-
Opinion
Video: How to win new business
Mumbrella Question Time saw the panel asked the secrets of winning new business. Read more »
Let’s stop the anonymous vitriol
In this guest posting, Peter Bray, boss of The Brand Shop, takes issue with negative comments from anonymous posters on Mumbrella and elsewhere.
There are very few ads that I vehemently dislike. There are also very few ads that I really love. But most ads I see on Mumbrella and other blogs I can usually take something from, whether it is information about the brand, a bit of inspiration or a “watch out”. I’m open to learning as much as I can from others, and encourage those around me to do the same.
My basic assumption, however, is that because an ad has been produced by a professional agency, and had the approval from the client, then the end result must be doing something right. Therefore, without knowing the practical rationale behind the ad, for me to have a strong opinion about whether it is great advertising would be kind of arrogant. There is a reason that awards shows ask for information about why an ad was created: they are rarely judged on end product alone.
So as someone who enjoys watching the work that our industry creates, I am stunned at the level of vitriol stemming from some people’s comments in both this blog and others. Read more »
Read his lips
This is several weeks old, but worth a look. It’s certainly an original way to deal with media criticism.It features Air NZ boss Rob Fyfe responding to weekly current affairs magazine The Listener using the medium of sign language. Read more »
Let’s not be too positive just yet – the nail is still there
It’s more than a year since News Ltd’s marketing boss Joe Talcott used the memorable analogy of a dog whimpering on a nail to describe the structural change the industry needs to go through. Read more »
The AdNews numbers that mislead the market
It’s always a tad tawdry when competitors attack each other, but I hope you’ll bear with me…
Whether cynically or through incompetence, AdNews has been misleading its advertisers by providing them with data that seems to suggest they have six times their true online audience.
Allow me to present the evidence. Read more »
Technology will help us own the agenda – all day, every day
In this opening speech to the Future Forum of the Newspaper Publishers Association, News Ltd CEO John Hartigan argued that news organisations have the opportunity to become more rather than less relevant.
Today I want to talk about a tipping point that heralds the most exciting era for journalism. The most exciting era ever.
This tipping point is already upon us. It has arrived at lightning speed, with the explosion in demand for mobile devices.
I am not consigning newspapers to the scrapheap. Not by a long shot.
But this tipping point is going to change journalism forever. In my opinion, very much for the better. Read more »
The real time shit sandwich detector
In this guest post, Clive Burcham of The Conscience Organisation, relishes the instant feedback of social media.
I’ve been making brand driven content since 1996 and often I’ve been so close to the work that I couldn’t tell the difference between if we were chomping on a shit sandwich or savouring the crème de la creme. From an audience perspective, we wouldn’t know the difference for weeks or months. What excites me most now is that we know within 24 hours if we’ve developed shit or cream. Read more »
SMH shows how to make a home page takeover work
When you’re a commercial organisation, balancing the needs of consumers with the need to make money through ads is tricky.
Among the organisations that sometimes goes the wrong way in my view is Fairfax, with its autostart video ads, for instance.
But today, a bit of unreserved praise Read more »
Inside the Foxtel factory
Having been at the launch of Foxtel’s new season the other night, nine points occur… Read more »
ABC News 24 – a handy service for niche journalists
It may not have many viewers yet, but ABC News 24 saves specialist journos having to leave their desks, argues Delimiter’s Renai LeMay
When media commentators discuss the future of journalism, they usually agree on at least one thing: It will involve much fewer generalists and more reporters dedicated to exhaustively covering niche fields. Read more »
The seven ages of Carlton Draught’s Made From Beer
Today sees the launch of “Slow Mo”, the latest instalment of Carlton Draught’s irreverent Made From Beer series.
It’s been quite a run – from the highly awarded Big Ad, to the comedy of Flash Beer, to the debacle of the abortive banned Tingle campaign. These are the seven ages of Made From Beer… Read more »
Real consumers don’t have ‘brand conversations’. They use search
In this guest posting, Simon van Wyk argues that much as marketers might wish otherwise, most consumers don’t have emotional connections with brands
I have a background in marketing, but my understanding of branding seems at odds with the 2010 opinions I see from social media commentators, marketing and advertising agencies. Read more »
Hot, censoring atheists: Google’s insight into what punters think about pollies and journos
One of the charms of Google is autocomplete, where it takes a punt on what you’re going to ask, based on what the rest of the world has been wondering previously.
And it certainly gives a few insights into the high quality of political debate about the Labor leaders in the run up to the election.
Take NSW premiere Kristina Keneally… Read more »
The copyright-busting election
This is rapidly turning into the copyright-infringing election. Read more »
Digital Fail: The gaping void in digital training is failing our industry
In this guest post, Amnesia Razorfish’s Iain McDonald warns that the industry has fallen badly behind on digital training.
Before I get accused of trolling with that headline, I’ll state what I think is obvious: The current education system isn’t producing or nurturing enough ‘digitally skilled’ individuals to sustain a growing a digital economy. Read more »
Latest CommBank ad focuses on promises kept
Commonwealth Bank has released the next in its new series of stylised black and white ads.
The new campaign marks a change of direction from agency Goodby Silverstein & Partners after the previous work involving a comically inept American ad agency.
CommBank has also uploaded a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the ads:
(Hat-tip: @karalee_)
June 30th, 2010 at 12:37 pm
-
Follow Us
-
Email Newsletter
Latest Jobs- Junior Producer - Sydney
- Senior E-commerce Marketing Specialist – Travel sector - Sydney
- Product Manager - Online Media Company - Sydney
- Marketing Executive - global technology company - Sydney
- 1192 Account Director, Melbourne - Melbourne
- Communications Strategist - Sydney
- Brand Strategist - Sydney or Melbourne
- Senior Account Manager, Sports Marketing - Sydney
- Graduate Analyst - Digital Media, $35,000 to $50,000 depending on experience - Sydney
- Head of Content & Ideation - Sydney, NSW, Australia
Comments
30 Jun 10
12:59 pm
Why why WHY do commonwealth bank creatives continue to weave in as much self-referential crap as possible into their TVCs? first we had the appauling “Crazy US Ad Agency” creative, and now we need to sit through an ego-stroking voice over talking us through the bloody run sheet for the ad!!! “Now the Themline, Now the logo”…biring, self centric and irrelevant.
Comm Bank Creatives: get your hand off it. Stop with the self-congratulatory crud and start making ads that aren’t about you.
30 Jun 10
1:12 pm
It’s these damn Americans and their damn kids promoting the wrong kind of advertising. We were once a good breed in Australia, bur obviously Australian agencies aren’t good enough!
Needs more cowbell.
30 Jun 10
1:40 pm
Yeah… we’re in a drought Commonwealth dudes.
30 Jun 10
2:01 pm
The voiceover is almost sinister. Which is probably about right for a bank.
30 Jun 10
2:12 pm
Let’s not underestimate their determination to be different: they got Jean-Pierre Jeunet to film the ad for an Australian bank in a location that looks like a gated community outside LA. That’s pretty determined to be different.
Pick a famous film director, an abstract theme that excudes the coolness of the famous film director, a VO to shoe-horn in the core messages and call it a bank ad.
Can I have a go? Can I?
George Miller directs; happy housewife wants to buy expensive fish food for little Simone, but there are too few coins in her purse, talking animals save the day. The cool cats and wise owls represent bank staff, saying other banks charge too much for too many electronic transactions, but CBA helps you look after the dollars and cents…
Your turn!
30 Jun 10
2:23 pm
Enough with the meta-advertising references in your ads. Please.
It’s condescending of GS&P, and kind of like giving trinkets and baubles to the indians.
30 Jun 10
3:06 pm
it’s a welcome move away from those “Crazy US Ad Agency” ads
30 Jun 10
3:11 pm
Oh please! You seriously have to be kidding me with this ad. For a long time now I’ve heard how bank ads (for example our good friend bank manager for ANZ) are so off the mark because they are completely unrealistic and paint no picture of what the service is really like, let alone the overall experience with banks and their employees and offerings.
This is by far the worst. There is absolutely nothing sincere about this campaign, and the way they have tried to highlight how they will always be there for their customers, is bottom-line pathetic. At least those American agency ad’s very cringe-like funny (even though it reminded me of The Office). This fails to emotionally appeal and engage completely! Epic Fail in the words of my generation!
30 Jun 10
3:14 pm
I don’t hate this.
30 Jun 10
3:23 pm
I can hardly bring myself to write anything about this expensive waste of money, they should have just given the whole budget away in community grants! The Comm bank continues to have absolutely nothing in common with the average Australian, maybe something to do with the American brains (term used loosely) that have no idea about Australia or Australians. Only one person should go down for this, that Marketing Director at Commbank who jerked himself into appointing a US ad agency. One man, one massive misguided trip! And it continues!
30 Jun 10
3:36 pm
Is the voice-over Tiriel Mora – Dennis Denuto from The Castle?
If so, I can’t wait for Series 3 from GS&P in which they employ Working Dog for the “F***ing Photocopier” TVC. Suffer in your jocks all you other banks!
30 Jun 10
3:54 pm
agree about the watering the garden, but atleast their ads are diffferint and we are talking about them – isn’t that what advertising is about?
30 Jun 10
3:57 pm
I’ll probably get shot to shit for this, but I quite like these. There’s nothing crazy about them, there’s no ‘wham bam give me your business man!!’ kind of punch in the face and they’re, well…. cute.
Sure I could knock them, and say ‘oh I would have done X’ or ‘Why can’t they do Y’ but forget that, I like them for what they are.
A refreshing little break from the everyday banking ad, that focuses on a few key things – great service, work in the community etc.
And for everyone worrying about an it being an American agency: really, that’s your biggest gripe? That means no one here has any desire to work with American brands, because they’d have to stay with American agencies right?
30 Jun 10
3:57 pm
no
30 Jun 10
4:00 pm
this is just such junk…even worse than those annoying american ad wankers.////…and what’s with this obsession to drop in references to ‘insert logo’ here..it’s just pathetic…im a CBA customer and they certainly aren’t different and these ads just annoy the hell out of me…Goodby FAIL
30 Jun 10
4:20 pm
The voiceover is creepy.
I see the pitch that Goodby made with the concept would have went something like their old “ad agency” ads – “how about this? We read everything on the script except the dialogue?”….. really?
30 Jun 10
4:35 pm
This is a piece of self-indulgent work. Only ad people would get all the references and cues in the ad – they obviously had their most important ‘target audience’ in mind.
@BigMal – if people are saying the ad is ‘different’ – i don’t think that’s what advertising is about. Advertising is a lot more that the given ‘build awareness/recall’ objective….
30 Jun 10
4:46 pm
Big Mal. If you honestly believe that advertising is all about getting noticed then you are an idiot. More often than not, a simple truth told well and relevantly, like Bunnings does every day for one, is all that’s needed to make great advertising. No doubt in your world Bunnings ads are just crap. So, for all those people wondering why clients are finding agencies less and less relevant, look no further than Big Mal.
30 Jun 10
5:16 pm
I thought the first ones were mildly funny but these are funnier.
30 Jun 10
5:18 pm
I love the behind the scenes – all that equipment and crew for a TVC? I would agree that the money could be better used to sponsor the children’s charity and EMPLOY more staff so they actually deliver on their service promises.
Then let the customers do the work and use social media to describe their good experiences. Nothing puts me off more than standing in a queue in the bank whilst being bombarded with their commercials telling me how good their service is.
Get real guys – TVCs are dying – social media is where it’s at
30 Jun 10
5:30 pm
… and in the shadows of the winning post, David makes a lunge at the line to overtake Big Mal for the most inane comment. It’s too close too call … the stewards are going for the photo … it’s a dead heat!
Talkability about an ad is one mere component, as is social media for an advertising campaign. Lift your eyes lads and try to see the whole picture!
30 Jun 10
5:36 pm
I’m intrigued by the consumer insight that led to this execution.
Do people want to talk to their bank? Or would they rather avoid it like the plague? Why are they waiting for the bank to call back in the first place? Most often, to complain about something or get a loan approved? And why can’t the bank take the customer call when THEY call at a time convenient to them? Should I, as a bank customer, feel special because they took the time to call me back? Or does this reinforce to me that the banks are somehow ‘above’ truly competing for my business or offering me genuine service?
I’m just sayin…..
30 Jun 10
5:57 pm
@John Grono…
Pretty sure that despite the fact people are watching more TV for longer it is actually already a dead medium… Listen to David, I’m pretty sure he is a genius.
30 Jun 10
6:17 pm
Good point Joel. Increased usage = death throes that lead to having the shroud completely pulled up over the rotting corpse.
Re your second point, David is probably pretty sure of that as well.
30 Jun 10
7:15 pm
Commbank are having a laugh aren’t they?!
There is a drought in Melbourne, however Commbank dont care about that.
The talk of logo’s? Is this an ad for the bank or the agency?
I am totally confused and from my experience with Commbank it doesnt matter how good your ad’s are my experience and service is what is important, or and what rate you can offer me and for that I have taken my business elsewhere.
H’mmm what will make me want to bank my funds elsewhere? A lady in a garden with a hosepipe?
30 Jun 10
8:18 pm
Hey Dave that’s why Nike and the worlds biggest brands plonk all their money into tv, cause it’s dying. The most watched event in the world is on tv but I rekon next year they’ll be showing the world cup just on facebook and Twitter as updates. Because tv is dying.
30 Jun 10
8:33 pm
Sorry that should be next time, not next year. But same goes with every sporting event on the globe which is televised.
1 Jul 10
12:42 am
I thought it was cute and adorable. A little exaggerated but that’s part of its charm.
Don’t get me wrong. I love ads, I just don’t like them interfering with my shows.
But I agree that TV is definitely dying. I find it more convenient to watch online because there are no ads interfering with the program. The bad part of it is I see less and less advertising
1 Jul 10
10:01 am
I preer these to those supposed ‘comical’ american ad, at least they’re pretty but not sure like the ANZ they do actually deliver….
But they do use facts in the ads to back up claims but like @Planner-er would love to know where the customer insight came for these ads.
1 Jul 10
10:38 am
idiots. they should have done a social media campaign that democratised the idea of using ATMs and allowed users to share images of themselves in branches and gave the bank managers twitter accounts and then spent all the ATL budget on like button ads on facebook. and crowdsourcing, can’t forget the crowdsourcing.
would have sold way more homeloans and credit cards. feel the synergies.
tv isn’t dying it’s dead. that’s why people spend 4 hours a night watching it, because they like to celebrate the fact it’s dead and invest time around mocking its irrelevance whilst watching it but at the same time using social media to truly engage in dialogue and conversations with their favourite surface cleaning brands and toilet paper. and crowdsourcing.
1 Jul 10
10:44 am
*** applause *** well said value guy
1 Jul 10
10:58 am
Please shut this blog down now. People start talking crap! It was about the bloody ads after all!
1 Jul 10
11:38 am
Classic post Value guy
1 Jul 10
12:08 pm
I Heart Value Guy.
If i hear “crate engaging content and deliver social media virility” for a bloody dull-as-dishwater FMCG brand one more time i’ll throw myself off the Harbour bridge.
1 Jul 10
1:26 pm
I needed a dishwasher appliance for my kitchen. I Googled “Dishwashers” and I visited some product comparison sites.
I scanned and noted any trends where various sites rated a certaibn machine as the best and narrowed it down to 1 distinct winner.
I then went out to a few retainlers to see what their best price was and also explored online.
I took a similar approach when I was looking for a savings account and a my homeloan…
A marketing mix is important and if people are watching TV and you can afford to, get in fornt of them
Online / digital is certainly a place where you MUST be and other mediums are beggining to bolt on to this hub and not the other way around…
Again I do not think TV is dead. It is certainly being tested though because it is so expensive to create the advert, let alone buy the space(.)
1 Jul 10
1:28 pm
B*gger
‘certain’ and ‘retailers’…
1 Jul 10
1:40 pm
Good one value guy.
1 Jul 10
1:52 pm
Nice one value guy, if you’re going to be mocking/critical, at least it should be funny
1 Jul 10
4:20 pm
… more and more likely, you’ll be watching the next World cup on your TV via the internet with live feeds, your personal control of camera angles, live interaction with friends and sports betting on the fly all at the same time.
The first to the space will win, Bigpond, Virgin in the UK ar already on the way there now.
That is the sound of inevitability.
1 Jul 10
5:06 pm
I received a call once from the Commonwealth Bank… It was the teller, asking me how my experience was, and if I got the information on the other accounts I was after… all the while she was removing $750 from my account… Aaaah CBA… you little scamps.
1 Jul 10
5:17 pm
Ironic isn’t it. FIFA can’t even get a video replay to see whether the ball has crossed the line, but by the next World Cup there will be some interactivty for some (but certainly not all) TV broadcasts.
And bugger me dead if the Commbank didn’t contact my wife and say we can offer you an extra 1.5% interest on your online saver account until the end of July. First reaction was … what’s the catch? The PDS shows there isn’t a catch … as far as we can see. It’s a nice unexpected loyalty bonus … but like all banks there is still the lingering doubt that same way or other that additional income will be clawed back by some fee somehow. So – they jury is out.
1 Jul 10
5:50 pm
I love the “making of …” clip – it has great production values, tight editing, intriguing cut-aways. I wonder if there will be a “making of the making of …”?
1 Jul 10
5:56 pm
@ @Herald Sun Reader
yeah, that was my point I was being sarcastic.
As long as there is sport, TV will win and I don’t reckon sport is going away anytime soon.
We’ll always need TV ads.
1 Jul 10
5:57 pm
Oh and besides, there won’t be coverage if brands can’t buy a spot. So unless Channel 7 get to host every sporting event on earth and litter every second with shameless product placements then we’ll most likely have to cut to a 30 sec spot.
2 Jul 10
10:32 am
Insert “FAIL” here…..
6 Jul 10
9:26 am
This is quite possibly the worst ad I’ve seen in 10 years. Pathetic creative idea with a proposition which isn’t beleivable to anybody who actually ‘lives’ in Australia. Well done Goodby Silverstein & Partners another piece of badvertising.
Steve.
6 Jul 10
12:03 pm
Is the voiceover the same guy who did the AIDS ads in the 1980s?
Sounds like him. Scary.
“Always use a condom”
7 Jul 10
6:27 pm
Nice ad for the agency. For the bank though, not at all credible and not at all believable. Good to see CBA investing their money wisely!
7 Jul 10
9:37 pm
this will not translate into any form of customer acquisition or market share penetration for this bank
9 Jul 10
7:21 pm
My 7 year old daughter had this to say.. “Daddy why is this ad black and white and why is it stupid?” Laughed so hard I had to sit down..
16 Jul 10
12:30 am
on the cost of an advert…. what ever the ad agency quotes the actual crew costs are probably no more than $100-150k a day. by that we are talking a film crew, grips, gaffers etc. There are so many variables you can never really give a set price although you could just buy a copy of the production book and get quotes from crew directly to keep an eye on your agency and it’s fees.
Although who is the chick in the torn jeans with a radio more importantly what does she do?
The days of the agency gouging the client should be dead and buried by now and the next producer who thinks he can skim another 5% off my rate by telling me he will pay me in 5 days or less will be leaving in an ambulance.
As for the advert? Arty, over the top and totally missing the point, Barabara is more of the real bank attitude we deal with should anything go wrong.
I bank with another bank they are doing ok. Commonwealth… I cut loose from them years ago like Telstra.
I want real customer service. Real people answering the telephone not a computerised phone system but a real human who speaks English as their native language not a learned language. Bit like AAMI.
16 Jul 10
12:21 pm
Your daughter nailed it Ron.
27 Jul 10
2:42 am
These ads remind me of the trailers for a horror movie. Some weird Japanese horror movie.
I’ve seen this movie. I think there is a girl, she’s dead and trapped down a well.
People that watch these ads will receive a telephone call late at night and strange voice over artist will say ‘you will die in seven days’.
The only way not do die is to get someone else to watch them.
It’s what they call ‘viral marketing’.
And it’s the only thing that’s going to get people to watch these things.
If you have watched these ads and if you want to live, send the link to someone you hate. Maybe someone in advertising.
X
Lavinia.