Audience Equity: Kyle and Jackie O + Big Brother 2008

Audience Equity: Is to take an entities audience from one channel of communication and transfer it to another.

On the Marketing Today podcast Ep. 60 I coined the term Audience Equity when referring to the idea that Kyle and Jackie O were a great choice of hosts for Big Brother 08, they have a loyal audience following on their radio show. With the choice to make them hosts of Big Brother, BB08 were able to take their audience from their radio show and move it to a Television Show.

This occured through the two radio stars most likely speaking about the show on their morning radio show, their audience will be made to have to watch the television show or not understand the conversations that would be going on between the hosts.

For more examples of Audience Equity read Graeme Watson post at Training Wheels on the subject.

Catches of the week

The business of Web 2.0, great presentation
via Servant of Chaos

Scratching on tape decks video!
Are you a struggling DJ trying to stand out amongst the multitude of other DJ's? I just found your competitive advantage

ANZ withdraws ads from The Footy Show , great post
via Ihateads

Garfield minus Garfield
Let’s laugh and learn with him on a journey deep into the tortured mind of an isolated young everyman as he fights a losing battle against loneliness in a quiet American suburb.

The 1st Gay – Great TVC

Chocolate brand wrapped in entertaining content: Dove Chocumentaries

5 reasons Cummins Nitro nailed Doves latest campaign.

1. They wrapped the branded content within an entertaining story.
2. Used Australian Humour yet still got away with not devaluing (boganising) the brands exclusive feel.
3. Created a sticky word- Chocumentary
4. Disrupts normal television scheduling with commercial running for one minute
5. Well shot, great art direction and continuity between two stories.

Sitting on the AMI 'Brands Using Web 2.0' Panel

On Thursday 5th June, I will be speaking at a Australian Marketing Institute Seminar on ‘Creating Strategic Online Marketing Campaigns Using Web2.0 and Online Social Networks to Build Your Brand’. My presentation will be on lessons learnt from Sprite Truth Hunters Social Media Campaign. More details here.

Monash Marketing Department what are you doing for us?

According to Philip Kotler, Marketing is ‘Satisfying needs and wants through an exchange process.’ In terms of the Monash Marketing Department this involves educating students so that when they graduate they can perform the tasks needed by the organization they will work for. An important part of the exchange is the communicating the value of the product or service being offered. Something that I think the Monash Marketing Department is ignoring.

However, It appears that some students are taking control of this situation and communicating their value for the Department. I have become a part of an unofficial Monash Marketing Blogging Clique (Rick Clarke, Simon Oboler and Zac Martin). We are all communicating our potential value to future employers by posting our insightful analysis on recent marketing events. These blogs are not just being read by students either, one look at the comments section and you see a number of people in the marketing industry responding to these posts.

So my question is, with this great new channel for communicating the value of their product, what is the Monash Marketing department going to do to make the most of this situation? And to Marketing Student Bloggers how can they help us?

One way that these student bloggers have leveraged from the Marketing Department was by appearing on the latest podcast for Marketing Today where we had a ‘Student Bloggers Roundtable discussion’ with Monash Marketing Lecturer Peter Wagstaff. Have a listen here.

Kira Plastinina, Working at Burger King and Evolutionary Brands is it possible?

Last week, 15 year old Russian fashion designer Kira Plastinna opened her first store in the US in SOHO, New York. This little Paris Hilton loving princess is now a multi millionaire with over 40 stores in Russia. Daddy bank rolled her for a million dollars, which kind of reminds me of when my dad bank rolled me $45 for my Burger King uniform. However that does not takeaway from the fact this girl is a success.

However if you look at her designs, they are what every 15 year old girl loves pink, pink and more pink. This got me thinking about the speed of female fashion. What a girl wears when she is 15 is quite different from what she wears when she is 25. So what effect does this have on a brand that’s main driver is the chief designer.

As Kira grows older will her faithful consumers move with her? Can a brand be evolutionary with a demographic? I cannot think of one brand that has stayed with a generation through their life? So what will happen to the Kira Plastinna brand in 10 years? Will it stay in the 15 year old girls fashion market or move to 25 years old fashion market?

I don’t know. All I know is that Burger King still owes me $32.50 for that overtime I worked back in 2001.

Jessica Alba - The Tipping Point.

I was listening to the Gen Y Marketing Podcast the other day and they were talking about the tipping point of Twitter. Suggesting it will be when a famous person starts twittering.

It appears another online site just got their tipping point thanks to a celebrity. The site I Beat You just got there tipping point in the form of Jessica Alba recording a video stare challenge. With over 3 million hits on the video in 5 days. The site has kicked a major goal in getting traffic to the site even if it is 14 year old Jessica Alba loving boys.

It actually had some other interesting content on the site too. With the Best Motivational Poster competition, I love these posters!

Catches of the week

via Flickr artist Notsogoodphotography

Things younger than John McCain. A funny blog on the world is a pretty complicated place right now and I’m thinking that it’s not such a great time to elect our oldest President ever. So sue me.

How web 3.0 will work
via Howstuffworks

Gen Y Guide to Web2.0 at Work
via Brand DNA

Humantarian Lion

Binge Tanning a sticky idea

AktifMag Editor Kane Ludic serial Binge Tanner

I love this new term, ‘Binge Tanning’. The idea came from the Cancer Research UK (news story here), from the looks of it they have just rehashed old research and attached a new name that is quite memorable.

The Cancer Research UK have been smart to take the negative connotations that already exist around the word binge (dieting, drinking, drug) and linked it with tanning which has neutral to positive overtones. What a great Idea!

Creating Sticky Ideas is the key to success these days.

Here is a great Acronym/Check List for making Ideas Stick (SUCCES)! Via the book Made to Stick
• Simple — find the core of any idea
• Unexpected — grab people's attention by surprising them
• Concrete — make sure an idea can be grasped and remembered later
• Credibility — give an idea believability
• Emotion — help people see the importance of an idea
• Stories — empower people to use an idea through narrative

Practice what I preach challenge

I have just written a post over at Marketing Magazine Blog. It is about the fact that Advertising Agencies cannot be trusted with Social Media Campaigns. Putting such a strong case forward I have also backed my argument by laying the challenge of proving that I can teach any company how to have a social media presence.

I think this will be a great opportunity to teach Marketers, how to properly use Social Media. I would really like to get my regular readers to help build on ideas of how companies should best act in this space. So if you know any tips or case studies please let me know.

AMP + Walk of Shame = Great Insight + Rubbish Brand Continuity

AMP had cracked a great insight into Generation Y culture. The walk of shame is a globally talked about meme which is usually hated by all who have to do it. Wikipedia deifine it as

‘A phenomenon in which a person must walk past strangers or peers for an embarrassing reason before reaching a place of privacy. Most commonly, it occurs the morning after a night out at a bar, dance club, or party.’

This shared experience that all Gen Yers have gone through has been beautifully picked up and is now owned by AMP.

It is a great video however as like the Nando’s example it seems like the Ad Agency have cracked a great insight and have just try to retrofit it to a brand. AMP websites, product design and their sponsorship of NASCAR all suggest a different type of brand positioning than their other ads lead on.

However with the amount of online publicity this clip has received (50k+ youtube hits in 6 days), there must be a point where brand continuity takes a back seat and awareness of a product takes over?


No, this must be another AMP?


I think this brand has more in common with the Australian AMP than the brand in the video above!

Catches of the Week

Brand Tags, it seems every blogger and his dog is all over this great invention by none other than my Nakedite brother from another continent Noah Brier.

New student Blogger Simon Oboler started with a cracking post on 'Forgetting Sarah Marshall' advertising missing the mark.

Old Ad for Goodyear making woman drive better Via adweek

A must see slide preso on Building your Personal brand via blogging
Via Get Shouty

Viral Video Unzipped! The truth behind the 'Guy backflip into jeans' video
via Gawker

MyBower - When 2 hobbies meet

Me at the 2007 Western Antique Bottle Show, Williamstown

One of my hobbies outside of writing this blog is collecting Antique Bottles. I collect suburban Milk Bottles and Eucalyptus bottles. I am currently the President of the Western Antique Bottle Club one of the last four clubs in Melbourne. Blogging and my bottle collection had been fairly removed till the other month when I was looking in the mail and I found some advertising for a online social network site for collectors called, Mybower.

A pretty simple site however I was impressed with the way they engaged the club. They had already set up a page for the club and gave a username and password for the club to use. Therefore removing the barrier of the trouble associated with setting up a page.

The other day, Zac was talking to me about how annoying it was to have to constantly keep setting up accounts for different sites, I guess this is one solution to that problem. I wonder what other creative solutions will be thought of for this problem?

10 things I want to do in Marketing before I die. 2.Win a Gold Cannes Lion

I really love when the results come out for Cannes Lions, it always give me such great material to blog about. Naked Australia have won a few lions so far but I would love to be a part of a Golden team.

Passive-Aggressive Notes - Webby Award Winner

This was an old favourite website of mine passive-aggressive notes


Thanks to ettf for reminding me of the greatness

Catches of the Week

On Webstrategist, A Chronology of Brands that Got Punk’d by Social Media

On Logic + Emotion, Micro interaction + Direct Engagement

On Whats Next Blog, I don’t want my bank to be funny.
How come I didn’t write this post?

On Studentpreneur, Free Printing for Uni students. I want to bring this to Monash

On Facebook, Melbourne Gen Yers bonding over 2AM lockout via Facebook Group

10 Things I want to do in Marketing before I die. 1.Work for Nike

I will be adding to this list as I go.

1. Work for Nike
I want to be a part of making awesome pieces of art. Like this


And this


And this

Nando’s a marketing headcase!

Does anyone else feel confused with the constant stream of advertising rubbish that comes out from Nando’s? They are clearly a marketing headcase who believe they can change their brand image through readjusting their promotion.

The rest of the marketing elements screams Family-Gen Xers offering, their pricing (highly priced), product (grilled chicken meals), distribution points (store designs that have clearly not been updated since 1992), and employees (the kids who couldn’t get a job at McDonalds).

Yet their advertising message would lead you to believe that they are a young, cheeky, humorous Generation Yers brand.

I ask, What happened to Brand Continuity?????


Here is their latest miss, with the a parody of the Big Brother House
Big Chicken 08


Nando's Fix Gum - WTF?

Skins: Beyond Reason

Skins have backed up their great ad and consumer insight into Sports Celebrities getting paid too much with another advertisement that will surely spark debate.



and here is their other great ad on Sports Celebrities

The Gruen Transfer - A television series looking at Advertising

Here is the promotion for the The Greun Transfer, a 10 part series looking at how Advertising works. Launching May 28th on the ABC. Should be interesting, pity they got Wil Anderson to host this program, he is such a wank.

On reflection there is a great fit for him to host a show looking at the Advertising Industry.

And here is the definition of The Greun Transfer

'The consumer's decision-making consciousness subsides and he or she is more likely to make an impulse purchase because of unconscious influences of lighting, ambient sound and music, spatial choices, visual detail, mirrored and polished surfaces, climate control, and the sequence and order of interior storefronts, etc.

The effect is marked by a slower walking pace and glazed eyes.'

When did Australian banks become the funny men?

It seems like the Australian Banks are all working off the same piece of insight. We all have to be the funny men. It is no longer about hitting people with the facts, it is about creating a inviting brand personality. Who would of thought 2 years ago that an advertising agency most interesting client would be a company in the banking industry?





At the moment my favourite ones are the ANZ Credit Card.


Lastly back in 1982 when the insight was for banks to be hip and cool

E Cultural Hijacking: Greenpeace slaughters Dove Part Six

The original Dove Video

Facebook Hijack

New Quit Smoking Campaign is powerful

I overheard people talking about this commercial at University the other day. It sounded quite powerful when they were talking about it. And boy did it live up to expectations! What a great angle to take to communicate the dangers of smoking.



Check out the youtube channel for the other ads.

Goodbye MSN, Hello Facebook IM Chat

One of the things that people loved about Facebook, when I was doing my research is the ability for asynchronous conversations (conversation where people can answer in their own time, think wall to wall comments, sms and hand written letters). This gave them time to think up their response aka more time to be witty and charming.. The Digital Native generation grew up with asynchronous conversations tools.

So with the introduction of Facebook IM, which is not a asynchronous conversation but rather a synchronous conversation (on the spot think phone calls, instant messenger, face to face) it will be interesting to see the response. My gut feeling is that it will be like the News Feed, a backlash at the start and then people will learn to love it.

The following is my POV on the strengths and weaknesses of the new application.

Strengths
All your friends are on there, unlike MSN
No longer have to have conversations back and forward on walls
Easy to use, do not have to install software

Weaknesses
Screen is hard to read
It is hard to hide yourself like on MSN (re: Busy)
Does not flash like MSN when I have new comments

Final Judgment
Goodbye MSN, Hello Facebook IM

Baracky - Storytelling to Gen Y

Is there any better way to inform a disinterested Generation Y than to inform through a cult classic movie? The Barack Obama camp have recontextualised the Rambo movie to tell the story of the last 12 months of fighting between Hilary and Barack.



Another great story telling campaign, is the History of AFL campaign that is running. A great ad and a real coup getting Bill Hunter involved.

Damn Microsoft Vista, I will show you! Change .DOCX to .DOC files

Are you nearly going mental with everyone now sending you attachments in Microsoft Vista (.docx),Which you cannot open?

Clever marketing? Maybe but it is still really really annoying. Anyway today I found a solution to the problem. Download the File Format Converter application from Microsoft Office Online

Don’t become another victim like this guy.

Lolcoaster: The Sequel to Kids say the darndest things

.....Kids do the Darndest things.

via Gavin Annand

and then this classic viral video. You have to watch this with sound. lolcoaster

Plinking revisited

The future for product placement looks bright for all parties involved.

I looked at bringing plinking out to Australia about a year ago. But after a little investigation, I realised the Australian Market is not big enough, this seems to be the problem with a lot of digital ideas coming to Australia. However it seems that the idea is going great guns in America. With another startup overlay.tv giving it a good go. There business model works better because they are asking the viewers to places the product placement within the videos rather than the advertisers having to sit through and put the placements in.

Thanks bigsecretpizzaparty for this find.

Biggest Leak of 2008, New VB Ad Canned by AAB!

CUB is now at a loss of nearly $1.5 million dollars, as the Australian Advertising Bureau have stopped CUB from going ahead with their latest VB TVC. The TVC was deemed to promote binge drinking. In one of the biggest leaks of 2008, I have found a website showing the TVC. Check out the video here to make up your mind.

In related news Diginative has written a cracking post on Youtube viral success. One of the best article that I have read this year. He suggests that advertisers should look at novel approaches to the Youtube platform rather than trying to crack novel content. I hadn't thought about it like that but now it makes so much sense. It also explains the leak above.

Cori Hodge on Erin McNaught's Ridge

Cori Hodge put me onto the recent backlash over Erin McNaught endorsements of Cockatoo Ridge. With the taglines of the outdoor campaigns being 'She loves a Cockatoo' Are consumers becoming to senstive torwards advertising?

Cockatoo Ridge is the name of the brand, it is the centre of their identity. What else are they meant to do?

I say good on them for getting the free publicity for the campaign and I think this whole debacle just stregthens the brand personality of being naughty and cheeky brand.

A thesis in the waiting: Blackberry Addiction

I am going to come back to this when I know more about the subject. But I plan to write a thesis about the subject of social etiquette and how Blackberries have changed the way people approach work and social life.

Blackberrys – The good and the ugly
Friday, 4 April 2008

Marko Barosevic

High powered employees are seeing real benefits from their Blackberry
addictions as they work longer, faster and more often.

New research from the University of NSW Australian School of Business
and from the University of Sydney shows that Blackberry use has
tangible benefits for fast paced professionals such as lawyers and
investment bankers.

One of the researchers Judith MacCormick told The Australian Financial
Review that the Blackberry device if used correctly allowed employees
to work more efficiently and be more accessible to clients and
colleagues.

The joint research from the Australian universities also showed an
uglier side to the Blackberry. Firms found that Blackberrys were the
most damage-prone piece of work equipment, often requiring
replacement. It seems that partners and family frustrated at a lack of
face time with Blackberry addicts are lashing out on the device.

“One organization said they go through a lot of handsets, suggesting
that they are actually damaged, flushed down the toilet or thrown at
the wall more frequently than one would expect,” MacCormick said.

The Blackberry – Indispensable work device or antisocial tech
titillation? Send us your feedback.

via Jeremy Smart

Happy 39th birthday the Internet!

The internet turns 39 today.

As a treat here is a hilarious video talking about the new revolution of ………the internet.


More greatness The Internet is really really great

via Katie

JBs Underwear Girls Part 2

Here is the follow up print campaign for JBs mens underwear. With the great insight as their tagline 'Men don't want to look at other naked men.'

Past Campaign

Best god damn Flow Chart in the world!

via Get Shouty via Experience Curve

Vantage Point explains eWOM and Transmedia Planning.

This blog was going to just be about the increase in word of mouth through the Facebook status bar. It has increased dramatically since I did my research last year. I noticed that there were not many examples into Negative Word of Mouth especially. In this example my mate Janosh Biczok warned me about the movie Vantage Point.



Which after watching the trailer would probably be the best way of explaining Transmedia Planning to a non marketer. Everyone has some information about the killing of the president but not the whole picture. Together they can build the whole picture of the campaign.

I think I might have to go and see this movie now? So much for Negative WOM!

Revision - April Fooled Virgle - Virgin and Google to Mars

What a great brand fit between Google and Virgin! I had never thought about these two brands together but seeing Virgle just makes so much sense.

Pity they chose Sergey and Larry to promote this trip, as they are two of the most uninspiring people I have ever listened too. It would be a real barrel of laugh living with those two comedians; I am still trying to understand the one way ticket joke????
This just shows how much the Virgin brand relies on Branson and how much Google needs to leave their visionary leaders in the computer programming department.

Revision thanks to Zac

Another Tom Cruise Spoof

This one is for the Superhero Movie


But nothing is better than the original

Skipharder Part 1 - Watermark

SkipHarder is a campaign for Curios a breakfast replacement bar done by thebrandshop. It is mockumentary webisodes based around Tommy Fox a pro skater who turned to the art of skipping.

I really like an Australian company having a go at branded content. I am going to talk about this campaign over a number of posts because there are a number of things I really like about it and ways I think they could have made it better.

Watermarking letting social media flow

One of the great parts of this campaign is the use of watermarks in their videos. In all videos they have a watermark of the campaign sites URL. This is a simple but an important feature when creating links through social media channels. It is very easy for traffic to be guided towards Youtube videos (through embedding on Myspace, Blogs and Campaign sites) but I think that making traffic flow back to other sources from Youtube has always been a problem. This unobtrusive watermark is a great example of traffic making a Youtube clip flow on.

Tom Cruise works at Naked

TAC driving cultural change

TAC proves that advertising can shift cultural norms.


After listening to a podcast of Peter and Colin, I thought about the amazing role TAC has played in driving cultural change within Australian society. Drink Driving was something that was embedded in Australian culture and it was not until the great ‘If you drink then drive you’re a bloody idiot’ campaigns that Victorians started to change their behaviour.

Their latest ads on wearing motorcycling protective gear are great too. As a person outside the target market (I dont own a Harley yet!) I have still been affected by these ads, I am now more aware of what motorcyclist are wearing.

For more on marketing and cultural change listen to this podcast from Peter and Colin

GOLD: Stuff white people like

A new blog that just started up this year and has taken the blogging world by storm. It is a tongue-in-cheek look at what white people like. It is scary how accurate it is. Check it out

Here is a passage from

#87 Outdoor Performance Clothes

When you see white people wearing these, it is important that you do not discuss business matters. Instead you should say things like “where did you get that fleece?” and “what’s that thing holding your keys to your shorts?” White people will be more than happy to talk to you about their sustainably produced possessions.

The main reason why white people like these clothes is that it allows them to believe that at any moment they could find themselves with a Thule rack on top of their car headed to a national park. It could be 4:00 p.m. on a Saturday when they might get a call “hey man, you know what we need to do? Kayak then camping, right now. I’m on my way to get you, there is no time to change clothes.”

Though it is unlikely that they will receive this call, White people hate the idea of missing an opportunity to enjoy outdoor activities because they weren’t wearing the right clothes.

If you plan on spending part of your weekend with a white person, it is strongly recommended that you purchase a jacket or some sort of “high performance” t-shirt, which is like a regular shirt but just a lot more expensive.

via In my atmosphere

Facebook the next king of the web

I just recieved the Hitwise Asia Pacific Social Networking Report.

Finally I have some evidence for what I knew was occuring. I have suggested before that Facebook is becoming the all in one user platform. Soon you will not go surfing the net but you will just surf Facebook. The Hitwise report suggests that the tasks of emailing and searching is being done within Facebook (tables above).

However 2 things have to occur for this to happen.

1. Critical Mass – A user will only use Facebook email over normal email if they believe that it is more likely to get to the receiver faster than if they used a normal email. I have noticed that this has already started happening with the emails that I send out to people, I prefer to use Facebook inbox.

Another advantage is that you do not have to remember an email address but rather just type someone name into the search. Kind of like when mobile phones started coming with address books built inside.

2. Search Engine – I can see in the not to distant future that you will be able to look up a companies name on Facebook and be taken through to their e-commerce site.

Cultural Jammin' T Pain flashin Oakley's, Gangsters hijacking Rave Culture

Video Music Clips are;
1. Good guides to predict future trends in Fashion, Technology and the Arts
2. Perfect grounds for companies to promote their products.

It seems these days gangsters rule MTV. This is no problem for me as I have a high tolerance for watching smoking hot woman dancing on camera. However recently something struck me as a little odd.

What the hell were all my Gangster hombres (Bow Wow, R Kelly, T Pain, Kanye West, Omarion) doing wearing sunglasses at night?

Clubbing with sunglasses was for a long time part of rave culture and to onlookers it helped communicate 'I am on some serious drugs and I will save you the pain of looking at my dilated pupils.'

However it does not seem like there is a drug or rave connotation with this new hip hop trend. Without this stigma it seems that Oakley have jumped on this meme, sponsoring famous rapper T-Pain. His clip (above) looks more like an ad for Oakley than a music video clip.

Poor Ravers, what is next 50 Cent glow stickin and Melbourne Shuffling his way around a LA nightclub?

Below is a collection of the more hilarious sunglasses choices from recent music video clips.

R Kelly - I'm a Flirt (0:07: R Kelly Diamond Sunglasses)


Souljah Boy - Crank Dat (0:17 Souljah Boy got his name in crystals on his glasses)


Omarion and Bow Wow - Girlfriend (1:20 driving at night with sunglasses)


Kanye West - Stronger (0:42 Kanye windowshade glasses)

WILL.I.AM talking about sex, money and politics!

Never talk about sex, politics and money.

When it comes to communicating your support for a Political Party it seems that U.S Celebirty figures cannot wait to show their support. However I do wonder what effect this has on the support for the celebrity fans?

In the Matrix, I show the common reactions of the people who are part of every group of pro and con the two people.

I think that the real worry for WILL.I.AM is that american population are so passionate in their positions torwards politics. I would suggest more passionate than their taste in music. With this passion there is alot of people who would fall in the red zone, fans of WILL.I.AM yet not of Obama.

The problem here is that WILL.I.AM is gambling over 75% of his fan base by showing his support for Obama. There are passionate Republicans (approx 50% of the US population) and passionate Hilary fans (approx 25%).



In other news Zac pointed me in the direction of another celebrity, Jack Nicholson supporting Hilary Clinton. Check out Zac's new blog at Pigs don't fly

Community Involvement/Nike and Nedbank Podcast

I have been unable to write for the last few weeks because of the slow internet at hostels I have been staying at. However I did record a podcast with Peter Wagstaff on Marketing Today about some of the interesting advertising I have seen in South Africa and Argentina.

So click on the link and listen to the endless interruptions from doing an interview on a public phone on the streets of Buenos Aires.


Click here to listen to podcast

Here is a video of the Nike Barrio Bonito.

Life on Pause

I will not be blogging as much over the next 3 months as I am on holidays. I am backpacking around South America (Argentina, Chile and Brazil). I will also be stopping off in South Africa for a week on the way over.

I guess the blog will be more about my learnings from these foreign places rather than new technology slant.

One of the most interesting things I have found with travelling is the feeling of yuor life being on pause. Because you are not having those day to day interactions or relationship building activities with people it feels like your life is being put on hold. It gives you time to step back and look at the where you are at and where you want to go.

Catch,
Jules

Politicians mission to Cyber space

Peta Menzies interviewed me last week for an article on Politicians using Social Media. Here is the article.

Politicians mission to cyber space
By Peta Menzies

'Australian politicians are trying to win the vote of Generation Y this federal election through internet social spaces though the 18-29 age group are not convinced that the campaign websites are enough to engage young voters.


Both the major political parties have joined the campaign revolution through internet networks like Facebook Myspace and Youtube. The sites advocate party policy and are designed to promote political awareness amongst the younger generation. While it is seen as an attempt to bridge the generation gap it is being considered a fractional one.


22 year-old Julian Cole is a digital strategist for Naked Communications and says that political leaders need to be authentic when they are in these online spaces. “It rings a bit mass. I think there is a role for them there but if they are wanting to get a message out they have to access the right people, the opinion leaders,” Mr Cole said.


The Political sites act as a billboard rather than a two-way interaction that the social space intends.The sites are designed for networking and just like real-life opinionated participants emerge.“It’s a misnomer to think that everyone using this online space has an equal voice. We’ve found that some people have a louder voice and therefore have a bigger audience,” he said.


Labor candidate for Dobell Mr Craig Thomson says politicians are attempting to connect with the younger generation now more so than what has happened in the past.
“The Labor party is very much aware of the need to engage with Generation Y through the mediums that are better used to communicate with them like Youtube and Myspace,” Mr Thomson said.

Mr Thomson acknowledges the need for political parties to continually develop their use of web based social pages.“At the moment the campaign pages are not having a conversation with people, its talking at them rather than anything else,” he said.'


In other news concerning Politics and Facebook, here is a great stunt from the Chasers boys on Kevin Rudd’s Facebook Friend.

Kevin's Facebook Friends

Add to My Profile | More Videos

New VB Stubby Beer Symphony Commercial

Following on from The Big Ad and Flashbeer comes the next Big Fosters Idea, ‘VB Stubby Symphony’

Just like the past campaigns they have housed it on a main site, thank god someone ripped it on Youtube. I think they really let themselves down by not letting people view on Youtube and embed the video on blogs.

However there are some nice consumer involvement treats in this site. They have used SuperVirals as the host site for their ‘Create Music using VB Stubbies Competition’. However again (see past post) I think that Supervirals is such a narrow channel, this should really of been done through Youtube.

I think overall this is a great idea, and as was pointed out to me, it is capitalising on the most iconic part of the VB brand, the song.

George Patterson Y&R are behind this idea with Jim Ingram and Ben Couzen cracking this big idea. Well done boys!

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

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

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

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

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

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!

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

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

E-Cultrual Hijacking: Crackbook Part Five

Click here to see site

For the promotion of David McCandless’ internet spoof book The internet Now In Handy Bookform another Facebook e-cultural hijacking.

Dove Onslaught the next Dove Evolution

Following the popular Dove Evolution comes the new campaign ‘Dove Onslaught’