Campaign Overview:

The Big Event was the second annual accessibility expo held by the Auckland Disability Providers Network. The challenge to Alexander Communications (AC) was to increase foot traffic through the 2013 expo and bring the accessibility message into mainstream media. In the past, communication messages about accessibility and disability have remained largely within the disability sector.

The Auckland Disability Providers Network worked with AC to find engaging stories within the expo.

Results

The results achieved for The Big Event saw visitor numbers at this year’s event nearly double on the inaugural 2012 expo.  The New Zealand Herald profiled an AC client working with The Big Event and included a positive mention on the client’s work with the Auckland Disability Network and the upcoming expo.

Shine TV also featured The Big Event on its nightly news bulletin, Focus, giving viewers a taste of the Friday show, ahead of Saturday.

Radio New Zealand National attended the event and produced a half-hour documentary segment for its One-in-Five show. This included several positive interviews that profiled different aspects of the event. The full interview can be heard here.

The Big Idea, an online arts website, also featured the event’s art exhibition, Perception.

The event featured on leading entertainment site eventfinda and in the Auckland Council and GrownUps newsletters. Other coverage was achieved in news sites infonews, yahoo and Scoop.

The passage of the marriage equality amendment bill means some couples may now be searching for two dresses, or two suits – what better time to seek out a two-for-one deal?

Two of New Zealand’s leading fashion websites FashioNZ.co.nz and Chelsey.co.nz  are each giving one lucky bride-to-be a $50 voucher to spend at ‘The Wedding Boutique’, brandsExclusive’s online wedding sale.

As wedding season is well underway, and there’s a $50 voucher to vie for, there’s every reason to spend up and buy that extra dress you know you need. To enter the draw, simply fill in a few details about your bridal entourage. The winner will be drawn on 8 May 2013.  But don’t wait until then to head over to www.brandsExclusive.co.nz, as the sale starts on 6 May and lasts until 13 May.

brandsExclusive’s ‘The Wedding Boutique’ is a must for every bride – and groom – to-be.

The links can be seen here and here.

Space Studio’s latest projects have made headlines thanks to their innovative and refreshing take on leading men’s ‘suit and tie’ stores Rembrandt and 3 Wise Men.  Space Studio’s re-design of each company’s flagship store reflects the brands’ differing target markets yet has one element in common: taking the stress and hassle out of the purchasing process.

The link can be seen here.

In a recent NZ Herald Success column, journalist Helen Twose spoke to Richard Conway, founder and manager of Pure SEO.

Pure SEO is New Zealand’s top-ranked SEO company for the search term ‘search engine optimisation’ and ‘seo’. Auckland based, the Pure SEO clients include AIA New Zealand, Bridgestone, Duty Free Stores New Zealand and Tony’s Tyre Service.

Speaking to NZ Herald Richard explained the techniques employed by Pure SEO to boost google search listings including using keywords with website, copywriting and social media interaction.

Richard moved to Auckland from Britain in 2009 and while he didn’t know anyone here, he did see a gap in the market for his expertise. With an entrepreneurial spirit Richard used networking to build Pure SEO from a one man operation in his home office to a successful business that has just moved into new, larger offices to accommodate company growth.

Read the full article here.

Think the accessibility world isn’t relevant to you? Think again. One in five New Zealanders lives with a disability of some kind. Add to this an aging population, families with young children and those with a temporary injury or illness, and you have a significant proportion of New Zealanders with access needs.

The Big Event is the biggest accessibility expo in the country. Over 6,000 people attended the inaugural event in 2012, and this year’s free event at Greenlane’s ASB Showgrounds on Friday 5 and Saturday 6 April is set to be even bigger.

The concept of The Big Event was developed by the Auckland Disability Providers Network. The idea came to chairman Chris Ross, who was repeatedly hearing people in the accessibility community say they didn’t know where to go to access new products and services.

“These products and services can make one’s life more accessible, so we decided it was time to get all the key players into one place,” he says. “The idea grew from there and following the success of the 2012 event, it became obvious there is a real need to make this information widely available in New Zealand.”

Over 100 exhibitors will share products and services at The Big Event. For innovators who participate, there is the opportunity to win an award for best accessibility invention, with the prize being help to develop and mass-produce the winner’s service or product.

A dedicated youth area will be set up to give young people the opportunity to try a range of exciting activities, including rock-climbing, basketball, surfing and a horizontal bungy.  Like the rest of the event, participation in these activities is free. The idea is for youth, both able-bodied or with a disability, to join in and try activities they may have not experienced before. The youth area is being run by The Cube, Halberg Trust, Special Olympics and Paralympics New Zealand, with information and assistance being given at each of the stations.

Five art therapy students in their final year at Whitecliffe College of Arts & Design have created a sensory space for all who visit the expo. For those who have ever wondered what it’s like to have impairment, the sensory deprivation simulator will allow visitors to experience movement with no sight or sound.

Student Tania Blomfield says it has been both a challenge and a lot of fun putting the sensory space together.

“As well as the sensory deprivation simulator, there are challenges for participants involving smell, touch and vision, and the opportunity to return to childhood and get your hands dirty.”

New to The Big Event this year is an art exhibition featuring 45 works by New Zealand artists faced with some form of disability (physical or mental). Auckland’s Spark Centre was asked to curate the exhibition, the theme of which is perception.

Director of the Spark Centre of creative development, Suzanne Vesty, says the centre received 86 artwork submissions to feature in The Big Event’s perception exhibition. After a rigorous critiquing process, the top 45 works were selected. All artwork displayed at The Big Event is available for purchase, and many of the artists will be present to discuss their works and the creative process.

The Details: 

What: The Big Event – Expo & Marketplace

Date: Friday 5 and Saturday 6 April 2013

Time: 10am – 4pm

Location: ASB Showgrounds, Greenlane, Auckland

Tickets: Free

Parking: Free

Jeff Walters, partner at law firm Lowndes Associates took on the hot topic of Auckland housing in the latest opinion piece in the New Zealand Herald.

Highlighting the demand and struggle to enter the property market Mr Walters recommended a strategy to enable young families to purchase their first home.

The article struck a chord with the New Zealand Herald readers with the comments section providing an interesting cross-section of opinion.

Gill South of the New Zealand Herald spoke with Space Studio’s Vee Kessner on 4 March 2013.

The article on small business looks at the corporate techniques and systems Vee uses to run her team of 10. Space Studio is an interior design and procurement logistics business specialising in hospitality, retail and commercial groups, both locally and internationally.

Vee says large businesses can learn from SMEs and their ability to change quickly.

“During the financial crisis we could be working on a large project and the finance would stop. You have to be able to react to that.”

A link to the article can be seen here.

More than a few personalities and well known businesses have found themselves in hot water and seen the steam of said problems rise to the top of search engine results. 

Idealog.co.nz recently featured a twelve-step programme created by Richard Conway, founder and MD of Pure SEO, which counsels businesses and executives on how to organically achieve positive Google search results. 

Take the first step towards online reputation recovery and click here: http://www.idealog.co.nz/businessplan/12-step-recovery-plan-online-reputation

Campaign Overview:

AMP Capital Shopping Centres (AMPCSC) briefed Alexander Communications to help generate a fresh public relations campaign for Botany Town Centre and Bayfair Shopping Centre.

Understanding the increased importance of the online world, AMPCSC was interested in developing a campaign that took advantage of the growing online trend and added to the overall shopping experience.

Alexander Communications developed an initiative to find a dedicated shopping video blogger for each of the leading centres. With fashion video blogging (vlogging) becoming increasingly popular, timing for the search was perfect.

To ensure optimal results were met, Alexander Communications liaised with leading magazine, New Zealand Woman’s Weekly (NZWW) to form a partnership for the campaign.

Through this mainstream media channel, the competition was announced to find dedicated shopping vloggers. This included coverage through NZWW online and in print.

Throughout the competition period, other media including local newspapers and websites came onboard to promote the campaign.

Bay of  Plenty Times covered the competition online and in print.  Tauranga’s SunLive also promoted the campaign online.

More FM radio spoke with NZWW on the campaign during an interview that featured in September 2012.

For many of the contestant’s, blogging was already in their blood, so many promoted their own nominations through personal blogs already in place.

Popular lifestyle blog, Street and City Photos got onboard and wrote about the competition also.

A selection of the copy featured in NZWW can be seen below.

Results:

The response to the initial call out was very well received, with each of the centres having a healthy response. As video entries were received, the videos were placed online at NZWW, giving the public a chance to view the videos for themselves and vote.

The nominations also featured separately on YouTube.  Some examples can be seen here.

After much deliberation between each of the centres, Alexander Communications and NZWW, a decision was made.

An event was held at Auckland’s Botany Town Centre with NZWW to announce the winners (one each per centre). At the event, aspiring bloggers spoke with NZWW about the world of magazines.

Botany Town Centre was thrilled to announce Britney Hazeldine as the resident blogger. Bayfair Shopping Centre was equally as excited to announce Kerry Hardisty as Bayfair’s blogger. The announcement was made with NZWW both online  and in print.

The campaign gained significant appeal and social media took to the concept with gusto.

International shopping centre website, Shopping Centre Weekly, wrote an article about the campaign and the effective publicity it gained.

NZ Girl also featured the monthly blogs and posted to the website as they appeared online – these can be seen here and again, here.

Botany’s resident blogger has been using the campaign to her advantage and regularly posts to her popular personal blog, Lemonwood and Honey.

Have a look at some of the recent entries by each of the bloggers here.

GFNZ, formerly Geneva Finance, has used a structure developed in-house to raise $1.66 million from eight professional investors. The eight investors include chairman David Smale, director Robin King and others have previously invested in Geneva.

The National Business Review covered this latest update from GFNZ including future plans to use the securitization facility again

Read the full article here: http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/gfnz-group-raises-166-million-bd-135115