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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.
Australian agencies’ miserable mobile failure
Many of Australia’s biggest advertising and digital agencies have failed to get to grips with how their sites are viewed on mobile devices, research by digital agency Reactive has indicated.
The problem is particularly acute for agencies that rely purely on Flash websites without an alternative available to devices such as Apple iPhones and iPads which do not display Flash.
The survey was carried out by Reactive MD Tim O’Neill after seeing a similar posting from the US.
He took screen grabs of how each agency’s site looks on an iPhone:
BMF - Iphone
Ikon - iPhone
BWM - iPhone
ClemengerBBDO - iPhone
Clemenger - Proximity iPhone
Cummins Partners - iPhone
DDB - Iphone
Deepend - iPhone
Droga5 - iPhone
Grey - iPhone
Host - iPhone
JWT - iPhone
Leo Burnett - iPhone
September 17th, 2010 at 12:22 pm
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Comments
17 Sep 10
12:26 pm
From the looks of things, their mobile experts are every bit as talented as their social media experts.
17 Sep 10
12:33 pm
But these are – except for Deepend – not digital-only agencies?
17 Sep 10
12:36 pm
troll bait 101.
#Denigrate the competition
17 Sep 10
12:42 pm
Though if the same website are looked on any other android powered phone, the sites come up fine.
17 Sep 10
12:42 pm
Funny, they all look fine on my Android phone… so maybe its the devices that have the issue.
17 Sep 10
1:01 pm
Some website developers will make some money soon
17 Sep 10
1:05 pm
Says it all, really.
Glad to say at least the ZenithOptimedia crew have a mobile formatted website:
http://www.zo-au.com
17 Sep 10
1:06 pm
http://mark.com.au
Win.
17 Sep 10
1:08 pm
http://thecampaignpalace.com/
Another win.
17 Sep 10
1:09 pm
Looking at the analytics data from the many sites we manage, Android devices account for between 1-2% of mobile device visits, whilst iOS devices account for around 95% of mobile traffic.
17 Sep 10
1:11 pm
Works fine on Android. Maybe you need to refer this issue to Apple. I believe they are changing their policy on Flash due to designer and developer backlash.
17 Sep 10
1:13 pm
The cobblers’ children always go shoeless and all that.
Seriously though, how many visits a month do agencies get to their site? Not many I’d wager – really not that much of an issue.
Having said that, a simple mobile optimised page with contact details would make a lot of sense, for people on the way to meetings etc.
17 Sep 10
1:14 pm
Seems like a digital marketing 101 kinda thing would you say?
http://www.permission.com.au
Permission works on mobile!
17 Sep 10
1:14 pm
So clients are looking for agencies on their mobiles now hey? Or just other agencies trying to make a point?
I guess if they were dedicated digi agencies or those who claim to have digi at the core I’d see it as a bit of a fail.
(According to a nice little article on AdAge this week) 2nd rule of mobile: what is your audience doing on their mobile and what sort of handset are they likely to be using? Looking at agency websites? I would imagine if they had sense they’d be looking at the agency’s works and promo sites to gauge how good they are with mobile.
According to John Galloway from Hyper Factory last week, only 12 -15% of smartphones in Australia are iPhones…
just sayin…
17 Sep 10
1:15 pm
Just happens to coincide with Reactive launch their new site this week. Prior to that their site looked shit on a mobile too.
17 Sep 10
1:19 pm
http://online.deloitte.com.au
Another win
17 Sep 10
1:19 pm
ha – so what? who wants to visit their sites on mobile anyway?
A BETTER study would be looking at the digital products produced by these agencies and seeing if they are mobile compliant. thats what i would care more about if i was to do business with these guys.
17 Sep 10
1:20 pm
IPhones don’t support Flash.
Most of these sites are inaccessible: to the blind, and to Google.
Look at the Google text cache for these same sites:
BMF:
http://webcache.googleusercont.....38;strip=1
Ikon
http://webcache.googleusercont.....38;strip=1
What’s new here??
17 Sep 10
1:21 pm
what a useless exercise.
17 Sep 10
1:29 pm
Wilhaus and Dino – I agree, it’s not likely that prospective clients are researching for agencies on their iPhone.
But current (or prospective) clients may like to look up a phone number or address of their agency (at least).
The Home page and Contact Us pages are by far the most viewed on mobiles based on analytics for our site.
17 Sep 10
2:02 pm
The plumber with a leaky tap.
I would rather see an agencies work for clients than see the time they’ve spent making their own site look good. It comes back to Kathy Sierra’s graphic: http://headrush.typepad.com/ph.....uythis.jpg
Tom
17 Sep 10
2:26 pm
The thing is, it’s very, very simple to setup some browser detection and redirect iPhone users to a simple page showing contact details or what have you. Sites showing the default Flash error on the front page are not doing enough.
17 Sep 10
2:57 pm
Now if only they contacted AppsWiz.
We specialise in Mobile.
Facilitate a wide choice of Services as to how they can access the information they want, when they want it via their specific handset or tablet.
Evelyn Miles
M: +61 4 32 230 092
E: evelyn@appswiz.com
http://www.appswiz.com
17 Sep 10
3:03 pm
@Harley – any good examples of a script you’d recommend so we can all add it to our sites then?
17 Sep 10
3:18 pm
Here and here are a good place to start. You can either do it in javascript or in the web server configuration.
17 Sep 10
3:41 pm
Maybe they’re all too busy creating advertising.
17 Sep 10
3:45 pm
two letters for you…UX!
17 Sep 10
4:01 pm
Another win for iOS is George Patts site http://www.gpyr.com.au/
17 Sep 10
4:01 pm
Check out http://www.wapple.net for an easy to use, cloud delivered, service which allows easy mobile website creation and optimisation for anyone. As @Harley says, it really is very easy.
17 Sep 10
4:02 pm
Check out mobile agency The Hyperfactory http://www.thehyperfactory.com/
Kick ass site
17 Sep 10
4:34 pm
And another win
http://jwt.com
17 Sep 10
4:54 pm
Also checkout QuickSites http://www.quicksites.mobi, a very powerful and very easy to use mobile site creation tool currently powering many agencies, companies and brands.
17 Sep 10
5:13 pm
Adelaide crew 2moro created the mobile site for a ski Resort in Niseko Japan… Has 3 versions – Mid, High and iPhone..
live lift status, video snow reports and Accommodation and Services search.
http://mobile.skihanazono.com
17 Sep 10
5:34 pm
What a pointless exercise… Tim have you nothing better to do than slag the competition? Shameless self promotion when if you checked a little while ago, Reative’s site would have also been unreadable!
17 Sep 10
5:42 pm
Agency websites are useless on the whole anyhow. I guess for a creative agency it is good to showcase your work, but who assesses an ad agency using their iphone? It makes no sense.
17 Sep 10
6:51 pm
http://www.nakedcommunications.com.au
(looks fine on mobile, but really we just through we’d get in on the cheap ploy to improve our search ranking
17 Sep 10
7:33 pm
Funny Reactive raising this. Kinda points attention to the fact that their new site is very similar to the very well know Academy site.
I think I’d prefer a site that doesn’t work that one that is copied.
Judge for yourself:
http://www.reactive.com/
http://www.weareacademy.com/page/projects/
17 Sep 10
7:48 pm
And for all the other agencies jumping in and saying your site actually works: It makes you look really silly when they aren’t optimised for mobile. If you really think any of these sites work well on mobile then you really have no clue what good mobile creative is.
17 Sep 10
7:49 pm
Hate to disappoint the oodles of marketing agencies jumping at the idea of posting their site here in order to boost their search ranking, but each of these links have nofollow on them, and Google won’t assess their appearance on this site.
17 Sep 10
8:46 pm
An issue that has been a part of Grudens best practice in designing sites for some time. For an in depth explanation go to – http://blog.gruden.com/2009/04.....-friendly/
17 Sep 10
9:21 pm
Might have been more interesting if the list included pure-play digital agencies.
17 Sep 10
10:50 pm
Yes, in my down time I browse agency websites on my phone. 4 f sake people. When will u learn. We hire agencies because of great creative (and strategic) people who can help us win. Mark (fake M and C) Campaign Palace (who the f are u anyway) and Reactive (web dev pig with lipstick) we don’t care about your mobile sites. We care about u helping us compete. Unfortunately for u (and all u media agencies) u are just cogs in the production and placement machine.
There are some agencies that can change the way people think with an ad. We hire them. We pay them. We then spend an f load on placing the ad. That’s it. Stop crying. Stop faking.
17 Sep 10
11:09 pm
Agree with many of the comments above.. most agencies have not really bothered with how their site might render to mobile (and many are awful or just won’t work at all) .. but I also agree that very little mobile traffic will ever visit an agency’s site.. but some will… and if just one of those is a client wanting to get a flavour for how that agency regards the mobile channel.. they will quickly realise that it is paid little heed. If that client is one of the many who already regard mobile as an important touchpoint, then his budget may go elsewhere…
It doesn’t cost much to put up a site optimised for mobile and re-direct mobile traffic there
18 Sep 10
5:39 am
Mr Client, do you also hire them to help with your spelling?
18 Sep 10
3:00 pm
I always enjoy the number of anon posters in this kind of conversation…!
18 Sep 10
4:11 pm
Agreed, that for a lot of the creative done by these agencies, and the way that clients are finding the large agencies (probably not through a Google search!) it’s not really that important from a business sense.
From a design and self-pride sense, these design agencies seem to spend mega money on office setups, their own identity design, etc – seems odd their websites get left behind.
I wonder if they are struggling to keep up with the digital age, they’ve spent a huge amount of time on developing TVC’s, identity, strategy, etc. They all do a great job with that, however web and digital has sort of been a ‘bolt on’ extra that no one really knows too much about. Creatives/designers in these work places would generally have had no background in UX, web, code, or anything – but by using Flash which kind of behaves a bit like illustrator, they can mash together something that gets the job done, but is very half-arsed and unnecessary.
They would be best off setting up dedicated web area of their business, hiring experts in the area, not just slotting in designers who are wanting to have a go at a website, or even buying up a smaller web-shop that is good at what they do (which is exactly what Deloitte did).
20 Sep 10
9:40 am
Form over function at it’s finest.
Anyone still promoting or selling Flash for websites is way out of the game.
I so love all that stuff that looks pretty but is essential un-usable.
20 Sep 10
10:04 am
Adam, bad websites can be made with any software mate. I’ve seen numerous terrible sites built without Flash being anywhere near! The quality of the outcome has little to do with the software used.
20 Sep 10
12:05 pm
My point is… What is the point of Flash?
iPhone is leading the shift away from desktop to handheld browsing at a blinding pace.
Actually, the shift is away from browser based services alltogether.
Besides facebook games and the self-serving window dressing that basically only agencies employ it for now, there will be no place for Flash in about 2 years time.
Web pages themselves will be all but extinct (or at least boutique) in 10 years as users move toward mobile app. based internet services in-turn driving major businesses to offer these services.
Essentially this will leave Flash high and dry without a platform to run on.
People don’t have time to stop and smell the roses that is a stunningly visual flash site. In this emerging phase (3.0) of the web, people want access to web-based services quickly and easily. Specifically only 3-4 functions max per website. This is where the mobile app. will realise dominance.
20 Sep 10
12:16 pm
cheap imitation
20 Sep 10
12:17 pm
Yet this survey – yes it’s an Adobe survey – reveals that 80% of businesses are choosing to deploy mobile websites as opposed to mobile apps. http://www.adobe.com/aboutadob.....urvey.html
And if you must have an app, Apple is actually allowing Flash developed apps now… so it Flash have a platform…
up..http://www.pcworld.com/article.....offin.html
By the way, I couldn’t care less about Flash, just thought your comments, which are not supported by reality, couldn’t be left unchallenged.
20 Sep 10
1:36 pm
A controversial article on Mumbrella? No!!!!
20 Sep 10
3:04 pm
Adobe are still developing flash apps for the iPhone and iPad so I wouldn’t worry too much for now.
The growth of Android handsets and devices will continue to grow and more and more people are moving away from Apple and onto Samsung, HTC and other Android handsets/devices.
As the “client” you also need to see what amount of traffic your site is receiving from iPhone/iPad devices.
Reactive are spruiking they have a new html5 homepage that looks pretty shite and wouldn’t really pass a good UEX or UIA test. They do have a valid point in that creative and digital agencies should practice what they preach and build a non flash version for users wanting to access their site from a non flash device alla Apple
20 Sep 10
3:35 pm
I don’t really care if Reactive are deemed to be spruiking or what their product is like. Well done to them for throwing the cat among the pigeons and creating some buzz and conversation around the topic. Awareness. Tick.
Point is.. mobile is growing rapidly.. many agencies are falling behind and there are low cost solutions to getting on board and learning about this growth medium.
20 Sep 10
3:45 pm
Yeah what a pesky issue – it’s the brands that care about it who do well! magnifine glasses are selling out at the $2 Dollar Shops
20 Sep 10
3:45 pm
I remember the days when having a website was cool and people not really understanding the medium (or were scared of it) would say an online site was not relevant. We know what happened on this front.
This is the same for mobile. Mobile is part of the same family as digital…so if your game is offering digital in any form you need to have a mobile site…….not a half baked optimised website that looks “OK” on a IPhone (and let’s face it my 90 year old grandma looks approachable when viewed through safari on my 3GS)…but a true mobile site that optimises per handset with device detection, dynamic images that display according to screen size and bite size chunks of information that you can read on the fly.
You need to back this site up with some tight MOBILE SEO activities and maybe throw in a mix of targeted mobile media from display, display performance and perhaps a QR code to keep the techies happy.
Mobile is here to stay whether you like it not. Smartphones are about to hit 50% penetration in Australia. That’s more than 10Million handsets or roughly 50% of the population that have a personal device that they could use to interact with your company/brand for the first time. The question really is what sort of experience do you want them to have ?
20 Sep 10
3:51 pm
@ Sarah L.. (aka Gen Y bovva lernin to rite wen I can speak innit)
Would you explain your point one more time please? For Gen X? Sumfink 2 do wiv magnifine glasses… which are what exactly?
5 Oct 10
3:45 pm
Reactive’s claim to launching a mobile version of their site for Metro trains is completely comical.
All of a sudden they are ‘mobile experts’, because they are providing some formatting to iPhones devices…. I just accessed the site on my HTC Desire Android device…. FAIL!!!!
C’mon guys you are doing an injustice to the rest of the established mobile market for some cheap publicity and hope of getting some runs on the board with potential clients.
From experience in the local market NO traditional online agencies currently have the experience or capabilities in delivering successfully to the 10,000+ different handset profiles out there. This can only be accomplished through acquiring the relevant information over a long period of time, not jumping on with the latest buzz.