Lassoo Round Up

Consumer

Credit Card Debt Plummets

Turns out we have been scrubbing off credit card debt as well as scrubbing our hands recently. This is an unexpected, but not surprising benefit.

Return of the King

Well the king of skateboarding Tony Hawk Pro Skater is getting an overhaul of the original game. Great news for those older gamers amongst us that have returned to their PlayStations only to find that they lack the skills to effectively play any of the new games.

Gaming Sales are Booming

Unsurprisingly, sales of computer games have increased by up to 50% since the lockdown levels started rolling out. People are also spending more time socialising online within games as they seek to replace real world interactions with virtual ones.

Red Magic

Good for you. Good for the oceans and the ability to reduce methane omissions from Cows. Is this the magic bullet NZ has been looking for?

Connection

To Zoom or not to Zoom?

Just when we thought the rest of our lives were going to be spent on Zoom calls, Google Meet looks like it may be set to challenge our love affair. While Meet daily users are still 200M behind Zoom, it is picking up 3M users a day and Google likes to win….

Link: meet.google.com

Travis Scott Astronomical Concert

In a world first, Travis Scott launched his new single inside the online game Fortnight to 12 Million people. This is worth checking out especially if you aren’t a gamer!

Virtual Dating

This twitter thread from entertainment journalist Amy Kaufman is a good example of how lockdown can’t keep down love and how quickly people adapt to a new reality.

Masterclass

The Spinoff has labelled the Government’s handling of communications as a masterclass in masscommunications. Conversely, the UK has been showing everyone how it’s not done.

Brands

May the 14th be with you

To acknowledge May the 14th as a new footnote in NZ history, we look to the force for good grace and a timely reminder that great creative only needs a great idea, not a great big budget.

Pedigree Virtual Adoption

This heart-warming initiative from Pedigree is ensuring that dogs are still finding homes during lockdown.

How Diamonds Became Forever

75 years ago, post WW2, the De Beers changed the world forever by inventing the engagement ring. But it was the legendary Frances Gerety (a.k.a Peggy Olsen from Madmen) who coined the phrase, “Diamonds are Forever” and started America’s obsession.

Ayds

Reflecting on brands that have shared names with diseases, Ayds diet supplements suddenly became hugely unpopular during the 1980’s AIDS outbreak. The TV ads probably didn’t help….

Media

Local Media Update

As the local media industry lurches from challenge to challenge, the only constant is uncertainty.

NZME shareholders have been questioning the direction of the company whilst Nine, Stuff’s owner, is either trying to get out of NZ entirely or increase its footprint by purchasing TV3 depending on who you talk to.

Digital Stats

NZME has announced that there online favourite “The New Zealand Herald” has had a +37% increase from the previous yearc across page views as well as +23% increase YOY in unique browsers accessing the page. While Stuff Print has seen a drastic +223% increase in their print subscriptions over the lock down period (26th March – 23rd April)

Video On Demand:
Mediaworks is reporting over the lockdown period a 15% increase in unique browsers, whilst TVNZ saw an 18% increase.

Connected TV is still king, reaching the largest numbers of viewers weekly. TVNZ reported that 56% of their monthly streams are on connected TV and 33% for Mediaworks.

TV Ratings

1 News at Six continues to bring in strong ratings over 20 (AP 5+). This week they held onto a 57% channel share across the coveted 6pm news slot.

Bradley Walsh & Son Breaking Dad shows that we can still satisfy our wanderlust from our couches, rating a 14.3 AP 5+ with a channel share of 40%.

New Zealand proves that they still value local content, with 7 out of the top 10 shows this week being New Zealand made.

TV versus Social stats on 1pm Covid-19 updates

The Facebook live streams of the 1pm Covid-19 update on Jacinda Ardern’s Facebook page reach on average 328,000 people per post. In comparison on TV, 1 News midday update has an average audience of 436,000 and Newshub with 63,000 AP 5+.