Mumbo Report: Holden, Eastwood, Talcott & Marsh’s social media realism; In praise of Singo; Week’s top ads

In today’s Mumbo report from Studio 33:

  • Mumbrella Question Time – Why Y&R Brands’ Nigel Marsh doesn’t want to be Facebook friends with a cheeseburger; AANA chairman Joe Talcott on how social media offers less artificial insights than a focus group; PHD’s Mark Holden celebrates cynicism over social media; DDB’s Matt Eastwood on how mobile is becoming  the centre of media
  • The most played ads of the week
  • Max Markson on Singo

You can also subscribe to Mumbrella’s Mumbo Report YouTube channel

With the support of:

Mumbo Report: Holden, Eastwood, Talcott & Marshs social media realism; In praise of Singo; Weeks top ads Xtreme logo

The next Mumbrella Question Time takes place on November 26. For more information and to book, click here.

October 29th, 2009 at 12:39 pm

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Comments


  1. anon
    29 Oct 09
    2:08 pm

    2. These videos are extremely interesting and entertaining – why do they get so few views on YouTube?

  2. John Johnston
    29 Oct 09
    2:26 pm

    3. Yes but would ad execs be friends with a cheeseburger if it helped land a big burger chain account?

  3. surfspank
    29 Oct 09
    2:38 pm

    4. It’s interesting to see that it has taken over 2 years for educated marketers to still talk about social media like it is either a new shiny toy or a demon in a box. By now all of your clients should know what it is and how to use it and if they are still cynical about it then maybe it isn’t being marketed correctly to them.
    To add to what Matt Eastwood said regarding all of Mum 2.0 was online? Really Matt – what about the outdoor activity you did…………………………There is also nothing new about the call mum campaign – this is just a re-hash from what British Telecom ran in the mid 90′s using Bob Hoskins for the “it’s good to talk” campaign http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FIuDEjON_zw
    So maybe you could come up with some original material…………….I’m so happy that 30 seconds was produced as it may help some of the marketers out there get a bit part in 30 seconds?

  4. Granleese
    29 Oct 09
    2:57 pm

    5. Interesting that Nigel Marsh is fearful of mobile turning into junk mail when it is already more regulated than junk mail.

    Is he not aware that mobile marketing is opt-in only by law?

  5. Mike Watkins
    29 Oct 09
    3:09 pm

    6. Mr Marsh is an amazing ambassador for executive level Baby Boomer ignorance.

    Paraphrasing “I don’t really understand social media. I don’t understand how it is managing to slowly destroy the old existing media models that have lined my pockets for the past few decades. Because I don’t understand it, I’ll pull out one of the most cliched f*cking oneliners around to temporarily kill its credibility and get a few cheap laughs at this gig. In doing so im saving my own ass from the fact that I really have no idea how to constructively approach SM and am deep down shit scared of it”

    Also, in order for that ‘brand spokesman’ to have the chance to sit down next to Mr Marsh at the pub with his mates, Mr Marsh would have had to accepted him into his own personal network for him to even exist.

    Pages don’t fan you Mr Marsh, you fan them yourself – because you want to.

    God love it.

  6. surfspank
    29 Oct 09
    3:10 pm

    7. Yes it is however it doesn’t stop restaurants spamming you ;-)

  7. Warren Esdaile
    29 Oct 09
    4:30 pm

    8. Nigel’s example is appalling. First, he’s culturally insensitive to Australia – his example uses British meeting places. Do we call it a “curry house” Nigel? No, no we don’t. I’m pretty sure my 7 mates and I won’t be meeting for curry. Second, his cheeseburger joke is so wooden it’s just got to be scripted! I agree with Mike – he’s scared of it because he’s old school and old school is dying.

    I’m curious about Joe’s point. Does anyone use SM to see how people behave? I thought we should use it to be part of a conversation. Perhaps he still thinks that brands should launch campaigns (ie. tell and sell) and use SM as the new platform of interruption.

  8. Joe Talcott
    29 Oct 09
    10:09 pm

    9. Hi Warren
    Yes, many brands use social networks to see how people ‘behave’. By this, I mean they observe what people say, think, buy, sell, post, read, photograph and gossip about. Of course brands CAN use social networks to be part of the conversation, but like anyone in a conversation (2-way or more) they have be relevant and welcome. Because of that, social networks are not a great environment in which to simply ‘interrupt’.

  9. mumbrella
    1 Nov 09
    7:47 pm

    10. John, Mike & Warren…. being a tad tough on Nigel Marsh, aren’t you?

    For starters, he’s very clear that while the flippant example he quotes “being facebook friends with a cheeseburger” isn’t for him, he understands that it works for many consumers. Isn’t good marketing all about understanding what works, even if it’s not you as the target audience?

    And Warren, “culturally insensitive” – really? You take offense at someone using a British reference? Because I’ve got to warn you, you’re going to spend a lot of time being offended if you work in the ad or media industry in Australia. I don’t know if you’ve heard, but they’ve let some Brits in, and some of us are still honing our Australiana.

    I’d certainly be scared to meet you , just in case I accidentally called the lounge room a lounge, or failed to call flip flops thongs. God forbid I accidentally asked for a Penguin instead of a Tim Tam with my morning cuppa. (Dammit… am I allowed to say cuppa or is that “culturally insensitive” too?)

    For those of us who weren’t born here, it’s all very confusing…

    Cheers,

    Tim – Mumbrella

  10. Jen Bishop
    1 Nov 09
    7:52 pm

    11. Come on Tim, a Penguin and a Tim Tam cannot be compared. It’s taken a while but I am totally on the Tim Tam bandwagon. They’re so superior it’s not even funny. And I’m a Pom…

  11. Mike Watkins
    1 Nov 09
    8:48 pm

    12. Hey Tim,

    I have no issue with Mr Marsh’s comments regarding curry houses and the like. Im a kiwi and probably get more shit due to that specifc nationality than most Poms in Australia.

    It was more so about the flippant way he (in my opinion) wrote off social media.

    Its comments and attitudes like that, from influential and respected figures in the media/marketing industry that lend weight to the stigmatism of ‘social media is nothing more than a gimmick and shouldn’t really be taken seriously’.

    As the stigmatism grows, larger amounts of marketing execs/managers feel more comfortable writing social media off as just a fad and become blind to the real benefits.

    The flow on effect is that businesses allocate less (or no) budget to the SM space in Australia, effectively strangling this section of the industry alltogether, without even giving it a real chance to prove itself.

    I’ve never met Mr Marsh and would welcome the chance to chat with him if such an opportunity ever presented itself – he’s been in the industry alot longer than I have and I would probably learn a great deal from such an experience.

    For me personally, it was the way he berated a section of the marketing industry that I personally spend the best part of 10-12 a day working in. The better half of those 10-12 hour days are spent trying to convince people not too disimilar to Mr Marsh of the benefits social media can bring to their clients brands.

    In order to convince these people, half the battle is removing the ‘cheeseburger’ stigma associated with social media, as that is often how they perceive it.

    Why do they perceive SM like that? Because the comments and attitudes exhibited above encourage that perception.

    Cheers,

    Mike Watkins