mUmBRELLA

If ever you wanted a demonstration of the dreadful state of metrics around PR, Mumbrella inadvertently demonstrated it last week.

We published a story about the achievements of PR agency DEC for client Darrell Lea. The press release sent to us began with the following bold claim:   Read more »

In this guest post, Tim Riches argues why Singapore’s Tiger Airways can find its way back from the brink in Australia

Whenever you read anything in the paper about Tiger Airways, there’s a presumption they’ll really struggle to get back on track in Australia.

But I’m not sure we should write the brand off just yet.

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Cannes is three months ago now. But it’s probably worth looking back at the (few, sadly) highlights for Australia in what is probably still the most prestigious category – film.

Mumbrella interviewed the Aussie directors who made the most impact (won the most awards), asking them to shed some light on how they made some of the country’s best commercials.

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There’s now little in marketing less inspired than a dance flash mob. Be it in Rundle Mall, Adelaide, Federation Square in Melbourne, Queen Street Mall in Brisbane, Sydney’s Martin Place or a grim suburban strip mall, marketing companies are rinsing gullible clients for dollars on the promise the video will go viral.

And some big names – the likes of BMW, Dell, Qantas, Milo, Domino’s and Wii – are among those turning brand gold to shit.

One look at the grim faces of those who happened to be nearby when the experiential marketing project broke out is all that is needed to understand why this is a marketing trend that is D.E.A.D.

I humbly offer you my top ten shittest Australian branded flash mobs of all time: Read more »

Are you as hopeless as me at remembering anniversaries?

If so, then as a special service, let me remind you of this one, so it doesn’t slip by. This coming weekend it will be the four month anniversary since Fairfax Media promised to stop autoplaying videos “in the next few months”.   Read more »

I have, I must admit, become somewhat uncomfortable with the largesse that people in our industry accept from those they have business relationships with.

It would be hypocritical of me to decry all hospitality. Attending agency parties, TV programming launches and the like are an excellent source of stories for us, and they also help build contacts in the longer term.

The same goes for those with advertising dollars to spend. Knowing the media owners at a social level can sometimes get the brands a better deal than a pure ratecard negotiation over the telephone would. A spot of lunch or a few hours in a hospitality box can oil the wheels of a relationship in both directions.

But where I start to get uncomfortable is when the generosity becomes extravagant.   Read more »

In this guest post, Ten’s chief programming officer David Mott responds to criticism about that controversial decision to schedule The Renovators during Sunday’s MasterChef finale.

Those of us in the programming business know that this isn’t a job for the thin skinned. There will always be someone willing to express their displeasure over your scheduling choices.   Read more »

In this guest posting, Seven’s newly appointed director of social media Adam Boland explains why he has dropped Facebook in favour of Google+ as his social network for his own use.

To be honest, I’ve never really understood Facebook.

Treating all of your “friends” as equals just doesn’t reflect real life. I like the concept of sharing, but why should my family get the same feed as people I see once a year?   Read more »

For anyone that attends industry awards nights, the fact that ABC personalities are for hire at corporate events will not be a shock, despite today’s news coverage around Q&A’s Tony Jones.

Take last week’s IAB Awards where ABC 702′s Adam Spencer was holding the fort.

Indeed, I felt like holding up my metaphorical cigarette lighter to go along with his greatest hit, so often have I heard him perform it.   Read more »

Like, I suspect, many journalists in Australia, I spent last night on the sofa.

(I did briefly retreat to bed but after ABC News Radio took an urgent pontification break and missed the moment when Rupert Murdoch was attacked, I was back out of bed to watch it on TV.)

It’s just the latest in a fortnight when anybody interested in the media has had to check the news just before going to bed, and as soon as they wake up. The more obsessive among us have also been sleeping with the radio on.

There has never been a more dramatic moment in the history of global media. Read more »

This weekend, I mostly watched episodes of Under The Cover, the fly-on-the wall doco following Marie Claire editor Jackie Frank.

I must confess that my hopes weren’t high, but I felt duty bound to catch up with the contents of my Foxtel box.   Read more »

In this guest post, James Coleman suggests brands should not create a Facebook page just because everyone else is

During the last fortnight I’ve been struck by the number of times the Facebook icon has appeared at the end of TV ads. Become a fan of food, insurance, homewares, automobiles, travel, whatever. It’s over 15 years since we experienced the internet bubble, but I’m feeling like we’re in the midst of a Facebook bubble.

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In this guest post, Mediacom’s Nic Hodges observes the Twitter blowtorch turned onto brands advertising with the News of the World

What a day to be in London. James Murdoch’s announcement that after 168 years, this Sunday’s News of the World will be the last ever has ricocheted around the internet faster than a fake celebrity death. And if you’re an advertiser in any category in any country, there is a lesson to be learned from today.   Read more »

So here’s a thought, Fairfax.

You know how you promised to stop autoplaying video?

And you know how media is suffering something of an image crisis at the moment?

How about you don’t autoplay video of a man falling to his death?

Perhaps I’m not a typical reader, but I didn’t really want to see that. Read more »

Despite what may be an impression to the contrary, I’ve been literally dragged through a hedge backwards just the once.

It happened about 16 years ago when as a younger and braver reporter than I am now, I decided that the ideal vantage point to take photographs of riot police and anti live animal export protesters was between the two converging groups.

So I have physically experienced the powerful emotional impact that live animal exports can have on the public. Read more »

In this guest post, Aussie Julian Cole formerly of The Conscience Organisation Sydney, now at BBH New York, gives five tips to getting a job in a New York agency

It really feels like it is a great time to be over in NYC. Last month the city released the RoadMap for NYC to become the world’s number one digital city. Advertising here is bouncing back after the GFC. There are jobs everywhere.

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In this guest posting, Kaye Fallick explains why an ad that makes a baby boomer feel their age is like making a man aware that he has a small penis

There are many bad TV ads out there. But the worst of all has to be the RACV member benefits ad. What makes this ad so bad? It fails on nearly every level. But most importantly, it unknowingly mocks the very people it is trying to attract.

Read more »

This weekend, the Cannes Film Lions jury revealed its choice for the best TV ads of the last 12 months. There was one grand prix and 14 golds.

Here they all are: Read more »