-
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.
Is a kettle boiling a good ad?
So would you watch a kettle boiling? The weekend magazines carriedied an unusual ad.
It was a plain, unbranded address for the url Life is too short.com.au.
When you go to Life is Too Short page you simply see a video of a kettle being put on the ring, coming to the boil and 
being taken off the hob, followed by the message “Life is too short”.
Afterwards, you get offered further videos – one of a jug of water chilling in a fridge. And another of a water filter doing its thing.
Only at the end of each video do you see that the brand behind the product is the Billi home water filter system.
It’s an unusual approach, and a long way from the hard sell one would usually expect when a brand is investing in full pages of Sunday magazines. I see that they’ve also invested in paid search on Google on the phrase “life is too short”.
I suspect that the approach delivers a much smaller number of people to the website than a more traditional ad. But I also suspect that those who do make it get much more fully engaged with the message.
It’s the work of Victorian agency Cornwell Design.
Good stuff.
Tim Burrowes
July 21st, 2010 at 12:40 pm
-
-
Follow Us
-
Email Newsletter
Latest Jobs- Strategy Director - Sydney
- Marketing/Project Manager - Crows Nest, Sydney
- BDM Mobile Specialist - Sydney
- National Account Manager - Pyrmont NSW
- Account Manager Advertising Media - Sydney CBD
- Strategic Integration Manager - $140,000 package - Sydney
- Ad Sales and Business Development - Sydney CBD
- Customer Service / Social Media Superstar - Sydney
- Business Development Manager Outdoor Senior Role - Sydney CBD
- Junior Digital Producer - sydney
Comments
21 Jul 10
12:57 pm
i’m in two worlds.
on one hand, it’s bold, brave – and very different from usual fanfare (both the press and the vid). On the other hand, the life is too short message was too esoteric and the vid – if you watched the whole damn thing – was the most boring experience of my life despite that that being the point they were trying to make.
21 Jul 10
2:03 pm
So that’s what that site was.
I clicked through to the site when someone posted a link watched 10 seconds of it then skipped to the end of the video and when it was still just a kettle I left.
My honest feeling is that this probably won’t work due to the low number of users who would stay through even the first video. I only bothered skipping to the end of it to see if it was branded and thats because I work in the industry.
I’d love to see some post analysis around numbers after the campaign. I just cant imagine the branded message getting enough reach to drive a return for the client.
21 Jul 10
2:09 pm
Of course without knowing what the brief or goals are who can say whether or not it will make the client happy.
21 Jul 10
2:10 pm
i liked it.
21 Jul 10
2:39 pm
joel pearson’s right, it won’t work. the few people who go to the site won’t wait, or will miss the brand message. And there’s nothing that will compel those who see it to act on it – and even if they do the ad doesn’t tell me why i should prefer that brand.
21 Jul 10
2:53 pm
Too long. Nice message (not unique, but clear at least) but this should be after about 10 seconds, not 90 seconds! As Joel says, I only looked to the end because I’m in the industry and am being made aware of this campaign through Mumbrella – if I was the average punter, no way – boring as bat poo.
Can Billi please provide their figures that support the ROI on this campaign? I will happily watch a kettle boil if they are favourable!
21 Jul 10
3:01 pm
That’s why Designers should stick to Design.
21 Jul 10
3:03 pm
They are doing outdoor ads on trams and I looked at it on my iPhone, but hey, no flash. What a waste. #fail
21 Jul 10
3:20 pm
I agree with Jodes…Cornwell Design are designers (very good ones too) but they’re not an ad agency. A very clever idea with great production values but probably too clever.
21 Jul 10
3:57 pm
Life’s too short to go to a website without purpose. Can only imagine their numbers will be pretty poor. Cornwell should surprise us all with a compelling case study once the numbers are in.
21 Jul 10
4:38 pm
Ohh dear, I lasted 14 seconds on the first vid, hmmm sorry guys, but clearly I am either not the target market, as in my life IS too short to spend watching Vids like this and try to work out what the hell it is your trying to tell me…or you just bored me !
21 Jul 10
5:38 pm
On one hand this ad is quite clever, I saw it on the side of a tram a few weeks back and found myself driven by the intrigue, needing to know what the site was all about.
In the end I have to admit I was amazed to discover it was an ad for a boring old kettle.
The whole way through I was expecting a big climax, but never even got close to one. It felt a hell of a lot like an awareness campaign for a cause, never would of expected kettles.
21 Jul 10
8:49 pm
Tim, you realise that the ads not for kettles right?
21 Jul 10
10:02 pm
Awwww Anonymous (3:03pm) … don’t be too harsh about your iPhone being a waste and a fail for not being Flash capable.
22 Jul 10
9:30 am
It’s clearly a clever way to drive interest, but i think it broke a cardinal rule of not giving people a pay-off/reward for watching.
Having just felt duped into wasting 2mins watching a kettle boil, there is no way I’m about to reward the company with any of my money.
I’m going to find another way to wash the bitter taste away!
22 Jul 10
1:24 pm
Errr….Maybe the brief was:
Let’s do a really left field, slightly esoteric ad that, due to its being so different then other ads, will get picked up by the media (like Mumbrella) so the ROI will come from the PR results.
22 Jul 10
1:46 pm
Interesting and in product messaging and as an idea it’s very strong as it’s true to its USP but here’s where it all goes wrong and as pointed out already a comms agency rather than a design agency would have taken that idea to the next level in customer satisfaction, interaction and reward. Once people land on the site, the campaign idea of; Life is too short could be pushed further to; saving time, here’s what others are doing or what would you like to do? Answer and win – they could have build a whole campaign that pulled people in to participate around that thought – missed opp but at least they had a go
22 Jul 10
5:26 pm
It’s a clever way to fail.
24 Jul 10
10:18 am
Hopeless. I looked at it 2 weeks ago and had no idea what it was for until I read this article. Now it has just annoyed me!
27 Jul 10
9:47 am
WOW – in a world where customer attention is scarce and hopefully valued it would be interesting to see how many customers shared and raved about that ad!
27 Jul 10
1:48 pm
Snoring. I wanted something like a tropical destination or at least something funny / engaging. Talk about not meeting consumer expectations.
28 Jul 10
3:08 pm
We live in age where blip verts are too long. Someone using the 12 times function on their Foxtel IQ have a greater recall of the ads in the breaks than the someone who sits thru the break. I would have throught if your premise was that lifes too short then speeding an ad up too 24x faster would have delivered a better result.
28 Jul 10
3:09 pm
Also can anyone who watched all the way through put aside their disappointment and remember who the ad was for.
29 Jul 10
5:22 pm
I thought it was clever initially and then disappointing. I saw the FPCs in the Herald and wsa curious so I googled Life is Too Short – only to watch a kettle boil and find out it’s a water system. Which I forgot the name of until I read it again in this post. Clever idea, pity it wasn’t for a travel company or something.
29 Jul 10
5:24 pm
Oh, and I also watched about 10 seconds then skipped to the end in case it got interesting. It didn’t.
2 Aug 10
3:43 pm
Fail…
10 Aug 10
4:59 pm
Claire, you missed a word.
MASSIVE Fail
10 Aug 10
5:10 pm
Zip Industries must be LTAO
10 Aug 10
5:27 pm
@Lisa, thanks, so I did!!! EPIC could also be used
10 Aug 10
8:12 pm
Well its certainly created some awareness for Billi – so job well done Steve, Kate et al…. R