In the 10 months Fairfax Auckland news director John Anthony has been in the job, he’s brought a refreshing, opinionated hard-news edge to the company’s Auckland community papers. Typical is this blunt message, from the latest issue of East & Bays Courier: “NZ election advertising is in desperate need of a rebrand,” he writes.

A Sunday News headline writer invented a new word at the weekend. Dunners Stunner screamed the back-page coverage of the All Blacks-Australia test. We think they meant Dunedin.

WPP has reported a slight increase in profit for the first half of the 2017 calendar year for its Australia and New Zealand division after the group revealed it was experiencing a stunning slowdown in ad spend globally by consumer product companies.

Global engagement marketing software provider Marketo has announced it will move entirely onto Google’s Cloud in a new multi-year alliance and collaboration.

Colenso BBDO are US$10,000 richer – after taking out one of the two Grand Prix of the Year prizes at Ad Stars in Busan South Korea over the weekend. 

Four New Zealand agencies featured prominently at the New Zealand Social Media Awards, announced in Auckland this morning.

A world-first virtual reality experience to help prospective university students choose their course of study has been developed by Auckland-based virtual and augmented reality specialists M Theory for Torrens University Australia.

Yahoo Platforms has selected Carat New Zealand senior digital manager Josh Reiri-Allen as the winner of its 2017 Digital Stars programme – picking up a trip to New York as a consequence. The judges also recognised two other Kiwis with Highly Commended citations.

The Comms Council’s Botab committee has named its judges for this Thursday’s (31 August) Battle of the Ad Bands.