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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.
TiVo to miss year one target
TiVo will narrowly miss its modest first year sales targets for Australia, its backer has admitted.
The digital video recorder, which is being marketed in Australia by Seven Media Group, will sell less than the targeted 40,000 units, a spokesman told today’s Australian Financial Review.
Althoguh the unit is among the most technically advanced on the market, it is relatively expensive at $700, and only offers the free to air channels.
June 16th, 2009 at 8:00 pm
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Comments
16 Jun 09
11:56 pm
I don’t know what it does, how it does it differently or how it can help me.
The name “Tivo” has been used for years in U.S. shows but with now understanding of it’s use – why would I pay for it?
All I know is Harvey Norman tried to plug it for a month and that’s it. Bad product – too late in the game. Give up guys.
17 Jun 09
10:45 am
The choice on Foxtel is so much better.
17 Jun 09
10:49 am
What did you expect the unit to offer? Foxtel?
$700 is not expensive compared to other PVR’s on the market. It’s one of the most user friendly PVR’s with no ongoing subscription fees to access the content.
It has a full EPG of better quality than the Freeview 7 day EPG currently broadcast with the digital signal.
17 Jun 09
10:59 am
Let’s do the math.
Tivo $700 flat fee, forever.
Foxtel equivalent is $800 for 1 year.
IQ2 (for HD) $200 + $480 ($40 month basic package) + $120 ($10 month for HD channels)
If you’re using the PVR properly you would have more than enough content available from free-to-air.
17 Jun 09
11:55 am
TVAnon…I can’t help but beg to differ that there would be enough FTA content to record on your TIVO. The technology may be ahead of the rest, but the ability to only record off the FTA stations would be a massive drawback to purchase.
There’s a reason why STV homes are viewing more TV per day on average than non STV homes and I would strongly argue it comes from the great programming on offer through Foxtel. Even IQ homes are watching even more television than the non-IQ homes, be it STV or not. So on the whole, why would you buy a PVR that could only do half the job, if its sole purpose (and I’m aware of other capabilities) was to be to record television?
17 Jun 09
12:38 pm
Get a TiVo.. get a lesson on TiVo…. get someone.. a stranger … to show you TiVo.. you will never ever look back. And for the one flat fee it’s an absolute bargain.
17 Jun 09
1:46 pm
Aimee – very well put. TiVo is an amazing product, but it’s only as good/worthwhile as the content it can access. The reason it’s shthot in the US is because it can record from a ridiculous high number of channels and there’s so much content available.
The product here (correct me if I’m wrong) is a dumbed down version of it’s far superior American cousin and coming to market a few years too late.
17 Jun 09
2:04 pm
Dan, you may want to try it before you knock it. I’ve had a Tivo for almost 4 years (prior to the official launch I had a unit bought from the US with a PAL tuner in it for this market) and it has changed the way I consume TV. You can set it up to access all free to air (including digital) as well as download shows from Tivo to your PC, iPhone and other media devices (or the other direction).
The system is easy to use and if you actually try it will change the way you watch TV (I now only watch sport and the odd news live – the rest is taped to watch when I want to watch and best of all allows me to easily skip all the crap commercials).
The IQ provides very similar functionality and gives you access to Foxtel.
17 Jun 09
2:10 pm
I only bought one of these last week….$700 is a cheap cost for something that I now own forever.
I can go online and set up my recording from work, download movies, and watch TV whenever I want.
I had foxtel and most things were re-runs anyway, except live sport. And most of which such as AFL, League, and Cricket on can get on free TV anyway.
17 Jun 09
2:31 pm
Adam, TVAnon and anyone else who would like to make calculations on a “forever” basis, who are you kidding? If the digital age has taught us nothing else, it has taught us that any piece of digital equipment that we buy has a limited shelf life and is then outdated, outmoded, needs to be replaced with a superior model (a must have for all consumers) or the technology is changed making it obsolete. So your calculation with a “forever” included fail from the start since most consumers are savvy enough to know that the way to calculate value is to say that the $700 is for the next two years at most.
Sure, you may be able to use it for more than two years, but how many people here have had the same mobile phone for the last five years?
17 Jun 09
2:42 pm
Adam – would be interesting to know how long ago you had Foxtel?
Foxtel prides itself on having first runs, premium programming and investing in top notch local productions, miles ahead of its beginnings.
If the current industry has shown us anything, it is the Foxtel channels that are continuing to soar because of their committment to their viewer to deliver what they want when they want it. So its this content I would be more interested in being able to access rather than restricted to FTA because of a one-off investment.
Technology changes at the rate of knots. And you’ve now – as you said yourself – have this for life. Is it more fool you?
17 Jun 09
2:55 pm
Some of the comments left here read suspiciously like planted testimonies to paint Tivo in a positive light.
17 Jun 09
3:34 pm
Aimee – you’re obviously someone who works for Foxtel – no one else would use STV instead of PAY TV.
‘b’ – a Tivo for 2 years is still half the price of the cheapest PAY TV equivalent. The lifespan of a Tivo would be similar to a PC purchase rather than a mobile phone.
I subscribe to Foxtel, but most people can get much better value out of a good PVR.
17 Jun 09
5:10 pm
I worked for Goodby in San Franciisco when we launched TiVo in the USA in the late 90′s and I had one of the first boxes. Alongside the internet and mobile phone i think it’s one of the best technological breakthroughs in years.
Watch what you want, when you want and – you can skip through the crappy ads. And 99% of them are rubbish.
It worked across both cable and free tv. Brilliantly.
So why, in tiny Australia, nine years later, do we have this inferior version? Or, the need to buy both an IQ and TiVO? Politics? Land grabs?
Australians have been completely stiffed.
17 Jun 09
5:12 pm
I’d also point out that with Foxtel, I can record commercial free movies on a half a dozen channels. If I see a movie on FTA channels, I avoid ‘em.
It should be noted that IQ is very cheap to install now. I think there is a free IQ promotion on at the moment. So yes, regular monthly payments, but oh so worth it.
Something like 80% of homes in USA pay the cable/sat bill.
17 Jun 09
6:45 pm
Hmmm.
One half of the comments on here seem to come from the TiVo marketing Dept., the other half from FoxTel’s.
Raise your IQ by 20+ points – throw your TV out altogether.
22 Jun 09
3:01 pm
The answer is you are all correct.
What we needed and never got, was FoxTiVo.
The Foxtel content is great but the interface and functionality of IQ is terrible in comparison to TiVo. TiVo is the best tech I have ever used for TV, for the 5 plus years that I have been using it, but TiVo available here at retail is only FTA, therefore not enough content.
The answer is both.
24 Jun 09
8:34 pm
I use selectv, i dont record i dont care, my box is satellite + digital free to air and cost me only $99 once plus $44 monthly subscription, tivo only fta $700 its a no brainer
29 Jun 09
11:59 pm
TIVO may be a good and easy to use product with good functionality, but I agree with the person who made a comparison of US and OZ channels. We only have a handful of free to air here, so much less use for TIVO than in US. I use a PC for my viewing needs, running Vista. I can schedule recordings, watch TV (can do 2 channels with a dual TV tuner card), watch DVD (can add Blu-Ray), listen to music, surf the internet, run Office….blah blah blah, and it cost me less than $500! TIVO is overpriced for what it can do.
1 Jul 09
4:44 am
i dont work for foxtel or tivo, both are overpriced, $700 for tivo and an ongoing rip off from foxtel.
Think about that for a minute