NRM’s ‘Denkavit’ campaign earns top honours

NRM’s ‘Denkavit’ campaign earns top honours in national Marketing Awards

Agribusiness, NRM, has been awarded the Fairfax New Zealand Supreme Award for marketing for a campaign that has resurrected the fortunes of its Denkavit Whey calf milk replacement (CMR) product in the face of an otherwise lethal competitive threat.

In 2001, dairy industry mergers put control of CMR manufacturing and a huge proportion of distribution into the hands of a new market dominant competitor, Fonterra.

Where others may have given up, NRM set about reinventing its product, its approach and ultimately the entire product category. What began as a threatening situation has become a resounding success, with a newly formulated product, manufactured offshore, and expertly target marketed again staking its claim for market leadership.

Award judges said the campaign was a fantastic example of brave and clever marketing where information, education and authority had been expertly applied to prove a case and win over a highly critical market.

NRM’s Denkavit Whey campaign also took top honours in the Marketing Magazine Business to Business Award category from fellow finalists, Interion - for its Bestwood Melamine 2003 colour launch – and Oxygen Business Solutions, for its outsourcing & services business campaign.

All category winners were eligible for consideration for the Supreme Award.

Teen cancer charity CanTeen took top honours for its unique fundraising initiative, Bandanna Week from three other finalists in the Bizam Charity/Fundraising/Non-Profit Award category.

Now in its sixth year, the campaign was refreshed and refocused with the inclusion of strategic partner Foodstuffs and its national spread of supermarket chains and house-brand ‘Pams’.

With this heightened level of distribution and the involvement of high profile personalities in teen-focussed advertising, CanTeen tripled bandanna sales from the previous year to raise more than $1million and expand its peer support network and programmes that assist young people to fight their illness and make the most of their lives.

Other category finalists were: Bay of Plenty Polytechnic for its Tertiary Education campaign; Dunedin City Council for its ‘I am Dunedin’ campaign; and, WOW Rapp Collins/Winter Power Taskforce for its Target 10% campaign.

The Smartsource Marketing Award for Fast Moving Consumer Goods was won by Frucor Beverages for the launch and development of its category expanding h2go flavoured water range. In what judges described as an incredibly smart campaign, h2go leveraged the subtle differences research had pinpointed in consumer behaviours and attitudes towards bottled water and with deft marketing not only grew ahead of its category, but grew the bottled water category overall.

Judges said the h2go team deliberately and precisely looked for the ‘white spaces’ in the category and got in there fast and strong to pre-empt the competition. The financial results in a very difficult category have been nothing short of staggering.

Other finalists in this category were: Pfizer Consumer Healthcare for its Listerine PocketPaks (highly commended); DB Breweries for Amstel Light; and Energiser for the Battery Centre.

The Radio Bureau Consumer Durables Award was won by Bendon, for its Elle Macpherson Intimates relaunch.

What’s left if you take away the face, then The Body? Plenty, as Bendon has proved with its relaunch of Elle Macpherson Intimates range without Elle Macpherson.

In what judges describe as a radical piece of re-thinking the brand has subtly been moved away from a reliance on personality to a key element of its market appeal – luxury and intimacy - and then re-built with a campaign that uses intimate and voyeuristic images of lingerie-clad women shot through windows, doors and keyholes. The effect has been phenomenal with both sales and brand awareness surpassing previous levels.

Other finalists in this category were: Interion, for its Bestwood Melamine 2003 Colour Launch; and, Volkswagen for its re-defining and re-positioning campaign.

The campaign to relaunch BankDirect was judged winner in the colmar brunton Consumer Services Award category, ahead of fellow finalist Air New Zealand and its Tasman Express launch.

After keeping a relatively low media profile in the years since its initial launch, BankDirect saw recent changes in the banking market as the ideal environment in which to further its direct-banking service claims and sharpen its perceived level of leading-edge banking technology use. Back comes the face of BankDirect, Roland Gift, back comes the on-line banking message, with the addition of TXT, and back comes awareness and a commensurate growth in business. Simple, direct and right on line to its target audience.

Highly commended in the Morton Estate Retail Award category was McDonald’s for the work it has done on its Eat Smart, Be Active programme aimed at increasing awareness of nutritional issues and involving the introduction of new food lines, including salads and fruit items. Judges said this programme was marketing at its most difficult, were impressed with progress so far and were looking forward to continuing success and development over the longer-term.

Also a finalist in this category was the re-launch of the Sunday Star-Times newspaper

Two highly commended awards were also presented in the University of Otago Small Business Award category. Country-Wide Publications was recognised for the launch of a new rural magazine, NZ Farmers Weekly, and The Hyperfactory for the growth strategy behind its innovative mobile messaging service.

Judges for the 2004 Marketing Magazine Marketing Awards were: Auckland University associate professor Richard Brookes; marketing consultant, Des Brennan, Frucor Beverages managing director, Mark Cowsill; independent brand consultant Alison Meldrum; and Robin Hood Foundation chief executive, Jude Mannion.

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