NZ Ad Agency Launches Groundbreaking Campaign Targeting People Waiting for Their Heat Pump to Kick In
In a bold step forward for hyper-targeted advertising, Auckland-based agency Pomp & Tinker has announced a new campaign aimed squarely at New Zealanders standing awkwardly near their heat pumps, waiting for them to “do something.”
Inspired by a recent internal study revealing the average Kiwi stares blankly at a nonfunctional heat pump for 42 seconds, the agency saw a “massive untapped emotional moment.” Michelle Lye, Head of Emotional Tension at Pomp & Tinker, said the campaign is about "meeting the consumer where they are—in their socks, holding a folded hoodie, wondering if it’s actually broken."
Ad spots will play via Bluetooth on devices no one remembers connecting, triggered by body heat and a clinically identifiable sigh. The inaugural ad features a frustrated man mouth-exhaling onto the vent while a voiceover gently suggests he try Delaney’s Gherkin Sparkles, a new fermented beverage that taste-tests described as “surprisingly persistent.”
“We’re also rolling out lenticular postcards mailed directly to heat pumps themselves,” added Lye, without blinking. “Object-based empathy is the next frontier in marketing. People trust appliances more than family by now.”
In a multi-platform push described as “uncomfortably intimate,” the agency has begun installing one-way mirrors in selected homes (consent pending), allowing Copywriters to observe heat pump users in their natural despair. Early results suggest that integration with regional power outages could provide even richer engagement moments.
Inspired by a recent internal study revealing the average Kiwi stares blankly at a nonfunctional heat pump for 42 seconds, the agency saw a “massive untapped emotional moment.” Michelle Lye, Head of Emotional Tension at Pomp & Tinker, said the campaign is about "meeting the consumer where they are—in their socks, holding a folded hoodie, wondering if it’s actually broken."
Ad spots will play via Bluetooth on devices no one remembers connecting, triggered by body heat and a clinically identifiable sigh. The inaugural ad features a frustrated man mouth-exhaling onto the vent while a voiceover gently suggests he try Delaney’s Gherkin Sparkles, a new fermented beverage that taste-tests described as “surprisingly persistent.”
“We’re also rolling out lenticular postcards mailed directly to heat pumps themselves,” added Lye, without blinking. “Object-based empathy is the next frontier in marketing. People trust appliances more than family by now.”
In a multi-platform push described as “uncomfortably intimate,” the agency has begun installing one-way mirrors in selected homes (consent pending), allowing Copywriters to observe heat pump users in their natural despair. Early results suggest that integration with regional power outages could provide even richer engagement moments.