urge you to click through to view some of the highlights from Cannes unCanned – and take a look at the excellent work by Kantar in their latest offering.
I hope some of you managed to watch something from Cannes. Thankfully, there will be unlimited access to the videos now, so pop along to the site to watch on demand.
Bringing it home with Kantar
As you will recall, Kantar did a stellar job in lockdown collecting consumer sentiment every week for 13 weeks, along with seven waves of qual research. Now they’ve brought all their learnings together to create “How your brand and customer strategies should evolve to account for Covid-19”. It’s far more exciting than it sounds, trust me. Kantar covers how our values and behaviours have changed and the implications for brands and customer experience. Within each of the behaviours – which include cooking at home, flexible working, buying local, online shopping, sustainable living and living online – there are guides on how the values play out; there are also cool tables that cover habits, cultural factors and trade-offs by what fuels the behaviour and what hinders it.
I was very excited to see James Hurman’s new collaboration with Peter Field. Launched at Cannes unCanned, this excellent paper provides a new creative effectiveness ladder, which steps through six main types of effects that impact commercial success, and is based on extensive analysis of past Cannes Lions winners. It’s excellent and will be used as a judging framework for all future Creative Effectiveness Lions. I hope some of it can be used for our own Effies next year. It looks pretty straightforward and might encourage the use of more research metrics and the inclusion of more commercial results. It was discovered along the way that a campaign’s marketing effectiveness is heavily influenced by the creative commitment. This looks as though it would be fairly easy to replicate for this market and is based on media budget, duration of campaign and the number of media channels used. Check the video link here
Jones Lang LaSalle has produced an excellent update if you’re needing something for clients. It covers both New Zealand and Australia and deep dives into what economic recovery looks like in each market as well as reporting on capital markets and office, retail and industrial & logistics sectors as we move towards the next normal.
Learnings from Les
You’ve already seen the first short video from Adam & Eve DDB’s group head of effectiveness Les Binet, in this series on marketing through a pandemic. Now the others are available. They’re not all as relevant as the first, given our very fortunate situation in New Zealand, but episode four covers the role of advertising – and Binet says the downturn provides great media buying opportunities and potentially cheaper share of voice.
Chaz Wigley (Chairman of BBH Asia) reflects on his favourite campaigns from BBH in Asia over the past 20 years as he prepares to depart Singapore and the agency for his return to the UK.
Please share your valued insights and go in to win a bottle of champagne!
Media Reactions is Kantar’s new thought leadership campaign that will launch in September. It will be informed, in part, by an online survey with hundreds of senior marketing leaders around the world representing brands, agencies and media companies.
Please join hundreds of other marketing leaders from brands, creative and media agencies, and media companies in sharing your perspective by participating in this year’s “Media Reactions” study. The survey takes approximately 10 minutes to complete and all responses will be kept anonymous and confidential. Survey participants will also receive free, exclusive access to additional bonus data and insights not included in the final study when it is released later this year.
For six years, Kantar has examined the state of the industry to understand the challenges in creating cohesive, integrated marketing that reaches consumers and impacts growth. For 2020 their global “Getting Media Right” survey has been refreshed and rebranded as “Media Reactions” and reflects the latest trending topics including the impact of COVID-19 and trust in media, inequity in advertising and the continued development of AI. The data from this survey will be combined with that of a similar consumer survey to create a holistic view of the industry and actionable insights for growth.
Please complete the survey by no later than Friday, July 10.
A sense of humour, I believe, is imperative in most situations. Yesterday was no different, when my daughter and I hit the road selling my husband’s in-season fashion range for the first time and called in to see a small fashion retailer client. Her opening line was, “It’s not really my style and I don’t like the range.” Having worked in media, I thought, “I’ve dealt with tougher crowds than this,” and ploughed on. She eventually gave us a small order. Fortunately, she’s not our typical client and business is picking up. Paymark results also reflect this, with the latest stats (June 14) showing retail performing at 1% above the same time last year. And talking retail, isn’t Auckland downtown’s Commercial Bay looking great?
There’s nothing like a global pandemic to give us all a new appreciation of life and each other. It was great seeing everyone at the unofficial Beacons after-party last week. Nothing beats talking to people face to face. A special shout-out to Nick Vile from oOh!media, who not only won Best Sales Team, but also bought us all drinks and made a group of ex-Bauer peeps feel very welcome and not at all weird for being there. I heard that for every drink you consumed, you now have to book a campaign with them…
In this short video, Les Binet, Adam & Eve DDB’s group head of effectiveness, gives advice to marketers on how this crisis differs from past economic crashes and what else we can learn from history.
This year Ogilvy’s Nudgestock festival went viral, global and free. Thousands tuned in last Friday night (our time) and you can watch it now at your leisure – all 12 hours of it! Featuring speakers such as Rory Sutherland, and psychology and behavioural economics experts like Cass Sunstein, Dan Ariely, Dr Laurie Santos, Adam Ferrier and BJ Fogg, there’s bound to be something to pique your interest. The festival started by streaming speakers in Australia and slowly worked across the globe to finish in the UK. I watched the first couple of hours and a highlight was the very entertaining Bri Williams, one of Australia’s leading experts in behavioural influence, whose segment “Lazy, Scared and Overwhelmed” was easy to digest, fun and informative.
Details on the line-up. Check it out to help navigate through the hours of video segments.
If you’ve never been to the Cannes Lions Festival, this is your opportunity to attend, albeit without the French Riviera, cocktails and networking. However, it’s free this year and streaming on a device near you. Speakers include Sir Martin Sorrell, David Droga, Sherilyn Shackell, Fernando Machado and Cindy Gallop.
Sessions include “The Power of Personalisation”, “The Next Normal”, “Agile Marketing: Driving Growth in an Age of Uncertainty”, “The Brand is Back” and “There’s Never Been a Better Time to Blow Shit Up: How to Re-Make Advertising”. Sounds amazing, doesn’t it? Register here and if you miss out, it will be available to watch later.
This case study details how a Czech Republic-based HR company, with more than 300 product lines, conducted an extensive customer journey mapping process. It stemmed from research the company conducted that led them to the decision to stop thinking their customer was a one-product customer. This article outlines their process and key learnings.
Prior to Covid-19, YoungShand was well underway with its Marketing Challenges Project, which aims to better understand the significant issues marketing teams are facing in New Zealand. They had already conducted interviews with 21 senior marketing people when we went into lockdown – so like all good researchers they checked back in with their participants to see if they wanted to revise their points. And they did, when it came to the critical importance of strategy, digital and timeliness. These are their overall findings, compiled in a well thought-through, easy to digest document.
The impact of the coronavirus has had devasting and wide-reaching impact across the world. Individuals, governments, and businesses have been striving to figure out the best way to protect themselves, their families, their citizens, and their employees. Conducted across 36 global markets with responses from 700 clients, this study is a comprehensive look into the ramifications that COVID-19 will have on the marketing plans for global clients, specifically delving into the impact on marketing investment and priority initiatives for 2020.
What’s New in New Zealand? A Look at Life After Lockdown’ is a photo journal that does just that, it looks at what life is like after lockdown in New Zealand. Its purpose is two-fold. They are trying our best to help brands and clients make sense of what is going on in the heads of New Zealanders. They are also trying to give the rest of the world a glimpse into what a Post-Covid world looks like, from a country that is one of the closest in the world to getting there.
Insights - 5 June 2020
It’s been a fortunate week for us all in terms of insights, with the release of BBH’s “How to emerge well” and the amazing “Guide to marketing in the Covid-19 recession” from WARC. These two pieces are both must-reads and, more importantly, provide usable templates and great
thought-starters for marketers and planners. Take it easy out there and best of luck for the Beacons next week. I will be cheering you on from the virtual sidelines.
I can’t say enough about WARC’s latest efforts. It has everything a marketer needs right now – it’s concise, logical, clever and well-sourced. Collated by some of the best minds in the business, this guide offers lessons from previous recessions; it explains why this recession is so
different and how this impacts advertising and comms; it lays out the 10 actions to take right now, and opportunities for growth, based on emerging trends.
Just released, this new briefing by BBH titled Brands Post Covid: How to Emerge Well, is excellent. Skip past the first two sections, Where Are We Now and Everyone’s Emotions, and head straight to Post-Covid Brands followed by Category Propositions. Here you’ll find different future prediction models from Forbes and McKinsey followed by some new customer and brand journey maps, which BBH has constructed from multiple data sources to help navigate the way forward. They also cover how consumers and brands might change, and how brands pivoted in 2008 and other crises. They present a brand needs-wheel, where they ask: what needs can you own to give your brand a clear role, and what new occasions can your brand lean into? You can then reimagine your brand touchpoints, explore the advantages of direct to consumer and then discover trends to plan for. A great thought-starter.
Jane Kendall is the executive strategy director from T Brand Studio at the New York Times and in this interview with Adweek’s senior editor, Nicole Ortiz, she discusses moving both fast and slow when dealing with brand communications. One of her mantras, she says, is: “Great brands resolve paradox.” She talks about the tension that exists between freedom and the sense of security and safety. She believes consumers need emotional support now from places they’ve never needed support before. She is passionate about creating honest, strong connections between brands and people. I like her.
More talented ex-Bauer staff are taking the opportunity to reinvent themselves. Design & Type is a collective of formidably experienced writers, designers, illustrators and content creators. Together, they have a wealth of experience and an arsenal of skills. Just for fun – of the D&T collective members – who do you think:
• wasaccosted by a machete-wielding private security guard when attempting to interview a P-addicted, multi-millionaire property developer at his burned-out mansion?
• spent their early childhood on a remote army base in rural Thailand during the Vietnam War?
• introduced Paul Holmes to his portrait photographer (just back from shooting Puff Daddy and Beyoncé in NYC), to whom Holmes handed his coat, asked to pay the parking meter and asked, “Where’s the photographer?”?
• at an 80s TV One party was chatted up by singer and Andy Warhol muse Nico, but only because (he found out later) the druggie star had picked him as the most likely one in the room to be “holding” (he wasn’t)?
• visited the Playboy Mansion in Beverly Hills and met Hugh Hefner wearing only satin running shorts (Hef, that is)?
I was a bit slow on the uptake here, as I haven’t been on top of Nielsen’s activity, but I’m in the loop now. As expected, the lockdown and subsequent periods have seen an increase in print media consumption across the board. Nielsen cleverly split their Q1 2020 sample into two periods, pre-lockdown (23 Jan-25 March n= 2557) and during lockdown Level 4 (26 March-17 April n= 530) followed by a Q2 dip (23 April-10 May n= 596), which incorporated level 3. They expect to follow this up with two more dips in coming weeks. It would be good to see all media consumption across these periods to put it into context. But here’s the outtake for print in the meantime:
• Newspapers - 51% of New Zealanders are reading the printed version of daily newspapers in an average week, up 21% from Q1. Heavy newspaper usage is up by +50% to 30% while the combined online news sites and print audiences have soared to 92%, an increase of +23% from the first quarter of the year.
• Magazines –Despite not being deemed an essential service and Bauer closing during this time, magazine readership increased during lockdown, reaching 72% of the population with time spent reading peaking after lockdown at an average of 70 minutes per issue, an increase of 75% from Q1 20.
These guys don’t muck around, releasing their fourth global report, based on fieldwork that just ended last week (May 19-26, n=554 for NZ). It’s worth picking out stats from the report, particularly in the areas of domestic travel, retail, optimism, advertising and alcohol consumption, in which New Zealand has excelled. This time they have even included us in some of the trended data.
I’m not sure if I’d call myself a “sophisticated marketer”, but don’t let the name stop you browsing through LinkedIn’s latest efforts in the current issue of their digital magazine. There are actually some fantastic things in here, including: 23 free resources, B2B marketing, advertising in a recession, the new sales landscape – also, five marketing books are reviewed. And thanks to the 23 free resources, I now click through to a live safari tour in Africa at 4.30pm each day.
The Drum’s Can-Do Festival will celebrate positive energy, innovation and creative thinking with an overall theme of “Creative Disruption”. Many trends have been accelerated by the pandemic, but they represent just as many opportunities as they do threats. The festival will
cover big topics, such as health, education, society, entertainment, finance and media. Pre-register here
Keep checking out MarketingWeek’s The Lowdown. There are lots of interesting sessions running this week, which will be available to watch either live or next week.
For those who are fans of McKinsey & Company, you can binge-read their First 100 Insights – helpfully presented in four thematic collections: the path to the new normal, safeguarding lives and livelihoods, getting back to work and jumpstarting the recovery.
After dropping in April to levels similar to that of mid-2008, consumer confidence has rallied slightly to 97.3 for May. Although we haven’t seen a number like this since 2009, it’s at least moving in the right direction. The bounce is similar to what we’ve seen in Australia as fiscal and
monetary policy measures ease the immediate pressure. Worth a read, but you would be best to have a stiff gin alongside.
Released quite early in the pandemic, these 10 emerging consumer trends have been tracked by Trendwatching for some time and offer signals for what people will value and their priorities in a post-coronavirus world. Always good for creating new “trend” language, they also include how the trend can be applied to your business.
Insights - 29 May 2020
Remember this? January 5th, 2020
Scrolling through my photos yesterday I came across this one taken at Bland Bay, Northland, on January 5 this year, when smoke from the devastating Australian bush fires caused the skies above us to turn orange. Holiday-makers at the campsite across the road from us retreated to their tents and an eerie silence eveloped the normally busy bay. If we had known the challenges ahead, would we have been so spooked? And even in our wildest sci-fi dreams, could we have imagined this global pandemic that has touched all our lives – from Wall Street to Wanaka….
The clever David Mattin, Global Head of Trends & Insights, launched Trendwatching – as a weekly newsletter – in January 2020, interestingly. This week, his “New World, Same Humans”, asks: “What will you build in this new world?” He’s identified three shifts for the post-pandemic landscape: the anticipated arrival of a spate of new tools and platforms emerging to connect us locally; virtual worlds becoming domains of meaningful experience; and continued upheavals expected in the workplace, with automation expected to drive more change and the acceleration of new forms of work.
Now that we appear to have Covid-19 under control in New Zealand, we all need to dig deep to face tough economic conditions. Dentsu Aegis has done another stellar job putting together its latest report focused on just this. First, it covers off consumer sentiment and behaviour, followed by best practice for surviving a recession. Great work, guys.
Written by Christophe Castagnera, Head of Connected Experiences at Imagination, this short article published on the IPA website asks how businesses and brands are going to rethink experiences on a strategic level. It has some interesting links, including Imagination’s first global study of experiences conducted in 2018 and 2019, which “revealed that experiences are not a marketing channel, but rather an entire ecosystem of places, spaces, communication channels and activities that connect brands with people on a deeper level”. He believes there are opportunities for a more targeted approach that will benefit both brands and consumers.
The main reason I loved working at Bauer Media was the people. It was full of incredibly driven, smart, innovative people like ex-editors Kelly Bertrand, Emma Clifton, Nicky Dewe and Alice O’Connell, who have launched a new digital site called Capsule. In the wake of the shock closedown of Bauer NZ, they say: “After a few weeks of tears, too many carbs and so much wine that the neighbours judged us on recycling day, we all realised what we wanted to do - write. So Capsule was born, a site for the savvy, strong, intelligent and stylish woman who wants to know what’s happening, what’s trending, what’s new, and what’s worth talking about.” I like it so much I’ve already asked for their rate-card.
Every week for the past 11 weeks Kantar has gauged the attitudes of Kiwis to the Covid-19 situation and delivered us insights. Their latest efforts show New Zealanders wanting to prioritise local goods and services, striving for an improved work-life balance, and 44% are looking forward to travelling internationally again post-Covid-19. [Read more here, see attached.] This is Kantar’s last weekly update. Although they will continue to monitor New Zealanders’ sentiments, behaviours and attitudes, they are now focusing their efforts on hosting a webinar that draws all of their learnings from the past three months, both globally and locally, to understand how Covid-19 will change the relationship between brands and their customers. Not to be missed. Good job, Kantar!
Kantar New Zealand webinar – How should brand and customer strategies evolve in response to Covid-19? 10am – 11:30am. Thursday 25th June. If you would like to register for this event, please contact simon.munro@kantar.com
Mobile data based on the movements of a 70,000-strong Kiwi user panel shows audience activity is rapidly surging back to normal with visitation to retail stores and malls getting back to pre-Covid levels. This is backed by Paymark, showing many retail categories recording YoY growth in till takings. Key consumer sentiment shows Kiwis wanting to re-connect with friends and family and rewarding themselves with a little retail therapy or going out to a restaurant or bar.
With only a few movie theatres able to open under Level 2 in New Zealand, the industry must be hurting. Mark Ritson has this week dedicated his column in MarketingWeek.com to his thoughts on the impact of Covid-19 on the industry and what it would mean to lose the magical experience of watching a film on a big screen. None of this is helped by the phenomenal success of the simultaneous release, in early April, to theatres and (home) digital rental market of the kids’ movie, Trolls 2. It has proven to be the highest grossing VOD title in the history of American cinema.
In response to the pandemic, 20 major film festivals from around the world are coming together for 10 days (from 29 May) of curated films streamed on YouTube for free. All viewers will be able to make donations to the World Health Organisation’s Covid-19 Solidarity Response Fund.
The innovative teams at TrendWatching and Business of Purpose have created a very searchable platform full of Covid-19-related innovations from around the world.
Every week this cool newsletter arrives from TBWA telling me about the latest trends and innovations by brands in response to Covid-19. This week it included Bose’s new campaign for their noise cancelling headphones, called Dear Neighbour, and Nike’s new inspirational film Never Too Far Down to mark the return of competitive sport. Click below to sign up.
A new report from GlobalWebIndex provides insights about the divergent attitudes between frequent travellers and the general population from various parts of the world.
I thought I was well traveled in New Zealand, but a recent post highlighting special local deals caught my eye to reveal something previously unknown to me. Unfortunately, the Koha climb deal is now booked out, but this still looks like an incredible experience.
Insights - 22 May 2020
Who knew that life without a job, during a global pandemic, could be so rich and fulfilling? No lying around watching Netflix for me! As well as curating this newsletter for the Comms Council, which I’m enjoying immensely, I’ve been working on my husband’s wholesale fashion manufacturing business with my daughter, a creative, who’s also ex-Bauer. There’s been a new website created, a clear B2B strategy put in place and last week, Georgia and I were at the Auckland Domain doing a fashion shoot and creating content. Most enjoyable.
This week I was very happy to see my 17-year-old son head back to school at Western Springs College. Unlike some, he hasn’t exactly “thrived” in lockdown and has produced one paragraph during the past four weeks (I kid you not). Fortunately, the school was one step ahead in predicting different responses from students. I was most inspired by principal Ivan Davis’ email last week assuring students that “they must not feel judged or feel that it’s too late to be able to do well this year… The time it will take for children and some staff to reconnect and relax will be different for everyone. Wellbeing needs to be addressed before learning will happen.” With these thoughts in mind, go easy out there, my friends.
It’s always good to present different views. Martin Lindstrom, of the well-known book buy-ology: Truth + Lies about Why We Buy – based on a huge neuro-marketing study that looked into the brains of 2000 volunteers while they were exposed to ads, logos, commercials, brands and products – has just produced a short version “for a Coronavirus World”. In stark contrast to Mark Ritson’s comments this week about the only long-term impact of Covid-19 being recessionary, Lindstrom believes things will never be the same. (I think it’s important to remember that he is American, and their experience of the virus has, unfortunately, been quite different to ours.)
He believes our amygdala (the part of our brain that processes emotions) has been activated into overdrive and we’re all living in a permanent cloud of fear. Apparently, the amygdala has one unique skill – it overrides anything and everything – like an emergency breaker switch. Excessive toilet paper buying is a symptom, so we haven’t been completely immune in New Zealand. As a result of Covid-19-charged behaviours, says Lindstrom, we’re psychologically exhausted. He predicts we’ll get fat, divorced, question our purpose in life and re-evaluate everything. The perceived value of money will change, which will express itself in a variety of ways: a rebound bucket list; more risky sports and adventures; parties, holidays and quality time with friends and family. He says the virus has taught us something about “the efficiency of a 100% digital lifestyle; but as appealing as it first seemed, something was missing. We need that something – our craving for a physical sense of belonging, a desire for human connection – at any price.”
In terms of brand he believes now is the moment to build your brand. He says you have the opportunity to make a lifelong impact on your customers, good or bad. Post-recovery, we’re going to find ourselves in a new online environment and, thanks to our amygdalas, we’ll have whole new routines. Finally, he says: “You won’t be remembered for wins or losses, but for how you were there for your employees and customers.”
Peter Field’s good work can be found in many places at the moment. This link, to a recent webinar by System 1, also includes the clever Orlando Wood on “How to advertise: advice for brands today”.Some of Field’s advice for advertisers during a recession:
- Going dark carries high risk of share loss and greater price sensitivity.
- Short-term promotional strategies lead to dependency and profit loss.
- Innovation is a better short-term strategy.
- Maintained or increased marketing spend brings short-term hit to profitability during recession but much stronger growth to profitability in recovery.
- Be guided by the SOV/SOM rule: maintain positive ESOV (maybe possible with reduced spend).
In 2008/09 many high-profile successes were driven by emotional “feel good” brand campaigns. Lessons from the past reviewed; focus on the long-term if you can; defend your share of voice; seize your market opportunity; demonstrate humanity and generosity.
Then Wood talks through findings from System 1’s new ad testing, which calls for more right brain thinking for advertising during Covid-19. He says:
1. This is a time of heightened empathy, of shared experience, of alertness and vigilance.
2. Do I need to create new work? Not necessarily: pre-existing brand work will most likely still connect today as well as it did. In fact, revisiting work from the past can be very successful.
3. But won’t new ads connect better? Yes, but there’s huge variability by brand. Some perform much better, some much worse than pre-existing work – on both emotional response and brand recognition.
4. What if I do need to create new work?
- Show life, generosity and how you can help. People, place, community, humour, spontaneity and lived time are enormously valued today.
- Remain distinctive. Draw on your existing campaign, make use of your existing assets or characters.
- Avoid mechanistic advertising that is empty of life, didactic, distant, highly rhythmic, reliant on on-screen words or voiceover, focused on things rather than people. Avoid the cliché.
Antony Young hosted a webinar on Tuesday this week with Tony Alexander (best known for his 25-year stint as chief economist at BNZ). For those of you who haven’t come across Antony Young, he’s spent 20 years running agencies in London, New York and China and is now ensconced in the Horowhenua on a blueberry farm. These days he wears many hats – he’s a founding partner of the Digital Café in Wellington and is chair of the Horowhenua NZ Trust, supporting the economic development of businesses in his local area. It was in this role that he hosted the webinar, where Alexander discusses his views on the current economic climate and what lies ahead for New Zealand. In this half-hour session, Tony reminds us that we’re not going through a banking or fiscal crisis; he provides context around key economic metrics and predictions on how the recession will play out in house prices, retail, travel, tourism, hospitality and the rural sector. Worth a listen – realistic, informative and quite uplifting. Thanks for organising, Antony!
Yes, you read it correctly. Cronkshaw Fold Farms, Rossendale, Lancashire has found a new niche. Their response to Covid-19 was to rent out their goats for important business video calls. “Be real,” they say. “Will anyone even notice if a scape-goat joins the call”? It costs only £5 and all currencies are accepted to have one of their team join the first 10 minutes of your Zoom meeting. Sounds like a plan.
Insights - 15 May 2020
I’ve just spent an hour watching a Zoom webinar with Mark Ritson – not my typical Thursday night, but hey, what’s normal these days? And speaking of which, he’s of the opinion we’re going to snap back into our previous existences eventually. In the meantime, I’m slowly accepting the “new normal”. I’m cringing as I write these words; as some of you already know, it’s my least favourite phrase. However, it’s neatly explained by Devi Sridhar, a public health expert at the University of Edinburgh, in the Canvas8 report below. He says: “The pandemic is not a hurricane or a wildfire. It is not comparable to Pearl Harbour or 9/11. Such disasters are confined in time and space. The SARS-CoV-2 virus will linger through the year and across the world. Everyone wants to know when this will end. That’s not the right question. The right question is: ‘How do we continue?’” The report includes a piece on the rising expectations for closure – and I realise now this is what I’m struggling with the most. The lack of closure. At least there’s a wealth of interesting research and commentary to read and digest while we figure out “how to continue”. My best picks below.
David Farrar has sourced some detailed numbers, which show New Zealand’s performance in comparison to other OECD countries, and the results are pretty bloody fantastic.
The IPA asked UK-based creatives for their thoughts and best ideas and responses to the outbreak. The result, I found, was extremely uplifting and reminded me why I love advertising. The piercingly succinct ideation and creativity is inspiring. Worth a look – loads of examples included.
This article by Marc Nohr (Group CEO Miroma Agencies/chair of the IPA – Commercial Leadership Group) provides guiding principles to help us weather Covid-19’s impact on the advertising industry. It also highlights the positives we should hold on to as we look to the future. Nohr says: “The entrepreneur in me knows crises force significant change; and change can be positive. We will come out of this. The pendulum will swing back. But first comes the hard graft.”
A shout-out to my good friend David Thomason, who sent me this excellent article by Mark Di Somma, a business and brand strategist. From a New Zealand lens, Di Somma looks at how the current global health crisis has generated huge changes in how we think about everyday life. Along the way, this new age of lockdown has also introduced important, new separations into how we view aspects of our economy and, indeed, the wider global trading environment.
GOLD CASE STUDIES | The 2020 Beacon Awards in association with oOh!media
Posted 16 July 2020.
Click the campaigns below to read the papers that took out Gold at the 2020 Beacon Awards in association with oOh!media. These papers all demonstrated excellence in media thinking and delivered excellent results for the advertisers.The 2020 Beacons were held virtually on Wednesday 10 June 2020.
Thanks for clicking through to Get the Facts. Have a look through the resources below for invaluable advice on how you can yield the best results during a recession.
While we’ve done a world-class job in shutting down Covid-19, there is a significant economic price that we are only just beginning to experience. While we can’t say for sure how long this recession will last, we believe that as members of an industry that is an economic growth engine, we have the opportunity to play a significant role in driving our economies back to strength.
Those who continue to invest in their brand during a recession and execute it well, will come out of the recession better than those who don’t.
Two of the world’s leading authorities on advertising effectiveness, Rob Brittain and Peter Field have published their major new report ‘AUNZ Advertising Effectiveness Rules - Winning or Losing in a Recession’, the first study to examine the implications of COVID-19 and the impending recession for the advertising industry on both sides of the Tasman.
This report is proudly brought to you in collaboration with The Communications Council Australia and LinkedIn Marketing Solutions.
In collaboration with renowned UK Strategist, Peter Field, we created Why Aren’t We Doing This?, a brand playbook which elaborates on the importance of long-term brand building and urges marketers and business leaders to understand how overly sales-led advertising is negatively impacting their business in terms of long-term growth and profitability.
New Zealand spends billions on paid advertising every year. In this comprehensive report by Deloitte Access Economics, we explore the impact this investment has on economic growth, employment, social change and innovation. It’s all in Advertising Pays. Take a look.
Peter Field - The Importance of Long-term Brand Building
Watch Peter build on and expand the evidence published in Why Aren’t We Doing This? with up-to-date case study evidence and data from the UK and New Zealand, as he explores the tension between long-term brand building and short-term activation advertising as well as the empirical evidence for why brand building is essential for the long-term profitability of businesses.
He observes the strong trend to short-term activation-focused advertising over the last ten years and discusses the factors that are driving this and the commercial dangers they present.
At the Comms Council we believe strongly that a brand is the most powerful competitive advantage a business can create. And the evidence suggests that holds true even in a recession. So we’ve taken our existing “Brands Need Building” campaign and updated it to reflect the latest thinking and evidence about marketing in a recession.
Over the last few weeks, many of our members have been forced by unfortunate circumstances to make some very difficult decisions about people and resourcing within their organisations. The numbers falling out of our industry appear significant, as many agencies have been forced to respond to declines in client spend or get their businesses in shape for the recession.
At the Comms Council, our goal has been to help everyone stay connected with the industry through these difficult times. Therefore, we would like to offer the benefits of a Comms Council membership for 12 months, free of charge, to any individual made redundant from a member agency of the Comms Council. This will include continuing to receive newsletters, ongoing access to website material, invitations at member prices to awards, seminars, events and training etc.
If you would like to learn more or sign up for the programme, please complete the form below and return to the Comms Council team.
Effies 2020 | A View from the Industry - Paul Head
Posted 1 July 2020.
TVNZ is a long-standing Effie supporter and we’re proud to play our part in recognising the most effective work by New Zealand’s top marketers.
And now is the time we most need effective marketing.
Covid-19 has significantly dented economic growth and we need marketers to play a lead role in stimulating market demand and actively contributing to the economic recovery of Aoteroa.
We look forward to coming together as a community to celebrate the most effective marketing initiatives for the year and to inspire marketers to make a powerful difference in the year ahead.
Effies 2020 | A View from the Industry - Paul Head
Posted 1 July 2020.
We almost didn’t have an Effie Awards programme this year. In fact, at one point we’d made the decision not to go ahead.
The Covid shutdown had hobbled the economy and there were serious questions over whether agencies and advertisers would have the resource or inclination to write papers.
But Effie isn’t just another industry awards programme. It’s unique in that its sole purpose is to interrogate and celebrate work that delivers attributable results, proving the value of marketing and the investment that businesses make in it.
For that reason, we concluded that Effie this year and next is more important than ever.
As we move from dealing with the immediate health crisis to weathering the inevitable storm of recession, hard evidence of the kind Effie provides will be a critical proof point that marketing and advertising are economic growth engines.
In NZ we’ve done a world class job in closing down Covid 19, but there’s been a significant economic price to pay and we’re only at the start of that journey. But I have to believe we can do an equally world leading job in getting our economy back up to speed quickly. And as an important economic growth engine, I think the marketing community has a key role to play in that process.
No one is saying that it’s easy to win the internal battle to continue to invest in your brand during a recession, and sometimes it’s not credible to argue that without evidence. Effie helps in that regard.
So, let’s fight to continue to build our brands through this recession. The evidence is clear; those of us that succeed in this will come through the recession stronger and more profitable than those that don’t.
Effies 2020 | A View from the Effies Steering Committee
Posted 1 July 2020.
The Effies are all about confidence. DT - 21 June 2020
Whether it’s buoyant times or tough times like we’re facing as a result of COVID-19, confidence is critical for a healthy economy. The marketing and advertising industries have a huge role to play in rebuilding this confidence. As well as driving sales, we help create the public face for the high-profile organisations, businesses and brands that shape that economy.
The Effie Awards is a chance to lead the way by showing an unshaken confidence in our own industry, and our huge contribution to the bottom line.
We need the case studies, we need the numbers, we need the stories, we need the powerful brands and, perhaps most of all, we need the heroes. With any marketing, it takes the right mix of rational argument and salient emotional connection to be influential. The Effies helps do both for our industry. It creates that one time of the year when we take the time to carefully scrutinise, compare and learn. And it literally puts clever, confident ideas and clever, confident people on a pedestal where they can inspire us all.
There will be a few challenges or questions in mind for marketers and agencies considering entering the Effies this year. Here are four of the common ones, along with considered responses.
• Agencies may be reluctant to add the necessary data-sourcing etc. to a client’s current worries.
We’ve seen an increased interest from marketers in any opportunity to prove the value of their contribution to business. This includes evidence-based awards. The Effie ‘Step Up’ theme and its recognition of outstanding individual marketers directly supports this.
• COVID caused confusion or put a stop to any meaningful measurement or attribution.
The Effie eligibility period includes 21 months prior to the impact of COVID. Normally on-going campaigns with results stopping short of the Effie cut-off date would raise suspicion with judges. This year judges will be more than open to campaigns proving significant effects only up to the 25th March Lockdown. Of course, campaigns that can show results all the way up to the end of June will still be very welcome.
• COVID put a dent in results, so we can’t claim effectiveness.
Some have a mistaken belief that sales, or whatever appropriate measure, have to go up to prove effectiveness. We all like a hockey-stick graph, but it’s not compulsory. Many effectiveness awards (including UK’s exceptionally rigorous IPAs) have been won by campaigns that maintained sales, or in some cases showed declining sales and even share, that should have been much worse. The challenge, as always, remains to tell a compelling evidence-based story showing that advertising made the positive difference.
• Agency resource is under immense, ever-changing pressure, so it’s hard to justify the time to write Effie Award entries.
Agencies are feeling the same kind of pressure as most businesses. It’s hard to keep your eye on the bigger long-term picture e.g. brand-building, when there are so many short-term concerns. Yet the evidence shows that’s what businesses should do to compete and grow, and we are advising our clients accordingly. If we believe our own advice, we should follow it, and continue to invest in our own brands and build and reinforce perceptions of our contributions to NZ business. Winning at Effies helps do that.
New Zealand’s response to the virus put us on the world stage. Let’s use the Effies to celebrate and inspire New Zealand’s marketers, and demonstrate how we can help them restore New Zealand’s economy in a similarly enviable way.
EXTENDED Dates | 2020 New Zealand Effie Awards in association with TVNZ
Posted 19 June 2020.
Attention: Due to the current Covid restrictions, we have extended the below deadlines for the 2020 Effies in association with TVNZ.
To download the Call for Entries documentation and entry forms, click HERE
Call for Entries Issued: Monday 29 June 2020
Delayed closing date: Wednesday 26 August, 4pm
Late penalty deadline: Friday 28 August, 4pm
Campaign Material Due: Must be uploaded at the time of entry
Preliminary Judging (ONLINE): Thursday 10 to Monday 14 September
Finalists Announced: Wednesday 16 September
Tickets on Sale (TBC): Thursday 17 September
Category Judging Pre-Reading: Thursday 24 September to Monday 28 September
Convenor Updates Exec Judges: Tuesday 29 September/Wednesday 30 September
Category Judging Discussion Session: Thursday 1 October (Eden Park 12 noon)
Category Judges Review: Friday 2 October to Monday 12 October
Executive Judging: Wednesday 14 October at TVNZ
Effie Awards Show: Thursday 29 October (ONLINE)
Winning or Losing in a Recession by Robert Brittain and Peter Field
Posted 18 June 2020.
Winning or Losing in a Recession - By Robert Brittain and Peter Field
Two of the world’s leading authorities on advertising effectiveness, Rob Brittain and Peter Field have published their major new report ‘AUNZ Advertising Effectiveness Rules - Winning or Losing in a Recession’, the first study to examine the implications of COVID-19 and the impending recession for the advertising industry on both sides of the Tasman
This report is proudly brought to you in collaboration with The Communications Council Australia and LinkedIn.
WINNERS | 2020 Beacon Awards in association with oOh!media
Posted 9 June 2020.
Congratulations to all our winners from the 2020 Beacon Awards in association with oOh!media!
Last night between 4 - 5 pm, we held The 2020 Virtual Beacon Awards in association with oOh!media. Hosted live by the sparkling Hayley Sproull, we celebrated the best of NZ media thinking from the last year, over a long overdue drink.
Everybody was dressed to impress at their team parties as we crossed over to the winners for a virtual ‘Cheers’. The virtual show was recorded and will remain online until the end of this week. Watch below!
Meet the Best in Show and Media Agency of the Year Judges
Posted 2 June 2020.
Get to know the judges that made the tough calls for this year’s Best in Show and Media Agency of the Year awards.
Best in Show Judges
Anna Chitty - CEO, PHD China
Anna Chitty is a globally recognised senior media leader who has worked across multiple markets including New Zealand, Australia, China and the US. Joining the Omnicom Media Group family in 2006, where she has helped land blue-chip clients including Pepsi Foods & Beverages, Unilever Greater China, Carnival Cruise Lines and GSK in the US, and more recently VW, HP, Huawei and Bytedance’s short video social platform TikTok into the China operation.
As CEO of PHD China, Anna is focused to building a culture of relentless curiosity, with the courage to challenge norms, and an energy to producing innovative communication strategies that contribute to business growth. Her dedication to fostering great talent, and a genuine love of her craft, has resulted in her PHD China team being the most awarded for the work they do for clients, and 2018’s Agency of the Year as awarded by Campaign Asia, and Mumbrella’s APAC Agency of the Year in both 2017 and 2018.
Throughout her career, Anna has been recognized by local and international award bodies, named media planner/buyer of the year Greater China 2010 by Campaign Magazine, a Top 18 Media Professional in China 2010, Campaign Magazine’s Women to Watch in Asia Pacific Marketing in 2014 and winner of Campaign Asia’s Women Leading Change Award 2018. Most recently, she was named ‘Business Leader of the Year’ by the International Professional Women’s Society in Shanghai in 2019.
Actively contributing back to the industry, Anna participates in international industry events as well as speaking around topics of management, corporate culture and diversity. She serves the industry representing China on the 2015 Cannes Lions media jury, chaired Tencent’s MIND Awards in 2017 and acted as Chairman of the Media Jury at 2019’s Spikes Asia Awards.
Kevin Malloy - Independent Director/Consultant
Kevin has extensive experience in advertising and marketing. He has just completed a 29 year stint with the global media agency Starcom. In that time Kevin spent 17 years away from New Zealand, living in London (9 years), Hong Kong (2 years) and New York (6 years.) Kevin was the Worldwide Media Director of the ad agency DMB&B before going on to hold several executive positions with the media agency Starcom, including CEO of Global Operations, while based out of New York.
Kevin also led Starcom’s two largest global clients, Coca-Cola and P&G. His global leadership role on the demanding Coca-Cola assignment lasted for 20 years and included assignment wins in major markets such as the US, China and Russia. This assignment necessitated a strong digital and ‘what’s next’ appreciation as Coca-Cola constantly looked to maintain their relevance and leadership in the ever-changing media and digital environment.
Kevin is now based in Auckland and has a number of key governance roles where his advertising and marketing expertise is put to use on the Boards of TVNZ (where he is Deputy Chair), Kiwibank and most recently NZ Cricket . He is also involved on the Boards of the charity organizations, the Dingle Foundation and Halberg Foundation. He also has an on-going consultancy role with Tourism NZ and most recently worked with Lion to help manage their media agency pitch procKeviess.
Kevin also led Starcom’s two largest global clients, Coca-Cola and P&G. His global leadership role on the demanding Coca-Cola assignment lasted for 20 years and included assignment wins in major markets such as the US, China and Russia. This assignment necessitated a strong digital and ‘what’s next’ appreciation as Coca-Cola constantly looked to maintain their relevance and leadership in the ever-changing media and digital environment.
Kevin is now based in Auckland and has a number of key governance roles where his advertising and marketing expertise is put to use on the Boards of TVNZ (where he is Deputy Chair), Kiwibank and most recently NZ Cricket . He is also involved on the Boards of the charity organizations, the Dingle Foundation and Halberg Foundation. He also has an on-going consultancy role with Tourism NZ and most recently worked with Lion to help manage their media agency pitch process.
Eddie D’Sa - CEO, Nord DDB
Eddie began his career at PHD in London in 1995, when it was a small independent agency, with just 30 employees. This career move was not entirely part of a master plan, having studied Pure Physics at university in London.He then moved to Norway to snowboard and also found time to establish the first strategic communication unit in a scando media agency, together with winning some bling in Cannes.
Following a 4 year stint at OMD Denmark where he established the first Creative Comms unit in the region´s media agency branch, he moved back to Norway as Founder of Naked Communications Nordic operations in 2004, in the early days of Naked´s growth outside the UK. From here, the Nordic expansion moved to include both Sweden and Denmark, with projects executed in over 20 countries from “little Norway”.
Following the sale of Naked and some time gardening leave backpacking solo through Asia, he returned to Norway with the critical skill of being able to say “cheers” in Japanese, Burmese, Korean, Sinhalan, Taiwanese, Laosian, Tibetan and Ladakhi (kanpai, aung myin parsay, geonbye, ciyars, ho ta la, Tham keo, sukbo dethang, cheers).
After establishing some startups in the marketing and tech world over the next 5 years, Nord DDB invited him to be CEO of Norway towards the end of 2018.
Chelsea supporter, snowboarder, Netflix binger.
Media Agency of the Year Judges
Mike Cunnington - Deputy Commissioner, IRD
Mike is a highly experienced change leader with a marketing background and has held senior roles in both the UK and NZ. Mike has a broad based marketing experience across a range of sectors including grocery, automotive and financial services.
Mike is responsible for Inland Revenue’s overall customer strategy, how IR understands and influences customer behaviour, bringing together data analytics, knowledge management, digital, marketing, corporate communications and relationships, and customer insight and ensuring Inland Revenue’s transformation is truly customer-centric.
Previously Chief Marketing Officer for NZ’s largest bank, Mike has had responsibility for all segments and full marketing mix from customer strategy to marketing communications. He las led highly successful integrations of ANZ and National Bank brands.
Mike enjoys leading and galvanising organisational change, working across businesses to create and drive high performing cross-functional teams and demonstrably deliver business objectives. He has extensive experience of building and utilising emerging data analytics and digital capabilities.
Jon Macdonald - Director, Contact Energy, Mitre 10, NZX and TradeMe
Jon has deep experience in consumer behaviour, technology, and the internet, and is a proven leader, CEO and director. He recently moved to a governance career, and is on the boards of Contact Energy, Mitre 10, NZX, Trade Me and Sharesies. Jon was the CEO of Trade Me for over 11 years, finishing up in July 2019. Over that time, Trade Me grew substantially and provided excellent shareholder returns, while being recognised as one of NZ’s best loved brands, and a great place to work.
Earlier in his career, Jon worked in London for HSBC and Deloitte. Jon has a background in engineering and technology. He has a Bachelor of Engineering (Hons) from the University of Canterbury, and is a Chartered Member of the NZ Institute of Directors. He lives in Wellington with his partner and two kids.
Brent Smart - SMO, IAG Australia
Brent Smart is Chief Marketing Officer of IAG, Australia’s largest insurance company with leading brands including NRMA and CGU. Brent is currently Australia’s number 4 CMO, according to CMO magazine.
Previously Brent spent 20 years in the advertising business in Australia, New Zealand and the USA, working on Super Bowl spots, a Yellow Treehouse and lots of Cannes and Effie winning work. He was CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi New York and ran Colenso BBDO which was named NZ Agency of the Decade.
Originally from Melbourne which explains his love of footy, Brent lives in Bondi with his wife and 3 sons with weird accents.
Get to know the judges that made the tough calls for this year’s Executive, Best in Show and Media Agency of the Year awards for The Beacons.
Meet the Beacons 2020 Executive Judges
Posted 25 May 2020.
Get to know the judges that made the tough calls for this year’s Executive Awards for The Beacons.
Executive Judges
(Convenor) Simon Lendrum - Independent Strategic Consultant
Simon is currently an independent strategic consultant, with 25 years of experience in advertising and marketing. In that time, he worked across BMP DDB, Ogilvy and at J. Walter Thompson New Zealand where he was Managing Director for nine years. Many of you also know Simon also from his time as President of the Comms Council from 2014 to 2016.
Annemarie Browne is Chief Marketing Officer at Lotto NZ, responsible for the Brand Communications, Product Innovation and Digital functions. Annemarie joined Lotto NZ in 2018, after an extensive sales and marketing career at TV3, TVNZ, Seek NZ and Orion Health. Annemarie also spent a number of years in the international market at ITV in London and Channel Seven in Australia. She has had considerable experience in working with large New Zealand brands and managing their transition from traditional to digital models. Annemarie is a graduate of the University of Auckland.
Jodi O’Donnell – Commercial Director, TVNZ
Jodi has recently joined the TVNZ Executive team as Commercial Director; she is responsible for championing our customers and partnering with our agency and advertiser partners to deliver revenue through our sales and content solutions teams.
With over 20 years’ experience in the media and marketing industry across a range of senior Marketing Communications and Commercial roles, including Head of Marketing for TVNZ 2 and General Manager Agency Sales for TVNZ. Jodi is a true leader and brings a wealth of knowledge, passion and skill to the role. She is committed to working alongside agencies and advertisers to understand their challenges and identify the important role video can play in their communication mix. She loves a good discussion with her clients about how viewing habits are evolving and the future for video consumption – while also busting some of the myths and misconceptions about what viewers watch each night in the comfort of their own homes today.
Regan Savage - Independent Executive Marketer
Regan Savage is an executive marketer, having spent the last two years at Trade Me overseeing their marketing, customer engagement and audience growth, as well as Trade Me’s evolution into a more contemporary Kiwi brand. Prior to that Regan was GM Marketing Communications at Kiwibank, where his team was awarded for effective marketing strategies that ensured Kiwibank consistently led the banking category in customer and business growth, brand strength and marketing innovation.Robert Harvey - CEO, Dentsu Aegis Network
Rob has led transformational growth of Dentsu Aegis Network in New Zealand since taking the helm 2013. Under Rob’s leadership revenue has more than tripled, the group has won significant new clients, and welcomed new businesses BC&F Dentsu, Isobar, and Davanti via acquisition. With nearly 20 years of experience across Media and Creative businesses, Rob has worked on some of New Zealand’s most iconic brands and campaigns, been awarded in local and international awards shows, and led agencies including Zenith and Publicis Mojo.
Rob has been recognised on Campaign Asia’s 40 Under 40 list, won People’s Choice for ‘Human of the Year’ at the StopPress Awards, and in 2018 won the Sandy Smith Inspiring Individual Award. Rob currently sits on the Commercial Communications Council Executive Board, Media Committee, and Beacons Sub Committee.
Rob is focused on building a strong people first culture within DAN and is proud to represent the over 300 people that make up the group in New Zealand.
Outside of work Rob’s priority is spending time with his two beautiful young girls and wonderful wife.
Derek Lindsay - Independent
Derek has spent around 25 years leading teams in media & advertising agencies (including FCB and Spark, now PHD). Added to that, he has spent 10 years working on & chairing industry committees, plus 4 years as a previous Beacons Convenor. Now observing the media industry from the sidelines, Derek brings a wealth of insight to the evaluation of this year’s Beacon’s entries.
Samantha Osborne - Managing Director, Mindshare
Born and bred in the South Island with over 20 years in advertising and media, Samantha has worked extensively in the New Zealand market as well as overseas.
Passionate about the NZ communications industry she has been Chair of the Communications Council for Media for the last three years. Samantha has worked on both agency and media owner side including New Zealand’s biggest broadcaster TVNZ, a six-year stint as a Global Media Director in London and significant New Zealand agency experience across both independent full-service agencies and multinational media specialists.
In 2015 Samantha founded Mindshare NZ as a start-up and quickly set the course that the agency finds itself on today. Samantha is passionate about the NZ communication industry and as Chair, is dedicated to developing a sustainable, vibrant and competitive media market.
Nick Vile - General Manager, oOh!media
Nick has had 18 very enjoyable years in the NZ media industry with 10 of those in Out of Home. In that time he has witnessed impressive growth of the sector, having been at the forefront of Out of Home’s digitally lead evolution. Through that growth period he’s developed a good track record for team development and delivering business growth. An early adopter of WFH his attendance to “board” meetings often involves a trip to the beach!
David Thomason - Independent
DT started out his career in creative, rising to Creative Director before switching gears and becoming a Planner/Strategist for the last 20 of his, so far, 32-year career.
He was at FCB NZ for 13 years, where he led Strategy, and was a key member of the senior leadership team driving the agency’s brand, culture, and integrated ‘Behaviour Change’ approach.
In recent years DT has developed brand and advertising strategy for brands such as PAK’nSAVE, Mitre 10, Mercury and New Zealand Post, along with numerous government campaigns. In 2019 FCB achieved a remarkable hat-trick; winning most creative agency at the Axis awards, most awarded agency for media at the Beacon awards, and most effective agency at the Effie awards.
DT is an active contributor to the Comms Council, regularly writes and presents on advertising effectiveness, and guest-lectures on Behavioural Economics, Cultural Identity and Social Change at AUT and Auckland University.
Get to know the judges that made the tough calls for this year’s Best in Show and Media Agency of the Year awards.
Its happening! The Virtual Beacon Awards in association with oOh!Media
Posted 6 May 2020.
Join us for a virtual drink on Wednesday 10 June at 4pm as we come together as an industry and watch the 2020 VIRTUAL Beacon Awards. Please dress to impress as we may cross-over to your office party.
Click hereto subscribe to our Connection eDM to receive new episodes via email each week.
In response to the COVID-19 lockdown and the challenges presented, we are focusing on ways to keep our industry people motivated and creating opportunities to keep connected and inspired. We believe creativity and demonstration of effective campaigns can provide this.
Building on the fundamentals of the well established Strategic Planning Lab, lead contributors Murray Streets and Dan West have worked with the Comms Council to develop a ‘mini-series’ featuring campaigns which highlight great thinking and effective work for campaigns you probably haven’t heard about.
The Voices of Effectiveness mini series will be hosted here and new episodes will be released weekly via our Connection eDM (Click here to subscribe).
Good Morning World | Special Group & Tourism New Zealand
ASB Sustainaball | WiTH Collective & ASB
This Girl Can | Dan West - Stanley St
Rosie’s World | KingSt Advertising
Latest Evidence from Peter Field on Advertising in a Downturn
Posted 23 April 2020.
As you may know, the Comms Council has a strong relationship with both Peter Field and also the IPA in the UK.
Peter has just completed a piece of work for the IPA which looks at the data supporting advertising through a recession, the economic impact of previous pandemics (with some very surprising findings), why this recession is different from the last and what that means for advertisers. It was published last night.
If you only watch one video in lockdown, make it this one.
In summary, the key findings of his research derived from adapting previous lessons to this very new situation are:
1. Do not hit the panic button and withdraw brand advertising, unless short-term survival depends on it.
2. Resist the pressure to switch advertising spend from brand solely to activation – it makes very little sense to do so, even in the short term. Customers, in many cases are not reluctant to buy, they are unable to buy.
3. If the resources can be found, aim to maintain your share of voice, ideally at least at the level of your market share, where SOV equals SOM. You may even be able to reduce your budget if others are cutting theirs but be ready to adapt quickly to developments. You will need to monitor competitive activity regularly.
4. If the resources can be found, consider the opportunity to invest in lower-cost long-term growth by increasing share of voice during the recession.
5. Do not abandon your existing brand campaign unless it is clearly unsympathetic to the mood of customers. There may be more value and reassurance in continuity than in change.
6. Do not be frightened to use emotional brand advertising during recession – but ensure it is appropriate to the mood of customers. System1’s live research findings are right now supporting the use of advertising that demonstrates humanity through warmth, generosity and humor.
7.Look for tactical opportunities to create goodwill through acts of humanity and generosity, especially if you were proclaiming these virtues before the emergency.
oOh! joins National Bear Hunt to support Kiwis in Covid-19 isolation
Posted 8 April 2020.
oOh!media is joining in on the fun and taking New Zealand kids on a bear hunt through neighbourhoods across the country as part of the community based ‘National Bear Hunt’ initiative, providing children with some light-hearted entertainment while they remain in isolation.
Images of at least eight different teddy bears will be running across oOh!’s Street Furniture digital product nationwide, joining the many families around New Zealand who are placing teddy bears in their windows to be spotted by other families walking or driving past
oOh!media New Zealand’s General Manager, Nick Vile, said the teddy bear creative will change depending on context in the local area being triggered by the weather, special events and also the time of day.
“There is a specific teddy for sunny days, and a teddy with an umbrella for rainy ones. We also have a sleepy teddy for later at night, plus a teddy with cutlery for lunch time,” he said.
Mr Vile said the National Bear Hunt initiative was a fun and innovative way of keeping kids entertained as the entire country self-isolates.
“As a public space medium, oOh! is passionate about doing what we can to support the community through the technical capabilities of our digital product and our ability to reach into neighbourhoods nationwide.
mi9
Posted 6 April 2020.
Comms Council & Google NZ | Google Certification Programme
Posted 31 March 2020.
The Comms Council invites you to register for the Google Ads Certification Programme. This is a self-learning programme and is free of charge.
Our efforts to bring you valuable professional development opportunities at this challenging time, have been boosted by a partnership between the Comms Council and Google New Zealand. The Comms Council invites you to register for the Google Ads Certification Programme. This is a self-learning programme and is free of charge.
Skillshop, is a one-stop-shop Google training centre for everyone who uses Google professional tools and solutions. This programme helps you grow your knowledge and professional value with flexible, on-demand training for Google Ads and more.
Simply work through the self-learning modules to grow your proficiency in managing and measuring Search, Display, Measurement, Video, and Shopping campaigns. The courses you will cover combine a mix of marketing strategy and product tactics – and are built around real-world case studies and common business scenarios. You will develop actionable marketing and product know-how that you can apply right away.
Once you complete the courses, you can progress to the certification tests. When you pass, you will receive a personal Google certification to put on your LinkedIn, resumes etc.
Google Certification Program – Course Detail
Beginner Programme
Google Ads Search fundamentals & certification
Learn how to create and customise Google Search campaigns to help grow your business by getting your ads in front of more customers looking for what you offer. Earn a Google Ads Search Certification by demonstrating your mastery of Google Ads Search campaigns.
Google Ads Display fundamentals & certification
Master the fundamentals of using Google Display to deliver effective display campaigns that grow awareness, influence consideration or drive action for your business. Earn a Google Ads Display Certification by demonstrating your ability to deliver effective display advertising to meet specific marketing objectives.
Google Ads Video fundamentals & certification
Connect with your audience, reach potential customers along the entire purchase journey and meet your marketing objectives with the YouTube and Google Video ad solutions. Earn a Google Ads Video Certification by demonstrating your ability to get results from YouTube and Google Video advertising solutions.
Google Ads campaign measurement fundamentals & certification
Make better advertising decisions by understanding how digital ads performance is measured and actions data-driven insights to improve your campaigns. Earn a Google Ads -Measurement Certification by demonstrating your ability to measure and optimise Google Ads campaign performance.
Click into any of the courses – ideally you progress through the order provided and work with each module.
You’ll need to log in – let us know if you need any help with this process.
Take this opportunity to help grow your skills. By becoming certified in Search, Display, Video and Campaign Measurement your Google-certified status will signal your expertise to the industry, and grow confidence in your ability to get the best out of Google Ads.
Above all both the Comms Council and Google are here to assist in any way we can. Please direct any questions to: marlen@commscouncil.nz
We look forward to hearing of your progress.
CONNECTION for the Industry
Posted 31 March 2020.
The Comms Council has always had a role to play in bringing the industry together to work on common problems and creating that sense of connection which we all need in our working lives. In the unusual circumstances we find ourselves in today, that role of bringing the industry together is perhaps more important than ever.
As we we wind the series up, enjoy this last intimate and insightful conversation and watch to the end for the deep and meaningful wrap up.
Please watch here and feel free to share.
Episode 6 | 19.05.20
Episode 5 | 05.05.20
Episode 4 | 21.04.20
Episode 3 | 15.04.20
Episode 2 | 08.04.20
Episode 1 | 31.03.20
COVID-19 Update | A Message from CEO Paul Head
Posted 20 March 2020.
Over the past few days our world has changed dramatically and the impact of COVID-19 is an evolving situation that requires close monitoring and the exercise of practical precautions. We know that many members have already taken significant steps to prevent the spread of the virus, including working from home and restricting physical meetings or the number of people in a room at the same time.
Over and above the health impact, there’s no doubt that the economy will take a significant hit over the coming months. The very significant Government package announced this will undoubtedly help mitigate this damage.
Importantly, we should also not lose sight of the fact that our industry can play a real part in making sure the damage is limited as much as possible during the downturn and that the economy is spun up to speed quickly when the virus has passed.
We are a growth engine and we mustn’t forget that.
In fact there is solid proof that brands that continue to advertise during tough times fare better than those that don’t. They also tend to recover from a downturn more quickly. At the Comms Council we’ll be working hard to tell this story as loudly as we can over the next few months.
This new environment will also impact the Comms Council and we’ve done a complete review of our programme over the next quarter and have made a number of immediate changes, particularly to activities that involve mass gatherings.
As this stage the key change is that we are postponing the Beacon awards gala dinner scheduled for early May until a date to be determined. Following the PM’s announcements on restricting the size of public gatherings we have no choice in the matter. However, we plan to continue with Beacons judging so that we can announce winners. Agencies have put a lot of effort into writing entries and it would be a shame to let that go to waste. We will however delay Beacons judging for a couple of weeks while rapidly build an online judging portal.
The Comms Council team will continue to work from our offices unless there is a significant change in the situation. However, we’re well equipped for the entire team to work from home if necessary and this wouldn’t impact our ability to support our members.
We are in the midst of challenging and extraordinary times as we together face the global COVID-19 situation. Our thoughts are with all our members as you and your clients face a challenging few months. As your industry body we are committed to continuing to support you and champion the value our members add to NZ business and society, particularly in tough times.
Regards
Paul
Marketing in the time of Covid-19 by Mark Ritson
Posted 20 March 2020.
The coronavirus crisis will test us all, but marketers need to think long-term and keep building their brands, protecting their staff and honouring their values.
Have a read of this Marketing Week article by Mark Ritson which includes advice for marketers on how we can best look after our brands through the current Coronavirus crisis.
“The wheels of industry need to keep turning so workers are paid and families are fed. Those wheels are best greased by effective marketing.”
Click hereto read Mark Ritson’s article in Marketing Week UK.
WINNERS | oOh!Unmissable Out of Home Experience
Posted 12 March 2020.
Congratulations to the winners of the oOh!media ‘Most Unmissable’ competition!
Most Unmissable Female: Karla Tarr - YoungShand
Most Unmissable Males (joint winners): Rob Longuet Higgins – BCF& Dentsu
JP Twaalfhoven – Clemenger BBDO
WINNERS | 2020 Axis Awards
Posted 12 March 2020.
We had an incredible night sellebrating 40 years of great New Zealand creative!
Call for nominations | Sandy Smith Inspiring Individual Award brought to you by MediaWorks
Posted 11 March 2020.
Clinton Ulyatt Joins Marsden Inch
Posted 4 March 2020.
Earlier this week Marsden Inch announced that seasoned recruiter Clinton Ulyatt has joined the team to work alongside the existing crew of Jeneal Rohrback, Rob Roydhouse and Barry Williamson.
Clint has been in the creative recruitment space for most of the past 20 years and has a wealth of experience and, like his colleagues, well established relationships throughout the industry. He has been an instrumental figure at The Pond, Firebrand and 3rdeye Recruiting and knows the ropes inside out.
Category Judging (Online) : Friday 6 to Monday 9 November
Executive judging session: Wednesday 11 November (online)
Pressies Awards Show: Thursday 26 November 2020
Crave Global
Posted 27 February 2020.
ASA Update
Posted 27 February 2020.
2020 Election and Referenda Advertising
In preparation for the upcoming election, the ASA has revised its election advertising process to manage the likely increase in complaints and to assist industry and consumers in understanding possible code breaches in the context of election advertising. This information is expected to be made available at the end of February. The ASA works with the BSA, the Electoral Commission and the NZ Media Council on matters relating to election advertising and programme content. There will be training opportunities announced as part of the resource launch.
Community Standards Research
The ASA is currently working on reviewing national NZ community standards and the IPSOS survey is currently out in field. The results are due in at the end of February and will be shared with the industry and government in April/May. Generally prevailing community standards are often referred to in complaints board decisions on social responsibility issues but the ASA has not previously commissioned specific research in this area. The research has been designed to inform on a range of themes that regularly come up in the complaints process, including safety issues, the use of stereotypes and sexual appeal to sell an unrelated product.
Future proofing the ASA: the complaints process review
The ASA Governance Board has agreed to a substantive review of the complaints process to ensure it is fit for purpose now and looking forward. A project brief is being finalised and along with an environment scan and a robust assessment of the role technology could play, there will be an opportunity for stakeholders to comment at an early stage and also provide feedback on preferred models in due course.
Media Agency of the Year Award | Beacons 2020 in association with oOh!media
Posted 26 February 2020.
Roll out the red carpet and get ready for the big one. The 2020 Beacons Media Agency of the Year award is now open for entries. This most in demand award will be given to the Comms Council Member Agency whose business has made the greatest overall improvements to their business over the past year. It is open to Comm Council member agencies of any size.
Entries are open with a closing date of 4pm Thursday 16 April 2020. The winner will be chosen by a panel of independent judges from outside the industry.
Click hereto buy tickets for The 2020 Axis Awards.
Welcome to the 40th Axis Awards (40 years old!) where industry peers recognise creative excellence in our country. Every year Axis celebrates what our industry achieved in the last 365 days. Lisa Fedyszyn, Axis Convenor of Judges for 2020 says “This year Axis turns 40. This year we’re here to celebrate ideas from the past year that will hopefully be remembered for another 40. Ideas that make us say, “Bugger” I wish I’d done that. Ideas that decide if we’re wearing underwear or swimwear due to our geography. Ideas that stick out and stick around with the help of a stickman. Creative that builds brands, that are embedded in our shared cultural history and sees them being reminisced about around BBQs and water coolers many years on.”
Event Programme:
- Drinks: 6:30 pm - 7:30 pm.
- Show and dinner: 7:30 pm sharp
- Dinner Break: 8.45 pm.
- The show finishes: 10.30 pm approx. Cash bar from 10.30 pm. Bar closes at 11.30
Venue: SkyCity Convention Centre, 88 Federal Street, Level 5
Dress Code: Formal but Fabulous!
Please make sure you book your tickets early, as there will be no additional tickets available after the 6th of March.
PLEASE NOTE: Tables are tables of 10.
Comms Council will send physical tickets to you on Monday 9th March 2020. Any questions about purchasing or delivery of tickets, please contact Moira Love at moira@commscouncil.nz
As always, a BIG thank-you to Comms Council commercial partners TVNZ and oOh!media, plus all our other generous sponsors including NZME, Bauer Media, Google, Facebook, The Radio Bureau, Marsden Inch and The Sweet Shop.
Mark Ritson | The Big Lessons in Marketing Effectiveness
Posted 21 February 2020.
We were thrilled to have Mark Ritson present to a full house of 711 attendees at the SkyCity Convention Centre yesterday, on ‘The Big Lessons in Marketing Effectiveness’.
A huge thank you to everyone who made this event possible - to Mark, our sponsor Bauer Media, the Comms Council & Bauer Media team.
With the preliminary round of judging completed at the end of last week, the Comms Council have today released the finalists who will all compete to put a new Axis trophy in the cabinet.
Around 474 entries make up the 2020 finalists from the 95 categories that have so far been judged. This year we are seeing great work coming from all areas of the industry, with the more traditional categories of direct, print, design and outdoor having a strong showing this year.
“The amount of diverse work that has made it through to finalist should mean that there will be many celebrating at the Axis Awards Dinner this year” Paul Head, Comms Council CEO commented. “Our industry is always evolving and every year we face different challenges around categories and face new considerations at the judging round. This year was no different and the entire judging panel have done a great job with the huge number of entries. We congratulate everyone who made it on to this year’s finalist list and look forward to celebrating the ideas from the past year that will hopefully be remembered for another 40.”
Let’s find out what’s worth “sellebrating” at the 40th Axis Awards on March 12 at SkyCity Convention Centre. See you there.
Axis Speaks brought to you by Facebook - with Julian Schreiber, Juliana Cobb and Steve Coll TICKETS ON SALE NOW
Equality. Vulnerability. Sustainability.
Join us for an inspiring chat with three of the industry’s most interesting creatives as we get their perspective on some of the biggest challenges facing advertising - and the world - and delve into how their life experiences have shaped their work.
It’s going to get real. So come along and enjoy drinks, nibbles and the intimate company of these advertising greats in the most revealing conversation since Dr. Phil’s interview with Cash me Outside Girl. This year we will be interviewing the following International Creative Directors:
Julian Schreiber - Special Group, Executive Creative Director, Sydney (Executive Judge for Axis 2020)
Juliana Cobb - DROGA 5, Executive Creative Director, New York (Executive Judge for Axis 2020)
Steve Coll - ANZ Director, The Creative Shop, Facebook, Sydney
Hosted by Beth O’Brien and Joe Carter. (Colenso BBDO)
MC’ed by Peter Vegas. (FCB)
Question on topics such as:
• Diverse minds – the industry is calling for something to be done about diversity and equality. Yesterday. We want to explore the benefits of diverse thinking, how to
create a more inclusive workforce, and why it’s such a fundamental sticking point that we need to solve now.
• Healthy minds – lets ask some questions about the mental state of our industry. How to create a culture of mentally healthy minds. Why this direction has to come
from leadership down. Why mindfulness is more than a buzzword – it’s imperative. And how to lead from a position of empathy, rather than ego.
• Sustainability – a conversation about brand purpose and how that shows up in the world beyond communications.
• Experience – with multiple decades of experience in this crazy, constantly evolving industry of ours, we’ll dive deeper into the experience of each speaker.
And much more. Prepare your questions.
When: Thursday 5 March - 5:30pm drinks and nibbles | Q&A at 6:30pm
Where: Sir Paul Reeves Building, Te Iringa (W308) | AUT University, Auckland City Campus
How Much: $15 Members / students | $30 Non-members
Generously sponsored by Facebook
To register / for more info:
To register for this event, tickets are available from Eventfinda here.
Marketing Leaders Take Action on Harmful Content Online
Posted 23 January 2020.
Marketing Leaders Take Action on Harmful Content Online - Global Alliance for Responsible Media launches solutions to improve digital safety
The World Federation of Advertisers (WFA), have released an important announcement in dealing with harmful online content. The announcement was made jointly overnight as part of World Economic Forum (WEF) Media Leaders Session in Davos entitled, “Business Leaders Act to Eliminate Harmful Online Content: Global Alliance for Responsible Media launches solutions to Improve Digital Safety”, by Procter & Gamble’s Chief Brand Officer, Marc Pritchard, Unilever’s Chief Human Resources Officer, Leena Nair, YouTube CEO, Susan Wojcicki, Facebook’s VP Global Marketing Solutions, Carolyn Everson and IPG CEO, Michael Roth.
This initiative has its origins in the horrific terror attack in Christchurch which was shared live and distributed on social media platforms and the subsequent response by the NZ advertising community led by ANZA and Commercial Communications Council calling on platforms to take greater responsibility in dealing with harmful content, a call that was taken up by global brands and agencies.
Meet the brilliant minds behind the 2020 On Point Account Management Course.
Nikki McKelvie
Managing Partner - DDB
Nikki is currently Managing Partner at DDB and is passionate about developing new and innovating ideas that transform business results. Prior to joining DDB, Nikki was Client Service Director at Ogilvy, where she led a large brand/FMCG portfolio. She has also held account service roles at Saatchi & Saatchi, M&C Saatchi, plus a stint in the film world.
Before she found her home in advertising, Nikki was a journalist and then held marketing roles at publishing companies in NZ and the UK. She is energetic, honest, hard-working and importantly knows how to harness momentum across a large agency.
Shane Bradnick
Chief Creative Officer - TBWA
Shane has more than 20 years’ industry experience. In 2013 he moved to New Zealand to join DDB as Executive Creative Director in Auckland and then became Chief Creative Officer at TBWA New Zealand, which he now considers home.
Shane has been lucky enough to work with some of the best brands in the world, internationally and locally. Shane has won over 200 awards at international and local shows and has also been named one of the best Art Directors and Executive Creative Directors in the world by The WON Report and has consistently been a Campaign Brief Top 3 ECD.
David Thomason (DT)
Chief Strategy Officer - FCB New Zealand
DT started his career in creative, rising to Creative Director before switching gears and becoming a Planner / Strategist for the last 19 of his 32 year career. He’s been at FCB for 12 years, where he leads Strategy and has been a key member of the senior leadership team driving the agency’s brand, culture and integrated ‘Behaviour Change’ approach.
DT has previously been a member of the Comms Council Board, regularly writes and presents on advertising effectiveness and guest lectures on Behavioural Economics, Cultural Identity and Social Change at AUT and University of Auckland.
On Point: A course developed to help all media and creative Account Managers become the best point person for their clients.
Meet Your Strat Lab Speakers
Posted 17 January 2020.
Meet the brilliant minds behind 2020’s Strategic Planning Lab.
Dan West
Digital Strategy Director - FCB New Zealand
2020 Strategic Planning Lab Lead Facilitator, Dan West, is the Digital Strategy Director at FCB New Zealand. He is responsible for the strategies for clients like Samsung, NZ Post and the HPA. While at FCB, Dan set up the London office’s content creation arm, as well as FCB New Zealand’s Start Up support initiative, FCB Changing Rooms. He has a keen interest in digital behavioural economics and the latest technology trends and is a guest lecturer at AUT on these topics.
Roger Marshall
Professor of Marketing - AUT University
After a first life as a businessperson in New Zealand, Dr. Marshall completed a doctorate in Cognitive Psychology and Consumer Behaviour at the University of Western Australia. Since then he has researched, consulted and taught marketing and is also Editor-in-Chief of Australasian Marketing Journal.
David Thomason
Chief Strategy Officer - FCB
DT started his career in creative, rising to Creative Director before switching gears and becoming a Planner / Strategist for the last 19 of his 32 year career. He’s been at FCB for 12 years, where he leads Strategy. DT regularly writes and presents on advertising effectiveness and guest lectures on Behavioural Economics, Cultural Identity and Social Change at AUT and University of Auckland.
Carl Sarney
Head of Strategy - TRA (The Research Agency)
TRA is insight agency, using their understanding of human behaviour to identify opportunities for companies to grow. With over 14 years of experience in both Government and commercial sectors, Carl has a demonstrated history of effective work for his clients - including several Gold Effies and an IPA Award.
Gareth O’Connor
Strategy Director - PHD
Gareth has over 13 years’ industry experience - seven years in London, six in NZ. Over the yers he’s worked across a wide range of clients and industries, including IBM, Kellogg’s. Samsung, 2degrees, Nissan, Lotto NZ, Unilever and more. He has a gerat love for marketing science and media and feels very privileged to work in this great industry of ours.
Lucinda Sherborne
Head of Planning - DDB
Since beginning her career at BBH London, Lucinda has spent 25 years in the offices of The Leith Agency (Scotland), Young & Rubicam, Colenso BBDO and Saatchi & Saatchi - building a strong strategic and creative planning background with business change at its heart. With her at the strategic helm, DDB was named New Zealand’s Most Effective Agency from 2012 to 2014.
Bex Radford
Creative Partner - BC&F Dentsu
Bex Radford is an example of the new breed of open-minded creative leaders who look beyond traditional solutions. She has worked in Europe and the US as well as New Zealand, with experience in advertising, design and strategy.
Radford began her career as a copywriter at Saatchi & Saatchi New Zealand in 2006 before moving to 180 Amsterdam. She has spent time client-side working for Tommy Hilfiger Global HQ before joining IDEO San Francisco as a design lead. She returned to Amsterdam to be Creative Director at legendary Dutch cycle start up VanMoof, before running her own design practice as well as teaching design-thinking and creative strategy at the University of Applied Sciences Utrecht. She is currently Creative Partner at BC&F Denstu in Auckland.
David McIndoe
Head of Strategy - Saatchi & Saatchi
David has over 13 years of experience in the advertising industry. Making the jump over from research in 2004, he has worked as a planner at DDB, TBWA and Saatchi & Saatchi as Head of Strategy. From banks to beer and everything in between, he’s worked with some of New Zealand’s foremost brands; helping steer the strategic ship.
Murray Streets
Managing Director - BC&F Dentsu
Murray Streets has 19 years’ experience working in advertising and is currently the Managing Director of Barnes Catmur & Friends Dentsu. Murray has worked with some of New Zealand’s highest profile brands and businesses - including Spark, Toyota and Heineken - and was the first to set up and lead the Strategic Planning Lab.
The Comms Council, in conjunction with AUT and leading industry experts, will demystify the word “strategy”. You will move from implementation to the strategic thinking process needed to plan effective communications.
Meet the 2020 Axis International Judges
Posted 15 January 2020.
We are pleased to announce Juliana Cobb - Executive Creative Director at Droga 5, New York and Julian Schreiber - ECD at Special Group, Sydney, as our two International Judges for the 2020 Axis Awards.
Juliana Cobb - Executive Creative Director, Droga 5 New York
Born in Canada and raised by a single mom, Juliana grew up traveling through India and Nepal where, when she wasn’t living in a bus by the monkey-filled forests, she was living on room service and pillow mints at the Hotel Intercontinental. (It was… complicated.) She was constantly moving, even back in the states.
But being a perpetual outsider turned out to be invaluable. You learn to make friends quickly. And you develop an almost bottomless empathy. Juliana can’t remember a day in advertising that she didn’t lean on one or the other - and usually both.
A copywriting career that began in the digitally-charged San Francisco of 2001 taught her the power of an idea that comes through in a banner as easily as a longform film or real-life activation. It’s a skill which, since then, has led to award-winning work among a wide range of top brands, in agencies from the west coast to the east.
After joining Droga5 in 2016, Juliana’s been leading amazing work with brilliant people across a range of categories, from health supplements to meal kits to premium water to banking. Manhattan is home these days (in a bona fide apartment!) with a wee wild cat named Bean.
Julian Schreiber - Executive Creative Director / Partner, Special Group Australia
Julian Schreiber is Executive Creative Director and partner in one of the world’s leading independent agencies, Special Group Australia.
Throughout his career he has constantly strived to explore and discover what marketing creativity is capable of solving for both clients and culture. As a result of this pursuit, his work has become incredibly varied in both shape and style, as well as helping him win ‘Best of Show’ at Australia’s most pre-eminent Award show (AWARD) a record 4 times - making him one of the country’s leading creatives. Julian has also been responsible for over a decade of globally awarded projects including the NAB ‘Break Up’ (Cannes & Spikes Grand Prix), The Four’N Twenty ‘Magic Salad Plate’, Chupa Chup’s ‘Splats’, Guide Dog’s ‘Support Scent’, Pedigree’s ‘K9FM’, Tourism Victoria’s ‘The Remote Control Tourist’, TripAdvisor’s ‘Hotel Cup’, Adidas Originals’ ‘Superstar’ and Go Gentle’s ‘Stop the Horror’ which succeeded in actually helping change the Euthanasia laws in Australia. Most recently he was responsible for the multi-award winning and publicly renowned Uber Eats’ ‘Aus Open Ambush’.
Having judged at numerous local and international shows, in 2019 Julian was very proud to be on the Cannes film jury. He is also proudly a comic book tragic, who is disappointed to discover that despite Marvel and DC comic movies now completely dominating cinema and mainstream culture, in no way has it made the fact remotely any cooler or useful. No one has yet been impressed about his knowing who Charles Xavier’s evil step brother is.
Be sure to come along and hear them speak at Axis Speaks on Thursday 5 March - more details to come soon.
Axis 2020 Call for Entry deadline: Tuesday 21 January | Late Entry Deadline: Thursday 23 January
Hustle & Bustle
Posted 14 January 2020.
Meet the Convenor of the 2020 Beacon Awards in association with oOh!media
Posted 13 January 2020.
We are pleased to announce that Simon Lendrum will be this year’s Convenor of Judges for the 2020 Beacon Awards in association with oOh!media.
Simon is currently an independent strategic consultant, with 25 years of experience in advertising and marketing. In that time, he worked across BMP DDB, Ogilvy and at J. Walter Thompson New Zealand where he was Managing Director for nine years. Many of you also know Simon also from his time as President of the Comms Council from 2014 to 2016.
Make your 2020 Beacon Awards entry grab the judges’ attention this year….
Make your 2020 Beacon Awards entry grab the judges’ attention — come along to this writing workshop for the inside word on how to make a good entry great. This workshop will be facilitated by Simon Bird, Head of Strategy at PHD and David McCallen, Head of Strategy at OMD. They will take you through some excellent gold winning papers, help you understand how to put together your story and share some important do’s and donts.
Date: Wednesday 29th January 2020
Venue: NZME, 2 Graham Street, Auckland
Time: 9.00am - 11.00am
Cost: $30 + GST per person (Comms Council Members and Sponsors)
$60 + GST per person (Comms Council Non Members )
Richard Schloeffel- Finance Director, Colenso BBDO
Lindsay Mouat - Chief Executive, ANZA
Watch below for a taste of what the Foundations course has to offer:
Pead PR
Posted 17 December 2019.
The 2020 Beacon Awards | Entry is now open
Posted 9 December 2019.
Call for entry is now open for the 2020 Beacon Awards.
The spirit of the Beacon Awards is built on shared heritage that brings our finest media thinkers together under the spotlight to celebrate outstanding achievement.
Click here to download the call for entry document.
Call for entry closes Tuesday 4pm 25 February 2020
Late entry closes Thursday 4pm 27 February 2020
The following Beacon Award categories are intended as a guide for your campaign submissions. The Beacon Awards Committee reserves the right to re-categorise campaigns and split/redefine categories if entries received in a particular category warrant such action.
Across all categories, entries will need to demonstrate the development of a media solution to resolve a marketing problem by way of:
• An entry summary (no score allocated)
• The insight
• The strategy
• The execution
• The results
Each category also has its own specific requirements based on that category’s focus. Judges are instructed to evaluate entries against these requirements. Please ensure that your entry is tailored to address the specific requirements of the category it’s entered in and that the correct entry form is used.
General Categories
• NOTE: A campaign can only be entered into one category A to E once, i.e. a campaign cannot, for example, be entered in Category C and Category D. Entries in Category F – Charity can only be entered into Category F. (Multiple category entries outside of categories A – E and K are welcome.)
A. Social Marketing/Public Service
This category recognises uses of media that have succeeded in meeting the objectives of government or publicly-funded bodies. Typically these include campaigns from government departments, local bodies, tertiary education institutions or for a community service. The judges will be looking for proof that the media strategy and execution has had an identifiable and direct contribution in achieving set campaign objectives.
Download entry form A here.
Download judging form A here.
B. Retail/Etail
This category recognises uses of media in the area of retail/etail. This includes fashion, clothing, accessories and fast food and also incorporates online retail. The judges are looking for proof that the media strategy and execution has had an identifiable and direct contribution in achieving set retail objectives and that success is not the result of other factors including pricing or sale activity.
Download entry form B here.
Download judging form B here.
C. Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG)
This category recognises media campaigns across the entire spectrum of FMCG. This can include food, grocery, household products, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, toiletries, alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages and pet. The judges will be looking for proof that the media strategy and execution has had a direct contribution in achieving set campaign objectives.
Download entry form C here.
Download judging form C here.
D. Consumer Durables
This category recognises media campaigns that achieve success for products that are not purchased regularly or those that have high involvement decision making. This could include motor vehicles, white goods, brown goods, household furniture and electronic goods. The judges will be looking for proof that the media strategy and execution has had a direct contribution in achieving set campaign objectives.
Download entry form D here.
Download judging form D here.
E. Consumer Services
This category recognises media campaigns that achieve success for companies whose main focus is providing a service to a consumer. This could include airlines, tourism, energy suppliers, financial services, telecommunications and entertainment (TV, music, movies or gaming). The judges will be looking for proof that the media strategy and execution has had a direct contribution in helping achieve set campaign objectives.
Download entry form E here.
Download judging form E here.
F. Charity
Entries in this category cannot be entered in other categories
This category is seeking to identify campaigns that make the greatest contribution to support charities, appeals, fundraising or various not-for-profit community programmes. The award may recognise innovation in media thinking but this is not mandatory. The judges will be looking for proof that the media strategy and execution has had a direct contribution in helping achieve set campaign objectives. This category is strictly for not-for-profit organisations only, entries from commercial brands or organisations are not eligible.
Download entry form F here.
Download judging form F here.
G. Best Small Budget (up to $100k per annum)
This category is open to any campaign with a total combined campaign cost to client of less than $100,000. All entries must prove they are a stand-alone campaign as opposed to a single execution within a larger campaign. The judges will be looking for entries that put the perceived budget constraints behind them to develop brilliant strategic thinking and outstanding activation to deliver results that punched way above the campaign’s weight.
Download entry from G here.
Download judging form G here.
H. Best Use of Event/Activation
This category recognises entries that deliver outstanding experiential campaigns via guerrilla marketing, live events, shows, concerts & festivals, experiential events, large and small scale stunts. The event will be physical in its core, but can have virtual elements around it. Judges will be looking for evidence that the event/activation was the central component of the campaign, rather than campaigns with an event/activation component. They will also need to understand what the brand narrative was for people present at the event/activation and how the event/activation was leveraged to deliver outstanding campaign results.
Download entry form H here.
Download judging form H here.
I. Best Use of Content
This category is looking for campaigns that have the use of content at their heart. By going beyond traditional advertising formats to seamlessly integrate into television programming, create branded music projects, use of native advertising such as sponsored stories, featured videos and messages via social media, the content should fit with the brand values, strategy and clearly address the marketing challenge.
Entries will not be judged on the creative content itself, but on the strategic thinking that led to content being identified as the core communication vehicle. Judges will also be looking to understand how that content was leveraged and developed across paid, owned and earned channels to deliver outstanding campaign results.
Download entry form I here.
Download judging form I here.
J. Best Use of Technology
This category recognises the importance of technology in driving media innovation. Specifically, where technology has driven the development, implementation and outcomes of a campaign or initiative that connected with a target audience. This could include existing technology solutions applied in an innovative way, or the development of proprietary technology solutions. Judges will be looking to understand how the use of technology was innovative or market leading for the client or category, why the technology solution was a good fit for the brand or business problem and how it impacted or connected with the target audience to help achieve business outcomes.
Download entry form J here.
Download judging form J here.
K. Best use of Mobile
This category recognises innovative and effective use of the mobile channel. It covers any form of mobile media including mobile advertising, mobile apps, mobile communication (ie SMS), mobile technology (ie Beacon’s, QR codes, Bluetooth), or any other communication that requires a mobile device. Judges will be looking for campaigns that demonstrate a clear role for mobile, highlighting why mobile was an effective channel to achieve the client’s objectives, is brilliant in its execution, and contributed to campaign results.
Download entry form K here.
Download judging form K here.
L. Best use of Data
This category recognises media approaches that have been led by a sharp data strategy. Judges will be looking to understand how this leading data strategy drove the media approach, directly impacting on behavioural or business outcomes. Results are worth 35% as this data strategy should be able to attribute its success with proof points such as targeted response, increased engagement, incremental leads, reduction in CPA and/or improved ROI. Judges will also be looking to understand how the use of data was an agency led initiative. This category is not reliant on a specific marketing campaign (it could be a subset or always on) but will still need to contextualise for judges why this approach is award worthy.
If your data source is proprietary research leading to an insight you may want to consider entering the Best Use of Insight category instead.
Download entry form L here.
Download judging form L here.
M. Best Use of Search Engine Marketing
This category recognises exceptional practice in the use of Search Engine Marketing to drive positive business or behavioural outcomes. This category is open to entries for paid search and search engine optimisation initiatives. Judges will be looking for a clear set of objectives, a strong strategic approach, excellent execution and demonstrable outcomes. This category is open to both short term campaigns or ongoing programmes. Judges will consider creative and innovative approaches, as well as campaigns with excellent application of fundamentals and best practice. You’ll need to contextualise for judges why your approach is award worthy. The search engine marketing initiative may be part of a wider campaign, however demonstration of the specific role and effectiveness of the search channel will be required.
Download entry form M here.
Download judging form M here.
N. Best Use of Social
This category celebrates socially led thinking - campaigns that use existing or emerging social platforms and/or social activity including blog, social networking sites and applications. Entries in this category should use social as a key channel, demonstrating a creative use of social platforms as well as a sound understanding of digital consumer behaviour. Judges will be looking for campaigns that have put consumers at the heart, through conversational strategies that have built powerful communities or other outstanding engagement strategies. There will be a clear rationale as to why social media was the right response to the clients’ brief, moving beyond metrics of likes or shares to offer a compelling argument of the contributing effect social media had on delivering campaign results.
Download entry form Nhere.
Download judging form N here.
O. Creative Media Idea
This category recognises invention or innovation within a channel or property that was driven by consumer, data or brand insight and creative thinking. Judges are looking for ideas that drive tangible benefit to the consumer or to the client’s communications objectives.
Download entry form O here.
Download judging form O here.
P. Best Use of Insight
This category recognises how the use of insight, analytics or market intelligence has resulted in media campaign and business success. Judges will look for entries that demonstrate how an agency has uncovered an insight, how this insight has shaped the media strategy development and execution and the business success that this has delivered. Sources of insight could vary from proprietary research, to social listening through to quantitative or qualitative studies. The insight section of the entry will account for 40% of the judges score.
Download entry form P here.
Download judging form P here.
Q. Best Communications Strategy (Note word limit 1,500)
This category celebrates strategic excellence. Judges are looking for a cohesive communications strategy with a central idea at its heart. It should show a carefully researched and well thought-out action plan designed to meet a clearly defined challenge. This should include novel ways in which media channels have been used, each with a clear link to the strategic idea. The winning entry will also have clearly articulated the insights used to inspire the communications strategy. The strategy section of the entry will account for 40% of the judges’ score.
Download entry form Q here.
Download judging form Q here.
R. Most Effective
This category recognises meeting a challenge and succeeding. Judges are looking for evidence that the communication drove a positive outcome or exceeded objectives. This could include generating positive business results (e.g. market share, sales value, profit), shifting brand health measures (e.g. consideration, preference, perceptions), or changing people’s behaviour (e.g. buying patterns or social habits). It will focus on effectiveness of a campaign above all other considerations – the results section of the entry will account for 40% of the judge’s score. All entries must include figures showing the campaign’s direct impact on stated objectives (indexes will suffice).
Download entry form R here.
Download judging form R here.
S. Best Launch
This category recognises brand, service or product launches or re-launches. To be eligible for a re-launch there must have been no significant activity for at least 36 months prior to re-launch. Judges will be looking to understand how the media thinking and launch media activity were key contributors to the campaign’s results and that those results are indeed outstanding within the entrant’s category.
Download entry form S here.
Download judging form S here.
T. Best Collaboration
This category is open to media owners and agencies and is designed to celebrate the work that is only made possible by the close collaboration of (1) one or more media owner/partner(s) AND (2) one or more media agency/ies and/or other relevant agencies. This category can be entered by either the media owner/partner or agency. The judges will be looking for demonstration of how collaboration has enhanced the result for the client. Entries could be proactive sales proposals or responses to briefs as long as the partners have worked together to execute and enhance.
Download entry form T here.
Download judging form T here.
U. Sustained Success (Note word limit 1,500)
This category recognises communications and media thinking that has significantly contributed to the overall success of a campaign that has been consistently in market across three years from 1st January 2017. Judges will be looking for demonstration of strategic thinking and how it has ensured the media campaign has remained consistent but also up-to-date and relevant. The effectiveness and results achieved should accurately reflect the objectives and media strategy. The judges want to see clarity of thinking, identification and application of insights and innovation. It’s important to remember that a campaign founded on a sound, solid and evolving strategy can be as effective as one containing significant innovation.
Download entry form U here.
Download judging form U here.
V. Media Business of the Year
This category recognises the years outstanding Media Business. The judges (Comms Council Media Committee) will be looking for the business that has set a clear vision and strategy and then implemented that strategy with success. In this case success will be assessed from a range of perspectives including financial, industry engagement and reputation, audience growth and/or engagement. The Comms Council Media Committee reserves the right to not award in this category if no entry meets the judging standard. The closing date for entries in this category is the later date of 17 March 2020.
Download entry form V here.
Download judging form V here.
W. Sales Person or Team of the year
This category recognises excellence within the crucial media owners’ sales function. Open to both individual or team entries. The Judges (Comms Council Media Committee) will be looking for evidence of a clear strategic roadmap that allowed for the delivery of outstanding business performance against well-defined KPIs. Examples of innovative campaign case studies and a solution-based approach to selling are more likely to resonate with the judges. The closing date for entries in this category is the later date of 17 March 2020.
Download entry form W here.
Download judging form W here.
X. Rising Star
The Rising Star award recognises an individual who has achieved incredible feats in the past 18 months and is making a serious mark on the New Zealand media industry. The judges (Comms Council Executive Board) are looking for individuals on the rise who are already being acknowledged for their contribution today, and importantly are likely to be significant change makers and leaders for our industry in the future. Nominees must be under the age of 30 and have less than five years’ experience at time of the entry deadline.
The closing date for entries in this category is the later date of 17 March 2020.
Download entry form X here.
Download judging form X here.
Executive Awards
Advertiser of the Year
The award will be given to the Advertiser that is the most outstanding performer on the night of the Beacon Awards Ceremony. The award is based on the weighted value of Gold and Silver Beacon Awards won by the Advertiser. 10 points are awarded for Gold and 5 for Silver. A finalist earns 2 points. Points are calculated and the winner is identified.
Please note: Points will only be awarded for the highest award received. Therefore points for a gold or silver award will not also receive finalist points. Best in Show does not earn points and is not included in the count.
Media Agency of the Year
The award will be given to the Comms Council Agency whose business has made the greatest overall improvements to their business over the past year. It is open to Comms Council member media agencies of any size.
Entries will be open from Thursday 27 February 2020 with a closing date for entries of 4pm Thursday 2 April 2020. The winner will be chosen by a panel of independent judges to include a range of prominent business people from outside the industry.
Best in Show
All Gold Beacon Award winners will be eligible for the Best in Show. This award is selected by the panel of international judges.
Foundations of Advertising and Media Course | Comms Council & AUT
Posted 6 December 2019.
To register interest for 2020, please email Erin Auchterlonie: erin@commscouncil.nz
Usually this course is held from June until September each year, however, with all that is going on in the world and in NZ we have made some changes to the Foundations Course structure and will be delivering the course digitally. More information to come soon.
The Comms Council / AUT Foundations of Advertising and Media Programme is a comprehensive course which covers the fundamentals of the advertising and media agency world. The course is now regarded as one of the most valuable and effective courses for those with fewer than two years’ experience. The course will be underpinned academically by AUT and is supported with presentations and case studies from industry experts and leaders. Places are limited to 40 and we anticipate all places will be filled quickly.
DUE TO HIGH DEMAND, THIS COURSE IS ONLY AVAILABLE TO COMMS COUNCIL MEMBERS.
The twelve-week course includes the following modules:
History and Context - the organisational and industry structure + functions of creative and media agencies
Brand Stewardship - critically reviews the concept of brands, new developments in branding theory and understanding of the consumer/brand relationship
Media - the world of media and emerging trends
Creative - the creative process
Digital - the impact of digital on advertising and media
CRM - the value and significance of client relationship management
Integrated Marketing Communications - integration of marketing communications and brand stewardship along all channels
Agency Business - the importance of revenue generation and managing profitability
CEO Forum - agency leadership and challenges with ‘a view from the top.’
The course is targeted at a junior level audience e.g. agency Graduates, Media Assistants, Account Managers and Planners and marketing people with 1 - 3 years’ experience, or those interested in the advertising and media agency world as a career step.
Commencement date: Tuesday 9th June 2020 for all attendees with an opening function and this is followed by weekly presentations and interactive exercises from industry leaders and AUT lecturers during the course
As this is a university course, participants are required to attend all modules and complete all assignments.Agencies must be prepared to release their participants every Tuesday in time for a 5 pm start and to be given a reasonable time to complete the assignment processes
Assessment includes two assignment components which are led by AUT – full details will be given during the course
At the end of the course, a Comms Council/AUT Certificate of Completion, potentially with Merit or Honours, will be presented to those who have successfully completed all Comms Council/AUT requirements
Participants are required to attend all the modules on a weekly basis and complete the assignments. Should the participant not be able to attend a module - it is expected that an email is sent advising Comms Council of their absence. Failure to attend the modules or contribute to the assignments will exclude the participant from receiving the Comms Council/AUT qualification completion certificate
A closing function including participant presentation of their group assignments and completion certificates will take place on Tuesday 15th September 2020 - this is a ‘must-attend’ for agency managers! Traditionally participants have exceeded all expectations during the presentation process and this is an occasion to celebrate their work and dedication.
Investment – Comms Council graduates receive this course as part of the Comms Council Graduate Placement Programme. Comms Council Members, individuals/non-Comms Council graduates will be charged $2800.00 plus GST pp.
South Island, Wellington and Hamilton Comms Council Industry Members will be charged $750.00 plus GST pp. This will cover costs for remote access via Zoom/Skype and the use of the Logitech camera, microphone and AV Technician.
We strongly encourage all participants to attend the following dates:
Opening Function - Tuesday 9th June 2020, Longroom Ponsonby
CEO Forum - Tuesday 8th September 2020, Swashbucklers Restaurant Auckland
Final Function/Presentation Evening - Tuesday 15th September 2020, Venue TBC
Full details of the course including dates will be sent to participants and their managers.
Feedback from this year’s course is extremely positive and participants have spoken of the genuine value they gained by attending. Contact Marlen Smith - marlen@commscouncil.nz
The Commercial Communications Council gratefully acknowledges the significant contribution and support from AUT, industry leaders/contributors, agency hosts, MultiMedia and media partners.
The Commercial Communications Council - in conjunction with Nikki McKelvie, Managing Partner, DDB, David Thomason (DT), Chief Strategy Officer, FCB New Zealand, and Shane Bradnick, Chief Creative Officer, TBWA - are introducing a new one-day Account Management interactive workshop.
The focus will be to learn through real life examples, enabling Account Managers to get their skill-set on point.
It’ll be an interactive and confidence-building day which focuses on developing your role as an adept and effective manager, understanding the part you play in driving creativity, the role of strategy, and ensuring ROI for both the agency and clients.
Participants will skillfully learn how to navigate the problem
THE DAY WILL BE BROKEN INTO 4 PARTS:
Skilling up to solve some pointy challenges
Figuring out what your client needs
Working effectively with creatives
Sharpening up for a presentation
PARTICIPANTS WILL:
Develop new skills required to be an effective Account Manager
Demonstrate what responsibilities align with Account Management and move from an implementer to one who leads and manages
build on their skills and confidence to handle client objections, prepare for a big presentation, manage clients, colleagues and external partners.
Above all this course is designed to be practical and enjoyable.
WHO IS THIS COURSE FOR?
The course is designed for any client-facing manager in a creative, design, media, digital, PR or experiential agency.
WHEN: Tuesday 10th March 2020 | 8.30 am start - 4.30 pm finish
Meet the brilliant minds behind the 2020 On Point Account Management Course.
Quantum Jump Ltd
Posted 4 December 2019.
Facebook
Posted 29 November 2019.
Google
Posted 29 November 2019.
WINNERS | The 2019 Pressie Awards
Posted 27 November 2019.
Click Here to download the full 2019 winners list!
The country’s PR, brand experience, events and social media industry professionals gathered in the heart of Ponsonby at The Sapphire Room in Auckland last night to recognise and celebrate the best campaigns from the prior year at the second Pressie Awards. The awards were organised by the Commercial Communications Council.
The evening saw the industry coming together at the awards ceremony with finalists from many Agencies celebrating with their peers.
MC Paddy Gower carried everyone brilliantly through the ceremony, giving out 16 silvers and 12 gold awards and 1 Grand Prix, whilst the crowd sipped bubbles and grazed from the feasting tables.
Three of the golds awarded on the night, after two rounds of judging were for Special Group who won along with their client Uber, for their campaign “How Uber Eats Ambushed a Shark with a Fish”; this included a Gold in Best Experiential or Event, Best Implementation and Best Integrated Campaign.
MKTG won two Golds for The Movember Foundation and the campaign “A Moment AGAINST Silence”. The golds were picked up in “in the Best Use of Media Relations category and again in the “tough to win” Strategic Thinking category. This great campaign went on to win the Grand Prix of the night much to the delight of the crowd.
Fuse had a fantastic night, not only winning two Gold awards, but also picking up a haul of six Silvers. “I am Hope” with Kiwibank won Gold in Best Sponsorship or Media Partnership and also in Best Use of Social Media.
FCB picked up two golds for two different campaigns; Gold in Best Use of Social Media for “Pre-Testie Bestie” for the Health Promotion Agency and a Gold for Testicular Cancer in Best Experiential or Event for “A Conversation Starter for Cancer”.
Eleven PR won a Gold for their work with Asahi “Presenting Akai Doa” and a Silver with ANZ in Best Integrated Campaign with “Meet Mr Humfreez.”
Mango Communications won a Gold for their “#Goodchat” campaign for 2 degrees in Best Use of Media Relations and a Silver in Best Sampling or Retail Activation for the work “Tip Top & Whittaker’s for Tip Top.
Magico Marketing Activations and Bike Barn won a brilliant Gold for Bravest Client for the campaign “Making a tangible Difference for Kiwi Kids,” as well as a Silver for the same campaign in Best Sponsorship or Media Parntership.”
Pead PR won a Silver in Best Use of Media Relations with the campaign for NZFW “A Fashionable Make-over” and Boyd PR won a Silver in Best Sponsorship or Media Partnership for “Wow My Town” for Mazda.
And Drum took out two Silvers, the first in Best Implementation or Production for Lotto’s “Home for Xmas”
and the second Silver in Best Integrated Campaign for “KFC’s Open Kitchens.”
Sean Brown, GM of Mango and Convenor of Awards for 2019 said “It was great to see the quality and variety of entries in this second year. Well done to all the entrants and we look forward to seeing more of their excellent work at the 2020 awards.”
The Commercial Communications Council congratulates all the 63 finalists and winners at the awards ceremony 2019.
Commercial Communications Council CEO Paul Head said: “Last night was a time for PR, experiential and social professionals, and their clients, to shine. In an increasingly cluttered media environment these disciplines help deliver cut-through with campaigns that attract and endear the consumer directly. All three disciplines have grown significantly and are now an integral part of the overall marketing mix. The scale and scope of the entries that won show just how important these disciplines are to the reach and efficacy of brands and it’s great to see everyone come together and recognise their achievements.”
For more information please contact:
Natasha Galloway
Director of Marketing & Events
09 303 0435
021 890 147
natasha@commscouncil.nz
Axis 2020 | Sellebrating 40 years of New Zealand advertising
Posted 25 November 2019.
This year we’re celebrating the 40th anniversary of the AXIS awards.
And to help us do so we’ve brought together some of New Zealand’s most iconic and successful ‘sellers’ - from Stickman, to the “Bugger” dog to the Undies/Togs guy. Watch as they brainstorm to help make this a night of celebration that we’ll hopefully remember for the next 40 years.
Update | The 2020 Beacon Awards in association with oOh!media
Posted 20 November 2019.
The 2020 Beacons must go on! .. with a few changes.
We have had an overwhelmingly positive response to the invitation to online judge this year’s Beacon Award entries, many judges expressing that they were looking forward to keeping their minds busy by focusing on the excellent media campaigns from last year as we all adjust to the new normal.
There are now new dates (below), for announcement of finalists, creative material requirements, and a date for the announcement of winners at the end of May. We’re also starting to plan for a ceremony and industry celebration later in the year, when we are able to gather in large groups again. In the meantime, we are heading online to judge both prelim and category rounds over the next few weeks, and will be making use of ZOOM to conduct our category round discussions with the Convenor of Judges, Simon Lendrum on hand to help with eligibility and other queries. And who knows, maybe by the time we reach the Executive judging day we can hold this gathering in person again… Here’s hoping.
A massive thanks to our Commercial Partners, oOh!media and TVNZ, and sponsors, Bauer Media, Nielsen, TRB, Facebook, Google, mi9 and NZME for continuing to support the industry and The Beacon awards through these coming months.
Updated Dates:
Entry Writing Workshop: Thursday 30 January 2020 | NZME I Heart Lounge
Entries Close: Tuesday 25 February 2020 @ 4pm
48hr Deadline Close: Thursday 27 February 2020 @ 4pm
Scrutineering completed: Tuesday 17 March 2020
Online Preliminary judging: Thursday 2April – Thursday 9 April
Finalists announced and told re campaign material: Thursday 16 April
Campaign Material Due: Tuesday 21 April
Category judging testing: Friday 24 April
Category Judging acces given actual (Online) : Thursday 30 April
Judging starts at 10am 30 April
Judging session finished at 3pm Friday 1 May
Conclusion of category judging (discussion by ZOOM in panels): Wednesday 6 May
CALL FOR ENTRY DEADLINE: Tuesday 21 Jan LATE ENTRY DEADLINE: Thursday 23 Jan | 4pm
AXIS 2020. It brings us 40 years of our country’s advertising awards.
But, just because we’re turning 40, that doesn’t mean we have to go through a midlife crisis and buy a Ferrari. We can celebrate turning 40 and buy a Ferrari. Preferably one with butterfly doors. Okay, so maybe not on today’s salaries, but that won’t stop us celebrating 40 years of great New Zealand creative. Creative that has built brands, and has embedded them in our shared cultural history and sees them being reminisced about around BBQs and water coolers many years on.
AXIS is here to celebrate the ideas from the past year that will hopefully be remembered for another 40.
Ideas that make us say, “Bugger” I wish I’d done that.
Ideas that decide if we’re wearing underwear or swimwear due to our geography.
Ideas that stick out and stick around with the help of a stickman.
And hey, just because Cannes won’t recognise the brilliance of our work (yeah I’m looking at you 2019), it doesn’t mean that AXIS can’t.
AXIS 2020. Will your work be remembered for the next 40 years?
Lisa Fedyszyn - Axis 2020 Convenor
Mark Ritson ‘The Big Lessons in Marketing Effectiveness’
Posted 7 November 2019.
The Comms Council in association with Bauer Media present: Mark Ritson - The Big Lessons in Marketing Effectiveness
Don’t miss out on this opportunity to hear Mark speak about the main drivers of effective marketing and teach you about what you need to have in place for marketing to deliver growth.
When: Thursday 20 February 2020 | 2.30 pm
Where: *VENUE CHANGE* SkyCity Convention Centre - Auckland CBD. Level 5, New Zealand Rooms 1 & 2 Arrival at 2.30 pm for a prompt start at 3:30 pm. Event concludes at 5.30 pm.
Price - Earlybird (12 Nov - 20 Dec):
Comms Council / ANZA members: $165 + GST
Non-members: $215 + GST
Price - Regular (21 Dec - 20 Feb):
Comms Council / ANZA members: $215 + GST
Non-members: $265 + GST
Comms Council – Terms and Conditions: Due to the popularity of this event there are no refunds. Substitute attendance is available, please advise name of person – tickets will be scanned and checked.
Mark Ritson is Adjunct Professor of Marketing at Melbourne Business School. He has a PhD in Marketing and has been a marketing professor at London Business School and the University of Minnesota and a visiting professor at MIT Sloan and SMU. He has won MBA teaching awards at LBS, MIT, Singapore Management University and MBS.
Mark has worked globally as a private marketing consultant for clients that have included Baxter, Loewe, McKinsey, PepsiCo, Subaru, Eli Lilly, Donna Karan, Westpac, Shiseido, Flight Centre, Johnson & Johnson, De Beers, Sephora, Benefit, Amgen, Ericsson, Jurlique, Cloudy Bay, Unilever, KPMG and WD40.
For thirteen years - from 2002 to 2015 - he served as in-house professor for LVMH - the world’s largest luxury group - working in Europe with senior executives from brands like Louis Vuitton, Dom Perignon and Hennessy.
He writes a weekly column for Marketing Week and for The Australian. On 3 occasions he has been judged the Business Columnist of the Year at the PPA Press Awards, the highest award for magazine journalism in the UK and was the British Society of Magazine Editors Business Columnist of the Year in 2018. His more scholarly publications include articles in the Sloan Management Review, Harvard Business Review, the Journal of Advertising and the Journal of Consumer Research.
He is a Thouron Scholar and was the recipient of the Ferber Award for his doctoral thesis. His co-authored pricing research was cited by George Akerlof during his 2001 Nobel Prize acceptance speech.
In 2018 he was rated one of the “Power 50” most important people in media by AdNews, one of ten top business thinkers in Australia by Smart Company, and recognised by the AMI with the Sir Charles McGrath Award, the highest honour for marketing in Australia.
Comms Council – Terms and Conditions: Due to the popularity of this event there are no refunds. Substitute attendance is available, please advise name of person – tickets will be scanned and checked.
WINNERS | 2019 Effie Awards in association with TVNZ
Posted 24 October 2019.
Congratulations to all of our winners from the 2019 Effie Awards in association with TVNZ!
Click hereto download the full 2019 Effies winners list
Click hereto hear our Executive Judge, Andrew Geoghegan’s thoughts on our GOLD winners.
New Zealand’s advertising and marketing industry professionals gathered at a different but topical venue - Eden Park - to recognise and celebrate the country’s most effective marketing campaigns at the 2019 Effie Awards, organised by the Commercial Communications Council and in association with TVNZ. The Effie programme is held in over 50 countries and has been run in New Zealand by the Comms Council with TVNZ as the major sponsor for 17 years.
Paul Head, Comms Council CEO explained that this year the theme was about individual marketers “stepping-up.” How Effie would be elevating the marketers as the people behind Effie-winning work. “It isn’t just about agencies executing outstanding campaigns. It’s about having great marketing clients. Marketers who are bold, strategic, determined, creative and brave – and empower their agencies to be the same. The best, most effective work is always a partnership and the marketers that lead that partnership deserve greater recognition.”
The individual marketers who were the inspiration for the great work from their agencies and fought for it in their organisations were acknowledged by the launch of a leader board showing based on Effie results; each marketer scored 2 points for a finalist, 4 for a bronze, 6 for silver, 8 for gold and 12 for the Grand Effie.* The Most Effective Marketer for 2019 was Sean O’Donnell for the points received for his bronze, silver and gold awards on several campaigns including two golds with Colenso BBDO for DB Breweries “We’re drinking it for you”.
Of the 13 Golds awarded on the night, FCB New Zealand won 3 of them for their work with three clients. ‘A Conversation Starter” with Testicular Cancer New Zealand won in Most Effective PR or Experiential Campaign, while Mercury was awarded a gold in Sustained Success as was the Foodstuffs NZ campaign for PaknSave called “New Zealand’s Most Consistent Brand.” The Effies Executive Judging Panel went on to award the work the overall Grand Effie.
Andrew Geoghegan, Global Head of Consumer Planning for Diageo, UK, this year’s international Effie judge said about the work. “Has a decision ever been reached so quickly? The judges unanimously awarded PaknSave’s Stickman the Grand Effie. This is deceptively sophisticated work – the creative means and message are so well integrated they deliver the campaign’s intent in every touchpoint efficiently and effectively. Tapping into culture drives everyday relevance and that competitive brand truth about being a real NZ brand. Most of all they have stuck with and evolved the work over years and have impressive results in a tough category. Bravo!”
With this win, FCB nosed ahead of DDB to win the coveted Most Effective Agency of the Year. DB Breweries won the most Effective Client of year, keeping the audience guessing.
It was also a great night for DDB Group with Kiwi Rail winning an impressive gold in Short Term Success and Pet Refuge winning a gold in Charity/Not for Profit.
DB Breweries and Colenso BBDO picked up two golds, one in New Product or Service and another in the hard to win Most Effective Integrated Campaign for their work on DB Export Gold for the Low Carb Beer and the campaign called “I’m Drinking it for You.” And Stanley Street also made a popular appearance in this category winning a gold in Most Effective Integrated with the NZ Police for the campaign called “The Deciding Question.”
There was a good selection of other winning campaigns that kept the night interesting. These included a great win for VMLY&R and Work Safe in Social Marketing/Public Service for “Be a Safe Guy.” And OMD, Fuse and TBWA got to step up and bag a great gold in Most Effective Use of Data with Asahi Beverages NZ for the work with Carlsberg “Probably the Best Time.”
And Clemenger BBDO’s ongoing work with NZTA “Belted Survivors” was awarded a Gold by the Executive Judges in the Hardest Challenge category.
The Commercial Communications Council congratulates all the finalists and winners at the NZ Effie Awards 2019. For a full list of winners and finalists and the TVNZ international judge videos, please head to the Comms Council website.
The Leader board will be online at www.commscouncil.nz from this evening and gold papers will be available from November.
The 2019 Effie Awards were proudly presented by the Commercial Communications Council (Comms Council) in association with TVNZ, its Commercial Partner. Comms Council also thanks Commercial Partner NZME and sponsors: Nielsen, oOh! Media, Bauer Media, The Radio Bureau, Google, Facebook and ICG.
For more information, please contact Natasha Galloway on (021) 890 147 or at natasha@commscouncil.nz
*The leader board points will build next year on the points earned this year. The leader board now sits on the comms council website for everyone to review.
International Judge’s Thoughts thanks to TVNZ | 2019 Effies
Posted 24 October 2019.
Watch what our International Judge, Andrew Geoghegan, had to say about the GOLD winners from the 2019 Effies, with the help of TVNZ’s James Gemmell.
The Effie ‘Step Up’ theme will continue this year, recognising outstanding individual marketers behind the Effie campaigns. This will be updated after the results are announced on October 29th. For 2020 we will continue to acknowledging the people who are behind Effie-winning work with the Marketers Leaderboard.
The leader board is based on points calculation:
2 points for a Finalist
4 for a Bronze
6 for Silver
8 for Gold
12 for the Grand Effie
At the end of each Effie Awards, the leader board will be updated and the marketer who has the most points will be the winner. But we think effectiveness is a long-term thing, so the leader board will build and shift over time - the points you earn next year will build on the points you’ve earned this year – showing a true picture of those marketers who deliver the most effective communications for their organisations. A marketer will keep his or her points, even if they move on to a different company. A marketer keeps his or her points, even if they move on to a different company, as the points are attributed to the Effie campaign paper. The leaderboard will be refreshed every three years.
The Effies Leaderboard will always be accessible via the Comms Council homepage and will be updated after Effies each year.
Colenso BBDO are BOTAB 2019 Champions!
Posted 18 October 2019.
Colenso BBDO have won the title of Bohemian Rocketman!
Last night eight agency bands took to the Galatos stage for the 12th annual Battle of the Ad Bands in a brilliant display of sequins, feathers and a lot of sass.
The talent was out of this world but Colenso BBDO took out the competition with their band Kill Enzo, proving that They Are the Champions, My Friends!
For their efforts, Colenso have taken home:
· A production run of their own designed ice cream flavour from Much MooreIce-Cream
· A $500 Lunch at Prego
· MOST IMPORTANTLY THE COVETED BOTAB TROPHY
Fortis Travel’s giant $1,000 travel cheque went to Jessica Woodward from 99. 99 also took home an exclusive private class for 42 people at Studio Box for managing to round up the most groupies.
A HUGE shoutout to our sponsors: Apex Insurance, Fortis Travel, Event Cinemas, Whittaker’s, Cote Noire, Radio Hauraki, Studio Box, Spring Spa, Huffer, Prego and Much Moore Ice Cream.
BOTAB 2019 was proudly brought to you by: Flying Fish & the Commercial Communications Council
CorpStudio
Posted 16 October 2019.
Meet the 2019 Effie Awards Executive Team!
Posted 16 October 2019.
Meet the Executive Team behind the 2019 Effie Awards!
Kathryn Mitchell Kathryn Mitchell heads up the Trade Marketing team at TVNZ. Kathryn’s background is vast and that of a true marketer. She is passionate about customer insights and data to provide an intimate understanding of what motivates customers and consumers to ultimately deliver effective campaigns. Prior to joining TVNZ, Kathryn worked with leading global and local brands including Head of Customer Strategy and Insights at Yellow NZ, Head of Partnerships and Small Business Products at American Express. And, one of NZ’s iconic brands, Air New Zealand, where Kathryn was Loyalty Partner Manager for Airpoints and also worked with Sky City in a product marketing role. Kathryn is genuinely fanatical about customers and ensuring organisations have the framework and insight to be continually innovative to be ahead of the game.
Kamran Kazalbash Kamran is Head of Marketing & Customer Experience for Foodstuffs New Zealand where he oversees all National Marketing for the PAK’nSAVE and Four Square brands. Kamran has worked at agencies both in New Zealand and the UK, including working with Tesco Plc, one of the world’s largest retailers for over 3 years on their Retail Content Marketing. Prior to joining Foodstuffs Kamran was GM of Retail at FCB for 7 years and was a Senior Account Director at .99. In New Zealand he has worked with clients including; The Paper Plus Group, Noel Leeming, Farmers, Foodstuffs NZ and JR Duty Free.
Regan Savage Regan Savage is Chief Customer Officer and Marketing Director at Trade Me, NZ’s biggest and most popular online auction and classifieds site. Regan’s role has oversight of all of Trade Me’s marketing and communications, user experience, customer support, customer technology and trust & safety teams. Prior to this Regan spent almost seven years at NZ’s largest locally owned bank Kiwibank, ultimately as GM Marketing Communications, with his team awarded for effective marketing strategies that ensured Kiwibank consistently led the banking category in customer and business growth, brand strength and marketing innovation.
Craig Irwin With a career that spans Australia, the UK and New Zealand, Craig brings more than 25 years of Sales & Marketing experience to the Executive Judging Panel. He has worked for many household names over this career, including Johnson & Johnson, Kodak, Fonterra and Frucor. More recently Craig joined IRI – a big data and analytics business that supports the FMCG industry in understanding performance, but more importantly helping plan the ‘where to next’ challenge. He is passionate advocate of marketing that builds and grows brands & businesses and sees the Effies as an ultimate recognition of great work that deliver on those outcomes.
Jodene Murphy Jodene Murphy is GM of Marketing at Bank of New Zealand. She’s been doing this sort of thing for a very long time - mainly in telecommunications companies, but sometimes for not-for-profits or airlines, or all sorts of clients whilst agency side.
Kate Smith Kate arrived in NZ in 1995 having been headhunted by Peter Cullinane to be Strategic Planning Director for Saatchi & Saatchi NZ, a post she held for nearly 10 years. At that time, Saatchi was the largest agency in NZ and one of the most awarded in Australia. Kate worked as part of the creative department across all the agency’s clients. Kate also sat on the S&S Global Planning Board.
On leaving Saatchi in 2004, Kate set up a consultancy, working mainly with clients to help them develop brand and business strategies. She was a partner at Shine for seven years over this time, and is also an associate of eatbigfish, a Challenger brand consultancy founded by Adam Morgan.
Oliver Downs Oliver Downs is currently GM Marketing for Asahi Beverages NZ where he and his team are responsible for developing the portfolio and brand strategies, delivering the day to day activities that drive growth, all while getting to work on some of NZ’s most fun liquor brands.
With almost 20 years’ experience, Oliver started his career in sales before making the shift to marketing. He credits this for his commercial approach to marketing and brand management. Oliver is passionate about people and teams, building brands and the power of creativity to drive business success.
In his spare time, which is unfortunately infrequent with young children, Oliver enjoys kitesurfing and travel.
Nileema Allerston Nileema heads Masterbrand at Vodafone New Zealand, where she is the strategic and creative custodian of both Consumer & Business brand, communications and partnerships.
Over the past 20 years Nileema has held a number senior brand and marketing roles across the risk, telecommunications and financial services industries in New Zealand and the United Kingdom. She is passionate about leading teams and developing marketing strategies that deliver commercial success and brand excellence.
Prior to her time at Vodafone, Nileema led Global Brand & Marketing at Lloyd’s in London.
Axis Executive Team 2020
Posted 9 October 2019.
Meet the team behind Axis 2020!
Lisa Fedyszyn - Convener
Executive Creative Director
Stanley St
Australia, New Zealand, USA, New Zealand. No matter where she goes, Lisa’s student loan still waits for her. So, she keeps working – From BBDO to DDB to TBWA to Droga5 to Ogilvy and now Stanley St where she is an Executive Creative Director of New Zealand’s biggest independent agency.
Since her time in the business, Lisa has made the most successful and entertaining recruitment film for the New Zealand Police, that has seen the largest intake of female and diverse recruits ever. She found a stunt that was even too dangerous for stuntwoman Zoe Bell to perform, for Auckland transport. Has humiliated one of Australia’s most celebrated sportsmen for McDonald’s, and once squeezed 60 scenes into a 60 second film for SKY. She has also charged male politicians 10% more than women for their morning coffee to bring awareness to pay inequality, and has hidden novels in Word and PowerPoint documents so employees can read books at work.
Along the way, her work has won awards at Effies, Cannes, D&AD, One Show, Clio, Webbys, and two Best In Shows at Axis. She was also named in Young Guns Top 10 Creatives of the Decade. She has judged at Cannes, Clio, New York Festivals, London Internationals, Axis, and AWARD. And for two years she was National Head of AWARD School in New Zealand, which prepared her for nurturing talent.
She was also asked to tell you something surprising you may not know about her. But you probably already know that she’s a vegan. Because vegans do let you know, don’t they?
Damon is Regional Chief Creative Officer of DDB New Zealand/Australia. He was formerly Executive Creative Director of Saatchi & Saatchi Australia and TBWA Hunt Lascaris, which was voted South African agency of the decade in 2010. He has worked on global brands such as BMW, Toyota, Nissan, Vodafone, Heineken, Visa, Cadbury and the World Cup 2010 campaign for Adidas.
Damon has collected awards at some of the most prestigious international advertising festival shows, receiving 50 D&AD Pencils – one being the first and only Black D&AD Pencil ever won in Africa. He’s won over 70 Cannes Lions, including the Grand Prix and eight Gold Lions, two Grand Clio, 13 One Show Gold Pencils, and the first ever ADC Black Cube ever awarded.
He is most known for his “Trillion Dollar” bill campaign for The Zimbabwean and Penny the Pirate for OPSM which have won over 200 international awards between them. Penny the Pirate was judged to be the most effective campaign in the world by the WARC 100 in 2016. The Zimbabwean is now in the permanent collection of the British Museum.
He has been recognised as one of the top 10 Executive Creative Directors in the world by both Creativity Magazine and the Big Won Report. In 2011, Finance Week awarded him Achiever of Year in South Africa. He’s had a variety of short stories published as well as articles for various magazines and writes a blog called damonsbrain.com which currently has over 100,000 followers. It is stuff he thinks about instead of world domination.
Damon also went to sixteen schools as a child and was only expelled twice. He received no reward for this achievement. This still bugs him.
Leisa Wall - Jury President
Creative Director
FCB New Zealand
Leisa’s life got off to a rocky start, when an ‘e’ accidentally fell into her name at birth. But she’s never let it hold her back. In 2001 her advertising career began in earnest – correction, it began in Cannes. She was there to take on the world and when she was done kicking ‘les cul’ and taking ‘les noms’, she returned to New Zealand and her first fulltime creative role.
Over the 18 years since then, Leisa has turned her hand to everything from brand campaigns for American Express in New York, to Family Violence in New Zealand. From training Pukekos to paint, to training men to check their balls.
An avid collector, Leisa has business cards from Ogilvy, Lowe Worldwide, Saatchi & Saatchi and FCB, where Leisa has led the way for the last 10 years. She’s also amassed an impressive array of paperweights from Axis, Cannes, D&AD, AWARD, One Show, Spikes and was once voted “Most likely to be really really good at advertising”.
At work, she proudly bears the title of Creative Director. But at home, that doesn’t carry much weight with her two young employees, Maemi & Lola. Instead they refer to her as CMO, or Chief Mummy Officer.
Maria Devereux - Jury President
Creative Director
Colenso BBDO
Maria began her career at Colenso BBDO, Auckland where she won six Cannes lions in her first six years as an Art Director. Prior to being a creative she headed up Colenso’s Design Department.
After Colenso BBDO, TAXI in Toronto called. As Creative Lead on McCain Foods she spent her days travelling back and forth across Canada in a private jet to taste test French fries. She’s held Creative Director roles at Y&R NZ, Special Group and now after eight years away she’s returned home to Colenso BBDO.
Her latest work for Pedigree SelfieSTIX has been awarded over 80 times at 23 shows. In addition to creating the world’s first doggie Snapchat, she has lit Auckland’s iconic harbour bridge with over 96,000 solar powered lights to demonstrate the city’s commitment to becoming 100% renewable, created a treehouse restaurant for Yellow, an in-flight fashion show for Air New Zealand (which took two years to receive civil aviation approval), wrapped a New York water tower in 50 kilometres of yarn for D&AD’s call for entries and spent four weeks in an RV roaming from New York to Los Angeles to share the music of America from a Telecom smartphone.
She was recently named in Adweek’s Creative 100 and has collected over 100 international and local awards for her work at multiple shows including Cannes, D&AD, One Show, Spikes, AWARD and Axis. And while she’ll never win any awards for it, she loves to sing. She trained with Toronto based celebrity voice coach Elaine Overholt alongside fellow students, Catherine Zeta Jones and John Travolta - people with actual talent.
Toby is the Chief Creative Officer of Saatchi. Previously he has been CCO of DDB Sydney and TBWA Auckland. Before then he was ECD of Rainey Kelly Y&R in London and prior to that spent five years at DDB Auckland. He did a brief stint at Saatchi back in the day. And before then a long stint at Colenso when he first graced these shores, latterly as Creative Director. They didn’t have fancy titles back then.
Toby has a proven track record of turning around the creative fortunes of agencies. He has won many Agency of the Year titles across various publications like NBR, Campaign Brief (four out of his five years at DDB NZ) and Campaign Asia. He has been awarded AOY at shows like Spikes, Axis and AWARD. He led DDB Asia Pacific to win Network of the Year at Adfest and Spikes. He has been Campaign Asia Creative of the Year for Australia & New Zealand and currently ranks No 2 ECD in the world on bestadsontv over the last ten years.
Toby has won numerous local and international awards, but will spare you the boring details.
Trivial fact about Toby: He drives an electric scooter and an electric car, but obviously not at the same time. Just to add a little balance, he also drives a 1973 gas guzzling Kombi bus at the weekend that leaves embarrassing patches of oil wherever it goes.
Kim Pick - Jury President
Executive Creative Director
VMLY&R
With over 20 years of global advertising experience on some of the world’s biggest brands, Kim Pick has worked at leading agencies in New York, London, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand.
Kim began her career as a journalist and film critic in New Zealand, before switching to copywriting in Australia. Multi-awarded, at age 26 she was one of the youngest to be appointed Creative Director of a network agency, leading McCann Erickson Singapore and accounts across South East Asia. Moving to the UK, she joined Saatchi & Saatchi London, where she was Regional Creative Director on P&G accounts for UK, Europe, Middle East and Africa. Kim was ECD of RAPP New York until 2014, when she returned to New Zealand, joining Colenso BBDO as Creative Director. She was appointed Executive Creative Director of VMLY&R New Zealand in 2018.
In addition to the work, she is passionate about the industry and talent development. A former chairman of Australia’s AWARD School, she has also served on the NZ Marketing Association Digital Advisory panel, and is on the Comms Council Inclusiveness and Diversity Council.
Growing up in a self-sufficient household off the grid on Kawau Island, and attending school by Correspondence, Kim had the very meta experience of studying a module about herself growing up in a self-sufficient household off the grid on Kawau Island and attending school by Correspondence.
The Faces of Our Industry | StopPress + Comms Council
Posted 8 October 2019.
StopPress and the Commercial Communications Council showcase The Faces of Our Industry.
The Comms Council have teamed up with StopPress to bring you The Faces of Our Industry, a new video series showcasing our industry in all its diversity.
A celebration of personal stories of diversity, we hope this series will highlight the diversity that does exist as well as reinforce the need for greater diversity in the industry. We hope these stories will serve to inspire and encourage people to join the industry.
To kick off the series, we hear from Cassidy Meredith, Group Account Director at Drum, about how he came to study communications. We also hear how he responds to people who don’t know what he does and get his thoughts on why the industry benefits from having people from all walks of life.
Second in the series, we hear from Sharee Campbell, HR Manager at Dentsu Aegis Network on what Dentsu are doing to create a diverse and inclusive environment, as well as what clients are looking for in the teams of their agency partners.
Comms Council / AUT Strategic Planning Lab
Posted 3 October 2019.
“Strategic thinking - putting creativity to work in search of competitive advantage - seems in many organisations to have been captured by the need for elaborate planning rituals.” Jules Goddard and Tony Eccles Authors of “Uncommon sense, common nonsense.”
‘If I have one piece of advice it’s for all marketers to learn about strategy.’ - Mark Ritson
Do you want to strengthen your strategic thinking, but find it hard to get the training on the job? Do you hear the ‘Strategy’ word being used in your organisation without too much explanation? At a point where developing strategic skills would unlock more career opportunity?
The Commercial Communications Council, in conjunction with AUT University of Technology and leading industry experts, will demystify the word “strategy” and help you increase the value you offer during and intensive 3 day course, hosted by Media Design School.
You will move from implementation to the strategic thinking process needed to plan effective communications and add value to your clients’s business.
The course includes presentations, discussions, interactive exercises and mentoring. It delivers these learning outcomes over 3 days which are staggered:
Latest evidence-based understanding of brain processing
Introduction to behavioural economics
Developing effective strategies with clients
Best practice insight development
Writing strong briefs and briefing well
Integrating briefs with channel thinking
Getting the best from your relationship with creative teams
Understanding of how brands really achieve growth
Digital Strategy-best practice
WHO SHOULD ATTEND?
Account Managers-to-Directors
Junior to Mid level Planners
Media Planners
Marketing Professionals
Mid-level Communications Managers
Marketing Managers
VENUE:
Media Design School, Level 14, 92 Albert Street, Auckland
Agencies/clients will be invoiced by Comms Council under normal terms of trade. If you have any questions or queries, call Marlen Smith on 09 303 0435.
Your account will be charged in NZD.
To register for the 2020 course:
Please provide full name, position, and contact details of attendees- and advise any special dietary requirements.
Ticket sales for the 2019 Effie Awards Gala Dinner now open!
Get your tickets here.
The biggest night on the New Zealand advertising industry calendar is fast approaching, with finalists in the 2019 Effie Awards announced today.
Organised by the Commercial Communications Council with key partner TVNZ, the 2019 Effie Awards will be presented at a glittering ceremony at Eden Park, Auckland on 24 October.
This year, Effie’s will once again bring attention to long term success; campaigns that have gone beyond short term returns and created genuine lasting change for an organisation. A panel of 240 expert industry judges in Auckland and Wellington assessed entries in two rounds to select 100 finalists across 17 categories. (See finalist list attached). Selections have also been made for the paper that deserves title of ‘The Hardest Challenge’ which will be announced on awards evening.
All Gold Effie category winners will also be eligible for the Grand Effie®, which is awarded to the campaign that achieved the most extraordinary commercial result for its client. The winner will also receive $100,000 in TVNZ airtime, thanks to sponsor TVNZ*.
This year’s Executive judging panel includes internationally recognised Global Head of Consumer Planning, Andrew Geoghegan from Diageo, UK, the world’s largest premium drinks company and home to brands such as Johnnie Walker, Guinness, Smirnoff, and Tanqueray. While in New Zealand, Andrew will be delivering a keynote address at the Annual Effectiveness Function on 11 October hosted by TVNZ. Register your attendance at awards@commscouncil.nz
The other Executive judges for 2019 are:
Kate Smith - Independent Strategist, Regan Savage - Acting Chief Customer Officer & Marketing Director at Trade Me, Nileema Allerston - Head of Business Brand and Comms at Vodafone, Kamran Kazbalash - Head of Marketing & CX for PAK’nSAVE and Four Square, Oliver Downs - General Manager of Marketing at Asahi, Jodene Murphy - General Manager of Marketing at BNZ, Kath Mitchell - General Manager of Trade Marketing at TVNZ and Craig Irwin - Managing Director of Iri Worldwide.
Tickets for the 2019 NZ Effie Awards, in association with TVNZ, can be booked through Eventfinda here.
Comms Council also thank commercial partner NZME, and sponsors Nielsen, Bauer Media, The Radio Bureau, Ooh! Media, facebook, Google and ICG for making the 2019 Effie Awards possible.
TICKETS | 2019 Effie Awards in association with TVNZ
Posted 25 September 2019.
2019 NZ Effie Awards in association with TVNZ
Tickets on sale NOW!
Date: Thursday 24 October 2019
Venue: Level 5 Lounge | Eden Park, Walters Road, Kingsland
Call for Entries goes Live: Friday 15 November 2019
Closing date for entries: Tuesday 21 January 2020 at 4pm
Late entry deadline (late fees apply): Thursday 23 January 2020 at 4pm
Auckland Anniversary (observed): Monday 27 January 2020
Hard Copy Material Deadline: Friday 31 January 2020
Waitangi Day (observed): Thursday 6 February 2020
Category Judging: Monday 10 to Friday 4 February 2020
Tickets on Sale: Thursday 13 February 2020
Finalists announced: Monday 17 February 2020
Executive Online Judging: Monday 17 to Thursday 27 February 2020
Metal Discussion Meeting if Required: Monday 2 March 2020 (Only if required)
Executive Judging Session: Wednesday 4 March 2020
Axis Speaks: Thursday 5 March 2020 (Venue TBC - evening)
Awards Show: Thursday 12 March 2020 at Sky City, Auckland
Meet the Convenor of Axis for 2020
Posted 24 September 2019.
Australia, New Zealand, USA, New Zealand. No matter where she goes, Lisa’s student loan still waits for her. So, she keeps working – From BBDO to DDB to TBWA to Droga5 to Ogilvy and now Stanley St where she is an Executive Creative Director of New Zealand’s biggest independent agency.
Since her time in the business, Lisa has made the most successful and entertaining recruitment film for the New Zealand Police, that has seen the largest intake of female and diverse recruits ever. She found a stunt that was even too dangerous for stuntwoman Zoe Bell to perform, for Auckland transport. Has humiliated one of Australia’s most celebrated sportsmen for McDonald’s, and once squeezed 60 scenes into a 60 second film for SKY. She has also charged male politicians 10% more than women for their morning coffee to bring awareness to pay inequality, and has hidden novels in Word and PowerPoint documents so employees can read books at work.
Along the way, her work has won awards at Effies, Cannes, D&AD, One Show, Clio, Webbys, and two Best In Shows at Axis. She was also named in Young Guns Top 10 Creatives of the Decade. She has judged at Cannes, Clio, New York Festivals, London Internationals, Axis, and AWARD. And for two years she was National Head of AWARD School in New Zealand, which prepared her for nurturing talent.
She was also asked to tell you something surprising you may not know about her. But you probably already know that she’s a vegan. Because vegans do let you know, don’t they?
IPA Commercial Certificate
Posted 23 September 2019.
IPA Commercial Certificate Video
This qualification has been created to give future industry leaders an education in agency finance, to help with those important client conversations and to build the understanding that you need to create great work that delivers a great profit.
Format
8 hours of online learning, culminating in a 30 minute online exam.
Audience
Primarily for Senior Account Manager & Account Director level (or equivalent), the qualification is also suitable for any staff that want to raise their commercial nous and get a better understanding of the commercial factors influencing agencies and clients.
Content
The qualification is made up of seven sections, which will each form a learning path in the online programme.
These are the 7 learning paths culminating in a 30 minute online exam.
1. The language of finance
This learning path introduces the roles and responsibilities within a finance department as well as the key stages within the financial planning and reporting process
2. KPIs – the key numbers for agencies
This learning path looks at KPIs including the different KPIs that can be used to measure any number of metrics across an organisation and their importance
3. Fees – how agencies are paid
Here we explore how fee payment structures have evolved as well as the advantages and disadvantages of various models of payment
4. Finance and Production
Finance is a key element of everybody’s role within an agency because how an agency handles finances is essential for success. This learning path looks at some of the financial processes adopted within an agency including the new business process, scope of work and payment process. It also examines a typical TV production process and the stages and tasks that need to be completed to ensure a TV commercial is delivered successfully
5. Finance and Media Agencies
Finance is also a key element within a media agency. This learning path looks at media specific finance issues including credit insurance, client approval process and media bookings
6. Contracts
A key part of any client/agency relationship is the contract that governs that relationship. Although some clauses of the contract are legal in nature, most are commercial points that should be understood by the account teams working on the client account. This learning path concentrates on some of the key points to be aware of when negotiating or complying with the terms of a contract
7. Client P&L
Understanding the client profit and loss account enables agencies to discuss and agree with the client how success of a campaign will be measured and how the agency will be paid. This learning path looks at some of the financial terminology likely to be used by clients and the potential measures and metrics by which success could be measured
Exam
The qualification is open throughout the year; except when the content is going through an annual update. The exam is taken after the online learning is complete. A certificate of completion is awarded to all delegates who successfully pass the exam. Candidates will be required to complete the online learning 6 months after signing up. The online access will be ceased after 6 months period.
COURSE COSTS
Members only - $500 + GST
See IPA Commercial Certificate Terms & ConditionsHERE
Any further questions, contact Industry Development Manager Marlen Smith
IPA Eff Test Certificate
Posted 23 September 2019.
Set you and your agency apart with the IPA Eff Test
“I encourage anyone in the industry to take the IPA Eff Test; it arms you with so much knowledge on the effectiveness of advertising that you can use to bring success to your agency and clients.” - Kate Welsh, Media Planner/ Buyer - MBM
Established in 1917, the IPA (Institute of Practitioners in Advertising) is the professional body for UK-based advertising, media and marketing communications agencies. The IPA and the Comms Council are continuing their partnership - working together to bring the IPA’s globally recognised qualifications to New Zealand.
IPA Eff Test Video
What is the IPA Eff Test Certificate?
Developed by industry experts in their field, including Peter Field and Les Binet, the IPA Eff Test Certificate is a world-class qualification. Teaching methods to evaluate and measure marketing effectiveness, the Eff Test helps delegates develop a greater understanding and critical-thinking approach to the evaluation of their campaigns.
Format
35+ hours of intensive online learning, delivered over 13 modules, culminating in a formal 2 hour online exam.
An IPA certificate of completion will be awarded to all delegates who successfully pass the exam.
Delegates must allow 2-3 months to complete the required hours of dedicated study, prior to the online exam.
Who is the Eff Test designed for?
Ideally for mid-level planners with at least 2-3 years’ experience from all agency types and disciplines, the qualification is suitable for anyone involved in the evaluation and development of effective creative work - be it agency or client side.
Content
Made up of 13 modules, the qualification covers a range of subjects, offering a solid grounding for understanding and measuring advertising effectiveness.
It is designed to help you:
- Advance your ability to prove the value of what you’ve achieved for your clients.
- Learn the language your client speaks.
- Gain the tools to measure multi-platform activity, from sponsorship to CRM.
These are the 13 learning paths culminating in a two hour online exam:
1. Introduction to effectiveness testing
This learning path introduces effectiveness testing, including why it is so important to clients
2. Planning for effectiveness
Top tips for evaluation including setting benchmarks and factors to consider
3. Input measures
An introduction to campaign measures
4. Output measures: Business
This learning path starts to look at output measures and more specifically, business measures
5. Output measures: Behavioural
Here, we’ll look at behavioural measures
6. Output measures: Awareness and attitudes
This learning path focuses on awareness and attitudinal measures
7. Isolating your activity: Non-econometric
Here, non-econometric approaches to isolating the effects of activity are explored
8. Isolating your activity: Econometrics
This learning path examines econometric approaches to isolating the effects of activity
9. Evaluating DM and CRM activity
This learning path examines evaluation techniques across DM and CRM activity
10. Evaluating digital
Focuses on evaluating the digital mix
11. Evaluating promotional activity
This learning path looks at the key principles in evaluating promotional activity
12. Evaluating PR and sponsorship
Here, we’ll look at the techniques used to evaluate PR and sponsorship activities including key metrics and tools
13. Evaluating public sector campaigns
This learning path covers evaluation techniques and specific considerations when evaluating public sector campaigns
COURSE COSTS
Members only - $1,400 +GST
Exam dates for 2019 / 2020
When registering for for this certificate, you MUST select your exam date
The dates to choose from are:
28th November 2019 (bookings close by 4th October 2019)
27th February 2020 (bookings close by 3rd January 2020)
26th March 2020 (bookings close by 30th January 2020)
Bookings for each place will close 2 months ahead of the exam date - allowing delegates enough time to complete the online learning before sitting the exam. Be sure to consider your timing and schedule when selecting an exam date.
REGISTRATION PROCESS
On registration you will be required to choose an exam date from the dates provided by the IPA. Please choose this exam date very carefully – take into consideration the time you need to commit to the Eff Test Course – e.g. 2 hours per week for three months.
If you change your mind e.g. defer – say you can’t sit it – you will be charged £150 + VAT. This is paid directly to the IPA and is due to the arrangements they have to make in terms of staffing and monitoring the exam.
Important notice: Candidates without extenuating circumstances will be unable to defer from the previous to the new version of the Eff Test. See Clause 2.2.1 in the qualification policies for details.
The Eff Test is an internationally recognised qualification and like university qualifications, follows strict regulations and controls.
The Comms Council will send your registration details to the IPA.
The IPA will issue you a login and password within 5 working days. You can then commence the course.
Please note Candidates can only defer their place once. There will be a deferral fee of £150 + VAT per candidate if they cannot sit the exam (paid directly to the IPA)
Please note that the IPA won’t run an online exam for less than 8 candidates. The above dates have also been suggested to Australia candidates to maximise the number sitting at each date.
Paul Bainsfair, Director General, IPA comments on IPA and Comms Council (formerly CAANZ) Commercial Alliance
Comms Council IPA Alliance
The Commercial Communications Council has forged an alliance with its counterpart in the United Kingdom, the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA), to deliver the IPA portfolio of award-winning qualifications and courses to agencies and clients in the New Zealand marketing and communications industry.
What is the IPA?
Established in 1917, the IPA (Institute of Practitioners in Advertising) is the professional body for advertising, media and marketing communications agencies based in the United Kingdom. As a not-for-profit membership body, its role is two-fold: to provide essential core support services to its 306 agency brand members who account for over 85% of the UK’s £16.7bn advertising and media spend; and to act as the industry spokesperson.
The IPA’s goal is to set benchmarks for best practice in the global advertising profession to give people the tools to take control of their own learning and to thrive – collectively and individually.
The IPA in association with the Comms Council
The IPA are pleased to associate themselves with the Comms Council, and in doing so help raise the levels of professionalism amongst the industry in New Zealand through globally recognised qualifications that provide a benchmark in best practice for our industry.
The IPA and Comms Council will launch with two of the existing IPA globally recognised qualifications and online courses and deliver them to Comms Council Industry Members.
IPA courses regarded as the preeminent qualifications offered globally
IPA courses are regarded as the preeminent qualifications globally and Comms Council believes this will be one of the most significant professional development offers available to the communications industry in New Zealand. The new alliance will give the local industry access to international professional development learning that has not previously been available in NZ.
The Comms Council looks forward to offering further courses over time – please check here regularly for new course announcements.
Registering for courses
Once you have decided which course you would like to participate in please complete the registration form and email it to erin@commscouncil.nz
Comms Council will register you for the IPA course – an invoice will be sent to the agency / nominated bill payer per your registration form and payment should be made within 14 days.
Login and time commitments
Comms Council will send registration details to the IPA. The IPA will issue you a login and password within 5 working days. You can then commence the course/s.
The Eff Test will take you approximately 30 hours to complete the learning paths.
The Commercial Certificate will take you approximately 8 hours.
Additional live workshops may be offered during the Commercial Certificate course if participant numbers allow – you will be contacted by Comms Council if a workshop is being facilitated locally.
Anna Chitty - CEO, PHD China 
Kevin Malloy - Independent Director/Consultant 
Eddie D’Sa - CEO, Nord DDB 
Mike Cunnington - Deputy Commissioner, IRD 
Jon Macdonald - Director, Contact Energy, Mitre 10, NZX and TradeMe
Brent Smart - SMO, IAG Australia
(Convenor) Simon Lendrum - Independent Strategic Consultant 
Annemarie Browne - Chief Marketing Officer, Lotto NZ 
Jodi O’Donnell – Commercial Director, TVNZ 
Regan Savage - Independent Executive Marketer 
Robert Harvey - CEO, Dentsu Aegis Network 
Derek Lindsay - Independent 
Samantha Osborne - Managing Director, Mindshare 
Nick Vile - General Manager, oOh!media 
David Thomason - Independent 
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