Agency With ‘Grizzly’ Client Wins Big

4 October 2007

Agency With ‘Grizzly’ Client Wins Big

Barnes Advertising and Yamaha awarded ‘Best Ad’ at the 2007 Fair Go Ad Awards

The people have voted, the votes have been tallied, and the Yamaha ‘Grizzly’ has been awarded Fair Go “Best Ad of the Year”. The television commercial, which has screened throughout 2007, was made by Auckland based agency, Barnes Advertising for Yamaha’s ‘Grizzly’ four wheel motorbike.

The awards celebrate the best and worst ads of 2007 as nominated by the New Zealand public. The ‘Grizzly’ campaign uses slapstick comedy and down on the farm charm to celebrate the relationship between Yamaha and the New Zealand farmer. Now screening across the Tasman, Yamaha’s ‘Grizzly’ ad is rapidly becoming an underground hit with Australian audiences too.

The ad was written by Creative Director and owner Daniel Barnes and Senior Art Director Crispin Schuberth. Barnes says the 'Grizzly' campaign had what it takes: a great idea, a decent production budget and a client prepared to break the category mindset.

"Yamaha is really committed to the farm market, but instead of the macho style typical of the category, Barnes Advertising pitched the idea of a tribute to '70s English comedy such as The Goodies and Monty Python. That style is the opposite of the typical slick ad production, so it really connects with people,” says Barnes.

Yamaha’s Peter Payne said “Our objective was simply to lift Yamaha above the rest. This campaign’s worked at every level – a massively popular ad that’s hugely boosted sales even in the few short months it’s been running.”

It is the first time one of New Zealand’s smaller, independent agencies has taken out the coveted Fair Go Best Ad award in a category normally dominated by large multinationals and signals that the fast growing independent agency scene of the past few years is now coming of age.

Barnes, also founder of the Independent Agencies group at CAANZ, is heartened by what he sees as a trend that benefits the whole industry.

"The large agencies – for example, Colenso, FCB, TBWA, Saatchis - do great creative work but there are comparatively few of them. I think agencies like us - Consortium, Shine, and Sugar for instance - are filling a real gap. It’s not just creative either. While Barnes plans and buys a lot of our own media, in Yamaha’s case we collaborated with Di Rice at GI Media, a very successful media indy and a mate too. So the advertising industry is now producing exciting work across the board, which has got to be good for clients," he says.

In addition to Yamaha, the agency has a number of clients Barnes considers to be the best operators in their respective fields. Key clients include automotive giant, Subaru, who has been with Barnes Advertising for 11 years, elite hotel chain Langham Hotels, (recently winning both Hotel of the Year and Restaurant of the Year), health firm Geneva International, and the Paris based Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

"Our policy is to focus on quality clients and long term thinking. Fewer and better allows for closer relationships between the top level people on both sides. That's the way we like to work,” says Barnes.

To view New Zealand's newest classic commercial, visit:
www.yamahagrizzly.co.nz or www.barnesadvertising.com

ENDS

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