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Opinion | Features
Keith Reinhard on freedom to fail, winning back Maccas and how agencies can survive
In an exclusive interview in Cannes today, advertising icon Keith Reinhard, one of the founding fathers of what is now DDB Worldwide, talked to Mumbrella’s Robin Hicks about freedom from fear, his favourite ads of all time, winning back McDonald’s and why the most important thing in advertising is passion.Savage counsel - little white lies
In a piece that first featured in Encore, Chris Savage tackles your career and agency dilemmas. This week, he talks about when it’s okay to lie to clients.
Hi Chris,
I often find myself telling little white lies at work – I tell people on the phone that I don’t want to speak to I’m about to duck into meetings. I told my colleague her new haircut was great when really it wasn’t and I praised someone’s work when actually it was kind of shit. After each of these occasions, I felt pretty terrible and wonder if you could tell me how can I speak with candour in the future – for my sake and others.
How to build a culture
How important is a company’s culture and how do you ensure you are breeding a good one? Matt Smith investigates, in a piece that first appeared in Encore.When production companies Cordell Jigsaw and Zapruder’s Other Films merged early last year, bringing the staff together within the walls of the Zapruder building proved to be something of a challenge. While the two companies weren’t strangers to each other due to six months of talks and negotiations, working together on a full-time basis was a different story.
Q&A Damian Keogh
In a piece that first featured in Encore, Val Morgan CEO Damian Keogh reveals his potential alternate career.
Who is the most powerful person in Australian media and why?
I’d say Kerry Stokes, slightly ahead of Harold Mitchell and Kim Williams. He controls the entity with the largest revenue across free-to-air, online, magazines and newspapers. On pure size alone, his influence and leverage over advertisers, media agencies and consumers is unmatched. Harold is still the king in media, slightly ahead of John Steedman, but Henry Tajer and Leigh Terry are the heirs apparent. Kim Williams controls News and that’s a big base to work from.
If a violent game is okay, then so is using a violent ad to promote it
An ad for video game Dead Island Riptide was banned by the ad watchdog. James Whitehead of online entertainment publisher IGN argues that it was the wrong call.A fortnight ago, it emerged that the Ad Standards Board had banned a television commercial for the video game Dead Island: Riptide, due to its depiction of violence – specifically suicide.
Why content makers are leaving our shores
In a piece that first featured in Encore, Craig Anderson says there simply isn’t enough opportunity for content makers in Australia, especially for those making comedy.Last year I had multiple meetings with production companies in Australia and discovered that apart from the odd commercial campaign, there’s no proliferation of paying platforms for comedy. From my own experience there’s iView, which will buy content once it’s already been made (though I live in hope that it will one day be granted the financial power to commission content). I’ve also had the odd informal commission from the SMH iPad consisting of two narrative series and a comical review show. But none of these endeavours were financially viable.
Managing your management style
In an article that first appeared in Encore, Stephanie Brown says the advertising industry often leaves people ill-equipped when it comes to managing staff, especially when they’re promoted into management roles.Managing people is hard. In fact, I actually think it’s the hardest job in the world. With no disrespect intended, I often joke that if my job didn’t involve other people to manage, it would be a walk in the park. I could get about my day’s work in a nice, linear fashion, happily checking off my to-do list as I go. I’m a process-orientated person. I get a kick out of getting things done.
Why the Facebook chase is making brands treat consumers like morons
You know how we look back at quaintly patronising ads from the 1950s and wonder what on earth the advertisers were thinking?
I’ve got a feeling that in a few years time, we’ll be looking at the behaviour of big brands on Facebook the same way.
An entire generation of marketers – or at least a sizeable proportion of them – have lost their minds.
So many have become so obsessed with generating user interactions at all costs, that all thoughts about overall brand perceptions or long term marketing goals have vanished. All that counts now, is generating likes and comments at all costs.
Blog this!
Paid content, sponsored posts and brand ambassadorships – in theory, today’s blogger can be just as valuable to brands as mainstream media. But does blogger outreach actually work? In an article that first appeared in Encore, Nic Christensen investigates.“I get approaches from PR companies constantly,” says blogger and author Kerri Sackville, with more than a hint of exasperation. “I have never done a sponsored blog, on my own site, but that doesn’t stop them from asking.”
McLennan right man for job
It’s all change at troubled broadcaster Channel Ten with new directions, new executives and a brand new CEO. Managing director of Adstream Peter Miller says Hamish McLennan is the right man for the job, in an article that first appeared in Encore.I am a bit of a schmuck when it comes to movies. I love romantic comedies. My favourite is One Fine Day with Michelle Pfeiffer and George Clooney.
Q&A with Richard Herring
In a piece that first appeared in Encore, CEO of APN Outdoor Richard Herring talks media.Who is the most powerful person in Australian media and why?
I don’t know if there is one person in particular. The fragmentation of traditional media and new entrants has made it a more level playing field with regards to major influencers. As was demonstrated with the recent media reform recommendations, together, the broader media community still has a very influential and powerful voice.
What one medium could you not live without?
Outdoor – clean, entertaining, evocative and informative.
Q&A with screenwriter Craig Pearce
Craig Pearce, screenwriter for The Great Gatsby, spoke to Encore about working with Baz and writing for 3D.
How did you get into script writing?
I always loved stories and acting and dressing up and being anything but myself and I never realised that was not something other people did. After leaving high school, I did a three year acting course at NIDA but always thought I would one day write. Baz was a good friend and he had a theatre company. He wanted to extend a 20 minute version of Strictly Ballroom. We got it to 45 minutes then he was approached by producers to turn it into a feature film. I started helping him out on the film while they were looking for a real writer but eventually Baz had to go to the producers and say, “There’s this guy who’s my best friend and he is a really good writer”. To the producers’ credit, they believed in Baz so we had two weeks to re-write it.
Savage Counsel - winning pitches
Chris Savage tackles your career and agency dilemmas in his weekly Encore advice column.
Hi Chris,
It seems we have to increasingly pitch for everything. Even with existing clients, we’re now expected to pitch ideas, competitively, for every project. We’re winning about two out of five of what we’re pitching for. It’s a huge burden on our time and budgets. What is your secret to winning a pitch presentation? How do we make sure our presentations are a knockout?
Fake it til you make it...as a TV writer
Jess Harris, series creator and writer of ABC2 comedy series twentysomething tells us how to bluff it as a TV series writer in a feature that first appeared in Encore.
What does a TV series writer actually do?
Create fictional characters and a make-believe world for them to play in. Basically, I’m a liar.
The third dimension
From Avatar to Gatsby and the ads in between, in a feature that first appeared in Encore, Lee Zachariah looks at the state of the 3D market.When sound came in,they said it was a gimmick,” says director Baz Luhrmann. “It’s early days, and the [3D] tool is still being explored. But look at what Ang [Lee] did with the beautiful Life of Pi. And Dial M For Murder is just drama in a room.”
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.