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Opinion
No - advertising has not beaten culture jamming at its own game
In this guest post, an activist argues why advertising has not subverted culture jamming - and why Australia would be a better place without ‘visual pollution’At a photography exhibition now on the Sydney Museum last week, a question was put to a panel of experts. Would our cities be better without any advertising. The answer was a resounding “yes”.
This didn’t really come as much of a surprise. After all, the panel were culture jammers – activists who subvert mainstream media, altering the message of an ad to tell a story of their own.
Think popular, not premium: Why the Henry & Aaron 'It's a snap' video went viral
In this guest posting, YouTube’s Karen Stocks says why she thinks CIT’s gory-funny ‘It’s a snap’ ad was a hit.One of this week’s viral hits on YouTube is a science fiction-themed ad for the Central Institute of Technology in Perth. The skit-style video commercial features CIT grads-turned-YouTube stars Henry & Aaron, who magically jump from one CIT department to the next with a snap of Aaron’s fingers. The comedy takes a distinctly darker turn when Aaron’s teleporting skills start going horribly wrong – with gruesome results.
The video holds a couple of lessons for marketers.
Mumbrella360 - call for curated sessions
I must confess that I didn’t enjoy Mumbrella360 last year.
Having staked our credibility and indeed (although I didn’t like to think about it at the time) the company, on Mumbrella360 being a success, the main thing I actually experienced over the two days was a growing sense of relief that it wasn’t shit.
The Woolworths virtual store is not the future of retail. But it is a good PR stunt
So last night I dropped by my local neighbourhood Virtual Woolworths.It’s located at Sydney Town Hall station – conveniently enough, almost directly underneath my local neighborhood Real Woolworths.
As you’ll see from the wobbly iPhone video I shot, it was a relatively lonely experience. But it was Sunday night.
How not to use Twitter: lessons from Qantas and Westpac
The likes of Qantas have a long way to go before getting to grips with social media, argues Axel Bruns.For major brands, the road to social media infamy is paved with what seemed like good ideas at the time.
Just this week, Qantas succeeded in having Twitter suspend the well-known spoof account, @QantasPR, claiming users would mistake it for the real thing.
Is Big W the beginning of the bounceback for Saatchis?
Google may prove me wrong, but in the entire time Mumbrella has existed, and very possibly for my entire editorship of B&T before that, I can’t remember ever writing the headline “Saatchi & Saatchi wins…”
So today’s appointment by Big W is a big deal.
Traditional agencies are driving away their digital superstars with their old ways
In this guest post, Daniel Monheit argues that Australia’s creative agencies will never be able to hang on to digital talentIn 2010 Steve Jobs was invited by James Murdoch to speak at the annual News Corp management retreat. Jobs issued a blunt, critical assessment of what newspapers were trying to do in technology: “You’re going to find it hard to get things right, because you’re in New York and anyone who’s any good at tech works in Silicon Valley”.
And that’s when it hit me. The reason why Australia’s best traditional agencies, working with the most prolific clients and the biggest budgets cant manage to put out anything remotely passable as decent digital work.
Anyone who’s any good at digital works at an agency that actually believes in it.
What does Fairfax's Media's data dump actually mean? And what's going on at ACP Magazines?
Although I rather like stats, there are a few days a year where they become a little overwhelming.
Radio ratings releases offer eight such days annually. Over the space of a couple of hours, the data drops for the five main metro markets. Generally the phone starts ringing within 10 minutes, from station bosses aiming to give their interpretation of those numbers. It becomes a game of keeping them on the line long enough to sift through the data to try to discover the real story you need to ask them about. Within minutes a blizzard of press releases follow too.
In truth, the press releases mostly get ignored in the race to write the story. Then they’re mostly ignored because the story is already written.
And twice a year, a similar exercise surrounds the release of the monthly magazine sales figures,
When the powerful buy into the media, can the media still scrutinise the powerful?
Economist Richard Denniss of Australian National University argues in a post that first appeared on The Conversation that the public needs to decide if it cares who owns the media.The mining industry is used to having its voice heard in Australian public debates, so it should come as no surprise that mining billionaires such as Gina Rinehart and Clive Palmer would consider buying up a bigger slice of the Australian media.
While the estimated $20m spent by the mining industry on television advertisements opposing the introduction of a mining tax was the most visible example of the industry’s determination to influence the public it is, in fact, just the tip of the iceberg.
The keyboard warrior of Twitter
In this guest post, NBN staffer Scott Rhodie writes an unofficial, personal view on his experience with a hostile Twitter critic.Last night I had a strange incident. While on Twitter I noticed someone saying that Australia’s NBN is already outdated. I wrote a small note back explaining they were incorrect.
And their response? The lovely gentleman (whose Twitter profile says: ‘Father of 5 kids, Loving Grandfather of 10 Grandchildren,and 2 Great Granddaughters. love to give heaps to Pollies and Poofters’) said to me: “Go and lick Gillards C*** out U commie Prick”
What's in a name?
In this guest post, Moensie Rossier wonders about the power of names for brands and marketers.
Brands have been having a bit of fun with names lately, not to mention a fair bit of success. Interbrand just named a headhunting firm Cloak & Dagger. And ‘Share a Coke’ showed how much power there is in a name.
The Coke campaign effectively short-circuited the usual mechanics of communication. It undoubtedly stroked people’s egos. But, I believe, its success stems from the fact that it directly and automatically affected people’s behaviour, rather than doing so indirectly by shaping attitudes.
Best ads from Super Bowl 2012
The Super Bowl is all done and a team from North America won. But as well as some sort of sporting event, it’s the world’s biggest advertising showcase. See the best of them right here… and please tell us what you think.
How to debunk media myths
In this post, UWS’s Ullrich Ecker, John Cook and Stephen Lewandowsky argue that cognitive science can help PRs form strategies in managing media misreporting.
A growing cohort of commentators has bemoaned the descent of contemporary political “debate” into a largely fact-free zone.
How about simply focusing on what consumers want?
In this guest post, Peter Mountford argues that brands should think more about what is really going on for consumers
Who here is hoping their favourite brand of toilet paper is going to be organizing a flash mob on their way home from work today?
What the Optus web copyright victory means
In this analysis first published on The Conversation, RMIT’s Marita Shelly examines the implications of Telstra’s defeat over the online rights to the AFL broadcast deal
This week’s Federal Court ruling that Optus customers are able to view sporting matches minutes after they are streamed live without breaching copyright is a landmark decision that alters our understanding of copyright law, and has significant implications for the AFL’s broadcasting rights deal.
Boating industry calls agency pitch for pro-bono work
The Boating Industries Alliance of Australia, the national industry body for the recreational and light commercial boating industry of Australia, has called a creative pitch.
The not-for-profit body is seeking an agency to work on the campaign on a pro-bono basis.
The aim of the BIAA is to change the perception of the boating industry beyond luxury yachts and encourage the general population to get back on the water.
Don Jones, CEO of Marine Queensland (member of BIAA) said: “This is not about selling boats or products. It’s about bringing back the passion for the boating lifestyle at all levels, whether that’s looking the part, enjoying a seafood meal at one of the country’s marinas, chartering a boat, taking the kids fishing on the weekend, or fulfilling your life-long dream of sailing a catamaran to Noumea.”
“We are after all, an island nation. Boating is not a hard sell – it’s the ideal way to spend recreational time. But marketing the industry and boating has been too long confused with boat brands and products – selling the sausage, not the sizzle.”
The association claims that the marine industry employs 30,000 people directly and generates $4bn for the economy.
Interested agencies can contact the BIAA via Jeni Bone.
January 19th, 2012 at 1:30 pm
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Comments
19 Jan 12
1:59 pm
Ummmm… this is possibly not very politically correct, however, I can’t understand why a boating association expects pro-bono work from a commercial agency.
I understand that they are ‘not-for-profit’ but it’s hardly comparable to other associations whose purpose is to help community and bring about social and economic change.
Can someone explain it to me so I understand their justification for seeking pro-bono work?
19 Jan 12
2:37 pm
I’ll do it for the use of one of those luxury-yachts-that-the-industry-isn’t-all-about, twice a month.
19 Jan 12
2:37 pm
What Alison said!
19 Jan 12
2:43 pm
What a fabulous opportunity to work for nothing for an industry that generates $4bn for the economy.
Who could pass up the chance to help out some poor and wretched “Boat People”.
DB
19 Jan 12
2:43 pm
Agree. They are having a laugh. Plus they obvioulsy know nothing about how agencies approach this sort of opportunity. It’s all about awards and nothing to do with the business objectives.
19 Jan 12
2:46 pm
Why don’t these guys brief the eductional institutes where young talent would probably love the opportunity to work on a real campaign.
Who knows, the best idea might come from the future great in creative!
19 Jan 12
2:49 pm
Pitching for pro-bono? Costs agencies enough dosh just to do the work, let alone compete for the privilege. Maybe someone should pull aside BIAA and have a quiet word.
19 Jan 12
2:58 pm
If this had been a campaign promoting boat/water safety perhaps pro-bono would be appropriate, but to build the industry and the bottom line of companies participating in it, please….
19 Jan 12
3:08 pm
might be time for them to sell one of those boats…
19 Jan 12
3:21 pm
Yes – they seem like they are struggling as an organisation with a $4bn turnover and couldn’t possibly pay for any services from committed, hard working advertising professionals. I wonder if the execs get a bonus on their ROI on the campaign
19 Jan 12
3:21 pm
Pro bono? If they were actual ‘boat people’ then yeah, maybe, but not ‘people who own boats’. Agree with @Annie, approach an ad school
19 Jan 12
3:28 pm
Yep, agree with the general sentiment. They must be joking….
19 Jan 12
4:00 pm
You are off the mark. Forget the products, it’s a manufacturing industry – employing apprentices, sales people, people who wash boats, operate machinery and yes, journalists. Do you think of Maseratis when you think automotive industry? That is just as silly as thinking luxury yachts when you talk about boating. Hence, the challenge. MEMBERS of the BIAA own shops, not yachts.
We don’t mind if the agency wants to win awards – perhaps that would be a good thing. The reason the boating industry can’t make ads that work is that they lack the talent – they are too busy trying to stay afloat. AND NO, AGAIN, this is NOT ABOUT YACHTS like Tennis is not about Wimbledon. Get over that hurdle please people.
19 Jan 12
4:22 pm
Whatever BIAA is on, I want some!
19 Jan 12
4:25 pm
Are you serious Jeni Bone? So your industry that employs people is different than the marketing & advertising industry somehow? Because we employ people too, and to make sure those employed people stay employed – we have to have clients that pay for the work that’s created. If you can generate $4b for the economy, I’m sure you can somehow generate a bit of dosh for a decent demand gen campaign.
If you can’t reach into your pockets – then go find a school (as someone said above). Simple as that really. Pro-bono work exists for charities that offer a service to the community and encourage social change. What kind of social change are you encouraging? The social aspect of going out on the water with your mates … well, I can do that anywhere and – what do you know – I have to pay for that…
Maybe I should approach a sailing club and just tell them I want to go boating, the BIAA should support me, and the club can offer it to me pro-bono so that I can get something for nothing. Like you’re asking for.
What a laugh.
19 Jan 12
4:28 pm
Wow Jeni. You sound like you’d be an AWESOME CLIENT to work for FREE for. Perhaps SOMEONE should do some FREE work for the AUTOMOTIVE industry too. Having said that, I’d say that having a boat is a bit of a luxury anyway, unless you live on a island, so the Maserati comparison is hardly a fair one.
You’ll probably get some semi-retired type who is bored of living on their yacht who will toss you a few ideas, so good luck to you! That’ll work fine.
19 Jan 12
4:33 pm
Thanks for the suggestion about young talent – maybe they won’t be so jaded or blinded by value of an industry (exports – by definition, they actually leave the country) compared to the realities of people working in that industry . . . Again, I doubt the end product wil even show people on yachts. More like kids sharing great times with their dads and grandads. There, wrote it myself. Now to get my phone and shoot it . . .
19 Jan 12
4:37 pm
Nice try Jeni. so there’s no one on the Board of BIAA who build boats at a profit?
19 Jan 12
4:41 pm
Thanks for the flurry of feedback . . . Glad to have got you chatting.
19 Jan 12
4:44 pm
Some free advice:
Only shit agencies will respond to your tender, because only a shit agency would pitch for pro-bono work.
If you want a good agency, all you need to do is select any ONE of Australia’s top 20 agencies, tell them that you need a pro-bono campaign to make boating cool and sexy, tell them that you’ll give the agency almost total creative control, and the agency will say yes and give you something great for no money.
But if you want to act like a proper paying client, pitching your account and most probably wanting to exert control over the end product, and yet you don’t want to pay a cent for the work, you’ll get shit. And deservedly so.
19 Jan 12
4:53 pm
No worries Jen, sounds fab, we’re in, . Give me a call but don’t reverse the charge
19 Jan 12
5:00 pm
And to think I always thought boaties were a bunch of fucking freeloaders frightening the birdlife and plundering the seas to feed their egos.
19 Jan 12
5:05 pm
Jeni Bone.
Please explain why people should work for free for an organisation that supports commercial enterprises?
Whether people are making dinghies or super yachts they are being paid aren’t they?
Do you work for free?
If you do I am in need of a butler/cook/housekeeper/ gardener/accountant/welder.
DB
19 Jan 12
5:06 pm
I’d love to listen in on Jeni’s phone call to Channel Nine asking for free air time to run her ad.
19 Jan 12
5:10 pm
Yes Jeni, you wrote it yourself, it really is as simple as that. Clap clap clap…
I wonder if you realise that you are insulting the very industry that you are hoping to get free work out of. Unbelievable.
19 Jan 12
5:11 pm
I hope someone did their logo for free – or at least i hope they didn’t pay for it.
19 Jan 12
5:24 pm
Jeni you’re obviously completely off your chops!!! Suggestion… go work in or run a creative agency and it may give you some sense of clarity around your proposition
19 Jan 12
5:39 pm
looks like Jeni wants to Bone us all……maybe she could make it a contra deal
19 Jan 12
7:35 pm
The chairman of the BIAA talks about new plans to expand the boating industry.
http://www.charterworld.com/ne.....g-industry
Of course the chairman wants the industry to expand – he owns this marina http://www.empiremarinas.com.a.....marina.htm
Sorry Jeni – all I can say is I hope you’re not working for free
19 Jan 12
7:42 pm
I’m bookmarking this page. Look forward to seeing the ads in due course..
19 Jan 12
8:03 pm
Dear boat industry : “stick it up your arse”
Warmly,
Ad industry.
19 Jan 12
9:05 pm
I have worked for not-for-profits and we have always paid agencies for the work they do. They usually offer a discounted rate for organizations that are clearly about helping the community or saving lives but we have never had the gall to ask for work free of charge. Even charities pay their staff and the goods and services they use. I just can’t see the public service you are providing frankly.
19 Jan 12
10:17 pm
Laughable. This needs a pun… Something about rocking a boat, or floating a boat, or a taking “stern” loom at themselves?
19 Jan 12
10:44 pm
Mrs Puff, Spongebob’s boating teacher would be the ideal spokesperson for this campaign.
http://spongebob.wikia.com/wiki/Mrs._Puff
And yes, looks like a free logo to me too.
19 Jan 12
10:57 pm
Oh dear. Imagine the masses out on our waterways?! Seriously, imagine the sheer mayhem! Please, the roads are worse enough with cretins, we don’t want them on the water!!!!
Free ad’s for the elite who are licking their wounds because boats are toys and nobody since the GFC has been buying toys…
I will do an ad for you, with Jaws music and a leaking hull. Please do not promote to the masses to take to the water. Please!
20 Jan 12
8:31 am
by Jeni’s logic, next thing the Australian Bankers Association could put the exact same thing to us – sure our members make billions, but this body is not for profit, and we want to make banking more warm and fuzzy again. Can you guys do some free work for us?
20 Jan 12
8:39 am
Don’t stress about it Jeni. This is how advertising people always sound on the internet. They’ll be perfectly polite when you meet them.
20 Jan 12
8:53 am
The BIAA has never considered and will not be calling for pro-bono services from an agency to develop a marketing campaign for the boating industry. I don’t know where JB got her information but it wasn’t from the executive or Board of the BIAA. The first I heard of it was when I was forwarded this article.
The threads are, however, enlightening on the respondent’s perception of boating and the industry that supports it. Around 90% of boats in Australia are trailer boats, and the majority of those family tinnies. Around 3 million people go boating each year making it one of Australia’s favourite past times. It is a diverse industry with product ranging from Kayaks to superyachts ( although the super yachts seam to headline the perception). The majority of the businesses within the industry are small family businesses and the BIAA’s goal is to promote the boating lifestyle to families with the objective of long term prosperity for our industry. Likewise in our dealing with other industries we respect their right to prosperity and we aren’t in the business of seeking something for nothing.
Darren Vaux
Chairman
BIAA
20 Jan 12
9:37 am
Jeni Bone “is the woman to know on the GC” according to PR Chicks website. Jeni’s website http://www.editit.com.au has the mission statement: “My expertise lies in taking everything from celebrity to the commonplace and rendering it in an entertaining and informative way.” I assume she gets paid for doing that!!
20 Jan 12
10:52 am
It never ceases to amaze me that in this day and age people are happy to put themselves out there in the world without considering exactly what they are putting out there.
I think you would struggle to find an industry in Australia that does more damage to the environment and to workers health than the boating industry on a per $ economic benefit.
It is not just the dollar cost that is driving boat building to China, but the social and health costs. Australia workers don’t want to spend 40 years working in an industry that poisons them.
The boating industry is a joke and so is their perceived attitude of wanting work for free.
20 Jan 12
11:10 am
Hang on. You want to raise the profile of boating, without an outlay. Get people on the water.
Tell you what, we’ll crowd source your creative ideas if you provide 100 boats for the ad industry to use, for free. Dotted around the country of course.
What we’ll do is film all us ad types lounging around on boats, having a great laugh. Get the message out there about how fun and cheap boating is. Now, does anyone know where I can hire a bevvy of hot bitches in bikinis? They need to work pro-boner, of course. Sorry, bono. A bit of a Freudian slut there!
20 Jan 12
11:13 am
This is a terrible idea – what on earth do we want the bloody general population out on the water… they’ll get in the way of my luxury ship, and most won’t even dress appropriately. Cheers, James.
20 Jan 12
11:18 am
@DMF. Whow! – that’s one shit website – not to mention the product offering. LOL.
20 Jan 12
11:50 am
I am sure they will get a pro-boni agency.
20 Jan 12
12:21 pm
My apologies – this is the correct website for Jeni Bone’s PR agency http://www.edit-it.com.au
20 Jan 12
12:55 pm
So Jeni used to be an editor of Adnews? This gets better…
20 Jan 12
12:57 pm
Maybe Jeni Bone needs to approach Russell Howcroft on the Gruen Transfer. I’m sure he, and his other panelists would have a great idea on how to make Australians want to ‘get into a boat and onto water’ more. After all, they have positioned themselves as “the” experts in the non-reality area of advertising. And this pro bono project, is exactly that.
20 Jan 12
1:23 pm
if you don’t want to work for free, just don’t
why waste your time bitching about it on Mumbrella?
people will start to think you don’t have enough paid work to do….
20 Jan 12
1:34 pm
@archie… this is a comments thread. And the majority of comments in it relate specifically to the story. Why waste everyone’s time questioning it?
@Darren Vaux… this just keeps getting better and better, ha! Let’s hope you’re not locked into a contract with JB…
20 Jan 12
1:46 pm
You mean some of you people get paid for doing this stuff??
20 Jan 12
1:50 pm
Jeni Bone also “edits” a marine industry e-newsletter and has promoted herself as a credible journalist. How can a supposedly “independent” editor reporting on the marine industry also work as a PR hack for a marine industry association? Isn’t that one giant conflict of interest? Regardless of that, Ms Bone’s efforts in regards to this ad agency debacle reveal she has little or no understanding of the media world. “Laughable” and “pathertic” are the words that spring to mind …
20 Jan 12
2:26 pm
I figured when Jeni Bone changed her handle to JB for her 2nd and 3rd posts that she may have regretted putting her real name up. After I googled her and saw the AdNews link and the PR background, I understood why.
I’d be interested to know how much pro-bono work JB has done for various not-for-profit organisations, including the BIAA.
20 Jan 12
2:42 pm
Except of course she was named at the end of the original article…so that would disprove my conspiracy angle.
20 Jan 12
4:45 pm
How embarassment for the BIAA Qld branch. Punch of whites shoes I suspect
20 Jan 12
5:02 pm
Sent this disaster to a few of my mates, they think this is one of the funniest f..k ups they’ve ever come across.
20 Jan 12
7:25 pm
I don’t think the BIAA need a PR agency? Darren’s post was very good indeed, open, upfront, honest and clear.
Deck shoes are all the age at the moment. Why don’t these small boating businesses get by selling these to the masses?
20 Jan 12
8:30 pm
BIAA,
To Darren Vaux. Good one at hanging out Jeni Bone. So she made a unilateral decision to make this post?. Do me a favour and own up.
You are a marina owner and stand to benefit from a campaign to grow the boating industry.
Your impression of the boating industry as an “Aussie True Blue” battler is laughable. Maybe the companies that provide the bait, snags and beer for boaters should also get work done for nothing? But they don’t, they pay.
I can’t write anymore as I am too busy crying about your plight.
DB
20 Jan 12
11:08 pm
hey Jeni you can get a heap of free stuff of the internet…….just stick the BIAA logo on the end of this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7yfISlGLNU
21 Jan 12
1:56 am
Hi Guys,
This is a lively debate that a contact of mine in Sydney has e-mailed me as a result of my moaning about PR agencies in the UK.
Whilst I quite agree that it is crazy to ask agencies to work for free I asked 10 firms in the UK to look at the idea of “payment by results”, i.e. you place editorial about our products and we pay for each exposure we get.
Not one replied to me. Perhaps life is too easy for them but in my book, if you believe you’re good then why be frightened about putting you earnings where your mouth is?
Any comments from down under?
24 Jan 12
11:18 am
How much did you offer per result? What were the variables?
25 Jan 12
9:08 pm
Hi Barry,
It was up for negotiation but nobody asked the question, because nobody responded.
27 Jan 12
10:39 am
I have operated an agency in the Australian marine industry for some time. One of my marine clients suggested that instead of a fee for service basis we should be paid on a fee for results basis. I agreed to this but only on the understanding that he would give me a boat (with no upfront cost) and that I would use it with my family. Every time that we enjoyed our outing I would make a payment to him. He saw the folly of his suggestion and dropped the idea. And not surprsingly, our business relationship was not a long one, either!
27 Jan 12
12:01 pm
Bob – your anecdote’s analogy is rather off – sounds like neither he (nor you) understand the concept of boat hire.
Payment by results can be effective and rewarding for both parties.
The crux comes in being absolutely clear with one another as to the measurement(s) of success and their rewards.
29 Jan 12
3:57 pm
It seems on that face of it that agencies that won’t enter into a pay by results arrangement are not confident in their ability to deliver.
However, I feel that this is ignores the underlying complexities of such an arrangement.
Firstly, the agency has no control over the offer that the client is making. In the case of boating what represents value and how is that value delivered? Is it sales, rentals or profits?
Secondly there are externalities that can affect results. Again, in the case of boating just two, among many variables, are the weather and fluctuations in fuel costs.
The third thing regards the “opportunity cost”. While the agency is servicing this client could they be better off servicing a fee-paying client?
Assuming finite agency resources, with staff already stretched, it is a big call to put out effort for a dubious ROI.
.
JRJ
29 Jan 12
6:53 pm
Hi James,
Obvously, all your points are relevant and “could” be an obstacle to an agency accepting such a deal.
However, it’s not really an excuse for not finding out what the basis for the deal was but automatically making assumptions of the type you listed above.
That’s clearly what the 10 agencies I approached in the UK unilaterally decided and yet, without asking me for clarification of the details, they could not be sure such a deal would not be to their long term advantage. As my business might become very successful due to their efforts and result in more and more income for their agency.
To not respond at all is a bit like being asked to pitch for business and refusing on the grounds that you might not win it and therefore you could save money by not making the pitch in the first place.
By the way, I really enjoyed your performance in “Carry on Matron”.