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Opinion | Features
Cannes - a reminder that celebs need adland too
The Cannes Lions may have been full of celebrities this year, but that’s because they need brands, argues Profero’s Wayne Arnold
Having only been here for two days, I’ve already managed to soak up some of the glamour of Cannes, witnessing the media scrum around Sean Combs and (very nearly) bumping into Jack Black on La Croisette.
If 2012 was the year of the client, it seems 2013 may be the year of the hard working celebrity.
Melissa Doyle is ready for prime time (but what does it mean for Today Tonight?)
It’s easy to be dismissive of TV presenters – particularly when they’re doing something as fluffy as morning television.
But today’s announcement of the departure of Mel Doyle from Sunrise is a reminder that it’s harder than it looks.
How bosses can build trust by baring themselves to staff
In this guest post, Simon Rutherford, CEO of Slingshot Media, argues that bosses should be vulnerable in front of their staff.
Winston Churchill once said: “Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.”
Fake it til you make it...as a radio newsreader
In a piece that first appeared in Encore, Emily Hoskins from ARN tells us how to do her job.
What does a radio newsreader actually do?
A radio newsreader has to be switched on from the moment they sit at their desk. At the Australian Radio Network each journalist writes, researches, edits and reads their own news bulletins under tight deadlines – every 30 minutes during the breakfast shift and every hour after 9am.
Keith Reinhard on freedom to fail, winning back Maccas and how agencies can survive
In an exclusive interview in Cannes today, advertising icon Keith Reinhard, one of the founding fathers of what is now DDB Worldwide, talked to Mumbrella’s Robin Hicks about freedom from fear, his favourite ads of all time, winning back McDonald’s and why the most important thing in advertising is passion.Savage counsel - little white lies
In a piece that first featured in Encore, Chris Savage tackles your career and agency dilemmas. This week, he talks about when it’s okay to lie to clients.
Hi Chris,
I often find myself telling little white lies at work – I tell people on the phone that I don’t want to speak to I’m about to duck into meetings. I told my colleague her new haircut was great when really it wasn’t and I praised someone’s work when actually it was kind of shit. After each of these occasions, I felt pretty terrible and wonder if you could tell me how can I speak with candour in the future – for my sake and others.
How to build a culture
How important is a company’s culture and how do you ensure you are breeding a good one? Matt Smith investigates, in a piece that first appeared in Encore.When production companies Cordell Jigsaw and Zapruder’s Other Films merged early last year, bringing the staff together within the walls of the Zapruder building proved to be something of a challenge. While the two companies weren’t strangers to each other due to six months of talks and negotiations, working together on a full-time basis was a different story.
Q&A Damian Keogh
In a piece that first featured in Encore, Val Morgan CEO Damian Keogh reveals his potential alternate career.
Who is the most powerful person in Australian media and why?
I’d say Kerry Stokes, slightly ahead of Harold Mitchell and Kim Williams. He controls the entity with the largest revenue across free-to-air, online, magazines and newspapers. On pure size alone, his influence and leverage over advertisers, media agencies and consumers is unmatched. Harold is still the king in media, slightly ahead of John Steedman, but Henry Tajer and Leigh Terry are the heirs apparent. Kim Williams controls News and that’s a big base to work from.
If a violent game is okay, then so is using a violent ad to promote it
An ad for video game Dead Island Riptide was banned by the ad watchdog. James Whitehead of online entertainment publisher IGN argues that it was the wrong call.A fortnight ago, it emerged that the Ad Standards Board had banned a television commercial for the video game Dead Island: Riptide, due to its depiction of violence – specifically suicide.
Why content makers are leaving our shores
In a piece that first featured in Encore, Craig Anderson says there simply isn’t enough opportunity for content makers in Australia, especially for those making comedy.Last year I had multiple meetings with production companies in Australia and discovered that apart from the odd commercial campaign, there’s no proliferation of paying platforms for comedy. From my own experience there’s iView, which will buy content once it’s already been made (though I live in hope that it will one day be granted the financial power to commission content). I’ve also had the odd informal commission from the SMH iPad consisting of two narrative series and a comical review show. But none of these endeavours were financially viable.
Managing your management style
In an article that first appeared in Encore, Stephanie Brown says the advertising industry often leaves people ill-equipped when it comes to managing staff, especially when they’re promoted into management roles.Managing people is hard. In fact, I actually think it’s the hardest job in the world. With no disrespect intended, I often joke that if my job didn’t involve other people to manage, it would be a walk in the park. I could get about my day’s work in a nice, linear fashion, happily checking off my to-do list as I go. I’m a process-orientated person. I get a kick out of getting things done.
Why the Facebook chase is making brands treat consumers like morons
You know how we look back at quaintly patronising ads from the 1950s and wonder what on earth the advertisers were thinking?
I’ve got a feeling that in a few years time, we’ll be looking at the behaviour of big brands on Facebook the same way.
An entire generation of marketers – or at least a sizeable proportion of them – have lost their minds.
So many have become so obsessed with generating user interactions at all costs, that all thoughts about overall brand perceptions or long term marketing goals have vanished. All that counts now, is generating likes and comments at all costs.
Blog this!
Paid content, sponsored posts and brand ambassadorships – in theory, today’s blogger can be just as valuable to brands as mainstream media. But does blogger outreach actually work? In an article that first appeared in Encore, Nic Christensen investigates.“I get approaches from PR companies constantly,” says blogger and author Kerri Sackville, with more than a hint of exasperation. “I have never done a sponsored blog, on my own site, but that doesn’t stop them from asking.”
McLennan right man for job
It’s all change at troubled broadcaster Channel Ten with new directions, new executives and a brand new CEO. Managing director of Adstream Peter Miller says Hamish McLennan is the right man for the job, in an article that first appeared in Encore.I am a bit of a schmuck when it comes to movies. I love romantic comedies. My favourite is One Fine Day with Michelle Pfeiffer and George Clooney.
Q&A with Richard Herring
In a piece that first appeared in Encore, CEO of APN Outdoor Richard Herring talks media.Who is the most powerful person in Australian media and why?
I don’t know if there is one person in particular. The fragmentation of traditional media and new entrants has made it a more level playing field with regards to major influencers. As was demonstrated with the recent media reform recommendations, together, the broader media community still has a very influential and powerful voice.
What one medium could you not live without?
Outdoor – clean, entertaining, evocative and informative.
CommBank appoints M&C Saatchi
M&C Saatchi has been awarded the $100m advertising account for Commonwealth Bank, Mumbrella can reveal.
The appointment follows a dramatic final round of pitching with incumbent San Francisco-based agency Goodby Silverstein & Partners, which won the brand account in April 2007.
The decision is welcome news for M&C, which has been on the receiving end of a number of painful reviews – Woolworths, Optus and CommBank’s rival ANZ – over the past 12 months.
For Goodby, the decision will hamper the highly regarded agency’s plans to establish a permanent presence in Australia.
However co-chairman Jeff Goodby told, Mumbrella: “We’d love to stay. We want to hear from another Australian client.
“I’ve loved working in the country, we’ve loved working there. We had a wonderful time and we’d love to carry on with another client – it’s not about the money. I’ve loved my experience and I plan and hope to continue doing so. I just need a piece of business to continue doing so.”
CMO Andy Lark told Mumbrella that CommBank’s relationship with BMF, which handles the directing marketing and transactional business, will continue until the end of the financial year. The bank has not yet clarified what will happen beyond that point.
He added that he was “seriously impressed” with the pitching work of DDB, and would be looking to add “one or more” of the agencies that pitched to his roster in the new financial year.
“M&C Saatchi did an amazing job [in the pitch] and were worthy winners,” he said.
CommBank’s upcoming branding campaign will be produced by M&C.
The review, which was handled by TrinityP3, does not effect CommBank’s relationship with its media agency Ikon.
Lark
In December, Lark hinted that he wanted to work with an agency with a “strong Australian presence”, although who would win this pitch has been hard to call.
The outspoken former Dell marketer replaced Mark Buckman as CMO in July last year.
Goodby said of senior executive Barbara Chapman and Mark Buckman, who now leads Telstra’s marketing: “I love Mark and Barbara. It was an experience I’ve never had before. We had a wonderful time.”
Asked about the work, Goodby said: “They’re a classy organisation and I feel we gave them classy advertising.”
He pointed to the ad created to mark the bank’s centenary as a recent piece he was proud of.
Goodby added: “We’re also very proud of their $3.5bn profit announcement.”
In a statement, Lark said:
Throughout the process we saw outstanding strategic and creative thinking, delivered by what is clearly world-class talent, making this an extraordinarily tough decision. We are excited about working with Australian company, M&C Saatchi, as our new lead agency, subject to final contract negotiation, on what will be one of the major brand campaigns of 2012 and beyond.
I want to thank the teams at both Goodby and DDB for the outstanding thinking they brought to the table, their professionalism and passion for Australia’s leading Bank brand.
Goodby Silverstein & Partners won the Commonwealth Bank business over four years ago and have lead the Bank’s core creative work during a time in which Commonwealth Bank ascended to the #1 banking brand in Australia. Jeff and the team had established themselves as friends and valued partners to the Bank. Their impact will be felt well into the future.
We will continue to refine our agency roster, possibly adding one or more of the agencies we worked with through the process for direct, product and segment-level work.
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Comments
17 Feb 12
10:41 am
hmmm, ex Dell marketer known for off shoring agency work to Bangalore changes from two of the best agencies in the world to a retail agency (edited by Mumbrella for legal reasons)
my guess is that he’ll get the advertising he deserves
17 Feb 12
10:42 am
finally some good news for the local adland job market.
17 Feb 12
10:44 am
well done M&C!
17 Feb 12
10:45 am
Awesome work M&C.
Backs against the wall and you come out fighting.
Kudos.
17 Feb 12
10:46 am
almost great news for all. it is a big hit to BMF.
17 Feb 12
10:58 am
I’m actually very sorry to see this – I have done some work with the Goodby guys (several of whom are Aussie) and they had some really great ideas that went far beyond the usual standard stuff. It went down fantastically in research too. Best of luck M&C, will be interested to see what you come up with.
17 Feb 12
10:59 am
Goodby did a good job.
17 Feb 12
11:05 am
GRATS M&C!!!!
17 Feb 12
11:08 am
Let me get this straight: Less than 12 months after M&C Saatchi gets booted off ANZ, after 16 years of award-winning work, they snag the biggest of the Big Four. Not a bad response.
17 Feb 12
11:09 am
The TVC at the end of the story is really good! Goodby does good work! Thought it was by BMF before, evidently not.
17 Feb 12
11:17 am
I think GS&P is a great agency but it’s a little smug to say how proud they are of the bank’s $3.5b profit…….i daresay the advertising of the bank lives in a parallel universe to the customers, and the profit is more a factor of gouging cartel-style among the big 4 which is facilitated by customer inertia to move and a lack of effective competition policy in that industry.
The true measure of bank advertising isn’t profits of the bank, but reversing the negative perception of them as an institution. NAB tried to do this with the Break-Up campaign, but for mine failed in the reality of delivering a better experience.
Until the actual behaviours of the banks, or their falsely empathetic communications, are changed then all this shuffling of accounts and changing of comms strategy will be is an exercise in puffery.
But well done M&C in getting this business back for the local industry……i look forward to something truly different, not just the hollow sentiment.
17 Feb 12
11:19 am
What great comments from Goodby. I worked with the teams from GSP and they were always utter professionals. I hope some smart CMO picks up on the subtle hint that they’d open an office here in a heartbeat.
17 Feb 12
11:20 am
Excellent win M&C! Well deserved!
17 Feb 12
11:21 am
And congratulations to M&C Saatchi.
Well played Team Tom!
17 Feb 12
11:22 am
Incredible news for M&C. Bravo to a job well done.
17 Feb 12
11:23 am
This would’ve been a tough pitch and it’s gone to a great agency.
17 Feb 12
11:26 am
Yes, I agree Class act – they are lovely people to deal with. Would be good to see them have a presence here.
Rob, yes absolutely, whats needed is a shift in behaviour rather than just a comms exercise – this is exactly what GSP were trying to encourage and it would have been great to see, but probably needs a more ground-breaking client.
fleshpeddler, love your work!
17 Feb 12
11:30 am
M&C is on a roll. Congratulations. Epic win!
17 Feb 12
11:33 am
Mr Fleshpeddler.
Firstly. Fuck off.
Secondly. Fuck off.
Thirdly. Your comments are actually completely false and possibly libelous. I’d be a little careful.
17 Feb 12
11:47 am
Hmm – wonder what ANZ think?
17 Feb 12
11:48 am
Thrilled for M&C! What a win!!
17 Feb 12
11:51 am
Good work M&C
Conratulations!
17 Feb 12
11:54 am
Bloody exciting news, M&C. Love your work.
17 Feb 12
11:55 am
Wow, that’s massive. Always liked the work M&C did with ANZ – Kevin the ATM, Barbara from Bankworld, it was fresh and funny. Looking forward to seeing what they do with CommBank.
17 Feb 12
11:56 am
fantastic work M&C!
17 Feb 12
12:03 pm
Well done M&C. What an outstanding effort.
17 Feb 12
12:23 pm
M&C, bloody legends! Love your work and you’re all class.
17 Feb 12
12:24 pm
Couldn’t go to a better place. Well done CBA – you chose the right guys.
17 Feb 12
12:26 pm
You don’t get this far without a hell of a lot of talent. Great news.
17 Feb 12
12:53 pm
Big Brands need big agencies. Its that simple. Congrats M&C.
17 Feb 12
1:05 pm
hey Tim do we need to take a look at the IP addresses of the gushing commenters or just leave them to enjoy their great news and the day?
17 Feb 12
1:18 pm
Hi Cynical,
At first glance, I’m not seeing much coming from the same IP address.
However, I am receiving an unusually large proportion of comments left from smart phones on this particular thread, which tends to be a lot harder to keep track of. Just coincidence though, I’m sure.
I’m certain that the gushing comments you refer to above merely reflect the high esteem M&C is held in across the whole industry. Based on these comments, I’d argue it may even be the Australia’s most beloved creative agency.
Or possibly the world’s.
Nothing more to it than that.
Cheers,
Tim – Mumbrella
17 Feb 12
1:20 pm
Be afraid of this mob in a pitch. Very afraid.
17 Feb 12
1:21 pm
$100M on advertising!!! Nice to know my mortgage payments are being put to good use.
Congrats to M&C but it kind of makes me squirm thinking about all of the little guys paying off their mortgages, credit card bills, fees etc. so that CBA can splash down that amount of cash to tell us how much they care about us. At least they don’t claim to live in my world
17 Feb 12
1:42 pm
Congratulations to the hardest working in Australia – I know I freelanced there. They’re maniacs.
17 Feb 12
1:48 pm
Who is taking the bets on Telstra moving now?
17 Feb 12
1:56 pm
That’s a damn fine result for both M&C Saatchi and CommBank. M&C kicked some serious goals when they had the ANZ account. Could we see Barbara at CommBank? Is gonna be interesting.
17 Feb 12
2:27 pm
Having worked with the GSP guys, they were amazing on the CBA account, and are true professionals! Job well done. Sorry to see they have lost the account. Congrats to Saatchis on the win. Lets see what they come up with. I concur – here’s to a GSP office in Australia!
17 Feb 12
2:29 pm
Just want to add a little note about Goodbys and DDB.
This was a tough pitch for all of us.
It involved Christmas work, weekends, nights.
As they say in Oscar speeches, to win is one thing, but to win against such great creative agencies has been a privilege.
You were, and are formidable opponents.
M&C
17 Feb 12
3:52 pm
to DaveReporter, don’t forget who created “We live in your world” M&C. It rates up there with the top 3 worst bank lines
17 Feb 12
8:47 pm
As opposed to a ‘bank you can bank on?’
18 Feb 12
12:53 am
@ InMedia . Saatchis is a different agency to M&C Saatchi.
23 Feb 12
7:29 pm
Groucho. Interesting thought. Telstra hasn’t come up with a brand campaign yet. To date its all been retail. Maybe Goodby could cover that base. It would be wonderful to see them have a presence in OZ.