We’ve had the pleasure of welcoming two great new additions to our team in recent weeks. Account Director Jo Bennett (left) arrives after a long and successful stint at DDB’s events, experiential and PR arm Mango, while Account Manager Anna Kemp (right) made the move from ACP Media. It already feels like they’ve both been part of the team for years, in the best possible way, and we know all the clients lucky enough to work with them will be very pleased.

As far as “how to” articles go, Steve Randazzo’s recent piece on the US Promo website is pretty good. It’s really easy to get carried away with cool concepts and funky collateral but a great experiential campaign needs a lot more than that, from open lines of communication between clients and all agencies involved to well trained brand ambassadors to KPIs that are agreed up front and then measured and reviewed in a valid and transparent manner. Click here for all 10 tips in the article on Promo.

When does research become marketing and marketing provide real valuable parental help all delivered by a furniture megastore?

I have to love the fact that IKEA tell us that 73% of kids prefer to play with their Mum and Dad versus 11% who’d rather watch TV and 14% who’d rather play on the Internet. Ignoring the fact that the internet out does TV and ignoring the fact that another insight was that we spend 45% more time with our kids today then we did in 1975 despite popular belief, the fact that a retailer stands up and commissions this type of research is genius.

We’ll talk about this research, we’ll even act on it and we’ll repeat it more times than we would any ad they could have made. So is research, and social based research, the new marketing tool? Thank you IKEA for doing something cool, useful and viral all at the same time. It made our Insights guy proud to be an Insights guy. Check it out here – facebook.com/playreport

So if you’re now thinking about being there next year, give some thought to the nature of the audience. Air NZ described Tongans as shy people who’ll drink the bar dry so I’m not going to pigeonhole the entire Pasifika Gen Y audience of Auckland with a broad sweeping statement and deeply offend. However a few considerations might help, the most interesting and fun crowd interaction was at the MaiFM area where crowds of kids stood around challenging each other to dance offs, very “Step Up” but the cue here is the challenge, the physical challenge, the interaction with the music, the ability to express themselves without too much fear. Check out parks after school in South Auckland, the Shore, West Auckland and you’ll see kids practicing moves for these challenges – this is a form of expression and status, a little 80’s maybe but still relevant today. How can you facilitate, encourage or reward something that hits the mark in this way?

Ad Age reports that a mixture of the recession, counterproductive rebranding, health trends and consumers questioning the merits of paying a premium for some products saw packaged beverage consumption fall by 3.1% in the US during 2009. This followed the category’s first ever decline of 2.1% in 2008 and suggestions that after decades of decline consumption of tap-water may actually be on the increase. While the overall trend was down, there were distinct winners and losers, with sports-drinks and “value-added” water declining by over 10% (largely due to major falls in consumption of Gatorade and Vitamin Water), while ready-to-drink tea recorded a 1.2% increase. Within categories there was also significant divergence, with Vitamin Water’s 13% volume fall in stark contrast to SoBe Lifewater’s 63% increase (albeit off a small base) due to the launch of SoBe Lifewater Zero, which makes use of a stevia-based sweetener that appeals to consumers who prefer natural sweeteners. In the CSD category, which declined 2.3%, only Diet Mountain Dew and Diet Dr Pepper recorded growth. Click here for more details.

Our latest Quarterly Spanking is now online for those of you who haven’t received a copy in your email. Q2′s newsletter features the nationwide Sealord Deli Menu campaign we just completed, highlights several of our recent projects in NZ’s major international airports and provides a brief overview of a number of other jobs for brands such as Havana Club, Mountain Dew, Nokia and more.

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Evert is our promo person of the month for April. He was brand spanking new to our promotional team when he put his guns to work helping us move office but soon moved from earning a drink to promoting one, putting in a great effort during our Bombay Sapphire sampling campaign at Auckland International Airport throughout March and April. Sadly it’s been a short but sweet relationship as Evert is moving across the ditch to follow his marketing dreams. All the best Evert!

We managed to actually write and send our Q1 newsletter by the end of March. Click here to read your Quarterly Spanking.

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