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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.
Junior Masterchef unveiled
Ten has unveiled the first look at its next version of ratings juggernaut Masterchef, giving viewers of last night’s final a sneak peak at Junior Masterchef.
Although Ten has not yet revealed an air date for the show which sees chef Anna Gare join the regular judges it is likely to follow the Commonwealth Games which run until mid-October.
Junior Masterchef is the second spin-off from Masterchef. Last year’s Celebrity Masterchef failed to capture audiences’ attention in the same way as the main show, although the final did average 1.3m.
July 26th, 2010 at 8:33 am
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Comments
26 Jul 10
9:22 am
Good way to tarnish a respectable brand.
26 Jul 10
9:26 am
I think it looks good, some of the stuff these kids cook are amazing!
26 Jul 10
9:30 am
Brilliant idea.
Watch Jamie Oliver’s TED speech.
A huge issue facing the lard-arse West is generations of families who don’t know how to cook. Masterchef’s broader mission is to change Australian perceptions about food and home cooking.
Masterchef has already excited Aussie kids about cooking. To include them, and show kids actually doing it, is a champion move.
It’s 100% on-brand and on-mission.
26 Jul 10
9:37 am
Saturation point officially achieved. No one cared about the celebrity spin off, and the same will apply for kids. You can’t exactly give the winner a restaurant or a job…
26 Jul 10
9:41 am
Speak for yourself James. Good on them for putting this on air. I will be watching, and in the off chance i don’t like it, then i will change channel. Simple really.
26 Jul 10
9:58 am
Definitely worth a watch – numerous reasons why this format should work but the idea of showing how kids can cook and excite both kids and adults about home cooking is a strong one that is worth a watch.
26 Jul 10
10:00 am
Have any of you ever seen the original UK Junior Masterchef? It was amazing viewing – the children (albeit often in a teeth-jarringly precocious manner) were incredibly talented chefs. They plated up meals barely different from the adult UK Masterchefs: essentially professional, restaurant fine-cuisine.
Though like the adult Masterchef, the Australia junior one will probably be dumbed down into more of a gameshow format.
26 Jul 10
10:06 am
See here for a UK Junior Masterchef:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-ERdhuOtlU#t=3m59s
26 Jul 10
10:18 am
I’ve a feeling this will find an audience.
As one of my friends put it when the trailer came on last night: “My ovaries have just exploded”…
Cheers,
Tim – Mumbrella
26 Jul 10
1:13 pm
Agree with Tim, this will find an audience.
I am keen to see how the product placements and marketing opportunities are leveraged. In the same theme as Tom’s comments above, the market growth and sales potential of activating kids to cook more and get involved in the weekly grocery basket choices I would expect to be highly profitable
Lets see how Coles and key suppliers take to it
26 Jul 10
1:31 pm
i wouldnt call it junior masterchef when they tell them the ingredients for an invention test , weeks before the challenge and have all the time to be trained and perfect dishes.
26 Jul 10
1:33 pm
I think its an awesome idea.. can’t wait to watch!!
26 Jul 10
1:41 pm
Can’t wait for this! Callum could go again, how old was he again?
26 Jul 10
1:48 pm
can’t wait to see matt preston throw some poor kid’s dish on the floor.
26 Jul 10
2:00 pm
I’m looking forward to it! I’m seeing ‘Smarter Than A Fifth Grader’ but with less Rove and more remoulade.
But I am an embarrassing #MasterChef tragic.
26 Jul 10
2:51 pm
At first I was like “Oh god noooo” thinking this will lead to a whole bunch of spoilt, fussy, precocious kids who will miss out on the simple joys of childhood eating.
And then I read Tom’s comment and was I like “That’s a damn fine point.” Watching the first ep of Jamie’s Food Revolution was a jaw dropper. He’s got his work cut out for him in heart-land USA. Anyone who is trying to educate people about food and cooking gets points from me.
Will be interesting to see what time slot they give it.
26 Jul 10
3:05 pm
To all the naysayers … yeah … we can’t have a show that either allows kids to express their creativity via cooking, or to learn new skills in the kitchen (which my generation never received) and then to celebrate their successes.
I say “bring it on” … these kids will be awesome and will put 99% of Mumbrella readers (starting with me) to shame.
I’m off to make a Vegemite sandwich and I’m liable to stuff it up!
26 Jul 10
4:31 pm
Looks great and I think it has the potentiel to outrate the original. Kids are a huge audience for mastechief and I can see no reason why it can fail.
27 Jul 10
10:29 am
I don’t remembber where I heard it or read it, but I heard that of the general MasterChef viewership, some 15% of them are kids. Does anyone have the actual statistic for it?
It’s a very savvy move – I work with kids, and was recently at a primary school talking to some schoolkids, when I was asked by the kids if I watched MasterChef. When I said ‘no, should I?’, all bar two of the 40 or so kids put their hand up and told me I should. It’s insane how many kids watch this show.
28 Jul 10
8:57 am
What a fabulous idea, my grand daughter just had her 7th birthday and it was a cooking party, icing cupcakes and then making there own pizzas. It has also introduced them to new food and getting them to eat vegetables cooked different ways. We don’t want obese children in Australia we want happy healthy children I say BRING IT ON!!
5 Aug 10
6:04 pm
I think that masterchef jnr is a great idea
5 Aug 10
7:36 pm
i think there should a wider age limit for i am 13 and wish i could have compented
8 Aug 10
6:57 pm
it sucks, they should have 14 year olds aswell
10 Aug 10
9:32 am
My niece made it onto this show, her name is Tya, and I was there for some of the filming that has been done.
Sally, these children aren’t given the recipe weeks before, there isn’t much difference between this and the original Masterchef.
These young children are amazing chefs, so talented.
Some of the things they do, even if I was given a recipe, I wouldn’t be able to do successfully.
It is brilliant. Cannot wait for it to air.
Anyone that wants to put down this show or the children involved needs to get a life.
Just because you didn’t make anything of yourself at 10 or 11, doesn’t mean you need to knock down people, children to be specific, who are out their trying and doing a mighty fine job.
10 Aug 10
10:44 am
Let me start bye saying my wife, daughter 8,Son 5, and I all watch Masterchef it is one of the very few TV shows that we all watch together when my kids seen this advertisement on the final they have not stoped bugging me to find out where and when it starts (how I ended up here)They have not stoped playing pretend Masterchef (very cute)I think this is a great idea for TV instead of the usual Hannah Montanna/Dora the explora crap this teaches kids real life skills.I cant wait and my kids are very pumped up awsome job Aussies! from Canada
13 Aug 10
8:08 pm
when does it start?