Champagne, not vodka, would have been on order for 42Below’s Geoff Ross after winning the FCB New Zealand marketer of the year award at last night’s NZ Marketing Magazine Marketing Awards.  That Ross won would not have been a surprise to many, given the impressive success of the 42Below brand of late. 

Particularly gratifying to see was the intrinsically ‘kiwi’ nature of many of the winning campaigns. There was no shortage of humour, droll honesty, tongue-in-cheek bravado and freshness.

Joining 42Below on the podium last night was The Rum Company and Lion Nathan Wines & Spirits, winning the Usuite.com New Media Marketing Award, for their ‘Get Sponsored by Coruba’ campaign.  The campaign has deservedly been the subject of many case studies - as with 42Below, the Coruba Party Legend campaign exemplified the ‘have a go and have fun while you’re doing it’ spirit, engaging an entirely new audience and never falling for the most un-kiwi fate of taking oneself too seriously.

Still within this vein was Westside Media, who won the University of Otago Emerging Business Award for its online DVD rental business Fatso.co.nz.  Modelled on the NetFlix company of the US, the kiwi humour of the Fatso brand is self-evident when compared to the yawn-inducing brands who share the same space, such as MovieShack, DVD Unlimited, CafeDVD or QwikFliks.

The fourth winner demonstrating this understanding of the kiwi psych was NZ Lotteries’ ‘Big Wednesday’ campaign, which won both the Colmar Brunton Consumer Services Award and the Fairfax New Zealand Supreme Award for the best marketing campaign of the year.  Without being privy to the research, this writer suggests that Big Wednesday has touched that part of New Zealanders’ psyche that is uncomfortable about discussing money, and tired of the “what would you do with the money” question.  By simply stating – “right, here’s a bunch of great stuff you’ll want”, the offering has become significantly more ‘real’ than simple dreams of intangible numbers.

Nonetheless, not everyone is a Fred Dagg or Barry Crump clone, and there are many New Zealanders of a decidedly more restrained and conservative nature. This too, was well served this year, with Goodman Fielder winning the Smartsource Marketing FMCG Award with the launch of MacKenzie High Country Bread.  A product such as this will have been a welcome sight for those tired of the recent surfeit of bagels and paninis, hankering instead for something more traditional and reliable. 

That said, it’s hard to think of something more traditional and reliable than Jude Dobson, the face of BrandWorld’s Family Health Diary television product, which won the Zintel Business to Business Award..

Other category winners included:

• The Child Cancer Foundation’s Lexi’s Appeal won the bizambrands Not-For-Profit Marketing Award.
• Farmers’ revitalisation programme won the Morton Estate Wines Retail Award.
• Stephanie Hague, formerly with Noel Leeming Group was named  M&C Saatchi Rookie Marketer of the Year.
• Marketer Barbara Chapman and industry stalwart David Innes were inducted into the ICONZ / Marketing Magazine Marketing Hall of Fame.

Jonathan Dodd