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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.
AWARD unveils new logo driven by ‘complex algorithm’
Australia’s main advertising awards – AWARD – has relaunched with a new logo which is says is based on a “complex algorithm” to represent each member of the organisation by a single dot.
According to AWARD – the Australasian Writers and Art Directors Association – “the new brand identity is a living and fluid ‘A’ logo which reflects the creative community by ensuring each member is represented by a dot. Controlled by a complex algorithm and by being plugged into the member database, the logo grows in real time and changes shape as the membership changes.”
The new A logo – created by Interband – can also be seen on AWARD’s new website, which has been developed by digital agency Deepend.
Richard Maddocks, ECD at Clemenger BBDO and chairman of AWARD said: “It had been a while since the identity had been refreshed and the committee was keen to find something that was a truer reflection of AWARD and it’s members. The idea was to find something that reflected the community aspect of who we are and to allude to the fact that AWARD has, and will continue to evolve as the industry itself changes.”
June 10th, 2009 at 12:16 pm
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Comments
10 Jun 09
12:26 pm
Good concept, shame about the execution. Looks like a petri dish or mould growing. Information design is more than just running an algorithm, there’s also this crazy thing called aesthetics.
10 Jun 09
12:30 pm
How do you put a ‘real-time’ logo on letterhead/stationary?
10 Jun 09
12:45 pm
Nice idea, but will anyone realise what is intended if they haven’t had the explanation beforehand? To the unitiated it may just suggest it is time to change the print cartridge
10 Jun 09
1:53 pm
Oh come ON, now you’re just being SILLY! At first glance, I thought it was a fat man going for a walk. Echo Craig, no doubt some great opportunity for further billing whenever they have to update the logo for stationery.
10 Jun 09
2:15 pm
judging by the members list page on the site there are almost 500 members. That doesn’t look like 500 dots to me. We’ve been conned!
It’s a shame the homepage doesn’t surface any content or conversations happening in the community.
10 Jun 09
2:53 pm
Reminds me of one of those Rorschach inkblot test images. I see the head of the Grim Reaper…
10 Jun 09
2:55 pm
I seriously worry when someone’s first thoughts turn to “but how will that look on letterheads and stationary”
10/10 to AWARD for thinking outside the box.
10 Jun 09
2:57 pm
They have GOT to be taking the piss…
10 Jun 09
2:59 pm
I can see a skull
10 Jun 09
3:12 pm
Rorschach strikes again. As a logo representative of its membership its whatever you want it to be. Pretty inclusive!
10 Jun 09
3:28 pm
Awesome! Perfect use of technology to shake up old rules for defining a logo. I really like Interbrand’s strategy to use ‘fluid’ lines to represent writers (bloggers) and art directors, as our creative landscape is constantly changing before our very eyes. The logo looks sensational online! Well done deepend.
10 Jun 09
3:46 pm
I love it. Great design is often polarising – the design has really grown on me.
Have not seen anything like it before. It’s true to its concept – it represents the creative community, it is constantly evolving, it can change and adapt with the times. Its more than a logo and is truly a brand – i.e. it represents a great idea.
10 Jun 09
3:56 pm
Love it
10 Jun 09
4:00 pm
I like it.
It’s organic & the sound design (so often neglected online) is great.
10 Jun 09
4:11 pm
It’s STATIONERY, not stationary.
And I think it looks like a big blob of sludge.
10 Jun 09
4:20 pm
If it’s digital it must be good. Never mind that it’s illegible and messy.
10 Jun 09
4:28 pm
Looks like a bad case of Hemorrhoids, highly appropriate for all that butt clenching that goes on in the Ad world – New depths to Deepend’s work.
10 Jun 09
4:29 pm
I agree creating a ‘brand’ is all about the experience and engaging all sensory responses to fit with the culture of your brand. Often subtle design elements (sound, smell, texture) can be over looked or under valued during the development phase…but it’s never too late to upgrade your brand experience. I think, Trademarking the ‘algorithm code’ in connection with the new logo form would be very cool.
10 Jun 09
4:30 pm
I think it looks like me, moh ha ha ha haa:
http://yfrog.com/47skeletorj
10 Jun 09
6:23 pm
It’s also nice work from Deepend
Well done guys – cool site.
10 Jun 09
6:27 pm
The static version looks rubbish, so stationery can’t have been in the brief. The website looks super cool. I’m mesmerised.
10 Jun 09
6:56 pm
At first I just thought the algorhythm thing was a joke; but looking at it, it looks like its just some crapy fractal thing.
The ida is solid, but the final look is crappy it would have been better to have something that alluded to the concept with the actual logo changing thing just on the website which would be far better.
As to the comments about printing it out on a letterhead, surely everything is digital now – no pre printed stationary now apart from a b-card – which still means that an allusion of the process to make the logo would have been better.
But, hey you have to try new things to do something new. It’s a pity it’s not aesthetically pleasing.
11 Jun 09
10:00 am
I can’t understand why people think our industry is wanky………
11 Jun 09
12:20 pm
It looks like as if the DNA helix structure had a bad case of diarrhoea. Crap explanation about the complex algorithm concept. Ben 10 has a better structured logo. Totally silly & it looks like my theory of the Creative Director getting a bad case of the chaos postulate along with the diarrhoea attack is correct.
1 Jul 09
3:20 pm
Well it’s good to see this has got people talking – full disclosure, I’m from Deepend, and I’m here to pitch in, and answer a few comments.
To: Craig – We’ve built a real-time logo generator that delivers an EPS direct to the stationary AI, or INDD files each time they’re opened or printed. The generator uses real data, and delivers at print quality (with more dots than the website).
To: Brad Eldridge – we simply can’t have 500 dots on the homepage, as this would kill people’s processors, so we limited the number of dots, whilst still representing the members in the three different sizes ratio. When computers get fast enough, we’ll up the number to 500!
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