Bullet PR has been working with nationwide retailer and finance company, dtr, for several months now. One of the key requirements in our brief was to increase the company’s profile amongst the New Zealand business community. To achieve this, we have undertaken several initiatives. First up was media relations, of course. The results so far include a retail trends story that featured on the NZ Herald Online as well as a profile piece on MD, Mark Spring that appeared in the Dominion Post and on Stuff.co.nz

Outside of core media relations, we also helped organise an event at one of the dtr stores where the owners of the company outlined their vision of the next three years for all the business partners to hear. At the event, we issued the company’s first-ever Annual Review, which looked at financial figures as well as giving an insight into the company.

Most recently, we have launched a blog where Mark Spring and other members of the senior management will give their insights into retail trends, change management, their community involvement and life on the frontline of a Kiwi business.

Ogilvy NZ and Bullet PR have today joined forces to create a new digital engagement and social media marketing practice, Ogilvy 360 Degrees Digital Influence.
Drawing on the proven technical expertise of Ogilvy Digital and Bullet PR’s extensive experience in online communications, Ogilvy 360 Degrees Digital Influence offers clients a powerful combination of digital communications, web development, search and social media marketing to deliver meaningful engagement with stakeholders.
In addition, Bullet PR joins Ogilvy NZ, merging Ogilvy PR’s business into the one brand, Bullet PR, offering full service consumer PR, experiential marketing and corporate communications.

Bullet PR client Vista has teamed up with an American MBA programme to develop a business plan for the US, after being introduced by New Zealand Trade and Enterprise.

As the New Zealand Herald writes, cinema software company Vista is one of four New Zealand companies that, through NZTE, have been matched with employed MBA students at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).

The Global Access Program (GAP), part of UCLA’s Anderson School of Management, has worked with 328 international companies from 10 countries since it was founded in 1998.

Since then, more than 1700 MBA students have been matched up with international technology companies, such as Vista, to develop a business-growth strategies.

Vista chief executive Murray Holdaway said the company had worked closely with the students and he would be flying to Los Angeles this month to receive the completed plan.

BulletPR has launched an online consumer PR and social media engagement campaign with NZ Girl will promote the new IDEOS™ smartphone with Google™, exclusive to 2degrees Mobile.  Via Facebook, Twitter and email marketing, NZ Girl’s many aspiring fashion devotees are invited to channel the vibe of one of four ‘So Smart’ style icons: Emma Stone, Alexa Chung, Zooey Deschanel or Natalie Portman.

The would-be stylists must publish their fashion spread on fashion trend site Polyvore featuring the IDEOS Smartphone as part of their look.   To boost their entry further, they are invited to tweet their look with the hashtag #sosmart.

The winner will walk off with a prize worth over $2000 including an IDEOS Smartphone, a year’s free airtime and a ‘spoil me’ makeover day with one of NZ’S top stylists.

Bullet PR director Jennifer Duval-Smith said “The IDEOS is a smart looking phone, with a very smart android 2.2 operating system, at a smart price. It’s great to have the chance to explore those brand values of the technology in the fashion space.  NZ Girl readers are smart and creative and we’re really looking forward to seeing how far they’re going to take this concept.”

Today, in conjunction with House of Travel, we launched the Contiki mixandmatcher Facebook application.

The application sits on both the House of Travel and Contiki Travel Lounge Facebook pages and offers entrants the chance to win holidays and lots of other prizes.

Entering the competition involves spinning a virtual slot machine. One column brings up random friends from your own Facebook profile, the others bring up various prize combinations. The prizes range from Kiwi classics like a pair of jandals or an All Blacks shirt all the way through to Contiki trips to the United States.

Once you have found a combination you like, you can enter for a chance to win. You can enter up three times a day and each entry appears in your Facebook news feed.

The main aim is to promote Contiki NZ’s various tour options in what is the key booking season over the next few months.

Bullet PR held an experiential marketing event to launch Contiki’s new European tours for Summer 2011.

The iconic New Zealand brand is approaching its busiest time of year for bookings as Kiwis arrange trips for when the southern hemisphere cools down again next year. To help drive promotion, Bullet PR hired No.1 Queen St cafe, the busiest foot traffic spot in the country, and gave away free cups of coffee and pastries to passers by. To help attract awareness, promotional staff were dressed in the attires of various European countries.

So that everyone went away with Contiki on their minds, Bullet PR ensured every cup of coffee had a ‘Contiki.com’ sticker on top.

The event was very successful, with over 500 branded cups of coffee and 500 pastries given to consumers. Next up is the trade shows to make sure all the travel agents get the same message!

Bullet PR client, Huawei, held an Ultra-Fast Broadband Conference at The Hilton Hotel in Auckland on the 17th September.

Guest speakers included Steven Joyce, Minister for ICT and Paul Scanlan, CTO for Huawei South Pacific.

More than a hundred delegates, including technology and business media, attended the event.

Fraser Gardyne of Bullet PR client, gardyneHOLT, appears on designdaily giving his opinions on the longevity of New Zealand’s design decisions.

Fraser argues that Auckland city is representative of a deeper lack of understanding among many Kiwis regarding where design fits into the overall reputation and perception of a brand. As he summarises:

“This all comes back to the importance of doing one thing and doing it well. As designers or architects, we may have many messages to get across or ideas to use. But we should always remember that sticking to one overarching theme is what works best for all communicators, and that includes us.”

For more of his opinion piece, click here.

Bullet PR client Realestate.co.nz put out the latest version of the property report recently. which achieved some great coverage.

The story for July was that average asking prices fell to their lowest level in a year.

3News.co.nz, NZ Herald (News and Business sections) and Radio NZ were some of the places the coverage appeared.

Bullet PR client Bookmyshow.co.nz appeared in the Sunday Star Times over the weekend in an article on 3D movies.

Some influential commentators in the US had been speculating on whether the 3D movie bubble may have burst in the wake of declining sales since Avatar.

Many fns have been choosing to watch movies like Toy Story and Shrek in 2D, which is said to be worrying some Hollywood distributors.

Using an old PR skill, we jumped on the back of this debate and secured comment from Bookmyshow General Manager Matthew Preen in the Sunday Star Times and on Stuff.co.nz.

Matthew commented that it’s more about content than format and that there is added value from watching Avatar in 3D, whereas Toy Story is good  entertainment regardless of format.