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Opinion | Features
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.
Is this the worst time to be a journalist?
With scores of redundancies in 2012 and a mass exodus of experienced journos, is this the worst time to be a journalist? In a feature that first appeared in Encore, Nic Christensen asks the question.In June last year a tsunami of redundancies began to sweep across Australia’s media landscape. They came in a series of waves and in the 12 months that followed, an estimated 1,200 journalists departed the mainstream media.
Are you a conscious leader?
As the advertising and marketing industry struggles to address the issue of rocketing rates of staff churn in their businesses, Slingshot CEO Simon Rutherford argues that today’s ‘conscious leaders’ should be more focussed on creating ‘staff wellness’ in order to deliver high performing teams and healthy profits.
A conscious leader believes the business has a greater responsibility towards the community it operates in. To ensure sustainable long-term profits, people must come first. Awareness, trust, authenticity, transparency, 100% responsibility, connection, compassion, and love: these are the tools of the conscious leader.
Suits: less popular than pest controllers
Advertising suits have a thankless job that is currently being eroded by the changing industry says Naren Sanghrajka in a piece that first appeared in Encore.Not in my wildest, craziest nightmares would I ever have thought I’d say this. But I’m going to. Being a bean counter is far more appealing than starting as a suit in advertising. There it is. I said it. I actually said those words.
Yes, it’s incredibly depressing. But it’s true.
An answer for Adam: What's the future for creatives?
Each fortnight, Adam Ferrier poses a question to the industry. This week, he asks about the future of the creative.
Who or what is a creative? It’s an old thought, but as I continue on my merry journey in advertising I wonder if there is a role for a ‘creative’ and if there is, what that role is?
In the world of film and TV there is not a ‘creative’. There is a director, a writer, a producer, a DOP and so on. From this mix the creativity happens. But no-one is charged with being ‘the creative’.
Australian films stand on their own merit
The argument that Australian audiences only embrace local films once they’ve picked up a gong at an international festival is inherently flawed says Lee Zachariah in a piece that first appeared in Encore.As much as we like to pretend that we collectively fulfil the world’s need for a country comprised entirely of laid-back, mellow beach dwellers, we do seem to get disproportionately excited when someone else mentions us. Our cool exterior drops away as our local news bulletins breathlessly report that CNN or the BBC or really anyone in one of the ‘real countries’ acknowledged our existence.
We feel detached from the world, and therefore crave its validation.
The vindication of Paul Fishlock
Wow.You may have noticed that not much went up on Mumbrella over the last couple of hours.
That’s because I’ve been reading the judge’s findings in Paul Fishlock’s case against The Campaign Palace.
I’d always known that agencyland can be a brutal place. But the picture of the cynical, ego-driven, unsentimental world that comes through in the findings of Justice John Sacker is something else. I recommend you take the time to read it yourself.
The reputation of Young & Rubicam’s global creative director Tony Granger certainly takes a battering in my view. The word “bully” is a hard one to come back from.
And former Campaign Palace CEO Mark Mackay comes across as someone you might think twice about either hiring or working for, based on the evidence presented. The judge calls him contemptuous of both Granger and Fishlock.
NRL to women: You are the wind beneath our wingers, the goddesses of war and peace
The NRL has launched an ad campaign saluting the contribution women make to the sport behind the scenes.
The campaign – “wo-manifesto” – has been created by MJW. According to MJW, the campaign “is designed to break down female stereotypes as well as acknowledging the amazing contribution of women at grass roots level. The campaign showcases volunteers and mothers but also a female physiotherapist and a referee as part of a wider strategy to connect with female audiences.”
Credits:
- Agency: MJW
- Director: Simon McRae
- Creative Director: Marrianne Little
- Copywriter: Marrianne Little
- Art Director: Justine Metcalf
- Account Director: Lucy Cunningham
- Producer: Alex Mooney
- Production house: Orangewhip Films
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Comments
15 Jun 12
3:59 pm
This is disastrously bad, borderline sexist, and a complete misunderstanding of the target audience. In a climate where league players are better known for gang bangs, I would’ve laid low.
15 Jun 12
3:59 pm
Tinkling piano music in an ad always sets off alarm bells. So does the use of slow motion.
This doesn’t win me over, but then, I’m a bit cranky like that.
A lo-o-o-o-ong way to go, IMO.
15 Jun 12
4:14 pm
Nice work, ladies!
15 Jun 12
4:32 pm
Patronising much? I vaguely remember the AFL doing something similar years ago (I could be wrong) – I agree with Dean Vowles.
15 Jun 12
4:45 pm
If this is meant to counter the NRL’s appalling track record when it comes to the treatment of women, they have a long way to go.
15 Jun 12
4:46 pm
Speaking on as a man about to go under the knife and become a lady I loved this ad!!!
15 Jun 12
4:46 pm
Nice crafting of words and motion. Congratulations team MJW
15 Jun 12
5:15 pm
I love this ad its well written and a great look at the male dominated sport of NRL. Well done.
15 Jun 12
5:21 pm
Poetry, now this? Hollywood, what’s going on up there?
15 Jun 12
6:10 pm
Nice touch
15 Jun 12
6:56 pm
I like it. It is emotionally disarming to see the soft underbelly of the NRL for a change.
Powerfully written, I hate to admit it but it my eyes welled up.
15 Jun 12
6:58 pm
Works for me.
15 Jun 12
7:02 pm
My boys plays play football, and i have to tell you there’s alot of behind the scenes stuff that happens. And alot of these women don’t get any recognition whatsoever. My boys have always been thankful i run around to football and training with them – but i see alot of women that don’t get any thanks at all. Good on you NRL.
15 Jun 12
7:06 pm
I hate football. But I like that they did this advert.
15 Jun 12
8:13 pm
That canteen lady looks like the canteen lady at my old club!
15 Jun 12
9:52 pm
I love this ad. Its very moving. Im a mum and i work hard to make my children successsful too! Thanks for noticing us, I really appreciate it!
15 Jun 12
10:53 pm
Couldn’t get Rusty to narrate obviously … So they got a soundalike.
Still works though … Plinky plonk piano and all.
Well played NRL.
16 Jun 12
8:32 am
Nice, but blatant rip from Proctor and Gamble here.
16 Jun 12
8:58 am
A Positive Lovely little ad to recognise all the hard working woman.
How wonderful to the the industry and the NRL embracing the cause.
I work very hard and enjoy a small amount of time with my son each Sunday helping him realise his dream with the Avalon Bulldogs. Yes I’m in the industry and I love it!
Thanks MJW
Shame on the knockers. get out to a game sometime.
16 Jun 12
9:51 am
Thank you for the poetry and the positive presentation. If this is the NRL of the future? Bring it on!
Sharks forever!!!
16 Jun 12
4:28 pm
Touching, powerful and beautifully executed.
Yes the NRL is a blokey blokes world and we put up with the stereotypes and the feminist dribble. but it wouldn’t be what is is without the girls in the clubs helping out every week
16 Jun 12
4:57 pm
Comments 1 & 4
There is nothing sexist or patronising about saying thanks to my mum for helping me and the team for the last three years. She is a goddess.
Your comments are sad and vile. These people are doing the Job the NRL desperately need and you drag it back down in the gutter.
Eastern Suburbs Rugby League
16 Jun 12
8:13 pm
This is a mans world.
But it wouldn’t be nothing without a woman or a girl.
17 Jun 12
2:19 pm
Wow that is stunning.It is emotionally disarming to see the soft underbelly of the NRL for a change.
17 Jun 12
2:35 pm
Good to see writing is not a lost art.
17 Jun 12
2:47 pm
For the record, I should point out that “Lawson”, “Sort”, “Brick With Eyes”, “League Wife”, “League of Women” and “MAD Mum” share the same IP address.
Cheers,
Tim – Mumbrella
17 Jun 12
2:49 pm
For the record, “Mum”, “Kate” and “Footy hater” all share the same IP address.
Cheers,
Tim – Mumbrella
17 Jun 12
5:52 pm
Little bit too close to P&G’s Proud Sponsor of Mum’s for my liking http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VK6Gy9vQkMU
17 Jun 12
10:09 pm
Very poetic. Very moving
18 Jun 12
9:18 am
Where are the women actually playing rugby league? Sorry but this is patronising vomit. “Wind beneath our wingers” I need a mint to get the taste out of my mouth..
18 Jun 12
9:20 am
What about the other women in league? You know, the players? The women who work just as hard as men at yet earn in a whole year what their male counterparts take home in a month…
18 Jun 12
9:43 am
‘To ALL the women in League”?!?! So according to the NRL women don’t actually PLAY league? WOW.
Not to detract from all these awesome women who do support the game in this way, you are all amazing, but where’s the support for the women who play?
From this you wouldn’t know that the QLD and NSW women are playing a State of Origin match this Saturday in Penrith. A match, incidentally that is supposed to be part of the women in league round.
Also, where are the female fans? No wonder the AFL is leaving you for dead.
18 Jun 12
10:26 am
Wow… that stinks. Womanifesto is more like Whoa Man This is Festersed. The NRL has a great product but consistently awful advertising… this last batch on the back of the putrid poems of Mothers Day.
18 Jun 12
11:20 am
I guess the token shot of a woman referreeing was to cover the actual sporting angle – if you look really closely you can see it’s a women’s game
This would be a lovely ad if it was targeted towards all volunteers not just the ones of the female variety. But instead it implies that the women are there to do hold the men up and do the “thankless tasks”.
If the point of this ad is to get the mum’s of junior players back onside in thinking that rugby league is ok for their sons to play, I’m disappointed to say I think it will probably work.
But for those of us not in that situation it’s pretty laughable. Especially since the creative’s behind it are most likely the one’s putting up all the positive comments on this post
18 Jun 12
11:27 am
… incidentally how does depicting women in tuck shops as queens of the canteen plus a raft of other menial roles likely to “break down female stereotypes” one would have thought that it would serve to reinforce a stereotype
18 Jun 12
11:53 am
@Jess… I did notice that on a second look. But I had to squint, they’re not actually in focus.
To follow up, here’s an ad from netball that celebrates all women in the game. This is how you do it: http://youtu.be/FO7iMX553fo
18 Jun 12
12:24 pm
I sincerely hope that people are watching this ad in 40 years time to say, I cannot believe how women were patronised and led to believe that being in service to men was a noble pursuit. Just as a master pats his dog on the head for obeying him, this ad reaffirms womens role in the game.
It would have been preferable and more credible if the Board of the NRL spent their big media $ on supporting women for leadership roles or promoting the womens game.
18 Jun 12
1:08 pm
I’m a mum and the ad speaks me – nice work.
18 Jun 12
5:17 pm
Right on Dean and Bra Burner.
This ad says “You women just keep on doing the sh&##y little backyard jobs, stapling, canteen and the like, and we’ll continue to receive the glory, the salaries and the ‘sideline action’ – coz we can”
18 Jun 12
7:54 pm
Brand Panda – because you’re an advertising w@%ker…..what is a sh%$tty little job to you, is a real job to real people. Do you feel the same way about the receptionist at your office ? Your views show that you belittle any job that doesn’t have an expense account. So who’s got the issues here?
18 Jun 12
11:11 pm
Oh seriously Fat Head… sorry Chef, what a silly retort to fair criticism about this patronising crap of an ad… In answer to the question posed to Brand Panda…You do buddy.. big time
19 Jun 12
3:36 pm
I don’t remember an AFL ad like this. More info?
2 Jul 12
4:37 pm
Patronising and sexist.
10 Jul 12
11:40 am
Nice to see the NRL astroturfers are out to play again.