Going a bit Square in Wellington - Lambton Square Shopping Centre Redevelopment

Immersion pitched for and won the branding and signage contract for the multi-million dollar re-development of Lambton Square Shopping Centre. The new site will become the flagship for the retailing landscape around Lambton Quay. Competition was fierce, and a few eyebrows were raised when a Dunedin based company beat out the ‘Capital City’ marketing teams.

Sarah Girvan will now be out of the office every Wednesday and putting her knowledge of international shopping centre marketing to good use. As part of the project Development Team she will be working with representatives from AMP Capital, Jasmax Architects (the same architects that designed Forsyth Barr Stadium), and Demografik Design. Another, ‘watch this space’ project, that is going to be BIG!

View the redevelopment photos here...

How Hot Are You? Ethos Woodfires

Ethos Woodfires are based in Christchurch and their patented wood fires are sold nation-wide. Ethos approached Immersion Marketing wanting assistance to develop a marketing strategy and refreshed brand that would help them to increase sales and distribution nationwide.

Immersion’s first task was to determine Ethos’s value proposition and appropriate positioning strategy. The team became engrossed in the Ethos brand, statistics were analysed, retailers interviewed, customers surveyed and a focus groups held. As a company, Ethos Woodfires began the process of reflecting on what they have achieved so far and rejuvenating their brand for the future.

We partnered with Christchurch based Demografik Design to create a new logo and simplified colour palette that presents a consumer facing brand.

We identified that Ethos has the hottest lowest emission fireplace on the market, and Demografik created a brand identity that focused on people rather than fires, and the emotional decisions tied to a wood fire purchase. With the black and white photographs, a strong logo and an emotive play on words, Ethos Woodfires has claimed their market position as an expert in clean heat. ‘What’s your Ethos?’

The importance of supporting retailers was also identified during the brand positioning phase. Co-branded marketing packages have been developed, along with in-store information packs, technical specifications and digital displays. To enable effective consumer decisions, this information is also available online and backed up by the Ethos sales support team.

Client feedback: – “Love it, Immersion Marketing nailed it!”

Pacific Edge Limited - Saving Lives Worldwide from Dunedin

Cancer is a pandemic disease; as a Dunedin based company that is developing cancer diagnostic technologies, Pacific Edge is saving lives on a world scale. By combining exacting scientific research and analytical software, Pacific Edge has created easy to use early cancer detection tests that allows for better cancer management.

Sarah Girvan says, “It’s easy to admire what Pacific Edge has achieved, and they back their own creations. They haven’t sold their technologies to a manufacturer, they have patented their products, and are overseeing their delivery to markets around the world. They are producing exceptionally innovative products and it has been a priviledge to work with such a forward thinking company.”

Spot Bob! - How do you market a bladder cancer detection test?

Cxbladder® is a non-invasive, simple-to-use urine test that detects bladder cancer.

The Challenge: To develop a marketing campaign that would connect with two distinct audiences: medical professionals and their patients. Finding the balance between medical ‘tech speak’ and ‘do this because it could save your life’ was a challenge in itself.

The Creation: Immersion partnered with Strategy Design & Advertising, from Christchurch, to reposition the brand and develop an innovative information pack for medical professionals (predominately urologists) and patients.

Read more and check out the collateral...

EVENT: The Doddsy International

Lake Wanaka Contact Tri Series – Elite Race, 20^th January 2012

Late last year in an effort to increase the number of elite competitors and support the Contact Tri’s continued presence in Wanaka, local Wanaka triathlete and Olympic hopeful Doddsy (Tony Dodds) laid down the ‘Doddsy International’ challenge.

In a quest to bring more world class athletes to the race, Doddsy announced he would double the prize money from his own pocket if anyone could beat him. This generated a huge amount of media coverage, increased local spectator turnout with thousands showing up chanting ‘Doddsy, Doddsy’ and attracted several international triathletes including World Number 5 Frenchman Laurent Vidal who ended up narrowly beating Doddsy for first place in a nail biting race!

This year the event is recognised as an official ITU World Series race, meaning valuable points are on the board for international triathletes. Creating added incentive to come, but there’s more.....

Read more here...

Shhhhh it’s Secret Squirrel! – An Eye on Market Research

WHK Dunedin has been Immersion Marketing’s company accountant right from the start. They understand the importance of a professional marketing team; have used Immersion’s services, and recommended Immersion to their clients.

Accurate market research is essential for any new venture, and we have just completed a feasibility study investigating market potential for one of WHK’s largest clients. There is nothing like being part of a brand new idea and working with an Australasian company listed on the NZX, so thanks WHK for recommending us.

Introducing... Cannon Hill Gourmet Foods!

Conducting product testing for our new client, Cannon Hill Gourmet Foods proved to be just another hard day at the Immersion Marketing office... It was a unanimous decision that the aioli, and the saffron, dill and mustard mayonnaise are to die for!

Cannon Hill creators, Tony Elliott (a practising chef) and his wife Karen have created a range of deli-quality fine foods. By delivering products to supermarkets that would normally be found in quality restaurants, their goal is to spark everyone’s culinary creativity so everyone can go on gastronomic adventures in their own kitchen.

Immersion has completed their marketing strategy,  and is in the process of rolling it out so keep an eye out for them in a supermarket near you soon! 

Check out Cannon Hill's fantastic products here. 

TracMap Website: GPS Made Easy

Colin Brown and Grant Gibson from TracMap are on Immersion Marketing’s AAA+ client list. According to Sarah, “They are great to work with, know exactly what they want, give direct instructions, and they’ve got an innovative product.” Immersion Marketing took a strategic approach to the site development, undertaking research and extensive website architecture and planning.

We gathered data from clients and prospects, and began to understand exactly what the market wanted. We then made the important distinction that prospects and clients search by industry first, and application of the product is also of equal importance. This became the basis for the new TracMap website.

In collaboration with NV Interactive, Immersion Marketing has recently re-launched TracMap’s website. The critical aspect to developing the website has been usability. The product range have been re-organised by function into clearly defined channels. Each landing page is clear and uncluttered with detailed information just a few clicks away.

TracMap's innovative products do have extensive technical specifications, and it is up to the client to choose how much information they need to see.

The website is also reactive to the needs of each international market. The customers IP address determines their landing page and graphics. In North America, the Rescue and Emergency Services products pop up first, while Aerial Agriculture take the lead in Australia.

Of course, the results are commercially sensitive, but let us just say that the reconfigured website has not only authenticated TracMap’s brand identity, it has also increased product sales from around the world.

Check out the new site here.

It's all on at Lambton Square!

The Challenge:

Create an engaging Rugby World Cup installation that would increase the foot traffic and retail sales in Lambton Square Shopping Centre. With their experience in Shopping Centre marketing, of course Immersion Marketing was up for the challenge! The concept needed to be approved by the twenty-four retailers, the property manager, CB Richard Ellis, and meet the Rugby World Cup strict marketing specifications. On the practical side, it needed to be portable, durable and stand-alone so it would not hinder customer sight lines within the centre and could be rolled inside the centre barriers outside of hours to prevent vandalism.

The Concept: 

We created a 3m x 4 ½m scale photo backdrop of a rugby crowd. Passersby could dress up in their favourite rugby colours and have a ‘crowd shot’ taken.

Each participant received a card with directions to www.lambton-square.co.nz, where they could view their photo, and a $5 gift voucher that could be used at any of the Centre’s retailers. The stand is being managed by a promotional staff member/photographer from Friday to Sunday throughout the RWC programme.

The Results:

To ensure transparency and evaluate the return on investment each retailer is returning the redeemed vouchers and purchase receipt. The foot and website traffic generated will not be quantified until the end of the RWC; however, the response to date has been excellent - website traffic is up significantly, we have lots of fun content on the website and one of Centre retailers has given the project the ultimate compliment - ‘Can you do something like it for my other down town store?’

Check out some of the fantastic shots here.

Extreme Makeover: Office Edition!

The blank canvas that was our office has recently been treated to an extreme makeover as part of the first stage in transforming Immersion's office into a funky creative space!



A painter was called in, furniture was covered and within minutes the the once white walls were blasted with some colour, (correction: A LOT of colour). Our office now sports a bright green on the lower level, a blackboard covering the entire meeting area and of course we couldn't resist adding a splash of "Immersion Red" to the space.

The installation of a new heat pump also saw us able to quit huddling around our heaters, coffees and hotties; a welcome addition to the team!

We feel the space now suits our personality much better, and will assist in letting the creative juices flow...

With more transformations to come, watch this space...















Check out more images of the transformation in progress here.

Venture Partners: An innovative branding strategy, for an innovative client.

Venture Partners are exactly the type of client we love working with - we love getting our teeth into new markets, and the carbon market is certainly that!

An innovative new business concept, with a focus on the rapidly growing carbon trading market, they came to us in June to assist with developing a branding strategy. The brief was to develop a flexible and scalable branding structure, one that could grow and adapt as their business also inevitably will. 

We worked with them to develop the parent brand and underlying sub-brands, using a logo device and creative that's flexible, scalable and importantly, recognisable both in isolation and clustered together.

View the final website here.


"We engaged Immersion Marketing to deliver a versatile brand, website design and marketing collateral, all in a tight frame. We're delighted with the results. Immersion delivered a first class job, on time and within budget. It's been a pleasure working with Sarah and the team and I'd be happy to recommend them." - Greg Fahey, Managing Director

True Grit hair spa bounce back with ultra stylish photoshoot...

Jacqui and her super styling team of stylists at True Grit hair spa have had a pretty rough ride over the past year.

First their Manchester St salon was damaged in September's quake, so they located to temporary premises in Tuam St, then the February quake demolished what was left of 'Old Grit'. 

Much of True Grit's original branding creative focused on the unique and plush decor of Manchester St. Our brief was to develop a new positioning strategy for 2011/2012 that reflected 'New Grit'. 

Although the décor in True Grit's Tuam St salon is just as plush, we beleived that the real brand lay within the heart, passion and skills of team True Grit. So, our first step was to arrange a photoshoot with Dunedin photographer Emily Hlavac-Green - and wow, does the real 'True Grit' really show through!

Here's a sneak peak of some of the fantastic photography...

A huge thank you also to Donna Tulloch of Mild Red, for providing the clothing for the shoot. Donna’s ‘Black Knight’ Collection was perfect for the ‘Gritty’ Christchurch backdrop.

Welcome to our new office...

Due to the Immersion team's recent growth, it was recognised that an upgrade from the shoebox office space on George Street was needed.

We have been in our new office on Bond Street for a few months now, but have yet to show it off officially! So for those of you that have not been introduced to our new space yet - this is for you. 

Immersion is now located in the beautiful Dunedin Heritage building, Salisbury House, at 104 Bond Street. For many years this was the location of Forno's Auctioneers, but is now shaping up to be quite the creative hub! Owners of the building, Hayden Cawt and Sheryl McPherson, have opened an innovative fashion and design store, Salisbury Boutique, beside us, while other tenants include Dunedin jeweller Henry Deveraux, Otago Polytech grads Rachel Webb and Elise Barnes and their fashion label, Undone and business group, Venture Partners.

In the future we hope to combine creative forces and really take advantage of this beautiful Dunedin location, so watch this space... 


Check out some more imagery of our fantastic new space here. It's very "industrial/minimalist chic" at the moment, but we've got some pretty exciting plans for making it befitting of a funky marketing agency space!

MEDIA RELEASE: New Zealand Elite Triathlete Tony Dodds (aka Doddsy) remarkably unscathed after crash in Germany

New Zealand Elite Triathlete and Wanaka local Tony Dodds has been involved in a car crash in Germany whilst training for this weekend’s ITU World Series race in Hamburg. 

Tony was out training on his own on the narrow European roads when a car unexpectedly braked in-front of him. Tony has flown through the back windscreen.

Tony has emerged miraculously well considering the potential of the situation. He has 12 stiches to his arm, nicked an artery, but thankfully no broken bones.

“I was concerned about overtraining in the lead up to the London Olympic trials. So I’m seeing the silver lining in the situation! Potentially this is actually an opportunity to rest and be well prepared for August” said Tony with his characteristic optimism!

More updates on Tony’s progress will be posted to www.tonydodds.com, or via his Twitter account @doddsy_nz.

END

Dunedin - the preferred short holiday destination for South Island families...

Over the past few months we have been working with  Tourism Dunedin to create a winter marketing and advertising strategy aimed at families within 1 -4 hours drive from our fantastic city. We want to entice families to discover what Dunedin has to offer including the abundance of events throughout Winter. 

Along with our design partner Demografik, Immersion Marketing has created a stunning and emotive creative, that will be deployed from Christchurch south, via inserts, print and online advertising, social media and direct e-marketing.  

While putting together the visuals Sarah and the team got resourceful and, if you look closely, you may just see some Immersion staff, friends and families turned models for the on location photography! Click here to see more campaign imagery.

Hats off to our Christchurch Clients!

Thankfully since the devastating earthquake in February, all of our Christchurch clients have found their feet. How on earth we would cope in their shoes we will hopefully never have to find out - our hats are off to their perseverance and resourcefulness.

Eastgate Shopping Centre has suffered extensive damage, however the team were back onsite immediately and are working out of office containers in the carpark. Over 30 stores have had to be demolished, however everyone is safe, there were only relatively minor injuries considering the damage. Much of the centre will reopen in May and the remaining stores will be open in stages over the next six months.

We quickly wrote some editorial which Strategy Design & Advertising (from home, the Strategy building sadly has been demolished) worked their design magic on - see the full article here.

True Grit hair spa are back up and trading on Tuam Street in the CBD, Jacqui and her team are invincible. Thank goodness they had left their Manchester Street location and are now in their beloved 'concrete bunker', Manchester Street was sadly completely flattened by the February quake.

Colombus & Ware have bounced back and will be reopening in Merivale Mall. After 65 years in their iconic Colombo Street location it's a massive change for them, but a really exciting one. We think they'll go gangbusters at Merivale and look forward to rolling out their opening campaign over coming weeks!

Superior Motorcycles has reopened with some fantastic improvements instore. Structurally they were very lucky with no major damage to the building, however much of the stock and fitout was damaged.

Lastly, what's really evident with all of our clients is how much their clients are rallying around them! Many are as busy if not busier than ever and there's a real sense of loyalty and team spirit in Christchurch. If you haven't been back up there yet we recommend it - apart from the central city it's business as usual and every visitor goes towards helping the recovery.

C&W Rebrand Portfolio

United Engineers Brand Refresh

What does an engineering workshop need marketing for?Try several brand new clients, new jobs by the day and daily feedback about their their fantastic new signage (pictured) and website!

United Engineers have been located on the busy corner of Thomas Burns Drive, Dunedin for over 30 years.  Late in 2010 they approached us to help with upgrading their 'first impressions'.

A few months later and United Engineers are sporting a refreshed logo, brand new website and a complete refurbishment of the building exterior.

The team at Immersion Marketing are pleased to have been of assistance in assisting this business grow their profile through a complete brand refresh.

Scissortrix - Client Referral & Appointment Card

Immersion came up with a novel way to combine the traditional Salon appointment card, loyalty card and referral card into one. This way every Salon client who makes an appointment is a potential referral source, every appointment card has a perforated 'refer a friend' voucher attached.

The cards are finished with a high quality finish for that extra 'wow' factor, in matt laminate and spot UV gloss in places. Demografik were our creative partner and Federal Print produced the cards.