-
Opinion | Features
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.
The experiential experience
Anyone can throw up a tent in a high-traffic area and harass the general public, but what does it take to pull off an effective experiential event? In a piece that first appeared in Encore, Matt Smith investigates.A television commercial can easily be muted and ignored, but try ignoring a purring, squirming cat in your arms. That was the experience awaiting passers by in Sydney’s Martin Place in October last year when Mars Petcare built Whiskas Kitten Palace.
The News Limited paywall isn't about revenue. It's about data
In this guest post, ninemsn’s editor in chief Hal Crawford argues Fairfax Media and News Limited’s new paywalls won’t draw much revenue, but will generate data. And they’re late to the data party.When I first learned that ninemsn’s major digital competitors Fairfax and News Ltd were going to introduce paywalls across their mainstream properties, I was excited.
Every obstacle thrown in the way of their audiences is an opportunity. People hate friction and anything that makes life difficult on a rival site is a chance to get them on yours.
Media Monitors launches new media value measure
Media Monitors has launched a new service which it claims will allow brands to measure their media and PR coverage online and in traditional media and work out its equivalent value in advertising dollars.
The service comes as part of a tie in with audience research organisation ComScore.
In a release, Media Monitors claimed the tool will “provide the region’s most comprehensive quantitative analysis tool for editorial content across all media types”.
It said it had developed “a measurement methodology that incorporates data on page impressions, unique visitors, content style, advertising rates, size, language scaling and placement to provide instantly comparable advertising space rates (ASR) across internet monitoring content.”
Gregg Amies, Media Monitors’ GM for Australia and New Zealand said: “Our clients will be receiving comprehensive and immediate ASR values across press, broadcast and internet, allowing full and consistent reporting of both campaign and ongoing media relations measurement.”
The announcement may trigger some debate as many PR pfressionals challenge whether advertising equivalent is a credible measure of media coverage for brands.
-
-
Email Newsletter
Latest Jobs- Art Director – Mid to Senior $80K Neg – Creative Advertising Agency
- PR COORDINATOR – IMMEDIATE START
- .Net Developer
- Freelance Mid Weight Digital Designers
- QA Tester
- Front End Developer- Clean usable code
- Account Executive / Senior Account Executive – Tech PR – Up to $65k
- Business Development Manager – Tech & B2B experience – $100-150k
- Client Services Manager, REF 8332
- Business Director/ Head of Digital
-
RSS
Comments
8 Jul 10
9:16 am
Oh dear. What wonderful innovation Media Monitors is bringing us.
Nobody with any credibilty, and hardly anybody without credibility, thinks AVE is a suitable measure of anything.
Wouldn’t it be better for Media Monitors to be focussing its efforts on measuring outcomes as a result of media coverage?
8 Jul 10
9:24 am
Agree with Matthew.
Why not look at developing a measurment service that truly reflects the impact and influence of media coverage.
AVE is no longer a valid measurement and the more people in the industry begin to devlop alternative means of measuring outcomes the better we will be. My experience, however, has shown clients still expect a dollar figure when reporting on results. It is just as much about educating clients that AVE is not the be all and end all of measuring outcomes.
8 Jul 10
9:25 am
Agree. AVEs are not the way
That being said am very intrigued to see the mechanics of how they measure online PR coverage in $$
8 Jul 10
9:29 am
Echoing Matt’s comments. All this does is highlight the disconnect between certain business functions and the wider business outcomes of clients/brands.
8 Jul 10
9:42 am
I remember telling my old boss that this was a dated and meaningless evaluation tool – in 1993. I had hoped we had moved on from this long ago.
There is nothing like the simplicity of a $ value created vs $ spend, is there?
8 Jul 10
9:54 am
AVE continues to be measurement tool because clients, particulalrly those not familar with other metrics, continue to demand it – its value has always been questionable, even when it was alledgedly fashionable.
The industry needs to continue to focus on educating clients in better methods of measurement – MediaMonitors wouldn’t have created this service without the expectation of demand for it, which must have, in part at least, come from agencies.
8 Jul 10
9:58 am
Good point on the clients demands. And education.
8 Jul 10
10:32 am
Would prefer MM to concentrate on keeping its contacts lists up to date.
8 Jul 10
10:48 am
The videos from MM staffers really help understand their methodology….
http://www.mediamonitors.com.a.....eports-asr
8 Jul 10
11:11 am
Agree with Ella! I think MM also needs to work on improving its clipping service.
8 Jul 10
11:47 am
PR is not advertising and should not be compared with it. Ad agencies don’t report their success in terms of PR equivalence, but what other measurement tool can provide results as ‘impressive’ as AVE? Also agree with Ella and Kiz, MM contact lists are SO out of date it’s a joke.
8 Jul 10
11:55 am
I’m the Product Director at Media Monitors, responsible for the recent release of our new metrics. We really welcome this debate.
Some points of clarification if I may. I think it is important to understand that Media Monitors does not use the term Advertising Value Equivalents, because it is not viable to equate the value of editorial content with advertising.
Our metric is an Advertising Space Rate (ASR) which is calculation of advertising space only, without qualitative elements such as tone or message. Our metric is based on advertising cost, space of coverage and relevant audiences. The intention of our product release is to allow clients to use these output metrics, such as audience data or ASR, in their reporting as they see fit.
Media Monitors does not believe that ASRs or AVEs are in any way a measurement of the value of public relations or communications, nor do they inform future strategy, which is what good outcome based measurement provides (which Media Monitors also provides). I fervently agree with all the above comments to that effect.
What is new with our service, and an industry first, is that we are able to provide a methodology across all media, allowing clients to benchmark their media coverage in a consistent manner. One of the key reasons for us to provide this enhanced service was the strong client demand for these metrics, especially for internet content.
Happy to take any further questions here, or on twitter @bpswalenz. We at Media Monitors would like to host an event on 22nd July (free drinks!) to continue the debate. Details TBC.
Cheers
Brendan
8 Jul 10
1:42 pm
No method is perfect. Whether you think it is accurate or not, in my experience dollar value or column inches is the most requested method of measurement in most consumer-facing PR.
Even if you think that it’s crude, when you are working on an overarching campaign involving marketing, advertising and PR, it is virtually the only way you can measure the sole impact of PR. If anyone has a client who is willing to invest money in post-campaign research to find out exactly how much awareness was raised due to PR only, then please contact me.
8 Jul 10
4:35 pm
It doesn’t help when fellow industry “professionals” conform to uneducated client demands instead of insisting on an appropriate way of reporting on the merits, value and impact of PR. Stand up for the profession…if you really believe in it and are confident of your ability
8 Jul 10
9:47 pm
Brendan. you’re putting lipstick on a pig. This is nothing but AVE’s renamed. It’s no different than VMS’s Weighted Media Cost. You are still equating PR to Advertising in total violations of the Barcelona Priniciples. What’s the point of getting a majority of people in the industry to agree to a standard and then the next month going out and announcing something that is in total contradition to those principles? I’m disappointed and disgusted.
9 Jul 10
11:12 am
The main problem here is that, while Media Monitors is good at providing press clips and summaries, they have almost zero media/PR professionals in their fold. They take a stab at developing products that have a chance of selling, but at the end of the day these are built around uneducated guesses. The latest offering is a perfect case in point: 1. can it be automatically built at the touch of a button? check! 2. can it be provided cheaply to the client, while still securing a profit? check! 3. Is it progressive, moving the industry forward with fresh ideas and innovation? who cares. Media Monitors has been pushing analysis services to their clients for the last decade, with little success. I know of no body who has bought any of their services twice – they should stick with what they know. Check out the video link provided by Ben – does this bloke honestly seem like he’s ever worked in PR, or is he a career academic???
9 Jul 10
12:26 pm
Brendan, just to clarify, you claim this service “will allow brands to measure their media and PR coverage online and in traditional media and work out its equivalent value in advertising dollars.” Then you turn around and say “Media Monitors does not believe that ASRs or AVEs are in any way a measurement of the value of public relations or communications”
What’s the point?
9 Jul 10
1:32 pm
free drinks!
9 Jul 10
1:59 pm
*sigh*
Much agreement with Matthew, Lani, Jye and others.
AVE and any other variant of qualitative measurement is not accurate nor is it representative of true success for a client. It’s a false economy of assumption that because it’s editorial means xx number of people read it and valued the message 3x higher than the same message in paid media.
Even if MM argue it’s not ‘like’ AVE, take the spin away and reveal the theory: it’s false economy and AVE.
Digital PR, MSM PR, social media etc etc have moved beyond this to proving value through direct results. It’s time MM and other providers understood that if you can’t provide a measurement service that attributes outputs with the bottom line, you’re doing a massive disservice to yourself and your client.
9 Jul 10
2:09 pm
Talk about a debate that goes around in circles.
Yes, we all know AVE etc.. is not an accurate representation of the value of PR, but try telling that to a client who has to justify their spend on PR to head honchos who care about $$$$$$$ and nothing else!
The unfortunate reality is that until a better system comes up, we’re stuck with it.
9 Jul 10
2:18 pm
“Brendan, you’re putting lipstick on a pig”
Katie, you’re a living legend.
9 Jul 10
2:21 pm
@Brendan, thanks for taking the time to respond and engage in this conversation.
I’m glad you too don’t think AVE is a suitable measure for PR, but I still struggle with your assertion around this being a tool to compare results across channels. In my mind this is still a poor measure. Like AVE, it relies on the value of advertising as the metric for measurement. It doesn’t take into account audience, message penetration, user reaction/behaviour as a result or indeed if the article is even positive or negative. It is a crude and in my mind a pointless measure.
Of course you wouldn’t have created this tool if there wasn’t demand for it, but in my perhaps too idealistic view, as a leader in this industry you should be taking a stand against this as a measurement device and focusing more on the qualitative measures you mention. Instead you will have your sales teams selling this as a good measure for PR effectiveness and marketing its availability.
9 Jul 10
2:43 pm
Hi Brendan
I’m a new media analyst. Am I missing something? I’ve been following the launch of ASR. I’m wondering, how do you differentiate real substantive news from mere brand mentions? Also, you said that the methodology calculates advertising space rate only and doesn’t include qualitative elements such as tone and message. So, am I right in thinking that this is purely quantitative? Are you treating positive and negative coverage equally? If the bottom line of this metric is only about dollar value, how valuable is this information to the clients?
9 Jul 10
3:03 pm
I’m with Trish – so long as demand is prevalent, then there will be services put into place in order to meet that demand. AVE-like services wouldn’t continue to be offered throughout the market if there weren’t demands from clients and managers asking for this sort of information!
Educating is all well and good but at the end of the day it boils down to demands and dollars.
9 Jul 10
4:49 pm
Hi all,
Thanks for the ongoing comments. I’ve written a response but it’s quite lengthy, so I’ve posted on our blog. The great thing is that people are so passionate about our industry, as am I.
http://bit.ly/aeWQb6
Cheers
Brendan
10 Jul 10
4:16 pm
Brendan
I’ve read your blog but I dont think your company can fence sit on this one. As you know I have run a successful media analysis company in New Zealand for years now. I have never know a client who can not be convinced that AVE is wildly optimistic at best and crook maths at worst. Who are these marketing and public relations professionals who are willing to swallow this Pollyanna view of the world. For example if you were to run the ruler over this blog (and some other views of it — lets say Katie Paine’s) what would the outcome be. My clients expect some critical analysis. They don’t expect me to say its all great or a crisis is a marketing opportunity. If it is a career ender for me, so be it. Analysts have to do some informed work.
16 Jul 10
12:25 am
Oh, the irony. How can anyone rely on AVE when no one is even clear on AV? Regardless of whether advertising and PR have equal impact (which they simply don’t).
19 Jul 10
3:44 pm
Hi all,
Thanks for the comments.
Details of our event can be found here: http://asrpanel.eventbrite.com/
Looking forward to the panel and discussion.
Deb
28 Jul 10
11:34 am
Hullo Again! I just wanted to let you know that Penny Rose from Marketing Elements posted a blog on her outtakes from our ASR discussion last week.
We’ve also included audio from the evening if you missed it.
http://bit.ly/a7UDix
Thanks!
28 Jul 10
3:15 pm
Brendan
Maybe media monitors should concentrate on actually having products that work suitably for those of us that actually work in PR, rather than creating products to fool corporates.
Here’s some examples:
- a media clipping service that actually works, and doesnt require clients to waste their valuable hours doing their own monitoring
- better priced video and audio clippings. Charging a non-profit $350 for a 60 second newsclip is ridiculous. I’ve had CEOs tell me they would rather illegally record their own clips than pay your prices.
- maybe a suitably priced monitoring service for PR agencies, so that they can see the value in using your service?
28 Jul 10
4:02 pm
Couldn’t agree more with Brendan. As one who works in corporate pr had a big announcement and needed the clips for the client first thing in the morning. Clips emailed – all good. Problem is MM missed the half page article in the AFR, our leading business daily!!
28 Jul 10
4:11 pm
Chris and Dave,
Thanks for letting us know your concerns.
If you like you can email me your details and I can call you to address your individual concerns further.
mm_au@mediamonitors.com.au
Thanks
Deb