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Opinion | Features
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 HicksToday, 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 betterI’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 tradingThere 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.
How do you solve a problem like Blunty?
So if you were the proposed News Standards Body, how would you regulate Blunty?The News Standards Body, in case you didn’t notice, is the new organisation proposed by the Convergence Review this week to regulate news and commentary, regardless of platform.
Blunty, in case you didn’t notice, is the video blogger who this week went viral after he filmed a guerrilla marketing demo outside Apple’s Sydney store apparently as a coincidental bystander, but later admitted he’d been put up to it by BlackBerry.
Where The Wild Things Are-inspired Kangaroo Island ad prompts growth in searches
An ad by the South Australian Tourism Commission to promote Kangaroo Island has resulted in an increase in searches for the destination on South Australia’s tourism website.
Two weeks after ‘Let yourself go’ launched on 22 February, searches for Kangaroo Island on southaustralia.com had increased by 208 per cent, the SATC told Mumbrella. However, it did not disclose what the actual number of searches was.
John Baker, managing partner of KWP! Advertising, the Adelaide agency that made the ad, has called it “probably the most beautiful thing we’ve ever created.”
Rhonda’s goes to Bali in latest AAMI ad
Rhonda, the heroine in the AAMI ads, enjoys the privileges of AAMI’s safe driver rewards with some special attention from a Balinese masseuse in the latest commercial for the brand.
Warp Films Australia to produce Kiwi film Shopping
Warp Films Australia has announced a new film project following the success of the production company’s first outing, Snowtown.
Teaming up with New Zealand first-time feature filmmakers Mark Albiston and Louis Sutherland, the film Shopping is about a 16 year-old boy Willie who must choose between a gang of shoplifters and his own family.
Madman Entertainment will distribute the film in Australia and New Zealand while NZ Film, the sales arm of New Zealand Film Commission, will handle world sales.
FIVEaa talk radio host Amanda Blair steps down
One of Australia’s few female talk radio hosts is to hang up her headphones.
Amanda Blair of Adelaide’s FIVEaa announced yesterday she will leave the network to spend more time with her family.
Blair has hosted the afternoon shift from 1-4pm on the station for the past five years.
Australian Nazi sci-fi film Iron Sky acquired by eOne
A sci-fi film about Nazis from the darkside of the moon has been bought by distribution company and sales agent Entertainment One for North American rights.
The film, an Australian/Finnish/German co-production, directed by Timo Vuorensolam for Blind Spot Pictures, was partially shot in Queensland at Village Roadshow Studios.
It was picked up by the Canadian distribution company from Stealth Media Group at South By Southwest.
According to Variety, Dylan Wiley of eOne Films has called the production “the Citizen Kane of Nazis-in-space movies”.
Newspaper Works launches media agency push with iPads giveaway
Industry marketing body Newspaper Works has launched a push to persuade media agencies to stop thinking about newspapers in the “traditional sense”.
The programme – known as Integrate With Influence – saw newspaper bosses wining and dining agency CEOs in Sydney and Melbourne and presenting them with personalised iPads loaded with information.
These events will be followed by offering to facilitate workshops for agencies working on client briefs.
The strategy has been developed by Naked Communications who will also oversee the rollout of the workshops. Integrate With Influence is also backed by a blog-style website offering think pieces around publishing and training videos. Read more »
Nielsen media agency billings: Only five from top 20 agencies grow
Only five of Australia’s top 20 media agencies grew their billings in 2011, a report from Nielsen suggests.
Source: Nielsen
GroupM’s MediaCom and MindShare, Omnicom’s PHD and independent players Pearman Media and Paykel stood out in a market that shrunk overall.
The market receded by 2% in a year – although Nielsen’s data does not cover online, the fastest growing medium.
Starcom MediaVest, UM, Initiative and Carat and indies Adcorp and Russell Curtis & Janes saw their billings fall over the year.
For nine of the top 20, billings remained unchanged.
Mitchells remains Australia’s only billion-dollar media buyer, unbudged at the top to the rankings with billings of $1050m-$1070m.
Mumbrellacast: Sam Mac | immaturity in social media | Swerve | Creative ransoms | Community TV vs YouTube | Tabloid paywalls
Featuring former Austereo presenter and The Project field reporter Sam Mac, Mumbrella editor-in-chief Tim Burrowes, Mumbrella managing editor Robin Hicks and podcast producer Colin Delaney (56:25)
- Sam Mac on the unsung panel operator, waking up at 3.47am, poking fun at Dools and why he doesn’t hate Perth (3:56)
- The genius of Conan O’Brien (16:32)
- Tim’s hypocrisy on social media fails (21:22)
- When Red Dog meets Snowtown (29:29)
- This week’s cinema box office (33:15)
- When ECDs’ have their URL’s taken hostage (36:13)
- How to create big radio ideas (37:58)
- Prisoner: how all convicts speak (42: 31)
- Why YouTube hasn’t killed Community TV (46:54)
- As the Herald Sun gets ready, will a paywall work on a tabloid? (51:57) Read more »
McCann looks to Germany for strategy chief
Karl Bates and Ashley Farr
The personnel overhaul at new-look McCann has continued with the drafting of a new strategy chief from an agency in Germany.
McCann’s strategic offering will be headed up by Karl Bates from Saatchi & Saatchi Germany, who takes over from Ashley Farr.
Farr has been running the agency’s planning department during the search for a strategy head, and will now focus on his role as MD of McCann Sydney.
Bates is the latest in a string of signings at McCann, which merged with Smart in a reverse take-over last year, and is now led by former Smart boss Ben Lilley.
Buttrose to chair tablet publishing firm Reddo
Magazine doyenne Ita Buttrose has been appointed chairman of a startup aimed at helping publishers turn their content into tablet apps.
Reddo Media Services will offer print publishers the ability to effectively outsource production of tablet editions.
The company is the brainchild of former CBS Interactive commercial director Troy Martin and Shane Mitchell, who has stepped aside as MD of content company HS3 to focus on Reddo. Read more »
Eddie McGuire plans move into TV drama
Presenter, producer, sports commentator and the face of Nine and Foxtel’s 2012 Olympic coverage, Eddie McGuire, plans to produce drama for Australian television with his production company McGuire Media.
McGuire told Encore: “We want to move into drama for television. We’ve been involved a bit over the years but want to move more into it now.” Read more »
Zenith Optimedia becomes ‘the open agency’, Naked boss calls positioning ‘vague’
One of Australia’s most publicity-shy agencies has adopted a new positioning around the principle of being open.
At its Sydney offices last night, the new boss of Zenith Optimedia Ian Perrin announced that the Publicis Groupe media agency was to be “more open” in its approach to other agencies, media owners, trading, innovation and sourcing talent.
Zenith has been virtually anonymous since former CEO Belinda Rowe left in 2009, with regional boss Phil Talbot preferring for the agency to operate under the radar.
Kony 2012 documentary rates well for Ten
Ten’s unprecedented decision to drop its normal schedule and replace it with a full playout of the viral Kony 2012 documentary paid off last night, with The Project Special: The Kony Phenomenon fifth for the night among 16-39 year olds.
The show, which saw Leo Burnett CEO Todd Sampson drafted in to offer analysis on the marketing and social media implications around the half hour doco, replaced a planned episode of Modern Family and Law and Order SVU.
Ten’s decision to air Kony 2012 in a primetime slot also made headlines around the world.
The video – focused on African warlord Joseph Kony – has become the most viral video of all time. At the time of writing it was approaching 50m views across YouTube and Vimeo. The story behind the Kony 2012 campaign has also triggered heavy debate and scepticism.
Screen Agency defends role as producer offset administrator
The national screen agency Screen Australia has defended its role in administering an Australian film tax rebate, following accusations it was not fit to do so by the Screen Producers Association of Australia.
The response comes after Wednesday’s Federal Court decision which found that production Lush House, a ten-part series by Essential Media and Entertainment was a documentary and available to access tax rebate, the producer offset.
The film agency argued the case, initially at the Administrative Appeals Tribunal and to the Federal Court, that the series was infotainment and therefore not eligible for the lucrative offset.
In a statement, Screen Australia said, since 2008 the agency “has decided 252 applications for final Producer Offset certificates in respect of programs which sought certification as documentaries (and which would not be eligible for the Producer Offset on any other basis). Of these 252 applications, Screen Australia has approved the issue of 248 final certificates, representing a total Offset amount of $44,266,140.
Netflix rumoured to pick up Terra Nova
An online streaming service may pick up Terra Nova following the announcement of US network Fox canning the series.
Netflix has voiced an interest in broadcasting the Steven Spielberg sci-fi series, the Hollywood Reporter claims.
After the axe fell on the show on Monday, studio 20th Television said it would shop the series around.
Can you still do edgy content on radio?
In the coming weeks, Mumbrella will be publishing highlights videos from last year’s Mumbrella360 conference.
Today’s topic features a session curated by Commercial Radio Australia which debated procedures that go on behind the scenes behind the scenes on edgy radio shows.
Publicis, Droga5, OMD and ZO remain in the hunt for Qantas
Publicis agencies Mojo and Amnesia Razorfish will fight Droga5 for the Qantas creative and digital account while OMD and Zenith Optimedia are in the hunt for media, the airline has revealed. Read more »
Singapore tries to persuade Aussies it’s not boring by telling them to ‘Get lost’
The government of Singapore is fighting the city-state’s reputation for being a boring stop-over destination known only for its food and shopping centres with a campaign specifically targeting Australians.
Taglined ‘Get Lost and find the real Singapore’, a TV ad opens with an elderly Singaporean woman who says, “Hey you Aussie, you think Singapore’s got no tradition? Get lost!”
A scene follows showing a food-tossing custom known as ‘lo hei’, which neighbouring Malaysia claims to have started.
The phrase “Get lost!” might be considered rude in other Asian markets, but is not offensive in the Australian context, Singapore Tourism Board’s Oceania director Sandra Leong told Mumbrella. “It’s fun, colloquial expression,” she said.
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