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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.
Large earthquake, no-one local hurt
A list of stories run in today’s Sydney Daily Telegraph further forward than its coverage of the hundreds of thousands dead in Haiti:
- Confirmation Dannii Minogue is pregnant
- What Prince William will have for lunch in Sydney next week
- Stuffed koala goes on display at Melbourne Museum
- The price of avocados
- Man working on Sydney Festival once met Grace Jones
- Mugged policewoman’s hand is better
- Turtles seen off NSW coast
- Nice garden in Newtown
- Tree hunger strike ends
- Police concerns over drinking on Australia Day
- VB’s decline
- Jessica Watson’s yacht trip
- Missing canyoners
- Potential cricket disruptions in India
- Christmas Island detention centre overcrowded
- Carjacking in Sydney
- Alleged murderer in court
- Police want crackdown on car chase criminals
- Avis refunds customers
- Firefighter’s commendation
- Pilot’s licence may be cancelled
- Baby boy reported missing
- Government urged to lock syringe dispensers
- Disabled kids disadvantaged
- Aussie soldiers in Afghanistan
- Councillors’ pay
- Councillor works from another state
- Airport parking
- Holden US tie-in
- Gas leak
- Boy feared drowned
- Cost of MP’s sacking
The Telegraph’s coverage (three half pages) of the Haiti disaster begins on page 18 after a teaser pic on page 7.
By contrast, the story dominates the front and back page of News Ltd stablemate The Australian’s main section and the front page of its second section too.
The Sydney Morning Herald also puts the story on its front page. The Australian Financial Review gives it six paragraphs on page 10.
Dr Mumbo would be intrigued to hear from newspaper readers elsewhere in the country on how it’s being covered.
January 14th, 2010 at 8:06 am
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Comments
14 Jan 10
8:27 am
This is an excellent piece of analysis and shows just how parochial the tabloid media can be. Unfortunately even the serious media in Australia can’t help but prioritise the “a handful of Aussies have not answered their phones” angle.
The UK media is so much better – focusing on the very real and enormous tragedy which should affect us all and not the narrow local angle. There is exactly one story on Google news referring to the lack of dead or missing Britons in Haiti, and that is from AFP.
14 Jan 10
8:28 am
P.S. Dannii Minogue is pregnant? I should really read the Tele more often!
14 Jan 10
8:40 am
Can I say “bunch of cocks” on this website? What a bunch of cocks!
14 Jan 10
8:55 am
I don’t know what’s more woeful than the actual tragedy in Haiti – the lack of coverage in the newspaper or that people actually pay money to read what DT defines as ‘news’
14 Jan 10
9:11 am
Hear hear!
14 Jan 10
9:12 am
At the end of the day, all the Tele editors are doing are giving their readers what they want.
No locals hurt, Haiti isn’t a tourist destination like a Phuket etc and most people don’t even know where it is. Hence – not a big issue.
Don’t believe me – check the Top 10 most read on the tele website
1. Cameraman hubby ditches Rahni
2. Hollywood star burnt his penis
3. Dannii Minogue is pregnant
4. Cops want Australia Day grog ban
5. New spin on Warnie’s break-up
6. Brave Jessica rounds Cape Horn
7. Is Ricky on the move
8. Kimmorley wants three more years
9. Michael Bisping’s diary: UFC in Sydney
10. Beach fun for billionaire baby
Just loving what editorial direction via pageview analysis is doing for journalism, as it means we are assured of only the very best content …
I’m sure we can all agree that the Internet over the last 15 years has improved our mastheads and their approach to covering what really matters tenfold.
14 Jan 10
9:49 am
This is hardly Mumbrella news worthy, and certainly not a surprise at all when you think of the highly localised nature of the Daily Tabloid.
14 Jan 10
9:54 am
Makes sense. There are two kinds of news readers and News already owns The Australian for those that care about world events. Particularly if they are looking to charge online for “Quality” news using The Australian’s masthead, what better way to drive the difference between the two services? If they ran with the same editorial standards, why pay for the Oz when you get the Tele for free……? If one heads for the AB demos and one heads for the suburbs, there’s a clear choice between your products therefore if you decide to charge for one, you can. If the editors seriously think their demo of readers would rather know what Prince William has for lunch than a tragedy killing thousands and thousands of people and they are right, then we clearly haven’t evolved as a society as far as I’d hoped.
14 Jan 10
10:46 am
This is pretty amazing, and yet kinda understandable too.
Do people want to be told about happy / entertainment stories – or – people they’ve never met devastated or killed by natural disasters. Most DT readers will want to read about the first one, but feel obliged to read the second.
I don’t think there was a lot of resources coming out of Haiti and maybe they thought they’d have a bet each way with the Aussie. I had a read of their A Plus section this morning and it was really well written about Haiti.
14 Jan 10
10:48 am
Just heard this on ABC Local Radio (don’t you love that tag, but that’s another story):
Incoming Presenter – “… the devastation in Haiti is terrible – although it only made page 12 of The West Australian.”
Outgoing Presenter – “Yes, very strange…”
So, we’re not the only ones who think it’s bizarre. Maybe it’s because there aren’t enough “good” pictures yet?
14 Jan 10
11:15 am
Madonna King’s summary on this morning’s Today was that the news out of Haiti was ‘heartwarming’ because an Australian aid worker phoned her concerned mother.
14 Jan 10
11:21 am
I’m guessing page 18 is the start of the “international news” section, no?
14 Jan 10
3:02 pm
The Fairfax online news sites – where video of Darren the Waving Goat outranks footage of the earthquake aftermath – aren’t much better. Still, it’s much more fun to bash the Tele.
15 Jan 10
11:59 am
I can guarantee your average daily telegraph reader has never heard of Hati, and would have no idea where its located, so why do a story on a country unless Aussie battlers, or diggers were injured or trapped there?.Its the most parochial jingoistic rag, based purley on tabloid trash, sleaze, and nationalism, thanks David Pemberton for contributing to the stupidity of this country.
15 Jan 10
12:15 pm
I am also disgusted with Madonna Kings interview on CH 9. She was elated when she spoke of the one aussie who’s alive while pictures of the horrors flicked across the TV. DISGUSTING
18 Jan 10
8:40 pm
Haiti is all very sad, a tragedy, a terrible disaster etc, but it’s an earthquake. All earthquake disasters follow exactly the same script and I’ve read about several dozen over the years now.
- There’s the initial sketchy reports where media guess at the death toll
- Then we get the “X country pledges X amount in aid”
- How can YOU help, donate here or here
- Death toll starts firming up a bit, earlier exagerations scaled back
- Aid not arriving fast enough
- Handful of Australians are dead / rescued / injured /missing
- Miracle survival tale after X days in the rubble
- No more expected to be rescued from rubble
- Aid not arriving fast enough (again)
- Final miracle survival tale
- Sad story of how many years it will take to recover
- Pledged aid hasn’t arrived
- Congratulations for returning rescue and medical teams
I’m not saying that this is any less of a tragedy, but it’s always the same script. I’m concerned but I’m simply not interested in saturation coverage.
And while this may sound like a cynical reader point of view, I can assure you the media view is even more cynical. The adore big disasters – the story is easy to fathom and the sales and hits are wonderful. The tsunami was the best Christmas the media ever had.
20 Jan 10
1:51 pm
Sad eh?
I guess that’s why we have the ABC and SBS … but hardly anyone watches them.
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