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Opinion
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 »
ABC News 24 – a handy service for niche journalists
It may not have many viewers yet, but ABC News 24 saves specialist journos having to leave their desks, argues Delimiter’s Renai LeMay
When media commentators discuss the future of journalism, they usually agree on at least one thing: It will involve much fewer generalists and more reporters dedicated to exhaustively covering niche fields. Read more »
The seven ages of Carlton Draught’s Made From Beer
Today sees the launch of “Slow Mo”, the latest instalment of Carlton Draught’s irreverent Made From Beer series.
It’s been quite a run – from the highly awarded Big Ad, to the comedy of Flash Beer, to the debacle of the abortive banned Tingle campaign. These are the seven ages of Made From Beer… Read more »
Real consumers don’t have ‘brand conversations’. They use search
In this guest posting, Simon van Wyk argues that much as marketers might wish otherwise, most consumers don’t have emotional connections with brands
I have a background in marketing, but my understanding of branding seems at odds with the 2010 opinions I see from social media commentators, marketing and advertising agencies. Read more »
Hot, censoring atheists: Google’s insight into what punters think about pollies and journos
One of the charms of Google is autocomplete, where it takes a punt on what you’re going to ask, based on what the rest of the world has been wondering previously.
And it certainly gives a few insights into the high quality of political debate about the Labor leaders in the run up to the election.
Take NSW premiere Kristina Keneally… Read more »
The copyright-busting election
This is rapidly turning into the copyright-infringing election. Read more »
Digital Fail: The gaping void in digital training is failing our industry
In this guest post, Amnesia Razorfish’s Iain McDonald warns that the industry has fallen badly behind on digital training.
Before I get accused of trolling with that headline, I’ll state what I think is obvious: The current education system isn’t producing or nurturing enough ‘digitally skilled’ individuals to sustain a growing a digital economy. Read more »
Transparent SMH – great but late?
Another day, another SMH cover wrap.
This time it’s a rather more creative see-through execution for the Toyota Prado. It’s certainly better than last week’s Mastercard effort.
However, my local newsagent is still none too happy. He reports that production complexities in connection with the execution meant the paper was three hours late again – the second time in a week, and as a result sales have been lost.
As I write, the SMH has just issued a press release about the wrap saying it followed three years of research and six months of testing.
It quotes Fairfax’s Sydney CEO Lloyd Whish-Wilson as saying it is “a testament to the creativity and skills of Fairfax Media.”
Tim Burrowes
November 23rd, 2009 at 11:29 am
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Comments
23 Nov 09
11:36 am
People express their creativity in different ways.
Best wishes to the SMH production folks.
23 Nov 09
11:42 am
It took them 3 years to figure out they should use tracing paper?
23 Nov 09
11:53 am
Wow, creative genious from Fairfax. And with innovation occuring at such incredible speeds, it’s not surprising just why they lead the new media world. They should be proud, and I should be investing in fairfax.
23 Nov 09
12:06 pm
The execution I like, although I can’t comment on the logistical/timing impact of doing it. It did raise my curiosity in a positive way.
23 Nov 09
12:34 pm
Sure it was different and made me look but how environmentally friendly was this piece? Probably just end up as more land fill for the Prado to drive over..
23 Nov 09
2:37 pm
Better than last weeks effort? Just. God help people trying to sleep on trains this morning as the herald readers made a hell of a racket maneuvering that crinkly cover. Again I didn’t pay attention to the add, but did have a strong desire to axe my SMH subscription. It’s all well and good to push the ad boundaries, but done wrong you just piss off reader, who are after all the people the advertisers are chasing.
23 Nov 09
2:59 pm
not sure what’s so creative/innovative about it, been done many more times before in other parts of the world
23 Nov 09
3:32 pm
Just a typo in the article if you’re up for fixing it – However, my local “newagent” is still none to happy.
23 Nov 09
3:33 pm
Angus have you ever seen a Prado out of the north shore????
23 Nov 09
3:39 pm
Does anyone have any idea what that wraparound would have cost Toyota?
23 Nov 09
3:42 pm
Ta, JJ. Typo fixed. (A little update too. My newsagent has now sold out because they only received limited supplies.)
Cheers,
Tim – Mumbrella
23 Nov 09
3:44 pm
wonder if newsnet would ever try and flog something this ‘impactful’ or whether it’s solely something you do for revenue at the end of the year when your audience stop buying your newspapers
23 Nov 09
3:51 pm
I really liked it as an execution – hard to say new things about a 4WD, and it’s better than just mindlessly buying a DPS in the middle of the paper or in the FIN…
m
23 Nov 09
4:34 pm
Gee guys I thought it was really creative – it can be recycled for cooking (stops the bix from sticking to the tray in case you didn’t know) or the kids can use it for drawing activities but not sure whether its best use is for selling cars….
23 Nov 09
4:39 pm
Wow … so much negativity.
It doesn’t have to be creative – it has to create awareness and be persuasive with its audience – which it does. I am also interested on the Q re cost.
23 Nov 09
7:32 pm
Sorry to be a pedant – but the typo in that same sentence still isn’t fixed
23 Nov 09
7:47 pm
Done, Ed. Ta also…
Cheers,
Tim – Mumbrella
23 Nov 09
7:58 pm
I think it’s a clever print execution and kudos to Toyota for getting it over the line.
I am on the other hand slightly amazed that the SMH and AGE editorial powers-that-be didn’t insist that the masthead logos were also printed on the ‘tracing paper’.
The Fairfax editors give the impression that they have so little love for their masthead brand that they’re happy to fully cover it up on the newsstand.
For me, that’s the most transparent thing in this whole episode.
23 Nov 09
10:18 pm
With all the waste in the world, who needs this kind of medium? Very irresponsible Toyota. I won’t be buying a Prado.
23 Nov 09
10:21 pm
They’re in a bind. Printing the masthead on the ad gives editorial endorsement to it; leaving it off devalues the brand. Can’t win.
Shouldn’t play – these things just reek of desperation.
24 Nov 09
10:48 am
Final word to me.
Loved by media agencies because it shows how “creative” are. Reality for anyone who paid money to buy SMH and read the news (amazinly some people still do this) is that this is an annoyance and yet another piece of paper tp gop strait in the bin.
26 Nov 09
3:57 pm
An update on this story from the PANPA Bulletin:
“Mark Fletcher, a Victorian newsagent who runs a blog for newsagents, said consumers’ reactions had been mixed. “It was hard to see that it was The Age,” he said. “People buying the newspaper didn’t want to buy an ad… that’s probably not good for the newspaper.” However, he said he thought sales remained normal”
From here:
http://m2g.mail2grow.com/downl.....mber26.pdf