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Opinion
The keyboard warrior of Twitter
In this guest post, NBN staffer Scott Rhodie writes an unofficial, personal view on his experience with a hostile Twitter critic.Last night I had a strange incident. While on Twitter I noticed someone saying that Australia’s NBN is already outdated. I wrote a small note back explaining they were incorrect.
And their response? The lovely gentleman (whose Twitter profile says: ‘Father of 5 kids, Loving Grandfather of 10 Grandchildren,and 2 Great Granddaughters. love to give heaps to Pollies and Poofters’) said to me: “Go and lick Gillards C*** out U commie Prick”
What's in a name?
In this guest post, Moensie Rossier wonders about the power of names for brands and marketers.
Brands have been having a bit of fun with names lately, not to mention a fair bit of success. Interbrand just named a headhunting firm Cloak & Dagger. And ‘Share a Coke’ showed how much power there is in a name.
The Coke campaign effectively short-circuited the usual mechanics of communication. It undoubtedly stroked people’s egos. But, I believe, its success stems from the fact that it directly and automatically affected people’s behaviour, rather than doing so indirectly by shaping attitudes.
Best ads from Super Bowl 2012
The Super Bowl is all done and a team from North America won. But as well as some sort of sporting event, it’s the world’s biggest advertising showcase. See the best of them right here… and please tell us what you think.
How to debunk media myths
In this post, UWS’s Ullrich Ecker, John Cook and Stephen Lewandowsky argue that cognitive science can help PRs form strategies in managing media misreporting.
A growing cohort of commentators has bemoaned the descent of contemporary political “debate” into a largely fact-free zone.
How about simply focusing on what consumers want?
In this guest post, Peter Mountford argues that brands should think more about what is really going on for consumers
Who here is hoping their favourite brand of toilet paper is going to be organizing a flash mob on their way home from work today?
What the Optus web copyright victory means
In this analysis first published on The Conversation, RMIT’s Marita Shelly examines the implications of Telstra’s defeat over the online rights to the AFL broadcast deal
This week’s Federal Court ruling that Optus customers are able to view sporting matches minutes after they are streamed live without breaching copyright is a landmark decision that alters our understanding of copyright law, and has significant implications for the AFL’s broadcasting rights deal.
Does Gina Rinehart’s bite of a chunk of Fairfax make her an oligarch?
In an article that first appeared in The Conversation, Mark Rolfe wonders whether the mining magnate’s move could turn Fairfax into something resembling America’s Fox network.
Australia’s richest person Gina Rinehart has moved to increase her stake in Fairfax Media, owner of The Age, Sydney Morning Herald and a number of radio stations. Rinehart has already shown her desire to play a role in public life, campaigning against former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s aborted mining tax. She has also demonstrated a willingness to make media investments to ensure her pro-business worldview is promulgated.
What does this latest move by Rinehart mean?
Gillard's Australia Day crisis
PM Julia Gillard’s media adviser Tony Hodges has been forced to resign over the Australia Day tent embassy debacle.
It came after it emerged he had revealed opposition leader Tony Abbott’s whereabouts, leading to both politicians being rescued by police in ugly scenes.
Mumbrella editor Tim Burrowes and advertising practitioner Jane Caro debate the topic on Weekend Sunrise’s masters of Spin segment:
The biggest cock-up I made in business
In this guest post, Chris Savage urges agency staff to live the brand.I still shudder when I think about how incredibly stupid I was when I made the biggest stuff up of my career. And then, 18 years later, I did it again. Do not make this mistake with your clients. Ever.
Hey Groupon. Thanks for fucking up email
In this guest post, Daniel Monheit warns that group deal overload is devaluing email marketingEmail marketing used to be fabulous. Back in the heady days of 2010, brands would work hard to build up well qualified databases, upon which they’d bestow carefully crafted correspondence filled with information, offers and incentives. The recipients, of course would be delighted: “Oh look! An email! From one of my favourite brands! And it’s 40 cents off at Woolies this week!”.
The staggering sway of Harold Mitchell
The Power Index today names Aegis Media chairman Harold Mitchell as the most powerful person in Melbourne. Andrew Crook profiles him.
Harold Mitchell takes pride in dispensing with the niceties. When The Power Index visited his South Melbourne private office before Christmas, fresh remains were scattered all over the boardroom table.
Share a Coke with… the moronic masses
The most-read story on Mumbrella last year, with not far off 100,000 page views, was a fairly humdrum yarn about the launch of Coca-Cola’s name-on-a-bottle campaign.The headline, “Coca-Cola puts people’s names on bottles in ‘Share a Coke’ campaign”, though hated by any self-respecting sub-editor, was loved by Google. And in rushed what can be politely described as the public.
Assumptions kill creativity
In this guest post, Gual Barwell disagrees that the sales success of the Old Spice social media campaign was overstated.Yesterday’s post from Cathie McGinn suggested the Old Spice campaign failed to connect with consumers. Based on the facts and figures, I disagree.
What Old Spice and Wieden + Kennedy has done and done phenomenally well is to create a franchise.
The SMH's readers (are wrong) editor
We are now about five months into the reign of Australia’s first readers’ editor. And I don’t think it is working.
It struck me at the time of Judy Prisk’s appointment to the Sydney Morning Herald that the fact that her boss was editor-in-chief Peter Fray was not going to be ideal if she was going to be the independent voice of the reader.
The emperor's new fragrance: Old Spice’s campaign failure
In this guest post, Cathie McGinn slays a sacred cow of 21st century marketing – the highly awarded Old Spice campaign.One of the biggest myths of recent times (by which I mean a story of great heroism and triumph we’d all like to believe but deep down know to be untrue) is the Old Spice social media campaign. It’s been much lauded and awarded as an example of outstanding content, a creative and collaborative way of connecting with consumers and driving a record increase in sales.
Freedom Furniture comes up with one for the little ladies
It’s a sad fact that not all brands really understand modern consumers, and that can sometimes show in plodding advertising messages.
Happily, Freedom Furniture is able to bring insights and cutting edge creativity to its female-focused communications that puts it a cut above everyone else.
If they were able to send this ad back to 1958.
Still, great that it ran the weekend before International Women’s Day, eh?
March 7th, 2010 at 6:42 pm
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Comments
7 Mar 10
6:59 pm
Wow, I wonder if some clever planner wrote a brief for this along the lines of: “She likes to be patronised, in between washing dishes and doing laundry”
8 Mar 10
12:39 am
On the contrary Mumbrella – if the ad said ‘every mans dream – being paid to drink beer / sleep with women / laze around the house’ – would that be considered ‘outdated’, ‘patronising’ and ‘sexist’??
Probably not, because they only guys that would bitch about it probably breast-feed their kids.
8 Mar 10
9:05 am
Mark that’s not exactly hypothetical – most advertising does portray men in a patronising, or at the very least one-dimensional, light. The problem to me is not that it’s offensive in any way, but that it’s lazy communication.
8 Mar 10
12:51 pm
Tony Abbott works for Freedom now?
8 Mar 10
12:52 pm
So I suppose now it is also every womans dream to be pigeonholed, stereotyped and reduced down to the lowest common denominator?
Oddly enough I have a lot more going on in my life than shopping, and though this may sound outrageous to these stuck in the 50′s ad execs, I DO NOT LIVE FOR SHOPPING.
Although I wonder how I would even be able to go shopping as Freedom Furniture most probably wants me chained to the kitchen sink….
8 Mar 10
12:56 pm
I hope I am not the only one disgusted by this ad. We as women have come a very long way in the last 50-60 years pulling ourselves out from under this kind of ridiculous male oppression and I for one do not feel like going back.
Rewarded? What with? A nice pat on the head and slap on the rump, then off to the kitchen to fix dinner?
8 Mar 10
1:18 pm
I agree. What happened to plain language?
We’d like to give you back 10% of everything you spend, so you can spend more in our store.
8 Mar 10
1:22 pm
Have we become so politically correct that no one is allowed to have a bit of fun…has anyone heard of humour, it’s a light hearted ad that is different to other retail ads.
People get your heads out of your proverbial and allow yourself to have a laugh. It would do you and the world you live in a bit if good.
And I don’t work for the creative agency
8 Mar 10
1:26 pm
I’m not that offended by the innate sexism (let’s face it, I really love shopping). I just think it’s a poor way of targeting customers – when I wander around Freedom, it seems heavily skewed to couples and families. At the very least, it’s not like they are just selling womenswear. So why just target women? Don’t men get to help choose the furniture?
8 Mar 10
1:28 pm
Paul – I’m all for politically incorrect humour. Don’t think that’s what they were going for here though.
Is this masterpiece M&C’s work?
8 Mar 10
1:39 pm
I love shopping; it’s my only hobby, apart from staring at men in wide-eyed, open-mouthed admiration.
Happy International Women’s Day, people.
8 Mar 10
1:47 pm
It’s a special day? Well, shouldn’t you be baking us a cake to celebrate, @Acatinatree? That’s a good girl…
8 Mar 10
1:55 pm
Just for the records, I included a hilarious HTML tag indicating that the above comment was clearly a joke and sarcasm, but the Mumbrella comment section ate it, thinking it was real HTML.
So, just to be clear, I don’t think women should bake me cake. They’re certainly allowed to, I like cake, but the onus for cake bakery should lie equally across the gender divide.
In this spirit, which guy wants to bake me a cake?
8 Mar 10
2:04 pm
I’ll bake you a cake @warlach, but don’t expect it to be edible – not only do I hate shopping, I can’t cook either! *shock* *horror*
8 Mar 10
2:14 pm
This is as bad as that ad which had the boyfriend putting on sanitary pads all over himself like they were Star Wars costume props.
Humour has it’s place but does it always have to be so obviously sexist.
8 Mar 10
2:17 pm
Channeling Mad Men a little too much?
“Excuse me, I’m off to have another scotch and think of another stereotype to degrade inadvertently…”
8 Mar 10
2:21 pm
@Warlach
I’ll bake you a cake, provided that cake = fairy bread.
8 Mar 10
2:29 pm
You’ll find women in every level of government and every level of the corporate heirarchy. You’ll find us running our own multinational companies, advising world powers and curing diseases.
But apparently all that comes second to our uncontrollable shopping lust. And non transferrable vouchers.
When did advertisers become so out of touch? Actually no, the soaring personal debt rates attest to the fact that more than a few ad agencies know their stuff.
Whoever did these Freedom ads though… bunch of out of touch dinosaurs.
8 Mar 10
2:29 pm
@tweebs do you mean the current Mastercard-derivative Tooheys ads? As a ‘bloke’ they open all my twisties
8 Mar 10
2:47 pm
“I guarantee you a man made that commercial.”
“Of course a man made it. It’s a commercial, not a delicious Thanksgiving dinner.”
8 Mar 10
3:14 pm
Yes it’s sexist, but it’s also a lame message: “be rewarded to shop at this store”. Oh wow! And you have to spend $1000…not a small investment to get a 10% ‘discount’.
Retail incentives in one form or another are everywhere. You’d want your agency to put up a better idea than this one. Now they have 2 reasons to fire the agency! #freedomfail
8 Mar 10
6:17 pm
Exactly Tim, its not even a discount, it is just a voucher which forces you to visit their store and spend at least that $100 there, which probably isn’t enough to cover anything so out comes the credit card again.
9 Mar 10
9:48 am
I’m sick of this kind of advertising all over Australia, no wonder things are so backwards with the percentage of women in senior management declining.
San-pro advertising is a sick, sexist horror.
The prevalence of the two-blonde-children-married-mother-father advertising is just execrable.
Oh! but Australia is such a young!!! and *progressive* nation!
9 Mar 10
5:15 pm
Who has time to shop.
There are far to many dishes to wash and shirts to iron.
9 Mar 10
5:17 pm
Oops M&C.
Oops.
29 Mar 10
3:07 pm
What a pointless ad. I would never buy a big ticket item like furniture. My husband looks after those sorts of things.
;b
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