Opinion

• No - advertising has not beaten culture jamming at its own game

  In this guest post, an activist argues why advertising has not subverted culture jamming - and why Australia would be a better place without ‘visual pollution’

  At a photography exhibition now on the Sydney Museum last week, a question was put to a panel of experts. Would our cities be better without any advertising. The answer was a resounding “yes”.

  This didn’t really come as much of a surprise. After all, the panel were culture jammers – activists who subvert mainstream media, altering the message of an ad to tell a story of their own.

• Think popular, not premium: Why the Henry & Aaron 'It's a snap' video went viral

  In this guest posting, YouTube’s Karen Stocks says why she thinks CIT’s gory-funny ‘It’s a snap’ ad was a hit.

  One of this week’s viral hits on YouTube is a science fiction-themed ad for the Central Institute of Technology in Perth. The skit-style video commercial features CIT grads-turned-YouTube stars Henry & Aaron, who magically jump from one CIT department to the next with a snap of Aaron’s fingers. The comedy takes a distinctly darker turn when Aaron’s teleporting skills start going horribly wrong – with gruesome results.

  The video holds a couple of lessons for marketers.

• Mumbrella360 - call for curated sessions

  I must confess that I didn’t enjoy Mumbrella360 last year.

  Having staked our credibility and indeed (although I didn’t like to think about it at the time) the company, on Mumbrella360 being a success, the main thing I actually experienced over the two days was a growing sense of relief that it wasn’t shit.  

• The Woolworths virtual store is not the future of retail. But it is a good PR stunt

  So last night I dropped by my local neighbourhood Virtual Woolworths.

  It’s located at Sydney Town Hall station – conveniently enough, almost directly underneath my local neighborhood Real Woolworths.

  As you’ll see from the wobbly iPhone video I shot, it was a relatively lonely experience. But it was Sunday night.

• Is Big W the beginning of the bounceback for Saatchis?

  Google may prove me wrong, but in the entire time Mumbrella has existed, and very possibly for my entire editorship of B&T before that, I can’t remember ever writing the headline “Saatchi & Saatchi wins…”

  So today’s appointment by Big W is a big deal.  

• Traditional agencies are driving away their digital superstars with their old ways

  In this guest post, Daniel Monheit argues that Australia’s creative agencies will never be able to hang on to digital talent

  In 2010 Steve Jobs was invited by James Murdoch to speak at the annual News Corp management retreat. Jobs issued a blunt, critical assessment of what newspapers were trying to do in technology: “You’re going to find it hard to get things right, because you’re in New York and anyone who’s any good at tech works in Silicon Valley”.

  And that’s when it hit me. The reason why Australia’s best traditional agencies, working with the most prolific clients and the biggest budgets cant manage to put out anything remotely passable as decent digital work.

  Anyone who’s any good at digital works at an agency that actually believes in it.

• What does Fairfax's Media's data dump actually mean? And what's going on at ACP Magazines?

  Although I rather like stats, there are a few days a year where they become a little overwhelming.

  Radio ratings releases offer eight such days annually. Over the space of a couple of hours, the data drops for the five main metro markets. Generally the phone starts ringing within 10 minutes, from station bosses aiming to give their interpretation of those numbers. It becomes a game of keeping them on the line long enough to sift through the data to try to discover the real story you need to ask them about. Within minutes a blizzard of press releases follow too.

  In truth, the press releases mostly get ignored in the race to write the story. Then they’re mostly ignored because the story is already written.

  And twice a year, a similar exercise surrounds the release of the monthly magazine sales figures,

• When the powerful buy into the media, can the media still scrutinise the powerful?

  Economist Richard Denniss of Australian National University argues in a post that first appeared on The Conversation that the public needs to decide if it cares who owns the media.

  The mining industry is used to having its voice heard in Australian public debates, so it should come as no surprise that mining billionaires such as Gina Rinehart and Clive Palmer would consider buying up a bigger slice of the Australian media.

  While the estimated $20m spent by the mining industry on television advertisements opposing the introduction of a mining tax was the most visible example of the industry’s determination to influence the public it is, in fact, just the tip of the iceberg.  

• The keyboard warrior of Twitter

  In this guest post, NBN staffer Scott Rhodie writes an unofficial,  personal view on his experience with a hostile Twitter critic.

  Last night I had a strange incident. While on Twitter I noticed someone saying that Australia’s NBN is already outdated. I wrote a small note back explaining they were incorrect.

  And their response? The lovely gentleman (whose Twitter profile says: ‘Father of 5 kids, Loving Grandfather of 10 Grandchildren,and 2 Great Granddaughters. love to give heaps to Pollies and Poofters’) said to me: “Go and lick Gillards C*** out U commie Prick”

• What's in a name?

  In this guest post, Moensie Rossier wonders about the power of names for brands and marketers.
  

  Brands have been having a bit of fun with names lately, not to mention a fair bit of success. Interbrand just named a headhunting firm Cloak & Dagger. And ‘Share a Coke’ showed how much power there is in a name.

  The Coke campaign effectively short-circuited the usual mechanics of communication. It undoubtedly stroked people’s egos. But, I believe, its success stems from the fact that it directly and automatically affected people’s behaviour, rather than doing so indirectly by shaping attitudes.

• Best ads from Super Bowl 2012

  The Super Bowl is all done and a team from North America won. But as well as some sort of sporting event, it’s the world’s biggest advertising showcase. See the best of them right here… and please tell us what you think.  

• How to debunk media myths

  In this post, UWS’s Ullrich Ecker, John Cook and Stephen Lewandowsky argue that cognitive science can help PRs form strategies in managing media misreporting.

  A growing cohort of commentators has bemoaned the descent of contemporary political “debate” into a largely fact-free zone.  

• How about simply focusing on what consumers want?

  In this guest post, Peter Mountford argues that brands should think more about what is really going on for consumers

  Who here is hoping their favourite brand of toilet paper is going to be organizing a flash mob on their way home from work today?  

• What the Optus web copyright victory means

  In this analysis first published on The Conversation, RMIT’s Marita Shelly examines the implications of Telstra’s defeat over the online rights to the AFL broadcast deal

  This week’s Federal Court ruling that Optus customers are able to view sporting matches minutes after they are streamed live without breaching copyright is a landmark decision that alters our understanding of copyright law, and has significant implications for the AFL’s broadcasting rights deal.  

• Does Gina Rinehart’s bite of a chunk of Fairfax make her an oligarch?

  In an article that first appeared in The Conversation, Mark Rolfe wonders whether the mining magnate’s move could turn Fairfax into something resembling America’s Fox network.

  Australia’s richest person Gina Rinehart has moved to increase her stake in Fairfax Media, owner of The Age, Sydney Morning Herald and a number of radio stations. Rinehart has already shown her desire to play a role in public life, campaigning against former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s aborted mining tax. She has also demonstrated a willingness to make media investments to ensure her pro-business worldview is promulgated.

  What does this latest move by Rinehart mean?