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Opinion | Features
Disclosure in Social Media: How transparent should bloggers be?
In this guest post, blogger and digital creative Laura McWhinnie argues for more disclosure in the bloggersphere.
The bloggersphere has always been a bit like the Wild West. Bloggers could post about products to their heart’s content without having to disclose their relationship with the brand. This meant that consumers had no idea who was behind the marketing messages influencing their purchasing decisions. But in 2009 that all changed
Liars, cheats and thieves
Is our industry full of cheats and liars or do people of honour who stand by their word still exist in business? In an article that first appeared in Encore, Cameron Boon investigates. The recent court case involving Paul Fishlock suing his former employer The Campaign Palace brought into focus more than just the struggle of one man. It highlighted that there are some in adland whose word cannot always be relied upon.
Q&A with Adshel's Rob Atkinson
Online trading is the next big thing says Rob Atkinson in a piece that first appeared in Encore. Who is the most powerful person in Australian media and why?
Harold Mitchell because of his influence and the footprint he has left. He’s built a huge brand in Mitchells, offloaded it into Aegis, Aegis has obviously done extremely well to be then sold on to Dentsu. So if you think about it, he is very much a father figure of the industry.
Making it overseas
Is the best way of being successful in Australia not be here at all? In a feature that first appeared in Encore, Lee Zachariah speaks to Aussies making it big abroad.I always wanted to work in New York,” says Julian Cole. “I thought it was the number one place to work in advertising; a lot of the best campaigns were coming out of there. So I moved over and was lucky enough to have a couple of interviews in the first couple of weeks.”
Cole’s story is indicative of the somewhat contentious idea that the best way to be successful in Australia is to not be in Australia any more.
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.
Nando’s gets tactical for Lady Gaga’s Sydney visit
Nando’s has launched a tactical press campaign to coincide with the performance of Lady Gaga in Sydney tonight.
The ad, which ran in mX newspaper, plays on the name of the singer and her new album, ‘Born this way’.
The campaign follows the restaurant chain’s tactical activity around the State of Origin final last week.
Nando’s marketing director Kim Russell told Mumbrella that an agency was used to create the ad, but she would not reveal its identity.
The Lady Gaga campaign marks Nando’s second attempt at tactical advertising since parting ways with agency of eight years, The Sphere Agency in May.
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Comments
13 Jul 11
4:07 pm
Is MX a magazine now?
13 Jul 11
4:22 pm
Erm, no it isn’t. Thanks for spotting Commuter.
Cheers,
Robin – Mumbrella
13 Jul 11
4:39 pm
much hotter than GAGA.
13 Jul 11
4:39 pm
How can the same guys come up with this, and that Youtube video last week? How can their most creative and least creative be so far apart?
13 Jul 11
4:53 pm
if an agency did it then it must be good
13 Jul 11
5:01 pm
I like it, very clever. But it does not make me want to eat chicken.
13 Jul 11
5:12 pm
Number 1 rule in food advertising – if you’re selling chicken, don’t show us a live chicken.
13 Jul 11
5:14 pm
credit where it’s due, a definite improvement on last week’s rather tragic origin effort. i guess if you are shopping around and using various different agencies for each opportunity you’ll get a hit and miss outcome, but that’s the deal if you’re not prepared to pay the premium of the retained agency.
the model they’ve adopted is workable, but requires a lot of client oversight and skill……someone was on holidays last week it appears.
13 Jul 11
5:26 pm
Note to Nando’s Marketing team:
You’ve made a very brave decision to dump your full service agency in favour of producing ads in house and farming out project work.
Since then you’ve posted the advertising equivalent of Cubism and a so-so piece of piggy-backing that it neither dreadful nor spectacular.
However, nothing you post on a blog is going to swing opinion that you’ve done the right thing. If anything, it’ll simply give the naysayers more ammunition. Just get on with the job of marketing your product without all the pr hooha for a good 12 months or so.
When you’ve got sales results to back up your move, then you can tell your story.
Until then, please, for everyone’s sake, keep your heads down and get on with the job of vindicating your decision.
13 Jul 11
5:44 pm
think they didn’t quite nail the headline – “You’ll go Gaga for our Peri-Peri” a bit less forced for mine
13 Jul 11
6:10 pm
Pretty lame and very cheesy.
Would sound good at an internal Nando’s meeting where everyone has full knowledge of the brand and its cooking process.
As for the rest of Australia, they’re left scratching their collective heads.
13 Jul 11
7:54 pm
Kim,
You’re doing a good job. Trying to please franchisees and mumbrella isn’t easy
13 Jul 11
11:13 pm
is it basted that way………. with feathers?? No thanks, i don’t feel like chicken tonight, like chicken tonight.
13 Jul 11
11:26 pm
So i’m going to cut this ad out of the MX, then walk into my local Nando’s restaurant, with a photo of a Live Chicken with feathers, mascara and a hair doo, and take it into Nandos’ to redeem my 2 little hotties. Will my chicken come with feathers and some hair???
Bon Apatite
14 Jul 11
7:27 am
Chicken have feathers last time I heard. If you don’t like it, there’s always vegetarian options. We eat animals, they’re alive before they’re dead. Fact. Get over it.
14 Jul 11
8:36 am
This is funny and it’s hijacking an event sponsored by somebody else.
How many kids picking up an MX at Town Hall Station yesterday had Nandos for dinner?
I don’t give a crap about your petty industry bitching.
Mug punters want to see clever ideas.
This is clever.
14 Jul 11
9:44 am
I still feel that even tactical ads should reflect the brand and should add to what has gone before.
The Nandos brand (whether with a regular agency or not) is quite literally ‘random’.
Every piece of communication they do is unrelated to the last … or the next. Each ad has a different tone. Each ad has to work alone.
After years of following Nandos advertising I am no wiser about what the brand is or stands for.
14 Jul 11
1:04 pm
In western society we like to pretend that our chicken does not come from a live animal. Gone are the days when mum sits in the kitchen plucking a chicken after dad slit its throat.
Milk and eggs can have photos of animals on the packaging.
Meat should not.
Imagine a hamburger fast food restaurant advertising their burgers with a cow on the pack. Stun gun anyone?
14 Jul 11
1:13 pm
Tony – It seems that they themselves do not know what the brand stands for or where they are going.
After watching this brand over the years, it seems that they think all their problems will be solved if they focus on their audience of youth with lady Gaga tactical ads.
With 300 stores, this can’t be solving their problems. These guys need to focus on how they will grow their core audience and create a sustainable long term business generating enough customers to fuel a food operation that has 300 outlets nationally.
If i were a franchisee, i’d be wondering what the franchisor is actually doing to ensure the registers are ticking over, rather that trying to be a hero that can create cheeky in-house ads to make people laugh and show up agencies. It’s not about showing the world that they are creative genius’.
I’d be questioning what support they will be offering my business, while trying to deliver the impossible task of demonstrating “value for money” especially when it’s $25.00 for a combo meal. I would have thought that instead of trying to make me laugh, tell me why i should spend my hard earned dollars with Nando’s, since it’s almost twice as much as some competitors.
Franchisees need more customers, not little monsters. Unfortunately for Nando’s there arn’t enough little monsters to keep 300 restaurants humming………
14 Jul 11
2:07 pm
Nandos is totes expensive for fast food which must make it challenging to compete with the other fellas.
14 Jul 11
2:59 pm
Guys this is more of a branding exercise than it is about selling chicken. The point is, the ad is highly relevant and therefore going to be noticed and absorbed by viewers. If you think back to Nandos’ more successful stripper campaign, this achieves a similar effect of creating an emotion and tying it to the brand. Perhaps they could have left out the voucher offer and kept it as a brand message on its own, but hey, everything is clearer in hindsight.
I’m hungry for a Supremo Chicken burger, is that wrong?
14 Jul 11
3:17 pm
I do like their ads, they often make me laugh and always seem the little bit edgy but not to the point where it looks try hard, keep up the good work
14 Jul 11
4:43 pm
agree with take it or leave it @1.13 – when head office collects up to 5% of turnover for the marketing fund to spend on behalf of the franchisees there’s a hell of a lot of scrutiny about how that money is spent, and franchisees do not support self-indulgent “brand building” shite that doesn’t get dead chooks moving out the door fast.
Dario @2.59 you’d be tarred and feathered if you stood up and presented work designed as a branding exercise to a bunch of franchisees. all they want is foot traffic and turnover, all over the country, not centred around some narrow event in the middle of sydney.
14 Jul 11
10:26 pm
Yes but the franchisees aren’t the client. Let them focus on running their stores (that is their specialty, after all) and let head office drive the brand and bring in the traffic. Nando’s is not KFC or Red Rooster. The target customer is far more sophisticated and so is the brand. While there is no direct meal deal in big bold red text with little a little scissor Wingding so the fast food addicts snip a voucher out and save $2.49 when they upsize to the Baconator with Diet Coke, I think this strategy, for Nando’s, works.
And if brand building was just self-indulgent shite, then why do companies spend millions on it? The truth is, chicken choker, it works, and it is a far more effective LONG TERM strategy to keep customers coming back to for more of what they know and love.
14 Jul 11
10:37 pm
Oh and any concerned franchisees can take comfort in the fact that their money seems to have been well spent. Judging by the image, the ad was printed mono + 1 spot colour – far cheaper than a full colour ad. And given it was reactive it was probably distressed space too so purchased at a discounted rate.
15 Jul 11
9:15 am
Ad kings, now franchising experts. Some agency people are amazing, you hold the truth no matter the industry. The sun does shine out of you bum, doesn’t it?
“With 300 stores, this can’t be solving their problems..” Errr, what problems? It seems to me that everything is going well in chickenland. How about focusing on winning some business for your agency instead, you’ll be more productive that making up BS!
22 Jul 11
3:03 pm
@nickatnights, go buy a quarter pounder from McDonald’s.. they have pictures of cows on the inside of the packaging.
People today know what they’re eating.