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Opinion | Features
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Media agency remuneration: It's the smaller nimbler agencies which will thrive
As huge changes blow through the Australian media agency landscape Katie Retallick argues the smaller more collaborative companies will be the ones to thrive.
It’s a great time to be in the Australian ad industry. The winds of change are blowing. With the recent launch of Department212 and the success of earlier start-ups such as Bohemia, there’s some real momentum towards the rise of the independent, performance-based media agency.
The big agencies are starting to follow suit, having seen the ‘race to the bottom on price’ hit their bottom line. It’s all about delivering measurable value now and being able to move the dial on the clients’ business. -
Content marketing moves to centre stage
Last night ANZ launched one of Australia's biggest branded content plays to date. Mumbrella's Tim Burrowes was at the launch.
It took a few minutes too long last night for it to dawn on me why there was a jazz band in the corner of the room at ANZ's Melbourne conference suite. Blue Notes - gerrit?
And what last night's event did make clear is that the opportunities of that developing subset of branded content, brand journalism, are beginning to dawn on local brands. -
Answers for Adam: Is reality TV the way to tackle climate change?
Recently there was another report from the scientists of the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) telling us that climate change (what used to be called global warming) is upon us and there are real changes happening now (I bet I’ve lost several readers already!)
The scientists are urging us to heed their warning and change our behaviours, yet we ignoring them in droves. Even though information they are giving us is dire. -
The Tele's textbook example of how to run a winning newspaper campaign
The Daily Telegraph has delivered a great piece of old fashioned campaigning journalism, argues Mumbrella's Tim Burrowes
Back when I worked in newspapers, I was taught that if a newspaper is going to embark on a campaign, it has to pass three tests. -
Piracy: At least the Lannisters pay their debts
Following a series of special reports on piracy on Mumbrella this week Foxtel's Bruce Meagher explains why the company is airing Game of Thrones as it is.
Much has been made in the past few days of the fact that fans of Game of Thrones are unable to acquire the series through services other than Foxtel until after the final episode airs. Unfortunately, there has also been much misinformation about how Foxtel is making Game of Thrones available to the public. -
Why hard-to-win awards are good awards
This year's Mumbrella Awards are going to be tougher to enter than ever before. Which makes winning one worth even more. As the call for entries goes live, Tim Burrowes explains the changes for this year.
Please don't hate me.
I hear a common complaint about some industry awards, and I'm afraid it's mostly my fault. -
Encore Score: The newsreaders
With the battle for early evening eyeballs increasingly important for commercial TV networks Amanda Meade looks at the numbers to see if the most popular newsreaders are the most watched.
Despite dramatic changes to the media landscape in the past ten years, the traditional 6pm commercial news bulletin on free-to-air television remains a key building block in a network’s schedule - get it right and you can carry big audiences over to your primetime shows. Some bulletins have even expanded from 30 minutes to an hour in the main markets of Sydney and Melbourne.
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Answers for Adam: Should PR agencies and creative agencies be combined?
This week Adam Ferrier asks whether PR is starting to mean everything and nothing, and whether it is any different from traditional advertising.
I've been thinking about the PR industry lately and where PR fits in the broader communications landscape. I've thought about it a lot, and worked with most models from integration under one roof to partner agencies, and a few things in-between.
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Australia's class system of brands
After a rare business class flight, Mumbrella's Tim Burrowes argues that brands may miss opportunities when staff treat customers according to their perceived value.
So over the weekend, I finally got to make the metaphorical left turn getting onto a Qantas flight. And it was everything I could have wanted. -
Answering Adam: Agencies need ideas as their engine
This week in his Answers for Adam column Adam Ferrier asked whether agencies should imitate startups. Here Nic Hodges argues agencies need to focus on their ideas, but modernise processes.
In his column this week Adam Ferrier asks "would your agency be doing better work if it put data, behavioural sciences, and technology up on pedestal along with creativity? Or is a single-minded focus on creativity still the answer?".
Here's a secret - nobody at a startup is sitting around caring about acting more like an advertising agency.
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PR agencies will not exist in a decade
After Graham White's response to Joe Hildebrand's CommsCon speech generated some heated debate on the state of the PR industry, Rob Lowe argues 'PR agencies' are already dying out.
PR agencies will cease to exist in the next ten years. Is that shocking enough for you? Well it’s true. Too many PR agencies are outdated, the traditional media landscape is shrinking, and with increasing numbers of advertising, social media and even SEO agencies getting in on the action, we need to smarten up. -
Why you should pull an all-nighter to get to Cannes
With Cannes Young Lions entries closing on Friday former winner Iggy Rodriguez has the reasons why you should pull an all nighter to finish your entry.
Okay, sure it’s the last minute, but plenty of famous campaigns have been written right before a big meeting or on the night before a pitch. You’ve got a few days, so you’re laughing. -
Answers for Adam: Is creativity still the answer for ad agencies?
This week Adam Ferrier asks whether ad agencies should be embracing startup culture more, or continuing to focus single-mindedly on creativity.
“The thing I hate the most about advertising is that it attracts all the bright, creative and ambitious young people, leaving us mainly with the slow and self-obsessed to become our artists”. Banksy (apparently?!)
The above quote is around ten years old and I wonder if it’s still relevant. I’m getting the sense that the new breed of creative folk who want to make a buck are not entering advertising – but rather being seduced by the technology fuelled ‘start-up’ culture. For example is it cooler to attend the Cannes Lions or tweet about the latest gadget unveiled at SXSW? -
Making the Mumbrella Awards matter - what you can tell us
It’s nearly time for the call for entries for the 2014 Mumbrella Awards. But before we publish this year’s categories and criteria, Mumbrella’s content director Tim Burrowes invites you to have a say...
I can still remember in excruciating detail the night we lost. -
Is total re-branding the only means left to end Network Ten's torment?
While the Ten Network's ratings woes well documented Luke Devenish asks if their best way to turn it around is a brand overhaul. We all find it difficult to get out of bed of a morning, but spare a thought for the powers-that-be at Network Ten, who must surely be belting the snooze button on a daily basis. Their annus horribilis is now nudging half a decade thanks to a waking nightmare that is two pronged in its torment.
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SBS gets ready to defend Paul Fenech’s Houso’s from ACA ‘stooges’
SBS is bracing itself for media controversy over bogan comedy Houso’s.
The newtwork this afternoon published what appeared to be a preemptive press release saying:
“SBS is aware of media interest relating to a program currently in production for SBS called Houso’s.
“Paul Fenech, the star and producer of SBS’s long-running, provocative and irreverent series Pizza, is producing this new comedy series for SBS.
“Houso’s is not a reality series and everyone participating in the series is an actor.
“Audiences have always understood Paul’s work to be highly exaggerated parody.
“The program, as with Pizza, is not receiving direct funding through any State or Federal Government funding agency and is being funded by SBS through revenue raised by commercial activities.”
Nine’s A Current Affair is promoting an investigation into the show on tonight’s program as “housing commission uncensored… and it’s funded by the government”.
Fenech issued a statement saying: “I’ll be stunned if the stooges at ACA actually think this show is a reality show, It’s hard not to miss some of the actors which appear in the vision on You Tube; Jabba, Angry Anderson, Ian Turpie and myself without thinking something is up. The unofficial clip of Houso’s which ended up on You Tube has had over 22,000 hits and people seem to like what they see. Basically my show is part of the Aussie tradition of doing comedy about true battlers. Housos’s in still in production and SBS have yet to give an on-air date.”
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Comments
17 Feb 11
3:54 pm
I’m interested to see how SBS segregates government funding and commercial revenue… and why it thinks such separation is necessary in Houso’s case.
17 Feb 11
3:55 pm
Good on SBS for doing this show. Looking forward to it.
17 Feb 11
3:56 pm
looks funny, channel Nine might want to get Ben Elton to have a look
17 Feb 11
4:01 pm
Oh I thought this was a documentary.
17 Feb 11
4:05 pm
Tim: I assume SBS separates money by imaginary means, as we all do since money is pretty much imaginary in the first place. And the reason they think it’s necessary is precisely because they anticipate this kind of attack from the likes of ACA.
17 Feb 11
4:09 pm
Another reason to watch SBS. I wondered where Jabba went.
17 Feb 11
4:10 pm
I think ACA is nine’s most consistent comedy show. And they regularly use bogans and ferals as fodder too. Their taste in comedy with Hey Hey, LFPE and Two and a half men does not qualify them to comment on anything comedy.
17 Feb 11
4:24 pm
Look like a bloody ripper mate!
17 Feb 11
4:25 pm
Looks annoying
17 Feb 11
4:26 pm
Housos surely?
What’s with the apostrophe
17 Feb 11
4:27 pm
I must say, I’m most distressed by the apostrophe in Houso’s – what exactly does the Houso own? As for ACA, they’ve no doubt been watching 9 comedies for years and don’t realise that you can make these types of shows out of doors.
17 Feb 11
4:33 pm
Wow what a surprise, another chauvanistic, stereotypical piece of ‘comedy’ from these guys. Cheaper than last night’s $6 pizza and will probably leave you with just as much indigestion. Yuck. Disappointing to see that SBS is wasting their money on this when elsewhere Australian content is always struggling to get funding. Welcome back to the 1970′s, ‘now come on girls get your #its out while we all crack a tinny’. No thanks.
17 Feb 11
4:44 pm
That should go to air instead of ACA boring people they are Houso forever. It’s just Aussies laughing at Aussies and making a statement leave em alone
17 Feb 11
4:54 pm
I’ll be interested to see SBS’s social media approach for this one. Facebook fan page up to 2,156 – might be some interestng characters hanging around on Twitter you might think. Imagine the Twitpics….
As for ACA, well they wouldn’t demonise ordinary battlers, just individual tradies.
http://aca.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=8211508
In a funny way, you hope that some people will take Houso’s more seriously than they do ACA. Sadly that won’t be the case. They seem to think ACA is broadcasting reality!
17 Feb 11
4:58 pm
Interesting!
17 Feb 11
5:00 pm
If it wasn’t for government funding the subject and concept wouldn’t exist!!! Give us tax payers a break, we can’t pay for everything…
17 Feb 11
5:00 pm
NotHappyJan – c’mon, smile pussycat.
17 Feb 11
5:08 pm
Nothing like a good old bit of free publicity from your competition.
17 Feb 11
5:24 pm
So looking forward to having a laugh when it airs, go Pauly and mates!!
in these times of uncertainty and BS political correctness, theres a fair bit of cotton wool wrapping going on.
Judging by the teasers, this show looks to be just the medicine needed to get the weight off the shoulders after a hard day and just Laugh!
good luck guys
17 Feb 11
5:34 pm
Nine should buy this to replace Ben Elton!
17 Feb 11
6:51 pm
so its ok when he was taking the piss out of wogs? if you dont like it dont watch it simple
17 Feb 11
6:54 pm
did Paul Fenech just copy the idea from the Canadian show trailer park boys? I mean, its sounds like the exact same premise. Even the name of the suburb in housos ‘Sunnyvale’ shares the name of the ‘Sunnyvale Trailer park’ . Anyway well when i was a teen I did like Pizza, so I hope Paul can do a good job with this show as well.
17 Feb 11
8:16 pm
cant wait… PUMPED!
17 Feb 11
9:11 pm
I grew up in a housing commission suburb in outer western Sydney so I feel ok to comment . I am sure the largest audience for this show will be these same areas .
Aussies have always been able laugh at them selves , think back to “they’re a weird mob ” , early Paul Hogan sketches , Kylie Mole , ect..ect..ect….
No doubt the like of ACA will take issue with the show as there is little else around to report on apparently …..Maybe they should look at The 7:30 report to understand what reporting is …I think they will just follow the Aussie tradition of laughing at them selves as they mimic “Frontline”.
17 Feb 11
9:14 pm
I love aca. It’s ok to have a go at dole bludgers and pension scammers when you are being hateful and vindictive. The minute someone wants to parody this lifestyle in a manner that bogans and some somewhat unsnobby and open minded people with a high iq and an interest in making life not so serious by breaking the mould of mediocrity that is network produced comedy. Good luck to them. The reason for private funding is because of John ” please don’t make fun of me” Howard. He caused a stink about pizza. This type of show is a clear parody on stereotypes and chauvinism. I don’t think sex all over the city was a parody on anything. It just made being promiscuous glamorous. The promiscuity shown in the shorts for this are anything but. If we can learn to laugh at one another and with one another racism and class demography may become something of the past. A chaser affair knew the agenda.
17 Feb 11
9:23 pm
good see some humour about Australian life in the suburbs its actually probably worst than depicted keep up the good work boys……
17 Feb 11
9:24 pm
Pkd you’ve hit the nail on the head. ACA is definitely 9′s best comedy show although Houso’s looks very promising, the trailer is absolutely hilarious. I reckon this will be Oz’s answer to UK’s Shameless and NZ’s Outrageous Fortune. Can’t wait, good on you SBS!
17 Feb 11
9:35 pm
Looks bloody funny. Hope it’s on soon. NoSenseofHumorJan? Your not Germain Greer incognito ?
17 Feb 11
9:39 pm
@NothappyJan So you must live a closed closet with tooth fairies and Black and White 1950′s movies. I could show you a million FB pages and nearly every person I know around my town Kanwal with some simular personalities. Sure it is highly exaggerated but OMG after watching the trailer I couldnt stop thinking of all my mates.
I guess you must be one of the upper class who just doesnt mingle with blue collar workers?
Good to see Aussie larrikins are still alive.
17 Feb 11
9:40 pm
I do agree with NotHappyJan that Fenech’s shows are pretty bloody terrible. When Pizza first started on SBS I thought it was quite good, before realising I’d given it too much credit and thought it was smarter than it was. Soon realised it was celebrating, not satirising, boorish behaviour.
17 Feb 11
10:00 pm
Yes, very entertaining…….not. Cringeworthy ? Definately. We should hang our collective heads in shame that these people actually exist. The part when Paul Fenech runs down the Police doing RBT- if thats humorous, you need help, and I’m not talking just psychology, but psychiatric treatment, including the drugs.
This shit wasnt funny 30 years ago when Hoges did it with Strop.
17 Feb 11
10:17 pm
Its nasty to kick people while they are down… not all people in department of housing are like this. all this show does is segregates upper class and lower class more
Disgusting, there are good and bad people everywhere…
18 Feb 11
12:29 am
Cant wait.
Looks like ACA are running out of stories. We seen the speed camera crap, the weigh loss stuff, boat people, noise complaints, bigger boobs and bras, home brands vs. Name brand stories over and over again. Forgot the coles vs. Woollies junk too!
Enjoy the show!
18 Feb 11
5:51 am
Brilliant – about time someone had a go at this demographic. Aussies are renowned for inappropriate comedy, and this is a great example. I spent time as a ‘houso’ myself as a kid, which is probably why I find it so funny. Of course it’s exaggerated, but the grain of truth really brings it to life.
18 Feb 11
10:24 am
Fuck yes.
18 Feb 11
11:14 am
To all you conservative haters of Paul Fenechs comedies, he takes a fantastic stab at society, although trashy it is fun with a little black humor chucked in where necessary. If you don’t approve because you still voted family first in the last election and life is a taboo for you please do us a favor and go bury your head in the nearest sandpit. Houso’s looks funny as fuck!
18 Feb 11
11:19 am
Finally SBS makes something worth tuning in for… the smelled death looming… nothing motivates like fear!
18 Feb 11
12:46 pm
Why did they copy the name from Trailer Park Boys? Sunnyvale?!? Are they serious? The number one Canadian comedy (7 seasons, 2 movies) and they just copy the name Sunnyvale?
This is very weak – it will never be the Australian version of TPB – Paul, you have missed the mark terribly with the naming of the Suburb and it’s a real shame as I now cannot watch your show without thinking that a large percentage of the ideas were stolen for a unique and timeless classic.
Shame.
18 Feb 11
1:45 pm
The ACA report on this show was very long and confusing. They appeared to suggest it was shameful stereotyping on one hand, but then went out of their way to prove the show’s accuracy by interviewing Mt Druitt bogans (who all thought the show was hilarious). I think “Westies” would be a better name for it.
18 Feb 11
3:14 pm
So what did all the detractors of this think of Kath and Kim?
Wasn’t that a show that revolved around Bogans? All this is doing is giving the lower end socio economic Bogans their fair share of screen time outside of ACA, TT and the Magistrates court.
We all know good comedy is based on some level of fact in some way. Exagerated maybe.. far from the truth? probably not.
18 Feb 11
3:32 pm
Awesome, I’ll be watching. Best promo 9 has done all year! Rescue Special Ops eat your heart out!
18 Feb 11
7:40 pm
Sounds like my cup of tea! Looking forward to the first episode!
19 Feb 11
11:17 am
Looks like a ripper. Can’t wait!
20 Feb 11
9:49 pm
Classic!
The only people who will disslike this will be the snobby city folks who have their heads jammed fair up their a*%es.
Don’t like it ?…go watch friends & stay the heck out of Sunnyvale brah…LOL
21 Feb 11
2:11 pm
it’s all been said above except for one point
we should embrace every Australian made show on our channels. there aren’t enough of them to keep the industry going. Paul Fenech’s comedy may not be to all tastes but it beats endless reruns of Charlie Sheen and Jennifer Aniston. He has had shows on TV for pretty much the last ten years, all of them employing Aussies across the board.
keeping actors, actresses, cameramen, directors etc in work allows us as an industry to have a greater choice of talent to employ in our commercials and marketing activity.
Hopefully this show finds an audience
disclaimer – my sister in law is an actress and is on this show & trailer.
21 Feb 11
4:44 pm
I think Tradie has it a little wrong… People living in housing that aren’t the lower class housos may not like it either… We don’t want to be tarred with the same brush but we unfortunately will no matter what we do…
21 Feb 11
8:29 pm
just have a laugh people, it’s easy!
22 Feb 11
3:03 pm
Good shit,
Housos are mostly fucking losers and it is good to see the piss taken out of them and let good honest tax paying workers get an idea of the type of shit that is out there that there taxes get wasted on
22 Feb 11
3:22 pm
There are a lot of housing department residents that are tax payers :S and many others cant work due to disabilities… there are also the scummy residents but they aren’t the majority but unfortunately many people stereotype people in housing and think the minority are the majority… This isn’t the case and it is the reason why people are taking offense to it.
1 Mar 11
12:24 am
Not to Bad….. Reminds me off a few suburbs in Perth, bring it on
2 Mar 11
4:27 pm
ACA is so used to attempting to scrape the bottom of the barrell for content, that it has walked straight into this one! ha, ha! The joke is on ACA this time. Ye see, Fenech and Co are not attempting to insult anyone. Rather, they are trying to give the best Country in the world a reason to lighten up and have a laugh!
….or…. of course, you could just continue to be depressed by what ACA portrait, night after bloody night ! How much force feeding can one man/woman cope with ?? ….GO HOUSOS !!!
As SBS and Mr Fenech would understand, there is no such thing as “bad” publicity… In actual fact, the producers of housos would be warranted to be at least mildly excited about ACA’s little advertisment/gift relating to this new cracker of a series. Further, any regular ACA viewer worth his/salts, or, with any amount of open-mindedness and inteelect, will surely embrace the SBS series when it arrives. Let’s face it, whether we are “housos” or not is not the point. What counts, is that we are all Australians and are quite comfortable with taking the piss out of ourselves for a laugh…and…heaven knows we could all do with a good chuckle from time to time. Particularly if the content is something we can all relate to. ACA, stop believing that your audience can be led like sheep every day of the week. The truth will become apparent as soon as Housos hits the air and SBS’s rating fly….Happy viewing AUSTRALIA ! Looking forward to the laughs !!
3 Mar 11
4:22 pm
Nine have zero idea about comedy….ACA is their best attemp at comedy…do they really have nothing better to air!!! Seriously!!!
5 Mar 11
11:03 pm
Enjoyed Pizza and Swift & Shift Couriers, the latter being a program that appealed to different generations. My grandfather loved Swift and Shift – in fact anyone whose been in the workplace, even white collar people, can relate to the show. The ACA is hypocritical to take a swipe at Housos, but hopefully Pauly and SBS benefit from the publicity. One of the commenters is spot on when they say that Pauly’s shows have provided work for Australian actors for 10 years now. Yes the humour can be un PC – but being PC is overrated…Anglos, Indians, Greeks, Chinese, Italians, Kiwi’s, Lebanese, Coconuts, obese people, vain people etc all get a serve in some way. The shows are representative of the “cultural microcosm” that is Sydney.