News - mUmBRELLA

Opinion | Features
- 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 Hicks
  
  Today, 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 better
  
  I’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.
- TV audience measurement – why big isn’t always beautiful
  
  In this guest post, Chris Walton argues that the media industry needs to take a new approach to TV trading
  
  There has been a significant amount of coverage recently about how successful The Voice has been. Indeed, audience figures of 2.6m+ people are very impressive these days. Based on reports, this is apparently double the size of audience that Nine was hoping for in the lead up to the programme launching.

Nando’s ad features boy eating chicken, ‘Another life-long Nando’s fan is born’

Quick service restaurant chain Nando’s has launched a new TV campaign that shows a little boy eating chicken and ends with the line, ‘Another life-long Nando’s fan is born’.

Andrew Varasdi, the managing partner of Nando’s agency Banjo Advertising, told Mumbrella that the campaign does not flout rules on fast food advertising, since the chicken featured in the ad is grilled.

“Nando’s doesn’t have the same issues as a fried chicken product,” he said.

A spokesperson from the Advertising Standards Bureau told Mumbrella that the ad had received no complaints, and added “there appears to be a good mix of food choices shown in the advertisement”.

By Robin Hicks · May 21st, 2012 at 3:53 pm · Comments: 4

Andrew Traucki’s The Jungle picks up international sales

Andrew Traucki

A US-based sales production and distribution company has picked up the worldwide sales rights to the next film by Aussie writer/director Andrew Traucki.

Traucki’s film The Jungle has been picked up by Lightning Entertainment of Santa Monica.

The news sees the two parties reunite after Traucki’s 2010 shark film The Reef.

By Colin Delaney · May 21st, 2012 at 3:25 pm · Comments: 0

Booming business of music streaming to be debated at Mumbrella360

The explosion in music streaming services in Australia – and the likely winners and losers – will be debated in a panel session at Mumbrella360 next month.

Last month, Telstra announced a deal with subscription music service MOG enabling users to stream a catalogue of 15 million tracks to their mobile, tablet, computer or net-connected TV. It joined Spotify, Rdio and Songl, who had already unveiled plans to launch in the Australian market.

Joining the Battle of the Bandwidth panel are Dan Rosen, CEO of the Australian Recording Industry Association; Digital Music Distribution CEO Mark Shaw, Sound Alliance commercial director Ben Shepherd, MCM Entertainment Group CEO Simon Joyce and DMG chief digital officer Rebekah Horne. Read more »

By mumbrella · May 21st, 2012 at 2:05 pm · Comments: 2

‘Iconic’ Australia brand to launch revamp campaign; Is it CommBank?

“One of Australia’s most iconic brands” will this weekend reveal a major brand revamp.

An invitation headlined with the word “Can’t” was delivered to journalists at Mumbrella this morning, linking to the domain ‘@whatiscant.com.au’.

It coincides with industry rumours that a “big four” bank is about to go through a major rebranding with rumours pointing to the Commonweath Bank of Australia. Mumbrella understands that “a massive media buy” of outdoor and TV ads is in the offing.

CommBank’s media team was unable to offer an immediate comment. However, a senior source at the bank told Mumbrella there would be more to say at the end of this week. Read more »

By Robin Hicks · May 21st, 2012 at 2:02 pm · Comments: 25

Stonemen video features woman pleasuring herself over image of viewer

Men’s underwear brand Stoneman is courting controversy with an interactive video in which a woman masturbates next to an image of the viewer’s face.

The raunchy interactive video (possibly NSFW) allows the user to upload of a photo of themselves, which is then used in the video.

The video leads the user to Stonemen’s website and gives them the option to buy some Stonemen underwear.

The campaign was developed by Arnold Furnace.

A censured version is running as a teaser campaign.

Paul Fenton, joint national creative director of Arnold Furnace told Mumbrella: Read more »

By Colin Delaney · May 21st, 2012 at 2:01 pm · Comments: 16

Medibank shifts ad account from Patts to Whybins

Mediabank has moved its advertising business to Whybin\TBWA Melbourne after a pitch that involved incumbent GPY&R Melbourne, Mumbrella can reveal.

The pitch kicked off in November last year as part of a “best practice review of suppliers”.

By Robin Hicks · May 21st, 2012 at 1:16 pm · Comments: 3

Community radio station 2ser to restructure after funding freeze

Community radio station 2ser is to restructure to ensure its ‘long-term viability’, the station’s boss has said.

With no increase in funding from its university backers to cover rising operating costs, ‘tough decisions’ are to be made at the current affairs and talk radio station, with all staff positions under review.

Among the proposals would be the redundancy of Mark Robinson, Talks Co-ordinator at the station, one of 11 paid members of staff. Robinson oversees the station’s current affairs output.

According to a volunteer journalist at 2ser, the axing of Robinson’s role would see a decline in the quality of content at the station.

Neighbourhood Watch producer Shant Fabricatorian said: Read more »

By Robin Hicks · May 21st, 2012 at 1:09 pm · Comments: 1

Arnott’s launches ‘Truly, Madly Tim Tam’ TV ad

DDB has released a new ad for Arnott’s brand Tim Tam, which shows consumers picking the famous chocolate bars from trees at Martin Place.

The ad is based on an experiential event the Tim Tam “orchard”, which was erected a fortnight ago. The ad ends with the tag line ‘Truly, Madly Tim Tam’.

The campaign comes the week after Arnott’s parted ways with agency GPY&R, awarding DDB the entire account.

Leif Stromnes, MD for strategy and innovation at DDB Group Sydney said: Read more »

By Georgina Pearson · May 21st, 2012 at 11:10 am · Comments: 6

Herringbone: perfectly balanced tailoring

A man walking a tight rope in the middle of a city is the creative focus of an online and in-store campaign for suit-maker Herringbone.

The film, directed by Dael Oates through production company Progidy, concludes with the slogan ‘perfectly balanced tailoring’.

By Robin Hicks · May 21st, 2012 at 9:52 am · Comments: 3

Downton Abbey’s return down on last year’s premiere

The series return of period drama Downton Abbey failed to match the heights of last year’s premiere for Seven in last night’s ratings.

The British costume drama ranked third – behind Nine’s The Block, which won the night, and Seven News.

Nine’s renovation show took 1.678m across the five metro market, according to preliminary reports from OzTam. Seven News took 1.612m and Downton Abbey took 1.53m, down 300,000 viewers on last year’s premiere of 1.807m.

By Colin Delaney · May 21st, 2012 at 9:43 am · Comments: 6

Ten returns to late night news with current affairs-entertainment hybrid Newsnight

Ten is to return to late night news, less than a year after withdrawing from the battleground.

Newsnight will be hosted by Hamish Macdonald and air at 10.30pm from Monday to Thursday.

The reversal of strategy echoes that carried last year when the network axed its 5pm weekend news bulletin before returning to it after Nine jumped into the vacant slot.

Newsnight launches on Monday June 4. The new program appears to stretch from traditional news territory into light entertainment including musical performances. Read more »

By mumbrella · May 21st, 2012 at 9:12 am · Comments: 6

Nine takes 2012 lead in key 25-54 demographic

The Nine Network has now overtaken Seven in the three key advertising demographics for the year to date, last week’s overnight ratings suggest. However, Seven is clinging on to number one spot for all people, and won the ratings week by this measure.

According to last week’s five city metro ratings from OzTam, Nine – newly invigorated thanks to The Voice – won week 20 in 16-39, 18-49 and 25-54.

However, Seven narrowly won the week in all people. Read more »

By mumbrella · May 20th, 2012 at 12:11 pm · Comments: 3

Sunday Tele breached privacy of Latham’s kids and failed to declare involvement of reporter’s mother, rules press watchdog

Former Labor leader Mark Latham has won a finding against the Sunday Telegraph after the newspaper reported he intimidated an elderly swimming teacher.

The Australian Press Council has upheld his complaint that his children’s privacy was breached, and that the newspaper should have declared a conflict of interest over the fact that one of the swimming teachers at the pool on the day was the mother of journalist Jennifer Sexton, who wrote the story.

Sexton’s report, published on December 11, stated: Read more »

By mumbrella · May 20th, 2012 at 11:25 am · Comments: 1

Encore overtakes B&T, AdNews and IF in latest CAB audit

Mumbrella’s sister title Encore has become Australia’s most widely distributed media and marketing title, new figures published this afternoon by the Circulations Audit Board reveal.

In the six month period ending in March, the monthly Encore magazine distributed an average of 7,144 copies per edition, the CAB data shows.

AdNews distributed 6,257 copies and B&T 5,386.Both titles are fortnightly. The bimonthly IF Magazine (formerly Inside Film) distributed 4,464.

It is believed to be the first time that Encore has been the highest of the print titles. It means that within the sector’s trade press, parent company Focal Attractions can for the first time boast the hat trick of highest distribution for print title, highest website audience and biggest email circulation.

Encore was relaunched in November with its focus expanded beyond the screen industry to the wider media and marketing world. Focal Attractions bought Encore from Reed Business Information in late 2009.

The CAB recognises distribution rather than sales, so the figure does not necessarily reflect paid sales. In new deals to coincide with Encore’s relaunch, members of the Australian Marketing Institute, the committee of the Media Federation of Australia and AWARD (the Australian writers and art directors association) – now receive a complimentary copy of Encore through their memberships.

The CAB has not yet adopted a digital standard, so Encore’s digital subscribers via its new iPad app are not yet included in the new figure.

Average net distribution (% increase compared to previous audit period):

Encore – 7,144 | +170%
AdNews – 6,257 | +0.8%
B&T – 5,386 | -0.2%
IF – 4,464 | +6.3%

Other print titles in the media and marketing space such as Marketing magazine, Media Week and Campaign Brief are not audited.

Meanwhile, the only titles in the communications and entertainment industry that audit their online traffic are Mumbrella, IF and Campaign Brief.

In April, Mumbrella’s audited Australian UBs were 123,389. Campaign Brief was 49,176, and IF 24,320,

Mumbrella is the only title in the sector to audit its daily email, with an official average net daily distribution of 23,238.

To subscribe to Encore, click here.

By mumbrella · May 18th, 2012 at 4:22 pm · Comments: 12

House Husbands’ cast and crew announced

Australian production company Playmaker and the Nine Network have announced the cast of new series House Husbands.

The 10 part series about stay-at-home dads is due to begin production at the end of the month.

The series is produced by Slide’s Sue Seeary and Lockie Leonard’s Drew Proffitt and created by Proffitt and Ellie Beaumont and directed by The Great Mint Swindle’s Geoff Bennett and Offspring’s Shirley Barrett.

By Colin Delaney · May 18th, 2012 at 4:21 pm · Comments: 1

Arnott’s drops GPY&R for DDB

Arnott’s has parted ways with GPY&R in favour of fellow rostered agency DDB, the snack giant announced today.

The announcement:

Arnott’s Australia announces advertising agency consolidation Read more »

By mumbrella · May 18th, 2012 at 4:17 pm · Comments: 1

DeathstarPR reaches 200k followers; creates web-series aimed as branded content

A parody Twitter account created by an Australian teacher and featuring the public relations team on the Death Star has hit more than 200,000 followers. The team behind Death Star PR has now branched out into video content and is seeking sponsors.