Hotel Encourages Theft

Banksy is a British street artist, famous for his satirical graffiti art. He has been known to sneak his art into into famous galleries to hang alongside more traditional curated art. In 2007 thieves removed a section of a wall with an angle grinder because Banksy had stencilled around the 'No Ball Games' sign on it. The wall was later found on ebay for sale for 20,000 pounds. 

In a clever twist The Art Series Hotel is running a unique competition where guests are invited to steal Banksy prints worth AUD 15,000 each.  The two key conditions are you must be a guest at the hotel and you must remove the piece undetected. If you are discovered then the art is returned to the wall for another guest to try their hands. Clues to the art's whereabouts are being posted on Facebook and Twitter. 

12 Days of Advertising - Day 12

Day Twelve: Jasmine Griffin, Whittaker's

Jasmine accepting the Reader's Digest award for
Most Trusted Confectionary brand in 2011

Welcome to the final day of the 12 Days of Advertising series! In the war of the chocolate giants we are tied 1 - 1 with guests Jen Corbett and Steve Dimakis, choosing Whittaker's 'Swear by the Slab' and Cadbury's 'Share the Joy' respectively, as their favourite campaigns of 2011. 

To settle the score our final guest is Jasmine Griffin, Brand Manager of Whittaker’s. I first heard Jasmine speak at a digital conference in Auckland earlier this year. I was particularly struck by the way Whittaker’s integrating digital and traditional advertising campaigns. Whittaker’s is a great example of what can be achieved when you have an overall brand strategy - not separate traditional and digital media approaches. 

Growing up Jasmine wanted to be a ballet dancer, while she still dances now, she switched career paths at the last minute and studied Marketing at Victoria University in Wellington. Turning out to be a natural she stayed and achieved First Class Honours. 

Having a sweet tooth she struck it lucky landing the dream job of marketing assistant at Whittaker’s straight from university. It didn’t take long until Jasmine’s skills in digital and branding meant she was promoted to brand manager. She has led the way for Whittaker’s to embrace an integrated social media strategy. 

Don't forget our Puma giveaway closes 20th December - so leave a comment and tell us what you think to enter! 

12 Days of Advertising - Day 11

Day Eleven: Steve Dimakis, MEC Wellington

The guest contributor for day eleven is Steve Dimakis, a Senior Media Planner at MEC Wellington, the media arm of Y & R. You can find out more about MEC New Zealand here and globally here. Steve has had over 10 years experience working in the advertising industry comprising of time spent working in agencies, for media providers and directly consulting to brands. His pick for 2011 demonstrates how a brand can successfully utilise their "essence" and he has some wise insights on the matter.

12 Days of Advertising - Day 10

Day Ten: Tom Reidy, Catalyst90

Tom Reidy is the Founder and Managing Director of Catalyst90 - a social media agency that agencies use. Tom describes Catalyst90 as a group of "bright, creative and passionate geeks" which is probably why they also started the Wellington chapter of the Social Media Club. Tom has more than a decade of technical sales and marketing and more than three years social media experience behind him.  

If you're based in Wellington, I'd highly recommend popping along to the next Social Media Club event in the new year and in the meantime get a fix of social media new on Catalyst's blog.  

Leave a comment to go in the draw to win a pair of Puma kicks (closes 20th December 2011)! 

12 Days of Advertising - Day 9

Day Nine: John Lai, Social Media NZ 

John Lai is the Malaysian born, Auckland bred, founder of Social Media NZ. Social Media NZ is an influential digital and tech information hub. John is passionate about business and technology. John is also involved in a startup in Palo Alto, California called Chattrspace. He's also a big sports fan and die hard Liverpool FC supporter. 

You can check out John's blog here and the latest digital and tech news on Social Media NZ's site. 

Read what John's pick (well picks) were for 2011 and leave a comment for a chance to win a pair of Puma hi-tops! 

12 Days of Advertising - Day 8

Day Eight: Emma Lawrence, Emma Lawrence PR
(Don't forget that just by commenting on this post you are in the draw to win an awesome pair of Puma kicks!)   

Emma Lawrence is an online PR and marketing expert based in Gisborne, New Zealand. Emma helps small businesses make a big impact using creative, social and engaging communication. She shares practical advice on PR and social media on her website - check it out here. You can also follow Emma on Twitter and Facebook.

NZTA's 'Legend' aka 'Ghost Chips' started off the 12 Days of Advertising series and Emma picks another government campaign related to alcohol use as her favourite of 2011. 

12 Days of Advertising - Day 7

Day Seven: Jen Corbett

(Don't forget that just by commenting on this post you are in the draw to win an awesome pair of Puma kicks!)

Our seventh guest contributor for 12 Days of Advertising is Jen Corbett. Jen grew up in Sunny Gisborne and Havelock North but went on to study Media and English Literature at Victoria University in Wellington.

After University, she moved to Auckland to work at boutique design agency before deciding to get into ads. She was accepted into the Axis Adschool at Media Design School and shortly afterwards landed a place at DraftFCB. After that, she scooped up the dream job of Social Media Specialist at GrabOne in 2010, and is now off to help implement social media for the New Zealand Fashion Festival (Feb 24th to March 4th 2012). She's also about to get married to longtime partner Justin Flitter and is supporting the development of their new marketing startup Flitter.

Outside of social media and setting up her new blog ideas before breakfast she loves good New Zealand wine, fashion, food & exploring a passion for photography and dreaming about all the far-off places she will one day get a chance to travel to.

Jen's extensive background in social media strategies means she has some great insights for marketers in 2012, and her pick for 2011 is a brand that successfully pulled off an integrated TV and social media campaign that was engaging and supported the brand personality perfectly.

12 Days of Advertising - Day 6

Day Six: Shane Harmon, Rugby New Zealand 2011
(Don't forget that just by commenting on this post you are in the draw to win an awesome pair of Puma kicks!)  

Shane Harmon is a Sports Marketing and Major Event specialist with 12 years experience in Australia and New Zealand.

Shane is a veteran of two Rugby World Cups; RWC 2003 in Australia where he was Head of Marketing and most recently RWC 2011 in New Zealand where he works as General Manager, Marketing and Communications for Rugby New Zealand 2011 (the local organising committee). Shane has also worked as General Manager Marketing for Australian Rugby Union, and as Membership and Direct Marketing Manager for the Sydney Swans Football Club, in Australia's AFL.

12 Days of Advertising - Day 5

Day Five: Katie Du Fall, Stolen Rum

(Don't forget that just by commenting on this post you are in the draw to win an awesome pair of Puma kicks!)  

Our fifth contributor for 12 Days of Advertising is Katie Du Fall. Katie hails from Rotorua and moved to Auckland to complete her Communications degree at AUT, whilst at University she worked for Red Bull as a sampler and taking up experience opportunities in sales and communications. 

After university, she began her career with the international brand BurgerFuel as part of the marketing team, dabbling in all facets of marketing from PR to communications to advertising. She is now the Marketing Manager for the boutique rum brand Stolen Rum (follow on Twitter and Facebook). In her spare time, of which there is little, she hosts and produces a web based social media show with Social Media NZ – The Social Life. She loves fashion and beauty with a wardrobe and shoe collection to envy! 

Katie takes us through her pick of 2011 - a pop up concept that sets a new standard for ‘brand experiences’ in New Zealand and also what she thinks brands should be doing in 2012.  

12 Days of Advertising - Day 4

Day Four: Nigel Fowler, Online Marketing Agency 

(Don't forget that just by commenting on this post you are in the draw to win an awesome pair of Puma kicks!)  

The guest contributor for day four of 12 Days of Advertising is Nigel Fowler, the marketing chef (called that by his team for his ever growing passion for marketing and communications) at Online Marketing Agency. He's keen on turning ideas into reality and growing the businesses of his clients.   

You can visit Online Marketing Agency here: www.OnlineMarketingAgency.co.nz

12 Days of Advertising - Day 3

Day Three: Kaleb Francis, Marque Creative 
(Don't forget that just by commenting on this post you are in the draw to win an awesome pair of Puma kicks!)  

Our next guest contributor for the 12 Days of Ads series is Kaleb Francis. Kaleb is a senior account manager at Marque Creative. He has seven years experience in New Zealand; and in the last couple of years worked in the UK for Salter Baxter and Interbrand (London). His main areas of interest are brand strategy and social media. 

Kaleb puts together Marque Creative's Friday Top Five which is a must read compilation on the best on branding and marketing. On top of agreeing to be one of the 12 Days contributors, he also has given me some great guidance to improve The Envy Collection. 
Needless to say I definitely owe him a beer or two!     

12 Days of Advertising - Day 2

James Polhill - Droga5

(Don't forget that just by commenting on this post you are in the draw to win an awesome pair of Puma kicks!)  

The second guest contributor for the 12 Days of Advertising series is James Polhill. James is a business director at Droga5. He has over eight years experience in client service, working on a number of well known brands including DB Breweries, ASB, Telecom, TVNZ and Hallenstein's. James's pick for 2011 a campaign that cleverly walked the advertising line around the 2011 Rugby World Cup... 

12 Days of Advertising - Day 1

Day One: Julie Roulston, NZ Fashion Week 

(Don't forget that just by commenting on this post you are in the draw to win an awesome pair of Puma kicks!)  

The first guest contributor for the 12 Days of Advertising series is Julie Roulston. Julie is one talented, and no doubt busy, woman. She's the owner of Profashion Ltd, the Social Media Manager for NZ Fashion Week and Fashion Editor/Business Developer for Ponsonby News! On top of this she's also mum to Gaby (12) and Noah (5). 

Somehow between all this she found time to tell us her pick of 2011 and some insights on what 2012 may hold. 

Introducing 12 Days of Advertising

The Background 
A wee while ago I came up with an idea to run 12 Days of Advertising - a blog series that showcases the best of New Zealand advertising in 2011. I thought it would be interesting if I could get 12 New Zealander's with advertising and marketing backgrounds to pick their favorite campaign of 2011 and look into their crystal balls for 2012.  

Nice idea in theory but I've never had a guest post on my blog. I've only been blogging for 6 months so it seemed like a good idea. A few people had mentioned that they enjoyed reading The Envy Collection so that gave me somewhere to start. But I had no idea whether people would want to do it. It took a few weeks before I got the courage to start the process. But as the saying goes nothing ventured, nothing gained.