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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 »
Cadbury’s ad celebrates dogs in cars
Dairy Milk in Australia is having another go at tapping into the viral success in other parts of the world of Cadbury’s epic Glass And A Half Full productions.
Featuring a Blue Danube soundtrack, the ad – reportedly shot on the Oran Park raceway in NSW - consists of dogs leaning out of the window of Lamborghini repainted in Cadbury’s colours.
The ad has been created by Saatchi & Saatchi Sydney. The last attempt to localise something in Cadbury’s Glass And A Half Full Productions series was a remix of the drumming gorilla, using John Farnham’s You’re the Voice. The move was poorly received.
November 2nd, 2009 at 9:04 am
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Comments
2 Nov 09
9:23 am
The ad is shot at Oran Park if the grandstand in the background is any indication.
I’m not in marketing, just a simple consumer . . . and I am totally baffled by this advert and how it is meant to increase the sales of chocolate . . . . ????
I would prefer they save the money and drop the price of the product. That will stimulate sales more than a drumming gorilla or dogs in a car. Appears they could save lots of money on marketing salaries, too.
2 Nov 09
9:38 am
nope, not a fan. bland.
2 Nov 09
9:39 am
Gorrilla spot- fantastic.
The eyebrow kids- great spot.
Dogs in cars- utter crap.
2 Nov 09
9:39 am
It’s weird the trade rags are only picking this up now, it was first broadcast almost 2 weeks ago on TV and the site’s been live for a while.
I really like it … plus the dog at 0.38 is the same as mine. Not sure how it directly relates to chocolate but I think it brings a bit of fun and creativity to a 1 min ad
2 Nov 09
9:40 am
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
2 Nov 09
9:41 am
I love this ad!! Agree that there is no direct correlation between the product and the ad. I thought it must be for pedigree or something at first with their “we’re for dogs” tagline.
2 Nov 09
9:41 am
What Art said.
2 Nov 09
9:52 am
From a simple marketer.
Salience and association Matt, are the goals of these kinds of ads.
You get the association, as a consumer, through the entertainment value in it.
Then you’re meant to say “oh hey, seen that ad for Cadbury? Cool huh?” or, when next passing the supermarket shelf, stop and go “oh, Cadbury. I remember that ad. It’s cool, I’ll get some”.
This one, in my opinion, isn’t half as bad as the gorilla with whipsering jack over-dubbed. Doesn’t have that same affect as a localised American ad, with Australian accents over-dubbed (makes me cringe every time I see one of those). It’s actually pretty engaging, in my opinion and it resonates in the mind (mine at least).
The first two, with the Phil Collins gorilla and the eye-dancing kids, were gold. Fantastic executions. Artistically engaging and memorable.
Downside though, they were almost too good so continuance was always going to be hard.
This one would’ve been better as the first, than the third. It’s a good ad, but following the gorilla or those kids? It definitely runs a distant third.
2 Nov 09
9:55 am
It does nothing for me. If there were less dogs, it was in serious slo-mo and we saw real pleasure on a couple of dogs’ faces … maybe with a proper big grin and a drool trail disappearing into the wind as they just looked amazingly happy … MAYBE then the ad would work to evoke pleasure. As it is, I bet there’s another 4 dogs playing poker in the back seat, which is where the real action is!
2 Nov 09
9:56 am
Sarah
I am certain a dog food brand somewhere already used the dogs out the window idea for their product.
2 Nov 09
9:57 am
Agree with Tama.
Poor and dull execution, and I’m a dog lover.
2 Nov 09
10:05 am
Meh! iAd2.0 in my opinion.
Also what happened to good ole research – most chocolate has a toxic effect on domestic pooches. Any correlation in my head is not a good one – unless of course the subtext is dogs living by the “live fast, die young” ethos but I can’t see it.
2 Nov 09
10:07 am
Meh – carries on a bit too long I think. Initially thought the idea had some entertainment value but the fact that there is absolutely no correlation to the product and the ad doesn’t evolve at all, just seems like a slight disappointment.
2 Nov 09
10:16 am
great brand alignment, poor execution, poor creative…
If the car was going faster to get more “flap” from the dogs cheeks and then the dogs were in super slow mo… it could have worked
Plus it was just avg. seeing the dog harnesses holding the dogs in… amateur.
2 Nov 09
10:39 am
Agree with 1.Tama Leaver on this, could’ve been done better.
Loved the phil collins gorilla. The JF one, bad bad move. The kids – annoying. This is boring and doesn’t invoke a sense of joy at all.
2 Nov 09
12:40 pm
It’s not the most joyful ad, is it?
2 Nov 09
2:44 pm
Chocolate isn’t good for dogs.
2 Nov 09
2:46 pm
Its quite simple really. Chocolate is supposed to be fun and not taken too seriously. If you didn’t smile when you first saw the ad, you are only kidding yourself.
2 Nov 09
2:47 pm
i agree with tama – should have been one dog – super slow motion – happiness and joy with tongues and slobber jiggling ever so slowly in the wind
2 Nov 09
3:03 pm
Am I the only one who thinks of “Animals Close-Up with a Wide-Angle Lens Wearing Hats” when looking at this but somehow missing the irony?
I can just imagine the brainstorming meeting on this one… “we need DOGS in CARS! …ummm….purple sports cars! yeah! BRILLIANT!”
2 Nov 09
3:15 pm
I really like this ad. I makes me laugh, and probably the execution could have been a little better, as mentioned in the previous comments, but I think it is fun. I think of it as the dogs having fun sticking their heads out of the window…it is their ‘joy’ just as ours is/can be enjoying a bit of chocolate.
2 Nov 09
4:03 pm
OK, I’m joining the thread late and the point that there was no correlation between a drumming gorilla and chocolate has already been made … drat.
Then I thought, being a dog-lover, chocolate is poisonous to dogs. Double-drat.
But I can confirm that it is at ’soon-to-be-closed’ Oran Park. Then it hit me! Did anyone else pick up that the Lambo is driving around Oran Park in thewrong direction. Maybe that is symbolic of the ad!
2 Nov 09
4:22 pm
Why are there no boxers ?
Chocolate is bad for woofers.
Why weren’t they driving a ute [localism anyone ?] not a poncy Lambo
Tama is right. It should have been one dogy [Moi] in super slow mo.
2 Nov 09
4:25 pm
Is this ad made for consumers or award judges. The only correlation between this ad and the product is the colour of the car. Think of your audience would they relate it to chocolate if they didn’t watch it all the way through? This ad is not strong enough to stop the remote flicker. And if you did make it to the end there is often a what the F has that got to do with chocolate?
2 Nov 09
4:55 pm
The whole point of Cadbury’s ads right now is “random.” What did a drumming gorilla have to do with chocolate? What did two kids whose eyebrows danced have to do with Cadbury? In both of those, at no point did you have any idea they were for Cadbury until the end. Yet both ads have been internet sensations and highly remembered, without the chocolate association.
When the eyebrows ad came out, I found it annoying, but my partner and the teenagers (who are miles away from this industry) in my household all thought it was funny and the teenagers facebook and msn messenging went beserk about the ad. Isn’t that what advertisers dream about? Creating an ad that people not only remember and talk about, but also remember who the ad is for? You hear people describing an ad so many times, but when asked who the ad is for, they can’t remember but people always remember that those ads belong to Cadbury.
The latest ad with the dogs made me laugh. Did I associate it with Cadbury – no. But it is similar to the Bondi Flip flash mob. If the general public like it and remember it as a Cadbury ad, then it obviously doesn’t suck.
2 Nov 09
4:59 pm
I like the idea behind this. But the execution just seems so lame. The cliched music doesn’t help either.
2 Nov 09
6:15 pm
This ad is bloody dangerous … some dick head will see the ad and think it’s ok to feed dogs chocolate! Dogs can become poisoned by a substance called Methylxanthine alkaloids which is found in natural products such as chocolate.
3 Nov 09
8:30 am
Like the ad, anything that has my fav furry creatures in it makes me smile. Like chocolate too. Gee never knew that people took ads this seriously.
3 Nov 09
6:21 pm
Fail
3 Nov 09
9:09 pm
Inspiration possibly coming from the “Birds” clip – http://is.gd/4LRty – just putting it out there.
4 Nov 09
4:20 pm
To do it once was cool (Gorilla ad)
To do it twice was interesting (Eyebrows ad)
But to do it three times in an attempt to stay ‘cool’ is just try-hard.
It’s like Sly Stallone trying to do another instalment of Rocky….FAIL.
8 Nov 09
7:24 pm
in case you didn’t know rocky actually made a huge revenue on the last installment so i don’t know how much of a fail that is.
but dogs & chocolate…….wtf?
seriously, it’s not that memorable