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Opinion | Features
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.
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.
Grown-ups founding partner Andrew Moss departs
From left: Grown-ups Grant Booker, Mick Hunter and Andrew Moss
Andrew Moss, one of a trio of founding partners behind ad agency start-up Grown-ups, has left the agency.
Grown-ups launched six months ago with experience as its selling point, offering an “alternative to the traditional layered agency model.”
Moss, who was planning director at Grown Ups, has returned to working at the consultancy he owns, Pegasus Planning.
Grown-up’s co-founders Grant Booker and Mick Hunter remain at the agency.
Planning director Andrew Moss began his career in London before working in Sydney on agencies including Campaign Palace, Lowe Hunt and Red Spider.
Since launching, among Grown-ups’ major work has been a campaign for Youth Projects.
When launching, Booker said in an interview with Mumbrella: “Agencies have been dealing with ever decreasing margins over the last five to ten years and so have reduced the number of senior people on staff. I can understand why agencies are doing this, but it’s potentially detrimental to their clients.”
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Comments
11 Sep 12
12:58 pm
old people have short attention spans after all
11 Sep 12
1:17 pm
Not surprised about this, the offer wasn’t new. It’s tough out there in Adland, bloody awful actually. The website is beyond daggy (jeans and brogues? The 80′s are calling) And the Three Wise Men look tired and jaded.
11 Sep 12
1:26 pm
Perhaps he just forgot where the office was ?
11 Sep 12
3:05 pm
pretty savage comments. good on you guys! it’s tough in adland OK, but try being on the wrong side of 50 and still full of beans. where to get work! Having spare time might be making my handicap come down, but housing and feeding the ankle biters is more important. I know more now about how to make clients wishes come true than I did at 35, but the opportunities to participate in the industry drop off too fast after the magic 40 comes around. The grown ups need our congratulations for having a go, not smart-assed comments from generation WTF.
11 Sep 12
3:22 pm
Well said Mike. Couldn’t agree more.
11 Sep 12
3:59 pm
I couldn’t agree more Mike!
9 months ago I found myself on the receiving end of some bitter and twisted comments from the shallower end of the industry’s gene pool when I dared to say that experience actually mattered.
I also had an enormous amount of support and encouragement. After 9 months of consulting I have delivered some of my most successful work so far with more to come.
The industry still disappoints me as I have also met with a huge amount of people whose skills are no longer wanted but also found that clients are screaming out for them!
Isn’t it about time the industry became a little more grown up?!
11 Sep 12
4:17 pm
Well said Mike! What you wear or how old you are should mean nothing if you can offer strong experience and a history of successful campaigns. Something that Adland is very much lacking.
11 Sep 12
4:24 pm
It’s true that advertising is a game for young, talented hard working people.
Talent and hard work will get you so far but age is inevitable. Clearly some of you are young, not overly talented and definitely not working hard…
Enjoy the industry while you can Mum and Dad will let you move back home
11 Sep 12
5:11 pm
Any advertising person who doesn’t have Plan B well and truly sorted by the time they’re 40 is nuts.
You can bitch about it all you want, but unless you’re one of those rare people who can maintain a Peter Pan-like ability to seemingly remain youthful and energetic as they chronologically age… you’re fucked.
Tip: look after yourself, stay fit and don’t hit the piss too much when you’re young.
The minute you start acting old and tired and worn-out and dated… you’re dead in advertising.
Agencies won’t want you, and the vast majority of clients won’t want to work with you either.
By all means be senior and grey. Just maintain genuine enthusiasm, and trade off the quality of your current work… not on past glories or the fact that you’re older than those young kids so you automatically know more… and you’ll be fine.
But again… have a Plan B. And make sure that your Plan B isn’t setting up your own agency with a bunch of older ad guys. Because it probably won’t work.
11 Sep 12
5:17 pm
Thanks for your insight and thoughts Kate.
Got anything else worthless and petty to add to this?
11 Sep 12
5:27 pm
Andrew must have realised he had some growing up to do?
11 Sep 12
5:52 pm
people in their 20s are largely conceited dickheads and it’s not just confined to ad industry types
11 Sep 12
6:31 pm
With the experience of Booker and Hunter !
How could you go wrong. I would believe that most younger creatives would want to join such an agency with such success.
Well done Grant and Mick .
11 Sep 12
7:03 pm
Perhaps they just had different ways of doing things.
11 Sep 12
8:14 pm
not a good start
12 Sep 12
10:40 am
Wow… some of the comments in here are fucking appalling.
What a sewer anonymity allows.
12 Sep 12
11:55 am
I’m sure the negative comments are from people who’ve never opened their own shop.
[Something Grant has done successfully before Grown-Ups]. Most probably come from relatively junior creatives who gladly pick up their cheque every week without ever thinking about the people [particularly small independent shops] who are left with the responsibility of finding the money to pay that cheque in the first place. Truth is, we need more people with the guts to open new shops to create more jobs. They’re the people we need to be supporting, not people like Kate – always first to judge, but the last to put their money where their mouth is. Whether Grown-Ups works isn’t the issue. What matters is they’ve had the guts to do it – which is more than most of us ever will. Grown ups in the industry understand that. Good luck guys.
12 Sep 12
12:45 pm
either that (Money #17) or most of the negative comments are tongue in cheek like mine.
get a sense of humour people.
I absolutely agree btw that we need more start ups and innovators in this market and also that massive credit should be given to everybody starting their own agency/business.
In this instance, it may well be that these guys started that agency because they couldn’t get jobs in big agencies. So it actually does matter whether Grown Ups works for various reasons. If it does, they may persuade agencies that a bit of grey hair is an advantage and not a disadvantage and that wisdom and experience can actually be more profitable than youth and vigour.
but let’s also not think that just because they’re older, that they are automatically going to be better either. Some of the older candidates for jobs aren’t being rejected because they’re old….it’s because they’re crap
just saying
12 Sep 12
1:29 pm
let’s not think that because people are young they have vigour. There are plenty of narcisstic, pretentious and lazy 20 something hipsters in advertising who only understand energy if it comes courtesy of a line of white powder
as an advertiser i am amazed that advertising is the only advisory industry in the world in which wisdom and experience is less valued by proponents than their clients
12 Sep 12
2:56 pm
Booker: “Agencies have been dealing with ever decreasing margins over the last five to ten years and so have reduced the number of senior people on staff.”
Unfortunately, agency staff (us) can’t expect the same kind of salaries paid in the last 5-10 years. Just like bankers who in past expect massive bonuses, now have to accept lower levels of renumeration.
The ‘law-firm’ mentality of doing your hard years early in your career to make partner/upper management – then sit back on huge pay packet and simply ‘oversee’ work, doesn’t cut it anymore.
I’m not ‘senior’ staff but from an outside perspective – it appears very senior agency staff either have to accept lower pay or roll their sleeves up and get back into to the trenches…
12 Sep 12
3:19 pm
Well said Golum!
12 Sep 12
3:57 pm
Rather than lash out and have this same young versus the old argument and hostility (which is always generalised) don’t you think we should be addressing those who are doing the hiring in management?
I believe you will find they are a cross section of the generations? It’s the decision makers who are not acknowledging existing talent. I think you will find that most of the younger generation respect and admire the experience of those who have been in the industry for a longer period of time and vice versa the older generation are re-energized and challenged by the enthusiasm and new ideas that the younger less experienced people bring.
It would be a shame to think that this mutual respect no longer exists, without a past there is no future.
In relation to Grown-ups; only time will tell but at least they are giving it a go and believe in their model.
12 Sep 12
4:16 pm
but seeing we’re dealing with cliches Golum, let’s also agree that some older agency employees aren’t full of wisdom either but are stuck in middle ranking jobs or being pointed towards the door because they weren’t smart, diligent or talented enough to build their career faster
I’m in my 40s to be clear and believe that in the main, agencies undervalue wisdom and experience, but I find the ‘old agency folk good, young agency folk bad’ stuff as odious as the opposite perspective
12 Sep 12
8:35 pm
When the so-called leaders within industry grow up it will realise that great creative thinking comes from great creative thinkers and that the quality of thinking is not an age related issue. I have worked with many great people in their 50′s.. a lot of shit ones too.. the same applies to younger age groups