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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.
Social media: ‘Oversold, misused and in decline’
Social media has been oversold, misused by marketers and could now be beginning to decline, according to marketing commentator David Chalke, who spoke at an event organised by media agency PHD last night.
Chalke, a strategy planner and consultant on the Australia Scan project at Quantum Market Research, told Mumbrella that disillusionment was settling in to the market because social media had been “massively oversold”.
“Snake oil salesmen have been telling us that this will fix all your problems,” he said. “For some brands it’ll work. For others, it’s a complete waste of time.”
July 7th, 2011 at 11:18 am
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Comments
7 Jul 11
12:18 pm
hit me up for Google+ invites!
7 Jul 11
12:21 pm
Well, if bravely put David. The awful potential for bulk bullshit is demonstrated by those people with 750+ ‘friends’.
7 Jul 11
12:29 pm
Good commentary David.
7 Jul 11
1:07 pm
Really well said- someone has to say this stuff
Good on you David!
7 Jul 11
1:10 pm
Yes we have been facebooked and twittered out….
7 Jul 11
1:14 pm
He has a point.
I remember when Kilkenny and Caffreys launched in Ireland. Everyone thought it was going to take over Guiness – it didnt. I can’t remeber the last time I sipped a Caffreys…
Analogies aside…
Networks and communities exist without technology. However is Facebook and co far more than simply online networks and communities?
- Who remembers the last time they strolled to the photo shop to get photo’s developed?
- Who has received breaking news information via an online social network?
- Who remembers hearing about a distant friends new baby, injury, or berievement via an online social networking site…?
- Who uses a print diary?
- Who has sent out a printed brithday invite recently?
Not only do you discover information on these networks, you interact, engage, share stories, pictures, send invites and get reminded (of events, birthdays etc.)
Online social networking sites are newspapers that publish information about your interests, friends, family and colleagues.
Will people who have loaded photo’s onto Facebook for the last 5 years, who rely on reminders from Facebook and keeping up with gossip on Facebook, suddenly leave..?
I suppose the answer is they might (if something better comes along..?) or if Facebook Fck up?
Niche networks might well eat into “Facey”
Anyone got any forecasts and any emerging plays in this space?
7 Jul 11
1:21 pm
Incisive and brutally correct summary of where social media is heading.
My 20 year old son and his friends recently closed their Facebook and Twitter accounts as it just wasn’t cool anymore….it had become too common and nobody wants to be part of something that is used by their parents!!
They also had too many ‘friends’ who they had no real connection with anyway and the whole thing became as “shallow as a car park puddle”. Their time in social media is now spent on sites that are much more specific to their interests. The number of real friends who they actually spend time with has increased.
7 Jul 11
1:27 pm
Excellent, have worked with David before in ‘Big Auto’ in Australia and at Sensis.
He has consistently been on the money.
I think he is right, you have to be the right brand in this space with the right messages and the willingness to engage ongoing and real time.
Which of course adds more cost to the business and will reduce margins whilst making it harder to consitenly satisfy your customer base. They will expect even more immediate action and support.
The most important point for me was the idea of fragmentation to specialist SM niches.
This I think is dead right and a diamond in the rough for a crew with the right idea and start-up.
Maybe even a platform link Ning would be able to cater to this notion.
Certainly a great stream of thought, thank you for sharing.
7 Jul 11
1:45 pm
yeah! who wants to spend time typing letters into a computer connected by a series of tubes! attempts to subvert the internets’ social networks aren’t functioning good.
is this really that shocking? PR and marketing jerks overselling something they can make a mint on?ooo it’s so incisive and brutal!
what a joke.
i doubt this guy could even set up a profile.
“Snake oil salesmen have been telling us that this will fix all your problems,” he said. “For some brands it’ll work. For others, it’s a complete waste of time.”
was this not obvious from the get go? to state this now as if it is some remarkable revelation is quite absurd.
NEXT.
7 Jul 11
1:51 pm
It’s about passion. For some brands it can be about cleverness and innovation, but realistically I would rather be trying to do social media projects with a brand likely to get people excited rather than trying to get something out of nothing.
7 Jul 11
1:55 pm
Ok, so how do you reconcile fragmentation into smaller social networks with the benefits individuals receive via the ‘network effect’? i.e. the smaller the network, the less valuable the network becomes to the individuals involved.
Yes social media brands like Facebook and Twitter will rise and fall, but the phenomenon of networked communications will continue to proliferate. Further, individuals need to discriminate more, cull the dross and restore value to their social media networks. Reward those who add value to the network, and penalise those who contribute nothing.
The most obvious statement to make is that social media suits some brands and not others. Further, social media should never be seen as a monolithic solution, but a component of a larger comms platform.
Why is all of this thinking suddenly considered heresy? An ounce of scepticism and a (ethnographic) finger on community expectations, will guide you well.
7 Jul 11
2:05 pm
Old news. Who hasn’t known that the social media gurus have no clothes for at least the last three years!?
7 Jul 11
2:11 pm
hahaha – the whole blurb lifted from 2001? find ‘world wide web’ replace ‘ social media’
they got that wrong, so very wrong. It has taken most major business 10 years to get back to where they were with online in 2001. Those that were smart, hedged and learned and have been light years ahead of their competitors
An interesting notion to hinge your thoughts on a crystal ball, history tells us that is a dangerous behaviour
7 Jul 11
2:20 pm
Here is a perfect example of a social media being misunderstood once again…
Social Media aren’t Facebook and Twitter only.
So yes, Facebook and Twitter are oversold and misused because treated as traditional media by laziness or just because it’s seen with quick profit potential.
Viral marketing disappeared because of agencies selling “viral videos” as a quick easy sale. “Social media” as a separate discipline will disappear because of agencies selling Facebook and Twitter. But it was never intended to be separate anyway as all marketing disciplines become social.
+1 and Panda are a first step toward a semantic web. THIS is how media should use social.
So sayonara “social media agencies” and welcome costumer centric marketing!
7 Jul 11
2:48 pm
“This whole interweb thing is a fad”
While I respect Chalkie, the old fella probably has an abacus. Sure social media is bloody useless for brands much of the time, but do it right and it’s, err, not useless, it’s just another little prong in the media mix.
In addition, the web started as totally fragmented niches that slowly became connected – you liked widgets? Go to a widget forum or chatroom. It’s not a new phenomenon, rather it’s old. He’s got it backward.
Still, I love old Chalkie.
7 Jul 11
3:21 pm
I tend to agree with the sentiment of this article.
It seems to me that traditional marketing is all about pushing your message to new audiences in order to attract new customers, while social media allows brands to merely start a dialogue with existing customers/interested parties.
The sooner we all stop acting like there are universal marketing opportunities available to all companies/brands from social media, the sooner we can start directing only those brands that have the content and culture that fits with the role of what social media can offer.
7 Jul 11
4:21 pm
Every time I have a bone to pick with a brand I go straight to their Facebook page and Twitter accounts and confront their communities managers with my lack of mobile reception (think: OPTUS).
And they usually respond immediately because FINALLY from a consumer perspective I can hold a brand accountable without having to talk to someone from their overseas call centre, or approach Today Tonight to have an expose on dodgy dishwashers.
Social media is a break through from the dry, mundane 30 second TVC and has enabled a shift away from push messaging towards engaging, interactive content.
Social media and the ‘internetz’ are changing the ad game by making brands accountable and empowering the consumer to develop a stronger relationship with a product.
7 Jul 11
5:21 pm
With all due respect to Chalke, I doubt he understands social networks. The value of them goes up as the number of users increases. If it fragments it dies.
The point of them is that there is one central hub.
7 Jul 11
5:37 pm
It’s painful to see conversations like this that go for controversy but can’t really back it up. Social media is dying. Really? To me it’s clear he doesn’t really get it.
Social media like the telephone. It used to be that there were “telephone departments” with employees that had “telephone” in their job title. Nowadays, there’s a telephone on everyone’s desk and it’s just part of the every day routine. Social media is the same. Right now there are specialists, and there’s strange hype around “social campaigns” but the true potential, and where social rapidly is evolving into, is part of everything that we do. It’s not a marketing tool, a campaign or a fad – it’s a fundamental evolution of how we interact with each other and communicate.
A few models to consider if you really want the most out of social media:
Social media/PR – Facebook, Twitter, etc.: Evolution of traditional PR. Take a media release and add comments and conversation.
Social commerce/group buying – Groupon, LivingSocial, Cudo, Dell Swarm, etc.: The next evolution in e-commerce. Group buying realises significant discounts. And if done correctly, it’s great for product inventory management and driving website traffic and foot traffic into retail.
Social customer service: Have employees interact directly with customers via Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, etc. It’s great to catching issues before they become big problems and an exellent way to create customer intimacy.
Social marketing: Think YouTube (Old Spice Guy, Tippex, Will It Blend, etc.). Immensely entertaining, and the logical next step for TVCs to “self select” their audience.
7 Jul 11
6:21 pm
Being ‘social’ has existed since time began, its just that we found a way to make it more ‘public’ via technology, which we classify under the domain of ‘media’ i.e. a medium… the only people over-selling it are the idiots who don’t understand it a la comments above about it ‘being Facebook and Twitter’…
Australia is just a little speck (population wise) in the big bad wide world. The world ultimately doesn’t care what goes on down here, as much as we’d like to think it does.
7 Jul 11
8:36 pm
Social Media is a Fad the same as having dot com after your name or a My Space page was.
Rhys, what you’ve demonstrated is that Social Media is good for Customer Service Support, a lot different from advertising.
The VC or Video Commercial will be with us for a very long time be it in TVC form or some other, like holographic imaging. As it has Scope, Audience and durability (It can be ran over and over again for years, like they should have done with Imperial Leather). Facebook may not be with us in by the end of the decade as the sheeple move on.
7 Jul 11
8:58 pm
I think social media can be amazing for savvy clients. I have a client who gets the majority of business through FB and if you are if in 5 years the ‘cool’ kids aren’t on FB – isn’t that only if you are targetting that younger audience? I firmly believe that in 5 years time 25+ will still be on FB and the nature of FB allows you to target just about any niche. If you have a smart FB strategy brands can do very well but the key is interaction and if your brand is just a “brand” and provides no interaction of personality on their FB page then they will just disappear into the newsfeed abyss. Smart people will do well, dumb brands will fail – just like all marketing
7 Jul 11
9:32 pm
Fragmentation doesn’t mean it’s dying… probably the opposite… just like Ford used to be the only car manufacturer in town… the problem is the businesses that were to eager to sell to untold millions and not heed the real cultural change to customer engagement that the new technology implied.. they feel oversold… the term social media is lame anyways, I think ‘customer engagement’ is a more accurate way of describing the process and FB and twitter are just two of many tools that can be used to do this… and like the real world their are gonna be places the cool kids want to hang out that are no where near where their folks are hanging out… see you on tumblr.
7 Jul 11
10:49 pm
I seriously question if consumers in purchasing mode (remember our job is to get paid to actually sell stuff) really think about whether they are ‘engaged’, ‘become part of a conversation’ or have ‘built a stronger relationship with a product’.
Are we simply blowing smoke up our own arses through imagining that these fluffy reactions actually lead to a consumer making a commitment to actually purchase our clients product.
I’m perfectly fine if that’s the case but I’ve have the confronting priviledge of sitting on a client’s marketing board and seeing marketing managers being challenged to prove that the limited marketing dollars they had, really delivered a return on investment.
If any one of those under immense pressure individuals had offered their board:
‘engaged’, ‘became part of a conversation’ or ‘we have built a stronger relationship with our product’ , they would have been burnt at the stake in the boardroom in which they stood..
Has our industry forgotten that our job is to sell stuff….now!!?
Are we ignoring that our clients are under more pressure than ever to deliver a return on investment and continually prove we are doing so?
If that happens through social media that’s bloody fantastic. If it happens through any of the many marketing tools we now have at our disposal, be damn well proud of what we do and show our clients that return on investment is far from a cliche.
But please…let’s not bore our clients to death with hollow platitudes and leave them to be burnt at the stake in their own boardrooms and then at the same time whinge and moan about why clients are continually putting their business out to pitch.
Just make sure everything you do…sells stuff!
7 Jul 11
11:03 pm
Australia has a tall poppy syndrome? Surely not.
Facebook isn’t cool or niche. It’s a tool.
Now go hug your families.
8 Jul 11
12:25 pm
Social networks have and always will exist. Its only the platforms that change.
8 Jul 11
1:18 pm
Is social media dead or just facing a maturing growth curve? The fact is growth has been significant, back in March 2006 there were about 2,895,000 using social media networks on a regular basis in Australia and that reflected around 17% of people 14 and over.
At the end of March 2011 that number had grown to around 9,870,000 or 53.4% of people 14+
Every brand or product reaches a stage of maturity and growth starts to slow and while FB may have been first to market, it will be the new innovations that provide the catalyst for the next growth curve, so check back 12 months from now and watch this space
8 Jul 11
1:28 pm
Props for the quality audio track.
8 Jul 11
1:45 pm
What about some credible research from HBR
http://hbr.org/2011/07/whats-y.....ategy/ar/1
8 Jul 11
1:59 pm
The user is the chooser.
8 Jul 11
3:01 pm
The self professed Social media Gurus of a few years ago are falling by the wayside as people realise that the introduction of a new communication conduit happens all the time and is a challenge for brand owners and media buyers each time it happens. Social media is just a new way to get to people – with the additional challenge of having the customers actually demanding to be “spoken to” – not “spoken at”. Remove the “gurus” and their secretive mumbo jumbo and show clients that this conduit to customers is and important part of the communication mix to consider…. but more importantly, show clients that once you remove the mumbo jumbo, social media is totally understandable as a medium.
I work with clients to remove the mystique, and once you do, they can make clear and decisive decisions if they want to be involved and how much budget and resource they want to commit to it.
8 Jul 11
4:53 pm
damien @ 5.37 i love that you used the telephone as an example of a technology that became part of the social fabric, likening it to social media. the telephone proved to be a brilliant communication tool, but not so hot as an advertising/marketing medium (unless you count annoying and soon to be legislated out telemarketing). I agree social media is like the telephone, great for people, not so great for brands/products/companies to use as a marketing tool.
and the old spice campaign? tv led from the get-go, the social stuff came later. that campaign was backed by a huge national tv budget before it went “viral”. the others? key word is entertaining, and that’s a hurdle most who play in this space can’t get over.
8 Jul 11
5:37 pm
more hot air – Thanks, the point about social media being the new “telephone” goes beyond telemarketing though. My point was about the evolution of how we communicate. Telephones have evolved into Mobiles – and I think there’s general consensus that a device that is always on, broadband enabled and always with you is a great opportunity for brands to engage with customers through marketing. Social is the same. It’s frustrating to see so many people mistaking Facebook and Twitter for Social Media. They are just tools (and there are many more).
And by the way, I’m a client (full disclosure, I run Online & Social Media for Dell across Asia Pacific, including Australia). We’re making around a billion dollars a year in revenue in Asia from online marketing activities (and over ten billion globally), of which a significant and growing percentage is from social media, group buying and social-enabled marketing. As an example, it’s in the public domain that we make over $15m revenue from just Twitter alone, so there’s clear opportunity for those who understand how social and marketing work together.
My parting words of advice for those that don’t feel you can sell social media to clients or to consumer – try harder. Know your craft, understand what social media really is and demonstrate that you can make money from it. There are many such examples (such as Dell) to look at for inspiration.
8 Jul 11
7:45 pm
The aspect of Social Media (label needs a re-brand) that I enjoy most, is that stuff can be locally focal. It is about global-sized happenings seen at a human level. Love it!.
The old Tofflerism that the consumer is also the producer has come home to roost.
8 Jul 11
11:36 pm
“It’s merely reached a plateau … it’s appeal is finite, so it’s growth will flatten out….” – it will keep changing, brands will find better ways to use social media, social media platforms will get better at supporting brands and users.
“so and so got smashed on the weekend” – most of my contacts don’t share rubbish like that and brands certainly don’t.
“It’s been massively oversold” – yes, by people who aren’t qualified to be strategising in this area. The same can be said for people saying that social media is dying.
Here are some other predictions….
“I think there is a world market for maybe five computers.” — Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, 1943.
“Where a calculator on the ENIAC is equipped with 18,000 vacuum tubes and weighs 30 tons, computers in the future may have only 1,000 vacuum tubes and weigh only 1.5 tons.” — Popular Mechanics, 1949
“I have traveled the length and breadth of this country and talked with the best people, and I can assure you that data processing is a fad that won’t last out the year.” — The editor in charge of business books for Prentice Hall, 1957.
“But what…is it good for?” — Engineer at the Advanced Computing Systems Division of IBM, 1968, commenting on the microchip.
“There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home.” — Ken Olson, president, chairman and founder of Digital Equipment Corp., 1977.
“This ‘telephone’ has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication. The device is inherently of no value to us.” — Western Union internal memo, 1876.
“The Americans have need of the telephone, but we do not. We have plenty of messenger boys.” — Sir William Preece, chief engineer of the British Post Office, 1876.
“The wireless music box has no imaginable commercial value. Who would pay for a message sent to nobody in particular?” — David Sarnoff’s associates in response to his urgings for investment in the radio in the 1920s.
“While theoretically and technically television may be feasible, commercially and financially it is an impossibility.” — Lee DeForest, inventor.