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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.
Aussie Home Loans leaps into social media with Amnesia
Aussie Home Loans has embarked on a full social media and digital campaign to support its new TVC of a skydiving financial adviser.
The TVC ad – based on the idea that wherever the adviser lands, he can save customers money, was the last work from agency Saatchi & Saatchi. Lowe has since become Aussie’s agency.
But the new interactive campaign is the work of digital agency Amnesia Razorfish. It integrates across several social media channels.
It features real life Aussie Home Loans mortgage adviser Duanne Brown. He’s been persuaded to make the first parachute jump of his life on April 6. He tells his story on YouTube:
As well as a dedicated YouTube channel, consumers are invited to get involved by guessing on an Aussie Home Loans site using Google Maps where in Australia he will land. The winner will get $3,000, while 50 runners up get $300.
The blogosphere has been involved by Amnesia asking financial bloggers to hide a code somewhere on their site. Users who find it can use it to have further guesses about the landing spot.
There is also a Facebook group where Duanne asks for advice on coping with the jump, and he also has a Twitter account where he banters with supporters.
March 20th, 2009 at 11:34 am
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Comments
20 Mar 09
2:42 pm
Does this sort of campaign really lend itself to social media? I think consumers will see through this.
The You tube site has been live 16 days today and has had under 300 views, Flickr had 3 or 4 views on the first and last photos I viewed at 2.30pm. Given the jump is 17 days away lets hope it improves….this so far looks like a fairly poor execution to me.
20 Mar 09
3:08 pm
I agree with Ben. All credit to Aussie for trying something fresh and different but i just don’t think Aussies will actually care about this. Entertaining? Fail. Starts a debate/discussion? Fail. Worth passing on? Epic Fail
20 Mar 09
3:27 pm
Given Australian’s relationships with their homes in general, coupled with the economic climate at present, this campaign has to be the most juvenile campaign on air. And the biggest wasted opportunity.
Both Saatchi and the client need a smack in the chops.
Guess Saatchi got theirs.
And the client who approved it??
20 Mar 09
3:49 pm
Hi Ben & Gerry (got any ice cream you can sell me? Boom, boom…), and Andrew, too. Thanks for your comments.
For what it’s worth, I think you’re being a tad harsh, particularly to Amnesia.
Consider that their starting point is inheriting a TVC of a financial adviser jumping out of a plane. They don’t have the option of telling the client they should have been involved from the beginning – clearly they weren’t.
But what they have done is created an idea which works across several different social media channels. They’ve executed that very professionally across each channel. (Although I do score you down for not PR-ing it, chaps – that is arguably a tad naive)
However, one element that is particularly impressive is the idea of hiding codes to have extra guesses on various financial blogs. That is an excellent way of getting bloggers directly involved. I can’t think of that having been done in Australia before.
Granted, this isn’t a campaign we’ll be talking about for years to come (unlesss the parachute doesn’t open – is there a crisis recovery plan for that?), but it’s solid, utilises social media intelligently and will, I’m sure, at the very least deliver them a return on their client’s original investment.
Cheers,
Tim – Mumbrella
20 Mar 09
3:58 pm
fair point tim, fair point…totally take your point about inheriting a legacy and having to polish the proverbial turd..I just think the ‘smarts’ you mention above will go largely unnoticed by 90% of people except a few of the techies at digital agencies across town …as to your point, they havent PR’d it…you’re totally right…critical error.
I guess i will be eating humble ‘ice cream’ if this campaign is a big success..won’t bet on it though..but as i said, nice effort…playing in the social media space is about trying new things, not everything sticks..maybe this will..
21 Mar 09
5:25 pm
Tim, take your point of having a go and Gerry’s of polishing the turd; they were given a hospital pass. My point was that where elements of social media doesn’t serve a campaign as its been developed don’t use it. Otherwise it just puts cost into a campaign for no return. I say this in a recent post on my site.
Where you find a campaign that you believe is both well executed and has the stats to prove it has hit its marketing objectives I’m sure that would be very well received by your readers. I’m keen to see some real home runs in this space.
22 Mar 09
1:06 pm
They said it would never fly
When the Wright Brothers took their wood, wire and bike wheels out
They said it would never fly
When Edison struggled for months with filaments to ignite our world
They said he should not try
When England almost alone stood against Hitler’s efficient war machine
Their chances were not high
When every man and woman who stands before us the crowd and tries
The rest of us ask why
Good luck you Aussie Home Loan champs, your pioneering style behoves
Respect because you’ve flown
Like Edison you’ve become a beacon light in Australian business groves
Because you tried and grown
Like England when all was lost you’ve moved to a higher plane and won
And in this its clearly shown
That you continue to lead the way, where others will only follow
Making comments unbeknown
That the world will one day mark this innovation in reality marketing …
And that you have got the bone.
22 Mar 09
5:07 pm
Another continued example of how everyone’s a social media expert these days. Remember how everyone was a search expert? Oh hang on… everyone still is.
This has fail all over it. There are very few agencies who have the right to be termed experts in this space and they’re not the ones who created this piece.
23 Mar 09
1:42 pm
So many overly critical negative people.
I say good on Aussie and Amnesia for actually getting involved. The number one problem with social media in Australia is that there is a lot of noise and talk and very little action or follow through.
Whether it performs or not is yet to be seen, so how about we pull back on the sledging and “Im more of an expert than you are” pissing contest and try and actually grow the industry by supporting it?
Great work on getting this across the line and actually doing something with social only.
23 Mar 09
3:12 pm
I don’t beleive we (Amnesia) have ever said we were experts in social, in fact we’re just like most agencies… trying to figure out how it all works… but we ARE prepared to have a go. This includes making mistakes and epic fails (if it should happen). So we enter into each project being prepared to take a couple of arrows in our backs and we’re quite prepared to take critisism if it makes us better at what we do.
What I do find slightly strange that judgements can be made without knowing what our goals and criteria are for the project. We have not stated what the campaign objectives are at this point in time. In fact there seems to be a misconception that Social media must produce reach and frequency to be a success. What does 160 views in YT mean? Failure? So… what if 10 of those views were all journos who wrote stories seen by thousands? Still a failure?
It’s OK – we know at the end of the campaign, people will make judgements either way. All we can say is that we do listen and hopefully we will be able to share some of what we learn.
Cheers,
Iain, Amnesia. (http://twitter.com/eunmac)
PS: @failed – Is it not a basic courtesy of social media (including blog comments) to disclose who you are so that a conversation can take place and people can understand your thoughts in an objective light? I don’t know who you are, but I’m not hiding from your argument or feedback should you wish to make yourself known.
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