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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.
Ex mag editor Mia Freedman to publish bio
Former magazine editor Mia Freedman will next week publish her autobiography.
Freedman – who was famously editor of Cosmopolitan at the age of 24 and almost as infamously involved in Nine’s failed daytime show The Catch-Up – is now a newspaper columnist and blogger. She also occasionally collaborates with ad agency Droga 5.
Her book – called Mama Mia: A Memoir of Mistakes, Magazines and Motherhood – is published by Harper Collins.
August 23rd, 2009 at 10:51 pm
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Comments
24 Aug 09
11:12 am
*yawn*
24 Aug 09
12:37 pm
So what???? What has happened to this website?
24 Aug 09
12:44 pm
Equally as baffling as ex-magazine editors writing bios about their time in the ‘chair’ is the spate of journalists writing books about the ‘hilarious’ tribulations of first-time parenthood (I note both Emma Tom and Stephen Lacey have such books currently on the stands).
From what I can gather lots of people quite successfully edit magazines and raise children too. I’ve done both. And neither was particularly difficult. Why do book publishers think we’re interested in this stuff? And intriguing still, why is it that journalists appear so inept at both the editing and the child rearing process?
24 Aug 09
12:53 pm
I had a mum… does that mean I can write an autobiography too?
24 Aug 09
1:10 pm
How about a bio from Dr Mumbo serialised into blog form??
24 Aug 09
1:36 pm
I can’t believe that Mia actually believes she’s done something worth writing about?
How vacuous is that. It’s about me,me ,mia!! Says everything about magazine types who think their world is something special. Wrong.
24 Aug 09
1:41 pm
I’ve never met Mia Freedman, but how old is she? Enough years in the back of her cart to warrant a restrospective of her life thus far? I’m reminded of two beautiful pieces of wisdom from my early days in journalism:
(1) “How vain it is to sit down to write when you have not stood up to live” – Thoreau, I think, and
(2) If you’ve gotta spell out on the cover what’s in the book, it aint worth buying.
24 Aug 09
2:09 pm
Massive yawn
24 Aug 09
2:33 pm
I am struggling with the recent line up of former womens’ magazine editors who are turning up in mainstream media all wholesome and spiritual trumpeting the virtues of ignoring diets, doing what you love, finding more meaning in life. These are the women who sat in the ACP towers shovelling diets, fashion, fads, shoes and bags down our throats for the last two decades … and now the better for your trend comes along and we’re supposed to follow them to spiritual enlightenment?
24 Aug 09
2:51 pm
…and why is she always introduced as the “Cosmo editor at 24″? There’s lots of people who edit magazines in their mid-20s, particularly magazines aimed at an audience in their mid-20s.
I notice she said she had to go into therapy after leaving Cosmo. Yeah, a magazine that took most of its content from the US edition and filled the rest of its pages with photos of handbags – yeah, I could only begin to imagine how stressful that would’ve been. And the TV show? Even that was an appalling rip-off of an American version. Go away. Other than your eastern suburbs loveys, no one gives a sh#t….
24 Aug 09
6:14 pm
Isn’t she a little young to be writing an autobiography? Harold Mitchell i get (and can’t wait to read) but Mia Freedman….really?
24 Aug 09
8:07 pm
yeah well…… you guys sure its a book and not a ‘flyer’ ????
I actually enjoy reading the occasional story on successful media people (Packer, Murdoch etc) so is there any other good ones out there i should have a read of?
gwright@aprs.com.au
24 Aug 09
9:19 pm
Desperate measures for desperate times.
24 Aug 09
9:54 pm
Wow – for a bunch of media pros I’m amazed at the bitchiness of the comments.
The book is going to sell and she’s timed it right. Mia has parleyed a successful media career into a successful one as a blogger/columnist. She’s a in demand commentator and her skills with social media are a good example for other to follow.
The question is: why would anyone continue with the mugs game of magazine editing / publishing when you knew her level of success was achievable by jumping out of the mainstream (and then exploiting it).
24 Aug 09
11:27 pm
Just because McDonalds sells, doesn’t mean it’s any good.
25 Aug 09
9:04 am
Mia Freedman is not one of those magazine editors perched in ACP “shovelling” diets, etc down our throats. She introduced Cosmo’s body love policy and “real” women in the magazine, which she was criticised for doing, and now is a champion for “normal” girls. Mia pioneered change in the magazine industry and to me that’s worth reading about.
Is this an example of bashing successful media personalities – I think so, and I doubt any of you actually read Cosmo or Mia’s blog. Fair enough – that’s your choice. But I’ll definitely choose to read her autobiography.
25 Aug 09
10:50 am
I find it most interesting that the Mia-bashing taking place above is a primarily male response. Are you threatened by her success and achievements? If you’re not interested in her works, then perhaps they’ve not been directed at you? I’m not quite sure that such arrogance and negativity is necessary here. Whether you’re a fan or not, are the snide remarks justified?
25 Aug 09
11:36 am
Woah, what’s with all the snarkiness? ‘Anonymous’ is right – Mia did big things with her Body Love policy, and as an avid reader who was her target audience at the time, I can honestly say that no magazine resonated with me, or made me feel as confident and ‘normal’ as Cosmo (and indeed, Mia) did.
I have no doubt her book will be a smash-hit and I for one cannot WAIT for my pre-ordered copy to arrive!
25 Aug 09
12:23 pm
I agree with Rochelle.
I’ve been interstate and offline for the last few hours, otherwise I’d have joined in this discussion earlier.
A couple of points to bear in mind.
First, I notice from the IP addresses, that many of these comments seem to come from people working at large media owners. What they may not have yet have noticed (because it’s happened quite quickly), is that Mia Freedman’s blog has already become successful. Certainly if her comment stream is anything to go by, then she has a loyal and engaged audience. That perhaps answers those who ask whether they’ll be an interest in it.
Second, she’s not 18, she’s in her mid 30s. That doesn’t exactly make her the youngest person to write an autobiography.
In that time, she’s edited Cosmo (and yes, Brian, actually I do think it’s a big achievment to get your hands on one of the world’s most famous magazine brands at that age – even as a franchise).
But the thing I’ll be most interested to read is the story of what happened at Nine, and why The Catch Up didn’t work out.
Now I’m not Mia Freedman’s target audience, but I enjoy reading her columns in Fairfax’s Sunday Life mag. She writes warmly and well. I suspect the book will be a good read too.
And by the way, she’s not a mate. The only time we’ve met face to face was at a trade press briefing at Nine for The Catch Up more than two years ago.
By all means criticise the book if it’s no good. But it seems weird to criticise the fact that it exists when I’m sure it’ll do far better than many books published in Australia this year.
Cheers,
Tim – Mumbrella
25 Aug 09
1:27 pm
Zoo Weekly has a HUGE following. I don’t rate it. But I understand that it’s not designed for me. I mean, I found the ‘how to cheat on your girlfriend and not get caught’ feature really insightful and I loved ‘A day in the life of a midget’. But if the editor wrote a book on his life, regardless of his age, the only contact I’d have with it is to clean my glass coffee table. Unless of course, he FINALLY ran my pic in Zoo’s ‘Booty Bank’ column.
Mia is loved by her readers because she can genuinely connect through open, honest story telling based on her own experiences that most women in her demongraphic can relate to. And she does it with class, style, humour. She doesn’t preach, she shares!! Not just about the good stuff, but the bad experiences too. If she can maintain this in her book, I’m sure it will be an enjoyable read. For the right audience, that is.
25 Aug 09
2:24 pm
How many Aussie cricketers bring out autobiographies every year, well before they’ve actually had any international success, usually well before they’ve reached their late 30′s? Anyone willing to slam Ricky ‘Punter’ Ponting about his first foray into the written word back in 1998, well before he’d had the opportunity to disgrace us as captain?
Yes, I’m a cricket fan and yes I am bitter about losing the Ashes!
25 Aug 09
5:12 pm
Playing cricket for Australia is regarded by many, many people as one of the highest acclaims in this country. I’m not sure that could be said for editing a woman’s magazine.
25 Aug 09
5:26 pm
Hello everyone………….. i was born in Melbourne and lived in Sydney for 5 years, spent a few years in Adelaide and now spend a fair bit of time in Thailand and Gold Coast on business….
Im going to write my autobiography and it will be on the streets early November ok.
I am asking my friend Mr Jones who lived next door if he can provide a forward for me….
Oh, i have a wealth of experience in the publishing industry – i have read lots of magazines so does that count as experience
26 Aug 09
12:21 pm
Another update… the preview copy just arrived in the office.
It’s embargoed, so I can’t talk about the contents just yet, but I just stood and read the chapter on The Catch Up. It’s well worth a read for anyone interested in what went on behind the scenes and how it went so wrong. (Although I suspect she’s taking more of the blame personally than is realistic)
I’ll be taking the book home with me tonight, and I’m looking forward to reading the rest.
Cheers,
Tim – Mumbrella
27 Aug 09
12:46 pm
and Tim what do you think?
A) Rate it or hate it?
B) Is it going to succeed?