Live blog: Friday, August 29
Welcome to Mumbrella’s live blog, our daily roundup of what’s happening in media and marketing.
Top stories:
- Mike Carlton pens first post-Fairfax column for Crikey
- TV ratings: Animal couples preferred to people in Thursday night tele
- Video advertising now dominant in digital spend as mobile surge continues
- Southern Cross Austereo shuffles entertainment management after Songl closure
- Dr Mumbo: Every dog has his day
- Dr Mumbo: You’ve done the best, now try the rest
12.44pm – AOL’s “digital prophet” has described Australia as a “mid sized audience” for its Huffington Post brand and said he does not understand why there is not more innovation going on here. Full story here.
11:29am – Consumer group Choice has launched a campaign against government plans to push for internet filters, as the piracy debate hots up.
10:39am – TV ratings are in, and it seems once again cute animals beat bitchy humans in the viewership takes, as Ten’s The Bachelor couldn’t compete with Oddest Animal Couples on Seven.
9:24am – The IAB has launched its latest media spend report and is claiming mobile is now worth more than magazines in ad spend, whilst FMCG brands are driving video spend
8:23am – Morning all, here’s what’s been happening overnight internationally:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FJUSftHfKY
Ad Week: David Fincher brings darkness and mystery to Gap’s Autumn campaign
For years, Gap’s ads—and its clothes—were all about bubbly, drenching color. But this fall, it’s time for a new look in both, as the brand has brought in David Fincher to drain the color, quite literally, from the TV work—and tell enigmatic stories in artful, cinematic black-and-white instead.
The story lines are brief and somewhat inscrutable snapshots of guys and girls pursuing each other—with off-kilter payoff lines like “Dress like no one’s watching,” “Simple clothes for you to complicate” and “The uniform of rebellion and conformity.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLn2Z3ghBMY
Ad Age: Bud Lite faces backlash over town takeover ad stunt.
Bud Light says it is “up for whatever,” but Crested Butte, Colorado might not be.
Some residents in the small mountain community are rebelling against secretive plans by Anheuser-Busch Inbev to take over their town for a giant party Sept. 5-7. The brewer hopes the stunt will culminate a summer-long national ad campaign and consumer contest.
The Guardian: Lidl to become more ‘British’ by ditching leafleting for TV ads
Lidl is to stop door-to-door deliveries of its traditional promotional leaflets as it switches to TV, social media and cinema advertising in a bid to broaden its customer base.
The brightly coloured missives publicising bargains on fitness kit in January, skiing gear in early winter and regular regional specials such as “Spanish week”, are to be confined to stores as Lidl turns to social media and broadcast advertising to spread its message.
“We’ve been really German in the way we are dropping leaflets through letter boxes saying ‘you have to read this and see our prices and come and shop’ … We needed to change to become more of a British retailer not just by what we offer and our quality and price perception but how we engage with our customers,” said Lidl’s Ronny Gottschlich, UK managing director, as he launched the £20m new marketing plan with a glamorous event at London’s Victoria & Albert Museum.
Campaign: Twitter launches learning hub for agencies
Starcom MediaVest Group (SMG), WPP and Omnicom have been the first to pilot the online resource, called Twitter Flight School.
The hub will teach agencies how to develop high-impact marketing campaigns for their clients, help them maximise their content on Twitter, as well as promote messages at the right time to their target audience.
Twitter has also tailored the content and created bite-size modules to address different agency roles and functions, including senior leadership, account planning and campaign management.
