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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.
This murderous regime proudly brought to you by Oral B
Good ole smh.com.au.
They’re currently running a pre-roll ad for Oral B toothbrushes.
“There’s a revolution going on!” it burbles. “Millions of people are waking up and seizing power…” It then concludes “Join the revolution.”
So which video might you not put that ad in front of? How about a piece on the Iranian uprising? Or perhaps distressing footage of a shot, dying protestor.
Dr Mumbo’s correspondent concludes: “It would seem that Oral B sponsors or at least endorses the shooting of Iranian Protesters.”
Revolutionary marketing indeed.
(1pm update: The ad has now been pulled and repalced with a house ad.)
June 24th, 2009 at 10:04 am
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Comments
24 Jun 09
10:17 am
This is fucking disgraceful. It’s still live BTW.
Someone at SMH might have just lost their job.
24 Jun 09
10:24 am
speechless.
Similar issue with ‘leveraging’ the Iran coverage has been reported by @tiphereth and has now been picked up by Sky News and the Guardian.
http://www.socialmediatoday.com/smc/103334
Really… what are these people thinking?
24 Jun 09
10:26 am
OMG
24 Jun 09
10:30 am
I think it’s an honest mistake – one of the drawbacks of having ‘relevant and targeted’ ads served on your website by a third party, I guess. It’s probably the result of whatever ad server SMH use looking for keywords in the article and serving ads that it thinks the readers of the article would be interested in. It’s an industry standard practice that causes unfortunate problems like this from time to time.
Sure, it’s distasteful, but I highly doubt this would be intentional. Nice find though.
24 Jun 09
10:38 am
it’s just a bloody pre-roll everyone … it’s just another oversight … nothing sinister, just incompetence.
24 Jun 09
10:39 am
btw this whole mumbo jumbo around targeted/contextual ads is ridsculous … i doubt 2% of web ads outside search are targeted … let alone pre-rolls.
24 Jun 09
10:59 am
Ah, the joy of having a 100% buy out of all video pre-rolls, you get to have your ad associated with all sorts of goodness. It’s the same on ninemsn when you click on one of the videos they bring in from 3rd parties like stupidvideos.com: ‘Before you watch this video of some poor guy getting hit in the nads, have a look at this ad from our sponsor’
Whilst these are never ideal, nothing pains me more than the auto play videos with sound that most portals now sell – talk about user experience! Auto play should never have sound!
24 Jun 09
11:00 am
I do tend to agree with Lance that it’ll just be a pre-roll sitting across chunks of the site which is horribly unfortunate placement (although there’s a strong argument that with news stories those placements should have a human eye vetting them). It seems unlikely to be auto-targeted, and I’m certain they haven’t put it there deliberately!
Cheers,
Tim – Mumbrella
24 Jun 09
11:35 am
Placement gaffes aside, the ad itself is dross, based on the most clichéd idea since celebrity endorsement.
Join the toothbrush revolution that isn’t… zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
24 Jun 09
12:17 pm
As Tim said this is probably running across quite a few sites as a pre-roll today,1 out of hundreds of news stories, not to mention other sites across their network, making it almost impossible for the a human eye to be vetting everything. I’d also doubt that the news content teams would be communicating with the video campaign managers and sales execs who got it up there???
In a perfect world, controversy, political incorrectness, offensive content and anything that has the possibility to annoy or piss someone off wouldn’t run. Alternatively, we could come back to the real world and accept that coincidences happen?
24 Jun 09
12:46 pm
Hm, seems to be okay to me – no ad before the clip at http://media.smh.com.au/world/.....98561.html
I looked at the ad and the clip and I think your outrage and indignation is, to say the least, a bit over the top.
Viva la polemica!
24 Jun 09
12:53 pm
Hi Bob,
You’ve got the wrong link there – follow the one in the story above.
However, they have now pulled the Oral B ad and replaced it with a house ad.
But as you’re posting from within Fairfax, I suspect you already knew that.
Cheers,
Tim – Mumbrella
24 Jun 09
2:10 pm
I think its just an unfourtunate oversight – I dont think anyone at Oral B would sieze the Iranian riots, including a protestor being shot, and think that it would be a good idea to try and align thier brand through the revolution similarities.
Its an unfourtunate mistake and they happen – I dont think that anyones going to get fired over it…
24 Jun 09
2:59 pm
It happens in many other forms of media. Unfortunate.
Someone with foresight should have clicked, potentially the client or agency who would know they were running against news.
Not that hard.
Not sure the media owner can be entirely blamed.
24 Jun 09
3:28 pm
I doubt this is anything to sinister. It is just another quite funny example of how computer can get things wrong.
Just like the video on an online news site last week that feature an underwear show – placed next to an article about a rapist with an underwear fetish. The unfortunate placement was just a matter of both the article and the video having a similar keyword and being deemed as related by the content management system. Nothing sinister or intentional.
Yes to some degree maybe there should be some human checking to get over these hurdles. But lets be honest here, no-one other than us marketing/PR types go into a blind frenzy about these things. Most people just don’t give a hoot and move on to the next page.
Dave
24 Jun 09
3:29 pm
And speaking of human checking. Way too many grammatical errors in my last post. Reads like it was sub-edited by news.com
Dave
24 Jun 09
3:37 pm
pre rolls on major sites are contextual now? really??
so an advertiser could only run next to stories about football or mining or the recession?
really??????
24 Jun 09
3:48 pm
Yeah.
Expect to see ads for utes next to all PM stories.
And for toilet paper next to anything from A Current Affair.
24 Jun 09
5:10 pm
I think Godwin Grech may have the inside information on the placement.
24 Jun 09
5:20 pm
This was an unfortunate situation as the buy was across all news videos. Upon realisation of this we acted accordingly and took down the advertisement from the World News section.
We now feel this has been resolved and apologise if any offence was caused.
Best Wishes,
Paul Sigaloff – National Sales Director
24 Jun 09
5:23 pm
Hi Paul,
Thanks for letting us know.
Cheers,
Tim – Mumbrella
24 Jun 09
9:25 pm
Hi Paul
I don’t think you have anything to apologise for here.
Mumbrella seem to have been the ones taking advantage of an unfortunate ad placement to promote their own agenda.
It is outrageous of Mumbrella to conclude
“Dr Mumbo’s correspondent concludes: “It would seem that Oral B sponsors or at least endorses the shooting of Iranian Protesters.””
If they believe that is true they obviously do not understand how advertising and media work. If they don’t believe it is true then why are they saying it.
24 Jun 09
11:04 pm
@Anon 24.6.9 – I agree, particularly with this statement: ” It would seem Oral B sponsors or at least endorses the shooting of Iranian Protesters.” is an outrageous claim.
Dr Mumbo’s correspondent doesn’t give any indication that either they did or attempted to contact the SMH or the parent company of – or any subsidiary of – Oral B prior to publication to see if there was any truth whatsoever to the statement made that “Oral B sponsors or at least endorses the shooting of Iranian Protesters” as claimed.
Tim, you should unreservedly apologise for publishing this rubbish and find a new Dr Mumbo correspondent too.
Disgraceful.
25 Jun 09
8:37 am
Hi Rowan,
Thanks for your comments.
I suspect you’re perhaps misinterpreting what the person who pointed this out means. They do understand advertising and are in a position to know how it works.
But to the casual reader, not in the business, who doesn’t understand how advertising works, that’s how it could appear.
Which would be why Fairfax have taken it down.It was a very unfortunate placement that tended to link the advertiser with the content, and they’ve removed it.
Cheers,
Tim – Mumbrella
25 Jun 09
8:59 am
Excelent.
This article has always read: “Look, an oral B ad happened to appear in a contextually akward spot, that’s pretty funny isn’t it…Discuss…”
25 Jun 09
9:25 am
Tim, I understand how advertising works, I think it is you that has missed my point here.
My comment is not about where and how the advertising was placed on the SMH.
My point is about the wording on your website.
Currently mumbrella.com.au is claiming that “It would seem that Oral B sponsors or at least endorses the shooting of Iranian Protesters.”
Are you seriously suggesting that a toothbrush company is sponsoring or endorsing the actions of the Iranian government in the shooting of it’s own citizens to suppress protestors after an election?
Really? Is that what you’re proposing? Because that’s what your website says.
I doubt very much, and I hope you don’t believe, that OralB does in fact sponsor or endorse the shooting of Iranian Protestors.
25 Jun 09
9:53 am
Hi Rowan,
I’ll let you into a secret. I don’t think our correspondent really does think that Oral B is sponsoring the putdown of the Iranian uprising. I think he’s using hyperbole to make his point. I suspect that most folk would interpret it that way.
Cheers,
Tim – Mumbrella
25 Jun 09
10:29 am
Hi Tim
Thanks for letting me in on the secret.
I’ll let you in on one too, I don’t think so either.
I think it’s irresponsible to indicate/joke around as has been done, particularly when the situation is so serious.
Cheers
Rowan
25 Jun 09
10:56 am
Well said, Rowan.
What if Mahmoud Ahmadinejad subscribes to Mumbrella? This advert could be juts the thing that tips him over the edge.
It’s irresponsible.