Paul McIntyre from AdNews reports that Publicis Groupe is about to acquire the remaining 40% of Publicis Mojo (including its ZenithOptimedia media unit) for $50 million.

Mojo's largest local shareholder is Graeme Wills (far left, with deputy chairman and fellow shareholder Craig Davis). Other shareholders include Nicholas Davie and Belinda Rowe.

Hack Forth & Multiply is a 24 hour design challenge taking place from 12 noon Feb 1 to 12 noon Feb 2, 2012 (London time). 

It is giving designers around the world an opportunity to work on a 'live' brief from Not For Sale - the global campaign to fight human trafficking and slavery.

Participants will be required to name a Not For Sale project, create its identity and then apply that identity to specific media.

More than just a chance to create work that matters, there are also some fantastic prizes on offer.

More info and details on how to sign up

Colenso BBDO's new cinema spot and web film for The New Zealand Book Council promotes books through the power they have to inspire and shape a person.

VIEW THE SPOT

New Zealand holidaymakers are set to petition Prime Minister John Key this summer for a day off, a national first.
 
The petition, which asks for an extra legal day in lieu, is the first documented petition against a wet New Zealand summer.  Fresh-up has picked up the petition due to local interest and will send it to John Key once it gains 50,000 signatures.
 
Thousands of New Zealanders have taken to social media and other outlets to proclaim their disappointment at the weather conditions during the holidays. Key venues such as the Wellington Waterfront were blocked off over New Years Eve, while much-anticipated festivals such as Rhythm and Vines and Coro Gold have left punters wet and upset during the holiday period. 

Clemenger BBDO Wellington has appointed universally respected Brigid Alkema to creative director, working alongside ECD Philip Andrew (Duster).

Alkema began her career at Clemenger in 1999 when she was hired by Duster as one of the first young teams to join the newly merged agency.

Alkema did three years in Wellington before  heading to DDB Sydney, Clemenger BBDO Sydney and then a stint travelling the world.

Rejoining the agency in 2006 she went on to produce much of the agency's best work, turning a lot of it into Gold.

Star DDB team James Conner and Christie Cooper, who created a a string of award winning campaigns for Cadbury, Sky, Pascalls, Fruit Burst, Throaties, Fatso and Pink Batt, are leaving to join the creative team at Colenso BBDO.

"We've had a great time working at DDB, they've really looked after us over the years and we've learnt a lot from all the talented people we've worked with. But we've always been big fans of Colenso and we're looking forward to the challenge of working on new clients and the chance to work with Nick and the rest of the team," says Cooper.

Entries are now open for the 2012 Cannes Lions Awards with a closing deadline of March 9, 2012.

Entry to the Creative Effectiveness Lions is by invitation only, with a deadline of 17 February, 2012.

This year, two new categories have been added to the international competition - Mobile Lions and Branded Entertainment Lions.

Now in their 59th year, The Cannes Lions Awards continue to set the benchmark for international excellence in creative communication. The award winners will be announced at this year's Cannes International Festival of Creativity, 17 - 23 June.

Rosie Arnold, President of D&AD and Deputy Executive Creative Director at BBH London, will be at AdFest in Thailand this year to present a speaker session titled 'D&AD: 50 Years of Inspiring Creativity'.

"I have always wanted to travel to Thailand so I'm really looking forward to coming to AdFest to showcase 50 years of inspiring creativity at D&AD," says Arnold. "D&AD Black Pencils are still the hardest awards to win in advertising bar none, and winning a Black Pencil represents the pinnacle of an advertising creative's career. At Adfest 2012, creative professionals from across the Asia Pacific will have the chance to feast their eyes on five decades of Black Pencil-winning work."

Write yourself into the future of D&AD - enter the 2012 Awards now

The final deadline for entry (without incurring a 20% late fee) is Wednesday 1 February 2012.

Voyage through the extensive Awards Archive to showcase 49 of some of the very best shortlisted work over the last 50 years.

Friday (New York time) is the final deadline to enter the New York Festivals International Advertising Awards

ENTRY DETAILS.

This year, the International Advertising Awards streamlined its competitions and categories for efficiency and to reflect the current work being produced in the industry.  With 131 unique categories, this restructuring resulted in a 43% reduction in categories across all competitions. In addition, New York Festivals also enhanced the submission process, improving the user experience across the board and allowing entrants to simultaneously enter a single piece in multiple categories.

Colenso BBDO's planning director James Hurman is leaving New Zealand to pursue a new role as planning partner at Ogilvy Shanghai.

Says Nick Garrett, Colenso BBDO's managing director: "It is with a mixture of great sadness and excitement that we say farewell to James. We are sad to be losing a colleague and a friend who has played an instrumental part in the agency's success.

"However we are excited for James and we know this will be a great adventure for him and his family. I'd like to thank James for his incredible contribution over the past four and a half years and we wish him well for the future."

BEST TV
I enjoyed the NY Lottery spot, but it came down to two. Lurpak or Nike? I really like all the Lurpak work and this one's a goody too. Simple, insightful, good classic TV stuff and watching it makes me want to cook and eat and I'm not even hungry. Lovely writing and the gruff American singing VO feels really right, even though it's a bit odd. The chopping red cabbage bit is my favorite part.
The winner for me is Nike KobeSystem. It's a big, ridiculous idea. I love the funny self-help guru gobbledygook writing. It's a cool way to sell a shoe and doesn't really feel like an ad. And I like the famous people endorsing a basketball shoe that have nothing to do with the sport. I saw the teasers the other day and they're even better.

Yellow, via DDB New Zealand, gave 12 businesses a set of advertising online tools. Then they measured how each of them did.

From florists to arborists, locksmiths to builders, a button was pushed and data was captured. It was then linked to live billboards and a website, where you could see the progress live of all the businesses together on a dashboard.

VIEW THE CONCEPT

New print work from Barnes, Catmur & Friends for Subaru's new rear reversing cameras.

VIEW THE AD

Y&R NZ continues its reinvention with the key appointment of Scott Henderson as creative director of Y&R Wellington, effective February 1.

Henderson has worked in the Wellington market for the last decade, originally at Clemenger BBDO and for the last three years as associate CD at Saatchi & Saatchi, Wellington.

In this time he has consistently won both local and international awards for creativity, advertising craft and effectiveness, and been a significant contributor to new business success.

Says Josh Moore, ECD of Y&R NZ: "Wellington has a small tight creative community and it's very hard to prise great people out of other agencies, so we are very happy to have recruited not only one of the capital's best creatives, but also a great CD.

Westpac's 'Help is what we do' campaign, via Coienso BBDO,  takes a humorous look at the financial perils of the modern world.

VIEW THE FIRST SPOT
VIEW THE SECOND SPOT

Ogilvy New Zealand has launched a local office for the network's world-­leading shopper marketing and retail activation agency, OgilvyAction. In its first month, the business has already won the New Zealand Pork account in a competitive five-­way pitch (agencies not disclosed). 

The work will entail an integrated partnership focused on driving purchase behaviour through a journey of digital awareness, engaging in‐store communications, promotions and demonstrations. 

Ogilvy executive director, Paul Manning, established OgilvyAction New Zealand in December 2011, formally launching this month. Wendy Ballard will lead the new operation, taking up the position of business director - OgilvyAction NZ.

Says Manning: "OgilvyAction will build on our capabilities to influence shoppers in the retail environment, where purchase decisions are made. We call this 'owning the last mile'."

Fifty-six of the advertising industry's most acclaimed professionals from around the world have been selected to judge the 37th annual One Show, One Show Design and One Show Interactive Awards.

Andy Fackrell from DDB NZ and Leslie Ali from The Jamboree Sydney are included in the line up.

Produced by The One Club, the renowned international creative awards competitions will be held during Creative Week May 7-13, 2012, in New York City.

 

On Friday, January 20, 2012, David Droga, founder and creative chairman at Droga5  was honored by the American Australian Association & G'Day USA.

Each year the AAA as part of Australia Week celebrates 2 prominent Australians. Previous G'Day honorees include Nicole Kidman, Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Cate Blanchett and James Gorman.

The award ceremony took place before a crowd of more than 800 people at Cipriani Wall Street in New York City.

Hosted by Jamie Durie, an Australian television personality, the evening featured performances from the Qantas Choir, Jack Vidgen and Guy Sebastian.

Other guests included The Australian Deputy Prime Minister, Wayne Swan and ambassador to the United States Kim Beazley. Droga was introduced by Bob Isherwood, former worldwide creative director of Saatchi & Saatchi and now an adjunct professor at Vanderbilt University.

The Art Directors Club  the premier organization for creatives in integrated media and the first global creative collective of its kind, has announced the full juries for the Advertising and Integrated categories of the global ADC 91st Annual Awards, which is open for entries

Renowned New Zealand creative Matt Simpkins is set to leave DraftFCB in February after six years running some of its most famous brands.

Says Simpkins: "It's been a great and successful period, and really pleasing to see DraftFCB grow so much in those years, but as a creative you need to keep challenging yourself and this is what this next step is all about. As a freelancer, I'm looking forward to working with new people and seeing how other agencies do things."

Twenty four up-and-coming directors from eleven cities in the Asia Pacific are in the running to be this year's 'Fabulous Four' showcase of emerging directors at AdFest this year. Every year, new directors and assistant directors are invited to submit a five-minute short film script based on the theme of AdFest - this year's theme is 'Fast Forward'.

ADFEST received 24 short film scripts this year, including five scripts from Dhaka, four from Tokyo, three from Shanghai, three from Sydney, two from Melbourne, two from Beijing as well as others received from Jakarta, Hong Kong, Hangzhou, Quezon and Selangor Darul Ehsan.

"We are delighted that 24 aspiring directors from 11 different cities are in the running to be selected as this year's Fabulous Four," says AdFest President Jimmy Lam. "Fabulous Four is remains the region's top career launching pad for up-and-coming directors - a chance for them to make their first 'big break'," says Lam.

On May 23rd, 2012, the tenth edition of Portfolio Night, the world's largest advertising portfolio review will take place. This annual global event has not happened in Australia since 2010, or New Zealand since 2008.

Your agency or local advertising association can get involved by becoming a City Host.

Cities so far locked in:
Athens hosted by Bold Ogilvy
Austin hosted by Latinworks
Budapest hosted by Kirowski & Umbrella
Helsinki hosted by Skandaali
Montreal hosted by CloudRaker
Philadelphia hosted by Philly Ad Club
Stockholm hosted by PS Agency

For more info visit portfolionight.com or contact Brett McKenzie: brett@ihaveanidea.org

A controversial new campaign targeting Drug Driving has hit the airwaves in New Zealand.

Over four days last year, 147 people thought they were being driven to a 'costume fitting' for a TV commercial. What they didn't realise was that their 'drivers' were actually actors who were pretending to be driving under the influence of a range of drugs.

VIEW THE MEDS SPOT
VIEW THE P (ICE) SPOT
VIEW THE WEED SPOT

Bondi's Flickerfest is the only short film festival in Australia accredited by BAFTA and the Academy.

This year Flickerfest accepted just 108 films for official competition from 2,200 entries.
From those entered, Tammy Davis's debut short film Ebony Society won the ING Direct Award for Best Film.
VIEW EXCERPT FROM EBONY SOCIETY
 
VIEW TAIKA WAITITI REEL

Sam Holst's short film Meathead has been selected to screen at the 62nd Berlin International Film Festival 2012.
 
The film will feature in the Generation programme where it will compete for the Crystal Bear.

VIEW THE TRAILER

DraftFCB New Zealand has been appointed as the lead advertising agency for Air New Zealand after a competitive pitch. Saatch & Saatchi has been included on the roster

An admired brand and often recognised and awarded for its innovation and customer service including being recently named 2012 Airline of the Year by Air Transport World, Air New Zealand will join a portfolio of other household names and iconic New Zealand and global brands at DraftFCB including Mitre 10, The National Bank, Genesis Energy, NZI, Greggs, PAK'nSAVE, and BMW. 

STW Group, Australasia's leading marketing content and communications group, has announced that WPP Group, via Ogilvy & Mather Asia, has acquired a 33.3% position in STW's leading digital communications firm, DTDigital.

DTDigital, one of Australia's largest and most successful digital agencies, joined STW Group in 2003 and during the next eight years grew revenues from $1 million per annum to forecast revenue for 2012 of $14 million.

For the past four years, DTDigital has been working alongside BADJAR Ogilvy and OgilvyOne in Melbourne.

Today DTDigital has 110 full-time staff in its Melbourne office.

STW Group CEO Mike Connaghan (pictured) said: "It's not in our nature to sell parts of our prized assets but the logic in this instance was overwhelming. DTDigital already partners closely with Ogilvy Group Melbourne, and there are intentions to expand this partnership with Ogilvy to other markets. The integrated nature of many of our client campaigns make it absolutely right for Ogilvy that we have DTDigital even further aligned with that business. It's a good deal for all stakeholders."

The Store, the global retail practice of WPP (NASDAQ: WPPGY) today launches "The Shopper Marketing Store," an offer that harnesses and provides easy access to world-class agencies and experts in the field.

Shopper marketing encompasses a wide variety of different capabilities and touch points including, but not limited to, shopper insights, store design, customer relationship management, in-store communications, packaging and e-commerce.

VISIT THE WEBSITE

BEST TV
So I sat down to look at Best Ads and to my delight, the first thing I saw was a sexy cop girl running through the streets. Hot as balls. I think there might have been a guy in it to. This Axe spot ended up being my runner up.
As I moved through the spots, I made this note: the "dog in a nighty" spot for Jeep is good but just wrong.
Grrrr. Weiden and Kennedy and ESPN. How can this still be this good? Winner.

BBH New York & BBH Labs director of innovation Saneel Radia has chosen his winners for Round 3 of Young Glory - a global competition for industry newcomers and under 30s that offers 8 briefs from 8 different industry leaders over 8 months.

New Zealand freelancer Alan Jones took out the first ever Young Glory Gold in the Professional Category, along with Sid Lee and Commun securing a joint Professional silver.

Queensland University of Technology student Andrew Cruickshank also took home points for being shortlisted.

SEE RESULTS HERE

The deadline for the 2012 The One Show is January 31. Send your best, most creative work, to be judged by some of the most prestigious members of the international advertising and design community. This year's shows have several brand new categories, so see where your onederful work fits in.

ENTER HERE

CB Exclusive - To launch Burger King's new BK Shots mini burgers, Colenso BBDO has created a new tv campaign, produced by Flying Fish.

VIEW THE SPOT

The Newspaper Publishers' Association of New Zealand's "Send a paper" topical newspaper ad has been announced as the October / November winner of the Could Be a Caxton competition, established by the Caxton Committee and supported by The Newspaper Works to recognise and showcase great creativity on a bi-monthly basis.
 
 
Client: Newspaper Publishers' Association of New Zealand
Agency: Special Group
Creative Directors: Tony Bradbourne, Rob Jack
Design Director: Heath Lowe
Art Director: Iain MacMillan
Copywriter: Antony Wilson

VIEW PDF Newspapers Work - Send a Paper.pdf

CB Exclusive - To kick off the New Year and his plan for the Creative Collective at Saatchi & Saatchi New Zealand, executive creative director Antonio Navas has announced the hire of Mike Davison (left) and Sam Stradwick to the Saatchi & Saatchi creative department.

Davison has worked in the industry for over 20 years (starting at the age of 6 as he likes to explain). His experience includes seven years in New York, the last three of which he spent at TBWA\Chiat\Day. Until going solo in February last year, he spent six years as head of art at DDB New Zealand.

Stradwick (below left) has worked in a variety of Auckland design and ad agencies over the last few years. He brings his natural design talent to help solve daily typography, illustration, layout and branding challenges.

The UK IPA has today published its 2011 Agency Census, the definitive annual survey of employment trends in media, advertising and marketing communications agencies, which shows that the size of the employed base in IPA member agencies has increased from 18,843 to 19,372, a year-on-year increase of 2.8%.

Further highlights of the survey include:

•    The average agency size has increased from 71.4 employees to 77.5 employees.

•    The estimated number of first-year trainees in member agencies has increased from 723 to 862, a year-on-year increase of 19.2%.

•    Flexible working has been introduced or used at 16% of agencies, often for the benefit of Generation Y employees, and 10% of agencies indicated that they were harnessing new technology in order to do this.

From today, the 59th Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity is open for delegate registration. Taking place from 17 - 23 June in Cannes, France, delegates wishing to attend can now register online at canneslions.com.

Anyone wishing to attend Cannes Lions can choose from 3-day, 4-day and full-week registration packages. Dedicated student and young creative packages are also available. All Festival attendees are eligible for the lowest available rates on accommodation with the online accommodation guide offering possibilities for all budgets and preferences.

Mike Boekholt's final commendation and cremation in Hong Kong will be at 12:45pm today (NZ time 5:45pm, 12 January). Adelina and Shan ask that you please pray for Mike and themselves at this time.

Mike's memorial service in New Zealand will be held at 1:30pm on Thursday, 26 January at St. Joseph's Church, Mt. Victoria, Wellington.

BEST TV
Some lovely spots here this week. LG's 'TV Thief' is a great product demonstration and a spot I've seen peppered around the net over the last few days. The Kompressor Plus vacuum spot made me laugh in a guilty way and will, no doubt, amuse the Cannes jury this year - especially if it's shown on about day two of judging. The Sam Kekovich campaign is always great but there can be only one, and for me it has to go to the British Heart Foundation's 'Hard & Fast'. It takes an incredibly important subject matter (one that's, unfortunately, very close to home for me) and punches it into your brain with clever writing and the wonderful realisation that 'Staying Alive' is the perfect beat for CPR. People will remember it which means it'll save lives. Great.

ADFEST will host the first Asia Pacific chapter of the World Producers Summit. The inaugural event will be launched at ADFEST 2012 in Pattaya, Thailand in March. On March 19 - Day Two - ADFEST will host a half-day summit for 40 of the top production company owners across the Asia Pacific.
       
The World Producers Summit Asia will raise awareness of industry-wide problems for the purpose of elevating the effectiveness of the production business in the Asia Pacific. The forum is a closed door, strictly invitation only, with seats reserved specifically for registered delegates of ADFEST who are production company business owners.