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Opinion | Features
Q&A with Adshel's Rob Atkinson
Online trading is the next big thing says Rob Atkinson in a piece that first appeared in Encore. Who is the most powerful person in Australian media and why?
Harold Mitchell because of his influence and the footprint he has left. He’s built a huge brand in Mitchells, offloaded it into Aegis, Aegis has obviously done extremely well to be then sold on to Dentsu. So if you think about it, he is very much a father figure of the industry.
Making it overseas
Is the best way of being successful in Australia not be here at all? In a feature that first appeared in Encore, Lee Zachariah speaks to Aussies making it big abroad.I always wanted to work in New York,” says Julian Cole. “I thought it was the number one place to work in advertising; a lot of the best campaigns were coming out of there. So I moved over and was lucky enough to have a couple of interviews in the first couple of weeks.”
Cole’s story is indicative of the somewhat contentious idea that the best way to be successful in Australia is to not be in Australia any more.
Got a book in you?
From journos to ad execs and PRs, these days everyone seems to have a book in them. But what does it take to get published and will you actually make any money? In a feature that first appeared in Encore, Brooke Hemphill finds out.Attention wannabe authors. Forget big fat advance cheques and living off royalties. The reality of having a book published today is another story altogether. There are only two reasons you should even consider sitting down at your computer to bash out a manuscript – passion or profile.
Savage counsel
In an article that first appeared in Encore, Chris Savage tackles your career and agency dilemmas in his weekly advice column.Hi Chris,
My clients seem to be demanding more and more from us. At the same time, it seems many of the younger people in our industry simply don’t have the client servicing skills my generation grew up with. How do we instill in our executives some of the good old-fashioned behaviours that would keep a client happy and loyal?
Fake it til' you make it... as an ad agency receptionist
From dressing the part to playing the gatekeeper, Leo Burnett Sydney’s Susie Henry tells us how to make it as the face of adland in a piece that first appeared in Encore.What does a receptionist in an ad agency actually do?
Well, there’s the frantic every-day, all-day stuff of deliveries, courier bookings, doing expenses for directors – always challenging – plus arranging all the travel. But one of my main jobs is counselling the account service people. I also keep up with all sports information to discuss with our sports-loving clients – because who wants to be bored while they’re waiting? And I know how they like their coffee. You need to know everyone – from accounting to HR. I’m also the go-to for all catering and sending flowers.
Whose views skew the news? Media chiefs ready to vote out Labor, while reporters lean left
Most journalists lean left-of-centre, says Folker Hanusch of the University of the Sunshine Coast, in a post first published on The Conversation.Most Australian journalists describe themselves as left-wing, yet amongst those who wield the real power in the country’s newsrooms, the Coalition holds a winning lead.
But while the media’s political leanings will no doubt be debated in the lead-up to September’s federal election, our study has also found other largely unscrutinised biases remain – particularly whose views disproportionately shape the news.
It's time for a new New Wave in the film world
Government funding bodies are lazy and decadent, says industry veteran Michael Thornhill but in a piece that first appeared in Encore, Ed Gibbs begs to differ.I vividly remember the time I first saw Animal Kingdom, David Michod’s breathtaking labour-of-love feature debut. The press screening was half empty, despite the film winning the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance just months earlier, in 2010. Yet its superb performances, stylistic flourishes and overall polish left me speechless. Could this really be a feature debut, an Australian one at that, I wondered, almost out loud? It seemed too good to be true.
Going cold turkey on an agency addiction
Life is sweet for freelance writer Max Kitchen, but in a feature that first appeared in Encore, he admits his struggle against returning to the agency fold.I’ve never taken heroin. But I suspect if I had, the temptation to try it again would not be too dissimilar to the lure of returning to agency life.
Can sport save Ten?
First there was the Grand Prix. Next came the reported $500m bid for cricket rights, then Ten secured the 2014 winter Olympics. So, can sport save the ailing network? In a feature that first appeared in Encore, Nic Christensen investigates.The television sports rights bidding process is a bit like a game of poker.
Check, fold or bet. Those were the options for the Ten Network last week when it had to finalise its bid for the cricket rights.
Andy Lark: good for the marketing of marketing
I can still remember the first story I wrote about Andy Lark, when it emerged that he was to be the new chief marketing officer of CommBank.
It was immediately clear that Australia was about to meet an interesting marketer, one who blogged and tweeted and thanks to his time at Dell in the US was digitally savvy. Even two years ago, that was a big deal. The fact that he also had a stint in public relations gave him an absolutely intriguing background before he even arrived.
Storming the media barricades - advice for young journalists
This week Mumbrella’s Nic Christensen, who began his career four years ago, gave the keynote address to would-be journalists at the Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance’s Student Day. This is an edited version of his speech.Good afternoon, I can remember distinctly the last time I was in this room.
It was 2009 and I was sitting where you are. I’d come to this event, a friend and myself — from memory we sat up the back — and I can remember at the time wondering if I’d ever get a job as a journalist.
It was only four years ago and then as now getting a job was ultra competitive but I’m not sure there was quite as much media ‘doom and gloom’ as there is now…
Paywalls will help fund campaigning journalism
In this guest post, News Limited’s group editorial director Campbell Reid responds to the views of ninemsn’s Hal Crawford that the company’s push into metered paywalls is about data rather than dollars.Hal Crawford is both right and wrong in his article which argued that our digital subscription plans are all about the data.
Fake it 'til you make it... as a features editor
Cosmo’s Kate Leaver tells us how to bluff it in her job in a feature that first appeared in Encore.What do you do, as a features editor?
Really, play with words and ideas all day. At any one time, we’re working across three issues of the mag – getting one on its way to the printers, pooling all the words together for another, and planning the issue after that. It’s busy but it’s a pretty magnificent process.
Savage counsel - JFDI
Hi Chris,I run a medium-sized agency that is doing pretty well. As the leader, I am finding my workload just seems to go up and up. I am struggling to stay motivated and particularly to tackle the bigger and tougher challenges I have to face every day. How do I keep up the energy when there just seems so much to do? How do you do it?
Productive, successful executives are those able to consistently tackle difficult and big challenges. It’s a constant struggle for me so I know how you feel. How do the successful leaders do it?
Q&A with Brett Clegg
Brett Clegg, group director – business media, Fairfax Media, in a Q&A that first appeared in Encore, on the journo who refuses to work with him – his wife.Who is the most powerful person in Australian media and why?
Hard to go past Rupert Murdoch. He controls the single largest and most diverse portfolio and is intent on leveraging its scale (and, of course, influence). He’s an innovator and his will to win is obvious to all.
MediaCom Melbourne boss Phil Phelan exits
Phil Phelan
The Melbourne office of media agency MediaCom is parting ways with boss Phil Phelan.
Phelan will be replaced by new business director Peter Barrie, who joined the agency 12 months ago from Carat, where he was CEO.
Phelan is leaving to pursue a career outside of the media industry, Mumbrella understands.
MediaCom Australia boss Mark Pejic said in a press release: Read more »
The Monkeys reveal first work for Yellowglen wine
Creative agency The Monkeys has released its first campaign for Yellowglen sparkling wine, which aims to reposition the brand with a classic appeal.
The campaign will run in cinemas rather than on TV. Read more »
Can of Worms rates just 351,000 for Ten
The second night of the official ratings season was a brutal one for Ten, with the network dropping below a 10 per cent share and running a distant fourth behind its rivals.
The return of the network’s panel show Can Of Worms managed just 351,000 capital city viewers to run 29th for Monday - beaten by Ten’s afternoon soap The Bold And The Beautiful with 416,000, according to preliminary OzTAM ratings.
Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters tops Australian box office
Jeremy Renner is Hansel
A reworking of one of The Grimm Brothers’ fairytales has taken top spot at the Australian Box Office over the weekend.
Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters made $2.217m in its opening week, according to Motion Picture Distributors Association of Australia.
Opening across 334 screens the Paramount Pictures-distributed film had a screen average of $6,638. Read more »
SCA launches new industry website
Broadcaster Southern Cross Austereo has launched a new trade marketing platform including website SCAengage. Read more »
Adshel rebrands
Outdoor company Adshel has rebranded with a new logo and website, along with a repositioning of its key advertising packages.
The new look was developed by branding agency There.
Marketing director Nicole McInnes said: “Rebrands can often be seen as just superficial so it was important to capture our true internal culture and real external attributes and then translate them into something meaningful for people both inside and out of the organisation.” Read more »
Bikers slam re-run of TAC motorcycle safety ad as showing ‘reckless disregard for riders’
TAC’s ‘The Ride’ TV ad, created in 2009
The Transport Accident Commission’s re-run of a motorbike safety commercial created four years ago has prompted the ire of Australia’s motorcycling community.
Motorcyclist activist group Stop SMIDSY has slammed the ad, created by Grey Melbourne in 2009, as “misleading” and said it shows “a reckless disregard for riders and road safety”.
The angry response from motorcyclists is yet another battle in the war with the TAC over the government body’s portrayal of riders in road safety advertising. Read more »
Linnell to The Australian’s journos: I’ll get to your job applications soon
Fairfax Metro Media’s editorial director Garry Linnell has hit back at The Australian’s suggestion that the company’s Canberra bureau is “on the verge of crisis” following the departure of Michelle Grattan to The Conversation and both Lenore Taylor and Katharine Murphy to The Guardian. Linnell claims that staff from The Australian had been asking him for jobs.
Asked about whether replacements had yet been appointed for the trio who worked on The Age and the Sydney Morning Herald, Linnell told Mumbrella: “We will certainly be making new appointments to our Canberra bureau and they will be announced shortly. Coverage of national affairs has always been a critical priority for us and remains so. Recent stories we have broken simply underline that.”
Asked whether he wanted to respond to use of the word “crisis” by The Australian, he said: Read more »
PR Council to set out vision for future of public relations at CommsCon
The Public Relations Council will present its vision of the future of public relations at next month’s CommsCon.
The conference, presented by Mumbrella and Encore, takes place on March 14 at Sydney’s L’Aqua in Dockside.
Earlybird tickets – with a discount of $50 if purchased before the end of this week – of now on sale.
CommsCon focuses on communications and public relations professionals.
The first confirmed speakers for the conference are members of the Communications Council’s new body Public Relations Council, who will present their vision for the future of PR as a discipline. Read more »
New caravan magazine Time to Roam Australia launches in print and online
Time To Roam
A free travel magazine has launched today catering to the Australian recreational vehicle market.
Time To Roam Australia is an independent venture developed by Phillip Terry who has 25 years of experience in magazine sales and development. He has teamed with journalist Rod Bruem as editor. Read more »
Second Gina Rinehart mini-series in development
Channel Nine has commissioned a production based on the bitter family fed between billionaire Gina Rinehart and three of her children with the working title Mother Monster Magnate.
The announcement comes a week after it emerged that Screentime was working on a version of the Rinehart story.
A Nine spokeswoman told Mumbrella the production would be a two part mini-series totalling four hours.
Read more »
Michael Christian back on air on Today Network
Royal prank radio presenter Michael Christian quietly went back on air this morning.
The Today Network’s Melbourne station Fox FM put Christian into the late morning shift.
However unlike other timeslots, the station’s website only describes the show as “Hit music!” and does not identify the presenter.
During on-air links listened to by Mumbrella this morning, the presenter did not identify himself to listeners. Read more »
Grattan promises to bridge academia and journalism
Grattan at a press conference announcing her departure from The Age last week.
Veteran political reporter Michelle Grattan has started her new role with The Conversation taking up a “cubbyhole” in the offices of Keating Media in the Press Gallery.
This morning, Grattan told Mumbrella she was enjoying the move. Read more »
TV ratings kicks off with Seven taking the night
The opening of the official 2013 TV ratings year on Sunday was a tight battle, but Seven won the night.
Ten began the year with a better showing than recent days with MasterChef: The Professionals climbing back over the one million viewer mark, and Elementary (944,000 viewers) and Modern Family (922,000) taking eighth, nine and tenth spots respectively.
Kate Ritchie to make guest return to Home And Away
Kate Ritchie is to make a brief return to Seven’s Home And Away after a five year break, the network has announced.
Ritchie, who played Sally Fletcher from the age of eight, said in the announcement: “There will be a wonderful sense of familiarity stepping back into Sally’s shoes for a while. Summer Bay is a very different place these days and I am looking forward to working with all the fresh faces.”
The show is celebrating its 25th anniversary. Ritchie will start filming her role shortly, with the story rolling out over a number of months. Read more »
Cricket Australia PR manager Rebecca Appleton moves on
The PR manager at Cricket Australia has called time on a five-and-a-half year stint with the sporting industry body to join Treasury Wine Estates.
Rebecca Appleton, who joined CA in 2006, starts as global PR manager for the wine-maker’s Wolf Blass Business unit today.
Cricket Australia is currently looking for a replacement. Read more »
Guardian hires Fairfax Canberra duo
On the same day The Age’s former political editor Michelle Grattan starts her new role at The Conversation, the newspaper’s national affairs correspondent Katharine Murphy and sister paper The Sydney Morning Herald’s Lenore Taylor are quitting the Fairfax titles for The Guardian’s Australian launch, the Australian has reported. Read more »
Magazine body relaunches with focus on ‘lust’, ‘want’ and ‘desire’
The relaunched Magazine Publishers of Australia – which represents the country’s largest glossy magazine publishers – has launched its first marketing campaign under new boss Robin Parkes.
The relaunch includes a new slogan: “Magazines Move Me”, along with an updated website developed by Apparent.
The campaign – created in-house by Bauer Media’s creative director - advertising, Carolyn Innis – includes ads on the themes of “lust”, “want” and “desire”.
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