Easter Madness: When Historical Events have Social Media Pages

Following the hilarious and hugely successful campaign using fake Facebook pages to represent historical events and figures (as seen here ), the concept appears to have popped up again in the annual showdown between Good and Evil that occurs in downtown Auckland.

The latest TBWA Agency offering shows the Crucifixion as a Facebook shared Image with one "like" by Judas.

Those of you living outside of New Zealand or unaware of the regular showdowns that occur at Saint Matthew's in the City may be surprised to know that these adverts are actually sponsored "as thought-provoking messages with the aim of inspiring healthy debate and reflection", by the Church itself !

The self-proclaimed progressive Anglican Church in the heart of Auckland City is not one to shy away from controversy, posting a picture of the Virgin Mary looking at the results of a pregnancy test in the run up to Christmas last year.

Campaign: The Great Wine Depression

".....Back in '87 everything was big. Big hair, big sweaters and one big problem. Wine was in and beer was out. Kiwi guys pretended to like wine to fit in, but they never stopped thinking about beer. Luckily neither had Morton Coutts of DB Breweries. Morton figured if guys were drinking wine to appear more sophisticated, he'd brew a more sophisticated beer. A premium lager that was both crisp & refreshing, but still full of flavour. He called this beer Export Dry. 25 years later, guys can still say no to wine thanks to Export Dry..."

This recently aired and ongoing tongue-in-cheek campaign is beginning to ruffle a few feathers among wine producers and consumers who have failed to see the funny side of the kitsch 80s themed commercial. Whichever group you most identify with, the fact remains that it is a superbly produced TV spot. Early data 

EDITOR'S CHOICE AWARD: "Corona" - summer, advertised properly

As the Southern Hemisphere wonders where its summer went, and Northern climes start the long hard trek to elevated temperatures, we return to cover one of the best artistic pleasures of the summer advertising season, and yes....it is a beer commercial !

One of the Billboard Images used perfect positioning of the corona to shine above the rest

The real beauty of this campaign can only really be appreciated if you are lucky to see one of these billboards out in the open. What amazed me was how well the "corona" of the sun actually blends in with the real world. For example, on sunny days or at sunset, it really looked like a TV screen, and on grey days, the corona almost "shone" out of the billboard as if it was lit.

NABS Highly Recommended Entries - PRINT

The simple but very effective BP Print Ad - Great timing, good use of Brand associated colours and general simplicity

The judges also highly commended an ad that grabbed their attention: BP's Leap Day from "99" Agency: "The strength of this ad was down to its pure simplicity - 3 words to say it all, resulting in a 'clear stand-out factor'."

D&AD - last of the true awards ?

I have been a fan of D&AD ever since their conception. Far from being another "luvvie" organization trying to glorify their own troops, D&AD have brought real talent, ground-breaking campaigns and a touch of flair to the international circuit for quite some time now. Is all that about to change?

An unlikely partnership ...

This M&C Saatchi campaign is very clever indeed on a number of fronts. Firstly, the mix of street art and gritty scenarios depicted in the Ads have an immediate impact. In this post-earthquake campaign aimed at motivating young New Zealanders to join the force, Saatchi have cleverly mixed a number of conflicting elements and made it coherent like only they can.

"Bansky-esque" Street Scene in Christchurch

Fiji Me Tourism Campaign

Timing can be everything, and during an unusually cold winter in New Zealand, Auckland was subjected to the taunting invitation of the Fiji Tourism Board's outdoor campaign. Ingeniously simple, the billboards featured a rather kitsch "generic" tropical island picture with a digital "Fiji Temperature" insert which changed daily.

Air New Zealand Campaign

Air New Zealand - All Blacks

Client: Air New Zealand

Brand: Air New Zealand

Media: Outdoor, In-Flight, Print

Agency: (Various)

Air New Zealand has being a staunch supporter and major sponsor of the "All Blacks" New Zealand National Rugby Team for several years now. The key point here is that Air New Zealand was not an official Rugby World Cup Event sponsor. However, thanks to their unique position of being the national airline carrier with an international reach around the globe (flying long haul to London via the USA or Hong Kong, for example), Air New Zealand was able to leverage their role as a country brand ambassador, greeting passengers with elaborately designed aircraft liveries, funny and rugby-themed in-flight safety videos and a passionate but authentic love of the game.

Kick Off - A round up of Rugby World Cup Ads

The Rugby World Cup was hosted by New Zealand this year and saw a number of key sponsors jostling for recognition both on and off the pitch.
Interestingly enough, some of the best campaigns were fought and successfully won by companies that used a range of crafty tactics to take advantage of the coverage and hype surrounding the big event - and even without being an official sponsor!


Steinlager
Client: Lion Breweries
Brand: Steinlager
Media: TV, Newspaper, Outdoor, Digital
Agency: DDB Group NZ

Steinlager Can revived from the classic design for the RWC 2011