1st Birthday of Adspace-Pioneers and the story of how I got started

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Happy 1 year and 11 days birthday Adspace-Pioneer.

I thought now was the right time to tell the story of how I started Adspace-Pioneers.

Last year I finished my degree and joined the other 5,312 recently graduated students applying for the 17 jobs in advertising.

I did all the things they suggested for getting a job; I got an internship/part time job at an agency, went to every university networking night and begged my parents to ring their long lost friends in the industry to hook me up with a job.

All I ended up with was a stack of business cards.

I dreaded the next step the awkward phone conversation; with the pleasantries aside I would get to business.

‘So any jobs on the radar “insert business card name here”?’

…….

‘No, Julian I will keep an eye out for you, Ah that’s a client on the other line. I will give you a call if I hear of anything.’

I kept thinking there must be an easier way than this. Then one day it just clicked for me. I was asking for so much and giving them nothing back.

I could understand it though, I was asking them for a massive break and then giving them nothing back.

Around this I was working at Sputnik Agency, I was working one day a week preparing a trend report which went out to all the employees. 4 or 5 new trends that people were talking about.

Then it just clicked.

I should be emailing this out to my contacts. This was valuable information; people are time poor and want condensed information. I sent an email out to my contacts telling them I have set up a trend report blog that I will email you every week with updates.

It just made so much sense. I was able to stay top of mind with all my contacts, they were receiving valuable information. I had something to talk to them about. No longer did I feel bad about asking for a job, I just put a note on the end of my email saying I am still looking for a job.

A year on the blog has become more of a tool to make sure that I am keeping up to date with what is happening in the digital environment.

It is great to see other students following this path as well, notably Zac Martin a Monash Student who has started the blog Making Marketing.

And another birthday card
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The Internet Stars are Viral

I think I have spent too much time online this year.

3 years of internet memes in a four minute video.

Daddy, what was the Internet like in 1995?

Hilarious video of Eva Pascoe showing how entertaining the Internet was back in 95.

Technology the nemesis of education?

An interesting video debate about the impact that technology plays on education.

PM Down the YouTube, The Age, October 25th 2007

As my dad said 'You could not pay for this sort of PR'

Great Article by Katie Cincotta

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Santa Kidnap Inside Word



Inside word is that Tequila are behind this campaign and if their Tenacious D online campaign is anything to go by this should be a good campaign. Will be interesting to see what they do with this one. Cannot say it has grabbed me with the same anticipation of the Man Cans but I will look on with interest.

My guess is for Ebay or Playstation. They seem like the two brands that fit best from their current clients.

The Curse of Knowledge, Social Media Guide

Do you often start explaining something that you are really passionate about and get blank looks from the people you are with?

You are probably suffering from the Curse of Knowledge.

I am reading a really cool book at the moment ‘Made to Stick’. It suggests why some ideas stick and other fail. Check out the videos for more information.

One of the interesting concepts that is brought up is the idea of ‘The Curse of Knowledge’. It suggests that your knowledge on a subject is a curse because you struggle to remember what it is like to not remember something. This happens with me with Social Media/Web2.0. My knowledge about the subject is a curse because I cannot remember what it is like to not know anything and assume everyone has the same knowledge as me.

Therefore I have found this good resource for myself. it is a Whitepaper on Advertising 2.0. and explains Social Media Advertising in a really simple way.

Good Bloggers Summary of main points of the book


Speech with Chip Heath from ForaTV


Interview on the Today Show with Chip and Dan Heath

The Talented Mike Smith's Tour of Melbourne

Mike Smith from the soon to be World Renowned Smith Communications takes us on a tour of Naked Communications, Melbourne Office.



As Faris would say; Talent Imitates Genius Steals

Tour of the Sydney Naked Office

I am up in Naked's Sydney office for the week. They have a really cool office space. Here is a video tour of the office.

My vote is in New Media hands!


Consumer Generated Content - Axis of Awesome : Howard vs. Rudd, by mWboo6

Online is my future; I have invested a year studying the phenomena with my thesis on Online Social Networks and am going into a full time job working in it.

Therefore I have decided that my vote in the up coming Australian election will be based solely on the party that is best able to communicate with the Australian public online.

However I will not be passing judgement, I am leaving the choice up to the readers of Adspace-Pioneers. I will ask readers to vote for which party they believe joins the conversation, has the best grass roots online community and gives the best back to basic information needed to make the decision. As I am going away the decision will be made on November 11th.

The following are definitions of the three items that I want people to vote on and the information that they need to pass judgement on;

Joining the Conversation – Which party is best at joining the conversation, social media is giving politicians the chance to have a conversation with

Labor
Kevin Rudd’s Facebook Page

Australian Labor Youtube Channel

Kevin Rudd’s Myspace Page

Liberal
John Howards Facebook Page


John Howard 2007 Youtube Channel



Greens

Bob Brown’s Facebook Page

Senator Bob Brown Youtube Channel


Democrats
Lyn Allison Facebook Page

Lyn Allison Youtube Channel


Grass Roots Online Community – What party has got the best online community working for them, which groups has the most active facebook groups, bloggers, causing the most noise.

Labor

Facebook Group – I want to be Kevin Rudd’s friend too


Prominent Blogger
Polemica
Connect Through Values
Politc0
John Quiggin
Anonymous Lefty
Newz4world
Bolt Watch
Possum Comitatus
Fair news

Liberal
Facebook Group – Kevin Rudd Will Ruin Australia

Prominent Blogger
Auspundits
Andrew Norton
Oz Conservative
Catallaxy Files
Tim Blair

Greens
Facebook Group – Bob Brown for PM

Prominent Blogger
Greens Blog


Back to basic Information – What party gives the individual the information that they need, to make an informed decisions.

Labor
Home Site-
Kevin 07

Liberal
Home Site

Greens
Home Site


Democrats
Home Site

Please put your votes for the four categories in the comments below

RSVP beat the odds this time but the death of Online Dating Sites is near



I really like this approach by RSVP.com.au, I think Love Communication (the agency behind it) has done a really neat job at communicating a cleaner image for the brand. As picked up by information aesthetics blog it is very similar to the opening of Stranger than Fiction.



However for me Online Dating Sites are on the way out with people now choosing Facebook over dating sites. There is more security, going on a date with a friend’s friend rather than a complete random.

As my research has shown people are more likely to portray an accurate image of the person they are offline in Facebook as there offline friend’s are viewing the material they put up and will ‘call them out’ if they start expanding the truth.

However on RSVP, I could of just done AIDS work in Africa for the last 5 years and now am going back to University to study Medicine/Law, even know I don’t have to because I am inheriting my parents multi billion dollar business. Enough rambling here is the male version for RSVP




And another clever ad by Love for Ricoh Printers.

AktifMag Melbourne's No. 1 Magazine

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From humble beginning being printed and handed out at Melbourne Music Stores, this e-Mag has gone onto have over 200,000 downloads of the latest edition. Hands down the best read of the year. Check it out here.

What happens when the planning department take a long lunch! 3G Video Calling Ad



Why would you highlight in an ad the one reason why people don’t adopt your product?

3G video calling technology has been around for years and there is one main reason why people have not adopted the technology, they do not want other people prying into their private lives 24/7. If I am at the pub with my mates and my girlfriend rings me to see why I am not at home with her for our anniversary, I sure as hell do not want to take the call on video. I am stunned at this advertisement, good luck getting the Christian adoption rate up as well!

'All he needs' Mockumentary Short Film on Rollerbladers

This short film is from a few years ago but is an absolute classic. Written by the same guy who writes the satirical website Aktifmag

Pure Blonde, Pure Gold


Pure Blonde now have an ad that is up there with the rest of the Foster's alcohol contingent (Barry Dawson and Cougar, Carlton Draught and Big Ad, VB and Thirst).

I really like this ad, I think it takes a little too long to set the scene but is gold when the truckie gets involved.


Top 5 Fosters Alcohol Group Ads


1. All Around the World - Fosters


2.Big Ad Carlton Draught


3. The Tash - VB


4. Flashbeer- Carlton Draught


5. Barry Dawson - Cougar


And one from the Vault
1982 VB Ad

History of Vegemite, Consumer Involvement Old Hat

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Here is the first lesson from Symbols of Australia

As much as marketers like to think about Consumer Involvement as this new marketing technique it is not. The story of the Australian icon Vegemite is testament that this technique has been around for years.

‘In 1910, the popular English spread Marmite was registered in Australia. Made from beef extract, the product is still in exsistence today. In early 1923, Fred Walker, an enterprising general merchant produced a vegetable extract. To position it in direct compeititon with Marmite, he called it Parwill: ‘Marmite-mother might, Parwill- father will.

The brand didn’t take on and Walker assumed it may have had something to do with the name. Late 1923 he conducted a competition to rename it. The result was Vegemite, which Walker duly registered.’

A recent example that comes to mind of the food industry using this consumer involvement in the product naming is the Name It Burger competition from McDonalds. Link here.

In the picture above is a Vegemite ad from 1923 and a bottle from 1950 and one from the 1980’s.

Australian Advertising History not much has changed!

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As well as looking to the future of advertising I think it is also good to look back. Today I was at the Camberwell Market, it is local trash and treasure market in Melbourne which is well worth the journey on a Sunday Morning. I found this great book ‘Symbols of Australia’ by Mimmo Cozzolino. It is a story about the history of Australia studying brands and trademarks. I was surprised to see how many of the innovative campaigns of today are replica of older advertising campaigns.


However I must give credit to Faris who showed me some examples of how he recreated the stories from The Shocking History of Advertising.

Over the next month I will be taking extracts from the book and showing how they are still relevant today.

Lesson 1: History of Vegemite, Consumer Involvement Old Hat

No more fat kids playing computer games in dark rooms : Mscape



Mscape is taking computer games outdoors. People are now playing computer games on mobile devices, with the outdoor environment acting as the playing field. Mscape is an extension of the popular Alternative Reality Games. There is so much opportunity here for brands and companies; they could set up offline treasure hunts or whole games for people to play in.


Here is a making of a Mscape game - Timehole

New Sony Bravia Ad - Play Doh Bunnies

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The final ad in the amazing trilogy for Sony Bravia. First balls, then paint and now bunnies. The Ad is made up of 100,000 still images. The ad aired in the UK last night. Once again the advertisement is as much about the final product as it is the making of the ads which seems to be of interest to the audience.

Balls: Did they really roll that many balls down a street?
Paint: Did they really blow up a building with paint?
Play Doh: Did they really make those bunnies?



Here is the official website Sony Bravia

and the past two commercials

Paint



Balls

Advertising Young Minds

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After arriving back from AUG on Friday, I was surprised when I got a google alert telling me I was mentioned in the Advertising Young Minds Rank. Adstructure came up with idea which is a ranking of the top 27 blogs of people under 27. I was surprised to make the list at number 25.

Interesting to see a lot of other Naked employee hovering around the top with Noah Brier (1) and Heron Preston (4) both working at Naked New York. As far as I can tell I am the only Australian representative, so it is quite an honour to be in this list.

For all the details go to the Adstructure blog.













1Noah Brier

618816785446











2Jack Cheng

55032140227











3What if they did

3287890199











4Heron Preston

4205374151











5AdStructure

4234576148











6Cellar Door

5365235128











7Confessions of a Wannabe Adman

4187224118











8Exit Creative

5403727109











9Serial Thoughts

524421889











10The-Ad-Pit

521382589











11Organic Frog

515373289











12Dead Insect

311343583











13Vincent Thome´s Blog

520431179











14Do.palicio.us

414262569











15Adlads

312381063











16Nicola Davies

410272263











17Big Secret Pizza Party

49251250











18A Closet

5930448











19Junior Planner I Am

05271244











20Nil Desperandum

4920538











21Michael Karnjanaprakorn

41121137











22Creative in London

4624034











23Wowee, wow 2317527











24Diginative

2701726











25Adspace Pioneers

0441725











26Channel 8000

4213524











27Breaking & Entering

4111319