Year In Review: Best Mumbrella guest posts of 2016
From fake influencer experiments and crisis comms fails to gender diversity and industry wankery, this year's op-eds ran the gamut. Here's the 10 most read submissions of 2016...
How our fake business won a Customer Service award
Former agency executive Marc Cowper, now boss of start-up Recomazing, embarked on an experiment to see how easy it is to buy endorsements from influencers for a fake business. To his dismay, he won an award, which he argues highlights the potential for manipulation and dishonesty by social media influencers.
How to Ritson: A beginner’s guide to denial, dismissal & downplay
Professor Mark Ritson was one of the most talked-about figures in Australian adland after a series of explosive presentations calling out the ‘tsunami of bullshit’ he claimed digital media platforms are peddling. Digital agency owner Dan Monheit’s piece calling out some of his arguments and tactics certainly divided opinion.
Lessons every company needs to learn from the mishandling of the Dreamworld tragedy
The tragedy which saw four people lose their lives on a ride at the Dreamworld theme park in November shocked the nation. That sense of grief was compounded by a series of blunders from park owners Ardent Leisure, which James Wright said provided a salutary lesson for the rest of the communications industry.
Why brands shouldn’t listen to consumers if they want to evolve
Arnott’s decision to change the flavours of Shapes created uproar amongst devotees of the product. But consumer psychologist Adam Ferrier argued that example showed why brands shouldn’t always listen to their customers when evolving products.
Not every white male creative is a member of the boys club
As the industry debate around a lack of female representation rumbled through the year, one un-named guest contributor whose appointment was the subject of public opprobrium penned a piece arguing not all white male creatives have been beneficiaries of the ‘boy’s club’
What brands can learn from Taylor Swift’s reputational crisis
Unexpectedly the public feud between Taylor Swift and Kim Kardashian makes the top 10. This opinion from Soraya Calvassy looked at how Swift’s carefully maintained public persona had been tarnished by the spat.
The Mumbrella confessional: What it’s like to work at a scam agency
This year saw the Mumbrella confessional open for business. Its first repentant entrant spilled the beans to Mumbrella Asia on what it was like to work for an agency obsessed with scam over real work.
I’m a millennial and I don’t understand marketing’s millennial obsession
Is millennial the most over-used marketing buzzword of the millennium? John Dawson certainly thinks so, and in this piece explains why marketers are misguided by focusing their attention on Gen Y.
There are too many so-called digital marketing ‘experts’
The term ‘expert’ is increasingly being appended to marketing practitioners with just a few years in the industry, as bosses struggle to position staff properly. Tim Yee calls out the practice.
Making a media mountain from a social molehill – in defence of Aldi’s social media intern
In February Aldi copped a social media backlash after tweeting “I became an Aldi lover when I tasted ______ for the first time”, leading to a string of sardonic posts. While many claimed the post was naive, Adam Woods argued it was a lesson in ignoring irrelevant Twitter trolls.
I’m sorry but where is the 24 hours with Kerwin? Surely that’s the best Mumbrella piece of 2016…
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