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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 »
Weight Watchers in push to make brand more contemporary
Weight Watchers has launched a campaign aimed at creating a more contemporary and younger tone of voice for the brand, while also dispelling old myths.
The Approved by Life campaign, created by BMF, uses an animated ‘life line’ that represents the movements, emotions and choices people make in their lives.
Dylan Taylor, BMF creative director direct, said: “Ultimately the message is that this is not a weight-loss plan, it’s a lifestyle that fits around you. With Approved by Life, we want our audience to look at Weight Watchers differently to the category – it’s about what you CAN do – giving you solutions to keep on track, even when life isn’t.”
The campaign encompasses TV, radio, print, direct mail and digital, as well heli-banners and ambient outdoor activity.
Credits
Agency: BMF
Production Company: Mighty Nice
Media Planning: bellamyhayden
Media Buying: Mediacom
Digital Media Planning: Tongue
Digital Execution: BMF/ Tongue
Client: Michael Burgess, GM marketing, Weight Watchers
January 4th, 2010 at 12:08 pm
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Comments
4 Jan 10
3:06 pm
Great work guys. Gets the message across in a simple and positive way … And no Dicko in sight!
4 Jan 10
3:50 pm
Excellent work. Hope it’s a winner – it deserves to be. Think how much the WW message has developed into a beautiful svelte self from its early days!
5 Jan 10
3:18 pm
Dear Nathan
There’s a reason why every successful weight loss program in the world uses before and after shots. IT WORKS. Even Light ‘n Easy which doesn’t even claim to be a weight loss program has it in their ads. Nathan, WW will be looking for a ‘Dicko’ of their own sooner than you think, because this campaign might make sense, it might make all the cool young creatives feel positively gooey inside, but it won’t make the phones ring like a good shot of before and after.
Fatboy
5 Jan 10
4:40 pm
Nice work indeed!
7 Jan 10
10:56 am
Fatboy, the problem with before and after advertising is that its polarising. While older Australian men that want to lose a stack of weight may identify with the Jenny Craig campaign, younger Australian women certainly will not. Either will the vast number of Australians who want to lose a couple of kilos v huge amounts of weight loss.
I think the point of the new campaign (as the article states) is to pitch a younger tone of voice for the brand thus making it relevant and more inclusive to all Australians. Surely this makes sense?
Weight Watchers should be commended by taking a positive and innovative tack instead of preying on aging celebritites to be the voice of their brand. They’re number one in the category and have withstood a lazy adhererence to convention from their counterparts over the years. Surely this is proof the phones have been and will continue to ring.
Nothing great is ever achieved by not taking a risk and doing something differently.
I’m looking forward to the press spying both Magda and Dicko tucking into a cheeseburger to kick this artificial old school advertising approach back into the 1930’s where it belongs.
7 Jan 10
2:40 pm
Nathan
You may be right about about Magda and Dicko being caught with a cheeseburger in their mouths, but to suggest ‘nothing great is ever achieved by not taking a risk and doing something differently’ is stretching the truth a bit. Lots of brands are very successful because they aren’t different. They just do regular stuff well. Its why supermarkets sell more white sliced bread than any other and why AC/DC keep producing the same song over and over again [thank God].
With respect
Fatboy
8 Jan 10
2:03 pm
do you have to be fat to join weight watchers?
11 Jan 10
2:58 pm
I think they’ll let you in if you’re big boned.
13 Jan 10
7:08 pm
Nathan, I told you it’s a glandular thing…