Media release
27 March 2008
Interactive websites make companies big fish in the online ocean
Salted Herring would like to know when you last had fun on the web.
The Wellington boutique web design agency believes New Zealanders are yet to fully experience truly interactive and
experiential websites that are becoming the standard overseas. Their new website www.saltedherring.com, launched this
week, includes a portfolio of New Zealand and International work that showcases what’s possible in the high-end web
design market.
But Salted Herring Directors Pep Zuijderwijk and Kate Handley are quick to point out that with a little education many
more New Zealand businesses will discover the benefits of delivering an online experience that is creative, compelling
and fun.
“New Zealand has some wonderfully creative businesses with world class products. Yet often their websites’ design
approach is very uncreative – you could say “off the shelf”. We’d like to think this doesn’t have to be the case
anymore. New Zealand companies can stand out, especially exporters, where the internet overcomes the issue of
geographical location,” says Kate.
Salted Herring believes the best web design creates web experiences that are people not information focused, a
philosophy that served them well for the 6 years Salted Herring was based in Europe – 2 years in London and 4 years in
Amsterdam.
“With an interactive web experience, you’re showcasing your brand or product twenty-four hours a day, worldwide. As more
people turn to the web to make their buying decisions, an engaging, interactive experience can really influence a
purchase,
“We’ve learned this through working in the European market where companies rely heavily on interactive web campaigns and
online games as a complement to traditional marketing. We’re starting to see this trend emerge in New Zealand too,” says
Pep.
Salted Herring works almost exclusively with Adobe Flash, a medium that has had it fair share of critics in the past.
However, Pep says the glitches and clunkyness that typified early Flash sites are a thing of the past.
“Flash has ironed out its flaws to become the standard for delivering rich, exciting online experiences across all
platforms. We believe it is the best medium for delivering the type of websites we create,” says Pep.
Salted Herring has worked on several NZ projects including ‘Get More Involved’ for Local Govt NZ to encourage more
people to vote in local elections and a campaign for WWF NZ called ‘Stop Their Extinction’ to get people to sign a
petition to save the Maui’s and Hectors dolphins. They also collaborated on the recent “Mission On” project for SPARC,
creating the ‘Cool Moves’ game.
“Our New Zealand work so far is really just the tip of the iceberg, but it’s great to see government projects embrace
the concept of interactive as the way to communicate a message. We hope to work on similar projects in future” says
Kate.
About Pep and Kate
Moving to Wellington from Amsterdam in 2006, Pep and Kate spent time raising a young family while working on European
projects. They have steadily built a portfolio of New Zealand clients with the new website signalling the official
launch of the New Zealand iteration of Salted Herring.
Pep is an honours graduate in Graphic Design from the world-renowned College of Art in The Hague. He worked for various
significant design agencies both here and in the Netherlands before establishing Salted Herring in 2000. Since then
Salted Herring has won a number of awards including two Favourite Website Awards and a Bronze Cyber Lion at the Cannes
Advertising Awards.
Kate ran a commercial photography studio in Wellington before spending a number of years working for top advertising
agencies in London and Amsterdam. Her photographic and production experience brings a unique visual element to Salted
Herring’s work, further distinguishing it within the market.
ENDS