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Opinion | Features
Woz not great
In this guest post Tony Prysten argues that the thousand dollar price of seeing out-of-touch Apple co-founder Steve Wozniack on his Australian tour was a waste of money.
This week, for the cost of two iPads (yep, two) I went to the Woz Live conference in Melbourne. I was not impressed.
What the hell is transmedia?
From advertising campaigns to online video series, the term ‘transmedia’ gets quite the work out. But what does it actually mean? Cathie McGinn trawls the media landscape for a definitive definition.
Transmedia, all media and multiplatform are terms often used interchangeably when referencing modern storytelling techniques. Yet, depending who you speak to, there are distinct differences between them.
According to industry experts Encore spoke to, the key elements that define transmedia can be summarised as follows: platform, time, audience, adaptation, and creative collaboration.
Innovation is the remedy for the ailing magazine industry
With magazine circulations plummeting, FHM closing and rumours rife on future ownership of ACP Magazines, Paul Merrill says the only way forward is launching new titles.Eight years ago in the UK, nearly a quarter of all magazine sales came from magazines that were less than four years old. In Australia, the figure was slightly lower, but still significant. Today, the situation is very different. For a start there are so few new magazines. Yes, Masterchef briefly flared, and Top Gear made an initial impact. But Grazia and Alpha fizzled, and now ACP has shelved their plans to launch Elle.
More than a game: broadcasting the Olympics
The 2012 London Olympics will be the biggest televised sporting event of our time. Brooke Hemphill discovers the logistical challenges and technical requirements of producing the event.
From July 27 to August 12, the Australian media will go sport crazy as the Games of the XXX Olympiad, aka the 2012 London Summer Olympics, unfold. The games will be the most televised sporting event of our time as broadcasters look to master every manner of technology at their disposal.
The Voice - Australia's best example yet of social TV
In this guest post, Sputnik’s Rodd Messent has a theory on why audiences have taken to The Voice .I am an addict of Channel Nine’s hit show The Voice. Such is the extent of my addiction I seriously think my housemate might kick me out of our apartment for the semi-frenzied yelling and tweeting that ensues in our lounge room each time the show airs.It’s the first time in almost three years that such disagreement has resulted in less than civil behaviour towards one another, and it’s made me think it might be a microcosm of the large volume of online debate about the show and, correspondingly, an explanation for its success as a social TV experience.Why brands are the US Army - and culture jammers are the Viet Cong
In this guest posting, Dave Burgess, who painted ‘No War’ on the Sydney Opera House, claims that ‘amoral’ advertisers have copied his idea.
Culture jamming is a 28-year-old term coined by the San Francisco-based band Negativland, who declared that the ‘Studio for the cultural jammer is the world at large’.
Branded content is dead. Long live branded content
In this guest posting, Anthony Freedman argues why branded content is making a comeback.
A few short years ago, probably concurrent with the advent of the PVR, a new term emerged within the marketing communications industry; branded content. This was really synonymous with advertiser funded TV shows where programming was created by brands and deals struck with networks to broadcast them.
There were varying degrees of success with this model.
Shock advertising: 30 ads that would give Australia's ad watchdog a coronary
Is shock an underused weapon in Australian advertising, asks Robin HicksToday, Sydney agency The Cabana Boys used an image of a mouth sewn together to shock people with the idea that problem gamblers lie to conceal their habit. Is it the most disturbing image ever? No. Will it get banned by the Advertising Standards Bureau? No. But it did make me wonder why shock is not used more often in Australia – and not just by charities and government bodies. (WARNING: NSFW)
The making of ratings blockbuster The Voice
Jason Mountney goes on the set of Channel Nine’s talent search series, The Voice, to see how the format, based on an international franchise, has come together. What ingredients have gone into making this certified hit that’s rated more than two million viewers on three consecutive nights?
Mike Goldman has one of the toughest jobs on the set of the Nine network’s new talent show, The Voice. He not only has to narrate the show, but also keep the audience from losing their enthusiasm as they realise shooting TV programs takes a lot longer than the one-hour bursts they see in their lounge rooms. A lot longer.
Nine problems stopping The Global Mail from getting an audience
While it’s a shame The Global Mail has failed to make an impact on the media landscape, the signs have been there for some time.I love the concept of a well resourced, philanthropically-funded independent news site. Anywhere in the world, that’s a rare and wonderful thing. In Australia even more so. So I hope that Grame Wood gets to see his investment make a difference.
And I have no inside info on whether Monica Attard’s sudden departure is linked to the site’s failure to find an audience so far.
Regardless, here are nine areas they can easily start to address:
Journalism’s new model?
Does the launch of philanthropically funded news site The Global Mail signal a new era for journalism or is the model destined to be a passing fad, asks Cathie McGinn in this article first published in Encore magazine.With little fanfare, philanthropically funded news site The Global Mail launched in February this year.
The online-only title received a generous five-year funding commitment from businessman Graeme Wood, founder of accommodation website wotif.com, who donated $15million.
Five things that make a great suit
In this guest posting, Gareth Collins argues that the role of a great account manager is to make the work betterI’m surprised at how many suits I meet who don’t know their role in the advertising business. The question ‘what does an advertising account manager or director do?’ is frequently met with answers such as project manager, relationship manager, plate spinner or go between … and those are the nice ones.
Success is judged on the ability to manage a process, be strong administratively and get stuff done. And while a good suit needs to do all of these things brilliantly, if these are the traits that define a great suit, then I’m in the wrong job.
What the hell is transmedia?
From advertising campaigns to online video series, the term ‘transmedia’ gets quite the work out. But what does it actually mean? Cathie McGinn trawls the media landscape for a definitive definition.
Transmedia, all media and multiplatform are terms often used interchangeably when referencing modern storytelling techniques. Yet, depending who you speak to, there are distinct differences between them.
The top seven...most patronising pieces of communication
Sometimes brands have big ideas. Sometimes marketers get so caught up with a grandiose idea that instead of finding engaging ways to sell breakfast cereal, they start to believe their own rhetoric. And sometimes it’s just lazy marketing. Here are my top seven inadvertently patronising pieces of communication…
1) Last night thousands of women gathered in Sydney’s Centennial Park to take part in She Runs the Night, an event created by Nike.
TV audience measurement – why big isn’t always beautiful
In this guest post, Chris Walton argues that the media industry needs to take a new approach to TV tradingThere has been a significant amount of coverage recently about how successful The Voice has been. Indeed, audience figures of 2.6m+ people are very impressive these days. Based on reports, this is apparently double the size of audience that Nine was hoping for in the lead up to the programme launching.
News Corp boss John Hartigan: Gillard’s attack is unjustified
News Limited boss John Hartigan has responded to Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s claims that the company needs to answer “some hard questions” in Australia, describing her comments as “unjustified and regrettable”.
Speaking earlier today, Gillard said: ““I do believe that Australians watching all of that happening overseas with News Corp are looking at News Limited here and are wanting to see News Limited answer some hard questions.”
It follows last night’s UK Parliamentary hearing which saw Rupert and James Murdoch grilled over the news of the World phone hacking scandal.
Hartigan, CEO and chairman of News Limited in Australia, said: “The Prime Minister’s comments seek to draw a link between News Corporation operations in the UK and those here in Australia. The comments were unjustified and regrettable.
“There is absolutely no connection between events in the UK and our business in Australia. There is no evidence that similar behaviour has occurred at News in Australia.
“We have answered every question put to us on this issue openly. If the Prime Minister has more questions we would be happy to respond.
“No one is more appalled or is more concerned about what has happened in the UK than we are. It is an affront to everyone at News in Australia and a slur on the professionalism of our people, especially our journalists.”
Last week, Henry Tajer, president of the Media Federation, which represents Australia’s media agencies, told Mumbrella that local advertisers were not drawing connections between events in the UK and the local operation.
July 20th, 2011 at 5:47 pm
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Comments
20 Jul 11
7:41 pm
I think the fact that he said in plain english that he personally uses his paper to steer political opinion is reason enough for these comments.
I think Mr Hartigan is just playing the only line he has.
It is the same line he played during the Melbourne Storm scandal. Although in that case he got outside investigators involved and in this recent announcement he is acting internally.
20 Jul 11
9:10 pm
Agreed Anonymous. In this digital age, corruption is far harder to cover up.
Digital dogs scan sniff you down; previous communications, payments, locations, everything is harder to hide than it used to be.
What we see happening in the world currently, is the digital revolution’s dog’s sniffing out anomalies, which in the old “paper” days would be shredded and forgotten forever.
The old skool are meeting the new skool kids and there will be far more punches thrown I am sure.
How can you stay safe? Be nice I guess…
20 Jul 11
10:55 pm
The man who brought us the Melbourne Storm, NRL salary cap scandal thinks we have no reason to suspect potential problems with corporate governance, conflicts of interest and the like at News Ltd.
If the events unfolding in the hacking scandal and the dark corporate culture of News Intl. in the UK that we’re reading about daily aren’t enough for the PM to suggest that News Ltd. locally be put under increased scrutiny by the Australian people, then certainly the even greater media consolidation and dominance here in Australia by News than that which currently exists in the UK with magazines, newspapers, and television networks, cable and free-to-air, as well as sports franchises and entire codes, either controlled by the company directly or by relatives and board members with close personal and business relationships must surely be worth our government and all Australians having a closer look at the company’s practices, no?
With News having that kind of power over how we all receive information and entertainment in this country, and the Telegraph and Australian taking such strong ideological stands in favour of big mining, against pricing carbon, choosing which politicians to attack and which to promote at their whim, it sets the same conditions in which the illegal acts and questionable relationships between the dominant media conglomerate, police, and the government in the UK were allowed to take place, and should be an issue of concern here as well, shouldn’t it?
Besides, what’s wrong with the PM and the Australian people asking a few hard questions, especially if there is nothing to hide, right John? All that power in the hands of one company can’t be all that good for democracy and free enterprise, can it?
20 Jul 11
10:56 pm
Julia Gillard must be delighted with the NOTW and to sledge News Limited. It is a chance to deflect attention from the lamb basting she has been enjoying on the carbon tax, and drive a few blows into the right leaning papers who challenge her greenie/left tendencies at every turn.
21 Jul 11
2:13 am
I think Gillard is unjustified and regrettable
21 Jul 11
8:45 am
Is John Hartigan even aware that the his stable of tabloids are taken seriously only by those with the lowest IQ’s and formal education? The DT is just the NOTW under another name. When someone like Lara Bingle is considered more newsworthy than a bomb blast in Mumbai, then you know that this trash rag is all about ‘bringing the news.’
Shut this shit down here too, once and for all. It’s just lowest common denominator garbage that contains no news, just extremist opinions from those who really shouldn’t have a public platform. News has brought us Super League; the Storm scandal; intrusive gossip trying to pass off as news, written by legally certified retards (yes that’s you Ros Reines, Jonathon Moran and Annette Sharp); an apologies writer that is the most overworked person in the company – such a great legacy. Kill it off, and kill it off now. The smell is funking out the building.
21 Jul 11
10:44 am
Anyone remember the topless Pauline Hanson front page from the Daily Telegraph?
21 Jul 11
10:47 am
Marto for PM !!
21 Jul 11
12:30 pm
Strange. I always thought there was this thing called “freedom of the press”.
Plus, this odd concept of “innocent until guilty”.
Maybe I’m just old fashioned?
21 Jul 11
12:32 pm
@Marto
Don’t worry Marto – they will put up a paywall at news soon and lose all of their viewers.
Let’s face it; C grade celebs are pretty easy to track down for free online.
Perhaps there needs to be stricture ownership laws in place in Oz. Along the lines of:
- 15% max media ownership by one group?
21 Jul 11
12:33 pm
ah hum: “stricter”
21 Jul 11
12:43 pm
Hartigan can give it, but he can’t take it can he?
21 Jul 11
12:45 pm
Reg & Marto are absolutely right of course, the News Ltd papers here are crap (even the Australian is crap, but nicely art directed) however the presumption of innocence which we all value must also apply to people and things we hate. Julia may be taking the judge , jury and executioner role just a little far on this occasion.
21 Jul 11
2:07 pm
Is YOUR news limited? I’m hungry for real info and, incidentally Media Eyeball, that doesn’t involve your interesting morsel “the lamb basting she has been enjoying” – much as it sounds mouth-watering
21 Jul 11
2:21 pm
Nah, Aussie’s are too lazy to write an original story for their tabloids, and much less go through the trouble of hacking into someone’s phone! It’s all about copy, paste and then mix in a few added words.
21 Jul 11
2:31 pm
@ Marto
Your turn of phrase is disgusting and perhaps a reflection of your poor vocabulary, and need I say it – IQ?
As for the DT audience you allege have no formal education and low IQ; that is quite a general statement, don’t you think? I’m not quite sure what you’re seeking to achieve by throwing those who do consume News Limited content, into the ‘stupid’ box.
Surely those lacking education and ‘stock’ such as yourself deserve a news vertical all of their own. At least they’re reading, that has to count for something – right? Perhaps we can wait for ‘them’ all to better educate themselves and come and live in the Eastern suburbs. We could could all catch up over $6 coffee, whilst our Cavoodles and Labradoodles play in the park.
Just remember to bring your plastic bag to pick up the ‘poo’ when you leave.
21 Jul 11
3:06 pm
i love all the sledging and talking about how dumb the DT and News readers. Guys / Girls…this is mainstream Australia, have you ever ventured west past Anzac Bridge. Not everyone has the holier-than-thou attitude. And these people that do read the DT and News Ltd papers are the same ones that buy the products that we advertise to. These guys are the reasons we have jobs and we shouldn’t dish crap on them just because they left school in year 10…
21 Jul 11
4:36 pm
Wow, you lot are a bunch of news haters aren’t you (Paul and Spazz aside). What happened? Did you all get knocked back for jobs or something? Ever actually worked for a large media organisation? Thought not. Why bother, much easier to snipe anonymously from the sidelines .
The facts are that Gillard has suggested there are hard questions for news to answer without actually specifying what these hard questions are or who should be answering them. She’s attempting to use the scandal in the UK to her own political advantage, and failing.
21 Jul 11
9:28 pm
Is she failing, Dave? You’re capable of making that assessment based upon what, your Ouija board?
Just so we’re clear, there are more than a few large media organisations in the world, the New York Times, Le Monde, CNN, even Al Jazeera that are capable of bringing us the actual news of the world without a tabloid sensibility, and at the same time living up to the standards of legitimate journalism. No one has ever been able to accuse a Murdoch run media outlet of anything approximating journalism, in the US, the UK, or here in Australia.
And legitimate journalism notwithstanding, 70% ownership of the Aussie media landscape is too much for any one company, if we expect to not be manipulated as a population by what News Ltd. wants us to believe.
The suggestion that Rupert Murdoch has made a career in this country using his media power to control our government is hardly unique to the PM. She’s just taking this rare opportunity to give us the chance of getting our democracy back, and out of the hands of those who’ve been pulling the strings for far too long.
Pull you head out, mate, you no longer have to tell the boss what he wants to hear in order to keep your job.
22 Jul 11
12:12 am
I smell so many rats on this thread. Tim, have the News Ltd peeps disguised their IP addresses again? He he; a mate of mine has an affirming name; Yu Bet Chya…
Wow those quirky News Ltd guys (edited for legal reasons). Fuwhat?! So smooth, deep and sincere. They truly are great “hacks”.
Amazing, the way John Hartigan refers to Jules’ so called attack as “unjustified”…
Jule’s. If you are reading; perhaps a parliamentary committee addressing JH and his posse’s involvement with The Melbourne Storm could be the way to go? (Oh bugger you can’t, because your NSW and VIC members (some of them) were more than knee high deep into the fiasco themselves…)
Wouldn’t it be lovely to uncover those who are secretly doing good? I would love that!
- “Today in the Daily Telegraph, Rupert Murdoch gives $10,072,011 to an orphanage in (some under privileged country”) – wouldn’t that be a feel good thread to digest, even for the mentally challenged (west of the Anzac Bridge) as some posters suggest.
Sadly, we have to unearth the unjust of these greedy megalomaniac’s.
Hey ho, it wont be long until the truth is out, for all to see.
The digital age. You stray and you will be found and sounded(.)