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Opinion | Features
My memo to your boss
So let me guess?
You really want to come to Mumbrella360, but you’ve got to justify the time and cost to your boss?
Good news! I think I can help.
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 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.
Starlight ad takes away kids’ dignity
Charity advertising is generally bombproof when it comes to criticism, but I wonder if the Starlight Children’s Foundation has gone too far with the half page ad in today’s Sun-Herald.
It features two sad-looking children, both holding up hand-made signs saying “Choose me”, along with the heart-rending message: “With limited funds, we’ll have to choose which seriously ill child deserves happiness more.”
Yet my first reaction on seeing the ad is not the compassion one should feel, but anger at the emotional manipulation. By being asked to hold up the signs, it feels like the kids are being exploited in an entirely undignified way.
The fact that this is an organisation that recently helped spend nearly $15m on building a web site compounds things.
One can only hope that the kids in the images are actors.
Tim Burrowes – Mumbrella
April 12th, 2009 at 2:16 pm
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Comments
12 Apr 09
5:27 pm
A friend works for Starlight, we’ve had discussions about how difficult 2009 is going to be thanks to the downturn economy and the bushfire and flood appeals. Apparently they did it extremely tough after the tsunami and know exactly how detrimental a natural disaster can be. Obviously they have decided to ramp up their advertising to get their hands on some of the $900 that all retailers are vying for. I can understand how those involved would want a campaign that went for the jugular. I agree with you Tim, I’m not comfortable with the emotional manipulation but at the same time I hope it works.
At lunch today we started discussing charities and it was noted that the calls for donations were increasing. However we also noticed that in the cases when we’ve had to decline, the callers have been more than understanding. I know personally this has given me a bigger guilt trip then this ad ever could. I know when I’m doing a bit better again I’ll be donating twice as much next time they call.
12 Apr 09
8:17 pm
I agree with Tim, this is simply appaling. Has their power gone to their heads, are they trying to play God? Theoretically, what would the criteria be to choose one child over another and who would have this power? S
15 Apr 09
9:19 am
Tim
Absolutely agree – I had this discussion with my wife when we saw the ad in the newspaper that day. I wonder whether this ad might actually backfire and produce the opposite effect to that which was intended.
The approach was poor taste and exploitative – presumably asking the children to produce the signs and then “look sad” for the camera.
Without denigrating Starlight in any way, who are a wonderful charity and provide a very worthy service for the holistic care of children with severe medical conditons, they provide “distraction therapy”, not medicine.
15 Apr 09
12:18 pm
I agree, the advert is distasteful and upsetting.
I had a small brother with cancer and I’d hate to think what he would’ve thought if he saw that advertisement…
How would a child feel if they didn’t get their wish and were terminally ill? That they were not only dying but also not worthy?
15 Apr 09
12:57 pm
When everything in the paper is doom and gloom, I see this and I just want to turn the page faster.
The work that Starlight does is incredible and this ad does not do them justice. It does nothing to show me how Starlight brightens the lives of these kids.
I’d rather see the good that Starlight can do. Give me a REAL story. Give me an old-fashioned coupon in the ad showing what my money can buy me to help.
Tick the box, cut it out and send it in with a cheque.
Real stories and a coupon work harder than any guilt trip.
15 Apr 09
1:42 pm
*shakes head*
15 Apr 09
3:18 pm
They are an admirable organisation, but their board has some large personalities with “interesting” ideas.
It takes a strong hand to steer them from their wilder ideas and in this case that hand seems to have slipped.
Are GPY&R still their pro-bono agency?
15 Apr 09
7:03 pm
Sorry to be posting under ‘anonymous’ but…I worked at Starlight for a few years and had my soul destroyed by the people AdGrunt’s so aptly named ‘large personalities.’ Unfortunately they don’t seem to live in or understand the real world and use their work as a means of bullying people and bolstering their egos.
I too saw the ads and felt turned off but wrote those feelings off as sour grapes on my part so interesting that others have felt as manipulated and turned off as I did.
16 Apr 09
7:55 am
Emotional manipulation is the criteria of a successful ad.
For me the issue is whether the kids pictured are talent, or actually sick kids.
If they’re not talent, then this one’s a pretty murky grey area for me – as I think it’s a very powerful message. This one troubles me as it’s somewhat exploitative – I think it’s got a foot on each side of the line of acceptability. It’s a tough ad for tough times.
16 Apr 09
10:28 am
Adam
I agree most cause-related advertising, by dint of their business model, are emotionally charged.
However I can’t recall any charity of worth, let alone a kids charity, stoop to such blatant “give us your money or the kid gets it” emotional blackmail.
Starlight is / was a happy, positive organisation that prided itself on bringing happiness and relief via distraction therapies. They did some lovely ads last year which have been around a while. This is an ugly turn for the worse.
Anonymous – feel good about the great work you did, in spite of the personalities.
The proof will be in the donation pudding…
16 Apr 09
1:24 pm
I think we’re in agreement Mr Grunt. This ad troubles me – although not as much as the Child Abuse stuff on Gruen did last night. And on those ads – commenting in Creative Choice in AdNews, Emil Vrisakis from Spin quoted disgusted child abuse survivors who absolutely hated the commercial (any chance of a link please Tim?)
I think the Starlight donation pool will be as eagerly awaited as the sales results from Naked’s Fake Jacket Girl.
16 Apr 09
2:30 pm
Whilst I agree that emotional manipulation is part of every ad campaign, this just feels very distasteful. Starlight don’t use actors they use “real” sick children. There is no way this ad would make me want to donate. We have to ask don’t we…… why are they in such a financial crisis? Have other charities had to resort to such tactics?
16 Apr 09
2:50 pm
Hi Adam,
Unfortunately I can’t offer a link to the AdNews piece because their current model for their site is a paid subscription one.
By the way, I’ve noticed that some people with Starlight email addresses have joined our newsletter mailing list in the last 24 hours or so, so I guess they’re aware of this conversation. Hopefully somerbody from the organisation might choose to post a comment and let us know a little more about this one.
Cheers,
Tim – Mumbrella.
16 Apr 09
3:37 pm
Short term donation results might be one thing – long term brand damage may be another. This execution is so at odds with the organisation’s ethos and mission of “fun therapy” (to steal Camp Quality’s line), that is hard to imagine that any good will come from it. We simply cannot reduce the measures of success to one dimension of “did it provoke a response?” if you also disenfranchise a large proportion of the audience.
For some brands we should never confuse effectiveness and controversy. In this case you can see how the agency’s objectives can be misaligned to the client’s (even though they approved it presumably).
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