AKQA, named by Gartner and Forrester as one of the world’s leading experience design and innovation agencies, has today announced the launch of the new ecommerce platform for major New Zealand grocery retailer, New World.

“The launch of the new website is a vital step forward to providing our customers with a connected, personalised customer experience, from inspiration through to shopping and loyalty. As the most visited digital touchpoint across the Foodstuffs group, www.newworld.co.nz acts as the digital front door for our 143 stores and local New World owner-operators across New Zealand,“ said David Brem, Head of Digital, Foodstuffs New Zealand.

The New World website creates a link between personalised, inspirational and promotional content for shoppers to make online transactions, interact with shoppable recipes, articles and shopping list builders. This project will be closely followed by the PAK’nSAVE brand site which will launch next month too.

“Partnering with Foodstuffs for the past three years has been so rewarding, helping evolve their sales and marketing assets. In a short space of time together we’ve been able to innovate and implement a leading brand and customer experience for New Zealand’s major grocery retailer, and one of the country’s largest organisations.” said Brian Vella, AKQA Managing Partner, Asia Pacific.

“We’re excited about the significantly improved mobile experience, making it easier for customers to find information and meal inspiration on the go” Brem continued.

The new platform was designed to give New World customers an optimised customer experience, designed for what matters to them. More time, choice, convenience, and value as well as helping to make healthier food choices. New World’s future success depends on knowing New Zealanders well, and innovating to deliver the best possible shopping experience.

“AKQA partnered with us to provide expertise across customer experience strategy and design through to solution architecture and development. We’ve also been able to take advantage of their experience utilising personalisation capability in order to support our teams on the new platform” Brem continued.

Stephen Forth, AKQA NZ Managing Director said “This project evidences the successful partnership between AKQA, Foodstuffs North Island and Foodstuffs New Zealand. The innovative and progressive culture set from the leadership team at Foodstuffs led to the creation of this transformative platform. This partnership highlights the strength of the hybrid team model where agencies and clients work together to create high functioning, integrated implementation teams.”

“This work follows the delivery of e-Commerce platforms for New World and PAK’nSAVE earlier this year, making AKQA a key digital partner for Foodstuffs. Our digital product and CX teams collaborate incredibly well and are building up a track record of great work which makes an impact with customers and across our business.” Concluded David Brem, Head of Digital, Foodstuffs New Zealand.

Some of AKQA’s AUNZ’s other retail clients include Officeworks, Nissan, Purina, AMP, Ticketek and Foxtel. AKQA operates in 28 markets globally, with over 2100 people worldwide. Across the Asia Pacific region, the studios collaborate closely across Melbourne, Sydney, Auckland, Wellington, Tokyo and Shanghai to form one united APAC presence. For the second consecutive year, AKQA is positioned highest for its ability to execute in the Leaders quadrant in Gartner’s annual independent evaluationon global marketing agencies andmost recently was awarded two Grand Prix Lions at the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity.

In New Zealand, Mountain Dew is still in its infancy with only one national advertising campaign pre-dating this.

Therefore Colenso BBDO brief was two-fold. Launch their three new flavours and make Mountain Dew famous amongst Kiwi teenagers.

Building on Mountain Dew’s association with extreme sports, the agency mixed their three electric-themed flavours with skating and came up with an audacious idea: A pinball machine you can actually ride.

But the intention wasn’t just to create an ad. Colenso were going to make real skaters the ball in a world first skatepark, wired with sensors, sounds and lights, to score your run just like pinball.

The park had to look like a real pinball machine but also had to be good for skating. That challenge fell on Corban Walls (Remain Industries) who was the man behind the architecture of the park.

Corban designs skateparks for the NZ Nationals and sets for films such as Avatar, so the agency knew he would understand the logistics of making the park work from both an aesthetic and practical point of view.

Brendon Reid (Automation Associates) and his team were then tasked with making the machine function. This involved installing and programming hundreds of sensors, sounds and lights as well as the huge L.E.D screen on the backboard.

Colenso gave the job of designing the look of the park to Mark Ward, a UK-based graphic designer known for his unique Americana inspired street-style graphics.

Lastly, the agency enlisted the help of three Mountain Dew Ambassadors, Haimona Ngata (BMX) Brett Band (Skate) and Mike Bancroft (Skate), who fronted the campaign in a video blog throughout the build and launch of the park.

After months of planning, the 600 square foot skatepark got underway and took approximately one month to build. No detail was left undone, with a 13 metre high backboard, bumpers, flippers and plunger. There were even zones dedicated to each flavour.

On 4^th June 2011 the park opened to the public with an invitational skate competition with 30 of NZ’s best skaters. A TVC also ran on National TV, promoting the three flavours and the opening of the park.

Colenso also created and launched a website where people could explore the park, sign up for individual runs and share 360 degree, Matrix-style images of themselves mid-trick.

So far the park has been featured on over 100 international news stations including CNN World Report, not to mention hundreds of websites and blogs. Even Tony Hawk has tweeted about it.

There’s no doubt that this has already been a great success and Mountain Dew have had fantastic feedback from the skating community. But the nostalgic-retro aspect of the idea seems to have appealed to a much broader audience and age bracket, not to mention pinball enthusiasts everywhere.

Colenso BBDO, in conjunction with PEDIGREE, has created a campaign using facial recognition software to connect homeless dogs to their human doubles.

The state-of-the-art interspecies comparison software analyses your facial features and compares them with a nationwide database of real dogs looking for adoption.

A 2004 USCD study found that when people choose a dog, they seek one that resembles themselves. The study concluded that dogs are actually more likely to be chosen by a person who shares similar features.

So in early 2010 Colenso began work with facial recognition experts, NEC to develop Doggelgänger – a human to canine pairing software, designed to connect real homeless dogs to their human doubles.

PEDIGREE’S global positioning is ‘We’re for dogs®’ and central to this is the PEDIGREE Adoption Drive.

Every year, the Adoption Drive offers support to thousands of abandoned dogs across New Zealand. Now in its 3rd year, MARS New Zealand asked Colenso BBDO to come up with an idea that would open the door to more dog adoptions, hence the Doggelgänger idea being born.

“The PEDIGREE Adoption Drive is a key part of the PEDIGREE brand. In early 2010 we gave Colenso the challenge to help us develop an idea around this initiative for us that would help engage consumers with the campaign more, encourage consumers to adopt dogs and help us to help dogs find a better life. We were immediately taken by the idea and saw it as a strong fit to the campaign and one that we believe will take the campaign forward in 2011”, Pete Simmons, Marketing Director, MARS NZ.

“I love the fact we’ve used facial recognition technology to connect real people with real homeless dogs at shelters around the country. There’s a truth out there that people look like their dogs, so creating software that gives everyone a chance see who their ‘Doggelganger’ is is not only awesome but it’s for an incredibly good cause.” Aaron Turk, Digital Creative Director, Colenso BBDO.

By connecting a real person to a real homeless dog, Colenso has helped PEDIGREE create a hugely personal experience. One that will give homeless dogs across the country the very best chance to set up that vital first meeting in the journey to finding a new home.

Westpac has launched an innovative impulse savings product to help New Zealanders save as impulsively as they spend.  Impulse Saver, a free iPhone app developed for Westpac by Colenso BBDO, enables customers to save denominations of their choice up to $50 with a simple click of a button.

The product is believed to be the first of its kind in the world and its availability follows a recent Westpac survey of more than 500 New Zealanders that showed Kiwis spend $16.1 million a day on impulse and less than half (49%) have a savings account.

“Collectively there was a desire to do it through innovation, as opposed to communication,” says Nick Garrett, Managing Director of Colenso BBDO “We played a clip from the 2009 TED conference, during which Ogilvy UK Vice-Chairman Rory Sutherland lamented our lack of ability to save as impulsively as we spend. Westpac immediately loved the concept and said it was something they could, and should, do something about.”

In the spirit of TED, whose mantra is ‘Ideas worth Spreading’, Colenso BBDO developed the product in consultation with Sutherland and Westpac’s online team.

“I am delighted that Colenso BBDO and Westpac thought that my suggestion for impulse saving was an ‘Idea Worth Spreading’,” says Sutherland. “NZ seems to be a country which adopts and enacts ideas when everyone else is merely toying with them.”

David McLean, General Manager Wealth, Insurance, Private and Institutional Banking, says the Impulse Saver for iPhone App makes it easy for users to save on a whim instead of simply spending on a whim. “It’s simple to use, convenient and provides choice and opportunity. When you’re waiting in line to pay at the petrol station or in the supermarket you can save up to $50 with a couple of clicks on the app.  It doesn’t get much easier than pushing a button.”

The Impulse Saver app is available free from the App Store via iPhone, wi-fi enabled iPod Touch or iPad devices.

SURVEY FACTS:

• $16.1m on impulse spending per day

• $674,000 on impulse spending per hour

Where most impulse spending is done

• Supermarkets 56%
• Fast food outlets 20.50%
• Café 20.10%
• Dairies   16.2%

Have a savings account and how often use it?

• No (don’t have a savings account) 13.45%
• Yes, but haven’t put anything in it for a while 16.18%
• Yes, only occasionally put money in it 19.69%
• Yes, regularly put money in 50.68%

What they impulse spent on

• A raspberry liquorice chocolate log while paying for petrol
• Went to the supermarket for 1-2 items but bought treats
• Cake at the café with lunch
• 6 chocolate bars for $3

Savings Record – New Zealand vs. The World

• NZ is 23^rd out of 29 in the OECD for national savings rate (household, business, Government). Those below NZ are Slovak Republic, USA, Hungary, Iceland, Portugal, Greece)
• NZ households owe, on average, $1.60 for every $1 earned
• Treasury says our low savings contributes to NZ’s undeveloped capital markets, high average interest rates, and high debt levels and leaves us exposed to the risk of falling foreign-investor confidence.

Survey conducted by Buzz Channel Group.

When New Zealand’s number one soap opera, Shortland Street, ended its 2010 season, thousands of fans were left without their daily fix. How could we keep them hooked until the show returned a month later?

 AIM Proximity decided to try something no other soap opera had done before – we invited fans to start an online relationship with their favourite character.

Our TV campaign directed fans to the Summer Fling facebook app where they could hook up with a character and set up their friends too. The application went live immediately after Shortland Street’s dramatic season finale. Fans of the show are invited to ‘hook up’ with Hunter, TK, Daniel, Sophie or Nicole, and will then receive fun and flirtatious Facebook messages throughout the show’s hiatus, allowing them to engage with their fling all summer long.

“As New Zealand’s leading contemporary media company, TVNZ is committed to bringing New Zealanders content in new and innovative ways,” says General Manager of Marketing, Annmarie Duff. “While Kiwis are on their summer holidays, this application is a really fun way for fans to keep in touch with the characters they love.”

TV2 Marketing Manager, Aimee Glucina, says the site was intended to enhance viewers’ experience of their favourite local drama. “Shortland Street fans invite the residents of Ferndale into their living rooms five nights a week,” Glucina says. “We thought this would be a playful way to allow viewers to engage with these much-loved characters while the show’s off air.

“It’s not meant to be taken too seriously,” continues Glucina. “It’s a light-hearted way to ease into that New Zealand summer feeling by having a bit of fun with one of the country’s best-loved shows.”

 

The staff of AIM Proximity, is spreading Christmas cheer in a small Samoan community, by providing them with something in high demand – free, renewable lighting.

The village of Apolima Tai, on the tiny island of Apolima is beautiful, friendly and truly off the grid. Ever since the tsunami of 2009, the people of Samoa have been in a rebuilding phase and electricity is a precious commodity. 

AIM Proximity is taking the season of giving seriously in order to brighten up Apolima. They are sending a solar-powered lamp to each of their clients and suppliers and, for every lamp they send locally, they are sending another to the tiny island.

The lamps are made from durable plastic and can be left in the sun by day to power up. You can watch a video and learn about how AIM Proximity is making a difference to the lives of one Samoan village at

www.makingchristmasbright.co.nz 

 

Nokero Solar-powered lamps are designed for communities without electricity, currently there are 16 Billion people in the  world who don’t have access to reliable electricity and don’t have to rely on toxic kerosene. Each Nokero bulb produced just enough clean, free light, so parents can cook and children can study.

If you would like to learn more about this issue or how you can donate bulbs where they’re needed most, head to

http://www.nokero.com/

Advertainment is a relatively new form of advertising medium that blurs conventional distinctions between what constitutes advertising and what constitutes entertainment. Branded content is essentially a fusion of the two into one product intended to be distributed as entertainment content, albeit with a highly branded quality.

Frucor’s V Energy Drinks has been enjoying considerable success over the past three years with their V republic platform. V Energy latest Interactive, branded content campaign EVOLUTION is sure to capture the imagination of V lovers all over New Zealand as they are taken on a journey that will challenge the mind and engage the senses.

It is the year 2035 and the Earth is dying, losing energy at an alarming rate. One man, a scientist, discovers a distant planet that could hold the key to saving our world. To get there, he must make his way through weird and wonderful worlds as he evolves from a human to a being of pure energy. See trailer below

After being captured by the Collective (a powerful force subverting the minds of innocent people), a scientist is transformed into an energy force when a piece of the crystal is combined with the energy of V. He escapes the Collective into a strange Liquid World where he must solve a series of puzzles in order to evolve into the next world and continue his quest to save Planet Earth.

Consisting of three very different worlds – Liquid, Mechanical and Space – the ultimate goal of V EVOLUTION is to reach the planet that holds a crystal that is capable of restoring Earth’s energy. And as well as restoring order in the virtual world, there are fantastic prizes to be won as players take the EVOLUTION journey to save the planet.

In the Liquid World, players explore a series of caves unlocking symbols that power up a giant mechanical fish. Once the fish has risen to the surface, players progress to the Mechanical World where they must solve analytical puzzles to gain energy. With the right code in the final puzzle, a rocket is launched into the final world, Space. This vast, curious world is full of alien life forms and planets that are out of balance. Players must find the key to each planet and release the crystals needed to send the powerful new form of energy back to earth.

“Evolution is a game that will completely immerse players into a unique and extraordinary V world and give them something to do with all that energy by challenging them mentally,” says Aaron Turk, Digital Creative Director – Colenso BBDO.“V Energy is developing some of the most interesting and innovative digital work and pushing the online gaming boundaries while delivering a brand experience. Not all gaming is about shooting to kill; I think people will find this incredibly addictive with a desire to make it to the end.”

By completing each world, players go in the draw to win some incredible prizes; – Liquid World – A year’s supply of V and a Sony Vaio laptop – Mechanical World – A 2003 Mazda Tricked Out RX8 – Space World – A trip for two to the Nasa Space Centre in Houston, Texas (Space World). Plus all players go in the draw to win daily prizes including iPhones, Playstation 3’s, Cheapskates prize packs, iTunes vouchers, Fujifilm digital cameras, V and much more.

Influenced by these physical disciplines, Pomparkour began as a niche pass time in early 2010 believed to have originated in New Zealand is now widely accepted as a sport in its own right.It  combines two “sports” – Pompier ladder climbing and Parkour, which uses acrobatic movements to run and jump over window ledges, overhanging roofs and gaps between buildings.Now the skill is being deployed by Colenso BBDO to promote a new energy and hydration drink from V Energy called V Isokinetic.

More about the sport of Pomparkour can be found at the V Republic community web site.