Cannes Contenders: New Zealand

Export Ultra - Cold Call Back Service

Ice is back, baby! Showing my age here but Vanilla Ice serving sweet nothings with a side of swears is my idea of a good time. The people of Aotearoa agreed. 

A callback service from the man himself alerts you to the perfect iciness of your beers before they explode in the freezer. I love that this campaign from Special Group has such a good mix of international feels and NZ specificity.

Spark NZ - Killabyte

At the risk of overlooking Pedigree - Lie Detector, I really love this snake from Colenso BBDO. Gaming is a big deal in my house, and there is a huge gaming market in New Zealand that is somewhat untapped yet very sophisticated, so this had to be done well. 

The integration of festival, experience, game and brand comes together uniquely in Killabyte and its hypnotic eyes and gorgeous colours – absolutely memorable!

Vogels - Certified Toasters

Vogels is my jam. Best toast ever, hardest toasting ever. Turns out it’s simple, down on four, then down again on two. They toast-tested every single toaster sold at The Warehouse, making lil’ stickers for each one with a guide for perfect toast. Love the OOH particularly from agency DDB Aotearoa.

NZHF - The Best Place in the World to Have Herpes

Hand up for bias, we worked on this campaign with agency Motion Sickness. 

Loved the idea, but also loved the opportunity to craft a suite of films that use personality and humour to make something engaging. It felt like fresh and confronting use of some grand Kiwi tropes. 

We’ve since had conversations about Herpes with all sorts of people, without shame, so it felt like it moved us along.

Nick Worthington - Diary of a Head Injury

This stunning piece of filmmaking directed by Jonny Kofoed from Assembly is a direct entry into Nick Worthingtons head and an introduction to the two Nicks, a morning one and an afternoon one. A confessional trip through the weirdnesses of a traumatic brain injury this film invites you to feel every cell in your brain.