Innholdsfortegnelse for Issue 81 2024 i NZ Marketing

Listening to Zoe Scaman speak at Brand Summit 2024 felt like stumbling upon a gold mine. Scaman, Founder of strategy studio Bodacious, spoke via video link from the UK to talk about The Multiplayer Brand. Her session focused on the relationships between brands and their communities – and how this has become more reciprocal with the growth of the creator economy, thanks to platforms such as YouTube and TikTok, as well as gaming and artificial intelligence. Now, brands are starting to co-create their intellectual property together with their communities, says Scaman. She gave the example of Reebok allowing people to create their own virtual sneakers and then wear them in a game environment. In time, this will give way to customer-designed shoes being made in real life. Even Disney is…

Jonathan Jansen was on a farm in the middle of nowhere in Oregon when he realised just how powerful gaming is as a medium. Let’s rewind to 2013. Jansen, who is now CEO of the New Zealand Esports Federation, was one of the country’s first major streamers. Via his channel Arkadian, he was creating content on a “really niche game” from League of Legends on YouTube and an early version of Twitch. Like the game, his audience was also fairly niche – or so he thought. Then he was on holiday in the US and a group of teenagers recognised him at a horror maze in Eugene, Oregon, a city about half the size of Christchurch. “I was there with some friends and there was a group of people behind…

It’s the eve of Jetblack Production’s sixth birthday – a good time to reflect on how this innovative production offering was conceived and the success it has had for Pitchblack Partners and their clients. Tell us how the idea was conceived to launch Jetblack Productions… After more than 20 years agency producing, I saw an opportunity to create a more streamlined, seamless offering that would deliver real value for our clients, improving the end-to-end delivery from ideation through to production. I believe in true integration between production and creative. Making the process simpler gives focus to the product and ultimately makes it better. The trust that comes from working with a consistent team is the only way to achieve this. Together with Dan Watkins at Reel Factory and my business…

The name ‘UFO Rodeo’ sums up two things you ought to know about Leon Kirkbeck, Co-founder and Managing Director of the newly christened suite of businesses created with his wife, fellow Co-founder and CEO Michelle Walshe. Firstly, he loves UFOs. He’s one of the trio behind The Cryptid Factor – a lo-fi podcast about weird monsters, alien sightings and phenomena science can’t explain. Secondly: “I just hate the word group,” says Kirkbeck – though he’s smiling as he speaks. “You say it and your mouth is a horrible shape. “It sounds like you’re officious – group – it’s everything that we are not. And I didn’t want to feel like we are a bunch of individual companies that we’ve acquired and just mashed together.” Quite the opposite. “All of the…

When it comes to global brands, living in New Zealand can often feel like being the poor cousin, watching as the likes of Aldi set up shop in Australia but fail to offer a branch across the Tasman. For years, Kiwi consumers have been crying out for more choice and competition in the retail sector. But a one-two punch of international arrivals has raised hope Aotearoa might finally be on the global retail radar. Members-only wholesaler Costco attracted huge crowds when it opened in the Auckland suburb of Westgate in 2022. Meanwhile, Ikea is busy building its own first New Zealand store at Kiwi Property’s Sylvia Park mall in Aucklnd’s Mt Wellington. It’s due to open in late 2025, but Ikea has been looking to come here for a while.…

Traditionally, marketing has been split into B2B (business-to-business) and B2C (business-to-consumer) categories. But rapid digital transformation means these distinctions are blurring. What does that mean for marketers in the B2B space? It opens up a new way of thinking that puts humans first. These days, B2B buyers are increasingly expecting B2C-like experiences – they want purchasing to be frictionless and digital. They like self-service too: research from McKinsey found between 70% and 80% of B2B decision-makers prefer remote human interactions with sales reps or digital self-service. According to Abby Bunting, Director Client Solutions at Kepler, they’re happy to spend big via this method: 35% of B2B decision-makers are now comfortable making online purchases worth over $500,000. It’s not just the service side of B2B that’s becoming more customer-centric: influencer marketing…

How long has it been since you had a conversation with at least a handful of customers, with the specific intention of uncovering insights to use in your company’s marketing? How long has it been since you looked at your marketing data and made decisions based on it? And one last question: are you using AI for customer insights and research? As marketers, we have more data at our fingertips than in any era in history. We have inexpensive access to AI tools that seduce us with promises of quick and easy customer analysis. If we want to explore the motivations and behaviours of “synthetic customers”, then AI has well and truly got our back. There are obviously enormous benefits for marketers in the use of data and AI to…

When I think of advertising jingles, I immediately think of Tony’s Tyre Service. It has everything a jingle needs, it is catchy, straight to the point and no matter how many years go by, it is stuck in my head. But do jingles still have a purpose? Adverts are broken up into two things. They are 50% visual and 50% audio. It’s tempting to think visual is the more significant half of the equation, but you can see something one day and forget it tomorrow. Jingles are earworms you can’t get out of your head. Close your eyes and think of your favourite jingle. Do you know the lyrics off by heart? Thought so. For its 70th birthday in 2024, dog food brand Tux decided to revive and reinvent its…

New Zealand has had plenty of iconic characters and mascots over the years. Who can forget ASB Bank’s Goldstein, or Vince Martin for Beaurepaires? Or how about Spot, the Jack Russell Terrier who starred in more than 40 ads for Telecom (since renamed Spark) back in the 1990s? Today we have the wacky hijinks of Pak’nSave’s ‘Stickman’ and the wildly popular ‘Tina from Turners’, not to mention the (possibly immortal) Briscoes lady, who has been the face of one of New Zealand’s most successful retailers for 30 years and shows no sign of slowing down. These mascots and characters have been at the forefront of award-winning and memorable ad campaigns for some of our biggest and most successful brands, but what about the more than 90% of Kiwi businesses that…

On paper, marketers have the easiest job on Earth. All we need to do is get people to watch content online – which is what everyone’s doing these days already, right? People are spending so much time online that it’s a social problem. Governments are legislating against it. Psychologists say it’s changing our brains. Social media is shaping world politics. YouTubers and influencers are the new royalty. And yet, brands struggle to get people to watch their content. What’s going on? The problem is that our industry has not adapted to this new reality. Too many companies are making content like it’s 1999, when media companies could force people to watch ads. Back then, it was almost like the quality of your ad didn’t matter – a boring ad got…

Congratulations on becoming Droga5 Aotearoa. What does that mean for NZ? Storm Day: Thank you. It’s exciting to become part of the global Droga5 network and an honour to be part of this legendary brand. We love its ambition to create purpose-led brands that are the most influential of this century. From the early days with Ecko’s ‘Airforce One’ to Levis ‘The Greatest Story Every Worn’, to Puma ‘Afterhours Athlete’ and more recently Paramount – the work speaks for itself. And to be influential we believe you need to be making interesting work. That’s a word that has become very important to us. Is it interesting? How do we make it more interesting? Why will Kiwis be interested? Damon Stapleton: Interesting sets the bar high. The Monkeys as a network…

For FCB Aotearoa, a key part of being the Change Agency is knowing when to stay still. Wellington CEO Sean Keaney has a good example. When the team won the Electoral Commission account five years ago, many thought it could be time to say goodbye to long-serving voting icon Orange Guy. But instead FCB kept him and gave him a dog, Puck – “because every Orange Guy needs a sidekick,” says co-Chief Creative Officer Leisa Wall. Keaney adds that throwing out the orange mascot would have been a disservice, both to Aotearoa and to the agency. “Orange Guy is such a shortcut to voting and democracy,” says Keaney. “I’m so very grateful to those of us who said we need to stick with it.” FCB Aotearoa has been “The Change…

Michelle Allbon Co-founder and CEO of the Fractional Directory on how this new way of looking at leadership can transform businesses. Jamie Hitchcock Creative Partner at The Enthusiasts talks about how jingles like Tux’s Fit As A Fiddle, Sharp As A Knife are bringing it home for brands. Juanita Neville-Te Rito Founder and Managing Director of RX Group on which brands stand out at the new Mānawa Bay outlet shopping centre. Shamubeel Eaqub Chief Economist at Simplicity on the economic outlook for 2025 and why now is a good time to be investing in marketing. Craig Hudson General Manager, Export Customers at NZTE discusses the biggest challenges Kiwi brands face when going global. Sam Ramlu Founder of creative technology studio Method on the value of gamified experiences and the importance…

When Special began creating the Inclusive Code, they never thought it would take two years. But, says Special’s Chief Strategy Officer Rory Gallery: “If you want to truly understand audiences, you have to stop and make time.” Breaking barriers It all started when Special decided it wanted to help advertising be more inclusive for communities typically under-represented and underserved, says Head of Strategy Bethany Omeri. It’s a multi-part project and chapter one, launched in October, focuses on the disabled community, who make up 25% of people in Aotearoa. Special created the code in partnership with specialist consulting agency All is for All and Mana Pasifika Disabled Peoples Organisation. “Disabled people with lived experience should lead the creation of the solution,” says Omeri. CEO of All is for All Grace Stratton…

NZ Geographic opens books for subscriptions New Zealand Geographic magazine has taken the rare step of making its books public in order to drive subscriptions. This type of “radical transparency” is unheard of in media, but publisher James Frankham says subscribers are buying a stake in the company and deserve to know where the money is going. The approach looks like it’s working: the magazine needs 10,000 subscribers (an extra 2.1k) to stay financially viable and, as we went to press, that number was 9,329. Plug charging points aim to boost dwell time Plug Media has launched a nationwide network of kiosks that provide free, secure phone charging. Located in high-traffic venues across major retailers, stadiums, hospitality and event venues, as well as lifestyle hubs, the interactive digital screens (pictured)…

In the current economic environment, businesses are reviewing the efficiency of their entire operation from staffing to overheads. And while marketing budgets are always under pressure, David Parker of Sneakers Media thinks it is also important to review the effectiveness of marketing. One part of that equation is the value advertisers gain from their media activity. Think about this for a minute: is your media agency the right fit? Are they delivering success and how can you measure that? It’s all about asking the right questions, he says. The starting point is to ask yourself if your media activity is delivering the business results you expect. “It’s easy to get distracted by media metrics, but the results that matter are the ones that impact the bottom line.” It’s crucial to…

Musician Finn Johansson was in his late 20s when he had an epiphany. “If I don’t make games, I’m going to be dying and that will be the regret,” he says. And so he set up Finnsoft Games, a development studio that combines his two great passions: music and gaming. It’s a fascinating concept: bands or artists come to him and he creates a game based on one of their songs, or a whole album. From there, he cuts together a music video that promotes both the game and the song. His inspiration came from the Red Hot Chili Peppers music video for Californication, released in the late 90s, which looked like a video game. “Everybody who was 10 years old like me at the time was like, ‘I want…

I haven’t been able to get Rishad Patel and Alan Soon’s opening address out of my head. Standing onstage alongside a giant sign made out of balloons that reads ‘Beta’, they explain that hospitality is the theme of this year’s conference – because it sits at the heart of everything the industry does. “If you’re in media, you’re in the hospitality business,” says Patel. “Modern media is user-driven, demand-based, highly intentional. It is also, ‘How can I help you today?’ “It’s not enough to just publish the news. Building a good product is only one part of the puzzle… The best of media happens when we make our audiences feel seen.” Helping people put that puzzle together is Patel and Soon’s bread and butter. It’s been 10 years since they…

Today the most successful companies use social media as an integral part of their overall strategy. But as both TikTok’s and Google’s Path to Purchase research have shown, the customer journey is no longer linear. Instead of a traditional funnel, customers move fluidly through a “figure 8” journey, looping back and forth between stages such as awareness, consideration, purchase and advocacy. Drawing from key principles in the Social Media Strategy to Win framework I developed, here’s a high-level look at how I work with brands to build a flexible, connected approach that adapts to this continuous journey and helps drive both sales and loyalty. SEO and customer insight Understanding your customer is the key to winning. Who are they? What’s their persona? What’s keeping them awake at night? Social media…

When you pass Graeme Hart to top the NBR List 2024 with an estimated wealth of $20 billion, it’s probably a sign your business is doing well. The Mowbray family started Zuru Group as a toy company more than 20 years ago and, like many Kiwi companies, the story began in a garage. Zuru has since expanded to include two other divisions – consumer goods and construction. It has a presence in more than 120 markets worldwide, across six core consumer verticals, and has a footprint of 26 offices globally (and growing). Rhodes Pet Science, the pet division of Zuru, sells five pet brands in 20 of those international markets, retailing across 200,000+ points of distribution. Anna Tompkins is the Head of Marketing for Rhodes Pet Science, and she steers…

The New Zealand Marketing Association is at the forefront of shaping the future of marketing and its latest initiatives are nothing short of inspiring. By empowering marketers at every stage of their careers through learning, networking, mentoring and real-world experience, the MA is making waves in the industry. MA’s Student Engagement Programme provides a platform for tertiary marketing students to learn about our industry and start building connections. This is part of MA’s ongoing commitment to build capability in marketing and securing a strong future for marketers. For more senior marketers, MA’s Advanced Marketing Leadership Programme is hailed by graduates from the 2024 cohort for elevating their marketing, strategic thinking and leadership skills as they set their sights on future CMO roles. Here we take a closer look at both…

Humour in advertising is having a renaissance, but it can be tricky to get right. When you think about the ads you remember, more often than not they’re the ones that amused you. For me, it’s the Cadbury advert with the gorilla drumming to Phil Collins’ In The Air Tonight. For Jacob Dawson, Co-founder and Creative Director at One Day Video, it’s Waka Kotahi’s viral ‘Ghost Chips’ ad. “We all have bad days… so giving people the ability to opt in and opt out is really important.” While both of these ads aired in the 2000s, humour is now making a comeback after years of purpose-driven advertising, says Dawson. “Ads go through cycles – purpose-driven ads came out and everyone jumped on that, but you can’t care about them all.…

A week is like a year when it comes how quickly artificial intelligence technology is developing, says Nyssa Waters. “What you knew last week is not the same as what you know today.” Waters is Co-founder and CEO of Being AI – Customer Solutions, a company that helps people navigate the world of artificial intelligence and use it effectively in their businesses. She says that while AI itself is not new – the technology has been around for decades – how it’s being used is changing rapidly. Industry experts say we are moving towards an agentic society – essentially, where AI will start acting on our behalf. During a presentation on AI in marketing, Chief Digital Officer at Dentsu Australia Mark Byrne uses the evolution of ChatGPT to explain this…

Energy is vital for modern life, but consumers aren’t very enthused about it. According to research by The Shelton Group, the average person spends 6 minutes per year thinking about their utility company. Why would we be excited? The energy powering our ovens, phone chargers and (for some of us) our cars is not only invisible, but works the same regardless of which company we purchase it from. When Frank Energy (formerly Energy Online) chose Motion Sickness to be the creative force behind its brand relaunch, the agency embraced the dull nature of electricity. “When we received the RFP, our internal response was initially, ‘Electricity can be pretty boring.’ But that was also the opportunity. There was room to differentiate in the category,” says Sam Stuchbury, Executive Creative Director at…

Fractional leadership is a relatively new idea in Aotearoa, but it’s catching on. Put simply, it’s a part-time, short-term working arrangement for executives at the C-suite level. Fractional roles have been around in other parts of the world – particularly the US – for some time, says Michelle Allbon, Co-founder and CEO of the Fractional Directory. She and fellow Co-founder Julia Bower, who is also Head of Product and Technology at the Directory, set up the resource to match Aotearoa’s wealth of talent with businesses in this country. Fractionals are employed for a fraction (hence the name) of a full-time employee – they’re especially useful to help companies adapt and develop innovative business practices, especially during times of growth or change. The model is ideal for organisations that don’t need…

Milk’s philosophy is more than just words – it’s imbued in every part of their process. Working with brands across a variety of sectors on both local and Australian shores, the Trans-Tasman design agency’s approach is all about uncovering what makes a business truly unique – and then supercharging it to create a future-focused brand. After two decades in the industry (plus the added years and wisdom of their diverse team), their observation is clear: brands that set themselves up for transformative growth are those that take time to define and amplify their unique value. Ben Reid, Managing Director of Milk, explains: “There’s something powerful about rooting your business in what makes it not only special but irreplaceable for the market. When you know what that is, and align your…

You’re probably a regular visitor already – more than half a million people check the MetService app and website (metservice.com) daily to see if they should hang out the washing, if there’s severe weather incoming or what the UV levels are doing. You trust the MetService, and so do 2.9 million New Zealanders every month. It’s a huge advertising platform that flies under the radar, says Kathryn Blackmore, Sales & Partnerships Manager at MetService. “We have over 544,000 people every day who are checking the forecast. Marketers may not realise that MetService has this huge audience with viewers accessing our platforms multiple times a day,” says Blackmore. “We’re a trusted brand. We rank in the top 10 of the Public Sector Reputation Index measured by Vierian. It’s something we’re very…

Imagine walking into a store, picking up your items and paying just by looking at a screen. This is already a reality in China, thanks to facial recognition payment technology, but how do people on the other side of the world feel about it? A study, Exploring consumers’ competence, autonomy and relatedness needs in the adoption of facial recognition payment technology, by researchers from the University of Auckland and Queensland University of Technology explores the factors that could make or break this payment method’s success. Facial recognition payments use biometric data – specifically facial features – to complete transactions. The technology captures your facial image at checkout and links it to your bank account. For consumers, it can offer convenience and speed. However, the study suggests that widespread adoption faces…

We might have to ditch this interview at any moment. That’s how it is when you work in news: there’s no predicting when something big might happen. It can be stressful, but reporter Katie Ham finds it “hugely” rewarding. “It’s hard work, but hard yards are worth it,” she says, aware that the intensity of a newsroom during a major event isn’t to everyone’s taste. “I think you can’t say it to anyone who’s not a journalist, but you’re never having as much fun as when you break a story. Finding the order in that chaos, finding a cohesive narrative of what’s actually happened. It’s quite fun.” She took to the industry like a natural. A fortnight-long internship at Stuff’s Auckland newsroom while studying for a post-grad journalism diploma saw…

While watching TV, 48% use captions – up from 21% in 2018 Reports of the TV industry’s death are greatly exaggerated – and they have been for years, laughs Amanda Wisniewski. The researcher and insights expert should know: she designed and conducted the research, on behalf of Glasshouse Consulting, for the 2024 iteration of Where Are The Audiences (WATA) – New Zealand On Air’s report into the nation’s video consumption. This is the seventh time the work has been carried out in a decade, so it offers clear insight into Kiwi viewing habits. The graphs have been showing a steady decline in linear TV consumption since the first report was released in 2014. That’s often been interpreted as TV being on the same trajectory as the dinosaurs – but is…

2024 has been a rough year for media in Aotearoa. Redundancy after redundancy has shrunk an already diminished industry even further. For some, it’s like watching a car fire. But for independent student radio station 95bFM, this is just another day. Radio Bosom’s first pirate broadcast in 1969 was from a borrowed boat in the Hauraki Gulf as a stunt by Auckland Uni students. And for 55 years, the station has managed to stay afloat. Though sometimes only just – for decades it has relied on the continued support of a loyal band of bCard holders (subscribers) and even now, many station ‘staff’ are volunteers. The station is owned by a trust on behalf on Auckland University Students’ Association, but must bankroll itself. Over the years, bFM has been close…

The customer experience is everything. Get it right, and customers will keep coming back. Russell Douglas, Founder of D&Co, reckons he’s perfected the art of identifying what he calls the ‘Moments that Matter’. “These moments – big or small – define whether a customer stays loyal or leaves,” says Douglas. “Nailing these can mean the difference between a customer being satisfied or delighted or leaving the brand.” Uncovering the unexpected Sometimes, a customer journey is quite literal. Douglas recalls a conversation with a student from Glenfield in Auckland, about filling up at Z Energy. “She told me, ‘Russ, I don’t understand why I have to drive past one Z to get to another.’” At first, the comment puzzled Douglas. But her frustration boiled down to inconsistent fuel pricing – her…

We might be out of recession, but it doesn’t feel like it. New Zealand’s GDP per capita, a measure of our individual wealth, is about 4% lower than its peak in September 2022. Will we finally turn the corner in 2025? Shamubeel Eaqub, Chief Economist at KiwiSaver provider Simplicity, expects the year to see a slow start but a strong finish. “There are growing signs that we are nearing the bottom of the economic cycle. Retail spending is stabilising, and households and businesses are becoming more optimistic,” he says. “Most importantly, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand is cutting interest rates, which will reduce the cost of borrowing and – in time – will lift borrowing and investment too.” However, Eaqub says there are still some difficult months to traverse,…

Every year, Pinterest releases its predictions of trends for the coming year – and it has proven spookily accurate at foreseeing what will capture the global imagination in the 12 months ahead. How? Because users know what they want. Pinterest users ‘pin’ pictures to collate a mood board, provide inspiration for future projects or simply enjoy. These collections give the platform unique data and insights into its audience – what they like, what they will like and what they’re looking for. The annual “Pinterest Predicts” list is a trend forecast of what to expect in the upcoming year. It not only gives users an opportunity to peek into the future, it can provide marketers an indication of what campaigns might land with audiences. “Pinterest Predicts is a cheat sheet right…

For years, we’ve mainly thought of fandoms as enthusiasts of big-name film franchises like Star Wars, major sports teams like the LA Lakers or even large-scale TV shows like Game of Thrones. But now this idea of people who share a common interest has expanded from subsets of pop culture and is being applied to more everyday activities. Laura Mulcahy, fan of gardening and fashion as well as Head of Cultural Practice at TRA, says fandoms have evolved. This way of connecting has been supercharged with social media. “It is way easier now to find a random person that shares your interests and whatever you’re a fan of then it was even 10 years ago,” she says. “So, where you may have felt like you were the only person with…

80% of women feel positive about loyalty programmes Ben Goodale learnt a lot about loyalty in 2024. It’s one of his company’s specialties, but for the first time, Quantum Jump CEO Goodale and his team have data to illustrate just how the nation feels about loyalty programmes. And despite the disruption, the sentiments are overwhelmingly positive. Conducted by Quantum Jump and research agency Yabble, the NZ Loyalty State of the Nation surveyed 1,000 New Zealanders aged 18-plus who use at least one loyalty programme. With these results, they used Yabble’s augmented AI models to create a synthetic data set of 100 virtual consumers and did a deep dive into how they felt about loyalty and why. A bit like being in “a chat room with the AI”, the synthetic data…

It’s been the best part of two decades since Auckland last had a football club of its own. That’s a long time between drinks for fans of the beautiful game in Tāmaki Makaurau. NZ Marketing caught up with the club just under two weeks before its first ever kick-off, as fans, spectators and lovers of the game had their eyes set on how the club would fare. But with no games under its belt, the first question was obvious: how do you build support for a sports team with no fans? Nick Becker, CEO of Auckland FC, says the timing for a football team was perfect. Coming off the back of the successful Fifa Women’s World Cup staged in New Zealand and Australia, interest in the sport in Aotearoa is…

Bringing home the record for the world’s largest haka was a truly magical moment for Dame Hinewehi Mohi. Her emotion was clear as she addressed gathered media at Eden Park on the evening of September 29, Guinness World Record certificate in hand. It was the culmination of a huge campaign – slow but steady work to normalise te reo and make haka a taonga for all in this land, and a whirlwind blast of organisation and publicity to reclaim a world record for Aotearoa. At the 1999 Rugby World Cup, Dame Hinewehi had been a lone voice in a vast stadium when she sang the national anthem in te reo Māori for the first time before an All Blacks match. But a lot changed in the 25 years since. Just…