Toni Childs – three-time Grammy nominated recording artist and Emmy winner – arrived in New Zealand this week to begin nine shows of her ‘Unplugged & Intimate’ tour.

Toni is a celebrated singer/songwriter known for her powerful voice and inspiring independent spirit. With fans around the world, she has produced a list of international hits such as Don’t Walk Away, Stop Your Fussin’, I’ve Got to Go Now, and Because You’re Beautiful.

This tour is unusual in that it is being planned and driven entirely through support by Childs’ enthusiastic fan base in this country. With several mad Toni Childs fans in the team, Bullet PR lent a hand with publicity, securing TV coverage for Toni on both major NZ stations.

Click here for the TVNZ clip, and here for the TV3 clip.

Toni is showcasing several new songs from her soon-to-be-released independent album Citizens of the Planet on this tour. She is performing in intimate venues in Matakana, central Auckland, Greymouth, Nelson, Timaru, Dunedin, Queenstown, Christchurch and Masterton.

In keeping with its position as a challenger brand, Kiwibank is launching a cheeky new ‘bank switching’ initiative for consumers today, which is less like a traditional ad campaign and more like a film launch.

Unlike traditional approaches to bank advertising, Kiwibank’s new ‘Easyswitch’ campaign, encouraging consumers to switch to Kiwibank, is focusing primarily around a unique interactive online channel called ‘Green Ops’, with the look and feel of a ‘first-person POV’ styled online game.

Nicky Ashton, Head of Brand & Marketing Communications for Kiwibank, says that the ‘gamification’ approach of the web site aims to provide a richer and more engaging experience for consumers.

“Kiwibank needs to stand out from the competition, so it’s our job to continually find new ways to connect with new customers” says Ms Ashton.

Hosted on a bespoke YouTube channel, the site is built around a loose narrative of an elite team within Kiwibank whose mission it is to help rescue customers from bad banking experiences.

“It’s kind of like ‘Get Smart’ meets the ‘Bourne Identity’, as the Kiwibank ‘Green Ops’ team goes around making it easier for people to switch to Kiwibank. Just one signature and Green Ops will deal with the rest,” says Ms Ashton.

Visitors to the channel can hunt for screen ‘hotspots’ where they will encounter random moments of humour and discovery amidst the pitch for them to switch banks, including some tongue-in-cheek references to Kiwibank’s competitors.

The channel also features a number of interactive elements that will allow users to share their experience with friends via various social media platforms, such as Facebook.

One top secret campaign element will remain under wraps until the 9th of September when a lucky new Kiwibank customer stands to be significantly rewarded.

Ms Ashton says the Green Ops site will be supported by an above-the-line media campaign with all the elements of a blockbuster movie launch, including cinema trailers, movie posters with QR codes, outdoor and dramatic cinema styled voiceovers on radio, online advertising and TV spots, all produced by ad agency Ogilvy.

Teasers for the campaign are running now on radio and outdoor, and the site will go live on Monday 15th August.

To preview the Green Ops site, visit http://youtube.com/kiwibankgreenops

Sealegs, manufacturer of the world’s first fully amphibious boat, has launched its first international showroom. The showroom, in Boston, New England, represents a significant step for the company founded by two Kiwi entrepeneurs. Since starting the company in 2004, over 500 boats have been sold, to countries around the world.

Bullet PR secured coverage on Stuff.co.nz, where co-founder David McKee-Wright compared SeaLegs’ home market on Waiheke Island, with a population of approximately 7500, with New England’s population of 14.5 million.

“If the Waiheke Island client base in excess of 40 craft is indicative of the potential in New England, Sealegs has a significant opportunity to look forward to,” he said.

Sealegs is the Official Marine Partner of the All Blacks.

At a press conference today, Rebel Sport’s Managing Director Rod Duke announced the company will reduce the cost of the overpriced All Blacks replica jersey from $189.99 to just $149.50.

Here is a statement by Mr Duke:

“The Rugby World Cup is the biggest sporting event this country has ever hosted.
It’s my view that this is an event that every New Zealander has the right to share in.
These are exciting times for us all.

At Rebel Sport we know only too well that times are tough for many Kiwis.
We’ve always set out to make sporting goods readily available at prices that work for the average Kiwi household.

Imagine our dismay when we discovered that All Black rugby jerseys were available for a lower price online than in retail stores in this country. We happen to believe that this jersey belongs to the New Zealand rugby public. The NZRU are custodians on behalf of all of us and Adidas for the time being are the sponsors of this jersey. They don’t own it. We all do. We cannot have a situation where New Zealanders would pay more for All Black jerseys than almost any other country in the world. Quite frankly, this is an intolerable circumstance and we will not accept it.

Yesterday afternoon I met with Adidas in an attempt to convince them to reduce the price down to a level below the online price. They point blank refused to reduce the price by even one cent. I just don’t understand this position and have decided to make a stand for the benefit of the New Zealand sporting public.

I am here today to announce that Rebel Sport will, with immediate effect, reduce the price of the All Black replica players jersey from $189.99 to $149.50. (That is $130 pre GST.)Further, we have opted to reduce the price of the Rugby World Cup replica All Black jersey from $220 down to $170 (or $147.80 pre GST).

Adidas are in the process of delivering more stock to our stores. We’re inviting customers to purchase now, and if there’s no stock, to accept a rain check because stock will be in our stores by Saturday.

And for those customers who have purchased an All Black jersey from Rebel Sport before this price reduction, we will issue a Rebel Sport gift voucher for the price difference as compensation upon presentation of a receipt. We want no one be disadvantaged.

I am confident that this price reduction, which is entirely funded by Rebel Sport, will enable thousands of kiwis to enjoy, what we all know, will be a wonderful rugby tournament.”

The first certified homes assessed under the Homestar™ residential rating tool were unveiled today at an event supported by online property market portal Realestate.co.nz.

Homestar™ is the comprehensive home rating system developed by the New Zealand building industry and backed by the Government that aims to help Kiwis create healthier, more comfortable and energy-efficient living spaces.

Alex Cutler, CEO of Homestar, announced the first certified homes located nationally that achieved Homestar ratings of between 4 and 7 stars, including several homes that are on the market.

“We are delighted to now have homes with official Homestar ratings available on the property market. This is an important developmental step in the process of improving the overall stock of New Zealand homes. ”

These homes also received enthusiastic support today from Alistair Helm, CEO of Realestate.co.nz. Mr Helm says that from today, Homestar Certified properties for sale will have their ratings featured on the Realestate.co.nz property portal to show buyers that these homes have an added value in terms of performance and comfort.

“Houses that are warmer, drier and more energy efficient will always be more appealing to buyers. In this way, Homestar has the potential to be a great service to homeowners, real estate agents and the whole New Zealand community,” says Mr Helm.

Mr Helm presented international research at the event that showed a direct correlation between homes with high performance ratings and higher property prices. He said Homestar will provide vendors and real estate agents with a direct competitive edge when marketing properties.

Support for Homestar was also received from Hon. Maurice Williamson, the Minister for Building and Construction.

“I would like to extend my warm congratulations today to Alex Cutler and the team at Homestar on the work they have done towards realising this achievement today. The unveiling of the first Certified Homes today is the result of many years of hard work, research and development to bring to the New Zealand market a home rating tool that is comprehensive, robust and accurate,” said Mr Williamson in a statement.

“Homestar provides homebuyers, sellers and especially real estate agents a benchmark for rating the environmental attributes of New Zealand homes to increase their comfort, appeal and value. I warmly commend the Homestar tool to the real estate industry, and encourage agents to educate themselves about it.”

To achieve a certified rating, Homestar Assessors typically spend a few hours at the home measuring in detail the attributes that contribute to its comfort, health and performance. The Assessor performs a comprehensive assessment of features such as the level of insulation, type of heating, water use, waste, ventilation and indoor air quality, among other things, and calculates a rating from one to ten stars, based on these factors. The homeowner then receives a Homestar™ Certified Rating, along with a unique registration number for authentication purposes.

“When you are selling or renting a home a Homestar Certified Rating will provide a greater level of credibility and assurance for any prospective home owner or tenant,” says Ms Cutler.

“The assessment is not compulsory, though over time it is expected that market forces will encourage more home owners to obtain a Homestar Certified Rating when buying or selling a home. We expect Homestar to have a growing impact on property values, with higher star ratings providing a competitive edge for some houses on the market.”

For more information, please visit www.homestar.org.nz, or to view Homestar Certified properties for sale visit www.realestate.co.nz.

Ancestry.com.au is part of an online global network of websites that house the world’s largest collection of personal records. To coincide with ANZAC Day, it released more than 225,000 Kiwi World War I and World War II records in the same place for the first time.

To mark this occasion, Bullet PR researched several case studies and pitched them into various media. Coverage highlights included two pieces in the Weekend Herald. The first piece of coverage is viewable here and the second one here.

We also secured a story on TVNZ 6pm News, with famous New Zealand cooking personality Alison Holst used as a case study.

The result of the coverage was fantastic, with traffic from New Zealand superseding even the Canadian version of Ancestry.com.au!

For the launch of the Panasonic Super Screens at Auckland’s Eden Park stadium, Bullet PR took the media on a behind-the-scenes tour of how the technology will work during the Rugby World Cup.

This included a look at the high-security control room that will controls the content on both Panasonic Super Screens as well as over 300 individual monitors dotted around the ground. Journalists also got the chance to look behind the three-storey Super Screens.

Coverage appeared on TVNZ 6pm News. There was also a video on the NZ Herald’s website and a picture story on Stuff.co.nz.

DHL and it’s Official Rugby World Cup 2011 Ambassador visited some Christchurch schools yesterday to drop off aid packs and rugby balls and bring some light relief to the area.

In association with KidsCan, the Official Logistics Partner of RWC 2011 brought Umaga to Linwood Avenue, Bromley and Aranui schools. Coverage appeared on TVNZ 6pm News, in The Press in Christchurch and also the New Zealand Herald.

Yesterday, we held a press event for the announcement of 2degrees mobile’s customer number. The company has enjoyed a rapid rise to over half a million customers, which it has achieved in just over 18 months, and we wanted to organise an event that matched this success.

We held the event in the Concert Chamber at Auckland Town Hall and we came up with the idea of a digital scoreboard to act as the compelling visual for media to take away. As 2degrees mobile CEO Eric Hertz finished his run-through of major milestones for the company so far, the scoreboard started to flicker and rattle through until it reached 580,112. This created some great drama and excitement and the true value of the event was shown in the widespread media coverage.

The media coverage included the NZ Herald, The Dominion Post, Stuff.co.nz, TVNZ, Radio NZ, Radio Live, More FM and NBR.

Panasonic NZ, like most other companies these days, wanted to be involved in social media. But, they didn’t want to just jump in without any business strategy behind the actions. Bullet PR has launched a variety of products for Panasonic, such as the Blu-ray recorder and 3DTV, and we were asked to do the brand’s social media marketing as well.

Before starting work on the social media marketing itself, we wanted to sell what we were doing and why we were doing it, to people outside the marketing department. We organised a half-day strategy session with all product managers and senior management as well as the PR and marketing teams. This made everyone feel involved and it also gave us access to more ideas, which can never be a bad thing.

The social media programme is now fully up-and-running and we have helped start a blog, writing posts across a range of topics. We have also just put up our first blog post with an accompanying video. There are more on the way so keep an eye out!