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Opinion | Features
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.
Savage counsel - JFDI
Hi Chris,I run a medium-sized agency that is doing pretty well. As the leader, I am finding my workload just seems to go up and up. I am struggling to stay motivated and particularly to tackle the bigger and tougher challenges I have to face every day. How do I keep up the energy when there just seems so much to do? How do you do it?
Productive, successful executives are those able to consistently tackle difficult and big challenges. It’s a constant struggle for me so I know how you feel. How do the successful leaders do it?
Q&A with Brett Clegg
Brett Clegg, group director – business media, Fairfax Media, in a Q&A that first appeared in Encore, on the journo who refuses to work with him – his wife.Who is the most powerful person in Australian media and why?
Hard to go past Rupert Murdoch. He controls the single largest and most diverse portfolio and is intent on leveraging its scale (and, of course, influence). He’s an innovator and his will to win is obvious to all.
The experiential experience
Anyone can throw up a tent in a high-traffic area and harass the general public, but what does it take to pull off an effective experiential event? In a piece that first appeared in Encore, Matt Smith investigates.A television commercial can easily be muted and ignored, but try ignoring a purring, squirming cat in your arms. That was the experience awaiting passers by in Sydney’s Martin Place in October last year when Mars Petcare built Whiskas Kitten Palace.
The News Limited paywall isn't about revenue. It's about data
In this guest post, ninemsn’s editor in chief Hal Crawford argues Fairfax Media and News Limited’s new paywalls won’t draw much revenue, but will generate data. And they’re late to the data party.When I first learned that ninemsn’s major digital competitors Fairfax and News Ltd were going to introduce paywalls across their mainstream properties, I was excited.
Every obstacle thrown in the way of their audiences is an opportunity. People hate friction and anything that makes life difficult on a rival site is a chance to get them on yours.
Is this the worst time to be a journalist?
With scores of redundancies in 2012 and a mass exodus of experienced journos, is this the worst time to be a journalist? In a feature that first appeared in Encore, Nic Christensen asks the question.In June last year a tsunami of redundancies began to sweep across Australia’s media landscape. They came in a series of waves and in the 12 months that followed, an estimated 1,200 journalists departed the mainstream media.
Are you a conscious leader?
As the advertising and marketing industry struggles to address the issue of rocketing rates of staff churn in their businesses, Slingshot CEO Simon Rutherford argues that today’s ‘conscious leaders’ should be more focussed on creating ‘staff wellness’ in order to deliver high performing teams and healthy profits.
A conscious leader believes the business has a greater responsibility towards the community it operates in. To ensure sustainable long-term profits, people must come first. Awareness, trust, authenticity, transparency, 100% responsibility, connection, compassion, and love: these are the tools of the conscious leader.
Suits: less popular than pest controllers
Advertising suits have a thankless job that is currently being eroded by the changing industry says Naren Sanghrajka in a piece that first appeared in Encore.Not in my wildest, craziest nightmares would I ever have thought I’d say this. But I’m going to. Being a bean counter is far more appealing than starting as a suit in advertising. There it is. I said it. I actually said those words.
Yes, it’s incredibly depressing. But it’s true.
An answer for Adam: What's the future for creatives?
Each fortnight, Adam Ferrier poses a question to the industry. This week, he asks about the future of the creative.
Who or what is a creative? It’s an old thought, but as I continue on my merry journey in advertising I wonder if there is a role for a ‘creative’ and if there is, what that role is?
In the world of film and TV there is not a ‘creative’. There is a director, a writer, a producer, a DOP and so on. From this mix the creativity happens. But no-one is charged with being ‘the creative’.
Australian films stand on their own merit
The argument that Australian audiences only embrace local films once they’ve picked up a gong at an international festival is inherently flawed says Lee Zachariah in a piece that first appeared in Encore.As much as we like to pretend that we collectively fulfil the world’s need for a country comprised entirely of laid-back, mellow beach dwellers, we do seem to get disproportionately excited when someone else mentions us. Our cool exterior drops away as our local news bulletins breathlessly report that CNN or the BBC or really anyone in one of the ‘real countries’ acknowledged our existence.
We feel detached from the world, and therefore crave its validation.
The vindication of Paul Fishlock
Wow.You may have noticed that not much went up on Mumbrella over the last couple of hours.
That’s because I’ve been reading the judge’s findings in Paul Fishlock’s case against The Campaign Palace.
I’d always known that agencyland can be a brutal place. But the picture of the cynical, ego-driven, unsentimental world that comes through in the findings of Justice John Sacker is something else. I recommend you take the time to read it yourself.
The reputation of Young & Rubicam’s global creative director Tony Granger certainly takes a battering in my view. The word “bully” is a hard one to come back from.
And former Campaign Palace CEO Mark Mackay comes across as someone you might think twice about either hiring or working for, based on the evidence presented. The judge calls him contemptuous of both Granger and Fishlock.
You can stop the user generated ads now
So just to summarise the current user generated video contests running in Australia…
We’ve got Doritos chips. First prize – get your ad on telly and win $20k.
And Samboy chips. First prize $5k and YouTube glory.
And now there’s Subway. First prize: $2k and an iPod and get your dance on telly.
That’s not to mention the Tourism Queensland Best Job In The World video competition. And the Malibu best job in the world video competition.
Please.
Make.
It.
Stop.
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Comments
3 Mar 09
2:51 pm
Timbo, you are confusing me, one minute you are telling us about the success of the Schweppes ad that went the virals? And now you are having a whinge about too many of these competitions?
What is it about these competition that are getting under your skin so much?
Also, if you mean user generated competitions this would probably include;
So You Think You Can Dance
http://www.youtube.com/thinkyoucandanceaus
3 Mar 09
3:19 pm
Watching tv last night and must’ve seen ads for comps like this stream by one after the next. Problem for those advertisers is that now their brands are all mixed up in my head. Plus the website where I am supposed to enter: http://www.subway-teamdry-chips-island.com simply does not exist
3 Mar 09
3:29 pm
I think if the crowd-sourced content that’s created ends up being good, and the call for content extends beyond just doing a stupid dance or some other equally inane shit, it works. I sorta agree with you though on the QLD Dream job – the video pitches from people wanting to be selected were for the most part lame – “I think you should choose me because I love travel and I’ve travelled all over the world and I’m well travelled and travel is what I want to do for life and I look cute in a bikini and somehow that makes me interesting and worthy of being paid a 6-figure salary”
Carlton’s Team Dry (http://www.teamdry.com/) is an interesting one that you missed – the $50k in prize money makes the Subway / Doritos ones look pretty poor (literally). I don’t know how it’s really any different from the campaigns you mentioned above (haven’t given it much thought) but it seems much more authentic.
3 Mar 09
3:46 pm
Hi Julian,
One difference between the make-an-ad-and-go-on-the-telly outbreak and the Schweppes ad that went viral is that the latter was created by one of Australasia’s best creative directors and shot by one of its best directors. There was nothing user-generated about it.
It’s a thing of beauty and a good demonstration of why great ad agencies still have a future.
Whereas the UGC stuff is starting to feel samey. I’m not sure I can take one more primetime ad urging me to get off my backside and make an ad for yet another brand. That’s not my job. I’m just a humble punter innocently trying to watch Underbelly.
That’s not to diss Doritos. They did it when it was original.
Or Samboy. They did it before Doritos started doing it in Australia.
Or Tourism Queensland. That was a new idea.
Or Malibu. Although it’s identical to TQ, they had already thought of it.
But the cumulative effect is that surely there’s no room for any more brands to run any more competitions challenging people to make their ad for them? Please?
Cheers,
Tim – Mumbrella
3 Mar 09
5:27 pm
It was a big stretch trying to link that Schweppes work and UGC together.
I think putting the Tourism QLD into the bucket with the rest of them is a little hard because this is really the first stage of their overall project.
The real gold for them will be finding someone who is smart online and will be able to really make an impact and sell the Great Barrier Reef past this recruitment/PR crazy launch.
3 Mar 09
6:47 pm
Hi Julian,
I’ve only looked at the Aussie/ Kiwis from the last 50. There’s a definite trend towards media savvy – I spotted an ex TV presenter, someone with TV/ sponsorship experience and a commercial photographer.
If anything, the risk is they go for someone who’s too much of a pro, I’d argue. But we’ll see.
And you’re right – TQwere first, and at the heart of it is a brilliant PR idea which happens to use social media to propagate it, rather than just a pure social media play.
But I think the space for contests that involve punters filming themselves in order to win something is about full now…
Cheers,
Tim – Mumbrella
3 Mar 09
6:59 pm
Hat-tip to @kwylo via Twitter, who points out that Australia Post is currently sponsoring a competition to make a 200 second film about parcels: http://tinyurl.com/dmere8
3 Mar 09
7:10 pm
Tim,
“One difference between the make-an-ad-and-go-on-the-telly outbreak and the Schweppes ad that went viral is that the latter was created by one of Australasia’s best creative directors and shot by one of its best directors. There was nothing user-generated about it.”
sounds to me a bit like
“One difference between hobbyist bloggers and The Australian is that the latter is written by some of Australia’s best journalists. There’s nothing user-generated about it.”
What’s happening here is just the next logical step of the two-point-oh-isation of everything. I’m not saying it’s pretty, but it’s where it’s heading.
3 Mar 09
7:28 pm
I guess this is really a reflection that there’s a lack of good ideas out there … none of these seem particularly wow which is unfortunate as you know the client has paid out the arse for them.
I was sitting in meetings with ‘creatives’ 6-9 months ago and this sort of thing was being thrown around as a magic idea in most sessions … ‘hey lets turn the brand over to the consumer … crowdsourcing is where it’s at etc etc. I know … for this car/watch/bank account that’s aimed at 45 year old women lets setup a twitter account and get aspiring directors to create mini documentaries around using an ATM machine to transfer money between accounts …’ Sigh …
3 Mar 09
7:44 pm
Hi Tom,
If I may, I’d take a third option.
Just as the bloggers vs journalists debate is a bit too simplistic (the short answer is that there’s planty of room for both), I’d argue that the Schweppes film shows that there will be a place for good work made by creative, talented professionals.
Surely those who argue that the future for brands only has room for UGC are as wrong as those who argue that consumers should shut up and listen?
Cheers,
Tim – Mumbrella
4 Mar 09
6:42 am
This mirrors what I see happening in the States – consumer generated video campaigns are a dime a dozen, and it most cases fail to resonate.
In my opinion this happens because traditional marketing/ad thinkers understand it, when they’re in the business of making ads it makes sense to them to simply apply this to ‘new’ media. But it misses the mark for most brands.
This NY Times piece about one guy who has won more than a dozen of these ‘contests’ shows just how ineffective they are IMO: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10.....video.html
4 Mar 09
7:22 am
There’s a downturn opportunity here for an agency that hasn’t got much work on. Win a few of these things and that’s a salary.
4 Mar 09
9:10 am
Tim,
User generated ads are lame. They are lame because they are the result of lazy agencies with a complete lack of understanding on how to use SM as part of a campaign. Despite the braveness of Skittles, this too is lame. Think about it for a minute. What has our industry become when we wet our pants because someone suggests we replace a home page with a Twitter feed. Like all these lame executions, they lack good strategic thinking, they fail to capitalise the true value of social media and they have the life span of a gnat. Let’s get real, let’s see our creatives embrace this thing called digital and develop some intelligent powerful brand building campaigns instead of effortless, mind numbing executions designed to grab headlines. Where is the craft we all love and cherish?
4 Mar 09
9:43 am
You are spot on Doug.
4 Mar 09
1:06 pm
Hey, I wet my pants over the twitter feed. But this, this UGC storm is just silly. The objective is whack- to get users to make ads? That doesn’t sell product. I’m baffled by what all these brands are trying to achieve.
4 Mar 09
4:24 pm
What a great debate. And one that is raging in many agencies and marketing departments.
The fundamental issue lies in defining the most effective way to build brands in the current media landscape.
The more you can involve someone with your brand, the more they will engage with your brand. The more they engage, the more they will remember – and the more likely they will convert at the next sales driver. Simple really.
A few years back brands were offering people the chance to become famous. The mechanic: If you create a great piece of content that fits with our competition, we will run it on air. Genius. No one had seen UGC before, and the first couple of times it worked fantastically well. As with any good idea, others follow. And then it becomes boring.
More recently we have seen executions that have gone to the next level. Rather than asking people to make content, or do things for the brand, the brand is offering to do the hard work. In the process the brand demonstrates what it stands for, it doesn’t tell people.
Is this not the real shift we should be talking about? Moving away from broadcast messaging to interactive messaging – regardless of medium.
Contagious Magazine recently ran an article ‘Generosity/the secret to modern branding is learning to give instead of take’.
It doesn’t matter if a brand message originates in a blog or in a press ad. If the message is interactive – then the brand is giving to get. That is powerful.
5 Mar 09
7:38 am
Video competitions aren’t the worst Australian competitions. The competitions that should be getting under your skin are the mobile competitions that are subscription ones. You know, you subscribe and they charge on average $5 to $10 per week.