Last year, Toby Talbot (left) returned to Saatchi & Saatchi New Zealand as chief creative officer. He spoke to Campaign Brief about indie agencies with zany one-word names, the Publicis awards ban, why he keeps coming back to work in New Zealand, his upcoming gig at Ad Stars, things he's not-so-good at, and lots more besides.
 
CB: It's been one year since you took the role as Chief Creative Officer at Saatchi & Saatchi New Zealand. How's it going?
TT: It's been fantastic. It's been 10 years since I last worked at Saatchi and I'd forgotten the potency of the name. It's like you look up the word 'advertising' in the dictionary and find us. I also walked into an incredible culture that has been nurtured by my partner in the business here, Paul Wilson, since he took over. No hierarchies. No politics. No egos. Just a burning desire to do the best work we can and a strong sense of purpose shared with our clients. I also have a boss in Mike Rebelo who, as well as being Saatchi born and bred, runs Publicis in the region. So I feel much more connected to the potential of our network than I ever felt in previous networks I have belonged to.
 
CB: Now that you've settled back in, what are your goals for 2018?
TT: My focus for 2018 is about creating world-changing ideas. We've had a year away from awards - which I think on the whole has been applauded by the industry because it's forced huge money-making machines like Cannes to take stock of how out of control it's all become. And personally, I've enjoyed it as it's allowed me to focus on people and product. It will be great to get back into awards but, for me, the shiny baubles come easily after you've got everything else right. I'm still way more focussed on the Strand, Parnell than the Croisette, Cannes.

A blog by Damon Stapleton, chief creative officer of DDB New Zealand
   
"An egg is funny, an orange is not." - Fred Allen

One of the most painful things you can ever see is a comic bombing. It is like watching somebody else being kicked in the balls but somehow you feel the pain. This was happening to me about a week ago.

It was late at the comedy club. There is a beautiful, opaque, intoxicating sadness about a comedy club. Comics loudly telling stories about past glories. Human beings trying to withstand it all by making other human beings laugh. A boulevard of broken dreams that occasionally glitters so brightly, you are willing to keep walking as the rain falls.

Since the inception of Creative LIAisons in 2012, LIA has been at the forefront of nurturing the next generation of creative talent. This year, in partnership with Gorilla Doctors, LIA has taken another positive step forward by initiating a global competition that is open to all creatives between the ages of 21 - 30 years.

Says Barbara Levy, president of LIA: "Our focus has always been to invest in young talent. That's why we started Creative LIAisons, our way of giving back to the industry. When we learned of the plight of the mountain gorillas through our association with Gorilla Doctors, we felt that this was the perfect platform to galvanize young talent from all over the world to help save these gorillas through a competition to find the best idea."

WARC, the global marketing intelligence service, has today released 'Lessons from the world's top effectiveness campaigns' to uncover shared creative, media and measurement strategies.

The report analyses the results of the latest WARC 100, an annual ranking of campaigns based on their performance in effectiveness awards from around the world.

The four lessons from the 2018 WARC 100 analysis are:

1. Effective campaigns increasingly have PR 'baked in'
Analysis of campaigns in this year's WARC 100 reveal the increasing use of PR in their channel strategies. This reflects the rise of creative ideas built to gain press coverage and other earned media. Several ideas at the top of the ranking centre around a highly PR-able stunt or concept, like the Transport Accident Association's 'Graham', that can generate content across channels and media.

Wunderman CEO Mark Read (pictured), who has become one of WPP's two global leaders in the wake of Sir Martin Sorrell's resignation over the weekend, has emailed each of its approximately 200,000 employees around the world. In the memo Read expresses confidence in the future of WPP and assures all that there is no intention of breaking up the Group

To everyone at WPP

Over the last four days I've spent as much time as possible speaking to our people and clients. There's universal admiration for Martin's achievements, and sadness about his departure. At the same time, there's a huge amount of support and goodwill for the company, and no shortage of confidence about the future.

That confidence is well founded. The companies and client teams that make up WPP are exceptionally good at what they do. They are major organisations in their own right, with their own strong leaders. The clients I've spoken to have all been clear: they value their partner agencies and teams, they expect them to continue to deliver, and they have no doubt that they will.

SKY TV has today released a 90 second 'mini-drama' spot that will captivate viewers, developed by DDB New Zealand.
 
With SKY's drama content garnering more international acclaim than any other provider in New Zealand, the new spot 'Poisoned Chalice' showcases SKY as the Home of Premium Drama. The world-class shows in SKY's premium drama line-up collectively picked up 55 Emmys at last year's 68th Primetime Emmy Awards.
 
Featuring talented character actors, Hacksaw Ridge's Tyler Coppin and Top of the Lakes' Alison Bruce, the film is the first piece of brand work to roll onto New Zealand screens for 2018. Directed by Academy Award nomininee, Derin Seale, the 90 second spot gives the audience a gripping taste of what they can expect from SKY's Premium Drama offering.

VIEW THE SPOT

Looking to accelerate its international growth in 2018, Bobux is launching its new season with a global campaign created with agency partner Running with Scissors.

The campaign takes viewers on three adventures, experienced through the imagination of young kids.

VIEW THE HORSE VIDEO
VIEW THE TIGER VIDEO
VIEW THE MOON VIDEO

LIA has launched the call for entries for the London International Awards 2018.
 
The categories include: Ambient, Billboard, Branded Entertainment, Design, Digital, Health & Wellness, Health & Wellness - Craft, Integration, Medical, Medical - Craft, Music & Sound, Music Video, Non-Traditional, Package Design, Poster, Print, Production & Post-Production, Radio & Audio, Social Influencers, The NEW, TV/Cinema/Online Film and Verbal Identity.

Entries submitted must be broadcast, published or released in a commercial environment
with client approval between 1st July 2017 and 31st July 2018.

ENTER NOW

To view the 2018 jury presidents: click here.

For the second consecutive year, proudly Kiwi airline Air New Zealand has been recognised as Australia's most reputable company in the Reputation Institute's annual Australia Corporate Reputation Index.
 
In ranking first, Air New Zealand has trumped homegrown carriers Qantas and Virgin Australia which indexed third and fourth respectively, as well as other major corporates such as Toyota, Apple and Nestle.

From the bright lights of New York City to a dull office in suburban New Zealand, Lightbox has debuted its own version of the TV phenomenon that is Suits. To celebrate the much-anticipated arrival of the second half of Season 7, Lightbox teamed up with Spark PR & Activate to add a Kiwi twist to the popular U.S. hit show in its own content series, Suits NZ.

Deliberately mundane, predictable and unexciting, Suits NZ is everything that the American hit TV show is not - and its tongue-in-cheek humour has Kiwi audiences tuning in for more.

To launch the second half of season 7, Lightbox and Spark PR & Activate created three 30-second videos depicting what Suits would look like if it was filmed in a tiny Barrister and Solicitors office above a suburban shop in New Zealand. The answer is simply 'pretty dull'. While Harvey Spector, Mike Ross and Rachel Zane of Suits work on the big cases while being surrounded by beautiful people and flashy offices, the Kiwi version's lawyer works in a cubby-hole office, lodging permits for subdivisions and notarising passports.

VIEW THE EPISODES

The deadline for The Clio Awards is tomorrow, April 20, 11:59pm EST (US time).

Prices will increase after the April 20 with the final deadline set for Friday, June 29.

The shortlist and winners announcement for Gold, Silver, Bronze and Shortlist will be made on Wednesday, September 5, 2018.

The 2018 Awards Show is set for Wednesday, October 3, 2018 at the Ziegfeld Ballroom (141 W. 54th Street, New York, NY 10019)

Grand winners will be announced during the Awards Show.
 
See Entry Fees for details on price increases.

ENTER NOW

Each week Bestads picks the very best advertising in the world, in every medium - which is reviewed by a top creative director or team to select their own personal favourites.

This week's guest judge is Emily Beautrais, creative director at Clemenger BBDO, Wellington.

BEST TV
Nothing stood out this week here. Either the ideas were good and the craft was lacking, or the other way around.

BEST PRINT
Winner: The Chaeli Campaign. This definitely left me interested. I sure wouldn't place a bet on this woman not being able to do something, but it got the point across in way that grabbed you, in what is a well-worn and probably very challenging category. Much more powerful than straight up asking for support. READ ON...

The One Club for Creativity, the world's foremost non-profit organization recognizing creative excellence in advertising and design, has opened the call for entries for Young Guns 16, celebrating international creative professionals age 30 or younger.

Young Guns, open to both members and nonmembers of The One Club, is the industry's only global, cross-disciplinary, portfolio-based awards competition that identifies and celebrates today's vanguard of young creatives.  Young Guns competitions regularly attract entries from upwards of 70 countries, with more than half of the entries coming from outside the US.  Winners will be selected by a jury made up of past Young Guns winners and other creative leaders, to be announced shortly.

ENTER HERE

In a move that reflects both the continued momentum and direction of the agency, Carat New Zealand has welcomed two senior strategic hires to the business - Chrissy Rajala (right) and Silvia Kusic (left).

A digital and integrated media specialist, Rajala has a wealth of international experience amassed in the US at L'Oréal, the National Hockey League and, most recently, Mindshare.

TBWA\Auckland has today announced its appointment as strategic brand partner for industry-leading travel technology business Serko, to launch the new Zeno product globally.

Zeno is an integrated all-in-one travel and expense platform for businesses to manage all elements of a journey from pre-trip to reconciliation. Intelligent journey planning and best fare access to airlines, hotels, transfers and car rental in a single interface provides the most cost-effective travel experience.

TBWA\Auckland will market-ready the Zeno brand for launch globally throughout the year.

TBWA\Group managing director Catherine Harris said the agency is proud to be working with a Kiwi company making waves around the world.

Renowned and awarded director Luke Shanahan has signed with Thick as Thieves for NZ representation. Acclaimed for his work on character-driven pieces like the award-winning Holden 'Twitch' and the playful Wrigley's 'Say Hello To Fresh' Luke's work has won metal for direction at LIA, AWARD and Axis.

Following on from a background creating internationally recognized and awarded short films and music clips, Shanahan now brings another dimension to his work with his striking debut feature 'Rabbit' Starring Adelaide Clemens (The Great Gatsby, Rectify).

Set for theatrical release mid-year after sweeping the festival circuit, Rabbit is a psychological thriller about a young woman searching for her twin sister.

Screen Daily called it 'Stylistically meticulous' while FILMINK described it as, "A great new Australian thriller: well-paced, smartly plotted, and brilliantly unsettling."

WATCH THE TRAILER

New York Festivals International Advertising Awards announced this year's finalists from entries submitted from 51 countries for the following competitions: Activation & Engagement, Audio, Avant-Garde/Innovative, Branded Entertainment, Creative Marketing Effectiveness, Design, Digital, Direct & Collateral, Film, Film Craft, Integrated, Media, Mobile, Outdoor, Package & Product Design, Print, Public & Media Relations, Public Service Announcements, Sports, and Student.

New Zealand has scored three finalists - Colenso BBDO has been shortlisted once for DB Breweries 'DB Export Beer Bottle Sand' and once for Pedigree 'The Child Replacement Programme', whilst Clemenger BBDO Wellington has been shortlisted once for NZ Human Rights Commission 'Give Nothing to Racism'.

The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity (18-22 June) has today released details of the 2018 Festival schedule.

Built around the new Tracks system which unites the learning programme and awards structure, the 2018 Festival schedule will equip audiences with the knowledge and foresight they need in a constantly evolving communication industry.

As promised back in June last year, Arthur Sadoun, Chairman & CEO of Publicis Groupe, has invited the press to attend the unboxing of the platform Marcel ~ named after the founder of Publicis, Marcel Bleustein-Blanchet ~ on Thursday, May 24, 2018 at the Groupe's leadership seminar in Paris.
 
Marcel, Publicis Groupe's disruptive platform, promises to radically transform the way the Groupe's teams and their clients connect, interact and collaborate.

Sadoun (pictured) surprised the marketing world and the vast majority of his own employees last June during the Cannes Festival of Creativity by dropping the news that Publicis would be skipping all industry awards shows for a year in order to develop Marcel and achieve related "cost synergies." 

G.J. Gardner has launched its new brand campaign 'We're locals like you'. The campaign, created by The Workshop which is 99's straight-to-production offer with a focus on cost and time efficient delivery, includes six TVCs shot across the country to illustrate the strength of G.J. Gardner in communities across the country.

This weekend sees the ad's shot in Hamilton and Christchurch going to air with the Queenstown and Southland commercials having aired at the end of March, with ads from Tauranga and Manawatu still to come.

VIEW THE CHRISTCHURCH SPOT
VIEW THE HAMILTON SPOT
VIEW THE SOUTHLAND SPOT
VIEW THE QUEENSTOWN SPOT

Award winning commercials director Kiku Ohe has joined Rabbit's roster of directors.

Ohe's work is internationally known for his sophisticated aesthetic choices and his unique way of seeing the world. Cinematically, Ohe often explores the line between the everyday and surreal and has a unique ability to subtly reveal a deeper, almost sub-conscious thread within the narratives he crafts. However, always at the heart of his work is an authenticity and a genuine human connection with whatever subject matter he is working with.

The One Show has announced the second round of finalists in the following categories: Cross-Platform, Film, Interactive, Mobile, Print & Outdoor, Radio, Social Influencer Marketing, Social Media and UX / UI.

New Zealand has scored 18 finalists led by DDB Group New Zealand with eight finalists.

NZ Finalists:

Cross-Platform:
Colenso BBDO, Pedigree 'The Child Replacement Programme'
Colenso BBDO, DB Breweries 'DB Export Beer Bottle Sand'

Film:
Colenso BBDO, Pedigree 'The Child Replacement Programme'
DDB Group NZ, Lotto NZ 'Armoured Truck' (x2)

Interactive:
DDB Group NZ, Netsafe 'Re:scam' (x2)
JWT Auckland, VICE NZ 'Battle To The Beehive'

"The Institute of Post Production is now online," says Michael Houlahan AKA "Hooli", editor, owner, board member, chief CEO, chief strategist, creative director, blogger, spiritual leader, caterer, accounts department.

"I'm very excited to announce the launch of my new website, Facebook and Instagram page theinstituteofpostproduction.com. It combines a comprehensive inventory of my favourite TVCs, short films and music videos."

The site is a great tool for searching and referencing previous jobs that Hooli has collaborated on with all of his colleagues from production companies and agencies.

The One Show has announced the first batch of finalists in the following categories: Branded Entertainment, Design, Direct Marketing, Health, Wellness & Pharma, Intellectual Property, Moving Image Craft, Public Relations and Responsive Environments. New Zealand has secured 14 finalists led by Colenso BBDO.

Branded Entertainment:
Y&R NZ, Heinz 'Geoff'
Colenso BBDO, Pedigree 'Pedigree Selfie STIX'
JWT Auckland, VICE NZ 'Battle To The Beehive'
DDB Group NZ, Nesafe 'Re:scam'

Design:
DDB Group NZ, Nesafe 'Re:scam'
FCB NZ, Prime 'The Human Serengeti'
Assembly Auckland, Heinz 'Geoff'

Direct Marketing:
Colenso, Pedigree 'The Pedigree Replacement Programme'
DDB Group NZ, Lion 'Fight For Territory'
FCB NZ, Vodafone NZ 'Say It Tika'

Rebel Sport wants to inspire New Zealanders to make the most of each and every day. To push through the daily grind and always make time for sport. But how do you motivate time-poor Kiwis, to side-step the couch and go outside to play?

Ogilvy and Revolver teamed up to do it with an epic 90 second film 'Rugby Fighter', featuring the remarkable New Zealander, Rebecca Wood.

VIEW THE SPOT

The Interactive Advertising Bureau of New Zealand (IABNZ) and digital consultancy firm Future State have today announced the launch of a partnership to create a service for Kiwi businesses to fully understand their digital maturity.

The new Digital Maturity index (DMi) has been developed to help businesses understand how they stack up in the digital space, and where they need to focus to stay relevant to their customers and staff.

A blog written by Pat Langton, creative director of Magnum Opus Partners, Melbourne

Deep in the last Millennium when I started out as a junior creative, the idea of an 'original idea' was drilled into me from day dot. I remember coming up with ideas and thinking, "No, ditch that, that's been done before!"

Now, the concept of holding out every time for an original idea is simply, bloody stupid. Yet we as an industry are obsessed with 'original ideas'. Just look at the comments of our industry news and you'll see endless dismissive remarks like 'done before', 'not original' and so on.

Each week Bestads picks the very best advertising in the world, in every medium - which is reviewed by a top creative director or team to select their own personal favourites.

This week's guest judge is Per Pedersen, global creative chairman at Grey, based in New York.

BEST TV
Winner: Sparkasse Credit: The-Not-Sure-Song. Full on pop culture from a German bank. That's different. If all banks did this kind of advertising, people would hate banks less. I love the insight. Crazy about the ambition to go all in with music video production. I'm sure this is the bomb back in Germany. READ ON...

Ad Stars is recruiting top junior creatives to compete in the 2018 New Stars competition, which is open to anyone with less than three years' industry experience, or who is aged under 30.
 
The New Stars Competition is an opportunity for young creatives to travel to South Korea and learn about the craft of advertising from leading executives, while experiencing the technology and trends driving North Asia's advertising market. The program runs over five nights from 21st to 25th August in the beachside city of Busan, which is one of Asia's most vibrant creative hubs, home to the Busan International Film Festival.

After taking part in a series of challenging workshops and seminars, competitors will be given a 30-hour creative challenge to put their skills to the test. Each project will be judged by Ad Stars' elite panel of judges, and the five best teams will have the chance to collect Gold, Silver or Bronze trophies at the 2018 Ad Stars Awards. On top of having their work celebrated on a global stage, the team that wins Gold will win complimentary tickets to Ad Stars 2019.

FINCH has set up the new innovation, venture and post-production driven company called NAKATOMI.

Since founding in 2011, the technology department has been fundamental to FINCH's offering, but after 7 years, and working in a rapidly changing industry. It's time for NAKATOMI to forge its own path.

London International Awards (LIA) has announced the names of the four more jury presidents for the 2018 awards. This select group of industry leaders will preside over their respective juries in Las Vegas. Each jury peruses all entries in their respective media. They will debate and deliberate, choosing the work that will rise to the top and bring home metal.

Rob Galluzzo, founder, FINCH will preside over the Production & Post Production and Music Video jury. Jeremy Perrott, global chief creative officer, McCann Health is jury president on the Health & Wellness and Medical jury. Laura Gregory, founder, CEO, Great Guns will reside over Health & Wellness - Craft and Medical - Craft jury and Susan Credle, global chief creative officer, FCB will head The New jury.

LIA judging will take place at Encore, Las Vegas from 28th September through 6th October.
Below are the esteemed creatives that will be leading the juries.

Sweetshop has announced a management restructure of its global team with the core aim of creating more opportunities for its international roster of directors, allowing their content to operate across new multiple platforms and multi-outlet streams.

Paul Prince, formerly CEO, moves into the position of chairman working closely with Sharlene George as global executive producer. The two founding partners will concentrate on new strategies and partnerships to expand content opportunities for its roster.

Says Prince: "These keys partnerships will allow us to develop beyond our core business of commercial advertising, taking us to a whole new level and opening new doors for our directors. I believe now's the time to take this leap and investing in our people and ourselves is how we'll create more opportunities."

Meanwhile, Wilf Sweetland (pictured) has been promoted to the role of chief executive officer overseeing Sweetshop's core operations in the US, UK & Europe, Greater China, Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand.

The Clio Awards have announced jury members for 2018.

More than 100 leading creatives from around the world will judge thousands of Clio submissions. There is still time to submit your entries for the Clio Awards with the deadline closing on Friday, April 20th.

Click here to view the full jury.

A blog written by Damon Stapleton, chief creative officer of DDB New Zealand

I want you to imagine I am telling you the story of Goldilocks and the three bears. In your head, run it through. Picture all the details, the twists and turns and the big ending.

Right, now take the same story and tell it in half the time. Now halve the time again. And again. Eventually, your story would be something like Girl, bear and porridge. This process happens in advertising a lot these days. You only have to look at the vast majority of advertising to see this. There is a reduction of elements which is why so much online advertising looks like 1950's print ads. A visual, a headline, a payoff line.

Leading up to the 2018 LIA awards judging session in Las Vegas, LIA announces its list of Jury Presidents for nine of the juries.

Says Barbara Levy, president of LIA: "Our jury presidents are chosen for their expertise, skill, fairness and because they've been the force behind award-winning work throughout their careers. So we are pleased to have Corinna Falusi, (bottom right) a much celebrated creative, as our Digital jury president. While she is the first female Digital jury president, we also know she brings with her a wealth of experience that will surely see only the best work surface to the top so that we can inspire everyone, both the advertising fraternity and clients.

Y&R New Zealand has today announced that Josh Moore has resigned and will leave the agency to pursue a new opportunity. 

Moore joined Y&R New Zealand in 2011 as ECD and soon assumed the dual roles of CEO & CCO. In 2016 his CCO duties were expanded to include Y&R Australia. Under his leadership the NZ agency moved into new offices in City Works Depot and won a host of new business and creative awards, including agency of the year titles at D&AD, AWARD and Campaign Brief.

FCB New Zealand and Keep New Zealand Beautiful (KNZB) have launched an anti-litter campaign, fronted by a new kind of Mother Nature - a no-nonsense Kiwi character known as 'Mama Nature'.

'Mama Nature' was developed to get Kiwis to wake their ideas up about littering and start lifting their game. She's still all about loving the planet and keeping New Zealand "Be- yooo-diful" but years of cleaning up after everyone has seen an end to her unconditional love. Unleashing the odd dose of natural-disaster onto litterers? Yeah, 'Mama Nature' can do that.

VIEW THE SPOT
VIEW THE 6 BUMPER SPOTS

For a country of roughly the same size and population as New Zealand, Norway sure has us licked on electric vehicles. While we are ahead on many measures, the cunning Scandies have around twenty times as many EVs as we do, so Meridian Energy think it's time we hit back.

Continuing its long-running support of electric cars (including last year's TVC with Jeremy Wells and his young protégée), Meridian is launching a campaign via BC&F Dentsu, to encourage Kiwis to take on Norway in an electric vehicle challenge. While New Zealand is behind at the moment, in order to help Kiwis catch up Meridian are offering free charging for EV owners, helping with charging stations at key areas, partnering with electric car sharing companies, and will have converted half their fleet to electric by June 2018.

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