Enko Group are specialists in quality kitchen fittings. Big Fish Creative developed a brand package which compliments Enko Group’s commitment to a quality finish and professional service.

Big Fish Creative works with BNZ Save the Kiwi to produce a quarterly newsletter filled with the latest from the world of kiwi and kiwi advocacy.

NorthTec were looking to engage with students on an interactive level at their student road shows. This Careers Game designed and developed by Big Fish Creative, allows users to find out what career path they might like to take and how NorthTec can assist in getting them there.

The NDHB sought the help of Big Fish Creative to pull together a Facebook campaign, to reach the right age group at a community level, as quickly as possible when a Meningococcal-C outbreak hit Northland.

As part of their online marketing strategy, IC Motor Group decided to use an electronic newsletter to connect with their customer base.  Big Fish Creative have a hand in designing and writing the newsletter each month and sending it on to IC Motor Group’s ever growing data base.

The threatening rain wasn’t enough to deter cricket fans from Cobham Oval on Waitangi weekend as International Cricket made its debut in Whangarei in front of a capacity crowd.

Big Fish Creative was on the scene to capture the Black Caps as they batted their way to their third highest one-day score of 372 for 6 with an impressive 146 against Zimbabwe in the National Bank Series.

Those who weren’t able to watch the game live got to see a preview of Big Fish Creative’s timelapse showcasing Whangarei during the intermission on Sky Sport.

To see the crowds and highlights of the match, check out this video we filmed on behalf of the Northland Cricket Association.

This year’s ‘Whangarei: Love it Here’ Billboard competition has received an overwhelming response for the second year running, with over 370 entries from throughout the district showing why people love it here in Whangarei.

After a gruelling selection process with so much great local talent to choose from, the judging panel narrowed it down to six finalists whose images capture the essence of summer in Whangarei.

The six finalists are:

• ‘Skaters’ by Dakota Stewart
• ‘Whangaumu Bay’ by Ivonne Willcocks
• ‘Whangarei Falls’ by Kristi Henare
• ‘Langs Beach’ by Sarah Warrington
• ‘Whangarei Heads’ by Sam Cotterill-Craig
• ‘Surf at Ocean Beach’ by Amanda Walker

The billboards are now on display on the grassy area between Victoria Bridge and the Town Basin in central Whangarei.

One of the finalists will receive prizes from A Perfect Day cruises, Schnappa Rock Cafe and Oceans Resort and Hotel at Tutukaka. To have your say on which finalist should receive the prize, ‘like’ the photo on the Whangarei: Love it Here facebook page, or text ‘NAD’ and the photographer’s name to 021 241 4568.

Big Fish Creative has loved being involved in this competition for the second year running and it’s great to see more people entering and more feedback from the community. Make sure you nominate your favourite before voting closes on 24th February, when the lucky winner will be announced!

If you’re from Whangarei and you love the place, here’s your chance to show thousands of people just how much you Love it Here!

After the success of last year’s Billboard Challenge launched in late December 2010, the competition has reopened for a new year of entries.

This competition is one of the initiatives run as part the Whangarei: Love it Here Campaign which actively engages the community to take a lead role in showing pride in their community.

This year’s lucky winner will receive prizes from A Perfect Day cruises, Schnappa Rock Cafe and Oceans Resort and Hotel at Tutukaka.

The ‘Love It Here’ billboard competition is open to anyone who thinks they have a summer photograph that evokes why they Love It Here. To enter, simply send your photograph as a JPG attachment to competition@whangareinz.com by January 30th 2012.

Big Fish Creative is thrilled to be involved in the competition for the second year running. Check out the Whangarei : Love it Here facebook page that we’ll be updating daily so you can find out who the finalists are and have your say on the final winners.

One lucky Katikati farmer is looking forward to a “bit of a shindig” with Marc Ellis at his place early this year, after winning The Barn Company’s first barn warming. The Katikati local secured his Barn Company barn, barn warming and Supreme Masport BBQ at this year’s Mystery Creek Fieldays when he pushed the barn auction bidding to $17,000.

We we’re delighted to announce the second lucky Barn Company customer was not just one person but rather a whole airport! Yes, that’s right, Ardmore Airport in South Auckland is the lucky winner of the second barn warming, having signed up for not one, but several buildings in the last few months.

The Barn Company is a New Zealand owned and operated company, with 22 locally owned franchises reaching from Cape Reinga to Bluff. They specialise in the design and construction of rural, commercial and industrial buildings, offering the best steel building solution in the country.

The Barn Company buildings are New Zealand designed, manufactured and constructed to the highest engineering standards using a patented Bracketless Portal System that makes them superior to other steel building product on the market.

Big Fish Creative has been working with them for the last year developing a new range of marketing collateral, updating the branding and strategising for campaigns such as the barn warmings. We’ve loved every minute of helping to deliver this campaign, including creating supporting material for the Fieldays, arranging radio interviews, staging the auction and capturing the whole lot on film. A big congratulations from us to the lucky winners!

A long established Whangarei business, Natural Wood Creations were making an exciting move to new premises and came to Big Fish Creative looking to re-brand, fit out their new store and create a product range that targeted a modern market.  The result is a new brand, Kauri Creations, now residing in an impressive new store in The Hub, Town Basin.

The Northland Regional Council approached Big Fish Creative looking for a way to showcase the achievements of contractors involved in the rebuild of Toll Stadium and to recognise the efforts of their own team in being on time and on budget on such a large scale project. Our solution was to create a video that portrayed the efforts of those involved in the project.

Looking for an opportunity to be market leaders, IC Motor Group was keen to discuss the development of online video promotions for its used vehicles. The Big Fish Creative solution uses latest technology to create quick and easy videos for each and every used vehicle on the yard, so car buyers can see the car inside and out from the convenience of their own home computer.

IC Motor Group was looking to give their online presence a fresh face to reflect the growing demand for online vehicle sales and Big Fish Creative were glad to help. The new website not only lists the full range of IC Motor Group used vehicles, but it also features local and national news, a comprehensive vehicle search, the latest in new cars, and plenty of opportunities for customers to connect with the IC Motor Group team.

When the WDC approached Big Fish Creative with the challenge to support the community in creating and growing a self-sustaining brand for Whangarei, ideas flowed thick and fast.

The brief was to nurture the creation of a brand that would positively change the perception of Whangarei, for both residents and visitors.

Whangarei : Love it Here has literally grown from the grass roots up, with Big Fish Creative supporting the launch of a Whangarei t-shirt design competition, a billboard competition, facebook page and the development of the Love it Here brand into WDC marketing. This is an exciting project that has taken on a life of its own and continues to grow from strength to strength.

Big Fish Creative were delighted to contribute to the new Hub in the Whangarei Town Basin and the refurbishment of the i-site at Tawera Park, working on the concept and design for the spaces, as well as all display material.  Collaborating with a range of local contractors was a key part of the role, with tight deadlines met and an exciting end result welcoming visitors to the district.

One of the strengths of The Barn Company is their ability to put up a great steel building, fast, hence their company message, Bigger, Better, Faster. Big Fish Creative decided one of the best ways to show this was with timelapse photography, representing the true speed of a Barn Company build.

In order to create a memorable campaign around the National Fieldays, Big Fish Creative helped The Barn Company develop the ‘barn warming’ campaign, made even more fun with involvement from Marc Ellis, who also ran an exciting barn auction at the Fieldays.

With 22 franchises, The Barn Company understood the importance of growing equity in their brand through quality and consistency across the country.  Working with Big Fish Creative, the national brand was reviewed and refreshed, providing franchises with all the tools they needed from stationery and brochures to signage and a new website.

What a month it has been for Whangarei! We painted the town red as the Tongan, Japanese and Canadian sides clashed at the Northland Events Centre in the 2011 Rugby World Cup.  The whole city joined in with resounding enthusiasm, whether it be with performing flash mob hakas, wearing red on Wednesdays, or stringing up some of the 40 kilometres of ‘Paint it Red’ banner tape that was used over the event.

In honour of the visiting teams, three unique pieces of artwork were sketched by local artists and the Big Fish Creative design team were delighted to be involved in bringing the sketches to life. The three pieces depict each respective nation intertwining cultures with New Zealand. Just two prints were made of each artwork – one to be sent home with the teams and the other to remain at the Northland Events Centre as a reminder of our wonderful visitors.

Read the stories that inspired each piece below.

Nation:  Tonga

Title:  On Common Ground

Artist:  Te Rangitu Netana

Story: The sacred connections shared between Tonga and Tai Tokerau extend throughout time – across the oceans that connect us, the land and mountains that sustain us and the guardians that protect us. Our shared ancestry is drawn from the beginning of time where together our ancestors slept, to the dawn of our collective awakening. Today we reconnect through our voyaging traditions, our shared sacred practices, beloved reverence for our lands and guardians, and most of all, our connections to each other. May we continue to navigate together as one.

Nation:  Japan

Title:   Te Hononga Wairua (The Spiritual Bond)

Artist:   Poutama Hetaraka

Story: When the Dragon appears on the tail of the Great-Fish-of-Maui (Northland), they are a part of us. When the Taniwha appears on that majestic land of the rising sun (Japan), we are a part of them. The sacred thread between us is a spiritual bond, the axis on which the emerging new world revolves.

Nation:  Canada

Title:  Kia Kotahi (To Unite)

Artist:   Ngaire & Tu Wihongi

Story: The native bee – through its small act of pollination creates the greatest of deeds. In New Zealand and Canada the bee helps to sustain the ever important native flora and fauna including the Kauri and Yellow Cedar. To New Zealand, Tane Mahuta is our largest Kauri and the deity of man, the forests and all that dwell within. For Maori, the family of mankind originates from Tane Mahuta. The bee is to the Kauri like relationships are to man. Relationships generate and sustain bonds much like how bees generate and sustain trees.

Whangarei’s Town Basin is now home to The Hub, a Whangarei focused information centre with excellent information about local events, accommodation and attractions. The building also houses the brand new facility for the Whangarei Art Museum.

The Hub has become the terminal for the Intercity Coach service – a fantastic first impression for coach visitors to Whangarei; and in association with The Hub, a business centre, expanded café and high quality restroom facilities are also being developed.

Work for the city’s world class information centre and art museum began in February this year and the facilities unveiled just in time for the Rugby World Cup. The Information Hub has had a great reception, receiving well over 100 visitors each day since opening. In the first four weeks of opening, the new Whangarei Art Museum, attached to The Hub welcomed just shy of 5,000 visitors through it’s doors – more than an entire year’s audience at the old museum premises!

The development of this centre, the new canopy on the Victoria Bridge, and the sculpture walkway project is part of the vision for developing not only the Town Basin but also the central city and highway entrances to the Whangarei district. Over time, the plan includes a riverside walkway and cycle track loop from the Town Basin to Pohe Island and back over the new bridge.

Big Fish Creative were delighted to work on the concept and design for the spaces, as well as all display material. Collaborating with a range of local contractors was a key part of the role, with tight deadlines met and an exciting end result welcoming visitors to the district. It has been a great reminder as to why we all love Whangarei so much!

The Big Fish Creative team have just returned bronzed and revived after a fantastic trip abroad to Fiji! After selecting 47 students from universities across Australia and New Zealand, the team headed to Fiji to document the students battle it out for a Free UK OE.

The Australasia-wide competition was an online initiative developed for myOE, an organisation which supports traveling professionals with financial and immigration solutions to make the most of their earnings and their new location on their overseas experience.

Big Fish Creative were on site in Fiji to orchestrate ‘stage two’ of the competition, filming the entrants’ video submissions which were then posted online for viewers to vote on. This campaign was been a great success, informing hundreds of new potential clients about myOE’s fantastic services.

For more information, check out the myOE website.

From surf beaches to sunset scenes, Whangarei residents have already entered a dazzling array of photographs in the Whangarei ‘Love it Here’ Billboard Challenge.

“People have until February 14 to get their entries in to us, and from the look of the pictures we have received so far, the competition is going to be spectacular,” says Whangarei District Council Economic Development Manager Pete Gleeson.

“The pictures sent in so far clearly show why people love living in Whangarei. I’m looking forward to all the pictures that will be coming in as people return from holiday and start downloading and sharing their photos. It’s not just about the beautiful scenery – it’s about capturing the essence of this place in the people and the settings that make us unique.”

When the challenge closes on 14 February 2011, all submitted images will go on display as part of the Endless Summer Festival. Judges will select the 12 top images to be transformed into mobile billboards in an open air exhibition in March, and the public will select the winner. Some images may also be transformed into other promotional material such as Whangarei postcards and tea towels, and some will become larger-than-life billboards to showcase the city at future events, including the Rugby World Cup.

The winning entrant will receive a ‘Perfect Day’ day long, sight-seeing cruise for two to the Poor Knights Islands with Dive! Tutukaka.

Mr Gleeson says this great prize donated by Dive! Tutukaka is yet another example of the incredible experiences on offer in the Whangarei District.

“There are so many amazing things about this District, including the Poor Knights Islands, and this collection of billboards will become an iconic visual representation of what makes this place special.”

Launched in late December, the Billboard Challenge is the second in a series of grass-roots initiatives, actively engaging the community to take a lead role and show pride in the community. The initiatives involve representatives from the business, creative, cultural and tourism sectors and Whangarei District Council and are part of a long-term plan to raise Whangarei’s profile as a great place to live, work and play.

The initiative reflects the values being promoted through the Northland Pride Campaign, being run by the Northland Intersectoral Forum (NIF), of which WDC is a member. The Northland Pride Campaign aims to build community ownership of community safety through people taking care of each other and taking pride in their communities.

The NZ Transport Agency has awarded the contract to build the Kamo Bypass to the Whangarei-based civil engineering company, United Civil Construction Ltd.
This exciting new project will provide a high quality route north and an alternative to the existing Kamo Road. The overall project will help move traffic away from the city centre and residential areas surrounding Kamo.

As part of the project, an off-road cyclepath and footpath will be developed for pedestrians and cyclists with extensive landscaping to beautify the environment around the bypass.

Whangarei Mayor Stan Semenoff said he was delighted to see the start of the improvements.

“This council has worked hard with NZTA to meet the Government’s call for infrastructure to drive economic growth, and we are very pleased that the importance of this project to Northland’s economy has been recognised. State Highway 1 is the economic lifeline between Northland and the rest of New Zealand, and we will continue to work with NZTA to see further improvements,” Mr Semenoff said.

Big Fish Creative will be on the scene, capturing every moment as we record the development using timelapse photography. Watch this space to see the progress!

Whangarei now has it’s own range of t-shirts thanks to a t-shirt design competition that attracted entries from across the district.

“Whangarei: love it – show it!” is the theme for a t-shirt competition launched in October as part of a longer term plan to raise the profile of Whangarei as a great place to live, work and play. It is the first in a series of grass-roots initiatives, actively engaging the community who will take a lead role to ensure the initiatives reflect the heart and soul of Whangarei people.

The t-shirt initiative has involved representatives from the business, creative, cultural and tourism sectors and Whangarei District Council. “It’s been such a great competition, with so much interest and support from the community,” says WDC Economic Development Manager Pete Gleeson.

“We wanted to give people a chance to show their love of Whangarei, and that’s just what has happened. The range of designs submitted was outstanding, and it certainly must have been difficult for the public to vote for their top five.”

A showcase of the top 30 t-shirts was held last month at the Old Library, where artists had the opportunity to model their own designs on the catwalk. Following the showcase, two weeks of public voting helped decide the top five designs, which are now available at Tuatara Design Store in Whangarei.

“The five winners have all captured the essence of the competition, with their designs truly reflecting what they love about Whangarei. It’s about shifting perceptions of Whangarei – including what residents think and say, as well as what tourists see and hear. We want the community to champion this cause.”

In fact, Pete says the range was so great, a decision has been made to print more than just five designs.

“To celebrate the inaugural competition and because there were so many great entries, we’ve decided to print an additional seven designs, which will give people even more options, and will also support local tourism leading up to the Rugby World Cup. We all love it here, so buy a t-shirt and start wearing it!”

Local artist and retailer Kara Dodson has given the t-shirt initiative her full support, and says the t-shirts will fill a distinct gap in the market, with customers often seeking out Whangarei designs. As well as Tuatara Design Store, the t-shirts will also be available for other retailers to stock by contacting Pete Gleeson.

The initiative reflects the values being promoted through the Northland Pride Campaign, being run by the Northland Intersectoral Forum (NIF), of which WDC is a member. The Northland Pride Campaign aims to build community ownership of community safety through people taking care of each other and taking pride in their communities.

Tristan is one of the bigger fish in the tank as our beloved Creative Director (and yes, everything they say about creative directors is true). He’s also frustratingly good at producing outstanding creative ideas at the drop of a hat (or the swig of a pint) – which of course is what makes him so good at his job.

His ability to consider the big picture (and ignore the details that the rest of us get bogged down with) is his crowning glory.

Including his years as co-founder and director of Big Fish Creative, Tristan has been immersed in the creative industry for over 15 years, and has worked in New Zealand, Australia and the UK developing and leading a range of innovative initiatives – although he’d probably never mention it.

NorthTec wanted a way to share their success stories with the world – capturing the images for this campaign was a privilege.