Ian Howard

The launch of Game of Bros, a Maori Television show which took NZ by storm...

Best Launch - GOLD
Consumer Services - SILVER
Best Communications Strategy - SILVER
Best Small Budget - SILVER

Semi-Permanent is something that creatives are well aware of, so it certainly didn’t need to be explained to them. What was required, however, was to remind Auckland’s creative community why it was so important that they took the time to attend it. But the problem was that if they could have taken a break, they would have done so already. So just telling them they should was pointless. Instead, what was needed was to reframe the opportunity in a way that would resonate with a bunch of grumpy… Show more

Semi-Permanent is something that creatives are well aware of, so it certainly didn’t need to be explained to them. What was required, however, was to remind Auckland’s creative community why it was so important that they took the time to attend it. But the problem was that if they could have taken a break, they would have done so already. So just telling them they should was pointless. Instead, what was needed was to reframe the opportunity in a way that would resonate with a bunch of grumpy, overworked creatives.

We all need inspiration, creative people most of all. But often we’re so pressured it’s nearly impossible to carve out the time. If ever there was an ideal reason for creatives to make some time for themselves, it was the Semi-Permanent conference. But the creative audience had to be persuaded, so a campaign that empathised with their time pressures in a unique and totally surprising way was created.

Using a mix of (unauthorised) drone-powered video content, visual storytelling, blogging and good old-fashioned eDM, NZ’s creative community was persuaded to actually take some much-needed time out. And they did, with the event fully sold out for the first time in its history. Show less

Recruiting 1,000 new plasma donors was a problem. Why? Because no one knew what plasma was, nor why it was so important. And even if they did know, not just anyone can give it.

There are multiple barriers to donation, not the least of which is that you have to already be a blood donor (at least once in the last two years), as well as meet certain height, weight and age requirements. Oh, and your veins also have to be suitable, but you’ll need a nurse to check that for… Show more

Recruiting 1,000 new plasma donors was a problem. Why? Because no one knew what plasma was, nor why it was so important. And even if they did know, not just anyone can give it.

There are multiple barriers to donation, not the least of which is that you have to already be a blood donor (at least once in the last two years), as well as meet certain height, weight and age requirements. Oh, and your veins also have to be suitable, but you’ll need a nurse to check that for you.

Because there were two jobs to be done (broader awareness and targeted donor acquisition), activity was split into three streams, each of which had a slightly different target audience.

1. Mass Awareness: 18 – 60 year old New Zealanders geographically located near the seven key donor centres.
2. Donor Recruitment: current blood donors who potentially meet the criteria currently located near the seven key donor centres.
3. Donor (Social Word of Mouth): Current Plasma Panel donors who we targeted to help spread the awareness message more broadly.

“It’s liquid gold” became the campaign’s SMP.
Plasma is incredibly valuable. But donating it requires more from a person - more criteria to meet, more time to make the donation. And if you’re going to ask more of a person, it helps to connect them in a deeper and more personal way with the thing you want them to give.

By using current plasma donors and highlighting the wonderful, life-saving difference they were making (including also recipient stories), people’s attention was able to be captured thereby building awareness, while also inspiring others who were eligible to make a difference themselves.

This campaign not only drove significant awareness about the life-saving difference plasma makes, but it also exceeded recruitment targets while gathering vital learnings to help make all future campaigns even more effective. Show less

Eta had been the most trusted dressing brand and market leader in the salad dressings market. However, more recently it had been in decline with eroding brand loyalty. Adding to the problem were changing consumer tastes and a growing preference for thick and creamy-style mayonnaise products. As a result Eta had slipped to the 4th largest mayo brand. To help arrest this slide, Eta did have a new SKU to bring to market, but there was not going to be any ATL spend for this campaign.

In the… Show more

Eta had been the most trusted dressing brand and market leader in the salad dressings market. However, more recently it had been in decline with eroding brand loyalty. Adding to the problem were changing consumer tastes and a growing preference for thick and creamy-style mayonnaise products. As a result Eta had slipped to the 4th largest mayo brand. To help arrest this slide, Eta did have a new SKU to bring to market, but there was not going to be any ATL spend for this campaign.

In the face of this challenge, one opportunity was spotted - daylight savings. It’s a moment when the weather starts improving, giving everyone more chances to socialise and enjoy time with friends and family. And with this comes a change in the types of things people like to cook (and consequently, the sauces and pourables they need to cook them). As people usually only buy one mayo product per year (and maybe two pourables), securing purchase at the start of the season is critical to increasing household penetration and securing that highly coveted shelf space in Kiwi family fridges and pantries for months to come.

How Do You Eta Salad? was a content-driven promotional strategy that not only incentivised purchase, but also gave consumers ongoing reasons to keep buying Eta (Mayo and Pourables). Along with a chance to win, inspirational recipes timed to coincide with the change in season were included (a key moment of purchase as food styles typically change with the weather).

By campaign’s end, not only had Eta’s brand decline stopped, it was substantially reversed, so much so that by the time How Do You Eta Salad? had finished, over 40% of all Kiwi households had an Eta product in their pantry. Show less

Recruiting 1,000 new plasma donors was a problem. Why? Because no one knew what plasma was, nor why it was so important. And even if they did know, not just anyone can give it.

There are multiple barriers to donation, not the least of which is that you have to already be a blood donor (at least once in the last two years), as well as meet certain height, weight and age requirements. Oh, and your veins also have to be suitable, but you’ll need a nurse to check that for… Show more

Recruiting 1,000 new plasma donors was a problem. Why? Because no one knew what plasma was, nor why it was so important. And even if they did know, not just anyone can give it.

There are multiple barriers to donation, not the least of which is that you have to already be a blood donor (at least once in the last two years), as well as meet certain height, weight and age requirements. Oh, and your veins also have to be suitable, but you’ll need a nurse to check that for you.

Because there were two jobs to be done (broader awareness and targeted donor acquisition), activity was split into three streams, each of which had a slightly different target audience.

1. Mass Awareness: 18 – 60 year old New Zealanders geographically located near the seven key donor centres.
2. Donor Recruitment: current blood donors who potentially meet the criteria currently located near the seven key donor centres.
3. Donor (Social Word of Mouth): Current Plasma Panel donors who we targeted to help spread the awareness message more broadly.

“It’s liquid gold” became the campaign’s SMP.
Plasma is incredibly valuable. But donating it requires more from a person - more criteria to meet, more time to make the donation. And if you’re going to ask more of a person, it helps to connect them in a deeper and more personal way with the thing you want them to give.

By using current plasma donors and highlighting the wonderful, life-saving difference they were making (including also recipient stories), people’s attention was able to be captured thereby building awareness, while also inspiring others who were eligible to make a difference themselves.

This campaign not only drove significant awareness about the life-saving difference plasma makes, but it also exceeded recruitment targets while gathering vital learnings to help make all future campaigns even more effective. Show less

Sour Patch Kids was a new candy targeted at teenagers, and its launch was to be supported through digital OOH.

Rather than just run a few ads, intel on teenagers revealed that that was about as likely to succeed with them as a Backstreet Boys revival tour. Clearly, something way more fun was needed; something no-one had ever done before.

Using their mobiles, teenagers were asked to take a selfie eating Sour Patch Kids lollies. Post that shot to their private Instagram feed with… Show more

Sour Patch Kids was a new candy targeted at teenagers, and its launch was to be supported through digital OOH.

Rather than just run a few ads, intel on teenagers revealed that that was about as likely to succeed with them as a Backstreet Boys revival tour. Clearly, something way more fun was needed; something no-one had ever done before.

Using their mobiles, teenagers were asked to take a selfie eating Sour Patch Kids lollies. Post that shot to their private Instagram feed with the hashtag #sourpatchselfie and this was then broadcast live across Auckland metro digital OOH sites.

For the first time OOH ad placements were turned into a personalised, user-generated DM broadcast channel. It was fresh, loads of fun and best of all, helped Sour Patch Kids rocket to the number one candy spot (ahead of even Skittles and M&M’s) in the first two weeks of launch. Show less

Bronze awards for Smirnoff Pure Potential

Bronze award for Smirnoff Pure Potential campaign

Silver Award for Smirnoff Pure Potential campaign

Silver award for Smirnoff Pure Potential campaign

The Colonel's Burger Builder was a user generated campaign to launch a new SKU for KFC

Using Influencers To Unleash Jacob's Ghost

Market research showed that Jim Beam has one of the strongest volume of adorers in the spirits category, so word of mouth was highlighted as a key marketing tactic that would allow messaging to be amplified.

Leveraging the strength of the parent brand in the build-up to the launch, social promotions were run through Young & Shand’s proprietary product Nudge, enabling the level of brand influence that each entrant to the promotion has… Show more

Using Influencers To Unleash Jacob's Ghost

Market research showed that Jim Beam has one of the strongest volume of adorers in the spirits category, so word of mouth was highlighted as a key marketing tactic that would allow messaging to be amplified.

Leveraging the strength of the parent brand in the build-up to the launch, social promotions were run through Young & Shand’s proprietary product Nudge, enabling the level of brand influence that each entrant to the promotion has over their social network to be measured. In this way, the Jim Beam brand advocates who are able to provoke action from their contacts when they share brand messages to their social networks could easily be identified. These people then became the seeding network for the launch of the new product.

Conversations about the product’s arrival in New Zealand were fuelled by leveraging this network through highly targeted direct marketing. Supported by a smart content marketing campaign that included innovative native advertising placements, their six-month sales targets were exceeded by 38%… within three months. Show less

Making the threat of zombie walkers relevant to young people was critical to the launch of the new series of The Walking Dead in New Zealand. With the attention span of 18-25 year old males known to be generally confined to what's right in front of them, the strategy was to bring the Walking Dead horde to New Zealand.

The challenge was to create a one-to-one digital relationship between the audience and the Walkers, so what better platform to do it on than via a dating app? That’s why… Show more

Making the threat of zombie walkers relevant to young people was critical to the launch of the new series of The Walking Dead in New Zealand. With the attention span of 18-25 year old males known to be generally confined to what's right in front of them, the strategy was to bring the Walking Dead horde to New Zealand.

The challenge was to create a one-to-one digital relationship between the audience and the Walkers, so what better platform to do it on than via a dating app? That’s why, for the first time in the world, Tinder was chosen as the media channel to launch a TV series.

Zombie Walkers were placed in an environment where the audience would least expect them. Using location-based dating app Tinder, profiles for beautiful young ladies were created and then connected with as many guys as possible. The girls started a dialogue with anyone who matched with them, but over time it was revealed that they weren't all they appeared to be. Using TV quality make-up, the girls' profile pictures were gradually changed out as they decayed to become Walkers. The conversation changed from being friendly and slightly flirty to being outrageously zombie-esque, culminating in a reveal that drove to the launch episode of TV2's The Walking Dead.

Of the guys contacted through the campaign, 87% actively engaged with the Walkers. #TV2WalkingDead trended before the first show and they won the time slot with twice as many 18-25 males watching TV2 as rival channel TV3, which aired competitive programming aimed at the same market.

This campaign was lauded by the leading global creative industry magazine Contagious as an “imaginative execution” and great example of “platform hacking”. They went on to say that “…as a media strategy reaching The Walking Dead’s target audience of young men through Tinder was a stroke of genius.” Show less

We delivered an amazing Tinder-based campaign for TV2 to launch Walking Dead

Nudge is a content marketing platform that allows brands to find their real influencers