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Opinion | Features
Cannes - a reminder that celebs need adland too
The Cannes Lions may have been full of celebrities this year, but that’s because they need brands, argues Profero’s Wayne Arnold
Having only been here for two days, I’ve already managed to soak up some of the glamour of Cannes, witnessing the media scrum around Sean Combs and (very nearly) bumping into Jack Black on La Croisette.
If 2012 was the year of the client, it seems 2013 may be the year of the hard working celebrity.
Melissa Doyle is ready for prime time (but what does it mean for Today Tonight?)
It’s easy to be dismissive of TV presenters – particularly when they’re doing something as fluffy as morning television.
But today’s announcement of the departure of Mel Doyle from Sunrise is a reminder that it’s harder than it looks.
How bosses can build trust by baring themselves to staff
In this guest post, Simon Rutherford, CEO of Slingshot Media, argues that bosses should be vulnerable in front of their staff.
Winston Churchill once said: “Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.”
Fake it til you make it...as a radio newsreader
In a piece that first appeared in Encore, Emily Hoskins from ARN tells us how to do her job.
What does a radio newsreader actually do?
A radio newsreader has to be switched on from the moment they sit at their desk. At the Australian Radio Network each journalist writes, researches, edits and reads their own news bulletins under tight deadlines – every 30 minutes during the breakfast shift and every hour after 9am.
Keith Reinhard on freedom to fail, winning back Maccas and how agencies can survive
In an exclusive interview in Cannes today, advertising icon Keith Reinhard, one of the founding fathers of what is now DDB Worldwide, talked to Mumbrella’s Robin Hicks about freedom from fear, his favourite ads of all time, winning back McDonald’s and why the most important thing in advertising is passion.Savage counsel - little white lies
In a piece that first featured in Encore, Chris Savage tackles your career and agency dilemmas. This week, he talks about when it’s okay to lie to clients.
Hi Chris,
I often find myself telling little white lies at work – I tell people on the phone that I don’t want to speak to I’m about to duck into meetings. I told my colleague her new haircut was great when really it wasn’t and I praised someone’s work when actually it was kind of shit. After each of these occasions, I felt pretty terrible and wonder if you could tell me how can I speak with candour in the future – for my sake and others.
How to build a culture
How important is a company’s culture and how do you ensure you are breeding a good one? Matt Smith investigates, in a piece that first appeared in Encore.When production companies Cordell Jigsaw and Zapruder’s Other Films merged early last year, bringing the staff together within the walls of the Zapruder building proved to be something of a challenge. While the two companies weren’t strangers to each other due to six months of talks and negotiations, working together on a full-time basis was a different story.
Q&A Damian Keogh
In a piece that first featured in Encore, Val Morgan CEO Damian Keogh reveals his potential alternate career.
Who is the most powerful person in Australian media and why?
I’d say Kerry Stokes, slightly ahead of Harold Mitchell and Kim Williams. He controls the entity with the largest revenue across free-to-air, online, magazines and newspapers. On pure size alone, his influence and leverage over advertisers, media agencies and consumers is unmatched. Harold is still the king in media, slightly ahead of John Steedman, but Henry Tajer and Leigh Terry are the heirs apparent. Kim Williams controls News and that’s a big base to work from.
If a violent game is okay, then so is using a violent ad to promote it
An ad for video game Dead Island Riptide was banned by the ad watchdog. James Whitehead of online entertainment publisher IGN argues that it was the wrong call.A fortnight ago, it emerged that the Ad Standards Board had banned a television commercial for the video game Dead Island: Riptide, due to its depiction of violence – specifically suicide.
Why content makers are leaving our shores
In a piece that first featured in Encore, Craig Anderson says there simply isn’t enough opportunity for content makers in Australia, especially for those making comedy.Last year I had multiple meetings with production companies in Australia and discovered that apart from the odd commercial campaign, there’s no proliferation of paying platforms for comedy. From my own experience there’s iView, which will buy content once it’s already been made (though I live in hope that it will one day be granted the financial power to commission content). I’ve also had the odd informal commission from the SMH iPad consisting of two narrative series and a comical review show. But none of these endeavours were financially viable.
Managing your management style
In an article that first appeared in Encore, Stephanie Brown says the advertising industry often leaves people ill-equipped when it comes to managing staff, especially when they’re promoted into management roles.Managing people is hard. In fact, I actually think it’s the hardest job in the world. With no disrespect intended, I often joke that if my job didn’t involve other people to manage, it would be a walk in the park. I could get about my day’s work in a nice, linear fashion, happily checking off my to-do list as I go. I’m a process-orientated person. I get a kick out of getting things done.
Why the Facebook chase is making brands treat consumers like morons
You know how we look back at quaintly patronising ads from the 1950s and wonder what on earth the advertisers were thinking?
I’ve got a feeling that in a few years time, we’ll be looking at the behaviour of big brands on Facebook the same way.
An entire generation of marketers – or at least a sizeable proportion of them – have lost their minds.
So many have become so obsessed with generating user interactions at all costs, that all thoughts about overall brand perceptions or long term marketing goals have vanished. All that counts now, is generating likes and comments at all costs.
Blog this!
Paid content, sponsored posts and brand ambassadorships – in theory, today’s blogger can be just as valuable to brands as mainstream media. But does blogger outreach actually work? In an article that first appeared in Encore, Nic Christensen investigates.“I get approaches from PR companies constantly,” says blogger and author Kerri Sackville, with more than a hint of exasperation. “I have never done a sponsored blog, on my own site, but that doesn’t stop them from asking.”
McLennan right man for job
It’s all change at troubled broadcaster Channel Ten with new directions, new executives and a brand new CEO. Managing director of Adstream Peter Miller says Hamish McLennan is the right man for the job, in an article that first appeared in Encore.I am a bit of a schmuck when it comes to movies. I love romantic comedies. My favourite is One Fine Day with Michelle Pfeiffer and George Clooney.
Q&A with Richard Herring
In a piece that first appeared in Encore, CEO of APN Outdoor Richard Herring talks media.Who is the most powerful person in Australian media and why?
I don’t know if there is one person in particular. The fragmentation of traditional media and new entrants has made it a more level playing field with regards to major influencers. As was demonstrated with the recent media reform recommendations, together, the broader media community still has a very influential and powerful voice.
What one medium could you not live without?
Outdoor – clean, entertaining, evocative and informative.
Atheist Foundation returns to advertising with Woody Allen quote: ‘If God exists, I hope he has a good excuse’
The Atheist Foundation of Australia has returned to advertising with a bus-side campaign that is running in Melbourne.
The non-believing group has quoted Woody Allen in the ad, which reads ‘If God exists, I hope he has a good excuse’.
The campaign has been timed for the run up to the 2012 Global Atheist Convention, which is being marketed as “A celebration of reason”.
Commenting on the campaign, the president of the Atheist Foundation, David Nicholls, said: “Woody Allen’s words encapsulate the thoughts of the freethinking community and the sneaking suspicions of a growing number of religious people as well. Considering the immensity of the unnecessary death, pain and suffering on the planet, an alleged all-powerful and all-loving god certainly has a lot to answer for.”
Nicholls said that while Woody Allen may have been born into the Jewish faith, he was a “dead set atheist”.
T
he Atheist Foundation was blocked from running ads on APN Outdoor’s billboards in 2009. Its campaign slogan read: “There’s probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life”.
Nicholls said APN’s ban “did wonders for us in extra publicity”.
The latest campaign, devised by Melbourne agency Loud and Clear, is running on street posters, postcards and in print ads in New Scientist.
Nicholls wouldn’t reveal the campaign budget, but said “A lot of money” is being spent on it.
The 2012 Global Atheist Convention is being held in Melbourne from 13 to 15 April.
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Comments
16 Mar 12
12:50 pm
is atheist foundation a non-prophet organisation?
16 Mar 12
12:50 pm
It’s not offensive. Here’s one that might be:
“we drew a picture of Allah to put on here, but we couldn’t show it, for obvious* reasons.”
*he doesn’t exist
Brave bloke that drives the bus, though.
16 Mar 12
1:50 pm
Ah, what’s the point of the group? I’m an atheist but can’t see the need?
16 Mar 12
2:14 pm
Celebration of atheism or woody allen?
16 Mar 12
2:21 pm
@Leon, you just earned yourself a LOL
16 Mar 12
2:34 pm
@Sir Dashwood & @Leon, But no OMG for either of you.
16 Mar 12
3:35 pm
Anyone think this might be borderline discrimination?
16 Mar 12
4:08 pm
@M No. Nobody thinks that.
16 Mar 12
4:10 pm
So they are blaming God for anything bad in the world but not giving Him credit for all the good stuff?
It is so much more reasonable to think that a massive gas explosion millions of years ago and random evolution somehow created all the order, beauty and structure we now enjoy. BTW, if evolution is the answer where have all the partially evolved creatures and pre-humans gone?
But it is one of the latest trends to not believe in anything, it seems.
16 Mar 12
4:29 pm
It’s very easy for Jews like Woody Allen to say they are atheist since deep, deep down inside they know they really are the Chosen Ones. Nicely hedged bet, methinks!
Still, ya gotta love anything with a quote from Woody Allen on it!
@M… where is the discrimination?
16 Mar 12
4:43 pm
No, M, this is not discrimination. This is a group of logical people who acknowledge the glaring holes in religion’s reasoning. It’s time that society took a good look at what religion preaches and starts to distance itself from the backwards, ignorant message that religion is putting out there.
If you want to see the damage that religion can do to a society, take a look at the US, where fundamentalists have hijacked political discourse. Education and women’s rights suffer whenever religion gets a hold. Do we really want to head down that path?
16 Mar 12
4:51 pm
MattP: you just oversimplified the Big Bang theory and theory of Evolution. If you don’t understand them, fine – but you have no place to critique them because they don’t line up with the beliefs of your religion.
Please read up on what constitutes a scientific theory and compare that to the common usage you’re thinking of.
16 Mar 12
4:58 pm
Why do athiests need a foundation? To discuss and promote what you believe, which is nothing. I’m a little confused by the concept.
16 Mar 12
5:14 pm
@TD many broad and inaccurate statements there. You are grouping all religions together and that is inaccurate. But I respect your opinion but it differs dramatically from my own experience. There are many positive examples where religion has done good and uplifted society. That is a path worth heading down.
16 Mar 12
5:27 pm
MattP…So you are giving god the credit for all the good stuff but not blaming him for all the bad stuff? It works both ways.
16 Mar 12
5:39 pm
Further to MattP….I think you misunderstand natural selection. It is :selective”, that is, non-random. Read “The Blind Watchmaker” by Richard Dawkins or any other good book on evolution for an explanation As for pre-human creatures, they are extinct. Although Homo Erectus and Homo Neanderthalensis populations may have survived as recently as 50 and 30 thousand years ago. The fossils are there for all to see. It’s really very cool. Take a look.
16 Mar 12
5:50 pm
@JH my point exactly, if such an argument (blaming God for mens/womens actions) is to be put forward (which I do not subscribe to) then both ways must be considered.
Using TD’s logic, I know people who have been killed in cars, therefore all cars should be banned because they’re all killers. Do we really want to head down that path.
My observation is that people who do not believe in God often create extreme, emotional generalisations, like the adverts shown above. My personal experience is that true science and true religion are the same.
Just wanted a balanced perspective as we share opinions.
16 Mar 12
6:31 pm
I have to say I’m rather agnostic when it comes to atheists.
“Global Atheist Convention” … must mark that one in my diary. Oh no, hang on, it’s at the same time as the Coober Pedy Colonic Irrigation Festival. Shame …
16 Mar 12
6:51 pm
EitHer way its a 50/50 bet…no one will know until the end
16 Mar 12
8:33 pm
A TV campaign by Christian Media in the 1980s featured a cartoon character saying “You can’t sell God on television”. Perhaps we should update that to say “You can’t sell atheism on buses”.
17 Mar 12
11:55 pm
@MattP 9. You need to understand the concepts you are attempting to discredit – you are just making yourself look foolish.
@MattP 17. No one mentioned banning religion except you. What groups such as this want is for religion to be a private matter that plays no role in public life. They also want to challenge people and their thinking. I also had to LOL at your “extreme emotional generalisations” – these advertisments couldn’t be more benign and understated…
@Paul 19. If you do the calculations, it’s closer to 99.9% – 0.1%
19 Mar 12
7:39 am
@Chris I summarised the concept in as few a words as possible for the purpose of this comments section. No doubt you can be more scientifically accurate in less than 35 words. I was attempting to make a point, not an epistle.
My analogy was in response to TD. Your conclusion as to “what groups such as this want” is not featured in the adverts shown. But how is it possible that any person’s private belief system does not influence their public contribution? Even if their belief is that they believe nothing. Most people would rather follow a leader who believed in something.
Oh, and Woody Allen . . . if that’s the best spokesperson they can quote . . . now who’s looking foolish?
19 Mar 12
11:45 am
This is a hot button topic. People don’t change their minds on this willy-nilly because it discredits their previous behaviour.
Perhaps a better approach would be for the athiest society to create a film about creating a religion and having it signed off by Government. Then enjoying a tax benefit. Add some snippets of Derryn Brown’s ‘Miracles for Sale’ and presto – powerful stuff.
Don’t question people’s religion – question the motives behind people who benefit from religion.
19 Mar 12
7:29 pm
@MattP 22. Your summary was wrong – so yes I could have been more scientifically accurate in 35 words.
Private beliefs will play a role, this is undisputed, but if I really need to spell out separation of church and state for you, then you probably need to do some reading. This separation is set up to protect the individual from government interference in their private beliefs and also to protect the people from religious interference in public matters. Private beliefs such as creationism, for instance should not enter our public education. The same goes for all of the issues currently being “debated” in the US presidential election – abortion and gay rights (equal marriage rights) to name 2.
As for Woody Allen – the quality of the quote does not rely on the speaker, although the cult of personality that is apparent in most religions makes your comment understandable.
20 Mar 12
10:51 pm
50/50 bet each way? I think not. If there is no God then athiest and believer both end up as nothing more than maggot meat. If there is a God according to one of the mainstream traditions, then atheist and other religions lose out big time. I am convinced there is a God. The big bang theory has huge fundamental flaws as pointed out by over 200 scientists who have signed an open letter criticizing the ‘article of faith attitude that so many scientists hold today in big bang theory ( likely because they have no other viable alternative explanation that does not involve a highly intelligent and capable first cause-God) see cosmologystatement.org. To the objective reader of these posts I urge you, do the logical thing. consider both sides of the scientific argument. Consider the arguments of athiest scientists and consider the arguments of equally qualified scientists who consider special creation and intelligent design theories to be more valid then big bang/evolution theories.
21 Mar 12
1:45 pm
@Bob 25.
200 scientists! Wow!
In other news, 200 “scientists” believe the earth is flat, 200 “scientists” believe the earth is the centre of the universe, 200 “scientists” believe the earth is 6,000 years old.
Your attempt at an argument from popularity falls short when you stack those 200 scientists up against the rest of the scientific community. However, this is unnecessary since scientific evidence doesn’t require popularity.
You also throw in an argument from ignorance “we aren’t 100% sure what happened, therefore it was god”, while failing to address the fundamental flaws with the god hypothesis.