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Opinion | Features
Got a book in you?
From journos to ad execs and PRs, these days everyone seems to have a book in them. But what does it take to get published and will you actually make any money? In a feature that first appeared in Encore, Brooke Hemphill finds out.Attention wannabe authors. Forget big fat advance cheques and living off royalties. The reality of having a book published today is another story altogether. There are only two reasons you should even consider sitting down at your computer to bash out a manuscript – passion or profile.
Savage counsel
In an article that first appeared in Encore, Chris Savage tackles your career and agency dilemmas in his weekly advice column.Hi Chris,
My clients seem to be demanding more and more from us. At the same time, it seems many of the younger people in our industry simply don’t have the client servicing skills my generation grew up with. How do we instill in our executives some of the good old-fashioned behaviours that would keep a client happy and loyal?
Fake it til' you make it... as an ad agency receptionist
From dressing the part to playing the gatekeeper, Leo Burnett Sydney’s Susie Henry tells us how to make it as the face of adland in a piece that first appeared in Encore.What does a receptionist in an ad agency actually do?
Well, there’s the frantic every-day, all-day stuff of deliveries, courier bookings, doing expenses for directors – always challenging – plus arranging all the travel. But one of my main jobs is counselling the account service people. I also keep up with all sports information to discuss with our sports-loving clients – because who wants to be bored while they’re waiting? And I know how they like their coffee. You need to know everyone – from accounting to HR. I’m also the go-to for all catering and sending flowers.
Whose views skew the news? Media chiefs ready to vote out Labor, while reporters lean left
Most journalists lean left-of-centre, says Folker Hanusch of the University of the Sunshine Coast, in a post first published on The Conversation.Most Australian journalists describe themselves as left-wing, yet amongst those who wield the real power in the country’s newsrooms, the Coalition holds a winning lead.
But while the media’s political leanings will no doubt be debated in the lead-up to September’s federal election, our study has also found other largely unscrutinised biases remain – particularly whose views disproportionately shape the news.
It's time for a new New Wave in the film world
Government funding bodies are lazy and decadent, says industry veteran Michael Thornhill but in a piece that first appeared in Encore, Ed Gibbs begs to differ.I vividly remember the time I first saw Animal Kingdom, David Michod’s breathtaking labour-of-love feature debut. The press screening was half empty, despite the film winning the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance just months earlier, in 2010. Yet its superb performances, stylistic flourishes and overall polish left me speechless. Could this really be a feature debut, an Australian one at that, I wondered, almost out loud? It seemed too good to be true.
Going cold turkey on an agency addiction
Life is sweet for freelance writer Max Kitchen, but in a feature that first appeared in Encore, he admits his struggle against returning to the agency fold.I’ve never taken heroin. But I suspect if I had, the temptation to try it again would not be too dissimilar to the lure of returning to agency life.
Can sport save Ten?
First there was the Grand Prix. Next came the reported $500m bid for cricket rights, then Ten secured the 2014 winter Olympics. So, can sport save the ailing network? In a feature that first appeared in Encore, Nic Christensen investigates.The television sports rights bidding process is a bit like a game of poker.
Check, fold or bet. Those were the options for the Ten Network last week when it had to finalise its bid for the cricket rights.
Andy Lark: good for the marketing of marketing
I can still remember the first story I wrote about Andy Lark, when it emerged that he was to be the new chief marketing officer of CommBank.
It was immediately clear that Australia was about to meet an interesting marketer, one who blogged and tweeted and thanks to his time at Dell in the US was digitally savvy. Even two years ago, that was a big deal. The fact that he also had a stint in public relations gave him an absolutely intriguing background before he even arrived.
Storming the media barricades - advice for young journalists
This week Mumbrella’s Nic Christensen, who began his career four years ago, gave the keynote address to would-be journalists at the Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance’s Student Day. This is an edited version of his speech.Good afternoon, I can remember distinctly the last time I was in this room.
It was 2009 and I was sitting where you are. I’d come to this event, a friend and myself — from memory we sat up the back — and I can remember at the time wondering if I’d ever get a job as a journalist.
It was only four years ago and then as now getting a job was ultra competitive but I’m not sure there was quite as much media ‘doom and gloom’ as there is now…
Paywalls will help fund campaigning journalism
In this guest post, News Limited’s group editorial director Campbell Reid responds to the views of ninemsn’s Hal Crawford that the company’s push into metered paywalls is about data rather than dollars.Hal Crawford is both right and wrong in his article which argued that our digital subscription plans are all about the data.
Fake it 'til you make it... as a features editor
Cosmo’s Kate Leaver tells us how to bluff it in her job in a feature that first appeared in Encore.What do you do, as a features editor?
Really, play with words and ideas all day. At any one time, we’re working across three issues of the mag – getting one on its way to the printers, pooling all the words together for another, and planning the issue after that. It’s busy but it’s a pretty magnificent process.
Savage counsel - JFDI
Hi Chris,I run a medium-sized agency that is doing pretty well. As the leader, I am finding my workload just seems to go up and up. I am struggling to stay motivated and particularly to tackle the bigger and tougher challenges I have to face every day. How do I keep up the energy when there just seems so much to do? How do you do it?
Productive, successful executives are those able to consistently tackle difficult and big challenges. It’s a constant struggle for me so I know how you feel. How do the successful leaders do it?
Q&A with Brett Clegg
Brett Clegg, group director – business media, Fairfax Media, in a Q&A that first appeared in Encore, on the journo who refuses to work with him – his wife.Who is the most powerful person in Australian media and why?
Hard to go past Rupert Murdoch. He controls the single largest and most diverse portfolio and is intent on leveraging its scale (and, of course, influence). He’s an innovator and his will to win is obvious to all.
The experiential experience
Anyone can throw up a tent in a high-traffic area and harass the general public, but what does it take to pull off an effective experiential event? In a piece that first appeared in Encore, Matt Smith investigates.A television commercial can easily be muted and ignored, but try ignoring a purring, squirming cat in your arms. That was the experience awaiting passers by in Sydney’s Martin Place in October last year when Mars Petcare built Whiskas Kitten Palace.
The News Limited paywall isn't about revenue. It's about data
In this guest post, ninemsn’s editor in chief Hal Crawford argues Fairfax Media and News Limited’s new paywalls won’t draw much revenue, but will generate data. And they’re late to the data party.When I first learned that ninemsn’s major digital competitors Fairfax and News Ltd were going to introduce paywalls across their mainstream properties, I was excited.
Every obstacle thrown in the way of their audiences is an opportunity. People hate friction and anything that makes life difficult on a rival site is a chance to get them on yours.
Sportsbet and CommBank go to war over ‘Can’ parody
Gambling brand Sportsbet is in dispute with CommBank after it created a spoof version of the bank’s “Can” ad.
CommBank said that it would take steps to have the video removed from social media because it infringed the company’s intellectual property rights.
The original featured actress Toni Collette reading “An Ode To Can”, while Sportsbet’s features a lookalike reading “An Ode to Toni”.
Facebook has acted to remove the video from its player, while it remains on Sportsbet’s YouTube channel.
Commbank issued a statement saying: “While we recognise that the parody is a bit of fun, we do take our intellectual property rights seriously as I’m sure does Sportsbet. We have taken steps to have the video removed.”
Haydn Lane, head of communications at Sportsbet told Mumbrella in a statement: “Some people CAN’T see the funny side of life, at Sportsbet we CAN. No one wants to be accused of being a CAN’T.”
The parody was completed in-house without agency involvement.
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Comments
17 Aug 12
3:05 pm
Love Sportsbet’s balls in this
17 Aug 12
3:18 pm
Aren’t there parody protections in the copyright law now?
17 Aug 12
3:30 pm
I wonder if Haydn Lane at Sportsbet thinks problem gambling represents the funny side of life? Maybe he should spend some time addressing that than having his head up his arse and defending this effort. And kick that dud Jaimee Rogers from your TVCs as well while you’re at it.
17 Aug 12
3:35 pm
If anyone from the Commonwealth Bank is reading this, you might want to check out section 41A of the Copyright Act before you embarrass yourself even further. I’ve even cut and pasted it for you below:
41A Fair dealing for purpose of parody or satire
A fair dealing with a literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work, or with an adaptation of a literary, dramatic or musical work, does not constitute an infringement of the copyright in the work if it is for the purpose of parody or satire.
17 Aug 12
3:36 pm
Go Sportsbet. Milk it for every bit of extra leverage and PR that is coming your way. You deserve it for taking the punt.
17 Aug 12
3:37 pm
Seems Commbank left their sense of humour behind in that backpack.
17 Aug 12
3:38 pm
Brilliant – and great response from Hayden. Too funny.
17 Aug 12
3:39 pm
Fantastic, mind you gambling companies are still CAN’Ts themselves.
Comm bank getting their knickers in a knot is pathetic.
Sportsbet should do all their ads in-house. Much better than what droga do for them
17 Aug 12
3:40 pm
I take it Sportsbet are not a cutomer for CBA?
17 Aug 12
3:40 pm
Truly loathe the growth of betting sites and institutions and the reach it has in our community I think Comm Bank CAN win (not how I didn’t say I bet they can – I just hope they can CAN – gambling is so insidious – right up there with smoking except it’s a hidden addiction. sorry agency who did this but it needs to get personal – like big tobacco, big gambling should be called to account.
17 Aug 12
3:41 pm
I would be more forgiving of this if it weren’t for a betting brand.
17 Aug 12
3:43 pm
Haydn – this is brilliant work and so much better than the com bank’s version
17 Aug 12
3:46 pm
I think if CommBank went the other way and shared it on their social media feeds going, “look at this, this is a funny parody of our ad” it would have been much better. Right now they just look like stuffy tight-arses.
17 Aug 12
3:46 pm
sportsbet CAN!
unlike some ‘cants’
hahahahah
17 Aug 12
3:52 pm
A lookalike????
17 Aug 12
3:54 pm
For such a crappy campaign, the use of the term “intellectual property” by that CANT of a bank is laughable!
17 Aug 12
3:55 pm
Their “UN-intellectual” property ?
17 Aug 12
4:08 pm
They say imitation is the highest form of flattery.
Shame this is a poor imitation.
Get an agency Sportsbet.
17 Aug 12
4:22 pm
Truly loathe the growth of betting sites and institutions and the reach it has in our community I think Comm Bank CAN win (please note how I didn’t say I bet they can – I just hope they can CAN – gambling is so insidious – right up there with smoking except it’s a hidden addiction. sorry agency who did this but it needs to get personal – like big tobacco, big gambling should be called to account.
17 Aug 12
4:29 pm
can have a sense of humor about backpack bombs,
cant have one about parody.
17 Aug 12
4:33 pm
What Billy C said. I thought parody was protected? As it should be.
17 Aug 12
4:43 pm
I hope Parodies aren’t embanninated. I’ve spent ages making Cumbrella!!
17 Aug 12
4:45 pm
CAN’T take a joke.
17 Aug 12
4:53 pm
This is a stunt and a thinly veiled one at that! What an easy target they choose in the Comm Bank, spoofing their campaign designed to show how in touch they were with the hopes and dreams of the everyday Aussie.
Sportsbet spoof pokes fun at the campaign and with the full knowledge that Comm Bank would react by asking it be taken down.
This is exactly what they wanted, the social media campaign would be a failure if there wasn’t some infamy surrounding. It would have faded away into obsecurity as most poorly excuted parodies do.
Sportsbet gets to look like the cool, funny company that CAN take a joke and Comm Bank (the butt of the joke) gets appear the as if they CAN’T take a joke.
17 Aug 12
5:01 pm
Should they have parodied the bomb ad?
17 Aug 12
5:12 pm
What about British Telecoms IP – CAN was there campaign back in the 90′s
17 Aug 12
5:52 pm
Seen this one yet!!!? LOL This could spawn a few more too… Well done!!!
http://youtu.be/0ujN_mL0hNs
17 Aug 12
7:49 pm
This totally appeals to your average Punter, who happen to be their target audience… well done Sportsbet.
Bad luck to Comm Bank having their new multi-$m brand campaign hijacked, but CAN’T say that I feel sorry for em. Banks ARE an easy target and rightly so. Just ask YOUR agency planning team.
17 Aug 12
7:49 pm
Facebook takes the video down straight away, but refuses to remove racist content for days. Go figure.
17 Aug 12
8:01 pm
Nobody cares about this video and I Can Haz Cheeseburger.
18 Aug 12
12:43 am
Nice one Sportsbet. I laughed. Keep it up.
18 Aug 12
11:31 am
Genius. Who was the agency?
18 Aug 12
12:48 pm
… And they clearly can’t take the joke.
CommBank could have turned this into an opportunity but instead shut it down.
A bit of fun associated with their brand would make all the difference. They just keep making such immature mistakes.
18 Aug 12
1:04 pm
There’s a four letter word that’s as funny any
Has the power to draw a chuckle from many
Sportsbet know it, and gave it a poke.
And now we all know Commbank can’t take a JOKE.
18 Aug 12
1:13 pm
You were beaten to it by three years, gutted: http://mumbrella.com.au/mumbre.....nsion-6704
Cheers,
Tim – Mumbrella
18 Aug 12
4:06 pm
parody for commercial purposes can’t be protected. parody for parody sake can.
this is blatantly commercial, so commbank has the right to have a whinge.
19 Aug 12
8:48 am
Can’t believe how BLIND CBA are being here! Don’t they realise that a parody is a free kick to much desired, valuable EXTENSION of their campaign reach? Whether intentional or not, EVERYBODY – when watching the Sportsbet parody version – will think of CommBank.
Yep, Comm Bank will be TOP OF MIND every time someone watches it – effectively DOUBLING the impression of the “CAN” campaign.
Just goes to show, that Comm Bank really DON’T live in our world. Oh, hang on, that’s the other mob, isn’t it?!
19 Aug 12
4:26 pm
would all these morons saying ‘parody is protected’ please wake up?
it’s protected if it’s for artistic purposes and non-commercial gain. this is for commercial gain, unless you think SportsBet’s only intention was to make a short piece of cinematic comedy, rather than an add punting its gambling service.
20 Aug 12
11:01 am
And now we learn that the CANT BANK top exec pocketed an average $63k PER DAY in the 5 months before retiring last year. And they worry about this kind of thing?