October 2023

No, we don’t mean practicing the drums and crooning your pop-soul compositions (unless you really want to).

We’re talking about having the vision to reach beyond your original loyal audience.

Phil did it when he stepped out from behind the drum kit and took on the role of frontman for prog rockers Genesis. It led to mainstream adulation and further reinvention as a solo artist and actor.

So what does this have to do with marketing in Aotearoa in 2023?

Quite a lot, actually.

Brand Loyalty Vs Expanding Market Penetration.

UK strategist Colin Horan has marshaled the evidence to show how brands that think beyond retention reap longer-term rewards. Like Phil Collins, they treat changing times as an opportunity to switch things up.

Colin puts it in a nutshell: “Driven by a quest for value, shoppers are actively seeking alternatives…This seismic shift away from ingrained routines presents a golden opportunity for brands to make their mark.”

That’s our cue.

Need a smash hit? You need posters.

With outdoor media, you can pop consumer information bubbles and present people with exciting new alternatives. That’s because street posters offer a winning mix of real-world impact and demographic reach.

So use Phantom’s smart targeting tools to buy the audiences you want to woo. Craft an omnichannel strategy that blends awareness and conversion. Break the internet with a site-specific activation campaign or a super-creative site takeover. (We have a whole division devoted to this – Phantom Labs.)

As Phil Collins recognized, sometimes you need to think bigger. You need to reach the people who aren’t buying your products.

We can help with that.

Be well covered when the sun comes out.

The Kiwi summer calls for some essential components. A summer hat to keep the sun’s rays off your face. A healthy application of sunscreen. A wardrobe full of summer shirts, sun dresses or sarongs.

Oh, and a Phantom Billstickers campaign to make the most of the season. 

Here’s why: Your audience will be revelling in the weather after all the wet and dreary days they’ve had to endure. With El Niño set to make its first appearance since 2016, a long spell of sunshine is on the cards. 

New Zealanders will be hanging out in parks, taking road trips, hosting parties and booking their tickets for summer events. That’s a crowd you want to reach.

Slap-bang in the middle of the action.

Phantom Billstickers has got you covered this summer. With over 6,500 poster frames around Aotearoa, we’re perfectly placed to deliver your audience. 

We’ll meet them by the beaches, in the car parks, in the city streets. We’ll surprise them in Napier or Nelson, and astonish them in Auckland. Whether you’re promoting a concert or boosting your brand, we’ll craft a schedule that does more business than an ice cream stand on a 30-degree day. 

Now’s the time to lock in Phantom’s prime summer sites. Challenge our Account Managers to get creative and see what they suggest.

We’re going to take a wild stab in the dark and assume you’re aware there’s an election campaign underway. One of the signs is…all the Corflute signage.

Politicians, with some honorable exceptions, are big fans of this corrugated plastic board. It’s a cheap, durable way of getting their face and brand in front of the public.

There’s just one problem – microplastics.  

Because Corflute is polypropylene, it’s hard to recycle. Eventually, it breaks down and filters out into the environment, where it winds up turning the planet into a giant, unplanned chemistry experiment. 

We think this is a bad idea.

Vote for No Corflute.

Wouldn’t it be great if Corflute went the way of other single-use plastics? So far New Zealand has said goodbye to plastic forks, food trays, and straws. We don’t leave the supermarket clutching single-use plastic bags anymore, so why are politicians giving Corflute a pass?

If you get the chance to have a word with some would-be MPs, you might bring up this topic. If they say there are no alternatives to Corflute, we’d be happy to have a chat. 

At Phantom Billstickers, as part of our commitment to running a sustainable business, we’ve shown Corflute the exit, and guess what? No drama! Our green alternatives? They practically high-five your budget, or at worst, are cost-neutral.

Whatever your political leanings, it’s time to give Corflute the boot.

It has been a big week.

I attended an interview at the US Consulate in Auckland. I am applying for a “Waiver of Ineligibility” to enter the USA.

What stops me from getting an ordinary Visa is a raft of drug convictions in the 1970s. I am married to an American and have been for fourteen years. I am not eligible for a Green Card owing to a Heroin conviction from 1974. When I do right no one remembers, when I do wrong no one forgets (Paparua Prison tattoo).

The woman who interviewed me was incredibly warm and this has been on my mind since the interview. She made a recommendation that a Visa be granted and now all the paperwork has gone to Homeland Security in the USA for a lookover. I have been granted waivers before so there shouldn’t be a problem.

It was worth going to the interview in order to get just a little bit of humanity.
I have been depressed for a while, my beautiful daughter, Hope (in the photo attached), died a few short months ago and I myself went through chemotherapy a year back. Franz Kafka said that when one is disturbed one should move one’s finger along one’s eyebrows.

I have regrets about being a junkie. I treated people wrong and I wasn’t able to maintain stable relationships. I was angry all the time. But I did have the very best friends in the world and we laughed at all the absurdities of this life. I’m thinking all of us just wanted the little piece of humanity, to feel warm about people (this comes first) and in return have them feel warm about you.

When I was a kid my mother would sometimes tell me she should never have had me (I was a late birth, my mother was 38 at the time). My father would tell me that I looked like a little mongoloid (this one still sits on my shoulders) and that the trouble with me was that I didn’t want to be as miserable as the rest of them (my family).

So I grew up with a lot of self-loathing and often, even these days, my brain tells me bad stories.
Friendships have been what has kept me going. Friendships have put a little froth in my underwear. People at their best keep me going, it’s not the meds, it’s not the money, it’s having genuine friends and doing good work for others. Love is the most cleansing feeling.

I believe if it wasn’t for drugs giving me the release they did, that I wouldn’t have lived past my twenties. My friends and I were all half-angel and half-pirate.

I love you.
Jim Wilson