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Opinion | Features
Why is advertising so much better in New Zealand than Australia?
Ok, so this isn’t a new observation.
But it really hit home after I watched some TV ads for a kiwi supermarket yesterday that advertising in New Zealand is so much better than much of the crap that is being served up in this country at the moment.
Why is it that Colenso BBDO Auckland can turn something as bland as a supermarket chain into a brand I almost like, while Australian agencies succeed only in either irritating me (Coles) or passing me by unnoticed (Woolies) because the ads are so average?
My memo to your boss
So let me guess?
You really want to come to Mumbrella360, but you’ve got to justify the time and cost to your boss?
Good news! I think I can help.
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.
Old Spice calls a halt
The Old Spice YouTube adventure has ended - for now at least.
Earlier today, the following video was posted on the Old Spice YouTube channel calling a halt:
During the last 48 hours, since Old Spice front man Isaiah Mustafa started talking back to the social media world, the campaign has become one of the most talked-about of the year.
The Old Spice YouTube channel has become the third most viewed and fourth most subscribed YouTube sponsor channel of all time. It is also the most viewed sponsor channel this month.
Old Spice videos (some of which appeared before this week’s ground-breaking social media drive) have been viewed more than 53m times.
July 15th, 2010 at 9:05 pm
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Comments
15 Jul 10
9:26 pm
Impressive figures – looks like we know who will be willing any and all of the Social Media awards for 2010. Deserving and something others can learn from and no doubt will attempt to mimic. Now excuse me while I crack walnuts with my man mind… http://oldspicevoicemail.com/male.html
15 Jul 10
10:32 pm
I love this creative, and even nostaligically the brand, but with luxury perfume pour homme now available for $30 or so I can’t see a massive shift happening in sales here. I would love to be proven wrong.
So, Awards for capturing attention and entertaining us they deserve, but it would be cooler still if they sold some grandpa stink
15 Jul 10
11:22 pm
Swan dive!
16 Jul 10
7:05 am
I loved this campaign and everything about it, but as I flicked through Facebook this morning I started to worry that maybe we’ve overestimated the reach of Old Spice man. Of my FB friends, about 10-20% are in digital/marketing and I realised this morning that there wasn’t a hint of Old Spice talk amongst the rest of them. Only one non-digital friend was a fan of the FB page. No sharing of the vids or talk in status updates.
Have we done it again? Will Old Spice be the scent of social media peeps while the ordinary man stays oblivious and wrapped in Lynx?
Obviously my measurement methods are very rough but the FB impact is usually a good indication for me. Can anyone else shed some light on their perceived impact on the mainstream audience?
16 Jul 10
7:50 am
I’m with Mandi – I loved it in Feb, thoguht well done at Cannes and enjoyed the Gruen spot.
I however follow this stuff.
Cut to friends in other industries and they haven’t heard a thing about the campaign and had no idea as to what Old Spice was.
Are we preaching to the converted?
16 Jul 10
8:22 am
@OtherTim
I take it you’re not big on Twitter or Facebook or YouTube etc
Oh, and it was front page of the SMH website too for a day.
/cheers
16 Jul 10
8:50 am
mandi, it made it on to the front page of SMH.com.au and theage.com.au
and in the states the guy was featured on oprah. try that media buy.
plus, i was in a focus group on tuesday for housewives from the ‘burbs and they mentioned it.
in australia many agencies make ads for awards because they can’t win or lose the business due to global alignments. i bet if the campaign doesn’t work wieden won’t have the business for long. they don’t make art for arts sake – they make stuff they believe people will love.
where was old spice a year ago? i bet spending a similar amount on wall paper that sadly most clients feel comfortable with.
we should all be grateful this campaign exists – hopefully it will make going to work a little more rewarding.
16 Jul 10
9:14 am
Sales are down 7% since the campaign started
16 Jul 10
9:22 am
Andrew as I said, I’m going by my own, tried and tested focus group of my FB friends. Everyone I ask keeps throwing back the channels it has been played on but no one is telling me “yes my non marketing friends are buzzing about it!” I can see from the stats that it has had amazing success and I love the campaign. And as I think you may have said on the other thread, it is a great example of how TV and online can combine to do great things. I’m just disappointed that despite this groundswell of momentum, exposure on the SMH, The Age and Opes, none of my friends seem to have heard of it.
Maybe it was up to us to share it. Trying that out for size now.
16 Jul 10
9:24 am
Sorry, some context, when I say everyone I mean the people I’m asking on Twitter, at work, industry friends etc, not just the comments in this thread.
16 Jul 10
9:50 am
“Silver Fish Hand Catch”
16 Jul 10
10:08 am
Really Paul? What’s your source?
I’m not entirely sure you’ll have access to up to date sales figures for US-wide retail outlets for the last 48 hours (sounds like a great service though – where can we subscribe?)
Cheers,
Tim – Mumbrella
16 Jul 10
10:41 am
‘Silverfish Hand Catch’ – Absolutely Brilliant !
16 Jul 10
11:06 am
FYI Tim
Similarly, Procter & Gamble picked up the Film Grand Prix at Cannes 2010 for Old Spice’s “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like” execution from Wieden & Kennedy.
While there is little doubt about the viral hit’s popularity – the official version has racked up 12.2 million impressions on YouTube – sales of Red Zone After Hours Body Wash have fallen by 7%.
Data sourced from Brandweek; additional content by Warc staff, 14 July 2010
16 Jul 10
11:23 am
Is this campaign now finished?!
What seems a shame that just as the campaign has generated incredible momentum, they put a cap on it all, without any reference to ‘watch this space’.
This seems like an odd thing to do. Most brands would kill to be in this position.
“Monocle smile”
16 Jul 10
11:34 am
…but has anyone of us actually bought any old spice yet?
16 Jul 10
11:53 am
My American (non-marketing but meme-aware) friends are buzzing about it, which might be more important in consumer terms than what a bunch of Australians think? The fact that it’s a SuperBowl ad would already have guaranteed a massive audience in the US, regardless of other channels. Plenty of non-marketing types share the “best” ads like crazy every year post-SuperBowl.
Maybe it’s just not for us.
16 Jul 10
12:06 pm
just wondering, was this campaign even meant for australia, was there any money put behind it here, or is it just spill over from a great campaign? i see it’s referenced again today on the front page of the age website.
paul, that result tracks 52 weeks of sales and excludes walmart. was it a long term downward trend?
i can’t imagine if you did use it you would stop because of this ad. is that what you think?
be interesting to see the bigger picture in a few months.
stephen, how many times have you changed deodorant in the last decade?
i bet there’s a new generation of stinky lads coming through who will be fans.
16 Jul 10
12:28 pm
Tim,
I know this is not independent data, but here is Old Spice’s response to my question (via W+K creative directors Eric Baldwin and Jason Bagley) about U.S. sales since the campaign began in February:
“Old Spice is now the number one male body wash and deodorant in both dollar and volume share. While we can’t disclose specific sales data, we can tell you we are very happy with the positive business growth that has been a result of the campaign.”
16 Jul 10
12:41 pm
Ta, Lynchy
16 Jul 10
12:55 pm
It’s the copy that makes it gold. Long live copywriters!
16 Jul 10
1:25 pm
Very true @Stuart Sheridan. Good point.
16 Jul 10
1:40 pm
I can envision the next meeting with a client wanting to become active in SM.
Client: We want to do social media?
Agency: What are your goals?
Client: We loved the Old Spice stuff? How much to do that?
Agency: How much do you have?
Client: $5000
Agency: Excuse me, my wife is calling.
16 Jul 10
1:48 pm
Lame closing line.
16 Jul 10
1:59 pm
World Vision have done their own “old Spice’ video featuring Rev Tim Costello.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v.....e=youtu.be
Clever response…we’re not ready for this campaign to end!
16 Jul 10
2:00 pm
Chris – quick Q for you – did you understand any of the jokes? Or did you just like the man in the towel? Chuck Norris would be proud of that closing line!
16 Jul 10
2:03 pm
I think it’s entirely possible that it will simply have it’s longevity as a meme on the internet. While it’s had a huge number of views in the past week – I think the character and quotes will live on for a while yet.
16 Jul 10
2:06 pm
The talent is gleaming gold too!
16 Jul 10
2:13 pm
Thanks for the link, Amanda. I’ve used it: http://mumbrella.com.au/world-.....cess-29936
Cheers,
Tim – Mumbrella
16 Jul 10
3:32 pm
don’t judge it yet. the aftershocks will come. we are just over the early adopters stage. it will still be going round in a few months i believe
16 Jul 10
3:57 pm
remix:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENHYjW83Oxs
16 Jul 10
6:01 pm
Lynchy, I found this on Brandweek (July 11, 2010).
“For instance, it was none other than P&G that picked up the Film Grand Prix this year for Old Spice’s “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like” TV spot from Wieden + Kennedy. There is little doubt about the viral hit’s popularity. Launched in February, the official version has racked up nearly 12.2 million YouTube views. But sales of the featured product—Red Zone After Hours Body Wash—aren’t necessarily tracking with that consumer appeal: In the 52 weeks ended June 13, sales of the brand have dropped 7 percent according to SymphonyIRI. (That amount excludes those rung up at Walmart.) P&G execs were not available to comment.”
Given the launch was in February, and taking into account the long repeat purchase cycle, and that the data to the week-ended June 13 (prior to the YouTube explosion of views, sales down 7% on year ago indicates that the TV-only element didn’t set the cash registers ringing.
What will be extremely illuminating will be 52-week sales ended August or September, which will factor in the five-fold increase in views to 60m. If there is no blip then, it will mean that a campaign that built huge awareness (at least in our circles around the world) still couldn’t sell a pretty tired old product.
And to add some perspective, while the 60m views (channel and upload) since February is darned impressive, I happened to be doing an analysis on the aggregate TV news audience here in Australia. When you add up the audiences for all the TV news programmes broadcast for just last week in just the Metro TV markets it comes to 87m. Remember Australia is also around 0.3% of the world’s population. Sobering statistic eh!
16 Jul 10
6:04 pm
When you hear about it from retired relatives in the outback (as I have) then you can be sure it has shifted from viral to pandemic.
18 Jul 10
7:47 am
John, I contacted Old Spice in the States and included your comment. This is what came back:
If you have access to Nielsen numbers, check out the total overall sales for the last 3-6 months as well as the 52 week period and that should give you a better picture. For the article you referenced (it’s actually from an AdWeek not Brandweek article), it’s important to note that the figures quoted pertain to just one scent of bodywash and aren’t representative of total bodywash sales. The overall Smell Like A Man, Man campaign isn’t specific to one scent, rather focuses on the entire portfolio of Old Spice bodywashes so you’ll want to look at overall bodywash sales not just one scent.
If you want to link or reference another article that references bodywash data overall, you can check out this Forbes.com article.
http://www.forbes.com/2010/07/.....ising.html
The relevant paragraph in the Forbes.com states: Total sales for Old Spice body wash at supermarkets, drugstores and mass market retailers excluding Wal-Mart were up 16.7% in the 52-week period ending June 13, according to SymphonyIRI Group, a Chicago-based market research firm.
18 Jul 10
10:52 am
Thanks Lynchy. That data makes MUCH more sense. Clearly there HAS been a large “blip”. I worked at Nielsen on such shipment and POS data systems before I moved into audience measurement research, so have spent many years chewing over this sort of data and something just didn’t gel but that was the only data I could track down. You must have good contacts at the client!
I was worried about the single SKU aspect as well. 16.7% MAT to June 13 suggests that the original TV ad HAS worked extremely well across the brand, but that RedZone as an item hasn’t benefitted (which is odd). I wonder what proportion of total Old Spice sales Red Zone represents and who/why the person reporting the data (Brandweek must have lifted the AdWeek article) just plucked that single SKU out.
It would also be interesting to see what trade support and/or price support was happening during the same period as this data. Once we see the results including this month we’ll see what impact the viral online campaign has had. Of course …. the most important thing will be what the base line sales are after the campaign is over.
18 Jul 10
2:51 pm
This article states it’s at number one in sales.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories.....5808.shtml
18 Jul 10
3:52 pm
Good find Anonymous.
However, given that the the 180 (?? CBS report) Internet ads went up just this week, that #1 in sales must have occurred on the back of the prior campaign work – i.e. the TV ad and it’s subsequent online viewing, and not the swathe of ads we’ve seen posted in the past week. It bodes well for the next set of numbers though !!