MARKETING PLAYS OF THE WEEK: Samsung snaps cats, Beaver & Ted team up with All Blacks Tours, more

Client: Samsung

Samsung New Zealand is in love with everything black right now – first it was the All Blacks; now it’s black cats. Noting a report by the UK’s RSPCA that 70% of cats awaiting adoption are black and one of the reasons for this is that they’re harder to photograph, Samsung decided to help mitigate the moggies’ well-documented unluckiness. The company launched a social media campaign with animal photographer Rachael Hale McKenna demonstrating how to take better feline photos. The campaign’s been well received and reached 538,368 people with 33,496 views, even though it was promptly pointed out that cats can’t actually take “selfies”. Colenso BBDO head of PR Paul Gunn says the term was used because of its prominence in popular vernacular.

Agency: Augusto

Client: All Blacks Tours

New Zealand has been snubbed by two recent IRB advertisements intended to build anticipation for the Rugby World Cup 2015, and YouTube and Facebook comment sections are rife with complaints about the conspicuous absence of the current champions. This ad features a fired-up Graham ‘Ted’ Henry giving an inspirational speech to an empty plane save for one Stephen ‘Beaver’ Donald. The Rugby World Cup 2011 hero's popularity soared after tele-movie The Kick screened in August and it appears All Blacks Tours are capitalizing this, offering rugby fans two flight packages with either Mr Donald or Mr Henry. All Blacks Tours marketing manager Dan Boyd says the TVC was originally meant to be released next week but the recent ads from the IRB forced the company to release it early to "avoid being called copy cats". He says there are more TVCs to come.

Agency: Maori TV

Client: Quitline

Quitline says your children are seven times more likely to smoke if you do, a scary statistic that’s seen Maori TV and Quitline launch a TVC campaign targeting parents who may not realise how their smoking habits affect their impressionable children. The ad cleverly lulls the viewer into laughing as kids mock their parents before ending on a serious note. The campaign is comprised of four advertisements and features real smokers. One of the smokers, Kahukore Bell, gave up smoking after shooting the ads, saying she recognised herself in the campaign. The ads debuted on Maori TV and will soon run on TVNZ and TV3.