Mumbrella live blog: Wednesday, April 16

This is Mumbrella’s live blog, a rolling diary of all you need to know in media and marketing. Refresh the page for the latest updates.

Top stories:

• Mail Online and The Guardian soar in revised Nielsen news site rankings
• Maccas pokes fun at Facebook fans as it hits 1m
• Opinion: The coming force of content marketing
• SMI: Ten’s ad revenue drops post-Sochi 
• M.J Bale creates a ‘Power Suit’

4:36pm – There’s a report in Campaign Brief today saying Russel Howcroft (formerly GPY&R boss, now Network Ten GM and sometime Gruen regular) is stepping up to fill the void left after David Nobay’s decision to leave Recipes to Riches, and is already filming auditions. We asked Ten if this was the case, and they said to us:

The Campaign Brief report is wrong. Russel is not filming auditions for Recipe to Riches. In fact, he’s on holiday.

We are finalising the panel of experts for the second season of Recipe To Riches and will make an announcement in due course.

3:39pm - Whilst one first-time Royal tour may be taking the limelight there’s another going on of a lot of significance for some agencies in this market. This morning Yannick Bollore, the head of Havas since the departure of David Jones, jetted into Sydney for a tour of some of his up-and-coming local shops. Here’s what he tweeted this morning:

3:02pm -If nothing else Grangegate is producing the usual round of memes and spoof ads. Dr Mumbo has some – what’s your favourite?

2:32pm – Modern Family recently filmed in Australia, and the network has already turned around the episode which will b shown on April 23 in the US, although no airdate has been given for Australia yet. From the looks of the trailer they’ve left no cliches untouched either. See the full story, and sizzle reel, her.

12:23pm – Whybin\TBWA has followed up its PRable work for tailor M.J. Bale with some wearable technology, a suit with contactless payment systems built into the sleeve allowing the owner to mimic the world’s most powerful men who never pay for anything. Check out the full story here.

11:47am - On the Barry O’Farrell news (see 11:20am) it’s given plenty of chances for the Twitter bantarians to come up with a few puns, including Dan Ilic:

11:20am - It’s been a big morning in NSW politics with the sudden resignation of Premier Barry O’Farrell. We counted SMH.com.au as the first to get the news up, although the Daily Telegraph made use of its new newsletter system to send out a breaking news alert soon after, while News.com.au was a little slower on the uptake, with the mystery backpacks left at the Boston Marathon site acting as something of a distraction. Read more »

McDonald’s pokes fun at Facebook fans to celebrate a million likes

McDonald’s Australia has created a video based on some of the content and comments from its Facebook page to celebrate cracking the million likes mark on the social network.

The playful online video, which features some of the whackier pronouncements made by brand fans on the page, and also pokes fun at some of its more obsessive fans.

Read more »

SMI: Ten revenue share falls back to earth after Sochi boost

The latest revenue figures from Standard Media Index (SMI) show Network Ten’s revenue has fallen from its February highs, amid declining audience shares for major franchises such as The Biggest Loser, So You Think You Can Dance and Secret and Lies.

According to the March figures Ten had a revenue share of just 21.24 per cent, down from 25.1 per cent this time last year with revenue of just $37.4m compared with $42.5m, a 13.2 per cent fall. Last month on the back of the Sochi Winter Olympics the network was trumpeting a 24.2 per cent revenue share. 

The drop in revenue had been predicted by the market and by Ten, with the network’s chief sales officer saying: “The March revenue share number was in line with our expectations and reflected our ratings results. We are committed to improve our ratings performance by fixing our general entertainment program schedule.”

Meanwhile commercial rivals Nine and Seven both posted strong results with Nine up 13.4 per cent for March, while Seven was up 4.5 per cent, in the metro markets. Nine had a 37.7 per cent share of agency bookings last month while Seven was a 41.39 per cent share. Read more »

M.J. Bale sews contactless payment technology into ‘Power Suit’

M.J. Bale has created a suit with a built-in contactless payment chip and antenna in the sleeve allowing wearers to pay for anything “with the effortless swagger of a celebrity, tycoon or double agent”, in partnership with Heritage Bank and Visa.

Created by Whybin\TBWA and ElevenPR, the M.J. Bale Power Suit’s contactless technology is linked to an online online Heritage Bank Prepaid account, allowing the wearer to check the balance and top up their suit on-the-go.

Dave Bowman, executive creative director Whybin\TBWA Group Sydney said: “Have you ever seen Bono, Obama or Bond pay for anything with a wallet?  No.  There’s a reason for that.  The most powerful men in the world don’t need to carry a wallet.  And now, thanks to Heritage Bank and Visa nor does anyone with an M.J.Bale power suit.”

Read more »

Perth’s 6PR and 96FM launch campaign targeting drivers who text while driving

Fairfax Radio Network’s Perth stations 6PR and 96FM are targeting drivers who text while driving in a road safety campaign to run over Easter.

The stations launched the initiative after an interview by 6PR Mornings presenter Gary Adshead with Maria O’Shea, the West Australian mother who lost three of her four children in a car accident caused by a driver who was texting.

As a result of the interview, the stations decided to launch their own campaign aimed at stopping people from texting whilst driving with a series of six ads talking about the unsafe behaviour set to go to air from tomorrow, continuing across the Easter break and across the ANZAC Day long weekend.

“We’ve been so moved by the terrible impact to just this one local family, let alone the many others that go unheard of, that we felt compelled to act,” 6PR and 96fm Sales Director Brooke Timmins-Taulelei said.

Read more »

Mail Online and The Guardian both get record traffic in latest Nielsen online rankings

The Mail Online and The Guardian have both rocketed up the latest Nielsen Online Ratings in March, with the two UK outfits both posting record audiences and taking out sixth and eighth place in the latest survey.

While the overall top five spots stayed the same, with News Corp’s News.com.au retaining the coveted number one spot, the audiences of all the major publishers grew significantly on the back of a major overhaul of Nielsen’s methodology and systems revealed by Mumbrella yesterday, which saw the research firm find two million extra online Australians and the company post a record 17.5m Australians in the online universe.

Martin Clarke, publisher and editor-in-chief of the MailOnline told Mumbrella he was very pleased with the result for the Australian operation, which is now approaching 50 staff, but has yet to formally launch a full Australian-oriented homepage. ”This is really encouraging since we’re still only just getting started in Australia,” added Clarke.

Read more »

Seven’s Tom & Ben’s Singapore Sling beats Ten’s Jamie & Jimmy’s Food Fight Club

Seven’s TV special Tom & Ben’s Singapore Sling which saw Tom Williams and chef Ben O’Donoguhe have a 36 hour pit stop in Singapore as they return from a surfing trip, managed to attract 792,000 viewers but could not top two repeats of Nine’s The Big Bang Theory, preliminary overnight ratings from OzTam show.

However it did beat Ten’s Jamie & Jimmy’s Food Fight Club, which also airs from 7.30pm, which managed 531,000 metro viewers up from its debut audience of 293,000 metro viewers, as the networks wind down their schedules during the non-ratings period over Easter.

The Big Bang Theory won the timeslot with 945,000 viewers tuning in for the first episode at 7.30pm with the audience increasing to 959,000 for the second episode at 8pm, while the shows also topped the 25-54 demographic.

Nine News won the night with 1.254 million viewers tuning in for the first half of the hour broadcast at 6pm, with it dropping away slightly to 1.199 million at 6.30pm while Seven News attracted 1.058 million in its first half hour, dropping away to under a million at for the last half hour from 6.30pm.

Read more »

Morning Update: Klondike Bar plays doctor with a hot candy nurse; Mad Men final season sees drop in ratings in the US; Maxwell House says its coffee is good, not great

This is our Morning Update, rounding up international media and marketing news from while you were sleeping.

AdWeek: Klondike Bar Plays Doctor With a Hot Candy Nurse, and a New Product Is Born

“Best ice-cream bar ever conceived? That would be the Klondike Kandy Bar, born an indeterminate number of months after an illicit tryst between a regular Klondike Bar and a tall, striking, chocolatey candy-bar nurse—according to a male shopper’s adult-movie-addled brain in this sweet spot from The VIA Agency.”

Read more »

Bauer Media Group to launch companion mobile apps in bid to grow masthead sales

The Bauer Media Group is to launch a range of free and paid-for digital apps which will draw from and sit alongside its major mastheads in a bid to draw additional audiences to its magazine brands.

A companion app to Gourmet Traveller magazine will be the first to launch in May, and will be available to buy in the lower tier of app prices. It will use content from the magazine but sit alongside it, providing cross-platform promotion for the brand.

Marcelo Silva, head of mobile at Bauer, said the bundled content strategy is a first for the publisher, and has been developed as a bid to elevate the publisher’s position in the crowded digital marketplace.

He told Mumbrella: “Consumers are really discerning now and they are really in charge of when they want content and how they will pay for it, which is a big shift for us because we are a traditional linear magazine.

“We need to educate and bring the business along for the journey, and the landscape has shifted considerably. These are the sort of things we need to consider to do business and to build sustainable long term businesses.” Read more »

M&C Saatchi wins back NRMA Insurance

Seven years after losing the creative account for NRMA Insurance to Whybin\TBWA, M&C Saatchi has recaptured the business.

The brand won multiple plaudits in both creative and then effectiveness awards shows for its campaign by Whybin which saw a car created out of the parts other insurers refuse to insure as standard.

However, Whybin went out of the creative pitch at an early stage during the tender which kicked off earlier this year, opening the door for M&C which has been actively searching for some substantial new business after losing David Jones to Whybins at the end of last year.

The brief sees M&C, which has hired a raft of new talent in recent months including planner Justin Graham from Droga5 and Ben Cooper from The Monkeys as head of innovation, covering the NRMA, SGIC and SGIO brands.

In a statement this morning head of marketing Anthony Justice said: “We selected M&C Saatchi on the strength of their strategic thinking and creative ideas regarding our direct insurance brands.
Read more »

Mumbrella live blog: Tuesday, April 15

Welcome to Mumbrella’s live blog, a rolling media diary of all you need to know in Australia’s media and marketing. Refresh the page for the latest updates.

Top stories:

• Mitchell & Partners picks up federal government media account from UM
• Media watchdog to appeal nurse prank call ruling to High Court
• The secrets of social video to be shared at Mumbrella360 
• Nielsen announces major changes to its online audience measurement system
• The PR Report purchased by the journalists’ union for undisclosed amount
• Answers for Adam: Would we act on climate change if there were a reality TV show about it?
• TV ratings: Kerry Packer proves more popular then The Big Bang Theory

4:34pm - Mumbrella360 is on June 3, 4 and 5 in Sydney, with discounted earlybird tickets on sale now.  The latest session announced is a study on the secret life of the social video to be unveiled by the University of Technology Sydney and The Works.

Last year’s session from the agency on the real facts about Instagram was one of the most popular of the conference, and you can see a bit below and more here.

4:08pm – There’s an interesting piece from Russ Tucker on the IAB’s website today, and a few theories about why Australia and Asia Pacific in general are starting to punch above their weight in terms of creativity.

3:30pm - Remember to check the FYI section which is updated daily. Today you’ll find a number of stories including one on journalists and creatives banding together to launch Kite Digital Publishing which aims to create beautiful images, inspiring stories and informative articles for brands to help them draw in consumers.  Also covered in the section is creative agency Holler hiring Anton Mills as technical director and Michael Griffiths as executive producer and Meyer Cookware Australia appointing Spinach as creative agency.

2:01pm – Mitchells & Partners has won the federal government media account, taking it from UM Read more »

UM loses out as Mitchells wins $137m federal government media account

Mitchell & Partners has won the hotly contest federal government master media account, Mumbrella can reveal.

The decision on the $137m media pitch is a major blow to media agency UM which, despite a number of wins in recent months including the Coca-Cola media account, will see a major fall in its billings as a result of this decision.

The federal government has this afternoon confirmed that Mitchells, in partnership with Adcorp, will commence work on the account from July 1 overseeing all campaign and non-campaign media expenditure.

“I am pleased to announce that Mitchell and Partners Australia Pty Ltd (Mitchells) has been appointed as the Australian Government’s master media agency for an initial period of four years. Mitchells was awarded the contract following a competitive open tender process undertaken by the Department of Finance, which was overseen by industry, probity and legal advisers,” said John Sheridan, procurement coordinator, Australian Government Information Management Office in a statement.

Luke Littlefield, CEO of Mitchells’ parent company Dentsu Aegis Network, said they were thrilled with the major account win for an agency which has been seeking to redefine itself over the last eight months since the retirement of its founder Harold Mitchell.

He added: “We are absolutely thrilled that Mitchells has been successful in pitching for the Australian Government contract. We are delighted that our talented team; our proven expertise and track record with Government clients; and our commitment to delivering exceptional client service have given Mitchells the opportunity to work with one of the most important and prominent clients in the country.” Read more »

Nielsen finds two million new online audience members amid major changes to its measurement systems

Audience measurement company Nielsen has announced major changes to its methodology and systems that will see the size of the Australian online audience grow by around two million users when the numbers are announced tomorrow, Mumbrella can reveal.

The major overhaul sees Australia become the first market in the world to implement Nielsen’s new data processing platform and also make significant revisions to the rules on its 7,000 panelists, who under the IAB approved hybrid model are used together with tags on websites to measure online audience.

Under the changes the number of Australians now online will hit a record 17.5m, a change which is expected to significantly increase the online audience of major publishers when the Nielsen Online Ratings are announced tomorrow.

Nielsen’s head of media industry group Monique Perry told Mumbrella these changes, which come ahead of the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) tender for the online audience measurement provider, which Nielsen currently holds, are about demonstrating the company’s “commitment to the industry and our desire to continue to work with the industry in the future”.

Read more »

JWT set to return to J. Walter Thomson Company as agency celebrates 150 years

Sir Martin Sorrell has hinted JWT is set to be rebranded to its JWT traditional name, the J.Walter Thompson Company, at a breakfast hosted by The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times reports

At the breakfast, CEO of JWT’s parent company Sorrell told the audience the agency has been “talking about rebranding” and praised “the J. Walter Thomson Company brand” as “immensely powerful”.

Going back to the J. Walter Thompson name would be “a slick and a good move,” Sorrell said.

However,  John Gutteridge JWT Australasia CEO said: “At present there is no change to the JWT brand in Australia and it is business as usual.  Information about our 150th celebrations will be provided in the near future.”

But JWT worldwide chief executive Bob Jeffrey confirmed the name-change plans, telling The New York Times the group had decided not to announce the name-change until the end of the year.

Read more »

Kellogg’s restructures marketing, six roles made redundant

Multinational food company Kellogg’s has restructured its Australian marketing department. making six roles redundant.

The changes have seen the removal of a number of brand manager positions for key products such as LCM, Crunchy Nut and Be Natural.

John Broome, marketing director Kellogg’s Australia confirmed the redundancies, which occurred in February, adding: “We have restructured our marketing department to be more reflective of our current marketing landscape. Read more »

PR Report purchased by the journalists’ union for undisclosed amount

The union which represents journalists, actors and musicians has made a major play into the public relations space purchasing The PR Report, one of the main newsletters of the PR industry.

The Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance’s (MEAA) decision to buy The PR Report from Glen Frost, who founded it seven years ago, comes after major “turmoil” in the main PR industry body the Public Relations Institute of Australia (PRIA), which saw wholesale changes to its leadership earlier this year after then president Terri-Helen Gaynor was rolled and the board resigned en masse.

MEAA spokesman Paul Murphy denied the move was aimed at the main PR body PRIA. ”It is absolutely nothing to do with that. This is about improving our offering to members in that space and we have always had members there,” said Murphy. “We’ve always had members in public relations and communications and if anything we have an increasing number of members in that area. Read more »

GetUp campaign calls out PM for potentially breaking pre-election promise on cuts to the ABC

Activist group GetUp has launched a campaign to protect funding for the ABC, taking aim at Tony Abbott after reports he is set to break his pre-election promise.

A TV ad calling out the Prime Minister over any potential changes has been created for the campaign and members of the group are fundraising to screen the ad in primetime slots in regional and marginal electorates over the next three weeks.

Read more »

NZ’s Super Rugby players explain connection to culture in new campaign for Adidas

Advertising agency Iris Worldwide Sydney has created a campaign for Adidas and New Zealand Super Rugby that sees players share the inspiration behind the designs of the 2014 jerseys.

The ‘Alive with Pride’ campaign features a series of videos and posters showing players explaining the cultural significance of their origins and their commitment to the game.

Read more »

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