TBWA\WHYBIN'S ADIDAS CAMPAIGN WINS AT ADFEST, DDB WINS TWO SILVERS FOR SKY TV

The Adidas All Blacks 'Of this Earth' campaign via TBWA\ Whybin Auckland (with 180 Amsterdam) won one of only three 360 Lotus Awards presented at Adfest on the weekend.
Out of 495 entries for Outdoor Lotus, only 21 awards were presented including one gold, eight silvers and 12 bronzes, and this year there was no Best of Show.
The only gold trophy was awarded to DDB Sydney for its work entitled 'Gum By Numbers-Marilyn' for Hubba Bubba Gum in the category for Street Furniture. The agency also won a silver award for Hubba Bubble.
DDB New Zealand won two silver trophies for its campaigns for SKY Television – Discovery Channel in the category of Three Dimensional large/ Highway Billboards, two Bronzes, one for Sky TV 'Superman Britomart', the other for Sky TV Discovery Channel, and two finalist for Sky TV 'The Break Up' and Sky TV Discovery Channel.
JWT Sydney won Bronze for the Thrifty 'Free Placement' concept.

BREWTOPIA WINS AT TV LOTUS
Clemenger BBDO, Melbourne won Silver for Pure Blonde 'Brewtopia' and a finalist for HBA 'Kid's Dental', Leo Burnett Sydney won Bronze for Bundaberg Rum 'Only in Australia', and DDB Auckland was a finalist for the DVD Unlimited campaign.

EARTH HOUR WINS GRAND PRIX (BEST) AT DM LOTUS
Leo Burnett Sydney's Earth Hour campaign won Gold and overall Best of DM, DDB Auckland won Bronze for Sky TV Fresh Channel 'Tissue Box' (dimensional mail) and a finalist for Sky TV 'The Prestige' (flat mail), AIM Proximity Auckland won Bronze for Educational Software 'Academic Excellence Sandwich Board', M&C Saatchi/Mark, Sydney won Bronze for Audi S3 'Not for Everyone' and a finalist for British Council 'Meet Your Hero', and DDB Sydney was a Finalist for VW 'Short Car Songs'.

EARTH HOUR WINS AT INNOVA LOTUS
Out of 53 entries received, the Grande INNOVA and one INNOVA Lotus award went to ground Tokyo for its work entitled 'Freedom Project' for Nissin Cup Noodle. The judging panel also presented three INNOVA Lotus awards to Projector from Tokyo, Earth Hour from Leo Burnett, Sydney and Hakuhodo Kettle from Tokyo.

PRESS LOTUS
M&C Saatchi, Sydney won Silver for the Herringbone campaign, while DDB Sydney had two finalists for Tonka Toys 'Sandpit' campaign, DDB Auckland was a finalist for Sky TV 'Paris in Prison'

POSTER LOTUS
M&C Saatchi, Sydney won Bronze for Polo 'Trust Fund'.

RADIO LOTUS
DDB Auckland won Bronze for Sky TV's Sky Movies campaign and Clemenger BBDO, Melbourne was a finalist for RACV Car Loans 'Disclaimer'.

CYBER LOTUS
Leo Burnett Sydney won a Bronze for Wesley Mission 'Homeless Man', while Clemenger Blue Melbourne had two finalists, one for National Australia Bank 'Celebration Dance' website and 'Xtreme Christmas' in the Games category.

FILM CRAFT LOTUS
The Sweet Shop, Auckland won Gold for Direction and Bronze for Production Design for Tooheys Extra Dry 'HarvesTED', Film Construction Auckland for Direction for Water Safety 'Baby in the Water', Goodoil Sydney won Bronze for Cinematography for Landcruiser 'Born of the Earth', @radical.media won Bronze for Special Effects for Honda CR-V 'Dress for it', Leo Burnett Sydney won Bronze for Music for McDonald's 'See Things', Liquid Studios, Auckland won Bronze for Sound Design for Sol 'Sol City'. Finalists for Curious Films, Auckland (3), Revolver, Sydney (3), Soma Films, Sydney (2), Goodoil Films, Sydney (2), Leo Burnett Sydney (1) and Cirkus, Auckland (1).

WORTHINGTON MAKES CHANGES AT COLENSO - COCHRAN TO CD, HIRES FLEET AND BOUGNERES

NZCC hears Colenso BBDO's new ECD, Nick Worthington (pictured), who joined from Publicis Mojo, Auckland earlier this month, has promoted Steve Cochran to the creative director role and hired Publicis Mojo's Karl Fleet as deputy creative director and DDB Auckland's Emmanuel Bougneres as art director. (Worthington originally hired frenchman Bougneres for Publicis Mojo). More on this on Monday.

KIWI ANIMATION SELECTED AT ANNECY

'Santa Needs Help' - a series of four animated ads for Auckland City Mission's 2007 Christmas campaign, directed by Tom Reilly of Flying Start Pictures with 3D Animation directed by Paul Scott-James of Toybox, have been placed into final selection at the prestigious Annecy Animation Festival in France. (www.annecy.org)
Annecy is the world's leading and biggest animation festival, held annually in France. This is the first time Kiwi animation has been represented at Annecy in fifteen years. A short film, The Nightwatchman by Joe Wylie and John Robertson played there in 1993.
The spots were conjured up by Loic Cardon and Natalie Knight from Publicis Mojo and brought to life by a dedicated team who didn’t take much persuading once Jenny, the little star made from clay, batted her eyelids.
Tom Reilly and Simon Good painstakingly modelled all the miniature sets, characters and wardrobe. Jenny found her first role demanding while Santa found the late nights physically challenging. Even the reindeer mustered their best performances under lights and icing sugar.
Once the stop motion was in the can, the Toybox team worked harder than Santa’s elves. Paul Scott-James gave Jenny wonderfully emotive eyes with CGI and Rob Zohrab’s matte painted backgrounds took it to another level altogether.
Next Perceptual Engineering Audio captured the charm and quirkiness of the script perfectly. And a very professional Betty Blood gave Jenny her voice.
Tom's short films and animations have won awards in New Zealand and Europe but this is his first work to screen at Annecy.
“We used a combination of techniques to make our animation really unique. We wanted people to look at it and think ‘how the heck have they done that?’”

CATMUR BUYS INTO BARNES ADVERTISING - TO BE REBRANDED BARNES, CATMUR & FRIENDS

Former DDB NZ and GPY&R Melbourne Executive Creative Director Paul Catmur has ended months of speculation by announcing that he is joining forces with rising independent agency Barnes Advertising, currently owned and led by Daniel Barnes. The new shop, to be titled: Barnes, Catmur & Friends, will operate from April out of newly acquired premises in High Street, Auckland.
"Daniel and I have a similar vision of the way the industry is moving and complementary skills. He has operated a successful, highly regarded agency with loyal clients and staff for the last eleven years. My job is to bring in another wise head to work on our clients’ business and to work on raising the creative profile of what is already a very accomplished agency."
Both Barnes and Catmur will carry the title of Creative Managing Partner dividing creative and management duties between them as required.
Says Catmur: "Clients want to be in contact with the best minds of an agency and to work directly with senior talent, yet they find that increasingly hard to accomplish. With Daniel and I both accessible and accountable to clients we believe we can reverse that trend. Barnes advertising may have been an independent, but neither the agency nor its clients have ever suffered from a lack of ambition.
“Daniel and the agency are already looking after an enviable client list including Subaru, Yamaha Motorcycles, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Langham Hotels and Geneva Health. Our first priority is, of course, to continue looking after them in the manner to which they have become accustomed."
Says Barnes: “This confirms that the worldwide trend towards high-quality independent shops like Mother, St Lukes, Naked etc is now fully breaking on New Zealand shores albeit, a little late. Of course we have a long way to go to match the success of those agencies but they have set great examples.
"Everyone knows Paul's work is great," says Barnes. "and it’s about time one of the big name New Zealand CDs jumped in and really got involved with his clients and their business. The independent scene's been getting stronger every year, just take a look at the recent Direct and Interactive awards where half the Gold awards went to Indies. Barnes advertising was itself the first indie agency to pick up the Fair Go Best Ad award. Both unthinkable a few years ago.
“There's nothing inherently wrong with the multinational agencies, but not all clients either want, or can afford, to work that way. Especially with the budgetary constraints that will become increasingly prevalent. As the economy slows, pressures increase on clients to cut costs while maintaining creative standards and no one will be better placed than us to meet that challenge."

DDB OPENS UP REGISTRATIONS FOR PORTFOLIO NIGHT 2008 - THURSDAY MAY 8

Registrations are now being accepted for the ad industry’s only global portfolio review and recruitment event, Portfolio Night, which returns to New Zealand on Thursday May 8.
Sponsored and organised locally by DDB, the innovative speed-dating concept teams up aspiring young creatives on the launchpad of their careers with a cluster of award-winning creative directors. Over the course of an evening, most juniors will get their portfolio reviewed by three of the most highly-regarded creative directors in town from across the top agencies.
Says Toby Talbot, DDB Executive Creative Director: “We’re delighted to be getting behind Portfolio Night again for New Zealand. Last year’s event was terrific. We had great support from top CDs across town so it was a real industry effort.”
Says Mike O’Sullivan, Executive Creative Director at Saatchi and Saatchi, who took part last year: “Portfolio Night is a great event and we saw some great work. Would recommend everyone in the job market to give it a go.”
Steve Cochran, Deputy Creative Director at Colenso BBDO added: “There’s nothing like spending an evening with your nose stuck in a good book. I look forward to being there.”
Places for the Auckland event, which will run from 5.30pm at DDB’s offices, are limited to just 36 creative teams. It is restricted to juniors who are students, new graduates, interns or in the first two years of their career.
Unlike most other Portfolio Night events around the world, the New Zealand event will be free.
Registrations can be made by emailing: claire.mckay@nz.ddb.com. Please state your full name/s, contact details, and a few details on where you’re at in your career. Places will be allocated on a first come basis, provided all criteria are met.
The global Portfolio Night initiative was launched last year after DDB Canada’s Chairman and CEO Frank Palmer saw potential in the idea, which had until then been localised in Canadian cities. He backed the event and negotiated the initial partnership arrangement that last year made DDB the first agency to become a Gold Sponsor of Portfolio Night and saw the event roll out globally.
This year the event is happening simultaneously in 20 cities around the world.
DDB is sponsoring the event in 10 cities including Auckland, Sydney, Melbourne, Hong Kong, Singapore, New York, Toronto, Chicago, Miami and Sao Paulo.
Other global partners of Portfolio Night include Corbis, BLACK BAG and
VCU Brandcenter.

MADDOCKS ELECTED AWARD CHAIRMAN

The AWARD Executive Committee have voted in a Chairman and two Deputy Chairmen for 2008 & 2009, a new arrangement of the leadership positions to replace the co-chairmen roles of previous years.
Richard Maddocks, former ECD of Colenso BBDO, now ECD at Clemenger BBDO Sydney, will be the Chairman, while Michael Ritchie, Executive Producer and Managing Director at Revolver and Darryn Devlin, Founder and Creative Partner at Kastner & Partners Sydney, will be the Deputy Chairmen.
Says Maddocks: “It’s certainly an honour to be involved with AWARD and the next couple of years are going to be an exciting time. I know the committee is up for some big things and I’m really looking forward to working with Darryn and Michael and the rest of the guys to make these things happen.
"We know we’re not going to keep everyone happy, but what we’re intent on doing is making AWARD as relevant and inspiring as it can be; to try and accommodate the various points of view in the industry without defaulting to the lowest common denominator.
"There’s so many opportunities for AWARD to grow and develop and build on the great work it’s already doing. I can’t wait to get stuck in."
Says Ritchie: “I Think Richard is perfect to head this team up. The good work done over the past two years needs to be continued....and then some. From a production company point of view, I am proud to be contributing to that."
Says Devlin, previous AWARD Co-Chairman with Paul Prince in 2005/06, says; “It is a very nice honour to be back on an exceptional committee and work with someone who I think will be a great chairman. If we continue to build on the momentum since going independent, AWARD will be a very good thing indeed."
Martin O’Halloran, CEO DDB Australia and New Zealand will lead the Business Development and Financials.
The Executive Committee will next meet on April 1st, where priorities for the year ahead will be discussed and portfolios allocated.

GREEN PARTY GETS SPECIAL

Auckland creative start-up Special have picked up the Green Party account after a four way pitch in Wellington. Special’s initial brief is to create a new campaign that will launch this year's election campaign.
Says Gary Reese, Green Party Campaign Manager: “What Special offers us is unique. They’re strategically sharp and creatively innovative. We’re very excited about things to come.”
The Kingsland based creative start-up will start work on the Green Party’s account with immediate effect. Says Special co-founder Heath Lowe: “Never before have green issues been so close to the mainstream. There has been a shift in attitudes towards the Greens in recent years. They’re gaining momentum. We will help them capitalise on this.”
Special were formed in October last year by leading advertising creatives Rob Jack, Tony Bradbourne and designer Heath Lowe (pictured).
Says Bradbourne: “After winning Volvo at the end of last year, this is a perfect way to start 2008. It’s a huge opportunity. We describe ourselves as a results driven creative agency. A general election is a pretty good test of effectiveness.”

FAUDET RESIGNS FROM DDB MELBOURNE, SET TO RETURN TO NEW ZEALAND

DDB Melbourne today announced the resignation of executive creative director Michael Faudet, who has spent the last three years in Melbourne and sixteen years prior at DDB Auckland and DDB Sydney.
DDB Group Managing Director Andrew Little praised Michael’s contribution to the agency: “Michael has made a significant contribution to the creative product and the exceptional growth of the agency. We have been in discussion for a while about Michael’s next steps and he has decided to take some time out after a long and fruitful career with DDB across the Tasman. I and all the staff wish him the best in his future endeavours.”
Says Faudet: “I decided it was time to take a well overdue break from the business and spend more time with my son in New Zealand. I plan to catch some fish over the next few months before pursuing new options. I wish Andrew and the team all the best.”

TOUCH/CAST NEXT'S ANDREW HAWLEY TO REPRESENT NZ ON CLIO INTERACTIVE JURY

Andrew Hawley, founding partner and joint creative director, TOUCH/CAST NEXT, Wellington, will be representing New Zealand on the Interactive jury at the 49th Annual Clio Awards and Festival, to be held May 14-17 in Miami Beach.

The 2008 Clio Awards Interactive Jury:
• Matias Palm-Jensen (jury chair), creative president, Farfar, Stockholm, Sweden
• Mark Ashley-Wilson, head of Digital & Interactive Australasia, Lowe Rivet, Sydney, Australia
• Oskar Bård, director, Hobby Film, Stockholm, Sweden
• Dave Bedwood, creative partner, Lean Mean Fighting Machine, London, UK
• Joakim Borgstrom, creative director, Wieden+Kennedy, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
• Pete Case, creative director, Gloo, Cape Town, South Africa
• Sam De Volder, creative director, These Days, Antwerp, Belgium
• Tom Eslinger, worldwide creative director – Interactive, Saatchi & Saatchi, London, UK
• Ricardo Figueira, creative director, vice president, AgenciaClick, São Paulo, Brazil
• Dominic Goldman, creative director, BBH, London, UK
• Andrew Hawley, founding partner & joint creative director, TOUCH/CAST NEXT, Wellington, New Zealand
• Elke Klinkhammer, creative director, Neue Digitale, Frankfurt, Germany
• Sean Lam, creative director, Kinetic, Singapore
• Adam Lau, creative director, Ogilvy & Mather, New York, NY, USA
• Peter Laurelli, senior copywriter, Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, San Francisco, CA, USA
• Jean Lin, founder & CEO, wwwins Consulting, Greater China, regional director, Isobar, Greater China, Shanghai, China
• Andre Matarazzo, chief creative officer, Gringo, São Paulo, Brazil
• Will McGinness, creative director, Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, San Francisco, CA, USA
• Tommy Means, director, Mekanism, San Francisco, CA, USA
• Pedro Panigazzi, executive creative director, Publiquest, Buenos Aires, Argentina
• PJ Pereira, former executive creative director, AKQA, San Francisco, CA, USA
• Neil Robinson, group creative director, AKQA, San Francisco, CA, USA
• Fernanda Romano, creative director, JWT London, London, UK
• Seb Royce, creative director, Glue London, London, UK
• Yasuharu Sasaki, interactive creative director, Interactive Communication Division, Dentsu Inc., Tokyo, Japan
• Florian Schmitt, executive creative director, Hi-Res!, London, UK
• Eric Segal, creative director, mcgarrybowen, New York, NY, USA
• Meera Sharath-Chandra, president and national creative director, RMG Connect India, New Delhi, India
• Jussi Solja, creative director/partner, Laundry, Helsinki, Finland
• Richard Ting, vice president, executive creative director, Mobile & Emerging Media/Applications (MEMA) Group, R/GA, New York, NY USA
• Andreas Ullenius, creative director, Akestam Holst, Stockholm, Sweden
• Hyun-Ah Yoon, creative director, d.o.E.S., Seoul, South Korea


The 49th Annual Clio Awards will be presented during the 2008 Clio Festival, May 14-17 at the Gansevoort South Hotel in South Beach. Delegates made up of advertising and design creatives from around the world will attend an array of exciting events, including the Festival Opening Cocktail Party, the annual Lifetime Achievement Award Dinner Gala (this year honoring Marcello Serpa, partner and general creative director, AlmapBBDO, São Paulo, Brazil), The Saatchi & Saatchi Hero Show, the 2008 Clio Future Gold | Young Creatives Program, daytime sessions featuring creative leaders from around the world, TV/Cinema/Digital, Print, Radio and Interactive Shortlist areas presented by Sands Research, Inc., evening parties and two Awards Galas announcing 2008 winners, Advertiser of the Year and Agency/Network/Production Company of the Year at the Fillmore Miami Beach at the Jackie Gleason Theater.

Online registration for the 2008 Clio Festival is open at www.clioawards.com/festival.

PORTFOLIO NIGHT 6 SET FOR MAY 8 IN AUCKLAND

ihaveanidea, Advertising’s Intellectual Archive, has announced that DDB Worldwide will continue as Global Agency Partner of Portfolio Night 6 on May 8th 2008.
ihaveanidea’s Portfolio Night is the largest simultaneous advertising portfolio review ever held in the world, featuring a uniquely designed portfolio review process in a 'speed-dating' setting. The event helps students and aspiring young creatives around the world break into the ad industry and involves the top creative directors in each participating city.
Says Ignacio Oreamuno, president, ihaveanidea: "On May 8, with the help and dedication of incredible Global Partners, like DDB Worldwide, who has been supporting the Portfolio Night initiative for the past three years, we will attempt to change advertising from the ground up once again. The ad industry has greatly evolved since Portfolio Night’s small yet audacious beginnings in 2003, and it is our responsibility to help our industry adjust to the future. This year we will invite not just traditional copywriter and art directors, but interactive art directors and designers as well. It will also be the first time that aspiring creatives will have the option of showing their work in the traditional format of print portfolios, or laptops."
The participating DDB offices hosting a Portfolio Night event are Auckland, Sydney, Melbourne, Singapore, Hong Kong, Sao Paulo, Miami, New York, Toronto and Chicago. Additionally, creative directors from DDB’s other operations (not hosting events) will be taking part in Portfolio Night events held in their respective cities. ihaveanidea will be releasing a list of cities hosting Portfolio Night events shortly detailing all DDB sponsored events, as well as those to be hosted by other ad agencies.
“By championing Portfolio Night, DDB is able to assist young people and the industry, while at the same time finding and recruiting the best new creative talent," says Bob Scarpelli, chairman and chief creative officer of DDB Worldwide. “DDB’s extensive involvement with Portfolio Night again this year reflects our belief that creativity is the most powerful force in business. The advertising community needs to foster the next generation of creative talent, and DDB is helping lead the way by taking events like Portfolio Night around the world."
Other global partners of Portfolio Night 6 include Corbis, BLACK BAG & VCU Brandcenter.
Students enrolled in advertising programs, recent graduates, and up-and-coming creatives will have the opportunity to spend valuable face-to-face time with their city’s most prestigious creative directors. Young creatives are encouraged to attend this event in one of the participating cities and have the opportunity to speak with three or more world-class creative directors.
Cost to participate is $35 in North America and is priced locally in other participating cities around the world. All aspiring creatives or juniors with an advertising portfolio must register online at ihaveanidea’s website: www.portfolionight.com

MIKE O FOR CLIO FILM JURY

The 49th Annual Clio Awards has announced the complete international juries for the 2008 Television/Cinema/Digital and Design categories. Mike O'Sullivan, ECD of Saatchi & Saatchi NZ, has been selected to judge the former. All awards will be announced and presented at the 2008 Clio Festival, May 14-17, in South Beach, Miami.





The 2008 Clio Awards Television/Cinema/Digital Jury:
• Tony Granger, (jury chair), former chief creative officer, Saatchi & Saatchi New York, NY, USA
• Sofia Ambrosini, associate creative director, Leo Burnett, Milan, Italy
• Gaston Bigio, executive creative director, Ogilvy & Mather Argentina, Buenos Aires, Argentina
• Olivier Couradjut, senior copywriter, BETC Euro RSCG, Paris, France
• Sonal Dabral, regional executive creative director, Asia Pacific/chairman, India, Bates 141 Singapore Pte Ltd, Singapore
• Andy Fackrell, executive creative director, 180Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
• Ruy Lindenberg, creative vice president, Leo Burnett São Paulo, Brazil
• Steve McElligott, creative director, BBDO New York, NY, USA
• Juan Nonzioli, executive creative director, Shackleton, Madrid, Spain
• Mike O’Sullivan, executive creative director, Saatchi & Saatchi, Auckland, New Zealand
• Bert Peulecke, executive creative director/managing director, DDB Berlin GmbH, Berlin, Germany
• Alan Russell, creative director, DDB Canada, Vancouver, BC, Canada
• Thirasak Tanapatanakul, worldwide co-chairman & executive creative director, Creative Juice\G1 (TBWA), Bangkok, Thailand
• Susan Westre, executive creative director, Ogilvy & Mather, New York, NY, USA and Paris, France
• Yang Yeo, chief creative officer, JWT Shanghai, China


The 2008 Clio Awards Design Jury:
• Garth Walker (jury chair), founder/creative director, Orange Juice Design, Durban, South Africa
• Wendy Church, design director, Wallace Church, Inc., New York, NY, USA
• Scott Dadich, creative director, WIRED magazine, San Francisco, CA, USA
• Stewart Devlin, design creative director, TAXI New York, NY, USA
• Scott Stowell, owner/creative director, Open, New York, NY, USA


The 49th Annual Clio Awards will be presented during the 2008 Clio Festival, May 14-17 at the Gansevoort South Hotel in South Beach. Delegates made up of advertising and design creatives from around the world will attend an array of exciting events, including the Festival Opening Cocktail Party, the annual Lifetime Achievement Award Dinner Gala (this year honoring Marcello Serpa, partner and general creative director, AlmapBBDO, São Paulo, Brazil), The Saatchi & Saatchi Hero Show, the 2008 Clio Future Gold | Young Creatives Program, daytime sessions featuring creative leaders from around the world, TV/Cinema/Digital, Print, Radio and Interactive Shortlist areas presented by Sands Research, Inc., evening parties and two Awards Galas announcing 2008 winners, Advertiser of the Year and Agency/Network/Production Company of the Year at the Fillmore Miami Beach at the Jackie Gleason Theater.

Online registration for the 2008 Clio Festival is open at www.clioawards.com/festival.

NEW AUSTRALASIAN DIRECTORS SOUGHT FOR SAATCHI & SAATCHI SHOWCASE AT CANNES

New directors from the worlds of advertising, short film, music videos, animation and title production who want a shot at international exposure are being invited to submit entries for screening at one of the world’s most prestigious advertising events.
Each year Saatchi & Saatchi leads an international search for new directors to feature at the Cannes International Advertising Festival, held in Cannes in June.
The result – the Saatchi & Saatchi New Directors’ Showcase – has become one of the highlights of the annual festival and is the best attended event after the gala ceremonies.
Previous featured directors have included Spike Jonze, David La Chappelle, Tarsem, Michel Gondry, Danny Kleinman and Jonathan Glazer.
Mike O’Sullivan, Saatchi & Saatchi Executive Creative Director, says the Showcase gives new directors the chance to shine in an international setting: “It’s a brilliant opportunity for Australian and New Zealand directors to get onto the global stage and be seen by some of the world’s top creatives. Anybody who can submit an entry should!”
To qualify, directors must have been shooting commercials for less than two years. They may also have been directing short films, music promos, titles or animation, and may not have even produced any commercials as yet. But they must be available to direct commercials now.
To enter, new directors should submit a DVD format showreel which may include any or all of the following: commercials, short films, music videos, animation, titles or new filmic techniques.
Entries will then be shortlisted for viewing by Saatchi & Saatchi’s Worldwide Creative Board, and a New Directors’ Showcase reel compiled for screening at Cannes. The Board makes its final selections based on the ability of a director to execute an idea on screen, an innovative technique or style and outstanding directorial skill.
To enter, New Zealand directors should send a DVD reel to Mike O’Sullivan in the Saatchi & Saatchi Auckland office. Australian directors should send reels to Steve Back, Saatchi & Saatchi Australia Executive Creative Director, in the Sydney office. All reels must be labelled “New Directors’ Showcase 2008” and be received by 17 April.
This year’s New Directors’ Showcase will take place Thursday 19 June, in the Grand Auditorium, Palais des Festivals, Cannes.

STEEMSON AND SWINBURNE WIN GRANDE ORCA

The 13th Grande ORCA ceremony took place today at the Living Room in Ponsonby, Auckland as The Radio Bureau announced the winners of the People’s Choice, Grande ORCA and a special ‘Excellence Since Ages Ago’ award.
Creative guru and guest speaker, Ralph van Dijk from Eardrum, Sydney was on hand to present this year’s Grande ORCA to Helen Steemson and Matt Swinburne of Saatchi & Saatchi (pictured) for their TVNZ spot ‘World’s Fastest Indian’. The judges loved it’s pure simplicity and said it was “unpretentious and easy to listen to – pure radio!”
As Grande ORCA winners, both will be flying off to the Cannes Lions to see their ad judged on an international stage and as the winning client, TVNZ won a $50,000 radio schedule.
Stacey Daniels and Nathan Rarere MC’d the event which also saw the Ogilvy duo of Tom Paine and James Bowman take the People’s Choice award and a $1,000 prize for their latest addition to the popular L&P campaign. The pair also walked away with a special one-off award for ‘Excellence Since Ages Ago’ in acknowledgement of the lasting popularity of their iconic Kiwi L&P creative.
You can listen to the winning ads at www.trb.co.nz – just follow the Grande ORCA link from the home page.

NZ PERFORMS WELL AT CAPLES AWARDS

Australia led the world at the 30th Caples Awards held at the Metropolitan Pavilion in New York last night, winning 21 awards, ahead of Germany with 20 and New Zealand equal third (with Spain) winning 12 gongs.
Kiwi shops won four First Places, three Seconds and five Thirds. Lowe Rivet Auckland won a First for Stella Artois 'Fight Club' plus two Seconds and a Third, AIM Proximity Auckland won a First for Christchurch Press 'Are you an idiot?' plus three Thirds. Blackwood Communications Group Auckland won a First and a Second, both for BIANZ 'Gingerbread Haka' (pictured), while Touch/Cast Next Wellington won a First for WETA 'Rayguns'.
Australian shops won five first Places, five seconds and 11 thirds. Lavender Sydney won three Firsts for the RTA 'Pimp our Ads' campaign while Leo Burnett, Melbourne won two Firsts, one for Suzuki 'Implants', the other for Connex 'There's no I in carriage'.
Other Aussie shops celebrating on the night incuded M&C Saatchi Sydney with two Second Places and five Third Places and BMF Sydney with three Second Places and two Third Places.
A highlight of the awards for the Australians was the awarding of Dylan Taylor, BMF Direct Sydney's creative director with the prized Caples Wunderman Award for Lifetime Creative Achievement - the first Aussie ever to be awarded this honour.

VINCENT WARD BACK FOR COMMERCIALS

Dubbed "one of film's great image makers", (Jay Carr, BOSTON GLOBE), Vincent Ward emerges now after four years directing back-to-back features.
Following the 2005 release of Ward's historical epic "River Queen", starring Keifer Sutherland, Ward went straight into pre-production on his latest feature "Rain of the Children." This magical and emotional true story is Ward's most personal film to date. With his trademark dedication, Ward wrote, directed and produced "Rain of the Children", due for theatrical release in 2008.
After this period of intense film-making, Ward is finally available for commercial projects. This is a rare opportunity for creatives to work with the director. With a wealth of award-winning dramatic features to his name and Academy-award nominations to boot,Vincent Ward brings a unique talent for visual and performance based film to the world of commercials via The Sweet Shop.
You can check out more of Vincent's work here: http://www.thesweetshop.tv/director.php?dir_id=8

CLIO AWARDS LAUNCHES THE 2008 CLIO FUTURE GOLD YOUNG CREATIVES PROGRAMME

Deadline for application submission is April 1, 2008

The 49th Annual Clio Awards and Festival, the global awards competition for advertising, design and interactive, in conjunction with ihaveanidea, is now accepting applications from around the world for the 2008 Clio Future Gold | Young Creatives Program, whose mission is to elevate and inspire up-and-coming talent in the advertising industry.
A total of 12 talented young copywriters and art directors under the age of 30 will be selected to attend the 2008 Clio Festival, May 14-17 in South Beach, Florida where they will be paired into six teams and engage in a 24-hour creative challenge. All work will be judged by a panel of world-renowned 2008 Clio Awards jury members and later presented to the client before an audience of Clio Festival delegates. The winning team will be awarded on stage at the Clio Awards Gala on the evening of May 16 at the Fillmore Miami Beach at the Jackie Gleason Theater.
“Clio is committed to encouraging and rewarding the best young creatives,” said Tony Gulisano, managing director, Clio Awards. “This annual challenge provides the focal point to inspire, showcase and celebrate these emerging talents.”
Finalists in recent years have included young creatives from agencies such as JWT Singapore; DDB Sydney; FHV BBDO, Amstelveen, the Netherlands; Leo Burnett Kiev, Ukraine; Rediffusion DYR, Mumbai, India; FCB Sao Paulo, Brazil, Saatchi & Saatchi New York, and others.

How it works:
Qualified applicants 30 years of age or younger can visit www.ihaveanidea.org/futuregold for complete program details and guidelines, download the recommendation form to be completed by their creative director, and digitally upload a portfolio of work. Deadline for application submission is April 1, 2008, application fee is $150.
A team of experienced creatives will review all materials and select 12 applicants who represent the best talent from across the globe (two participants from each of six regions). Finalists will be notified by the Clio Awards on April 11, 2008, and arrangements made for them to receive complimentary Clio Passports granting admission to all festival events, as well as three nights of hotel accommodation.

O'NEILL JOINS CLEMENGER BBDO MELBOURNE

Clemenger BBDO Melbourne has enticed kiwi expat Philip O’Neill from Whybin\TBWA Melbourne to the position of director of client services. O'Neill moved from the GM gig at TBWA\Whybin Auckland to the MD position at Whybin\TBWA Melbourne in March 2006.
Prior to Whybin's, O’Neill had stints at Ogilvy, Melbourne and DDB Auckland. He then went on to head the Tourism New Zealand account for M&C Saatchi NZ, before becoming the managing director of the agency.
O’Neill reunites with Peter Biggs, the former chief of Clemenger BBDO Wellington, now managing director of Clemenger BBDO Melbourne, who gave him his first gig at Ogilvy.

O'SULLIVAN AND HARRICKS ELECTED TO REPRESENT NZ ON AWARD COMMITTEE

Seven heavyweights from the industry - five from Sydney, two from New Zealand - have joined the existing AWARD Executive Committee after yesterday's AWARD AGM in Sydney.
The new committee members are:
Steve Back - executive creative director, Saatchi & Saatchi, Sydney
Darryn Devlin - creative partner, Kastner & Partners, Sydney
Richard Maddocks - executive creative director, Clemenger BBDO, Sydney
Michael Ritchie - Principal, Revolver, Sydney
Martin O’Halloran - Chairman and CEO, DDB Australia/New Zealand
Mark Harricks - creative director, Clemenger BBDO, Wellington
Mike O’Sullivan (pictured) - executive creative director, Saatchi & Saatchi, Auckland

The new co-chairmen of AWARD will be decided in the following weeks, with portfolios allocated at the full Committee Meeting held this morning in Sydney.

They join the Existing Committee:
Ben O’Brien – JWT Sydney
Paul Bruce - BMF
Richard White-Smith
Buzz Pringle – Stellar Sound
Dejan Rasic - CRC
Gavin McLeod – Mark/M&C Saatchi
Mark Stott - Common

South Australia
Peter Withy – KWP!
Jim Robinson - JamShop

Victoria
Jim Ingram – GPY&R

Western Australia
Murray Laird – Marketforce
Brett Wheeler – RareCreative

Queensland
Fintan Kerrigan – GPY&R

Tasmania
Andrew Clough – Red Jelly

HURMAN PROMOTED AT COLENSO

James Hurman has been elevated to Planning Director at Colenso BBDO.
This is a first for Colenso, an agency that has always had very senior planners but never a planning leader. Hurman will lead Colenso’s strategic product and four-strong Planning Department.
Hurman joined Colenso BBDO in August 2007 from Lowe, where he had worked closely with Vodafone before the account moved to Colenso BBDO in June last year. He has also been a planner with DDB and Mojo, where he was involved in work for Goodman Fielder, Mercury Energy, Volkswagen and Durex.
Says Brent Smart, Managing Director Colenso BBDO: “James is a top planner and a top bloke. He’s a huge talent and incredibly passionate about the work, which is what we’re all about at Colenso. When we hired James, we always had a view that he would rise to Planning Director after 12 months, but he has stepped in and shown leadership from day one, so why wait?”
Says Richard Maddocks, ex Creative Director Colenso BBDO, now at Clems in Sydney: “James has the ability to do what many attempt but few achieve; he makes the creative bit easier. That's the type of person you want heading the planning department.”
Says Hurman: “I’m stoked, but given that nine out of ten consumers say that quotes in press releases sound disingenuous, I’ll leave it there.”

SAATCHI'S LANDS SANYO BRAND WORK

Saatchi & Saatchi Auckland has picked up the coveted task of handling the Sanyo brand in the New Zealand market.
Saatchi & Saatchi, through its association with Telecom New Zealand, has been working with Sanyo mobile products for the last two years and has now been assigned the whole Sanyo portfolio.
Dean Taylor, Managing Director of the Saatchi & Saatchi Auckland office, says consumer electronics is an incredibly exciting business and a huge strategic challenge: ”The next five years will see a battle between retailers and brands for the high volumes whilst maintaining the premium nature of the product. Our opportunity is to work with the CEO Bill Crichton and his team to optimise Sanyo's brand position to ensure it takes full advantage of these changes."
Saatchi & Saatchi will work across a full range of Sanyo products including all white goods, audio and visual equipment.
"Bill is a fantastic client and really understands the need to make news with creativity. His product roll-out over the next year has got the creative department massively excited,” Taylor says.

O'SULLIVAN FOR CANNES DIRECT JURY, BLOOD FOR PROMO LIONS?

New Zealand's Cannes jurors this year are slowly being leaked, the latest being that Mike O'Sullivan (pictured), ECD of Saatchi & Saatchi, has being appointed to the Direct Lions jury and that Andy Blood, ECD of TBWA\Whybin has got the Promo Lions gig. The Cannes strategy this year appears to be to get the best jury of top creative people, not necessarily the best from each discipline, which is probably a good idea as over the coming years, NZ is sure to run out of world-class specialists to fill the various juries.

COLENSO BBDO HIRES AARON TURK AS HEAD OF DIGITAL CREATIVE

Colenso BBDO has appointed Aaron Turk to the newly created role of Head of Digital Creative. Prior to this appointment he was the Creative Director and Managing Partner of Tribal DDB Australia.
Says Turk: "I thoroughly enjoyed my eight years at Tribal DDB but I found towards the end of last year that I needed to leave the agency and take some time out. I spent this time back in NZ fishing and with family but also found myself evaluating the advertising industry and deciding on my next challenge. I wanted to find a collaborative agency culture with world class people that talked less about digital models and integration and focused more on just doing great consumer connecting work for clients. I have found these important ingredients to be at Colenso BBDO."
Turk, a New Zealander, is one of Australasia’s most respected and awarded digital creatives. He has won his fair share of creative and effectiveness awards over the years including New York Festival, One Show, ADMA and ‘Best of Show’ titles back to back at the Montreux Festival in 2005/06. In 2007 he was selected on the Cannes Cyber Lion jury, was Digital Chairman for the ADMA Awards and this year he is judging New York Festivals.
Says Adam Good, Executive Director of Digital Innovation at Clemenger Group New Zealand: "I’m delighted Aaron has stopped fishing in the Coromandel to join us at Colenso. Aaron has those rare skills of being a digital expert, creative leader and consumer focused creator of brand experience programs. Having worked with Aaron at both Tribal and Newscorp we have a good working partnership that has delivered some innovative solutions for brands in the past. To deliver engagement ideas you need to be able to produce compelling content and deliver it when a consumer wants it and across multiple digital devices and platforms. Aaron is the best in the business at creating such solutions and he will lead our expanding digital creative team that has a focus to deliver consumer centric participatory ideas and programs."
Says Brent Smart, Managing Director of Colenso BBDO: “We are very lucky to get a guy of Aaron’s quality. With Aaron teaming up with Adam Good, I think we have the best digital partnership in this part of the world and I know we will do some great work in this space.”

WHO BORROWED MY PEN?

Is there too much of a similarity between these two ideas for the same client, Amnesty International, in different parts of the world? The version that was first off the blocks (pictured top) was created last year by Aussie expat creative team Samira Ansara and Amy Hollier (with Tony Granger and Sarah Barclay) at Saatchi & Saatchi Paris, the other more recently by Publicis Mojo, Auckland...

TEQUILA\, PROXIMITY SHARES TOP HONOURS AT NZ DIRECT + INTERACTIVE MARKETING AWARDS

Spectacularly increasing donations on a shoestring budget for Oxfam’s innovative pre-Xmas ‘Unwrapped’ campaign has won TEQUILA\ the top RSVP Grand Prix award at the NZ Direct & Interactive Marketing Awards for the third consecutive year. The other major award, the Supreme NEXUS, went to Proximity iD for the seventh time in eight years. On this occasion, the digital and data marketing agency has been recognised for its highly targeted e-marketing catalogues promoting individual wine offers to Progressive Enterprises’ Onecard members.
For a viral campaign to promote Oxfam New Zealand’s ‘Unwrapped’ promotion. TEQUILA\, together with animation company Krafthaus and digital supplier TouchPoint, made a ‘pop music video’ for the band “Oxfarm”. Their song, “Don’t buy crap this Christmas” enticed more people than ever before to forgo Christmas presents for their friends and family and donate money to Oxfam instead.
TEQUILA\ MD Mike Larmer was blown away by this year’s success: “It’s another great year for TEQUILA\,” he said. “But the best thing about the RSVPs is that it’s about great work that gets results. Our Oxfam piece won because it delivered outstanding results for the client, and indeed for people who need extra help all over the world,” he said.
Group CD for TBWA\Whybin\TEQUILA, Andy Blood, commented: “It takes a whole village to raise a child. And the Oxfam Grand Prix is living testament to that. A seamless collaboration between TEQUILA\ and TBWA creative teams, it also wouldn’t have happened without some very generous help from some unsung players: Joel Tobeck, Bruce at DP, and Krafthouse in Wellington.”
The NZ Direct & Interactive Marketing Awards, organised by the Marketing Association, comprise two series of awards: the RSVP Awards, for the best examples of direct and interactive marketing campaigns judged on strategy, creative, and results; and the NEXUS Awards, for the best products, services and processes that drive campaigns. The full results for this year’s awards are available at www.nzdirectmarketingawards.co.nz

RSVP Grand Prix winner
Sue McCarty, Chief Executive of the Marketing Association, said “TEQUILA\’s ‘Unwrapped’ campaign for Oxfam NZ succeeded on so many levels, not least of which was the worthy cause involving the sending of highly practical and valuable gifts from Kiwis to parts of the world in desperate need. These included teacher training, shares in coffee plantations, as well as donkeys and goats! The fresh approach taken by TEQUILA\, including a humorous viral video, allowed Oxfam to connect to a much wider group of generous New Zealanders. And all of this was achieved on a very modest marketing budget. Congratulations to TEQUILA\ for the third consecutive year!”
In addition to the Grand Prix, the Oxfam Unwrapped campaign secured two gold medals for TEQUILA\ in the Sales Generation and Shoe String Budget categories.

Supreme NEXUS winner
According to Sue McCarty, “Proximity iD has a near stranglehold on the Supreme NEXUS award, having now won it every time bar one in the last eight years. The highly sophisticated personalisation that Proximity iD has achieved with the Onecard Wine programme is truly world class, even attracting the attention of the United States Direct Marketing Association in December with an NCDM Gold medal. Well done again to Proximity iD.”
In addition to the Supreme NEXUS, the Onecard Wine programme secured two golds for Proximity iD in the Strategic Vision and Products & Services categories; four silvers in Customer & Market Insight, Innovation, CRM & Data Management, and Media & Channel Utilisation respectively; as well as a bronze medal in Production & Fulfilment.

Other RSVP Gold Medal winners
Other RSVP Gold Medal awards included three golds to Connect Communications, two of these for the SkyCity Rocket to Riches campaign and one for TelstraClear’s The Lab campaign; OgilvyOne secured a gold for the Life Pharmacy Living Card Loyalty Programme; JustONE picked up a gold for the ADT Burglar Welcome Mat; Origin Design won a gold for Contact Energy’s I Can Make a Difference campaign; Black secured a gold for This Puppy Needs You for the Royal NZ Foundation for the Blind; and TOUCH/CAST NEXT won a gold for Weta Limited’s Rayguns campaign.

Other Nexus Gold Medal winners
Other NEXUS Gold Medal awards included two golds to Tango Communications for the TVNZ OnDemand campaign; a gold to The Hyperfactory and Saatchi & Saatchi for the Augmented Reality campaign for Wellington Zoo; and a gold to justONE, e-volution and Touchpoint for SUBWAY’s SUBCARD campaign.