French awards organiser Epica has shone a light on the work of two Kiwi creatives – Mark Forgan & Jamie Standen – who have been making waves since they left Clemenger BBDO Wellington in 2007 to head for Europe.
Nike film has Serena Williams “The Greatest Athlete Ever”
Nike’s latest commercial tracks the extraordinary career of tennis star Serena Williams from child prodigy to grand slam queen. The spot is part of Nike’s “Unlimited” series from Wieden & Kennedy and ends with the words “greatest athlete ever” – after removing the word ‘female’ from the on-screen copy.
Singapore outfit ‘merges’ with Grey Lynn shop
The Marketing Group PLC Singapore has completed its merger with Grey Lynn-based Rainmakers NZ, swapping 100% of its ownership for shares in TMG – effectively a takeover by the Asian company.
Spikes tap Kiwi quartet
Four Kiwi agency executives has been appointed to juries at this year’s Spikes Asia. Previously Unavailable founder James Hurman will be president of the Creative Effectiveness jury, Y&R CD Tom Paine will sit on the Direct and Promo & Activation jury, MediaCom ceo Nigel Douglas will sit on the Media jury, and Sherson Willis director Trish Sherson will sit on the PR jury.
Gamer Sensei is eSports’ hottest new startup
Gamer Sensei – a Boston-based company formed by three passionate gamers, including US-born NZ citizen William Collis – has launched the industry’s first mastery platform for competitive gamers who want to win more.
Y&R’s Jag wins Silver & Bronze Lions
Y&R continued up its prizewinning path at Cannes last night, scoring a Silver Lion and a Bronze Lion in the Design category.
Cannes taps 15 female creatives for gender balance project
See It Be It, the Cannes Lions initiative to remedy the industry’s underrepresentation of female creatives, has chosen 15 “high potential” women from over 500 applicants to discuss the issue at the festival. None of the 15 are from Australia or NZ.
Happy birthday, Fish
The folks at iconic Kiwi production house Flying Fish – the people behind an astonishing stream of TVCs that mirror the path of NZ history over the past 30 years – are in celebration mode.
The day I saw the light
By Epica Awards editorial director Mark Tungate. Paris-based Epica is an informal global association of journalists who cover marketing and creativity. M+AD ed David Gapes was on the jury last year, and is again this year:
It’s not easy to become truly great at advertising. But it may be a tiny bit easier when your first career experiences are at BBH and Abbott Mead Vickers. In fact, Mike Nicholson – the freshly-appointed ECD of Brave in London – has a CV that looks like a litany of the world’s greatest agencies, plus the magic word “Google”.
Lament for missing Kiwis
Lexus New Zealand is urging Kiwi designers to enter future editions of the global Milan-based Lexus Design Award – after no NZ agencies signed up for the 2016 event.
