Talkback: 'Boyfriend' success heralds new wave

What is interesting about the success of the NZ Girl "Worst Boyfriend" campaign is that it has caused such affront in the advertising community.

It's a great example of what we in the direct world call "multi-channel" - it engages people in an action that operates on more than one level, works one-to-one, and with its simple creative idea, is good old classic advertising, just executed in a more funky way.

The campaign has also now become thoroughly viral because of all the PR it has generated (including this).

The favourite at Axis, L&P's Stubbies campaign, was superbly executed but, ultimately, maybe it was simply just "too advertising" to grab the judges in the way that Worst Boyfriend did.

That isn't meant to be an overt criticism of L&P or their agency, but simply to make the point that ideas can be taken much further these days, quite easily. Which is why NZ Girl has done so well - it is the little extra touches, like the car smashing for $1 at the Big Day Out, that bring the brand to life.

Little wonder, then, that in the realm of direct marketing, we are seeing significant growth.

The entry standard at the Cannes Lions Direct has, says chief judge Fred Koblinger, "improved considerably - probably 70 per cent of entries were good to very good work".

We were understandably pleased to have our own work for Nissan shortlisted among these.

The Cannes Lions Direct Grand Prix winner was another non-traditional solution, this time for Renault, with the use of multi-channel involving two versions of a TVC running simultaneously on rival TV networks, with a click through to a website. Unusual, effective but, again, not settling for the predictable and seeking to engage people one-to-one.

The internet allows us to be really good at instant data capture and, with modern data hygiene tools, user input "rubbish" can usually be cleaned to a standard allowing for future communication by mail, email, text, you name it.

We're going to see more multi-channel campaigns winning awards. It isn't always the right solution for a whole host of strategic reasons, but it is clearly catching the eye of the judges at awards worldwide, showing that an idea can be taken in many directions but, ultimately, in the direction that all advertising will eventually reach - one-to-one.

* Ben Goodale is managing director of direct marketing agency TEQUILA\.