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Opinion
The score in the retail war: David 2, Goliath nil
Last night, online electrical retailer Kogan got the sort of advertising that (quite literally) money can’t buy.
The Gruen Transfer spent more than seven minutes discussing the merits of a PR strategy involving taking on the retail behemoth Harvey Norman. Read more »
The Gen X media has misinterpreted Stephanie Rice’s Gen Y ‘faggots’ tweet
In this guest post, Mat Baxter comes to the defense of Stephanie Rice over her much criticised “faggots” tweet.We should all be ashamed. I certainly was as a gay guy this week as Stephanie Rice, a perfectly decent and respectable Australian, was subjected to a totally indefensible attack from a small minority of gay people who desperately need to get a grip on generational reality. Read more »
Google – powered by Bob Dylan
Google is currently rolling out the latest iteration of its search, with instant results as the user types.
While this might be a rather minor improvement in the scheme of things (2-5 seconds per search apparently) the video to promote it is rather good too. Read more »
Video out of the box – literally
Last time I had something good to say about a Fairfax Digital ad execution, I appeared to be in a minority of one.
But here goes with another.
I rather like this execution with the Fairfax video player integrating what’s going on inside the ad with the rest of the page. Read more »
The History Of New
Here’s a really nice piece of advertising work for Vodafone out of New Zealand. Read more »
How to win awards (and why ad agencies are backslapping knob jockeys)
PR agencies need to get better at making awards videos if they want to beat creative agencies in the public relations category of the Cannes Lions – and adland is the home of awards-obsessed, “backslapping knob-jockeys”, the Mumbrella Question Time panel heard. Read more »
Video: How to win new business
Mumbrella Question Time saw the panel asked the secrets of winning new business. Read more »
Let’s stop the anonymous vitriol
In this guest posting, Peter Bray, boss of The Brand Shop, takes issue with negative comments from anonymous posters on Mumbrella and elsewhere.
There are very few ads that I vehemently dislike. There are also very few ads that I really love. But most ads I see on Mumbrella and other blogs I can usually take something from, whether it is information about the brand, a bit of inspiration or a “watch out”. I’m open to learning as much as I can from others, and encourage those around me to do the same.
My basic assumption, however, is that because an ad has been produced by a professional agency, and had the approval from the client, then the end result must be doing something right. Therefore, without knowing the practical rationale behind the ad, for me to have a strong opinion about whether it is great advertising would be kind of arrogant. There is a reason that awards shows ask for information about why an ad was created: they are rarely judged on end product alone.
So as someone who enjoys watching the work that our industry creates, I am stunned at the level of vitriol stemming from some people’s comments in both this blog and others. Read more »
Read his lips
This is several weeks old, but worth a look. It’s certainly an original way to deal with media criticism.It features Air NZ boss Rob Fyfe responding to weekly current affairs magazine The Listener using the medium of sign language. Read more »
Let’s not be too positive just yet – the nail is still there
It’s more than a year since News Ltd’s marketing boss Joe Talcott used the memorable analogy of a dog whimpering on a nail to describe the structural change the industry needs to go through. Read more »
The AdNews numbers that mislead the market
It’s always a tad tawdry when competitors attack each other, but I hope you’ll bear with me…
Whether cynically or through incompetence, AdNews has been misleading its advertisers by providing them with data that seems to suggest they have six times their true online audience.
Allow me to present the evidence. Read more »
Technology will help us own the agenda – all day, every day
In this opening speech to the Future Forum of the Newspaper Publishers Association, News Ltd CEO John Hartigan argued that news organisations have the opportunity to become more rather than less relevant.
Today I want to talk about a tipping point that heralds the most exciting era for journalism. The most exciting era ever.
This tipping point is already upon us. It has arrived at lightning speed, with the explosion in demand for mobile devices.
I am not consigning newspapers to the scrapheap. Not by a long shot.
But this tipping point is going to change journalism forever. In my opinion, very much for the better. Read more »
The real time shit sandwich detector
In this guest post, Clive Burcham of The Conscience Organisation, relishes the instant feedback of social media.
I’ve been making brand driven content since 1996 and often I’ve been so close to the work that I couldn’t tell the difference between if we were chomping on a shit sandwich or savouring the crème de la creme. From an audience perspective, we wouldn’t know the difference for weeks or months. What excites me most now is that we know within 24 hours if we’ve developed shit or cream. Read more »
SMH shows how to make a home page takeover work
When you’re a commercial organisation, balancing the needs of consumers with the need to make money through ads is tricky.
Among the organisations that sometimes goes the wrong way in my view is Fairfax, with its autostart video ads, for instance.
But today, a bit of unreserved praise Read more »
Inside the Foxtel factory
Having been at the launch of Foxtel’s new season the other night, nine points occur… Read more »
The new Westpac ad may be great – but you’ll have to take their word for it
Westpac is VERY proud of its new marketing postitioning. And achingly modern with its PR too.
So modern in fact, that it’s issued an Interactive Media Release – one of the first that Dr Mumbo has been sent
They’ve got all of their social media bases covered.
There’s even You Tube video of marketing manager Andrew Seagar talking about how great the ad is…
… and brand director Jee Moon agreeing with him…
… and Group Executive Peter Hanlon agreeing with both of them.
You can even read their bios (or two of them, anyway).
Sadly, there’s some kind of rights problem, so they can’t actually show the ad online, which is something of a pity for an interactive press release about an advertisement. So we’ll have to take their word for it on what a jolly good job they’ve done.
May 8th, 2009 at 4:04 pm
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Comments
8 May 09
4:11 pm
That is too funny…
8 May 09
4:19 pm
But the press release doesn’t mention anything about the videos being made in the 80’s…
8 May 09
4:23 pm
lets hope the production values of the ads are a bit better than these vids. not overly impressed with lamo tagline “the bank you can bank on”…..hope they didn’t pay to much for that little gem of thinking
good on ‘em for trying something new with interactive release, pity execution not thought through
8 May 09
4:27 pm
the only thing better than a carefully curated, legally approved, non offensive to anyone quote is a carefully curated, legally approved, non offensive to anyone quote filmed on a cheap handycam and put online.
look out youtube servers
8 May 09
4:37 pm
At least they’re not pretending to be different
8 May 09
5:14 pm
This is hilarious…
I particularly love the part of their interactive media release where they say ‘The campaign re-introduces the phrase ‘We’re a bank you can bank on,’ providing a subtle nod…’. I don’t really see what part of that phrase is meant to be ’subtle’.
I also agree with Zac, what a great return to the 80’s!
8 May 09
5:34 pm
I am amazed that they chose an out-of-date technology- the incandescent lightbulb, as a symbol of their NEW campaign which is outlawed now by even the Australian government?
8 May 09
5:38 pm
maverickwoman not to mention how hackneyed the light bulb is in the first place
8 May 09
6:45 pm
Couple of quick tweaks: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1VdASGXFAU
Now Westpac, you’re using the power of the internets.
8 May 09
7:51 pm
Marklen – I salute you…
9 May 09
7:34 am
Oh dear…
9 May 09
1:22 pm
Always happy to see another major corporation embrace online.
But are they taking the piss with those YouTube videos? Fake digital wallpaper by Target, badly chroma keyed behind handycam talking heads, foreheads shining in desperate need of makeup. Did they want it to look like the office junior shot them in-house?
Is it some subtle satire? Westpac marketing during the GFC? A dig at YouTube UGC? Some kind of nefarious experiment in hypno-marketing?
10 May 09
12:37 pm
Who was responsible?
10 May 09
8:59 pm
awful, absolutely awful, and I’m talking about the clips not the ad which I have just seen on their website and which does nothing for me.
Last time you told me ‘my future was your future’ but I take it now you think my future is so worthless you no longer want to be associated with it?
A bank you can bank on. Great, thanks, really means something to me that. I presume we will be subjected to more inane commercials showing how we can bank on them to not follow the RBA rates down, give us such great credit card rates, etc etc.
Please please please though, whatever ads you release next, can we not have these awfully produced clips from undoubtedly overpaid and underworked marketing people trying to pretend they are so cool and clever.
What’s funny is that presumbably there is a hierachy thing happenning here anyway and so one of the three will not be there for the next ad, that one being the one whose daft idea the clips were – my moneys on the bald ugly one, at least the other two made some sense!
11 May 09
1:53 pm
Can anyone remember Westpac’s “Who can you bank on?” campaign?
All singing, jingling, elbows and knees acting and dancing.
Glad to see the palace re-cycling old junk. Quite green of them really.
11 May 09
2:09 pm
Just watched the ad… so can anyone else see the irony in Westpac being;
The “Bank you can bank on.”
The “Jumper in case” –
The “Safety bar… not the rollercoaster”
While at the same time….
Being at the forefront of online social media…
First to market.. in their online strategy…
Telling you… (Before you can actually see it televised) that they are Great… and Revolutionary marketers…
while at the same time being;
“Factor 50” (more like aged 50) … that “stick to the path”
I think the line that sold me was
“The Iron that is definitely switched off”
… In other words not switched on??
11 May 09
2:12 pm
Marklen, I’m with Tim….bloody genius!!!
11 May 09
2:34 pm
I just thought in the first clip that there was this spooky ghosting Christ-like halo around that blokes head! Maybe this is the second coming for Westpac!
Speaking of financial institutions – and I can’t remember which brand it is – there is an ad floating around where they talk about how times are tough and how they recognise how important our dwindling savings are, followed by the tag-line “We want what you want”.
Damn right they do. I want my money … and quite clearly they want my money as well !
11 May 09
3:15 pm
westpac, putting the “W” in bank
11 May 09
5:57 pm
Great to see a bank telling us how great it is…sure, great bank, love some of what you do – but can someone ring me from Westpac so I can share my customer service feedback about the disastrous experience we had with a branch when we got our $500K worth of home loan?
Consultant had no interpersonal skills, left other customers’ personal details on the screen (which we could see!), had snot hanging out of his nose, his phone rang constantly (which he ignored), insisted on us completing a credit card application (which we told him we didn’t want) and an inflatable Santa next to his desk was so loud we could barely hear what he was saying…
Can’t help but feel cynical about the ads as a result.. consistency in your customer service would be a great start before splashing about ad dollars!
11 May 09
6:00 pm
In addition, if a bank thinks that if it tells us how great it is often enough and loud enough, do they truly believe we will all start to believe it?
12 May 09
12:35 pm
But enough about me, let’s talk about what you think about me. Signed W.
13 May 09
2:10 pm
This is pretty hilarious.
How anyone could ever have thought putting the exectuive team into a video press release was a good idea!
Did I just walk into a heavy carpeted 1980s community branch building society?
And you can totally imagine the politics around each person being involved. Why do all 3 of them need to be in their own video?!
Stupid waste of money that damages the brand not builds it.
17 May 09
7:08 pm
Westpac add: “We’re factor 50″
What the hell is that suposed to mean?
Is it in relation to the sunscreen index or someother finance world crap?
17 May 09
7:11 pm
the new west pac commercial.
“the bank you can bank on”.
I was just wondering if anyone could tell me what they are suggesting when they say ‘we are not on a first date’.
thanks.