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Opinion | Features
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Andrews' media accusers have some explaining of their own to do
In recent days 'tapegate' has consumed much of the Victorian political news cycle. In this cross posting from The Conversation academic Mark Pearson looks at legalities around journalists recording sources.
It is a sad day when senior political figures steal a journalist’s recording device and destroy its contents, as we have been told happened at this year’s Victorian Labor Party conference. But it is an even sadder day when we hear a major newspaper – The Age – justifying a senior reporter secretly recording their conversations with sources. -
Why Creative Effectiveness is the Cannes Lion you really want to win
With controversy over the criteria of entry for some Cannes Lions categories Phil Johnston argues the Creative Effectiveness category is the most rigorous 'effie' in the world.
Don’t worry. I’m not entering the debate on whether some Lion winners are scam. There are enough voices on that.
And my starting point isn’t even creativity. Because let’s not forget that creativity is just a means to an end. What is that end? Meeting our clients’ objectives, whatever they may be. That’s what I’m here to do. -
The Scam Lions? Count me out
Mumbrella will no longer attend the Cannes Lions. Mumbrella's Tim Burrowes argues that the scam in Cannes has become too much...
I love everything about the Cannes Lions experience. So I'm sad that I'm probably never going to get to do it again. -
Brandis' leaked copyright proposals are unrealistic
In this cross-posting from The Conversation Nicolas Suzor and Alex Button-Sloan from the Queensland University of Technology look at why the leaked plans to change copyright laws could lead to a lot of unintended problems for consumers.
The Australian Government has proposed Internet Service Providers (ISPs) monitor and punish Australians who download and infringe copyright.
In a discussion paper circulated by Attorney-General George Brandis, and leaked by Crikey last Friday, the government proposes a sweeping change to Australian copyright law. If implemented, it would force ISPs to take steps to prevent Australians from infringing copyright. -
Why Nine's investment in Quickflix makes it tougher for Netflix to launch in Australia
Last week Nine Entertainment Co made a $1m investment to buy eight per cent of streaming company Quickflix, whilst preparing to launch its own operation StreamCo. Here Nic Christensen looks at the underlying reasons for Nine buying into a rival.
In the world of video streaming last week's investment by Nine into rival Quickflix did not go unnoticed, but as always with these deals the devil is in the detail. In this case, a series of warrants and covenants that came with this batch of shares.
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With awards the more you get, the more you get
Following recent controversy surrounding entries to the Cannes Lions awards Eaon Pritchard argues until we have a better way to evaluate the merits of agencies than awards all agencies will be highly incentivised to do whatever it takes to win .
Advertising's outcomes are notoriously hard to measure. Which is why in advertising agencies, we love to measure outputs instead. -
Why aren't more media companies offering job sharing to get experience back in the door?
With the media industry churn and talent drain a constant issue Lucy Formosa Morgan asks why more companies aren't open to job sharing.
There’s rarely a shortage of applicants for coordinator positions however when it comes to recruiting experienced middle / senior level people, the talent bank seems to dry up. Agencies can struggle to fill vacancies for months or end up having to recruit from overseas. So if we have plenty of juniors that we’re devoting time and money to training up, where are they going? Why is there such a shortage of good talent out there? -
Marketers are the ones whose reputations are most at risk if they are complicit in scam advertising
With questions being raised over the integrity of some awards entries in recent weeks, former creative director Darren Woolley says scam can be as damaging for marketers as the agencies involved.
Scam awards entries have come to industry attention again, following the most recent Cannes Lions Awards. In the process, several high profile advertisers have been associated with their agencies’ entries. But what are the implications for the advertiser?
It is a standard response that advertisers are not really interested in creative awards. But the fact is that marketers are human and those that have healthy and close working relationships with their agencies actually enjoy seeing them being recognised, especially for work they may have created together. -
Terry Savage defends debated Cannes Lions entries saying 'Super Bowl ads run once'
In a Q&A conducted by email, Terry Savage, chairman of the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity, defends the integrity of the competition and answers questions around scam ads following an investigation by Mumbrella into a series of ads from Australia entered into the Press category which ran just once in regional media.
What is your definition of scam?
"We require the work to have been approved by the client and to have used paid Media in the execution, if there is a query we get validation via the agency the client and the Media schedule that the work has run and complied within our entry rules. In the case of self promotion and NGO that is not the case." -
Australian Women's Weekly editor on how its latest cover has changed industry attitudes
The cover of the July edition of the Australian Women's Weekly features the image of ultra-marathon bushfire survivor Turia Pitt, a move which surprised many in an industry driven by image. Editor-in-chief Helen McCabe spoke to Miranda Ward about how the cover came about, and its effect not only on the public, but also the beauty and fashion industries as we.
The July cover of the Australian's Women's Weekly has done more to market "what the heart and soul of the magazine is" than anything else the magazine's editor-in-chief Helen McCabe has done in her five years at the helm.
Speaking to Mumbrella about the July edition which featured Turia Pitt, a survivor of the bushfire that swept through an ultra-marathon in Western Australia's Kimberly region in September 2011, McCabe said the cover is "a really strong signal to market that this magazine is committed to Australian women, quality stories, independent journalism, long-form story telling and quality writing. -
If you don't want to enter real work into awards, then fuck off and be an artist
In this guest post, awards jury veteran Matt Batten, a former ECD of Wunderman Australia, argues that the practice of scam advertising - raised by Mumbrella in recent days - hurts the whole industry.
Reading from 10,553 miles away – that's 16,983km in the metric – I'd like to commend you on your dogged determination to find answers to the burning questions surrounding some of Australia's most intriguing Cannes Lions winners this year.
Some say that this is the way of the world (at least our small part in it) and that creativity should be let free upon the award shows regardless of whether or not it was a legitimate response to a brief or a proactive project to help solve a genuine business problem for a real client – or a made-up ad for a brand that had no idea of its existence. -
Does culture really eat strategy for breakfast?
Good startups often point to their culture as a driver of their success, but Eaon Pritchard asks whether that culture can be derived without a clear strategy?
Culture, in an organisational sense, is usually interpreted as the collective behaviours, attitudes and beliefs that — when mixed together — create a particular set of norms within said organisation.
Obviously there can be ‘good’ culture and ‘bad’ culture. -
Five things Wicked Campers needs to do online right now
Wicked Campers has been in the midst of a media controversy over the last few days. Sebastian Vasta takes a look at how the brand could better manage the online and media crisis.
The latest cry to end Wicked Campers’ misogynist toilet humour is certainly not the first time the budget backpacker van company has been in trouble.
But it’s certainly the loudest the online outrage has ever been. -
Cut here: Reshaping the ABC
After the ABC unveiled its first round of cuts after having its funding cut in the last budget Ben Goldsmith of the Queensland University of Technology looks at how it might look in the future, in this cross-posting from The Conversation.
Monday’s announcement that the ABC will make 80 positions redundant is just the latest move in an enforced process of change to the public service broadcaster. It has a long way yet to run.
The announcement finally put the lie to Tony Abbott’s election eve pledge, live on national television, that there would be “no cuts to the ABC or SBS”. In concert with other recent announcements, it seems clear that public broadcasting – and in particular the ABC – is squarely in the government’s sights. -
Lost dog - can you help us find him?
Adland is an industry that likes to give back. Today, we're asking you to help us find this dog.
You can find out more about Windblown Dog's history below:
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That Moron who writes for us
Does someone at the Daily Telegraph have a grudge against Sydney Confidential reporter Jonathon MORAN…?
In praise of copywriters
Sometimes Dr Mumbo likes to be marketed to.
A couple of excellent pieces of work hit his inbox this afternoon.
First, here’s a great press release from ABC2 for a timeslot move of The Roast, which is apparently some kind of current affairs show for younger people:
The Roast returning with all new 7:30pm timeslot
After a short break, ABC2’s daily news satire The Roast will move to 7:30pm to go head-to-head with ABC1’s daily current affairs flagship 7.30 – starting Monday 4th August.
“It’s about time!” says The Roast’s showrunner, Nich Richardson. “Finally, we’ll be competing with the big guys over on ABC1 to see who has our network’s premier current affairs coverage.”
“Our market research shows that taxpayers want more Photoshop jokes at 7:30pm, and Sarah Ferguson just isn’t delivering,” says Richardson, who is excited about the challenge.
“Who names their current affairs show after a timeslot? Everyone knows that real hard-hitting journalism comes from shows named after ways of preparing chicken.”
“I think Australian viewers deserve their hard-hitting journalism served with a side of graphic, traumatising violence,” said The Roast’s anchor, Tom Glasson, who this weekend accidently binge-watched the House of Representatives instead of House of Cards.
“And since Sarah Ferguson refuses to be harpooned by Japanese whalers or shot by David Leyonhjelm or set on fire, we’re a natural fit,” continued Glasson, who has been killed on his own show five times this year.
Despite the head-to-head timeslot, Sarah Ferguson appears to welcome the decision. When asked whether she was threatened by the young upstarts, the Walkley Award-winning journalist said: “Name the time and place, children.”
The move comes at a good time, however, as investigations show that The Roast is currently in breach of ABC2 charter rules, which clearly state: “Any timeslot after 8pm is strictly reserved for Louis Theroux and documentaries about people who want to have sex with cars.”
The Roast returns at 7.30pm Monday to Friday on ABC2, from Monday 4th August. It’s about time!
Ducks can get aggressive
Who says journalism is dumbing down?
Dr Mumbo’s was pleased Fairfax’s Sydney Morning Herald was on hand yesterday to bring us some of the details, sort of, of a girl of undisclosed age who was mercilessly savaged by a family pet.
However the pet in question wasn’t a pit bull terrier or rottweiller, but a duck.
Of course details are important in journalism, which is what makes this such a ripper yarn.
Read more »
Mount Franklin – good after a sunbed
Dr Mumbo was flicking through a few magazines when he came across this campaign for Mount Franklin water featuring a very photoshopped Jennifer Hawkins.
He has two questions:
1. Is the message of the campaign Mount Franklin is the water of choice after a solid session on the sunbed?
2. Where can he get these magical floating bottles of water Jen has been provided for the shoot?
The art of prediction
Dr Mumbo has to give credit to the Sydney Morning Herald for taking a crack at how the city’s new sculpture might look, after getting wind of it a week ago.
The paper even published the best guess of staffer Rocco Fazzari.
SMH – July 22
Fair to say, the guess wasn’t entirely spot on, based on the official image today… Read more »
Wanted: Four Melbourne media agencies MDs
Wiki commons
Are you a young and ambitious media agency exec hoping to get to the next rung of your career? If so, Melbourne needs you.
Dr Mumbo couldn’t help but notice with the departure of MediaCom’s Peter Barrie there are now no less than four Melbourne media agencies without a permanent boss.
For those who weren’t keeping track the vacancies are: ZenithOptimedia who are looking for a boss after the departure of Leanne Brinkies in February, Ikon who in March moved Trudi Sampola to a national role, in May Anathea Ruys left Mindshare and then late on Friday MediaCom announced Peter Barrie was departing. Read more »
‘Grant Denyer’ from Petersham comes clean about his TV ratings box
Ever wondered what your average OzTam TV ratings box holder does with their privilege?
And so it was that a lengthy conversation about the return of Family Feud on Ten on ABC702′s evening show led to host Dom Knight asking for a listener who had a box to call in.
So it came to pass long time a listener first time caller listener, going by the name of ‘Grant Denyer’ from Petersham, called in and gave away a few home truths about the way he and his family use their box.
George Clooney and NANA has a new phone number
Dr Mumbo gets dozens of press releases every day, but in the last couple of days there have been a couple whose subject lines warranted further inspection.
The first came from publicist to the stars Max Markson, and was captioned simply ‘George Clooney’.
Wondering whether George had finally agreed to present a session at BE Fest he opened it and scanned the email, only to discover it was actually about a “revolutionary new development in entertainment technology” in Sydney which would be “perfect if you want to host a visiting star like George Clooney or Angelina Jolie”. Dr Mumbo will certainly bear that in mind next time he’s entertaining a Hollywood A-lister.
Another doozy came simply entitled “NANA has a new phone number”. This one was momentarily confusing, given Dr Mumbo’s Nana has been pushing up daisies for a good few years now. Read more »
A mighty albatross perched majestically between my thighs
Carefree is a brand which has been on a mission to get women talking more openly about their monthly cycle, and its ads over the last couple of years have certainly gotten tongues wagging. And drawn more than a few complaints in the process.
Dr Mumbo reckons the latest set of films for the brand, which feature a celebrity period whisperer Stefan Van De Bloed and vaginal spirit healer Harmony Freebush will also get some people seeing red.
Darius Boyd’s News Corp cake award
Today’s award for having your editorial cake and eating it goes to this News Corp story which came via News.com.au from Brisbane’s Courier-Mail.
On your high horse
Once again the speed of the 24-hour news cycle has seen an important word omitted from the ticker – although Dr Mumbo can’t help but think “The Queen has tested positive for morphine” makes a better story.
The real story BBC News is trying to convey is of course one of the Queen’s horses has tested positive for morphine.
Walkleys and Kennedys go head to head
Dr Mumbo was planning his diary for the week and couldn’t help but notice that Wednesday was looking a bit crowded…
It would appear the folks from The Kennedy Awards have put their nominations announcement, which is at the Australian Turf Club’s Theatre of the Horse at Randwick, on the same night at The Walkley Foundation’s Freelancer of the Year event which is on at the CBD Hotel back in the city.
Normally these organisations try to avoid clashing given there might be a few journos who wanted to attend both. Read more »
Do the Wakudoki
It’s like King Kong meets Wayne’s World, with a gurning Japanese boyband.
Censoring the discriminated against blonde beautiful women
Regular readers may remember a couple of months ago Mumbrella reported on a scrap yard’s billboard featuring a blonde bikini clad woman which fell foul of the Ad Standards Board because the image had “no relevance to the product”.
At the time the owner of St George Metal Recovery complained the decision amounted to “discrimination against blonde beautiful women”, an issue Dr Mumbo understands the UN is currently holding a commission into.
Well, it seems they undertook to change the wording on the board. But, instead of going to the cost of getting a whole new ad designed and printed they decided it was easier just to use stickers saying “censored” over the offending parts of the text.
Touche, scrap yard owner.
Not FruChocs – now they’re Apricot Balls
Chocolate balls
The real deal
There’s a price to pay in getting national distribution for your product.
And in the case of South Australia’s arguably most iconic product, FruChocs, it’s a high one.
FruChocs, from SA confectioner Menz, are now on the shelves of Coles. But not as South Australians know them.
Now they’re Choc Apricot Balls.
Has nobody heard of South Park?
Bright spark
Dr Mumbo salutes the Sydney Daily Tele sub who came up with this brilliant headline on a story about Greens senator Lee Rhiannon whose office lights were left on overnight.
The art of apology
Sorry may be the hardest word for some, but Woolworths showed it’s got a pretty broad repertoire when it comes to apologising in today’s Daily Telegraph.
Wicked Campers: We don’t set out to shock
There’s been a fair bit of hoo ha about Wicked Campers and those slogans on the side of their vans in the last 24-hours, with 95,000 people signing up to a petition to have their vans taken off the road.
Regular readers will of course be aware the brand has had seven rulings from the Ad Standards Board against them this year, and even another two which came out today.
Indeed spokeswoman Leanne Webb, the daughter of company owner John according to SBS World News, said the brand doesn’t set out to shock the public, it’s just very creative.
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