Volkswagen's Brand Launch drives away with the Supreme 2012 TVNZ/NZ Marketing Award

The 2012 TVNZ NZ Marketing Awards, celebrating a new positioning in their 21st year, saw a range of winners crowned victorious, and showcased those leading the way in “Everything marketing”.

Speaking on the repositioning and the essence of these awards, judge Mike Lamer, formerly of Mercury Energy said “Everything Marketing is a cry out to the boardrooms of New Zealand to take marketing seriously. If it’s done properly, marketing can be the real difference for a business in its category and I think the winning entrants this year prove testimony to that.”

Hosts Vincent Heeringa, NZ Marketing magazine, and Sue McCarty, Marketing Association (MA) were joined by returning awards MC, Te Radar, who took the audience on a  night of celebrating the coming together of brands, ideas, skills and people. 

A plethora of industry, judges and individual awards were given out on the night, however there could only be one Supreme winner and that coveted award went to Volkswagen’s Brand Launch which also took out the automotive industry category.  James Bickford from Interbrand and a Round Two judge said “What they have shown is that you can change a business proposition into a brand proposition, and a lot of people would look at that journey and put it in the too hard basket, they didn’t, they were prepared to learn from it and through it, and they genuinely believed in the insight that they were going to create and build their brand around, and I think also a testament to their achievements over the past three years, is that Volkswagen globally have seen this as best practice in their territory.”

The other winners on the night were Pfizer New Zealand which took away four awards; Z Energy and RedWitch Analog, with two awards Frucor Beverages, Fonterra Brands (NZ), Kiwibank, The Electricity Authority & Ministry of Consumer Affairs, State Insurance, MediaWorks TV, ecostore and Dollop Foods T/A Dollop Puddings, each with a win.

Also celebrating was Air New Zealand ‘s Chief Executive Rob Fyfe, who was awarded the new Marketing Excellence award.  Wendy Rayner, 2011’s Marketer of the Year and judge this year, said “Air New Zealand is an amazing example of Marketing Leadership from head to toe, The people on the ground, in the planes, in the Koru lounge, everywhere and at every touch-point,live their brand.”

The Rookie Marketer of the Year is Jasmine Griffin from J.H Whittaker & Sons and Ian Moody, formerly of Westpac, was awarded Marketer of the Year. The judges felt that Ian was a deserving winner as he was acknowledged as a principal leader, not just within Westpac, but across a whole host of different cross-functional teams.  He is an influencer and a leader who inspired a whole company to put marketing at the forefront of everything.

This year the audience had the pleasure to witness two inductees into the Marketing Hall of Fame, George Hickton, and Professor Rod Brodie. Both were honoured for their commitment over the years to the marketing profession and industry.

A full list of winners and their stories can be found below, or at www.everythingmarketing.co.nz.

Winners
TVNZ, Marketing Hall of Fame
George Hickton, Company Director/Consultant

TVNZ, Marketing Hall of Fame
Professor Rod Brodie, The University of Auckland Business School

Colmar Brunton, Marketer of the Year
Ian Moody, Westpac New Zealand

University of Otago School of Business – Department of Marketing, Rookie Marketer of the Year
Jasmine Griffin, J.H Whittaker & Sons

Marketing Excellence
Rob Fyfe, Air New Zealand

Fairfax Media, Supreme Award
Volkswagen New Zealand, Brand Launch

Insight
Dollop Foods T/A Dollop Puddings, Dollop PR Strategy

&Some, Emerging Business/New Brand
Z Energy, Z is for New Zealand (The Launch of Z)

TVNZ, Innovation
Pfizer New Zealand, Pfizer Avigra Launch

Boston Digital, Transformational
RedWitch Analog, Seven Sisters

Sustainability
ecostore, Brand Transformation

University of Waikato Management School, Marketing Leadership
Pfizer New Zealand, Viagra = Avigra

Automotive
Volkswagen New Zealand, Brand Launch

Hypermedia, Consumer
Pfizer New Zealand, Pfizer Avigra Launch

New Zealand Trade and Enterprise, Export
Fonterra Brands New Zealand – Export, Anchor Strong

Financial and Banking
Kiwibank, Green Ops

BrandWorld, Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG)
Frucor Beverages, Mountain Dew – New Flavour Launch & Skate Pinball Campaign

Lifestyle/Travel/Leisure
Pfizer New Zealand, Viagra = Avigra

Public Sector
The Electricity Authority & Ministry of Consumer Affairs, What’s My Number Consumer Information Programme

Morton Estate, Retail
Z Energy, Z is for New Zealand (The Launch of Z)

Sponsorship
State Insurance, With you in Water

Technology
RedWitch Analog, Seven Sisters

Utilities/Communications
MediaWorks TV, Feels like FOUR