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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.
Harvey Norman attack ad censored by Commercials Advice
An ad for the pressure group Get Up Australia, which pastiches the advertising of furniture retailer Harvey Norman to attack its environmental credentials, has been censored by Commercials Advice.
The ad was withdrawn over fears it would expose free-to-air TV stations to legal action.
The Get Up Australia’s website encourages visitors to ‘share the ad they don’t want you to see’.
July 4th, 2011 at 5:46 pm
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Comments
4 Jul 11
6:20 pm
Could we look into having a law passed banning incessant yelling from all lowest common denominator TVCMs?
4 Jul 11
6:37 pm
Production values are a bit too high for a Harvey Norman spot, aren’t they?
5 Jul 11
12:17 am
I like the sentiment but too the ‘alternative’ of using Aussie Plantation Timber or Recycled Timber needs to be brought in earlier. Feels a bit tree-huggy and the average Today Tonight viewer will tune out. Also forgot to mention that manufacturing in Australia will help Aussie jobs.
GetUp shouldn’t be preaching to the intelligent who already care about climate and the environment, they should help shift middle-Australia’s opinion.
Regardless I’ll still share on Facebook and Twitter. Erry little bit helps right?
5 Jul 11
7:25 am
Harvey Norman spends hundreds of millions on advertising in Australia, so I am guessing that will give Gerry and co some clout to enforce a ban on this advert.
- Ooh no that wouldn’t happen now would it..?!
Imagine if Harvey Norman, didn’t advertise at all and they sorted out their crap website, whilst reducing their prices – people might by his products then…
The revolution is about decent products, at a competitive price…
5 Jul 11
8:58 am
I wonder if they made the decision to target Harvey Norman specifically because they know Gerry Harvey will react – case in point his appearance on Sunrise this morning counteracting the claims and pushing the blame onto the government (was half listening while getting dressed). Get Up gets good exposure that they clearly aren’t going to get through advertising on TV…
5 Jul 11
9:49 am
The naive idealists are back… and they’re organised!
5 Jul 11
11:27 am
‘Expose FTA stations to legal action’… from who? And for what?
Surely it’s far more about the FTA networks being fearful of alienating one of the country’s biggest spending advertisers.
5 Jul 11
11:53 am
Clever marketing ploy to create an ad that gets banned. That’s never been done before…On the positive, this might influence Harvey Norman to use local suppliers who are environmentally aware.
5 Jul 11
12:54 pm
Surely cutting down trees, turning them into furniture (ie storing the carbon) and then planting new ones is actually a positive contribution to the carbon reduction effort?
It’s counter-intuative but if you try and name a totally carbon neutral fuel, most people wouldn’t think of burning wood that you chop down yourself, but so long as it’s replanted, it’s true.
I can’t say I know what type of forests are being cut down in Australia, but I can safely bet it’s not old hardwood forests.
http://www.nafi.com.au/site/aboutForestry.php
I’m absolutely no fan of Harvey Norman in any way shape or form, by the way, but let’s not start frothing at the mouth about it.
5 Jul 11
1:13 pm
When trees are cut down and the wood is used (say in furniture) the carbon remains captured. If the forrests are sustainably harvested (ie replanted with same species, managed to protect endangered specie environments, not cutting old growth trees, etc) then more carbon is actually captured as you have the wood products (retaining carbon) and the new trees extracting carbon from the atmosphere. Actually trees absorb more carbon in their first 10 years of growth than later in life.
Without knowing the forestry practices of where this wood is sourced this ad is potentially very misleading.
5 Jul 11
2:00 pm
Even more strange when Commercials Advice (i.e. Free TV) specifically states it “does not provide legal advice to advertisers” – they’re a classifier only
http://www.freetv.com.au/content_common/pg-cad.seo
5 Jul 11
2:01 pm
Not sure Australian manufacturing is viable. This group is off with the fairies. Get up needs to get real or and get a clue. This tree hugging propaganda is not helpful and cheap. As for the idiots on this blog. Imports i’m sure make up for a big portion of our livelihood.
5 Jul 11
2:54 pm
Not being aired seems to have done this ad wonders, surely there is no way Get Up could ever afford to buy this much publicity normally….
5 Jul 11
3:20 pm
I would like to see an excerpt of this ‘ban’. I got the email direct from Get up and noticed they didnt provide any evidence of this ban or what grounds it was banned on. From the sounds of it, they were advised not to air due to risk of being sued – but that’s not really being banned is it.
Cmon guys. If you want Get Up to be taken seriously you need to cover your butt and don’t just sound like ranty leftys. I want to see you make some real change, but you have to try a bit harder to do things correctly.
5 Jul 11
4:25 pm
Fact. Hardly Normal is a first rate Australian bogan.
5 Jul 11
5:04 pm
This is a furphy on so many levels.
Am I right in thinking I saw some indication that GetUp may have links to George Soros?
5 Jul 11
5:56 pm
@AdGrunt….
You mean this – http://www.menzieshouse.com.au.....ralia.html
Not exactly an unbiaised source, but seems better researched than “OMG THEIR CUTTING DOWN TREES SAVE TEH ANIMALS ITS UNAUSTRALIAN AND WARMS THE EARTH”.
5 Jul 11
10:28 pm
So if the editors here censor the comments, how are we supposed to trust them, oh that’s right, we can’t…
5 Jul 11
10:31 pm
Adgrunt, search on google for seek pleasure avoid pain to learn more about getups history… I did post it here, and it was published, for 12hrs or so, but the com met has mysteriously vanished…
9 Jul 11
1:18 am
I am sorry, but so many of you seem to be jumping on the bandwagon of saving the planet. It appears you all seem to want scientists to come up with some magic device that will give cheap green unilmited energy. You want to stop climate change. I ask you this. How can you stop climate change, on a planet that tilts on its axis, while spinning as it rotates around the Sun that is prone to sunspots and other ‘natural’ activities? How in the world can you stop how the tides change and continental drift? Why is it the more education is provided, there seems to be a severe lack of common sense. It amuses me how we humans scurry around the world trying not to leave a carbon footprint when one super volcano could easily blow and wipe out everyone.
Just think of this. No matter how bad we humans screw this planet up, no matter how many animal species we wipe out, no matter if we wipe ourselves out, the planet earth will heal.
As for global warming(which was all the rage till 2 years ago when it was found that the planel is cooling), let me ask, does a plant grow better in a freezer or a greenhouse?
Why is it that if you dont believe all the drivel the government and self interest groups like Get UP!, you are looked at as a dissident and a trouble maker. Why is it that when some loud mouth with an agenda to tell everyone how the should should be, so many lemmings jump mon without finding the facts?
I may seem to be the only voice in opposition, but really, why do so many believe in so few. Perhaps environmentalists will replace religion with the same zeal and disregard for opposition as we humans seem to have do so much of in the past.
Basil
PS I want to inform you ignorant people that wood can be grown from new trees when planted. Unlike oil, it is a renewable source of energy and it has been around since mankind got up on 2 legs and started walking the earth. How many of you self righteous greenies out there run you air conditioning at home or at work?
9 Jul 11
10:15 am
Never let facts get in the way of a good scare campaign. It worked well for the nazis…
22 Jul 11
6:39 pm
Amazing Basil.
Let’s think this through. Trees are really good at taking carbon-dioxide out of our atmosphere by converting it into carbon (wood) and releasing oxygen (good for us humans to breathe). Let’s also not forget that it is 0.04% of our atmosphere so it doesn’t take much to make a big change. Now if you have ANY doubts as to how important trees are to this concentration simply look at the fluctuation by each hemisphere that perfectly coincides with each spring and autumn.
Now just ask yourself … are there more trees on the planet today than when there was (say) 250 or 500 years ago. Now ask are there more or less people on the planet over this same period. We simply can’t sustain the rate of reduction in our forests.
23 Jul 11
4:06 pm
Some will, some won’t be aware that coal is burnt trees…
Imagine the fire that raged to form all of our coal deposit’s…
Ah hum, that aside, we truly, seriously, urgently need to plant more tree’s – everywhere!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Harvey Norman? As a result of the campaign that dear Gerry started, I now will not ever use his stores, nor drink in his watering holes.
Many of my friends feel the same.