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Opinion
No - advertising has not beaten culture jamming at its own game
In this guest post, an activist argues why advertising has not subverted culture jamming - and why Australia would be a better place without ‘visual pollution’At a photography exhibition now on the Sydney Museum last week, a question was put to a panel of experts. Would our cities be better without any advertising. The answer was a resounding “yes”.
This didn’t really come as much of a surprise. After all, the panel were culture jammers – activists who subvert mainstream media, altering the message of an ad to tell a story of their own.
Think popular, not premium: Why the Henry & Aaron 'It's a snap' video went viral
In this guest posting, YouTube’s Karen Stocks says why she thinks CIT’s gory-funny ‘It’s a snap’ ad was a hit.One of this week’s viral hits on YouTube is a science fiction-themed ad for the Central Institute of Technology in Perth. The skit-style video commercial features CIT grads-turned-YouTube stars Henry & Aaron, who magically jump from one CIT department to the next with a snap of Aaron’s fingers. The comedy takes a distinctly darker turn when Aaron’s teleporting skills start going horribly wrong – with gruesome results.
The video holds a couple of lessons for marketers.
Mumbrella360 - call for curated sessions
I must confess that I didn’t enjoy Mumbrella360 last year.
Having staked our credibility and indeed (although I didn’t like to think about it at the time) the company, on Mumbrella360 being a success, the main thing I actually experienced over the two days was a growing sense of relief that it wasn’t shit.
The Woolworths virtual store is not the future of retail. But it is a good PR stunt
So last night I dropped by my local neighbourhood Virtual Woolworths.It’s located at Sydney Town Hall station – conveniently enough, almost directly underneath my local neighborhood Real Woolworths.
As you’ll see from the wobbly iPhone video I shot, it was a relatively lonely experience. But it was Sunday night.
How not to use Twitter: lessons from Qantas and Westpac
The likes of Qantas have a long way to go before getting to grips with social media, argues Axel Bruns.For major brands, the road to social media infamy is paved with what seemed like good ideas at the time.
Just this week, Qantas succeeded in having Twitter suspend the well-known spoof account, @QantasPR, claiming users would mistake it for the real thing.
Is Big W the beginning of the bounceback for Saatchis?
Google may prove me wrong, but in the entire time Mumbrella has existed, and very possibly for my entire editorship of B&T before that, I can’t remember ever writing the headline “Saatchi & Saatchi wins…”
So today’s appointment by Big W is a big deal.
Traditional agencies are driving away their digital superstars with their old ways
In this guest post, Daniel Monheit argues that Australia’s creative agencies will never be able to hang on to digital talentIn 2010 Steve Jobs was invited by James Murdoch to speak at the annual News Corp management retreat. Jobs issued a blunt, critical assessment of what newspapers were trying to do in technology: “You’re going to find it hard to get things right, because you’re in New York and anyone who’s any good at tech works in Silicon Valley”.
And that’s when it hit me. The reason why Australia’s best traditional agencies, working with the most prolific clients and the biggest budgets cant manage to put out anything remotely passable as decent digital work.
Anyone who’s any good at digital works at an agency that actually believes in it.
What does Fairfax's Media's data dump actually mean? And what's going on at ACP Magazines?
Although I rather like stats, there are a few days a year where they become a little overwhelming.
Radio ratings releases offer eight such days annually. Over the space of a couple of hours, the data drops for the five main metro markets. Generally the phone starts ringing within 10 minutes, from station bosses aiming to give their interpretation of those numbers. It becomes a game of keeping them on the line long enough to sift through the data to try to discover the real story you need to ask them about. Within minutes a blizzard of press releases follow too.
In truth, the press releases mostly get ignored in the race to write the story. Then they’re mostly ignored because the story is already written.
And twice a year, a similar exercise surrounds the release of the monthly magazine sales figures,
When the powerful buy into the media, can the media still scrutinise the powerful?
Economist Richard Denniss of Australian National University argues in a post that first appeared on The Conversation that the public needs to decide if it cares who owns the media.The mining industry is used to having its voice heard in Australian public debates, so it should come as no surprise that mining billionaires such as Gina Rinehart and Clive Palmer would consider buying up a bigger slice of the Australian media.
While the estimated $20m spent by the mining industry on television advertisements opposing the introduction of a mining tax was the most visible example of the industry’s determination to influence the public it is, in fact, just the tip of the iceberg.
The keyboard warrior of Twitter
In this guest post, NBN staffer Scott Rhodie writes an unofficial, personal view on his experience with a hostile Twitter critic.Last night I had a strange incident. While on Twitter I noticed someone saying that Australia’s NBN is already outdated. I wrote a small note back explaining they were incorrect.
And their response? The lovely gentleman (whose Twitter profile says: ‘Father of 5 kids, Loving Grandfather of 10 Grandchildren,and 2 Great Granddaughters. love to give heaps to Pollies and Poofters’) said to me: “Go and lick Gillards C*** out U commie Prick”
What's in a name?
In this guest post, Moensie Rossier wonders about the power of names for brands and marketers.
Brands have been having a bit of fun with names lately, not to mention a fair bit of success. Interbrand just named a headhunting firm Cloak & Dagger. And ‘Share a Coke’ showed how much power there is in a name.
The Coke campaign effectively short-circuited the usual mechanics of communication. It undoubtedly stroked people’s egos. But, I believe, its success stems from the fact that it directly and automatically affected people’s behaviour, rather than doing so indirectly by shaping attitudes.
Best ads from Super Bowl 2012
The Super Bowl is all done and a team from North America won. But as well as some sort of sporting event, it’s the world’s biggest advertising showcase. See the best of them right here… and please tell us what you think.
How to debunk media myths
In this post, UWS’s Ullrich Ecker, John Cook and Stephen Lewandowsky argue that cognitive science can help PRs form strategies in managing media misreporting.
A growing cohort of commentators has bemoaned the descent of contemporary political “debate” into a largely fact-free zone.
How about simply focusing on what consumers want?
In this guest post, Peter Mountford argues that brands should think more about what is really going on for consumers
Who here is hoping their favourite brand of toilet paper is going to be organizing a flash mob on their way home from work today?
What the Optus web copyright victory means
In this analysis first published on The Conversation, RMIT’s Marita Shelly examines the implications of Telstra’s defeat over the online rights to the AFL broadcast deal
This week’s Federal Court ruling that Optus customers are able to view sporting matches minutes after they are streamed live without breaching copyright is a landmark decision that alters our understanding of copyright law, and has significant implications for the AFL’s broadcasting rights deal.
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.