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Opinion
Video: How to win new business
Mumbrella Question Time saw the panel asked the secrets of winning new business. Read more »
Let’s stop the anonymous vitriol
In this guest posting, Peter Bray, boss of The Brand Shop, takes issue with negative comments from anonymous posters on Mumbrella and elsewhere.
There are very few ads that I vehemently dislike. There are also very few ads that I really love. But most ads I see on Mumbrella and other blogs I can usually take something from, whether it is information about the brand, a bit of inspiration or a “watch out”. I’m open to learning as much as I can from others, and encourage those around me to do the same.
My basic assumption, however, is that because an ad has been produced by a professional agency, and had the approval from the client, then the end result must be doing something right. Therefore, without knowing the practical rationale behind the ad, for me to have a strong opinion about whether it is great advertising would be kind of arrogant. There is a reason that awards shows ask for information about why an ad was created: they are rarely judged on end product alone.
So as someone who enjoys watching the work that our industry creates, I am stunned at the level of vitriol stemming from some people’s comments in both this blog and others. Read more »
Read his lips
This is several weeks old, but worth a look. It’s certainly an original way to deal with media criticism.It features Air NZ boss Rob Fyfe responding to weekly current affairs magazine The Listener using the medium of sign language. Read more »
Let’s not be too positive just yet – the nail is still there
It’s more than a year since News Ltd’s marketing boss Joe Talcott used the memorable analogy of a dog whimpering on a nail to describe the structural change the industry needs to go through. Read more »
The AdNews numbers that mislead the market
It’s always a tad tawdry when competitors attack each other, but I hope you’ll bear with me…
Whether cynically or through incompetence, AdNews has been misleading its advertisers by providing them with data that seems to suggest they have six times their true online audience.
Allow me to present the evidence. Read more »
Technology will help us own the agenda – all day, every day
In this opening speech to the Future Forum of the Newspaper Publishers Association, News Ltd CEO John Hartigan argued that news organisations have the opportunity to become more rather than less relevant.
Today I want to talk about a tipping point that heralds the most exciting era for journalism. The most exciting era ever.
This tipping point is already upon us. It has arrived at lightning speed, with the explosion in demand for mobile devices.
I am not consigning newspapers to the scrapheap. Not by a long shot.
But this tipping point is going to change journalism forever. In my opinion, very much for the better. Read more »
The real time shit sandwich detector
In this guest post, Clive Burcham of The Conscience Organisation, relishes the instant feedback of social media.
I’ve been making brand driven content since 1996 and often I’ve been so close to the work that I couldn’t tell the difference between if we were chomping on a shit sandwich or savouring the crème de la creme. From an audience perspective, we wouldn’t know the difference for weeks or months. What excites me most now is that we know within 24 hours if we’ve developed shit or cream. Read more »
SMH shows how to make a home page takeover work
When you’re a commercial organisation, balancing the needs of consumers with the need to make money through ads is tricky.
Among the organisations that sometimes goes the wrong way in my view is Fairfax, with its autostart video ads, for instance.
But today, a bit of unreserved praise Read more »
Inside the Foxtel factory
Having been at the launch of Foxtel’s new season the other night, nine points occur… Read more »
ABC News 24 – a handy service for niche journalists
It may not have many viewers yet, but ABC News 24 saves specialist journos having to leave their desks, argues Delimiter’s Renai LeMay
When media commentators discuss the future of journalism, they usually agree on at least one thing: It will involve much fewer generalists and more reporters dedicated to exhaustively covering niche fields. Read more »
The seven ages of Carlton Draught’s Made From Beer
Today sees the launch of “Slow Mo”, the latest instalment of Carlton Draught’s irreverent Made From Beer series.
It’s been quite a run – from the highly awarded Big Ad, to the comedy of Flash Beer, to the debacle of the abortive banned Tingle campaign. These are the seven ages of Made From Beer… Read more »
Real consumers don’t have ‘brand conversations’. They use search
In this guest posting, Simon van Wyk argues that much as marketers might wish otherwise, most consumers don’t have emotional connections with brands
I have a background in marketing, but my understanding of branding seems at odds with the 2010 opinions I see from social media commentators, marketing and advertising agencies. Read more »
Hot, censoring atheists: Google’s insight into what punters think about pollies and journos
One of the charms of Google is autocomplete, where it takes a punt on what you’re going to ask, based on what the rest of the world has been wondering previously.
And it certainly gives a few insights into the high quality of political debate about the Labor leaders in the run up to the election.
Take NSW premiere Kristina Keneally… Read more »
The copyright-busting election
This is rapidly turning into the copyright-infringing election. Read more »
Digital Fail: The gaping void in digital training is failing our industry
In this guest post, Amnesia Razorfish’s Iain McDonald warns that the industry has fallen badly behind on digital training.
Before I get accused of trolling with that headline, I’ll state what I think is obvious: The current education system isn’t producing or nurturing enough ‘digitally skilled’ individuals to sustain a growing a digital economy. Read more »
Bondi beach stunt fell flat for me
Sometimes I’m glad I read my trade press – because otherwise I’d have no idea what the enormous great campaign laid out on Bondi Beach this weekend was all about.
It smacks of one of those ideas that looks good on paper but nobody tries out beforehand.
If you’re not aware, take a peek at this footage knocked off from my cameraphone.
That was taken from pretty much the best possible vantage point (apart from a helicopter). From beach level it was even less easy to tell what it was. The person I was with failed to guess until I explained.
In fact, each towel was meant to look like a crime scene-style outline of a body, to symbolise the dangers of skin cancer. If I’d not read about it in B&T last week (and seen the hammy Channel Ten ad), I’d have had no idea.
November 15th, 2009 at 6:28 pm
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Comments
16 Nov 09
9:50 am
This was covered last night on the network news services…often some of the highest rating programmes of the week so the overall reach of this was far greater than you and your friend and whoever else was at Bondi yesterday. The news story was accompanied by some compelling first person accounts of their experiences with skin cancer. There were great aerial as well as ground shots
Tim, I know this section is called ‘Opinion’ and you’re entitled to it, but too often I think you jump to conclusions e.g. “‘’smacks of one of those ideas that looks good on paper but nobody tries out beforehand”. Surely it wouldn’t have been too difficult to call the Cancer Council and ask them what their objectives were and were they achieved?
I think you’d find their objective was to generate a newsworthy ‘event’ to draw attention to the dangers of tanning. Thats what I took out of the news story.
16 Nov 09
11:28 am
With Rachael here. Although there may have been some residual benefit for punters at Bondi, I’d suggest the main aim here was to provide some interesting visuals for news media, not as a stunt, viral etc. Certainly seems to have achieved it’s aim there as it was all over TV on the weekend.
Good job Cancer Council.
16 Nov 09
2:16 pm
Come on Tim…you’re showing your ad-centricity. I have to agree with Scott and Rachael – this was a clever, creative PR idea that got major mass media coverage on TV and again in the early general news section of the SMH this morning. That even a couple of thousand people on the beach that day might not have understood it is no big deal – especially when the curiosity of one was piqued enough to write about it on his blog! How many more went away and discussed it with their friends, family etc? I would wager hundreds. The word of mouth effect was probably better than if the stunt had been obvious, come to think of it…this is an excellent example of integrated communications, in that respect…creative experiential idea executed at low cost with massive amplification through free press and word of mouth…
16 Nov 09
2:38 pm
.. I saw this on Weather Channel last night. They used it for background footage while reporting the forecast for Sydney’s hot weather to come. Though you couldn’t see the outlines on the towels, I surmised it was a marketing stunt of some kind and wondered how old it might be and if this was stock footage? Not that the avg punter would necessarily have followed the same thought process…
Agree with all the comments above.. any resulting mass media coverage is generally enough to take a modest experiential “stunt” into positive ROI, which it most certainly would have done in this case and therefore achieved its objective. More often than not, these are one small part of a much larger campaign too Tim. The point is that you DID see the TVC, you did understand the point of the stunt, you were able to explain it to somebody and this is the point of integrated communications plans.. when planned and implemented well, they combine in a symbiotic relationship to generate greater awareness and WOM.
Nice idea, well done guys.
16 Nov 09
2:54 pm
I think it was a fantastic promotion but maybe it would have been wise to have had tv, newspaper, radio coverage the day before rather than after.
16 Nov 09
2:56 pm
how do you get PR coverage the day prior to the stunt, when the event itself is the whole reason for the coverage?
16 Nov 09
3:09 pm
Are you serious Darren?! Of course you could get coverage the day before. It’s not about “the stunt”, it’s about the number of deaths from skin cancer. Maybe secure some strong stats for coverage or ask Sydneysiders and the friends and families of those with and have passed from skin cancer to be involved on the day to commemorate those who have died from skin cancer. There are many, many ways that you could secure pre-coverage and if anyone doesn’t think that’s possible than they shouldn’t be in the industry.
16 Nov 09
3:11 pm
I was in Bondi at the weekend; I thought it was a bunch of Poms making a politically incorrect joke about ze Germans….
16 Nov 09
3:31 pm
Agree with Rachael and Scott’s comments. The campaign has met its objectives of raising awareness. We were at Bondi yesterday morning and saw the towels and the signage. We discussed the issue of skin cancer at length with a number of fellow Nipper parents!
17 Nov 09
11:13 am
I watched two news programs on the day of the Cancer Council stunt and saw the coverage on two networks (ABC and one other – I think it was Seven?) and thought it worked really well.
I also thought the body outlines were ghoulish and they certainly have stuck in my mind -and this morning I was extra careful to apply my 30+ liberally.
17 Nov 09
12:52 pm
Rachael makes a very good point.
If the intention of the installation was about driving PR rather than engaging with those on the ground, then it may well have been a success on that basis.
It almost doesn’t matter if it makes sense to the punters who were there, if the overall coverage was good enough.
I didn’t see the original PR release, so I’ve no idea if the main goal was one of PR or experiential or a bit of both.
But I’d still argue that to make both work together would be a better result.
Cheers,
Tim – Mumbrella
17 Nov 09
3:45 pm
Ummmm….. Wasn’t this (the footage of the towels at Bondi Beach) simply the filming of the Cancer Council TVC, rather than a publicity stunt? I think its a terrific campaign.
17 Nov 09
5:35 pm
Hi Jules,
No, I shot that myself on Sunday morning. The towels were there for a good couple of days I think.
Cheers,
Tim – Mumbrella
17 Nov 09
10:23 pm
Agree with Rachael, Scott’s and Claudia. The Cancer Council conducted what seemed to be a very successful skin cancer awareness campaign laying 1700 towels on Bondi Beach to symbolise skin cancer related deaths that occur in Australia annually. Raising the public’s awareness of the dangers of tanning using the iconic Bondi Beach resulted in a worthy message for the Australian public. The campaign readily met its objectives of raising awareness for at least the 340 Bondi Nippers and their parents / carers while they conducted their activities adjacent to the Cancer Council’s towels.
18 Nov 09
12:53 pm
Anyone know if there was an agency involved with this, or was it all done in house? Either way, kudos deserved.
19 Nov 09
4:13 pm
Euro RSSCG Sydney did it. Well done Lex.