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Opinion | Features
Q&A with Adshel's Rob Atkinson
Online trading is the next big thing says Rob Atkinson in a piece that first appeared in Encore. Who is the most powerful person in Australian media and why?
Harold Mitchell because of his influence and the footprint he has left. He’s built a huge brand in Mitchells, offloaded it into Aegis, Aegis has obviously done extremely well to be then sold on to Dentsu. So if you think about it, he is very much a father figure of the industry.
Making it overseas
Is the best way of being successful in Australia not be here at all? In a feature that first appeared in Encore, Lee Zachariah speaks to Aussies making it big abroad.I always wanted to work in New York,” says Julian Cole. “I thought it was the number one place to work in advertising; a lot of the best campaigns were coming out of there. So I moved over and was lucky enough to have a couple of interviews in the first couple of weeks.”
Cole’s story is indicative of the somewhat contentious idea that the best way to be successful in Australia is to not be in Australia any more.
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.
Is CommsCon the new Vegemite renaming disaster? You tell us
So have we done an iSnack 2.0?
If you believe some of the comments following our story yesterday announcing CommsCon then perhaps so.
After we announced the event – which takes place in Sydney on March 14 – not everyone in the comment thread loved the name.
Spagoni asked: “Is it me, or does anyone else see that using the contractions Comms and Con in a conference name about PR just pleading with the world to smack them?”
The Internetz contributed: “Well spotted Spagoni! Too late for a rebrand? Maybe CommsMeet? CommuniCon? ConnectedComms 2013…brainstorm anyone!?”
Good Point added that CommsCon “sounds shifty”.
“Cous cous”, contributed Paul The Freelance Writer.
So, have we got it wrong?
Personally, I don’t think so. When the name was first suggested to me, I really liked it. So did most of our advisory board when we put it to them.
But I bet the good folk of Kraft thought they were on to a winner when they named Vegemite’s new product iSnack 2.0. And you’ll remember just how well that went.
Now clearly we shouldn’t necessarily be too swayed by a three or four comments from the internet. Criticism is always more likely than gushing praise when a name is okay.
And I’m also aware that if a new brand name is not utterly awful then it eventually takes on the attributes you invest in it rather than what you would first think. Mumbrella anyone?
But… We only announced the brand yesterday. We haven’t even finalised a logo. So it’s not too late to change.
So let’s ask the wider Mumbrella audience: Is CommsCon an acceptable name for an industry event and awards for PR and communications professionals?
So we’re going to run a poll of other possible names.
Now sometimes, it’s fun to hijack such polls and try and get everyone to vote for the most terrible name. That’s how NASA nearly ended up having to name a wing of the International Space Station after comedian Stephen Colbert. And remember Greenpeace’s whale Mr Splashy Pants? So to be clear… this isn’t actually democracy. Think of it as more of a consultation than a binding plebiscite.
I gather that some people who read Mumbrella are creative types. Some may even know a thing or two about branding. So we do want to know what you think. So you can have a vote in the poll, or indeed, suggest another name altogether in the comment thread.
The brief:
The event is for people working in the disciplines of: corporate communications, PR, publicity, media relations, internal communications, community management, social media.
Purpose: to create positive change, share knowledge, debate serious issues at a high level. It is highly specialised and intended for mid- to senior practitioners. Pitched somewhere between a workshop and a conference, the intention is an interactive series of sessions with an emphasis on discussion and audience involvement.
Topics to be covered at the event include:
- measurement
- social media and content
- the changing media landscape (journalist relations, the death of mass media changes etc)
- crisis communications in the SM landscape: live crisis simulation
It will be held annually, with the first event on March 14 in Sydney. Following the day’s conference, there will be an awards presentation.
So here’s the poll – it’ll be open for the next 24 hours. What say you?
Tim Burrowes
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Comments
17 Jan 13
12:19 pm
CommsCon only works if the logo is a scone with the hammer and sickle on it.
17 Jan 13
12:24 pm
CommuniCon kinda sounds like ‘unicorn’ – which then solves your logo issue.
17 Jan 13
12:34 pm
Just not ‘Con’ anywhere….not that.
17 Jan 13
12:50 pm
ConCommyConCon
17 Jan 13
12:52 pm
I thought it was something commbank was doing!
17 Jan 13
12:52 pm
Who would have voted for mumbrella at the time? Nobody? But it works. Pick and stick I say.
17 Jan 13
12:53 pm
Sounds like the name was developed by a bunch of branding folk rather than people from corporate comms, PR, internal comms etc…
17 Jan 13
12:55 pm
engageorDIE
17 Jan 13
12:55 pm
This story is just a con to promote the event with new content about a non-existent controversy. Very conniving, hopefully it doesn’t continue. Personally I will not be taking part in your contest.
17 Jan 13
12:55 pm
I say CommsCon but I hear Comicon. Maybe you need a superhero not a logo to go with this brand.
As for CommuniCon it brings back memories of catholic school.
Step right away from any urge to abbreviate.
17 Jan 13
12:58 pm
All I hear when I read it is Comic-Con – if Spiderman will be there then I will come.
17 Jan 13
12:58 pm
Dislike it, not punchy enough. Could refer to a bunch of telcos.
17 Jan 13
12:59 pm
Comms? I thought they were all hiding under the bed..
17 Jan 13
1:03 pm
Most of what we do is about creating, joining, or commenting on a conversation. I would be more inclined to go to, and think ti would be cooler, if it was called something like “The Conversation”
17 Jan 13
1:10 pm
Nominative determinism?
17 Jan 13
1:17 pm
If there is not a unicorn present on the logo then I’ll go full mental.
17 Jan 13
1:19 pm
I suppose calling a convention filled with communications/PR reps and community managers a “Decepti-Con” would be right out of the question?
17 Jan 13
1:23 pm
Lets have an offsite I say. We can go away for a few days, nut out our vision, mission, get really drunk and come up with the same stuff we went in with.
17 Jan 13
1:30 pm
I agree that the word ‘Con’ needs to be left out of this. Applaude the concept and look forward to attending but…the PR industry is already blamed as its own worst enemy at times so lets not feed it the PR critics quite so easily.
17 Jan 13
1:31 pm
CommShop. There, I said it.
17 Jan 13
1:38 pm
I thought it was something to do with the Commonwealth bank as well
17 Jan 13
1:40 pm
If there’s one thing I’ve learned during my years of marketing, it’s that surveying your target consumners on individual elements of your comms mix, including names, is a disaster – because a survey immediately puts respondents into ‘rational’ mode, and can never capture how the name will be used.
I still think ‘iSnack 2.0′ was brilliant and shame on Kraft for not having the imagination or the guts to persist. Where’s ‘Cheesymite’ today? Is it still on the shelves?
When MLA first used Sam Kekovich, an agency came to us and said they’d proposed him for a similar concept, but it bombed in research and the client killed it. Of course it would have bombed! So the mesage is clear – be brave and back inspired ideas. And don’t let the rationalists derail you.
17 Jan 13
1:45 pm
The Commfrence.
17 Jan 13
1:47 pm
I like the name. Don’t understand the uproar.
17 Jan 13
1:47 pm
There’s a process that we go through when developing brands/names – i am sure this is known to the group. Developing brands isn’t a guessing game around a table. It seems this is what’s happend which is why it’s so awful. What a great opportunity – missed. Too late you cry. Never. Fix it or wither. What does the brand stand for? As a PR of many years i really hope you can do better than this.
17 Jan 13
2:02 pm
The inclusion of ‘con’ perhaps lends itself to an undesirable connotation and may be too close to the bone
17 Jan 13
2:22 pm
PRom. Afterall, isn’t it just a big show for all the pretty people that did a BBus at uni?
17 Jan 13
2:32 pm
Just about every channel in the world is now delivered to the consumer via something starting with an ‘i’ so just call the bloody thing iMeet. In the ’00s it would have been eMeet so who knows what the future holds.
17 Jan 13
2:45 pm
Call it PRaaaahhhCon.
Have posh girls with over the top hair sweeps and killer heels greeting you when you arrive.
17 Jan 13
2:51 pm
@ Paul the Freelance Writer – Are you the melbourne Paul? The one that perhaps worked around 2006 at M&C (not Taylor)?
If so, wrightoff will mean something to you…TauN.
17 Jan 13
3:04 pm
CommsUnity
17 Jan 13
3:08 pm
How about ProCom13?
Unless someone else has it.
* pro = for/in favor of/positive
* pro = professional
* pr = public relations
*com = communications
Dumps ‘con’ which although having an element of truth and transparency is a step too far to my mind, and invites a lot of unneeded negative reaction. Plus it’s a redundant addition to what should be short and snappy, and limits the event to being a ‘con’ ference or ‘con’ vention when it should be much more.
Procom is simple, can be pronounced and spelled [spelt] correctly and more easily – all of which signify professional communications and PR [unless you want something deliberately evasive, obscure and not possibly honest].
17 Jan 13
3:37 pm
Christ Almighty, Bob, you’re not in the next office AGAIN, are you?
17 Jan 13
3:38 pm
Comm One Comm All?
17 Jan 13
3:47 pm
Not again my friend, but probably not far. Back down St Kilda road…
17 Jan 13
4:00 pm
COMMSFRENCE
17 Jan 13
4:01 pm
@ David Thomason
If there’s one thing I’ve learned during my years of marketing, it’s to spell consumers correctly. – Sorry, I am just having a play wid ya!
I like the suggestion by Jack Bruce (comment 14): “The Conversation” – fits perfectly, sounds professional and people will want to join it…
17 Jan 13
4:16 pm
I really thought it’s something Commonwealth bank is behind from the headline…
17 Jan 13
4:26 pm
I’m with @FourPeas
17 Jan 13
4:54 pm
what about CC?
17 Jan 13
5:04 pm
Communications Utilising New Trends – or its acronym.
17 Jan 13
5:26 pm
Joe McCarthy versus the CommiCons. I’d go and see that.
17 Jan 13
5:31 pm
I’m so very sorry. I only just made a passing comment and now I’ve inadvertently unleashed a shit storm. I especially loved the Four Peas conspiracy theory. Its like some grassy knoll in conference-land.
I’ve now got a better idea. How about we come up with a really contemporary moniker that reflects where this conversation has landed.
I’ve got it.
Lets call it Silicon!
17 Jan 13
7:11 pm
The Festival should be called LoveToLoveYouBaby (The lock-up device in the logo should include the shorthand version, L2-LUB-FEST). And each “interactive session” should end with a series of hugs among the participants, where everyone repeats the mantra: LoveToLoveYouBaby.
Or hang on, maybe we should shorten this name as it seems a bit convoluted now. How about LoveFest?
17 Jan 13
11:39 pm
CPR.
17 Jan 13
11:39 pm
Project C? CPlus? Or C Org, but the Scientologists might hunt you down…
18 Jan 13
1:16 am
PRICS
= PR Industry and CommS
18 Jan 13
1:31 am
@Dave Pro also = prostitute and 13 makes me think of the teenage or unlucky variety rather than the year. Com doesn’t mean anything in the absence of the second m, except .com
ProCom13 = website for teenage prostitutes?!
18 Jan 13
8:56 am
Agree with 23 – The Commf(e)rence – brilliant.
18 Jan 13
11:56 am
<3 Comms
Tag line could be:
"Because you <3 comm's"
18 Jan 13
2:40 pm
MumComm.
18 Jan 13
3:20 pm
@ Mike #47, hahahaha, thanks for the Friday giggle!
19 Jan 13
12:10 pm
Who gives a flying fuck?
21 Jan 13
11:30 am
I’m OK with STET name.
I suggested “SexpoCom” in the survey to get cheap hits, but also I’d go for “mUmBLES”. Or “mUmBLING” – ties it in with the mothership (mUmSHIP).
“Can-and-string”; “ListenUP”, “Path to Enlightenment” all possibles…
21 Jan 13
12:30 pm
@EE #48
That’s a real stretch of the imagination.
Most people wouldn’t expect 13 yo prostitutes to be holding a conference.
Someone better tell all the organizations and towns that have a PRO staffer!
On the other hand, ! appreciate your blunt honesty about how PR people may be perceived.
22 Jan 13
2:38 pm
@Dave
Now you’ve opened that can of worms…
“PR” has a particulat meaning in the medical world.
22 Jan 13
3:38 pm
@John #56
I bite my tongue.
I assume this is a family friendly discussion.
I’m sticking with ProCom13 for 2013, ProCom14 for next year.
In deference to the sensibilities of EE #48, I suppose it could be ProCom13AO to avoid problems with potential under age attendees.
Until ProCom18 that is.
24 Jan 13
11:26 am
CommuniConCarne?
Mmmm, now I’m hungry…
24 Jan 13
1:26 pm
$1000 for the consultancy and I retain ownership of the name,
Ok
25 Jan 13
2:07 pm
How about Commdon?
25 Jan 13
6:44 pm
I think it could be Can-U-Comm – clearly, many people get it wrong, so if the conference is about education and best practice, this title suggests you will be able to assess yourself at the end of it. BTW, I have had two glasses of wine and nothing to eat, so if this idea is shit, that’s my excuse!
29 Jan 13
5:23 pm
Actually isnack 2.0 was not the top choice that bubbled up when KRAFT crowd sourced. Some smarties at KRAFT ignored the crowd and went with another name. Then the tribe spoke!
12 Feb 13
2:42 pm
Please – Communicon. With this http://trollable.com/i-wish-i-was-a-unicorn-8058/