TRACTA :: 4eyes

WHAT?!?!? December??? Can you believe it?! You couldn’t tell from the weather, but hopefully these bytes of interesting internet information will sunny up your day!

News

NZHerald has made a few changes to their website lately, with a new article layout and a new shopping section that is very similar to Telecom’s failed Ferrit.  See the shopping section here, and read comments from StopPress here.

America’s Next Top Model is coming to New Zealand!  If you see any of the contestants, please give them a sandwich!

SKY TV are going back online, with plans to Live Stream of Winter Olympics planned.  They’re going to test this with a live stream of the 3rd Cricket Test NZ v Pakistan, which happens to be at McLean Park from next Friday.  So you won’t need to skive off work to watch – you’ll be able to do it from the comfort of your desk!

Despite the advertising downturn experienced recently, online advertising in NZ continues to grow, with a 16% increase in online ad spend for Q3 2009 over 2008.  Good news for online publishers, and good news for agencies with digital abilities!

We can also now promote YouTube content with text&image promo links, much like Google Adwords.  YouTube is the biggest repository of online video IN THE WORLD.

Warnings

If you’re on leave for “Health” reasons, don’t post party pictures of yourself on Facebook!

Don’t go keying any cars if it looks like there might be cameras around.  This is the man behind the newspaper that recently put together a 12-page advertiser-funded supplement for Farmlands’ new store opening in Cambridge.  They did a good job of that.   (I had to say that in case my car gets keyed too!)

Don’t go crashing your car at 2:30am if you’re the most famous golfer IN THE WORLD.  Someone will make a movie about it!  Subtitled in Taiwanese but I’m pretty sure you’ll understand!  What she said happened vs what we think happened.

Cool stuff

How much does it cost to buy all of the presents listed in The 12 Days of Christmas?

What have been the most searched terms on Google this year?  In NZ?

Winter Olympics 2010 social media effort: challenge the athletes.

Microsoft Bing’s social media effort.  It’s an application on Facebook so they get to collect all sorts of data from everyone who participates.  Good thinking Microsoft.

Happy sunny weekend!

I must have had a good Friday last week!  So good it’s already Monday and I’m still typing this post!

Today I’m going to ask you to cast your mind back to previous posts, as we feature a few continuing stooooriiieeeeesss…

Remember the outpouring of outrage when Kraft announced the name of their new spread (iSnack 2.0)?  They now have a new name chosen by the public – Vegemite Cheesybite.  Stars out of ten for originality??

And remember how I was hyping the wider reach of radio brands to their loyal audiences?  The Edge radio station are at the forefront of this development, giving their young and tech-savvy audience multiple access points to the brand.  They have just launched their own iPhone app, allowing users to listen live through WiFi or 3G.

Speaking of WiFi and connectivity – you may have seen ads for TVNZ’s iPhone app, giving access to news, weather and TV schedules and allows video viewing through WiFi.  It’s the most popular iPhone app in NZ!  What is this WiFi and where do you get it?  How about on your next flight with United Airlines?!  They promise it won’t interfere with flight communications or navigation!

On a completely different tangent, recent figures show US magazine advertising is in freefall – down 26% for Q3 2009 compared to the same period in 2008.  Meanwhile, Australian TV networks are reporting an increase in spend for the month of November compared with last year.  NZ’s media spend seems to be continuing to track down year on year across all media, except online (Q2 online spend in NZ was up 5.5% from 2008).  Looking forward to the market reigniting in 2010!

As usual I’ve included some interesting campaigns to make you smile… or at least mutter to yourself.  Stephen King is launching a new book soon, but if you’ve got the time you can search the web for clues to put the story together, line by line.  That story, and this one about Telecom’s new logo that isn’t, are on www.techday.co.nz – a new site by Action Media that brings together content from all of their tech titles (Netguide, The Channel, MacGuide, IT Brief and Telecommunications Review).  Read more about Telecom’s new logo here and here).

Finally, this ad has recently been doing the rounds and is touted as The Best Story Ever.  I like!

Catch you next week!  And someone please tell me why men want Snow Caves?!?!