Kids call the shots in Jono & Ben’s new brand campaign

A charming new brand campaign launched by New Zealand Media and Entertainment’s The Hits Breakfast with Jono & Ben called in the help of Kiwi kids across the country to provide their advice on how the popular morning radio show should be advertised.

Aptly titled “Kids Call the Shots”, the campaign launched last month with a 30-second television commercial effectively placed across TVNZ, cinema, digital and social media.  In the TVC, Jono and Ben ask a group of Kiwi kids how they should be advertising their radio show, with some hilarious results. The campaign then invited listeners of The Hits to join the fun with a call out for Kiwi kids to design the breakfast show’s new digital billboard in a unique competition. 

Gemma Vovchenko, GM Marketing – Audio at NZME, says the campaign uses humour and charm to address a challenge they’ve had since the two former television stars – Jono Pryor and Ben Boyce - made the move to breakfast radio: “How do we make sure people know they’re now on The Hits breakfast?”

“We’re super lucky to have the talented Jono & Ben – not only are they fantastic broadcasters, but they’re extremely creative and came to us with the initial concept for the TVC. Our NZME Marketing and Creative team worked with them to flesh out the idea further, before joining forces with creative agency Kevin & Co to bring the TVC to life,” says Vovchenko.

The Hits’ Content Director, Matt Anderson, says the TVC campaign was made even better by bringing it into the realm of listeners’ lives.

“The new TVC presented the perfect opportunity to get our listeners involved by asking their children to get crafty and design a new billboard for Jono & Ben. The entries we received absolutely blew us away, and the winning result is pretty adorable!” he says.

The winning entry was a tie between two brothers from Browns Bay in Auckland - Carson and Jimmy McDermott - who have won a cash prize of $500, a meet and greet with Jono & Ben, plus their winning digital billboards going live in Auckland for a day.

Executive Producer Kevin & Co, Bronwynn Bakker says: “It was a pleasure to work with Jono & Ben again, adding some wide-eyed and hilariously sassy kids to the mix this time!  It was great fun working with NZME and The Hits team.”

Jono and Ben on The Hits Breakfast are live from 6am - 9am every weekday nationwide, excluding Hawkes Bay and Dunedin.

View the new TVC here.

Credit list: NZME

• Katie Mills – CMO, NZME
• Gemma Vovchenko – GM Marketing Audio
• Sheryl Dunlop – GM Brand Marketing
• Jacqui Davis – Brand Manager Audio
• Graham Dolan – Creative Director
• Xanthe Williams – Creative Manager
• Joseph Senior – Senior Designer
• Jono Pryor – Announcer, the Hits Breakfast
• Ben Boyce –Announcer, the Hits Breakfast
• Emily Hancox – Head of The Hits Network
• Matt Anderson – Content Director, The Hits
• Harriett Whiting – Promotions Director, The Hits

Credit list: Kevin & Co

• Bronwynn Bakker, Executive Producer
• Johnny Baker, Director
• Rhys Green, Editor
• Evan Howell, DOP

ENDS