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Opinion | Features
Disclosure in Social Media: How transparent should bloggers be?
In this guest post, blogger and digital creative Laura McWhinnie argues for more disclosure in the bloggersphere.
The bloggersphere has always been a bit like the Wild West. Bloggers could post about products to their heart’s content without having to disclose their relationship with the brand. This meant that consumers had no idea who was behind the marketing messages influencing their purchasing decisions. But in 2009 that all changed
Liars, cheats and thieves
Is our industry full of cheats and liars or do people of honour who stand by their word still exist in business? In an article that first appeared in Encore, Cameron Boon investigates. The recent court case involving Paul Fishlock suing his former employer The Campaign Palace brought into focus more than just the struggle of one man. It highlighted that there are some in adland whose word cannot always be relied upon.
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.
Cross racial stereotypes off your list. The maid is of no particular race
Here’s an excellent idea for a promotion for Olay created by Arnold Furnace. Win a cleaner for a year.
Or, as Dr Mumbo’s correspondent puts it: “Relax white woman.. while Asian woman cleans your lovely home…”
Naturally, a P&G spokesperson begs to differ, issuing the following comment:
Olay is a brand enjoyed by women of all races around the world and is designed with the skincare needs of all women in mind. The image you reference in the ‘win a cleaner’ promotion in no way depicts a particular race and the women is in fact blurred so as not to identify with a particular demographic.”
And just to help P&G clear up this misunderstanding, is anybody able to find the original picture in a stock image library?
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Comments
1 Feb 12
4:54 pm
Google safe image search returns this http://www.lha.org.uk/homeowne.....rHome.aspx
1 Feb 12
5:06 pm
The background image can be easily found on Getty Images – the image number is AA040730.
I can’t tell from the low-res what her exact ethnicity is and it doesn’t seem to specify in the description… but I’d bet Filipino…
Hilarious little story, though, especially seeing the link above too!
1 Feb 12
5:11 pm
Getty images – “Maid cleaning hotel suite, side view”
http://www.gettyimages.com.au/.....e/AA040730
Her face is still blurred in the original.
1 Feb 12
5:14 pm
Methinks a bit of a stretch and a bit too sensitive with that one.
What next?? How dare they depict a woman cleaning, why not a man?
How dare they show her with a book. Offensive to the illiterate.
1 Feb 12
5:26 pm
Slow news day?
1 Feb 12
5:41 pm
you can hardly tell shes asian.
its only the people who are afraid of people finding out theyre racist who notice this kind of thing
1 Feb 12
6:06 pm
i like the controversy…..might stop tight-ass clients not shooting their own stuff and instead relying on stock libraries which tend to be based on cliches and stereotypes.
P&G should have just said “we used a stock shot so we could spend more money on the prize” rather than the PC jibberish they issued.
1 Feb 12
6:30 pm
This ‘seeing the racism in everything’ storyline is getting very tedious
1 Feb 12
6:48 pm
No big deal…
1 Feb 12
7:00 pm
I can tell her race: human.
1 Feb 12
7:52 pm
Cleaner should be wearing a hat over hair . . problem solved.
*I must be a galloping racist by this account, as I immediately thought Indonesian.
However what a great idea for a prize.
1 Feb 12
10:25 pm
Marketing has so much casual racism every day its kind of funny people think it doesn’t.
2 Feb 12
10:35 am
that comes across as an asian looking blur to me….
2 Feb 12
11:24 am
“I can tell her race: human.”
Oh SHUT UP. We are not in a post-race society, and this is such a whitewashing comment.
2 Feb 12
12:55 pm
She’s also “Domestic helper” on Zurich’s Hong Kong website:
http://www.tineye.com/search/4.....ea7316201/
I see this more as a cliche than racism.
2 Feb 12
1:34 pm
Bugger what race she is. Why is she opening an umbrella indoors?
2 Feb 12
2:00 pm
Has anyone had a look at the proportion of non-Caucasian people working in the domestic cleaning sector in Australia? Let’s just say the ratio makes this image look like truth in advertising. If people are offended by the racist overtones then perhaps their energy might be better directed at addressing the socio-economic factors behind this fact rather than sniping about a photo that dares reflect such a reality.
2 Feb 12
2:25 pm
spot on @ Brett
2 Feb 12
2:43 pm
@Brett… just cos it’s the ‘norm’ doesn’t necessarily make it right. Advertising is responsible for some of the most dire stereotypes around and I think this is an example of one – maybe not racist – but a pretty simple, ‘first thought’ stereotype all the same. From stereotyping, comes the possibility of racial/gender/sexuality based assumptions and generalisations. Certainly, this is hardly worth getting all upset over, but we should all be aware of lazy work that lives in ‘stereotype land’…
2 Feb 12
2:54 pm
Workers of the world unite; you have nothing to lose but your chains
2 Feb 12
2:59 pm
So if its not racism, is it sexism? Boys can clean too, no?
2 Feb 12
3:41 pm
Three ladies come to clean our house each week for sixty bucks. They’re all Asian. Doesn’t mean all cleaners are Asian. Imagine the outrage if the lady in the picture was black. There’s a reason a movie like The Help is powerful. Stereotypes and cliches generally exist because they are representative of what we’ve come to expect and accept. Surely there are more awful ads to throw shit on?
2 Feb 12
3:55 pm
@Mr Brainwash…
I doubt I would be boasting about having 3 women come to clean one’s house for $60… I am praying that you mean they each get $60???
And I can’t see your point regarding using a black woman in the background as opposed to an asian woman… on one hand you believe it would be offensive (ie using a black woman), on the other you are saying that it’s perfectly acceptable because it reflects your reality. Weird.
2 Feb 12
4:21 pm
Urgh, snore. Some asians are pilots. Some asians are Account Managers, and some asians are cleaners… and can someone remind me what is wrong with being a cleaner?
If anything, it’s demaning to cleaners out there suggesting that being a cleaner is undesirable. The woman of no defined race with black hair has a job. Yay! Would a company be racist if it’s advertisments depicted men with black hair, tanned skin and blurred faces who may or may not be asian as business men. I think not.
2 Feb 12
4:22 pm
Hear, Hear Mr Brainwash!
2 Feb 12
4:27 pm
@JayZ, that is a duster, not an umbrella. I reckon you might need a cleaner given you didn’t know that. Try these guys – http://www.asianmaidonline.com. Their stockphoto is of a pretty blonde girl, so a well rounded affair and hopefully noone will be offended.
2 Feb 12
4:27 pm
The only time we’re (yes I am Asian) ever in ads is if its a bank (because we’re good at maths?), Bing Lee for obvious reasons or in a stereotypical role like a cleaner. God forbid one day one of us will be in an ad just as a regular person, buying a car or shaving or putting on sunscreen. Too much to ask?
2 Feb 12
4:36 pm
hey Mr Brainwash, do you get a happy ending from your 3 cleaners?
2 Feb 12
4:45 pm
@Offended Asian, whenever I am in Asian countries, most of the ads feature Asian people, not caucasian, and I am never offended.
2 Feb 12
5:10 pm
If they wanted to stick up for the discriminated against, they should have an indigenous, gay, vegan, jewish, disabled, asian, Liverpool-supporting Prime Minister sat on the sofa instead of that woman.
PS I have a Korean cleaner. She leaves the place clean enough for Kim-Jong Un to eat his dinner off. It’s not racist if it’s a compliment, right?
2 Feb 12
5:11 pm
The ad designer seems to have had little original thought if their ad was merging two separate images together.
The racial implication may be unconscious in the designer’s mind, but is a dog whistle to Caucasian women.
The ad clearly shows who the advertiser thinks is superior and who is inferior in role and in life – even if only because of winning a competition.
This dog whistle ad may have its defenders but is culturally insensitive and indicates an agency and a client that is careless about its messages to the one in five women in Australia who are not of Caucasian background and looks.
But perhaps Olay has research to say only Caucasians are its prospects and customers, or maybe they don’t mind seeking only a 4/5ths market rather than the whole 5/5ths market that could be available.
2 Feb 12
6:59 pm
@Alison_F, I would argue there is a notable distinction between entrenching unnecessary stereotypes (such as peddling images of the “good housewife” in an era of working mothers) and simply observing a demographic fact, as the above is doing.
2 Feb 12
8:34 pm
hilarious. They should repeat the ad with a male, several different coloured groups and the woman on the couch. Go for it
3 Feb 12
1:57 pm
Totally agree with @Fafi about cleaners being a fine vocational choice. You can have your own business, work your own hours and who the hell are all of you people to say that being a cleaner makes you somehow less of a person.
Add to that, the ad is directed at a bunch of women who can’t even pay for their own cleaner and therefore have to win it, all while using their supermarket brand of face cream.
3 Feb 12
2:01 pm
Yeah — I mean, who cares about brown ‘people’ and their ‘feelings’ anyway? It’s not as if they’re _really_ people.
6 Feb 12
1:52 pm
cmon people, advertising is based on demographics and stereotyping, it may disgust us but if your in advertising you are part of it.
This ad is not racist. the bigger issue is the holier than thou attitude about cleaners that seems to be demonstrated by some of the posters here.
You do know that you are JUST in advertising, you actually arent saving the world or changing the political landscape, your just flogging some more overpriced crap to the sheep.