In its 25th year celebration, the NZ Direct Marketing Awards (formerly known as the RSVP and Nexus Awards) crowned three of New Zealand’s best known brands as Nexus Supreme, Grand Prix and NZ’s Direct Marketing Organisation of the Year winners.

Frucor Beverages and Colenso BBDO/Proximity New Zealand blitzed the competition winning the Nexus Supreme award along with winning two Gold Nexus Awards an industry and a channel Gold, as well as winning the Best Digital Creative category, with their campaign V Motion.

The Nexus Supreme panel of judges said “this entry showed a deep understanding of how to access and engage the channels being utilised by their target audience. They used superb technology to create V Motion, with ground breaking integration and a master-class in the use of media and channels. This is the future of direct marketing.”

On top opf V’s success, Colenso also picked up two golds and two silvers for client Mars and their Pedigree Donation Glasses campaign.

For the first time justONE celebrated victory after being awarded the Grand Prix trophy with client Subway Restaurants for its Subway: Providing the Retail Edge entry.

As a part of the number of changes to the categories and judging panel for the awards, 2012 saw the introduction of The Keith Norris Award for NZ Direct Marketing Organisation of the Year. Named in honour of the former (and long-time) Chief Executive, Keith was delighted to present the inaugural award to EziBuy. 

The Marketing Association acknowledges New Zealand Post and Loyalty New Zealand as Premier Sponsors of the Awards.

The full list of 2012 winners and their stories can be found here.

Click to enlarge »

Last week Colenso brought home a haul of awards from Caples and Campaign Asia-Pacific, and that winning streak is continuing as it claims the title of YoungGuns International 2012 Advertising Agency of the Year.

The YoungGuns recognise the best young (aged under 30 years) talent in the advertising and communications industry, and the Auckland-based agency won four awards in total – one Gold Bullet, two Silvers and a Bronze – as well as having nine finalist entries.

 Jae Morrison was awarded the Gold Bullet in the Best Use of a Single Channel category, and a Silver in Television/Cinema for the Donation Glasses campaign for Pedigree.
 
Simon Vicars and James Tucker won a Silver Bullet for Sorry about the Twigs, a campaign for Monteith's, as well as winning a Bronze in the Newspaper Campaigns category for Bevan, Idiot, Sean for DB Breweries.

"I'm thrilled for the guys. Jae, Simon and James are exceptionally talented and bring a truckload of great ideas and creativity to the agency," says Nick Worthington, Colenso BBDO's creative chairman.
 
"We like to think we have an unfair share of the talent locally and internationally. Being named YoungGuns 2012 Advertising Agency of the Year confirms our suspicion that we have some of the best young minds in the world working with us."
 
Graeme Clarke, Lachlan Palmer and Joel Little were also finalists for their work on campaigns such as the V Motion Project for Frucor, The Art of Money for BNZ and Books shape you for the New Zealand Book Council.

Colenso YoungGun Awards and Finalists:

Gold – Jae Morrison, Donation Glasses for Pedigree – Best Use of a Single Channel

Silver – Jae Morrison, Donation Glasses for Pedigree – Television/Cinema

Silver – Simon Vicars and James Tucker, Sorry about the Twigs, folks for Monteith's – Up To and Including 3 Ex

Bronze – Simon Vicars and James Tucker, Bevan, Idiot, Sean for DB Breweries – Newspaper Campaigns

Finalist – Simon Vicars and James Tucker, No one will know except you for Off Wax Bar – Radio Campaigns

Finalist – Simon Vicars and James Tucker, The wine is over for DB Breweries – Integrated Campaigns

Finalist – Simon Vicars and James Tucker, Sorry about the Twigs, folks for Monteith's – Best PR led Integrated Campaign

Finalist – Simon Vicars and James Tucker, Sorry about the Twigs, folks for Monteith's – Integrated Campaigns

Finalist – Graeme Clarke and Lachlan Palmer Hubbard, V Motion Project for Frucor – Technology Innovation

Finalist – Graeme Clarke and Lachlan Palmer Hubbard, V Motion Project for Frucor – Integrated Campaign

Finalist – Graeme Clarke and Lachlan Palmer Hubbard, The Art of Money for BNZ – Copywriting Campaigns

Finalist – Lachlan Palmer Hubbard, Books shape you for the New Zealand Book Council – Sound Design

Finalist – Joel Little, V Motion Project for Frucor – Music Composition

Colenso BBDO / Proximity Auckland led the Kiwi charge at the international Caples Awards in New York, which honour the best in Direct Marketing worldwide.

The agency cemented its position as the world's best direct marketing agency picking up 13 Caples Awards.
 
The agency won four Golds, five Silvers and four Bronze awards making it the top ranked agency at the awards. It was also the best performance by a New Zealand agency at the Caples Awards to-date.
 
The wine is over campaign for DB export was the agency's big winner coming away with two Golds and three Silvers, while Donation glasses for Pedigree and Sorry about the twigs folks for Monteiths both received Gold and Silver awards.

Colenso BBDO today announced its partnership with St John, New Zealand's primary frontline medical response organisation and the main provider of ambulance services.

"We were very impressed with Colenso's strong portfolio of effective and award-winning work, particularly its cause-related campaigns," says Kate Tinkler, St John Marketing Manager.

"We have great chemistry with their team and we look forward to working with them."

With increasing demand for its services and intense competition for the donation dollar, Colenso will use their full range of services to invigorate the St John brand, attract new supporters and promote its various community-based programmes.

"We are very excited and proud to be working with such a respected and well-loved New Zealand organisation. St John does an incredible job providing essential health services in our local communities and we look forward to working with them to help them achieve their goals," says Nick Garrett, Colenso BBDO Managing Director.

Colenso BBDO has appointed Greg Forsyth, ex-Tribal DDB managing director to the new role of digital business director.

The agency and Forsyth are already well acquainted – he has been working with the agency over the past six months and was Aim Proximity's digital services director from 2001 to 2005.

"We are over the moon with Greg coming back on board and adding further weight to our already strong digital team," says Nick Garrett, Colenso BBDO managing director.

"Interactive thinking is at the heart of all our best work and being able to add more value strategically in the comms and business space for our client partners will make a big difference and Greg is the right man to drive this. We are always looking for opportunities to invest in developing our digital offering further so we can remain one step ahead of the competition, and Greg will build our expertise and capabilities in this field.”

"Greg was perfect for the position. Not only is he a world-class digital strategist, he's also a familiar face to many of our staff and he's fitting in well."

Forsyth has been in the advertising industry for more than 20 years and has worked for brands such as Air NZ, BNZ, Telecom, Fonterra, Frucor and Sky Television.

He will be tasked with building Colenso's digital strategy team and developing new long-term structures around the agency's digital creative work.

"I'm very excited to be working with a truly integrated agency that's continually reinventing itself to deliver leading through-the-line campaigns. Colenso is a great example of a new generation agency with remarkable digital output while also shaping itself for the needs of the market and I look forward to adding further strategic rigour."

"We are extremely proud of the digital work that we produce, and are continually striving to raise the bar. Greg brings a wealth of knowledge and a new strategic direction to the team, which will help us generate further great outcomes for clients." says Aaron Turk, head of digital creative Colenso BBDO.

Colenso BBDO’s Doggelganger Pedigree adoption drive campaign scooped the elusive Diamond Award at the 2012 International ECHO Awards Las Vegas at the weekend.

The Diamond Award is the highest accolade at the direct & interactive marketing event and represents the best-in-show campaign across all entries.

The award-winning campaign matched homeless dogs with new owners using human and canine pairing software via a web application, analysing the user's facial features and matching the person to a canine equivalent.

"Winning the Diamond Award at the ECHOs is testament to the hard work and emphasis Colenso has put on producing cutting edge digital campaigns that deliver real results for our clients,” says Colenso BBDO’s digital creative director, Aaron Turk.

"Clients today demand measurable results and digital is becoming an increasingly important part of the mix to achieve these results. Digital campaigns like Doggelganger give organisations the ability to engage with consumers at an intimate and personal level, as well as creating highly shareable and engaging content.”

The ECHO Diamond Award is the fourteenth international honour for the Doggelganger campaign following a string of awards in 2011, including Grand Prix, Gold and Bronze at the Spike Awards, Gold and Silver at the Digital Media Awards, Gold and two Silvers at Caples, as well as picking up awards at Cannes, The Work, AWARD, and RSVP and Nexus.

The award caps off another successful year for the agency, which was ranked as the number one direct agency in the world by the 2012 Big Won Report.

"We are extremely proud of the consistent world-leading work coming out of the agency and this award reaffirms our position as one of the top direct agencies in the world," says Nick Garrett, Colenso BBDO managing director.

In its 83rd year, the International ECHO Awards honour the best in direct marketing across the globe. Judged by client-side marketers, agency account directors, and senior creatives, campaigns are assessed based on strategy, creativity, and results.

BBDO agencies dominate the Effies

BBDO put in a dominant performance at the Effies last night winning more awards and total points than any other agency by a significant margin. Colenso BBDO won the most gongs across the most clients, and Clemenger BBDO had their best show yet.

The combined performance puts BBDO at the top of the Effies rankings with Colenso and Clemenger BBDO third and fourth respectively.

"We are immensely proud of the performance of the BBDO agencies in this year's Effies," says Jim Moser, Clemenger Group chief executive.

"Clemenger BBDO continues to produce amazing work for our Wellington-based clients and Colenso's performance highlights the agency's consistency in producing highly creative and effective work across multiple categories."

"While the BBDO network was the most successful group, credit has to go to DDB who won the Grand Effie for their Steinlager work, and Barnes Catmur & Friends for their strong performance on the night."

Clemenger BBDO's Bloody Legend campaign for New Zealand Transport Agency was the big winner for the Wellington agency. While Colenso's trophies were spread across the Mountain Dew Skatepark for Frucor, Ice Bar Co. launch for Tip Top, and the Pedigree Adoption Drive for Mars.

"The awards illustrate the extensive capabilities and talent within the BBDO network and our ability to produce award-winning effective work across a range of categories, in both Auckland and Wellington," says Moser.

BBDO 2012 Effies Awards (58 points):

Colenso BBDO (38 points)

• Mountain Dew Pinball Skatepark: 1 Gold (PR/Experiential), 3 Silver (FMCG, Best Strategic Thinking, Most Progressive Campaign)

• Pedigree Adoption Drive: 1 Silver (Charity/Not for Profit)

• The Ice Bar Co.: 1 Silver (New Product or Service)

• Monteith's Cider Twigs: 1 Bronze (Most Progressive Campaign)

Clemenger BBDO (20 points)

• NZTA Bloody Legend: 2 Gold (Social Marketing/Public Service, Best Strategic Thinking)
•
Ends

IAG has revamped its agency roster – without a pitch (“disruptive, time consuming and cause of a loss of marketing momentum”. Here’s the blurb (just in this morning):

Media Release
5 October 2012

Leading general insurance group IAG has completed an internal assessment of its agency partnerships and has confirmed that AMI’s above-the-line advertising and media work will move to Colenso and Spacestation respectively, sharing the agency stable alongside IAG’s other direct insurance brand State.

IAG’s Head of Marketing and Communications, Michael Pryor, says the opportunity is to ensure that a strategic portfolio approach is at the forefront of how IAG maintains its market leadership position with its direct insurance brands.

“The insurance industry is going through a significant period of change.  It is important for us to ensure a well coordinated strategy borne of a deep knowledge of the value propositions of our direct insurance brands. In our view this can best be achieved by consolidating work with marketing partners who can support our portfolio approach and broader strategy.

“The strong existing relationships we have with Colenso and Spacestation will work well to serve AMI and State equally.  As a result of us working collaboratively across AMI and State we are also expecting to see benefits in terms of greater coordination and marketing efficiencies with our chosen agency partners,” Mr Pryor said.

This decision means that AMI will move its marketing relationships from DDB and OMD (Media).

“Both DDB and OMD have contributed strongly to the success of the AMI brand over many years. The relationship has seen some memorable campaign work– but circumstances since IAG’s purchase of AMI earlier this year present the opportunity and need for change.

IAG chose not to follow a pitch process in the view that these can often be disruptive, time consuming  and cause a loss of marketing momentum.

New Zealand agencies put on an impressive showing last week at Cannes with Colenso BBDO scooping 12 Lions, beating the previous New Zealand record (set by Colenso in 2010) by two and achieving a new 'personal best' for the agency.

As reported previously by CB, Colenso BBDO was Australasia's most successful agency at Cannes with GPY&R Melbourne and WhybinTBWA Sydney the next best with eight Lions each. 

The performance at Cannes caps off a remarkable week for Colenso, which included being ranked fifth in the world on the 2012 Effie Effectiveness Index, and Australasia's most effective creative agency.

"Our approach has always been harnessing the power of creativity to produce great outcomes for clients. We know that great work, works and last weeks' recognition at Cannes highlights the link between creativity and effectiveness," says Aussie expat Nick Garrett, managing director of Colenso BBDO - pictured top right with creative chairman Nick Worthington.

Colenso's work for DB Breweries' Export Dry and Monteith's brands won a total of eight Lions. 'The Wine is Over' campaign for DB Export Dry took two Silvers and two Bronze Lions, including a Silver in the hard-fought Titanium and Integrated category; while Monteith's 'Sorry about the Twigs Folks' work was awarded two Golds, a Silver and a Bronze. 

Other Colenso campaigns to win Lions included the 'Donation Glasses' fundraising campaign for Pedigree that won a Gold Lion; and Mountain Dew Skate Pinball for Frucor, which won a Silver and two Bronze.

"To achieve such remarkable results on the world stage, across a wide range of clients and categories, in difficult financial conditions makes me incredibly proud. It's testament to the continued evolution of the agency, and our focus on result-generating creativity," says Garrett.

In its 59th year, the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity sets the benchmark for excellence in creative communications globally and received more than 34,000 entries for this year's awards.

"The level of work at Cannes was exceptionally high this year, so it's great to see Kiwi creativity and effectiveness being recognised on the world stage," says Nick Worthington, Colenso BBDO's creative chairman, who was also president of the promo & activation jury.

The Auckland agency was punching above its weight within the 288-office BBDO group, accumulating more Lions than any other BBDO office worldwide; and it was the second most effective BBDO agency in the Effie Effectiveness Index after Sancho BBDO (Bogata), who ranked second equal.

Other New Zealand agencies awarded at Cannes include Clemenger BBDO, who picked up three Lions, Special Group won two, while Publicis Mojo, DDB and Saatchi and Saatchi all picked up one Lion each. 

12 Lions and top five ranking in the 2012 Effie Effectiveness Index - the best performance by a New Zealand agency ever!

New Zealand agencies put on an impressive showing last week at Cannes with Colenso BBDO scooping 12 Lions, beating the previous New Zealand record (set by Colenso in 2010) by two and achieving a new 'personal best' for the agency.

Colenso BBDO was Australasia's most successful agency at Cannes with GPY&R Melbourne and Whybin\TBWA Sydney the next best with eight Lions each.

The performance at Cannes caps off a remarkable week for Colenso, which included being ranked fifth in the world on the 2012 Effie Effectiveness Index, and Australasia's most effective creative agency.

"Our approach has always been harnessing the power of creativity to produce great outcomes for clients. We know that great work, works and last weeks' recognition at Cannes highlights the link between creativity and effectiveness," says Nick Garrett, managing director of Colenso BBDO.

Colenso's work for DB Breweries' Export Dry and Monteith's brands won a total of eight Lions. 'The Wine is Over' campaign for DB Export Dry took two Silvers and two Bronze Lions, including a Silver in the hard-fought Titanium and Integrated category; while Monteith's 'Sorry about the Twigs Folks' work was awarded two Golds, a Silver and a Bronze.

Other Colenso campaigns to win Lions included the 'Donation Glasses' fundraising campaign for Pedigree that won a Gold Lion; and Mountain Dew Skate Pinball for Frucor, which won a Silver and two Bronze.

"To achieve such remarkable results on the world stage, across a wide range of clients and categories, in difficult financial conditions makes me incredibly proud. It's testament to the continued evolution of the agency, and our focus on result-generating creativity," says Garrett.

In its 59th year, the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity sets the benchmark for excellence in creative communications globally and received more than 34,000 entries for this year's awards.

"The level of work at Cannes was exceptionally high this year, so it's great to see Kiwi creativity and effectiveness being recognised on the world stage," says Nick Worthington, Colenso BBDO's creative chairman, who was also president of the promo & activation jury.

The Auckland agency was punching above its weight within the 288-office BBDO group, accumulating more Lions than any other BBDO office worldwide; and it was the second most effective BBDO agency in the Effie Effectiveness Index after Sancho BBDO (Bogata), who ranked second equal.

Other New Zealand agencies awarded at Cannes include Clemenger BBDO, who picked up three Lions, Special Group won two, while Publicis Mojo, DDB and Saatchi and Saatchi all picked up one Lion each.

Colenso BBDO and Aim Proximity have appointed Maggie Christie to the role of "Director of Integration" across both Colenso BBDO and Aim Proximity at 100 College Hill. Her primary responsibility will be ensuring that Colenso BBDO/Aim Proximity continue to provide the highest level of integrated communications for their clients.

Maggie will also be responsible for managing and building the direct marketing (direct, CRM, data) resources including overall responsibility for Aim Proximity only clients. Earlier this year, Colenso BBDO was recognised as the number one direct agency in the world by The Big Won Report 2012; therefore, appointing such a well-known and well-respected direct professional will only further strengthen the team at Colenso BBDO/Proximity.

Maggie brings a wealth of experience to her new role. She has worked on both the client and agency side of the business in Europe, North America and New Zealand. Her experience spans financial services (Lloyds Insurance, UDC Finance), telecommunications (Telecom and Vodafone), utilities (Contact Energy), loyalty programmes (Loyalty New Zealand - Fly Buys) and many other industries (Yellow, SkyCity, etc.). There is not another direct professional in New Zealand with experience as vast and comprehensive as Maggie Christie.

Jim Moser, Clemenger Group New Zealand CEO, commented: "Maggie is a perfect fit for Colenso and Proximity. She is highly experienced, extremely knowledgeable in all aspects of direct and a strong believer in and supporter of the highly integrated model of Colenso BBDO and Aim Proximity. She will be an excellent cultural fit for our staff and our clients. We're thrilled to have her join the team."

Maggie Christie said, "It's an exciting opportunity! With technology changing the way we communicate we need to refine what we are able to provide, not only for our clients but also for their customers. This role ensures we link multiple channels together and maximise our marketing efforts, which will equal greater results!"

Finally, Nick Garrett said, "Maggie is awesome and has already made a big difference internally and externally in the two months she has been with us and I love working with her. If success is defined by finding an unfair percentage of the talented and nice people then Maggie's addition to the team puts us in good stead."

Maggie began her new role at Colenso BBDO and Aim Proximity in late-March 2012.

Colenso BBDO New Zealand has won the bid to become Tourism Fiji’s global advertising partner.

In July, the agency will be launching a new brand on behalf of the Fiji government - one that will be used globally.

Barnes, Catmur and Friends previously had the pitch, after winning it in 2009.

“There is absolutely nothing wrong with them,” Tourism Fiji acting CEO Michael Meade told NBR ONLINE.

“Barnes, Catmur and Friends did a very satisfactory, good campaign for us. They did some great TV commercial branding with the much-acclaimed Lucky Me commercial,” he said.

However, Tourism Fiji undertook a major study of its worldwide marketing effort last year and found it had different agencies in different markets and different brands.

“We wanted a brand refresh to give [global] commonality,” Mr Meade says.

This led to a tender process, attracting 67 original bidders from Australia, New Zealand and western USA. These were whittled down to six, who had to give presentations in Nadi, with a final three presenting to the Tourism Board.

Mr Meade declines to say what the new brand or campaign slogan will be, other than it will be announced in July when approved by the Fiji government.

A greater focus on online marketing is expected.

“Colenso BBDO is a very good agency. They demonstrated the creative edge of their agency with their final preparation and an ability to roll-out to multi-markets,” he says.

No details have been released on how long the campaign will last, and Tourism Fiji declines to comment on its cost.

“It’s a major strategic decision [to change the campaign]. We expect this new brand to be around for a long time.” 

Despite potential challenges in high aviation fuel prices, the global economy and domestic political issues facing the Fiji tourism market, Mr Meade says the only issues have been two severe flood events earlier this year.

Visitor numbers of 675,000 last year, including 120,000 from New Zealand, are expected to top 700,000 this year.

“All indications for May onwards are very positive, with great support from Australia and New Zealand in particular,” he said.

Exclusive: Colenso BBDO New Zealand has won out after a protracted pitch for the contract to become Tourism Fiji’s global advertising partner.

The group beat off 67 originally interested bidders and was victorious after six finalists pitched their ideas to the organisation in Nadi.

A statement from Tourism Fiji said: “The standard of the work and the passion and interest from the companies presenting was incredibly high and a real recognition of the potential of the Fiji brand.

“Colenso BBDO will be required to develop a new Tourism Fiji global brand idea and communications approach. This will be adopted and implemented locally in each of Tourism Fiji’s international markets.”

The group originally called the pitch after a review of its strategy in late 2011 highlighted the need for a global approach for brand communications to maximise the return on investment.

There are currently live pitches for PR and social media partners in Australia, New Zealand, North America and China, who will be tasked with working closely with Colenso.

The Grand AXIS for 2012 was awarded to Colenso BBDO for its work on Mars NZ's Doggelganger campaign, at the CAANZ AXIS Awards tonight.

Doggelganger scooped a total of eight gold awards, and earned Mars NZ the 2012 Creative Business of the Year accolade.

Colenso BBDO's outstanding advertising year was rewarded with a total of 38 awards, including 15 gold trophies.

Other agencies celebrating on the night included Special Group, which took home four Gold trophies, Saatchi & Saatchi, which won three (two with AIM Proximity) and RAPP Tribal with two Gold trophies. Whybin\TBWA won one Gold trophy, as did DDB and Barnes Catmur & Friends.

Other big winners included The Sweet Shop, awarded Production Company of the Year, and Murray Grindlay, who won the Lifetime Achievement Award for his musical creation of many iconic kiwi ads - including BASF Dear John and Cadbury Crunchie.

The Emerging Talent award was presented to Kim Fraser of Special Group, who the judges believe demonstrated outstanding talent as a newcomer to the industry.

Thirasak Tanapatanakul, Worldwide Chairman and CEO of Creative Juice Bankok and 2012 AXIS International Judge, was impressed with the quality of thought demonstrated by the winners.

"Creativity in New Zealand advertising is very fresh and yet very effective. I loved the winners' campaigns. Doggelganger earned the top metal for its interactive innovation. The campaign was highly crafted and superbly executed - a very solid idea which encouraged social engagement with the brand."

The winners were chosen from 578 entries, judged by 45 local creatives and five internationally recognised judges - including Thirasak Tanapatanakul, Duncan Marshall, Executive Creative Director of Droga5 Sydney, Sir John Hegarty, Worldwide Creative Director and founder of BBH, Paul Silburn, Creative Partner of Saatchi & Saatchi London and Richard Flintham, founding partner of 101 London.

CAANZ President Sandy Moore said that the work on show was testament to the exceptional talent within the local industry, and proves how powerful creative thinking can change businesses: "AXIS is about celebrating ideas; ideas that have captured the imagination of New Zealanders, ideas that have effected change, and ideas that have ultimately achieved business results for our clients. AXIS remains the pinnacle of creativity in New Zealand."

Below is the list of all AXIS Gold winners:

In another round of bankland swings-and-roundabouts Bank of New Zealand (BNZ) has appointed Colenso BBDO as its new creative agency, in alignment with with its Australian parent bank. BNZ spends around $10 million on advertising a year, so it's a good win for Colenso, but Westpac may not be so thrilled... it dumped Saatchi & Saatchi for Colenso BBDO just 18 months ago.

Last month saw SparkPHD take up the ANZ media account and resign BNZ (no word yet on who's scooped that one). And last week incumbent Sugar declined to participate in the pitch for the creative account. These recent changes follow on from other agency shifts for ANZ, which went from DDB to TBWA\, and ASB, which went from TBWA\ to Droga5.

Of all the predictions we heard about who was likely to take over BNZ, Colenso BBDO's name didn't come up once because of its existing relationship with Westpac, and the fact that it had only recently released the new brand work after a fairly long wait, so it's a surprise to many—including many at Colenso.

Managing director Nick Garrett wasn't saying too much and left it to Clemenger Group don Jim Moser to answer our queries and he admits it's going to be a difficult few months as the transition takes place (it should be official on June 1). He confirmed there was no pitch and it was a regional realignment brokered at a very senior level after the NAB asked to work with the same network trans-Tasman.

"They're very clear that they won't be using the same work in both markets, as they're very distinct brands. But the NAB is our biggest client in Australia, and that carries quite a bit of weight."

He says alignments, both regional and global, are a fact of life in a networked agency and he's been on the good and bad ends of them in his time. When asked what this one is, he says it's a bit of both: bad because it has to forgo Westpac, which it has a strong relationship with and was doing some solid work for, and good because Colenso gets to rekindle its relationship with BNZ, which it worked with for around 25 years before losing it in 2005. He believes it will be a good thing for Colenso and it is now, after losing Vodafone, the agency's biggest client.

Adding to the difficulty of this situation, the news leaked early, so he admits "it's been a really difficult thing".

Moser wasn't sure what would happen to Westpac's relationship with .99 (this new alignment also raise questions over whether BNZ's below-the-line agency will remain in place), but he was hopeful the work it has done for the brand in the past will work in its favour.

"I would hope Westpac would keep working with .99 as they have a very strong relationship. That would be my optimum result," he says.

Craig Herbison, BNZ's chief marketing officer, said in a release: “Colenso BBDO has the creative track record and brand acumen we were after to move the BNZ brand forward."

BNZ’s parent bank National Australia Bank (NAB) has been working successfully with Clemenger BBDO in Melbourne for the last six years. The relationship has been a strong and fruitful one having most recently launched the award winning ‘Break-Up’ campaign to game-changing effect in the Australian banking market.

Andrew Hagger, National Australia Bank group executive, people, marketing and communications says, “There are clear synergies for us with Clemenger BBDO and the regional alignment across the NAB Group will give us increased scale and efficiencies".

Colenso BBDO, Auckland is ranked an impressive #5 in the annual The Directory Big Won Creative Rankings 2011.

The agency, headed by creative chairman Nick Worthington (far left) - who is ranked #1 ECD in the world in 2012 - and managing director Nick Garrett (near left), was also ranked #1 direct agency in the world.

Australasian shops took the top 3 spots in the direct agency in the world chart, with Draft FCB New Zealand at #2 and Clemenger BBDO Melbourne at #3. In addition, BMF Sydney was placed #6 and Mark/M&C Saatchi Sydney was ranked #8.

Clemenger BBDO Melbourne was ranked #10 agency in the world, #3 direct agency in the world and equal #4 in the top Alternative/Innovative Agency chart. The agency's ECD Ant Keogh was ranked #4 ECD in the world.

Draft FCB New Zealand took the #21 agency in the world spot and ranked #2 direct agency in the world. Agency ECD James Mok was ranked #7 ECD in the world.

Majority Aussie-owned Droga5 New York was raked #2 in the top Integrated Agencies chart, Leo Burnett Sydney was ranked #3 and Grey Melbourne was placed #9.

Australia was ranked #4 country, behind the USA, UK and Germany, with New Zealand taking the #9 spot.

The 2011 rankings are compiled from some 6,000 awards won by 4,048 campaigns on behalf of 2,461 clients by 1,302 agencies rewarding the efforts of 272 Chief Creative Officers, 690 Executive Creative Directors, 2,373 copywriters and 2,472 art directors. 

2012 was certainly a big one for the BBDO network: BBDO New York regained No.1 status from sister agency AlmapBBO Sao Paulo, No.1 in 2010, by winning awards for ten separate brands in TV, Press, Radio, Direct Marketing, Integrated Media, Digital, Mobile, Design and Alternative & Innovative categories. 

The 'traditional' agency no longer exists. All agencies are driven by decreasing budgets and by the migration of audiences to find solutions to their clients' problems in areas other than the 'traditional' response of TV and print. 

So we see DDB London, a regular top agency in the Big Won rankings of the past through its press and TV now ranked the 5th most successful Digital agency in the world and Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO similarly achieving a Top 10 ranking as a digital agency and Colenso BBDO Auckland listed as the No.1 Direct agency in the world.

Though there are many new media categories - with Mobile and Branded Content set to be separate categories in 2012 at more awards shows than just Cannes - the single most popular category remains Press. And in 2011 the most awarded piece of work in the world was a print ad, 'Heaven and Hell' for Samsonite, via JWT Shanghai (pictured left).

Droga5, New York's 'Decode Jay-Z' campaign for Bing was ranked #2 campaign across all media. Leo Burnett Melbourne's 'See the Person' campaign for Scope was ranked #9; Colenso BBDO Auckland's 'Yellow Chocolate" campaign for Yellow was ranked #11 and Clemenger BBDO, Melbourne's 'Break Up' campaign for NAB was ranked #16.   

The case for creativity

In 2011, James Hurman, Executive Planning Director of Colenso BBDO Auckland, published "The Case for Creativity". With a statistician's eye, he has scanned the 2011 Big Won rankings and written a short essay on the results, as he sees them. 

He notes that many of the world's most creative campaigns are also among the most effective:

"Out of 4048 creatively-awarded campaigns in 2011, the USA Grand Effie (Old Spice The Man Your Man Could Smell Like) was the 10th most creatively-awarded. The Asian Marketing Effectiveness Awards Platinum (Yellow Pages' Hidden Pizza Restaurant) was the 40th most awarded. And the IPA Effectiveness Awards Grand Prix (Colombian Ministry of Defence's Operation Christmas campaign) was the 85th most awarded. 

In my part of the world, the New Zealand Effies' Most Effective Campaign of the Year (NZ Ministry of Health's The Journal) was the 19th most creatively-awarded campaign in the world, and the Australian Grand Effie (Tontine's Dated Pillows) was the 64th most awarded.

This presents a case for uncovering the world's most creatively-awarded campaigns so that we're able to discuss them, learn from them, and understand the nature of the sorts of communications that will truly stand the best chance of cutting through, engaging and persuading today's consumers."

My own research in 2011 showed that the world's most creatively-awarded agencies won, on average, two and a half times as many effectiveness accolades as less creative agencies. Those findings were corroborated when Effie Worldwide and Warc released their Effie Index, showing BBDO (for many years the Big Won's most creatively-awarded agency network) to also be the world's most effective network.

Again these findings are played out in this year's rankings. The Big Won's top agency, BBDO New York, is the #2 most effective US agency in the Effie Index (behind Wieden & Kennedy, another top performer in The Big Won). The runner-up, Almap BBDO, won the 2011 Grand Effie in Brazil for their work on Pepsi. #4, Hamburg's Jung Von Matt, are also #4 in Germany for Effectiveness. Colenso BBDO at #5 is New Zealand's Effie Index #1. And AMV BBDO is #6 in the Big Won and #3 in the UK in the Effie Index."

The full text will be available at directnewideas.com

The value of creative awards, then, is not in bolstering the fragile egos of creative people but in indicating which campaigns have, in all likelihood, given their clients real return on investment. And the value of the Directory Big Won rankings is in identifying which agencies are most likely to generate remarkable commercial results for their clients.

The Directory Big Won Rankings has been tracking awards across all media categories since 2006 and ranking agencies by the quantity and quality of creative awards won. Prior to that, as The Won Report, it was an annual analysis of awards won specifically in the field of Direct Marketing. 

The Big Won is edited by Patrick Collister, publisher of Directory magazine and former Executive Creative Director of Ogilvy London. 

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- Colenso BBDO assigned a young New Zealander to create a chocolate bar that tasted of the color yellow, using only contacts from Yellow's online, mobile and print products. The real goal, of course, was to make New Zealanders aware of Yellow's transition from a print-based directories company to a digital media business, and give them confidence in its products.

For months, New Zealanders followed online Josh Winger's efforts to develop the yellow-tasting chocolate bar, along with packaging, retail displays, distribution and ads. Everything was sourced through Yellow contacts. Yellow chocolate launched, and sold 100,000 bars in four days, as New Zealanders paid $2 each for a piece of direct communications that demonstrated Yellow is the best way to get any job done.

The Omnicom Group agency grew revenue by 10% for the financial year ended June 30, 2010, and with only 68 staffers, won 10 Lions at the Cannes Lions Festival. New business came from government-owned broadcaster TVNZ and Westpac, one of New Zealand's largest banks and now the agency's biggest client.

"We won both the TVNZ and Westpac pitches on the strength of our culture, our understanding of how to create great culture, and our ideas for how to make those clients' culture better," the agency said.

For Westpac, that's a partnership with the bank's CEO to roll out a nationwide internal culture program for the company's 5,000 staff.

For TVNZ, Colenso had to find a personal way that went beyond broadcast trailers to connect New Zealanders with the Steven Spielberg miniseries "The Pacific," which had attracted only 1% of viewers when it aired earlier in the U.S. and the U.K. To create that bond, Colenso found hundreds of real letters and photos young men sent to their families back in New Zealand during World War II, and 346,000 New Zealand homes received a copy of one of those letters written by a soldier fighting in Okinawa in the 1940s. On the eve of the show's first episode, Colenso staged its own Pacific invasion with a re-enactment in Auckland's Mission Bay of a WWII dogfight between two Japanese fighter planes and a New Zealand Kittyhawk.

*The first paragraph in an earlier version of this story mistakenly referred to Colenso DDB. It has been corrected to Colenso BBDO. We apologize for the error.

Colenso BBDO was the only New Zealand agency to win a Grand Prix at the 2011 Spikes Asia Awards in Singapore last night, as well as picking up two Gold, two Silver and three Bronze awards.

Colenso's Doggelganger, the Pedigree adoption drive was the most awarded Kiwi entry taking home the Grand Prix, Gold and Bronze in the Digital and Direct categories respectively.

The award winning campaign matched homeless dogs with new owners via a web application analysing the user's facial features and matching the person to a canine equivalent.

Colenso BBDO Planning Director, James Hurman, says it is great seeing New Zealand performing so well on the international stage.

"We're proud to see our work, like Doggleganger and Impulse saver, being recognised at this level – work with digital at its heart, and work that's had a real impact on changing consumer behaviour."

The Westpac Impulse saver mobile application continued to receive accolades winning Gold in the mobile category, while the DB Breweries TVC, Beer – the untold story won Silver in the Film and Craft Film Categories.

Colenso's Rear view girls Levis Strauss was also recognised in both the Film and Media categories taking away Bronze awards.

Executive Creative Director, Nick Worthington represented Colenso at the awards and was on the jury for a number of categories.

"Competition was intense at this year's awards and all accolades presented by the juries were strongly contested. There is a lot of great work coming out of Asia Pacific and it is great to have our work recognised alongside the best in the region," says Worthington.

In its 25th year, the Spikes Asia Awards are designed to honour creative excellence in advertising communications across the Asia Pacific region.

Colenso BBDO 2011 Awards:

‘Doggelganger’ for Mars: 

Grand Prix and Gold – Digital Category

Bronze – Direct Category

'Impulse saver' for Westpac:

Gold – Mobile Category

'Beer – the untold story' for DB Breweries:

Silver – Film Category

Silver – Craft Film Category

'Rear view girls' for Levis Strauss:

Bronze – Film Category

Bronze – Media Category

Colenso is the first New Zealand agency to win a Creative Effectiveness Lion at the 2011 Cannes International Festival of Creativity.

Introduced for the first time in 2011, the Creative Effectiveness Lions honour creativity which has shown a measurable and proven impact on a client’s business and affected consumer behaviour, brand equity, sales, and where identifiable, profit.

Colenso BBDO’s “Real Stories” campaign for TVNZ’s The Pacific was one of only six international campaigns awarded a Creative Effectiveness Lion. The campaign featured actual letters sent home from soldiers during World War Two and culminated in an aerial dogfight over Auckland’s Mission Bay. The results were impressive, with 24% of New Zealanders tuning in to the first episode.

Nick Worthington, Executive Creative Director of Colenso BBDO says: “The Effectiveness Lions showcase the powerful role that creative advertising can play in business. It’s a pretty big deal to be one of only six agencies world-wide awarded an Effectiveness Lion.”

Only entries that were either shortlisted or winners at Cannes Lions in 2010 were eligible to enter into Creative Effectiveness Lions.

Colenso Planning Director James Hurman represented New Zealand on the Creative Effectiveness Jury that selected a shortlist of only 10 international campaigns.

“All of the entries we looked at were examples of campaigns with amazing commercial results. Our shortlist was made up of campaigns that proved beyond any doubt that the effectiveness result was caused by the creative work,” says James Hurman.

Alongside the Lion for Creative Effectiveness Colenso picked up a Silver and five Bronze Lions, making it the most awarded New Zealand agency at Cannes this year.

Colenso BBDO 2011 Lions:

‘The Pacific’ for TVNZ: 

Creative Effectiveness Lion

‘Rear View Girls’ for Levi Strauss & Co:

Silver Film Lion 

Production Company: Flying Fish

‘Commuter’ for Multiple Sclerosis Waikato: 

Bronze Outdoor Lion

‘Office Worker’ for Multiple Sclerosis Waikato: 

Bronze Outdoor Lion

‘Runner’ for Multiple Sclerosis Waikato: 

Bronze Outdoor Lion

‘Impulse Saver’ for Westpac: 

Bronze Promo & Activation Lion

‘Doggelganger’ for Mars: 

Bronze Direct Lion