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Opinion | Features
Got a book in you?
From journos to ad execs and PRs, these days everyone seems to have a book in them. But what does it take to get published and will you actually make any money? In a feature that first appeared in Encore, Brooke Hemphill finds out.Attention wannabe authors. Forget big fat advance cheques and living off royalties. The reality of having a book published today is another story altogether. There are only two reasons you should even consider sitting down at your computer to bash out a manuscript – passion or profile.
Savage counsel
In an article that first appeared in Encore, Chris Savage tackles your career and agency dilemmas in his weekly advice column.Hi Chris,
My clients seem to be demanding more and more from us. At the same time, it seems many of the younger people in our industry simply don’t have the client servicing skills my generation grew up with. How do we instill in our executives some of the good old-fashioned behaviours that would keep a client happy and loyal?
Fake it til' you make it... as an ad agency receptionist
From dressing the part to playing the gatekeeper, Leo Burnett Sydney’s Susie Henry tells us how to make it as the face of adland in a piece that first appeared in Encore.What does a receptionist in an ad agency actually do?
Well, there’s the frantic every-day, all-day stuff of deliveries, courier bookings, doing expenses for directors – always challenging – plus arranging all the travel. But one of my main jobs is counselling the account service people. I also keep up with all sports information to discuss with our sports-loving clients – because who wants to be bored while they’re waiting? And I know how they like their coffee. You need to know everyone – from accounting to HR. I’m also the go-to for all catering and sending flowers.
Whose views skew the news? Media chiefs ready to vote out Labor, while reporters lean left
Most journalists lean left-of-centre, says Folker Hanusch of the University of the Sunshine Coast, in a post first published on The Conversation.Most Australian journalists describe themselves as left-wing, yet amongst those who wield the real power in the country’s newsrooms, the Coalition holds a winning lead.
But while the media’s political leanings will no doubt be debated in the lead-up to September’s federal election, our study has also found other largely unscrutinised biases remain – particularly whose views disproportionately shape the news.
It's time for a new New Wave in the film world
Government funding bodies are lazy and decadent, says industry veteran Michael Thornhill but in a piece that first appeared in Encore, Ed Gibbs begs to differ.I vividly remember the time I first saw Animal Kingdom, David Michod’s breathtaking labour-of-love feature debut. The press screening was half empty, despite the film winning the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance just months earlier, in 2010. Yet its superb performances, stylistic flourishes and overall polish left me speechless. Could this really be a feature debut, an Australian one at that, I wondered, almost out loud? It seemed too good to be true.
Going cold turkey on an agency addiction
Life is sweet for freelance writer Max Kitchen, but in a feature that first appeared in Encore, he admits his struggle against returning to the agency fold.I’ve never taken heroin. But I suspect if I had, the temptation to try it again would not be too dissimilar to the lure of returning to agency life.
Can sport save Ten?
First there was the Grand Prix. Next came the reported $500m bid for cricket rights, then Ten secured the 2014 winter Olympics. So, can sport save the ailing network? In a feature that first appeared in Encore, Nic Christensen investigates.The television sports rights bidding process is a bit like a game of poker.
Check, fold or bet. Those were the options for the Ten Network last week when it had to finalise its bid for the cricket rights.
Andy Lark: good for the marketing of marketing
I can still remember the first story I wrote about Andy Lark, when it emerged that he was to be the new chief marketing officer of CommBank.
It was immediately clear that Australia was about to meet an interesting marketer, one who blogged and tweeted and thanks to his time at Dell in the US was digitally savvy. Even two years ago, that was a big deal. The fact that he also had a stint in public relations gave him an absolutely intriguing background before he even arrived.
Storming the media barricades - advice for young journalists
This week Mumbrella’s Nic Christensen, who began his career four years ago, gave the keynote address to would-be journalists at the Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance’s Student Day. This is an edited version of his speech.Good afternoon, I can remember distinctly the last time I was in this room.
It was 2009 and I was sitting where you are. I’d come to this event, a friend and myself — from memory we sat up the back — and I can remember at the time wondering if I’d ever get a job as a journalist.
It was only four years ago and then as now getting a job was ultra competitive but I’m not sure there was quite as much media ‘doom and gloom’ as there is now…
Paywalls will help fund campaigning journalism
In this guest post, News Limited’s group editorial director Campbell Reid responds to the views of ninemsn’s Hal Crawford that the company’s push into metered paywalls is about data rather than dollars.Hal Crawford is both right and wrong in his article which argued that our digital subscription plans are all about the data.
Fake it 'til you make it... as a features editor
Cosmo’s Kate Leaver tells us how to bluff it in her job in a feature that first appeared in Encore.What do you do, as a features editor?
Really, play with words and ideas all day. At any one time, we’re working across three issues of the mag – getting one on its way to the printers, pooling all the words together for another, and planning the issue after that. It’s busy but it’s a pretty magnificent process.
Savage counsel - JFDI
Hi Chris,I run a medium-sized agency that is doing pretty well. As the leader, I am finding my workload just seems to go up and up. I am struggling to stay motivated and particularly to tackle the bigger and tougher challenges I have to face every day. How do I keep up the energy when there just seems so much to do? How do you do it?
Productive, successful executives are those able to consistently tackle difficult and big challenges. It’s a constant struggle for me so I know how you feel. How do the successful leaders do it?
Q&A with Brett Clegg
Brett Clegg, group director – business media, Fairfax Media, in a Q&A that first appeared in Encore, on the journo who refuses to work with him – his wife.Who is the most powerful person in Australian media and why?
Hard to go past Rupert Murdoch. He controls the single largest and most diverse portfolio and is intent on leveraging its scale (and, of course, influence). He’s an innovator and his will to win is obvious to all.
The experiential experience
Anyone can throw up a tent in a high-traffic area and harass the general public, but what does it take to pull off an effective experiential event? In a piece that first appeared in Encore, Matt Smith investigates.A television commercial can easily be muted and ignored, but try ignoring a purring, squirming cat in your arms. That was the experience awaiting passers by in Sydney’s Martin Place in October last year when Mars Petcare built Whiskas Kitten Palace.
The News Limited paywall isn't about revenue. It's about data
In this guest post, ninemsn’s editor in chief Hal Crawford argues Fairfax Media and News Limited’s new paywalls won’t draw much revenue, but will generate data. And they’re late to the data party.When I first learned that ninemsn’s major digital competitors Fairfax and News Ltd were going to introduce paywalls across their mainstream properties, I was excited.
Every obstacle thrown in the way of their audiences is an opportunity. People hate friction and anything that makes life difficult on a rival site is a chance to get them on yours.
World Vision seeks the smell of Old Spice’s viral success
World Vision Australia is among the first to attempt to tap into the viral success of Old Spice’s social media drive with its own take on the mcuh talked about campaign.
It features CEO Tim Costello making a pitch on behalf of the charity.
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Comments
16 Jul 10
2:15 pm
good work World Vision – great to see a big organisation jumping in on the latest viral magic (and to see a CEO in his robe!)
16 Jul 10
2:18 pm
Can’t wait to see the dialogue on this. .
Understanding the imperative to create cut through for donations, how does being classified a ‘charity’ provide carte blanche for capitalising on someone else’s blood sweat and tears?
If this was any other brand outside of the charity sector, they would be crucified. The lines of professional courtesy and respect for another’s IP have been crossed.
The equity it’s taken World Vision to build over the last couple of decades has certainly been affected in my mind
16 Jul 10
2:19 pm
“Emperor Penguin” so excellent. Nice one World Vision, unashamedly capitalising straight away on a great idea. And I love that it’s the CEO!
16 Jul 10
2:21 pm
@gothamgal yes I did straight away think of the potential legal ramifications here. *shrugs* I think this one needs to be taken for exactly what it is though. This might capture the minds of an audience that World Vision has yet to harness? It might completely get sept over, who knows!
16 Jul 10
2:22 pm
*swept
16 Jul 10
2:31 pm
I think it’s tops! Good on them for striking whilst the iron’s hot. Great job.
16 Jul 10
2:42 pm
More wow. Effective. Clever. 1. It got covered in mumbrella 2. I watched it. 3. got the message. No doubt a whole new audience for World Vision.
16 Jul 10
2:48 pm
It’s awesome to see Tim Costello do something like this!
16 Jul 10
2:57 pm
I cant see Old Spice complaining at all. If anything people will see this ad and be reminding of the Old Spice ad – it is almost an endorsement for Old Spice.
Good on ya Tim! It is good to see a CEO rolling up the sleeves and living and breathing his companies message.
I think they will be fine legally. now, if brut did this they could be in bother
16 Jul 10
3:04 pm
Very cool
16 Jul 10
3:07 pm
nice try but it’s too long, tries too hard and is ultimately a little boring. everything that the original is not.
16 Jul 10
3:22 pm
Thought I’d reply to @gothamgal
Firstly this video is very clearly a parody, and we ran it past our legal dept before creating the clip. Secondly I have personally been in touch with the Creative Director responsible for the originals to give them a courteous heads up and ensure they were okay with our homage to their genius.
It was an amazing effort for a organisation like ours to turn something like this around in less than 24 hours. With all the approvals and work required from a team across the business on what was a crazy idea about 11am yesterday.
We are trying to take World Vision forward using digital media as an important channel. Its still early days and we won’t be stopping the tv ads just yet but its great to get the organisation excited about social media.
Thanks for the comments too.
Keith Don
Digital Channels Manager
World Vision Australia
@keithdon
16 Jul 10
3:34 pm
Without approvals you could’ve done a 100 in 24 hours like them, but I guess that’s the problem right.
16 Jul 10
3:40 pm
gothamgal. “The lines of professional courtesy and respect for another’s IP have been crossed”
Ohh come on now.
Welcome to the World 3.0.
It’s a sharing economy.
As a charity or otherwise. Great idea.
16 Jul 10
3:44 pm
Just saw your comment Keith.
Well said!
And congratulations to your team in turning this around.
The thought behind the latest (amazing) viral push for OldSpice to is tap into this whole world of social media. The fact that WorldVision has leveraged that… is precisely what OldSpice want! And in execution it works for them both.
Bravo
16 Jul 10
3:44 pm
Awful.
It’s like watching your dad trying to be cool.
Who’s this aimed at, really?
Unfortunately, in this case, the cause doesn’t justify the means.
16 Jul 10
3:44 pm
Wish the CEO was looking straight forward though!
16 Jul 10
3:45 pm
Keith old boy – massive and very excellent job.
16 Jul 10
3:57 pm
Yes, well its not really in the leagues of http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ArIj236UHs
That’s what you’re aiming for.
16 Jul 10
4:02 pm
There’s a word for what you’re all doing in here. And it’s:
http://searchcrm.techtarget.co.....troturfing
This is a really, really bad ad.
The attempt at humour is inappropriate for the gravity of the subject. Young people will reject it, and old people won’t get it. There is nothing good to say about this.
World Vision employees. Please stop posting.
16 Jul 10
4:52 pm
couldn’t they get him a teleprompter!? he’s clearly reading off screen, which is understandable, he can’t be expected to learn all those lines by heart. but the fact that he’s not looking straight at the camera totally ruins it.
16 Jul 10
5:09 pm
Yeah nah
16 Jul 10
5:17 pm
Lighten up B…. good try lecturing Rev Costello on the ‘gravity’ of poverty.
16 Jul 10
5:29 pm
Dear 5:17.
An ad is an ad, and this is a bad one.
Me lightening up won’t change that. I’m just being honest.
The issue at hand is a desperate one, and deserves much, much, better than this. Sadly, the best of intentions (no matter how worthy) won’t make people give you money, and this ad is a perfect example. And the sooner then cheer squad at World Vision understands this, the better it’ll be for the people who need your help.
The ad is awful. It’ll raise no money.
Please World Vision staff – move on.
16 Jul 10
5:55 pm
I couldn’t watch it past the 5 second mark. Awful.
16 Jul 10
7:31 pm
It’s not great. But good on them. They struck quickly. I watched it – right to the end (grimacing a bit, sure), but a message got through.
Their tv ads and DM pieces have all begun to look the same same to me and this made me look.
I used to sponsor a kid. Now I know there’s other ways of donating. I’ll check it out.
I’m on a Mac.
16 Jul 10
8:27 pm
awful guys. very, very awful.
wish id never seen tim costello’s bare gut, very, very much.
17 Jul 10
12:27 am
Boring as bat shit. Its copy and paste job with bedroom production values and takes 4 times longer to get the message across. Like T said, its like watching your Dad trying to rap. Homage is nice when it is done good. It is easy to duplicate but it is difficult to be better.
17 Jul 10
7:54 am
You guys are mean. I’d like to see you lot execute a better social media idea on a charity budget in 24 hours. Sure it’s not “cool” but good on Tim C for being a good sport. Leave him alone.
17 Jul 10
1:46 pm
I agree with ralphy, it obviously wasn’t an expensive ad and it shows, in fact there’s probably a billion youtube parodies that are better crafted and as funny as the original. but then it’s still a good cause. now if they actually paid for broadcast publication that would be a different story.
17 Jul 10
5:41 pm
I am disgusted by the negativity of some of these comments. If any of you have paid attention, this video has become a viral success and in the end – that is the point of social media! Since when was ‘what works’ about quality?! Its about distribution, timing and mommentum. Have you ever visited YouTube?!
Additionally, when have you seen a CEO cared enough about his organization to make himself vunerable like this? It disgusts me that you guys are having a stab at him when I am sure you wouldnt be willing to do the same.
Shame on you Mumbrella readers, I have never been so embaressed to be amongst your readership.
Thank you Keith for all your hard work, its obviously that your organization is trying to remain relevant. Not many brands could pull this off. I will be retweeting.
18 Jul 10
6:39 am
this is gold …. @OhDoctah vs. @OldSpice http://youtu.be/o-IHk6FKyeg
18 Jul 10
7:23 pm
Very cool – just wondering why Tim isn’t looking at camera? Would have been heaps better if his eyeline was to camera.
19 Jul 10
4:51 am
Idea/strategy was good, execution was really poor.
19 Jul 10
11:38 am
So apparently because this is a charity we’re supposed to excuse it for being a cheap, poorly executed excuse for a ‘social media strategy’? I’m not that patronising.
If the WV employees and others here want to run around thinking that this is ‘good’ then all you’re doing is disrespecting the original and lowering the standard for all production values.
Here we are (mostly) marketing professionals and we tell it like it is. And this is bad. If you don’t know the difference then I’m glad you’re not doing this professionally.
19 Jul 10
1:20 pm
Good on you, Tim.
19 Jul 10
1:44 pm
Anyone know which agency they use?
19 Jul 10
2:27 pm
Brilliant, loved it, good on you World Vision.
19 Jul 10
4:02 pm
@amnesia are on their books. I can similarities between this and the realestate.com non-viral viral at the beginning of the year in terms of production quality…anyone know?
19 Jul 10
4:09 pm
Wrong subject matter for a pisstake on a funny ad.
And Tim, try talking straight to the camera like the original does as that’s the essence of the concept.
FAIL!
19 Jul 10
4:15 pm
this is to be commended for just being “on to it”.
i also think our industry needs to take a chill pill!
19 Jul 10
4:23 pm
Painful to watch. Way to instill guilt into a pleasurable meme! Good result for a quick turnaround but I still want to stick forks in my eyes.
19 Jul 10
4:27 pm
Oh such a good try… but unfortunately it jarrs because the delivery is so bad. I love that they tried just wish it was executed properly… Old Spice will love that a not-for-profit is imitating them… greatest form of flattery and all that. Agree should be commended for being onto it… but i saw Old Spice on youtube via facebook a few months ago… anyway if nothing else it was great for WV to do something humorous rather than those images of malnourished children we are now all so cold to.
19 Jul 10
6:34 pm
Yep, it sure won’t win metal.
And judging by a lot of the negative comments regarding this ‘spin-off” campaign that seems to be what counts for a lot of people. The production quality was (deliberately?) poor, and BADLY in need of a tele-prompter – again no metal.
So, should WV have had a quarter of a mill productiuon budget to appease the Mumbrella readers? Just maybe they put that production money out into parts of the world that are a lot less fortunate than us.
C’mon … lighten up. They are trying to do good for kids around the world who deserve food, shelter and clean water and not trying to win metal.
20 Jul 10
12:26 am
Dear People
I think a lot of you are confusing this with ‘stuff’, when it’s very clearly a ‘thing’, if you know what I mean.
You people are in advertising. ADVERTISING. I would be too, if I could spell. Or direct art or whatever you people do… anyway …
It looks like it was made for $10, which is fab. If they spent money on it would look like something else, like they were serious, which they’re not. The only thing serious is trying every (cheap) trick in the book to get people talking and they did. The lameness is part of the ‘thing’. As I said, it’s a ‘thing’ and you know what I mean.
It’s also good. GOOD as in ‘good’. Not as in ‘genius’ but as in good, like cheese is good, like penguins are good.
It’s disposable. It’s meant to be disposable. Disposable is good. A disposable ‘thing’ is even better. Like penguins are better (I was wrong when I said they were good, they are better than good).
Not looking at the camera, those wacky transitions, the lameness. It’s part of the thing. It is what it is. It’s meant to be what it is. It’s not dressed up as something else. Can’t you see it? Damnit, even I can see it.
Disposable. Make noise, stir up dust, maybe get a controversy happening, do it all for $10 and then move on. That’s guerilla marketing (or is it ‘gorilla’ marketing, I’m not sure, but whatever it is, it is covered in hair and makes my heart race).
The penguin thing was sheer genius.
And the thing worked on me. It was extremely effective. I’m donating $13.75 to Greenpeace. I want to save those penguins from the Japanese. Damn them to hell for what they are doing to the penguins.
I love this, I love Tim, I want to see Tim in a towel. I want to see more Tim, much, much more Tim. When I think ‘man’ I think Tim. But I’m not his type; I know that, I live with that. It’s hard, try being me and you’ll know. For $75 for a half hour you will also understand.
Sure, I could make Tim happy. That’s what I do, but I know it wouldn’t work out. I’m a realist folks. And those of you who think this is anything less than ‘Good’ are not realists.
You have to get over it. It’s disposable. It has worked. People are watching it. There are some of you who know this, I love you. Remember $75 gets you 30 minutes and that’s real value.
So let’s join Tim and save the penguins and children and those other important things that people do from Zodiac inflatables in the bitter cold of the Southern Ocean.
Love
X
Lavinia
It’s lonely out ther in the Souther Oceans; I can send photos.
20 Jul 10
1:11 am
WTF?
20 Jul 10
1:29 am
Dear ‘Edster’
WTF?
What does that mean?
I know what it means.
It means you don’t get it. You don’t get the WV thing, you take it seriously. You think there is some ‘standard’ for production values.
You think that a successful campaign is not open for zero budget parody. Or you think the parody has to be executed to some ‘standard’.
You think there are ‘rules’ for things.
The consumer doesn’t care. They either like it or not. What ‘ad’ people think is not relevant to them.
It also means you don’t get my previous comment. It means you can’t, won’t, or don’t read between the lines. All the fun stuff is between the lines.
Spelling it out for you only ruins the fun. And I could spell it out for you. But I’d have to spell slowly. And I’m not that patient.
Edster, someone with a stick has rolled your rock over.
There are no rules. There is no right and no wrong.
There are other rocks nearby, you can run for cover.
X
Lavinia.
20 Jul 10
3:50 am
I really hate to say this, but it’s the Daryl Somers of viral videos.
Or as someone once used to describe something else, the category of “Hey internet, look at me, I’ve set myself on fire!”
@Keith Don – What were you guys thinking? Was this meant to “cut through the noise”? Was this meant to be “so funny you’d give a tip” – ala-internet busking? If you were going to have a performance, get a *performer* or one of those viral video youtube wunderkind. Don’t make your CEO just another 10-second laughing stock on FAIL blog.
Now if you got *Peter* Costello in a towel… and looking at the camera… with *that* smirk…
I clearly don’t get it. Call me old fashioned, but I prefer my bleeding heart appeals to stay sincere and not try to pull off any of this ironic, random crap.
WV = pictures of 3rd world despair, refugee camps, smiling sponsored children, making me guilty in my cushy chair.
WV != ‘irony’, meme surfing, penguins (belongs to Linux/Greenpeace/WWF!), funny.
Won’t somebody please think of the children?
20 Jul 10
8:12 am
i just lost 1min 37seconds of my life. terrible. look at the camera you goose
20 Jul 10
8:47 am
Your point is well made Dino.
Clearly that 1 min 37 seconds of your life is FAR more important than the lives of the 20 children around the world who died of starvation during that same amount of time.
On behalf of those 20 children I apologise.
20 Jul 10
9:40 am
what were they thinking? wrong, wrong, wrong.
20 Jul 10
9:47 am
Lavina – I think you’re the one that doesn’t get it… You donated to Greenpeace for christs sake. I would hardly call that an ‘extremely effective’ ad for World Vision when you feel compelled to donate to a completely different not-for-profit!
I also don’t believe that World Vision purposely made it look cheap. I think they were trying to create a great video and just didn’t have the ability internally to produce something up to scratch. It’s a shame because I think the concept was good but the execution has let it down.
20 Jul 10
9:56 am
Me thinks too many World Vision marketing employees are driving the ‘positive’ discussion here.
20 Jul 10
10:45 am
Lavinia, you are my hero x
20 Jul 10
12:23 pm
Lavina – I can’t stop laughing! 75 bucks for 30mins? You can’t buy a junior art director for that kind of money!
20 Jul 10
12:28 pm
@Longtime : If you click on the link for Lavinia’s username, I think you’ll get an idea what you can get for that $75. =) Love you long time!
20 Jul 10
12:48 pm
@krangsquared Hahahaha! That’s nice – I like that!
Give that man a job at World Vision!
20 Jul 10
12:48 pm
*or woman even…
20 Jul 10
3:18 pm
I reckon getting an audience of 17 500 people (well, that number of views, anyway) makes this a success. Kudos to Tim and the team.
20 Jul 10
7:21 pm
It’s great. What’s with all the negativity?
20 Jul 10
9:31 pm
Keith and Tim, awesome work!
20 Jul 10
10:40 pm
Lavinia:
Dear Sir and/or Madam
Just to clear up your questions and let you sleep better, the WTF was directed to the ad, to you, your post and your web link.
I dare not slip back under another rock for fear of running into you but thanks for the reminder that I’m actually online. Sometimes I forget what a screwed up place this really is.
luv ya
23 Jul 10
1:48 pm
As a child sponsor I am pleased to see that a lot of money wasn’t wasted on production, getting an actor etc etc… I would be worried if my contribution to looking after a child was actually being spent on big production TV commercials (and yes, before anyone starts I know they have ‘real’ TV commercials out there..). Good on them for trying to reach the social marketing audience, for jumping on the back of a campaign that is well recognised (and I knew before reading the directors comment that they would have run it past the powers that be, they aren’t dumb) and good on Tim for getting behind the company and rolling his sleeves up (or taking them off completely!), and whilst not all of us are excited about seeing him in just his bathroom, who cares!! People are talking about it, so instead of complaining about it why not put your hand in your pocket and help look after a child that needs it…. it’s less than a coffee a day…. And no I don’t work for any child sponsor program…
23 Jul 10
1:56 pm
P.S @krangsquared – thanks for the advice, clicked on it to see who this funny Lavinia was… great, now the IT department are going to think I am looking at porn which will be brought to the attention of my boss and now I may get fired cos I have done something wrong according to the IT protocol…. oh well, didn’t like it here much anymore anyway…
26 Jul 10
10:09 am
Nice attempt to follow on. Who directed Tim not to look straight to camera? What a shame. It’s completely distracting and foregoes the compelling presence of the Old Spice guy “talking directly to me”, making the medium personal.
If they have a second camera cut, I would strongly recommend they re-edit this and get it right. At the moment, its slightly off target. Other than that, shoot it again.
But good on Tim for being brave enough to do it!