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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.
Scientific proof that newspapers are better than McDonald’s, Google or Nike
Regular readers will already be aware that Dr Mumbo is a big fan of The Newspaper Works’ light touch approach to gently promoting the medium’s positive atttributes.
So he commends the video that the industry body has uploaded to YouTube revealing details of its latest research, and the graph that apppears at about the one minute mark.
It would seem that newspapers are better than Nike, McDonald’s, Holden, Target and Microsoft. And are streets ahead of Google and YouTube. And if you keep watching the graph, newspapers gradually soar even further ahead with every moment that passes.
With science on newspapers’ side, it’s hard to understand why anybody thinks that papers have a problem.
March 3rd, 2010 at 10:33 am
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Comments
3 Mar 10
10:44 am
‘conducted with over 1000 Australian residents’. Woah. Even closed panel survey methodology can do better than that.
3 Mar 10
10:52 am
Not really sure why/how they can compare “print media” to an actual company / brand. A newspaper is hardly “a brand”. Apples and oranges.
Also, wasn’t this the same propaganda machine that released some erm..”propaganda” of dodgy, supposed testimonials, that were in actual fact, possible answers from the survey.
Smacks of desperation.
3 Mar 10
12:08 pm
Agree with Foobar – some pretty illoogical comparisons here.
Disagree with Tim1 – no amount of sample can rectify shonky research or analysis…and since when is 1000 a small sample size?
3 Mar 10
1:25 pm
I just love the irony in that they’re using youtube to prove how relevant newspapers are.
3 Mar 10
1:49 pm
I still hate the VO talent they’ve used.
3 Mar 10
1:50 pm
Which is a shame as the content and graphics are pretty good otherwise. I like my newspaper more than a big mac and more than a pair of shoes. Why is that such a stretch?
3 Mar 10
1:54 pm
Scott, 1000 as a sample size is tiny in the Experiean Hitwise context – 3 million plus Australians a day from memory.
Then of course there’s Google, whether trend or keyword anlaysis.
Both are much larger datasets, sampled more often and from actual use – consumer demand – as opposed to (potentially) leading questions. I know which I’d bet on.
Agree re the apples and oranges too. I don’t look to Nike for reportage or analysis.
3 Mar 10
1:58 pm
cmon guys surely we have better material than this lazy print/newspaper bashing
3 Mar 10
3:18 pm
The research results seem to merely indicate that newspaper BRANDS are ‘reputable’ and ‘dynamic’.
And we want to question that finding?
Next research will show that the ABC is more ‘impartial’ than other TV and radio stations and we’ll all be gobsmacked. Not saying that some newspapers don’t push an agenda, but surely ‘reputable’ is one area where newspaper brands SHOULD have it over other media?
3 Mar 10
3:55 pm
does Dr Mumbo always talk about himself in the second person?
should we call for help?
3 Mar 10
4:18 pm
@Tim1 True, those provide larger sample sizes, but I’m not sure they fit the bill when looking to measure sentiment, trust or other emotional connections to brands/mediums (the argument of whether these are useful measures or not in this case aside).
Think you put it rather well with your point about (potentially) leading questions. Just make sure your research is good in the first place and your sample size of 1000 should be plenty.
3 Mar 10
10:27 pm
@ Foobar, seems a surprise you don’t think a newspaper has a brand. Of all digital brands I’d have to say newspaper brands are one of the strongest online and offline brands. Their problem is getting the same revenue out of the same brand on a different platform.
3 Mar 10
10:35 pm
Agree with Scott on this one. I’ll take a well constructed representative n=1,000 over an n=3,000,000 which excludes half of Australia any day.
Disagree with Foobar “A newspaper is hardly a brand”. Hello. Someone put the lights back on please! New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, The Economist, The Times, Pravda, Sydney Morning Herald … none of those are brands? Give me a break!
4 Mar 10
3:05 pm
some heads need to be pulled out of bums here.
Foobar – the fact that you don’t understand that newspaper mastheads are brands revokes your license to comment on this thread
There’s also no irony in using youtube to advertise newspapers. Newspapers have advertised radio for years. Outdoor advertises newspapers. Other media are used to advertise media.
not every consumer in the world is a 22 year old egotist who has seen little more of life than what’s showing on his/her monitor for 23 hours a day
4 Mar 10
3:21 pm
True, newspapers are brands, but i don’t think this research is served all that well by comparing the generic term ‘newspaper’ with more specific brands like nike, google etc.
Maybe the research question wasn’t asked that way, but that’s the way it’s being presented for mine.
4 Mar 10
3:26 pm
Sven. Are we still talking about this? It was sooo yesterday. I’m guessing you still get the paper delivered to you daily?
What is a newspaper? It’s a delivery vehicle for “news” (I use the term loosely) and advertising. That’s hardly a brand. Even if you want to use the word in its literal sense, you can’t then go and compare SMH to Starbucks/Nike – they’re not even in the same ballpark.
4 Mar 10
3:40 pm
Sven – harsh but fair … and it gave me a chuckle.
Foobar. May I ask the question, “what is Google”? To use your line of ‘reasoning’, it is merely a delivery vehicle for a “search”. So that makes Google NOT a brand either? By extension you are saying that what is probably the fastest growing brand in the world is not a brand? That is just plain illogical.
And Scott, I agree if they lined “newspaper” up against “Nike” or “Starbucks” they have mixed’n'matched categories with brands which is an absolute no-no! They either have to ask “newspapers” against “television”, “coffee”, “sports shoes” (all categories) … or “SMH” up against, “Nine”, “Starbucks”, “Nike” etc (all brands).
Maybe The Newspaper Works or their research agency can clarify the way the questions were presented to the respondents.
4 Mar 10
4:06 pm
Brand – n. 1. a. a particular make of goods. b. an identifying trade mark, label, etc.
Surely being able to articulate a preference for one thing over another naturally generates distinctions i.e. identifying marks or labels. If someone enjoys reading a newspaper over eating a Big Mac then that has to be a higher preference for that brand.
Sorry Foobar, I wont be buying your brand
4 Mar 10
4:11 pm
Hi anonymous (comment 10),
Dr Mumbo tells me that he generally prefers the second or thrid person but never the first. He’s a very odd man.
Cheers,
Tim – Mumbrella