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Opinion | Features
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.
TV audience measurement – why big isn’t always beautiful
In this guest post, Chris Walton argues that the media industry needs to take a new approach to TV tradingThere has been a significant amount of coverage recently about how successful The Voice has been. Indeed, audience figures of 2.6m+ people are very impressive these days. Based on reports, this is apparently double the size of audience that Nine was hoping for in the lead up to the programme launching.
Expedia promotes Christchurch travel offer with picture of cathedral wrecked in earthquake
Travel brand Expedia has this morning made the extraordinary blunder of emailing its Australian database to promote cheap holidays in New Zealand – and illustrated the offer with a large image of Christchurch Cathedral’s spire, which was destroyed in yesterday’s disastrous earthquake.
It has been widely reported that several dead bodies are likely to still be among the rubble of the cathedral.
The email went out at around 9am, Sydney time.
One possibility is that the email was prepared several days ago and sent out automatically with nobody at the travel company thinking to prevent it being sent. Mumbrella understands that Expedia’s email marketing operation is based in the UK rather than locally.
However, at the time of writing, the offer was also still being promoted on Expedia.com.au’s home page using an image of the cathedral.
10.59am update. Nicolas Chu, Expedia’s GM for Australia and New Zealand, said in a statement:
“Expedia sincerely apologises for the unfortunate timing of this communication, which was removed from our website as soon as we became aware of the contents. The fact is that these promotional emails are built and deployed from our team in London and this one was deployed before the earthquake hit. It goes without saying that we are extremely saddened about the devastation the earthquake has caused to the people of Christchurch and Expedia apologises for any insensitivity towards the people of Christchurch, which of course was not our intention. We are working with Expedia customers who are planning to travel to or from the affected area to make alternative travel arrangements.”
Expedia has now closed its 72 hour sale.
February 23rd, 2011 at 9:52 am
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Comments
23 Feb 11
10:11 am
Clearly an automated over-sight non story.
23 Feb 11
10:17 am
Hi Daniel,
I’d argue that the story is what’s just landed in thousands (hundreds of thousands?) of email inboxes.
I’m not sure that consumers care whether it was an automated oversight. They wouldn’t be aware of that.
Cheers,
Tim – Mumbrella
23 Feb 11
10:18 am
agreed. in the greater scheme of things, this just isn’t news.
23 Feb 11
10:34 am
A fail yes. But this mistake and is CLEARLY automated – All that can do now Expedia is appologise (obviously) & learn from it.
23 Feb 11
10:37 am
One possibility is that Expedia’s internal systems automatically queue up travel offers when the price of travel to a destination falls suddenly. If that’s the case, the system definitely needs human oversight, as human tragedies would be a obvious cause of major changes in the price of travel.
23 Feb 11
10:37 am
* All that Expedia can do now is appologise (obviously) & learn from it.
23 Feb 11
10:42 am
who can predict an earthquake certainly not weeks before – when an ad campaign is generated
23 Feb 11
10:45 am
Definitely an automated email but you need to remember that this is not a small localised incident, it has made world news. Also the quake happened some 20 hrs before the email was sent so I would think it would be natural to check all outgoing marketing.
23 Feb 11
10:47 am
Automated blunder for sure. Someone should have thought to stop that before it went out though.
Actually, on ChCh travel, I just saw that Air NZ is laying on $50 flights to and from Christchurch on the domestic network until 8am Friday morn.
Having family their myself, I’m feeling pretty helpless over here in Sydney. Not much anyone except rescue workers can do at this point though I think.
http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/a.....e-ck-86692
23 Feb 11
10:47 am
Dear Tim, dear Daniel,
We’re very saddened about the quake situation for the people of Christchurch. Our newsletters are deployed from London and the mail-out commenced before the quake hit. We would never issue anything like this intentionally. We are working with Expedia customers in the area and those who are planning to travel imminently to this part of New Zealand to help make alternate arrangements. In the meantime we have postponed the sale.
We apologise for any offence this morning’s newsletter may have caused.
Nicholas Chu
GM Expedia Australia & New Zealand
23 Feb 11
10:53 am
Automated emails can still be stopped.. You’d think if you were running a campaign about New Zealand it would have been one of the first things that came to your mind yesterday.
23 Feb 11
10:59 am
I think recipients of the email will realise it was a mistake. QI on the ABC last night had a whole section on earthquakes. Unfortunately, these things happen.
23 Feb 11
10:59 am
So all travel operators and other industry that support the NZ economy should stop advertising and promotion?
Sounds like a great plan, you should make a run for the NSW elections while you’re at it……
*YAWN*
23 Feb 11
11:06 am
i doubt they woke up yesterday and thought it would be a good idea to send it. Its a mistake, nothing more
23 Feb 11
11:10 am
Literally, shit happens.
It’s not as if Expedia meant any malice.
This is more akin to http://www.flickr.com/photos/royaltech/622753936/ and is more a blooper than anything else.
I bet you a large proportion of the recipients wouldn’t have known that it was a church in Christchurch anyway…
23 Feb 11
11:11 am
I agree with Daniel.
I received the email at 9am this morning and my first thought was “oh, poor Expedia, some-one forgot to cancel the eDM” – I think that would be the first thought for most people, they hardly did it on on purpose!
23 Feb 11
11:17 am
While this is appears to be poor form from expedia, I do sympathize with them. I agree with Daniel, this is an oversight which isn’t really newsworthy – especially when you consider how quickly the apology statement was released.
Lets accept that it was a mistake by expedia, but let’s also give them credit for responding so quickly, and turn our attention to those who need it most – our brothers and sisters in NZ.
23 Feb 11
11:21 am
Slow news day, Tim?
23 Feb 11
11:21 am
Expedias hotel brand, Hotels.com, managed to stop a similar promo. It can be done.
23 Feb 11
11:26 am
I think most real people wouldn’t think twice about it, they would look and think oh what a shame it is gone now. Non item. Journos on the other hand,…
Real ad content blunders promote cannibalism http://i52.tinypic.com/xgi8lf.jpg
23 Feb 11
11:54 am
talk about a story to fill the void of having any decent media news to report.
Expedia should have been more alert, but a poor story none the less.
23 Feb 11
12:05 pm
Yes it’s a mistake. Yes they apologised. But this is a mistake that so easily could have been avoided – it’s not a print item that was too late to pull, it’s in an online environment that is very easy to stop. I think it’s very poor of Expedia’s marketing team. @*YAWN* – of course not, but right messages at the right time is a good start for any campaign.
23 Feb 11
1:12 pm
I’m with 99.9% of comments here. It’s simply an unfortunate mistake to make. Most people will be sympathetic.
23 Feb 11
1:24 pm
I note that a number (but not all) of the comments sympathetic to Expedia’s mistake appear to be coming from the same IP address…
Cheers,
Tim – Mumbrella
23 Feb 11
1:48 pm
Here’s a comment Timothy, and not from the same IP address mentioned above, but from one you love so much.
By publishing this oversight, you have really dug the bottom muck out of the barrel.
Maybe give Mark Riley a heads up on your “find”
Cheers,
Stuart
Mumbrella has gone to poo, comment validated.
23 Feb 11
2:55 pm
I first noticed this dumb digital problem a couple of years back when Air NZ crashed an A380 during ‘testing’ killing all crew (no passengers). The story was on the SMH website and guess what ad was served on the page? You guessed it – fly to NZ on Air New Zealand. Hmmm… Now, no one served that ad on purpose either.
All this talk about data and clever analytics in the ad industry but it is, actually, dumb marketing. In both cases the digital agency/ad agency should be asked where is the risk management for your clients?
Just sayin’
23 Feb 11
2:56 pm
We got the email this morning and laughed at how stupid Expedia was so I have to side with Tim on this and say that I think it is a valid news story for Mumbrella to run. If not this kind of news and marketing observation, then what??
23 Feb 11
3:16 pm
This just shows what can go wrong when marketing isn’t driven from the market it’s intended for. It IS really poor form and shouldn’t have gone out. And the apology from Expedia is lame as well – as a consumer I don’t care that it’s sent from London…that just means you couldn’t care less about me, who lives in Oz.
23 Feb 11
3:17 pm
What is with everyone saying this isn’t a story? This is a story.
The company is directing people to holiday at a destination and a cathedral where people are dead and may still be trapped inside.
It is very poor form. Automated email or not… there should be someone at Expedia who checks everything before it goes out.
The other thing is travel companies build their brand on providing expert advice… not on sending people to travel destinations that don’t exist. What will happen next? Expedia will send us to Tunisia with a photo advertising people dancing in the streets in harmony?
Yes it was probably an oversight, an error but it has big implications for their brand and company.
23 Feb 11
3:20 pm
I cant wait to get their emails promoting bargains to Egypt, Libia, Burma, etc
23 Feb 11
3:21 pm
I think you are insensitive in posting this article. Why not spend the time and effort creating content that would be helpful or empathetic to such a tragedy?
23 Feb 11
3:22 pm
I agree, it’s a story about marketing and what happens if you don’t triple check your comms!
23 Feb 11
3:54 pm
Really disappointed with another IP comment. More disappointed with the article. Well done Tim.
23 Feb 11
4:24 pm
Blame the earthquake, insensitive bastard.
23 Feb 11
4:27 pm
Why’s everyone getting all up on mUmbrella / this Tim guy for publishing this? As far as I can tell, this 100% fits the description of covering news on Australia’s media and marketing. Automated or not, it was obviously brought to the attention of Expedia by recipients of the email who were offended and hence a public apology had to be published. I’d call that media news. In fact, programs like ABC’s MediaWatch have published bloopers based on much less. For example, last year MediaWatch reported that NineMSN’s website was displaying advertisements for their “Hot women in the workplace” entertainment piece juxtaposed right next to the article about the sexual harrassment case against the head of David Jones. People love reading about these sorts of slip ups!
23 Feb 11
4:55 pm
It’s a completely valid story to appear on Mumbrella.
Company makes comm’s error; company issues suitable apology within a reasonable timeframe; story ends.
And hopefully the company makes changes to its external comms dispatch processes as a result of its untimely error.
23 Feb 11
5:14 pm
Why is it that so many marketing folk don’t display any PR sensibility?
23 Feb 11
5:28 pm
Yawn or not, it illustrates poor process. It went to the Australian and NZ data bases and quite a few kiwi friends were upset by it. An ad should not go out without being checked in the last hour or so. This article illustrated that for me.
23 Feb 11
5:50 pm
Bad, bad, bad eDM. Easily stopped, and if they hadnt had great dynamic images imbedded that changed the Christchurch image automatically even after the email was opened would have been a lot worse.
Just cause we as advertisers/marketers realise that its just a mistake and we shouldnt be ‘hatin’ doesnt mean that it was a royal fuckup that shouldnt happen and that they dont have the right processes in place.
23 Feb 11
5:55 pm
This email went out to NZ as well as Aus.
Plenty of people I’ve spoken to here thought it was a pretty poor effort, and the excuse (sorry – apology) was just as bad.
The content was changed within 2 hours of the story appearing. If they can react that quickly, why didn’t somebody think for a nanosecond before the bloody thing was sent out?
23 Feb 11
9:30 pm
This is definitely an appropriate post for Mumbrella.to publish. This instance highlights that digital companies should be very aware of their processes and how to intervene anything on ‘the schedule’ to avoid a blooper like this.
Expedia have apologised and I am sure are feeling a little red faced. I am also sure that they will learn from their mistake.
Good on you Tim, (if you can’t publish something like this then what can you publish on Mumbrella…?)
Keep up the good work!! (I have learn’t from this.
24 Feb 11
9:55 am
The other interesting point is that imagine if you had a relative trapped under the rubble who was possibly dead? And here Expedia is advertising “cheap trips” to where your relative is dying. I’d be devestated.
Also, is Expedia’s trip “Cheap” because Christchurch has fallen down? Taken advantage of cheap holidays now – go to natural disaster zones!
24 Feb 11
10:44 am
It’s clearly an oversight on Expedia’s part; I don’t think anyone would suggest they’d done it on purpose. The issue is that it’s – also clearly – an oversight that simply shouldn’t have been made.
There was ample time for someone to say, “Eek, natural disaster!” and pull up all outgoing Christchurch-related materials to check and/or cancel them. But no-one did.
24 Feb 11
2:49 pm
A mistake yes that could not be predicted, but it is how it is dealt with that people will remember Expedia.
24 Feb 11
4:02 pm
this is definately news… and very bad form. Such an easy thing to fix…
25 Feb 11
8:02 am
So why not go old school and start displaying the IP addresses Tim?
25 Feb 11
8:46 am
HA!, Since I have already had my fair share of crazies from this site tracking me down personally to discuss my comments further, I would really appreciate it if you didn’t do that Tim!
25 Feb 11
9:36 am
FAIL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!