New Zealand’s media industry hits a new milestone this October with the introduction of a new system by ThinkTV and Nielsen, which is set to measure…

ThinkTV has announced today its new chair, TVNZ’s Jodi O’Donnell. Jodi O’Donnell says “ThinkTV’s ambition has always been to ensure advertisers get great returns on their…

ThinkTV has released a TVC especially thanking the advertisers who have continued to advertise during the lockdown, and in turn, have supported New Zealand media. The…

This morning was, as MC Samantha Hayes said, a “fairly historic” moment for New Zealand television, with the chief executives of the three major television networks – Kevin Kenrick (TVNZ) Michael Anderson (MediaWorks) and John Fellet (Sky TV) – on stage together united for the launch of the initiative ThinkTV New Zealand. Perhaps it’s not fully historic because Think TV existed in New Zealand until 2012. But, following in the footsteps of other markets that have successfully promoted the health of TV, the time was right to bring it back to life.

Television viewing in New Zealand is at its highest ever level and television advertising took the top spot off newspapers for the first time ever last year according to the ASA ad revenue figures. So reports of its death appear to be, as the saying goes, greatly exaggerated. Of course, recording technology means interruptive advertising ain’t what it used to be and you can’t just buy attention like you used to, but despite the many digital distractions that are now available to brands and agencies, the power of a good TV ad is still unquestionable, primarily because it is one of the best ways for brands to convey emotion, tell stories and, in most cases, get their messages in front of as many humans as possible.

Despite the beliefs of slightly extremist doomsayers who claim television is dying and the days of big brand ads and mass awareness marketing are over, most would agree that television commercials are still one of the most effective ways for brands to convey emotion, tell stories and, in most cases, get their messages in front of humans. Since StopPress was sent into the wild in September 2009, we’ve been celebrating that collision of art and commerce in our TVC of the Week section, which, as the name suggests, showcases what we deem to be the best locally-created TV ad(s) of the past seven days. It’s supremely unscientific, of course: it has nothing to do with research, testing or sales figures, it’s simply based on gut feel; on whether an ad is funny, beautiful, engaging, well-made, memorable, creative or occasionally even so bad it’s good. Well, now we’re taking it a step further with the first annual StopPress/ThinkTV TVC of the Year Award. So get in there and vote for the ads that have tickled your fancy in the past year.

For decades, TV has been seen as the go-to medium when it comes to mass awareness marketing. But, with other media eating into its share as consumers modify their media habits, it isn’t the eyeball powerhouse it once was. TV is still a very attractive proposition, however, and is undoubtedly the best way for brands to tell stories, so the major New Zealand broadcasters have joined forces in an effort to start talking themselves up and launched a spruced up, industry funded organisation called ThinkTV.