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Opinion | Features
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.
TV audience measurement – why big isn’t always beautiful
In this guest post, Chris Walton argues that the media industry needs to take a new approach to TV tradingThere has been a significant amount of coverage recently about how successful The Voice has been. Indeed, audience figures of 2.6m+ people are very impressive these days. Based on reports, this is apparently double the size of audience that Nine was hoping for in the lead up to the programme launching.
How do you solve a problem like Blunty?
So if you were the proposed News Standards Body, how would you regulate Blunty?The News Standards Body, in case you didn’t notice, is the new organisation proposed by the Convergence Review this week to regulate news and commentary, regardless of platform.
Blunty, in case you didn’t notice, is the video blogger who this week went viral after he filmed a guerrilla marketing demo outside Apple’s Sydney store apparently as a coincidental bystander, but later admitted he’d been put up to it by BlackBerry.
40 ads where music made the difference - and why agencies should think of music first, not last
Music can make an average ad great. So why, Robin Hicks asks, is music the last thing a creative thinks about when writing an ad?My favourite TV ad of the year so far is the Let Yourself Go spot for Kangaroo Island.
When it didn’t win Mumbrella’s Ad of the Month for March (it came third) I felt aggrieved for the agency that made it. But less so a week later when it emerged that the agency had paid celebrities to tweet nice things about its work.
Let Yourself Go is a stunning spot with lots of pretty images. But it would probably have had a similar effect on me if I’d watched a blank screen for 60 seconds.
Aussie marketers: we don’t need social media expertise to be successful
Marketers in Australia and New Zealand say that an understanding of technology and social media are the things they need the least to be good at their jobs, according to a survey of CMOs by IBM.
In answer to the question, ‘What capabilities do you need to be personally successful over the next 3 to 5 years?’ only 12% said social media expertise – the lowest proportion in the survey.
What capabilities do you need to be successful over the next 3 to 5 years?
Technology savviness rated at just 26% – as did finance skills.
Leadership abilities, creative thinking and customer insights rated top.
The survey was part of a global study, which comprised face to face interviews with 1,700 CMOs; 57 in Australia and New Zealand.
October 11th, 2011 at 3:01 pm
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Comments
11 Oct 11
3:13 pm
Just to clarify, this survey asked CMO’s whether they PERSONALLY needed social media skills. It did NOT ask them whether or not they find social media to be important to their overall marketing plans?
The two scenarios have drastically different ramifications, so just wanted to make sure.
11 Oct 11
3:37 pm
Surprising (and reassuring) results… if only because I would’ve thought more CMOs have been sucked in by the bells and whistles of a ‘You Need Twelve Corporate Twitter Accounts Or Your Business Is Doomed!’ being spouted by SM consultalts.
Can’t resist… Commentor #1… “I’ll have the Cream of Summ Yung-Gi”
11 Oct 11
3:49 pm
I would be more concerned about the lack of finance & technology understanding/ skills … which is why they clearly see demand creation as relatively unimportant in the business of marketing (which is to drive growth, increase revenue, market share etc)
11 Oct 11
6:44 pm
There are a number of other very important skill on this list which they also think they can do without. Who needs to understand finance, products value chain or demand creation in marketing…
11 Oct 11
7:36 pm
No surprise to see technology savviness down near the bottom
11 Oct 11
8:39 pm
Leadership in the nineties? That seems very aspirational.
Thought search engines might get a look.
11 Oct 11
11:23 pm
Not surprising that CMOs picked traditional skills like leadership, creative thinking and insights as their top 3. These are the answers senior managers expect to hear from potential employees at interviews. In todays fast paced age, the ability of a CMO to be agile, data driven and digital minded has a direct bearing on his or her departments success, employee motivation and turnover. Only when the top brass embrace these new age skills themselves will we see large shifts in marketing thinking.
12 Oct 11
8:43 am
It is interesting that only 12% of CMOs said they need social media expertise capabilities as the survey also said that CMO felt unprepared for the ‘data explosion’ and ‘social media’.
While CMOs are certainly meant to be leaders and have vision for their teams I would also suggest that they should have a reasonable knowledge of social media to be able to quality check the work of their employees that they hire in this area (or their agencies).
In addition, many employees that are embedded in this area themselves I imagine would find it disappointing if their CMO didn’t have a reasonable understanding in this area because getting buy-in in their social media projects would be more difficult.
After teaching Social Media to Masters Marketing students at UTS one of the reasons many students are looking for new role is because the CMO is out of touch in this area and they cannot use their social skills effectively. Many good mktg employees are being lost this way – perhaps employee retention may spur more CMOs on.
12 Oct 11
10:16 am
You’d expect CMOs to take stock of the situation and hire (young?) guns for social media expertise. Not a skill they personally need. Similarly they’ll use the CFO for financial expertise. I’m sure most PR, ad and media agency bosses would say the same.
46% of CMOs don’t think they’ll need to collaborate with the rest of the C-Suite. Now that’s a worry.
12 Oct 11
10:18 am
So only 1 in 4 said they need finance skills???
12 Oct 11
1:48 pm
The irony being that some of the most desired items can be acquired through (drum roll please)…. social media!
Consumer insights, competitive insights, creative ideas… all can be sourced from social media.
12 Oct 11
1:54 pm
We don’t care much about social media because it creates risk and chews resources
12 Oct 11
2:05 pm
I’m shocked that there’s 57 CMOs in ANZ.
12 Oct 11
2:35 pm
Fact is social media’s not really that hard to understand – it’s just good old word of mouth but online is a hell of a lot faster and a lot more fragmented (excluding Facebook; Twitter and Youtube).
Today, with more customers time spent online then watching TV, and 20% of that online time spent in social media, then a good basic understanding is basically essential for all organisations.
Leadership; creativity etc are all skills needed to leverage social media channels.
12 Oct 11
2:46 pm
Hi all – I was part of the interview team in Australia & New Zealand and am leading the development of our local perspective on the results. I also run marketing for IBM’s consulting business here.
Here are some thoughts / responses. Let me know what you think.
@someyoungguy : We asked what capabilities they need to be personally successful over the next few years
@shane @Relying on experts? If you don’t get it yourself, how can you think about it strategically or ask the ‘guns’ the right questions?
@casey @james D @Jenni Beattie @ The Accountant Good points. My view is that marketing has been viewed or performed as Business Lite: All the taste, none of the calories. Our study shows that being able to talk business, finance and social is critical to success.
@bob While time will tell, I don’t think you can’t “not care” about social media. It’s about building or enhancing relationships, not just getting heaps of twitter followers
I’m tweeting some more of the findings over the next few days on @jarther_work. You can also ask me a question on twitter, or just post here.
You can get the global study at: ibm.com/cmostudy/au (you’ll have to register first)
12 Oct 11
4:12 pm
Perhaps a poorly worded question.
Does ‘capabilities’ mean ‘expertise’ in an area?
Or does it mean to have a ‘general knowledge’ – sufficient to brief, debrief, discuss, judge and measure success?
Capabilities could mean both.
12 Oct 11
4:47 pm
with all due respect Jarther, time HAS told
facebook and twitter aren’t new
if a compelling business case hasn’t been constructed by their acolytes by now, one most likely doesn’t exist
this is why CMOs do little more than experiement with these things (and mainly so they can respond positively to questions from non-marketing people caught up in the hype)
12 Oct 11
6:26 pm
Bravo anti social media marketers because they know that Consumers want marketers out of their social media with a vengance- so they are spot on. as if I’m going to “Like” Jetstar, or The Good Guys on a SM site unless they bribe me with a competition. Marketers should get on with re-targeting, good creative, good placement and smart SEO.
12 Oct 11
6:47 pm
How can CMOs effectively hire expertise when they don’t know whether someone is talking bs?
Lack of financial skills is a real worry. Can we trust these people with budgets?
13 Oct 11
2:37 pm
@Tony Richardson The question was intended to capture personal capabilities (rather than organisational ones). You raise valid points around additional questions we could have asked. Given the study was completed as in-depth interviews, we had to draw the line somewhere.
By the way – you can get a copy of the global study by going to ibm.com/cmostudy/au and register. The study is free to download.
17 Oct 11
9:28 am
@bob I think social media is viewed as a risk in some industries more than others, and a few large companies have had their fingers burned for sure. But one thing is certain, it is here to stay. So the choice for organisations is to ignore or engage.
Engagement can be as simple as listening to what is being said and gaining customer and product insight, or it could involve varying degrees of participation in the conversation. Companies are also going one step further to enable and support social interaction. Telstra recently launched CrowdSupport is an example of a strategic, long term view on social/digital/engagement that might make CMOs take notice.
But even if you’re just listening in, you need a strategy and a set of tools to help you analyse what is going on in the social sphere so you can learn from it. I’m interested in whether anyone disagrees!
FYI I lead http://www.ibminteractive.com in Australia and these are the types of issues we help clients with.
18 Oct 11
8:27 am
Social media is easy to get started on, but it’s way more complicated than Facebook and Google and YouTube. It depends on your needs, but most businesses are here to get more sales – bottom line. Sharing conversation in your tweets and posts isn’t going to achieve this if that’s your goal. It all depends on what your goal is – listen, brand promotion, or engagement. The latter is more strategic than it looks, takes more planning, and not easily achieved with just a tweet or 2. To engage is to really be involved with your markets. That level of involvement is best not left to a 12%-er on any marketing manager’s priority list.