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Opinion | Features
My memo to your boss
So let me guess?
You really want to come to Mumbrella360, but you’ve got to justify the time and cost to your boss?
Good news! I think I can help.
Woz not great
In this guest post Tony Prysten argues that the thousand dollar price of seeing out-of-touch Apple co-founder Steve Wozniack on his Australian tour was a waste of money.
This week, for the cost of two iPads (yep, two) I went to the Woz Live conference in Melbourne. I was not impressed.
What the hell is transmedia?
From advertising campaigns to online video series, the term ‘transmedia’ gets quite the work out. But what does it actually mean? Cathie McGinn trawls the media landscape for a definitive definition.
Transmedia, all media and multiplatform are terms often used interchangeably when referencing modern storytelling techniques. Yet, depending who you speak to, there are distinct differences between them.
According to industry experts Encore spoke to, the key elements that define transmedia can be summarised as follows: platform, time, audience, adaptation, and creative collaboration.
Innovation is the remedy for the ailing magazine industry
With magazine circulations plummeting, FHM closing and rumours rife on future ownership of ACP Magazines, Paul Merrill says the only way forward is launching new titles.Eight years ago in the UK, nearly a quarter of all magazine sales came from magazines that were less than four years old. In Australia, the figure was slightly lower, but still significant. Today, the situation is very different. For a start there are so few new magazines. Yes, Masterchef briefly flared, and Top Gear made an initial impact. But Grazia and Alpha fizzled, and now ACP has shelved their plans to launch Elle.
More than a game: broadcasting the Olympics
The 2012 London Olympics will be the biggest televised sporting event of our time. Brooke Hemphill discovers the logistical challenges and technical requirements of producing the event.
From July 27 to August 12, the Australian media will go sport crazy as the Games of the XXX Olympiad, aka the 2012 London Summer Olympics, unfold. The games will be the most televised sporting event of our time as broadcasters look to master every manner of technology at their disposal.
The Voice - Australia's best example yet of social TV
In this guest post, Sputnik’s Rodd Messent has a theory on why audiences have taken to The Voice .I am an addict of Channel Nine’s hit show The Voice. Such is the extent of my addiction I seriously think my housemate might kick me out of our apartment for the semi-frenzied yelling and tweeting that ensues in our lounge room each time the show airs.It’s the first time in almost three years that such disagreement has resulted in less than civil behaviour towards one another, and it’s made me think it might be a microcosm of the large volume of online debate about the show and, correspondingly, an explanation for its success as a social TV experience.Why brands are the US Army - and culture jammers are the Viet Cong
In this guest posting, Dave Burgess, who painted ‘No War’ on the Sydney Opera House, claims that ‘amoral’ advertisers have copied his idea.
Culture jamming is a 28-year-old term coined by the San Francisco-based band Negativland, who declared that the ‘Studio for the cultural jammer is the world at large’.
Branded content is dead. Long live branded content
In this guest posting, Anthony Freedman argues why branded content is making a comeback.
A few short years ago, probably concurrent with the advent of the PVR, a new term emerged within the marketing communications industry; branded content. This was really synonymous with advertiser funded TV shows where programming was created by brands and deals struck with networks to broadcast them.
There were varying degrees of success with this model.
Shock advertising: 30 ads that would give Australia's ad watchdog a coronary
Is shock an underused weapon in Australian advertising, asks Robin HicksToday, Sydney agency The Cabana Boys used an image of a mouth sewn together to shock people with the idea that problem gamblers lie to conceal their habit. Is it the most disturbing image ever? No. Will it get banned by the Advertising Standards Bureau? No. But it did make me wonder why shock is not used more often in Australia – and not just by charities and government bodies. (WARNING: NSFW)
The making of ratings blockbuster The Voice
Jason Mountney goes on the set of Channel Nine’s talent search series, The Voice, to see how the format, based on an international franchise, has come together. What ingredients have gone into making this certified hit that’s rated more than two million viewers on three consecutive nights?
Mike Goldman has one of the toughest jobs on the set of the Nine network’s new talent show, The Voice. He not only has to narrate the show, but also keep the audience from losing their enthusiasm as they realise shooting TV programs takes a lot longer than the one-hour bursts they see in their lounge rooms. A lot longer.
Nine problems stopping The Global Mail from getting an audience
While it’s a shame The Global Mail has failed to make an impact on the media landscape, the signs have been there for some time.I love the concept of a well resourced, philanthropically-funded independent news site. Anywhere in the world, that’s a rare and wonderful thing. In Australia even more so. So I hope that Grame Wood gets to see his investment make a difference.
And I have no inside info on whether Monica Attard’s sudden departure is linked to the site’s failure to find an audience so far.
Regardless, here are nine areas they can easily start to address:
Journalism’s new model?
Does the launch of philanthropically funded news site The Global Mail signal a new era for journalism or is the model destined to be a passing fad, asks Cathie McGinn in this article first published in Encore magazine.With little fanfare, philanthropically funded news site The Global Mail launched in February this year.
The online-only title received a generous five-year funding commitment from businessman Graeme Wood, founder of accommodation website wotif.com, who donated $15million.
Five things that make a great suit
In this guest posting, Gareth Collins argues that the role of a great account manager is to make the work betterI’m surprised at how many suits I meet who don’t know their role in the advertising business. The question ‘what does an advertising account manager or director do?’ is frequently met with answers such as project manager, relationship manager, plate spinner or go between … and those are the nice ones.
Success is judged on the ability to manage a process, be strong administratively and get stuff done. And while a good suit needs to do all of these things brilliantly, if these are the traits that define a great suit, then I’m in the wrong job.
What the hell is transmedia?
From advertising campaigns to online video series, the term ‘transmedia’ gets quite the work out. But what does it actually mean? Cathie McGinn trawls the media landscape for a definitive definition.
Transmedia, all media and multiplatform are terms often used interchangeably when referencing modern storytelling techniques. Yet, depending who you speak to, there are distinct differences between them.
The top seven...most patronising pieces of communication
Sometimes brands have big ideas. Sometimes marketers get so caught up with a grandiose idea that instead of finding engaging ways to sell breakfast cereal, they start to believe their own rhetoric. And sometimes it’s just lazy marketing. Here are my top seven inadvertently patronising pieces of communication…
1) Last night thousands of women gathered in Sydney’s Centennial Park to take part in She Runs the Night, an event created by Nike.
Ad rejected by industry journal for making sexual reference
An ad for a software firm has been rejected by an industry magazine on the grounds that it is overtly sexual.
The ad for Total Synergy was blocked by Engineers Media, publisher of Engineers Australia magazine – but did run in other industry titles Architecture Australia and Architectural Review.
“I asked whether it was the pierced stomach, the tats, the nappy or the high heels that was the problem, and was told it was the overall sexual reference that was not acceptable,” said Total Synergy’s marketing manager Katie Yates, who co-wrote the ads with the company’s CEO.
The ad also featured in an email campaign, online and on event signage. They were designed by Aqua Agency.
“We have had no complaints from other media, and they have sparked much conversation and laughter,” Yates added. “The last thing we want to do is offend the market with our ads. Our business has a strong track-record in the market and we believe we are a responsible advertiser.”
An ad in Engineers Australia magazine costs around $4000 and goes out to 53,000 professional engineers. The magazine’s marketing manager Terry Marsden responded: “It’s a policy that we have laid down by our board of directors. No content, editorial or advertising, should have sexual references. We reach a very conservative market.”
Marsden added: “We have lost revenue because of this, and we may not see the advertiser back this year. I don’t have a problem with their creative approach. But we have to draw the line. I’m afraid, there are no borderline cases.”
Other executions in the Total Synergy ‘More time for…” campaign:
October 7th, 2011 at 9:44 am
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Comments
7 Oct 11
10:14 am
“…who co-wrote the ads with the company’s CEO”. Enough said??
7 Oct 11
10:20 am
Can someone explain to me how that is sexual?…
7 Oct 11
10:38 am
I’m a little slow this morning Alison, what do you mean?
7 Oct 11
11:32 am
The Marketing Manager and CEO writing them may offend the ego of some, but they seem to engage emotionally and amusingly (compare / contrast with current Panasonic excruciating mess). That alone makes them stand out from the dross in their market.
Far better that than a list of dull software product specs or Powerpoint-as-an-ad executions more often seen.
I think the Engineers Australia board of directors may have a few skeletons in their closet if they find this overtly sexual…
7 Oct 11
11:48 am
@BustedPancreas… I guess my comments were in relation to the fact that while anyone can write a reasonably amusing advertisement, a professional agency would also have considered the target audience they were communicating to as well as the media placement. It doesn’t surprise me that a trade mag targeting a conservative audience such as engineers took issue with the ad that was submitted… IMHO.
…and sorry to hear about your pancreas!
7 Oct 11
12:07 pm
I like the ad, but I can see the magazine’s point. I don’t know, could the same effect have been had by using say a fully clothed made-up tranny? I would see that as less sexual. There is a real fettishest vibe about this.
7 Oct 11
12:27 pm
Thanks Alison, makes sense to me!
Don’t worry about my organs; belly-piercing experiment gone wrong.
7 Oct 11
12:35 pm
wow-they changed five words of copy in each execution. Relevancy is pretty low. Ah well, it’s a boring sell getting more coverage than the run-of-the-mill stuff I’m sure.
7 Oct 11
12:47 pm
It’s often the case that when people are offended by something they label ‘sexual’, they’re inadvertently disclosing a little too much about their own preferences.
(For the record, no lady-boners here.)
Why wouldn’t the CEO would have a great deal of valuable insight into the target audience..?
Thought this was quite fun. And I’ve read far worse copy from agency pros.
7 Oct 11
1:02 pm
They should have rolled with the ‘more time for family’ ad for that publication… They may have chosen the ‘cross dressing’ ad for the engineering mag knowing it would not be accepted, hence generating a story…
I said hence. hehe.
7 Oct 11
1:22 pm
Definitely stand out as different than a normal software ad. Respect the attempt at humour. Like the “more time for” concept, particularly given their audience (arch & design firms).
But: 1) the images aren’t positive, they’re negative and that negativity is then transferred to the company. 2) because they are so different than normal software ads, they are putting themselves in a different category. Yes, they get attention for being ‘out there’ but do Synergy’s clients want to rely on an ‘out there’ software? Business management software is supposed to be reliable, not risky. They took risks here. Seem cowboy-ish, a small company thing to do. That may endear them to other small companies, or it may make them too risky to choose.
7 Oct 11
1:53 pm
@bolly I don’t like things with fettishest vibes.
7 Oct 11
2:04 pm
& we have another comment bitch session….
“the images aren’t positive, they’re negative ” Negative how?
Personally, I like the ad and think its ridiculous that it got banned
7 Oct 11
2:13 pm
@ MsM.Everything you said is posssibly true…..and was no doubt said about a company like Apple over the years in the I.T space … Good on them for having a go and being different!
7 Oct 11
2:37 pm
Why do creative agencies think they are the only people inthe world able to come up with a creative idea and copy for an Ad?
I would guess that the Marketing Manager and the CEO would know more about the business and target audience than some young 18 year old copy writer working accross 4 pieces of business.
Good on them. What looks like a bog standard product and company out there testing new things and taking some risks.
7 Oct 11
2:39 pm
I work in the engineering industry and its about time we had an injection of humor. Most of my colleagues would enjoy the giggle this ad evokes. Engineers have a sense of humor and are not staid as is suggested by Engineers Australia.
7 Oct 11
2:42 pm
too close to the bone for the engineering community?
7 Oct 11
4:04 pm
I agree with Carol-anne. Engineers Media are assuming all engineers are boring and can’t handle a bit of bare skin. I know quite a few engineers that are far from conservative and would appreciate the fun of these ads.
7 Oct 11
4:26 pm
Another fail by a media channel making a bum decision about things they’ve got no idea about that end up making news and having adverse effects on their brand. Engineers Australia – F (for FAIL), must try harder to be clever.
7 Oct 11
4:34 pm
@MsM You seem a bit too familiar with this company to try and pretend you are an unbiased professional passing comment. Why don’t you fess up who you are?
Not sure why this company is being criticised for doing something a bit left of centre and fun. What’s their alternative a product screenshot or some boring advertorial that we all glaze over? I don’t imagine they’re working with big budgets – good on them for giving it a go! It’s not ad-agency-perfect. But it’s not bad either. I can see the humour in it.
7 Oct 11
6:34 pm
Love the ad!
We would love to run this campaign for you.
7 Oct 11
6:56 pm
These ads would stand out like dogs bollocks in the trade mags they are targeting..
7 Oct 11
7:14 pm
This image must be a stock image, as it is also used for this recycled fashion store in Sydney: http://www.ussedabbussed.com/ and is used in the store’s magazine advertising as well.
I don’t think it’s sexual – just odd, and eye-catching because of it. Whether it’s effective is another story…
8 Oct 11
1:15 am
Wow, you guys must know some engineers that I don’t…I’m surprised he’s not wearing a bottle-green vest and sensible shoes.