12 December 2006

Australian Creative Magazine named it Production Company Top Shop of the Year for 2006. It was also named Production Company of the Year at New Zealand’s Axis Awards. At the ANZ Exporting Awards it was named Service Provider of Year.

The Sweet Shop established an office in Auckland in 2001 and recently set up offices in London and New York.

It is achieving multi-million-dollar export earnings by winning contracts from international agencies to make commercials for Guinness, Singapore Airlines, Nokia, Tiger Beer, Cadbury, Sony PlayStation, Renault, Nike and Nescafe. Recent works include a Folgers Coffee commercial for Saatchi & Saatchi New York, which has aired throughout the United States, and a Toblerone commercial through Ogilvy London for Europe.

The potential of these markets is “huge”, says The Sweet Shop managing director Paul Prince.

“Europe and the States are the largest and most mature media markets in the world, so we decided to invest our resources there first,” Prince says.

What sets The Sweet Shop apart from other companies is its team of award-winning directors, which includes renowned New Zealand film director Vincent Ward, Steve Ayson and Melanie Bridge. Bridge is one of the co-founders of the business, which she set up with business partner Prince and Sharlene George in 2001.

“At the end of the day our difference is the quality of the directors’ work. The Sweet Shop’s directors tell great stories well and in the end this is what the agencies are after,” Prince says.

However, the company’s global outlook, which it adopted from the very beginning, is another reason for its success.

“Luckily, when we launched, New Zealand was on the filmmaking map. After The Lord of the Rings picked up 11 Oscars, New Zealand craftsmanship and locations were firmly placed on the board internationally,” Prince says.

“This is part of our unique proposition – craft, crew, location and cost.”

However, breaking into the global marketplace was not easy and has required steady persistence.

“It takes a lot of effort to make even the smallest of splashes in large foreign markets. You have to be committed for the long haul,” Prince says.

Initially this was achieved through a partnership with leading international production company Partizan, which represented The Sweet Shop in Europe and the US.

“The key benefit for us was that our marketing was under The Sweet Shop banner. This gave us the opportunity to build our brand,” Prince says.

It is this innovative thinking, commitment and proven performance that has seen New Zealand Trade and Enterprise (NZTE, incorporating Investment New Zealand) support the company’s aspirations, says Kaye Glamuzina, NZTE sector manager for film.

In 2005 The Sweet Shop was named Creative and Design Exporter of the Year at the NZTE Export Awards.

“It is a very bold and adventurous company with global ambitions,” says Glamuzina.

As for its success, Prince says it does not think of itself as being there just yet.

“We have garnered some success along the way and just set up production offices in New York and London, so I’d like to see us in a couple of years before I could say we are a success.”

For more information, please contact:

kaye.glamuzina@nzte.govt.nz

+64 4 910 4943