Busy Trubies, office roomies, winter gloomies, and more.
Coming at you via electronic mail, it’s The Handle, True’s occasional newsletter.
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This is a bumper issue because we’ve been busy over the last little while.
Flight Centre Popup
For April Fools’ day, Flight Centre wanted to zag away from pranks and fakery. So, sly co-ordinates were posted on social and outdoor, leading to a popup departure gate in Commercial Bay. Shoutout to Marty from Flight Centre for playing Auckland’s new favourite Captain.
Ingham’s Fixx
It turns out people like chicken. As in, really like chicken. So for Ingham’s Crunchy Fixx Chicken, we ran a campaign searching for New Zealand’s biggest chicken lover. The winner earned themselves a prize pack that included a pair of sick custom kicks, look:
And, as Melbourne Creative Director Iain MacMillan says: every agency needs a badge machine.
True at the AO Dog Show
Jess & Freddie Reihana took home the top prize at the inaugural AO Dog Show, proving once and for all that Fred is the best dog in New Zealand advertising (we welcome all challengers, but if you come for the queen, you best not miss).
Creatonic
Feeling unmotivated in this autumn gloom? Trubie Stacey Purdon, ex-Trubie Shiv Narandas, and honorary Trubie Shelley Empson recently launched Creatonic. It combines the recovery powers of creatine and electrolytes with the nostalgic taste of a lemonade popsicle (according to customer feedback). It’s already going great guns, so head over to creatonic.co.nz and grab a pack or 10.
Mercy Volunteer Day
The True team spent a Monday down at Mercy Hospice, We learned about what they do and volunteered our time making crafts for fundraising. Humbling, inspiring, and affecting in equal measure.
CEO Matt Dickinson’s beaded butterfly was called “novel” by one of the regular volunteers.
PR Partners
Speaking of Flight Centre, one of our collaborators (some may say co-conspirators) on that project was John, Mike, and Sam from PR Partners. They moved into the building at the end of last year and have slotted right in.
True in the Wild
Intermediate Creative Johlida Van Schalkwyk has been named the first ever Art Director mentor for First Five Rungs. Nice!
Talk Talk
Designer Stacey Purdon wandered down to Wellington to give a talk for the Design Institute of New Zealand.
Open Tabs
We all got excited by the pop-ups and activations at Coachella this year – like the Flight Centre departure gate, there’s power in creating something environmental, being face-to-face with people, and creating things people can physically interact with.
Jess’s Pick: the MGA Miniverse used its allotted space in a smart way by shrinking everything. It’s a showcase of craft and attention to detail.
Johlida's Pick: Pinterest and E.l.f. Cosmetics hosted a phone-free popup zone where festival-goers could do arts and crafts, minus the selfies. It’s a really interesting space for a brand like Pinterest to play in.
Ant's Pick: Continuing the arts-and-crafts theme, Mattel’s “You Can Be Any Barbie" popup let visitors make their own custom dolls. Personalisation via brand activation.
Stacey's Pick: Rhode killed it as expected – Hailey just gets it, and the activation has that same polish, considered feel as the brand itself. But my real stand out was Benjie. A new eco plaster brand who took a more guerilla approach to advertising. Their crafted tear off plaster posters had an authentic touch that was the perfect amount of scrappy creativity that actually sticks with you.
And that’s The Handle. If you enjoyed it, please share with someone you know. Ideally a Brand Manager or CMO of a Fortune 500 company, but you know, whoever.
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