Tag: ANZ News

New Zealand – Global commerce marketing company The Mars Agency has officially acquired New Zealand-based brand activation agency The IN Group, broadening its operations in experiential marketing across the ANZ region.

The IN Group provides a home base for client activation, creating and executing brand experiences that satisfy customers and drive results for brands such as Woolworths, Nestlé, and Clorox.

With this acquisition, The Mars Agency will have limitless opportunities for expansion across ANZ as they bring their full complement of connected commerce capabilities to New Zealand. By partnering with The IN Group, The Mars Agency is expecting to apply their successful formula in New Zealand as well.

The acquisition also solidifies the company’s status as an ideal partner for both local market and regional brand activation. After its successful procurement of Australia-based XPO Brands in 2022, The Mars Agency has shown significant growth in less than two years, having rapidly expanded their commerce marketing capabilities in Australia beyond shopper and experiential to encompass retail media, ecommerce, and analytics.

Coupled with its ongoing international expansion, The Mars Agency is showing aggressive global growth that benefits the agency, enabling it to support their roster of clients in a global fashion while also gaining new clients in each region.

Sally Tobin, managing director of The Mars Agency ANZ, said, “The In Group is well known for their relentless focus on results, their precise execution, and most of all for the passion they bring to everything they do. They are the perfect partner for building brand experiences that will resonate with shoppers at the local level while driving client success throughout the region.”

Chris Coffey, in her current role as founder and managing director of The IN Group, is also set to continue leading the agency’s local activities.

Speaking on the acquisition, she shared, “With the resources and expertise of The Mars Agency supporting us, we’ll be able to drive even greater success for our clients in numerous ways as we grow our business internally. I’m beyond excited to start this next chapter in our history.”

Meanwhile, Rob Rivenburgh, global CEO of The Mars Agency, commented, “We’re aligning ourselves with best-in-class organisations around the world to provide marketing excellence wherever our clients need it. The talent, passion, and relentless focus on results that have made The In Group New Zealand’s leading brand experience agency are exactly the foundation we need to launch our full suite of services in the region.”

Sydney, Australia – Global supermarket chain ALDI has launched its latest campaign in Australia, which encourages Aussies to celebrate and go big on the little things that make a Christmas feast feel special.

Created in partnership with BMF, Zenith Media, and Ogilvy PR, the campaign gives a comedic take in appreciating Christmas side dishes which are usually overlooked, showing that going big on it can make their Christmas even more special. 

This campaign coincides with ALDI’s extensive range of seasonal products being made available at affordable prices, giving Aussies the means to give every dish on their table the main-character energy this festive season.

Talking about the campaign, Jenny Melhuish, marketing director at ALDI, said, “From the beloved sides to feasting favourites like the ham or the turkey, Aussies can have the Christmas they want by shopping with ALDI, making substantial savings and without ever compromising on quality.”

“This year, we want shoppers to be able to go big on the little things without going big on their budgets in the process. This can easily be a reality for all Aussies by simply making ALDI their one stop Christmas shop this festive season,” she added. 

Meanwhile, David Fraser, executive creative director at BMF, commented, “A ham and turkey without sides is just a ham and turkey. They only become a Christmas feast when they’re surrounded by a plethora of sides. So it felt good to give sprouts and potatoes the limelight for a change.”

The integrated campaign will air across TV, cinema, radio, OOH, social, owned channels, and PR.

Australia – Promoting breaks for more than 65 years, popular chocolate brand KitKat has taken the opportunity to follow their own advice and let AI make their latest campaign so they could ‘have a break’.

Some appropriately generic briefs like ‘Write a KitKat ad the way Gen Z speaks’, ‘Write a KitKat ad about gamers’ and ‘Write a KitKat ad about the latest trends’ were used for the campaign. The generated scripts were used to prompt an image generator, resulting in some ‘almost ok’ images and AI voice.

João Braga, CCO at Wunderman Thompson, commented on the campaign, “AI is revolutionising our industry and beyond, but the reality is not every brand has something relevant (or fun) to say on that space.”

He added, “KitKat has breaks, and AI gives us more of those. So we thought we’d have a crack at it ourselves and poke a bit of fun at AI – while we can.”

Meanwhile, Nestlé’s Head of Marketing Confectionary, Melanie Chen, said, “We’re all for creating more opportunities to ‘have a break’, so when Wunderman Thompson asked us if we could let AI generate our next round of advertising content, we couldn’t pass it up.”

Chen, however, added that AI won’t replace jobs in the advertising industry any time soon without some real ‘watch-outs’.

The campaign is now live with 30’, 15’ and 6’ social and digital video, and 30’ audio and podcasts.

This follows KitKat’s interactive campaign on Instagram last year called the ‘Blink Break’, where consumers were encouraged to have a break and go head-to-head in an AI-powered staring contest.

Sydney, Australia – Independent agency This is Flow has added AirAsia to its client portfolio following a competitive pitch and the airline’s return to the market following COVID.

Under the partnership, This is Flow will work with AirAsia across a full suite of marketing services, including media planning and buying in Australia and New Zealand. The agency will also run key market activations and manage social content, influencers, and creatives through Flow’s partners, L&A Social.

“We are thrilled to work with This is Flow as our chosen strategic partner to take our brand to the next level in Australia and New Zealand in two key markets we are returning to first, post pandemic,” said Karen Chan, AirAsia Group’s chief commercial officer.

Meanwhile, Jimmy Hyett, founder and CEO of This is Flow said that the agency is seeing renewed excitement about international travel and commented about what Flow can bring to AirAsia.

“With a vibrant brand and a passionate team, Flow can add to the mix lots of fun activations, great media, and engaging content – when combined, makes AirAsia a dream client to work with, and we’re so excited to be a part of their growth story in a rebounding travel industry,” he added.

This is Flow has also previously won the media account of cruise operator Carnival Australia and its four brands in ANZ.

Sydney, Australia – Creative agency M&C Saatchi has announced the appointment of its Australia Group CEO Justin Graham as its first global head of advertising network. The announcement is part of its Moving Forward transformation program to be presented at the Capital Markets Day today, 8 February.

In the newly created role, Graham will be responsible for defining and leading a unified global advertising proposition for M&C Saatchi and building its core capabilities within key regional hubs as well as helping drive the global client base.

He will also be working closely with Moray MacLennan, CEO of M&C Saatchi PLC and Chief Growth Officer of M&C Saatchi Group Wendy Dixon.

Speaking about his new role, Graham said, “Leading a world-famous creative brand into its next exciting chapter of growth is an incredible opportunity. It’s never been a more interesting time to look at the role that technology, storytelling, and creativity can play in driving meaningful change for brands and society.”

MacLennan also commented that Graham’s focus will be on delivering the agency’s ambition of creating a ‘frictionless’ global advertising network.

“Agile. Seamless. Borderless. Justin has been at the forefront of creating not only Australia’s leading creative agency, but one of the leading agencies in the world. His focus will now be on delivering on our ambition,” he said.

Last November, M&C Saatchi also appointed Michael McEwan as its CEO for AUNZ market.

Sydney, Australia – Digital media measurement, data and analytics platform DoubleVerify has announced its partnership with major connected TV providers in ANZ to offer quality measurement of their CTV advertising inventory.

CTV providers Foxtel, Television New Zealand and several other major broadcasters can now provide advertisers with access to DoubleVerify’s suite of quality measurement solutions, improving transparency and accountability of their client’s CTV investments.

DoubleVerify’s offering to these CTV providers revolve their own verification script DV Video OmniTag, which enables advertisers to measure and report on fraud, brand suitability and metrics such as ‘fully on screen’ and ‘quartile completion’ within the CTV environment. These are key metrics advertisers look for when gauging the efficacy of their media campaigns.

In short, the technology enables broadcasters to provide advertisers with an authenticated, high quality CTV environment for streaming media ad buys.

Imran Masood, country manager for ANZ at DoubleVerify, said that they aim to provide accurate real-time measurement for advertisers and media owners and create a trusted marketplace for advertisers to invest, adding that they can now look at the real impact that an ad is having and enable advertisers to get true insight into brand advertising on CTV platforms.

“Our mission is to provide the best ad analytics and digital media measurement in the market, whether it be CTV, desktop, social, mobile app, and video, and the acceptance of DV Video OmniTag with leading TV networks in Australia and New Zealand is part of that plan,” Masood stated.

Meanwhile, Chris Oxley, national head of digital sales at Foxtel Media said, “We have worked closely with DoubleVerify to deploy the DV Video Omnitag on the Foxtel platform because we believe that advertisers want to access high-quality CTV ad inventory. CTV is booming as audiences continue to move between linear to appointment TV to streaming platforms and the ability to measure media performance in the on-demand streaming world is critical for marketers.”

Sydney, Australia – In a bid to encourage urbanites to go out and explore the aesthetic aspect of nature, outdoor brand Kathmandu and the Australian arm of youth media group VICE have teamed up in a latest content series called ‘Out There With…’, which is hosted on a new content platform conceptualized by creative agency We Are Social.

The content series focuses on exploring outdoor subcultures like foraging, dog walking, and bathing in extreme cold water, and aims to highlight the benefits of the outdoors on our mood, creativity, and overall wellbeing for younger audiences. 

Said series is in line with Kathmandu’s goal to bring its brand purpose ‘We’re Out There’ to life.

They have recently uploaded their first episode on both Kathmandu’s and VICE Australia’s YouTube channels, which featured Australian musician Nick Littlemore and eccentric guide Diego Bonetto, as they explore pine forests in southern New South Wales.

“We’re thrilled to team with VICE and We Are Social on this partnership. At Kathmandu we know that nature changes our brains for the better and we can’t wait to highlight just how many great subcultures there are in the outdoors,” said Eva Barrett, chief customer officer at Kathmandu.

A set of photographs documenting the experience will also be released on Kathmandu’s owned channels through a range of lookbooks, social shopping assets, and educational content.

“Nothing is quite like discovering a place first-hand. And “Out there” is a place,” says Edu Pou, executive creative director at We Are Social. 

“Exploring specific outdoor subcultures, we aim to go beyond the expected and inspire our audience to start their own journeys,” Pou added.

Australia – Facebook has decided to restore news provision for Australian users on its platform after the country’s government announced its latest amendments to the news media bargaining code.

On 17 February, Facebook broke the announcement that it will be restricting the users in the country from sharing and viewing Australian and international news content on its platform in response to the nation’s proposed media bargaining law, which obliges technology platform giants that operate in Australia to pay local news publishers for the news content made available on their platforms.

Following the platform’s statement, the Morrison Government of Australia has decided to introduce further amendments to the law to ensure news media businesses are fairly remunerated, and to address the concerns of Facebook and other digital platforms such as Google.

The new law will now take into consideration a digital platform’s significant contribution to the sustainability of the Australian news industry before deciding to put it under the law, and this will be based on the commercial agreements it has reached with news media businesses.

In line with this, the changes to the law also state that a digital platform will be notified of the government’s intention to designate it under the law before any final decision, where confirmation will be no sooner than one month from the date of the flag. 

The refreshed law also states that non-differentiation provisions will not be triggered for reasons of commercial agreements resulting in different remuneration amounts or commercial outcomes in the course of usual business practices

Furthermore, within the new law, final offer arbitration will be the last resort with unsettled commercial deals requiring mediation, which implies that if a deal could not be reached, both parties would present their commercial deals to a fair mediator, picking one that would become binding under law.

The Australian government believes that these amendments will strengthen the hand of regional and small publishers in obtaining appropriate remuneration for the use of their content by the digital platforms. Also, these amendments can further add purpose for parties to engage in commercial negotiations outside the law, a central feature of the framework that aims to promote more sustainable public interest journalism in Australia.

Facebook said that they are pleased to have been able to reach an agreement with the Australian government and appreciate the constructive discussions they’ve had with Treasurer Frydenberg and Minister Fletcher. 

“We have consistently supported a framework that would encourage innovation and collaboration between online platforms and publishers. After further discussions, we are satisfied that the Australian government has agreed to a number of changes and guarantees that address our core concerns about allowing commercial deals that recognize the value our platform provides to publishers relative to the value we receive from them,” Facebook stated. 

The platform also said that within the agreement, the government has clarified that it will retain its ability to decide if news appears on Facebook so it won’t automatically be subject to a forced negotiation. 

As a result of the changes, aside from restoring access to news content, Facebook has now decided to resume further working on its investment in public interest journalism in the country. 

“It’s always been our intention to support journalism in Australia and around the world, and we’ll continue to invest in the news globally and resist efforts by media conglomerates to advance regulatory frameworks that do not take account of the true value exchange between publishers and platforms like Facebook,” said Facebook.

Wellington, New Zealand – TTC, a global software assurance provider in New Zealand, has been approved by the country’s Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) to be the first Web Accessibility service supplier on the Government Marketplace, a platform that allows businesses and government agencies to engage with each other by facilitating the direct buying and selling of products and services between the two parties.

TTC helps organizations modify their technology deliverance, increasing the speed and quality of technology development while reducing risk and cost.

Through this initiative, TTC will be providing technology services including but not limited to accessibility testing & audit, training, and digital accessibility consulting, broadening the scale, reach, and ease of providing accessibility solutions within the government’s procurement process, and enabling the practice of greater digital inclusion and usability practices.

Grant Borrie, founder and director of technology at TTC, expressed they couldn’t be more thrilled to be given the green light to offer their services for Web Accessibility on the Marketplace.

“Creating inclusive digital experiences is something we firmly believe should be a priority for all businesses. We understand that improved digital accessibility and inclusion benefits employees, customers, and service users, so to be part of an initiative that will allow the conversation and capabilities around accessibility to expand even further is something we’re ready for,” Borrie said.

Australia – In a statement Wednesday, Facebook has announced that it has decided to restrict publishers and users in Australia from sharing and viewing Australian and international news content on its platform. This is in response to the country’s proposed media bargaining law.

What this means is, aside from limited viewing, people and news organizations in Australia are now restricted from posting news links and sharing Australian and international news content on Facebook. Globally, posting and sharing news links from Australian publishers is also restricted.

The media bargaining law which was announced in December last year by Australia, requires both Google and Facebook to share a portion of their revenues with news publishers through a mandatory code of agreement.

Facebook said that the proposed law “fundamentally misunderstands” the relationship between the platform and publishers who use it to share news content. 

“It has left us facing a stark choice: attempt to comply with a law that ignores the realities of this relationship or stop allowing news content on our services in Australia, ” wrote Managing Director of Facebook’s Australia and New Zealand William Easton in a blog post 

Facebook has chosen the latter, which he said the platform had done it with a “heavy heart.” 

The platform further shared that it has made clear to the Australian government for many months, that the value exchange between Facebook and publishers runs in favor of the publisher. Last year, Facebook said it generated approximately 5.1 billion free referrals to Australian publishers worth an estimated A$407M.

Facebook News was ready to be launched in Australia with the platform having significantly increased its investments with local publishers, however, it resulted in a suspension, with Facebook saying it was only prepared to do it with the “right rules in place.” 

“We’ve long worked toward rules that would encourage innovation and collaboration between digital platforms and news organizations. Unfortunately, this legislation does not do that. Instead, it seeks to penalize Facebook for content it didn’t take or ask for,” Easton further wrote. 

In the announcement, Facebook gave an itemized list of the features of the restriction:

For Australian publishers:
• Restriction from sharing or posting any content on Facebook Pages
• Admins will still be able to access other features from their Facebook Page, including Page insights and Creator Studio
• Facebook will continue to provide access to all other standard Facebook services, including data tools and CrowdTangle

For international publishers:
• Publishers can continue to publish news content on Facebook, but links and posts can’t be viewed or shared by Australian audiences

For our Australian community:
• Australians cannot view or share local or international news content on Facebook or content from local and international news Pages

For our international community:
• Viewing or sharing of Australian news content on Facebook or content from Australian News Pages is prohibited

Amid the restriction, Facebook reassured that the changes affecting news content will not halt its products and services in Australia, as it will continue to assist users to connect with friends and family, grow their businesses, and join groups to help support their local communities. Also, Facebook will remain committed to its third-party fact-checking program, Agence France-Presse, and will continue to invest and support the important work of the Australian Associated Press.