June 2012
1 post
Not lazy, just busy. I swear.
I haven’t posted on wide aperture for a while now. I have, however, been busily drafting posts for other people’s blogs.
My latest offerings:
Make an impact. Think CSR
The business side of social media (co-author with Briggs Communications)
I’ll be back with a piece shortly.
May 2012
1 post
8 tags
A masterclass in framing the debate
“When was the last time the Labor Party actually delivered a budget surplus?” Wyatt Roy asked the Prime Minister in February.
The question was an awkward one to answer because Roy wasn’t born when the last surplus was handed down by a Labor Government.
Roy was kicked out of parliament and the Prime Minister wasn’t required to answer the question but the stunt was...
April 2012
3 posts
6 tags
“Email, TV, print, mobile, social… it’s all the same. ROI is media-agnostic. Once...”
– Olivier Blanchard
Mike says: Wonderful clarity and simplicity in this argument. Social media is a medium that needs to serve business needs. Whether you choose to engage for financial, reputational or customer service motives is a matter for individual businesses. Once this decision is made it is...
11 tags
12 tags
3 products you shouldn't like but probably do -...
Red Bull, Jäger and Vegemite are much loved products for many punters in Australia and beyond. Have you ever thought how bizarre this is? It’s fair to say all three are naturally repulsive to the tastebuds - at least at first tasting.
When Dietrich Mateschitz first tested Red Bull with consumers the responses were off the charts. Participants hated it, some claimed it was the worst thing...
March 2012
4 posts
Ad:tech reflections
I made the top five of ad:tech’s digital young guns competition and ended up coming fourth in the live pitch.
I’m very happy to say I was beaten by better ideas that were explained with more clarity than mine. There is no shame in losing to more worthy competitors in my view.
The more important thing for me is what you do when you face a set back. I know there are better digital...
7 tags
MARKETING 2.0 @ ad:tech Sydney
Andy Lark, Chief Marketing & Online Officer, Commonwealth Bank of Australia presented the afternoon keynote.
Lark has an engaging and passionate presentation style that oozes authority. The work CBA is doing on digital content is really clever. Surprisingly though, I’d never heard about it prior to his presentation.
Liked his section about purpose driven organisations and how they...
4 tags
Sustaining engagement beyond the campaign @...
Great topic and fantastic insights from a range of panellists.
Key take outs for each below.
Andrew Giles (Canon)
All roads start and end with consumer. Canon invest a lot in researching their consumers’ needs and use insights to develop marketing strategy. Saw the need for photographers to gather in a community and offered a space for the community to share their work.
Suzie...
A few words on strategy
I recently asked an owner of a highly accomplished Melbourne marketing firm for advice about building a career in marketing strategy and planning. The response wasn’t what I expected, but it was a good one.
Essentially, I was told that most people overplay their strategic prowess and that a lot of people pretend to know what they’re talking about when they don’t.
Refreshingly,...
February 2012
5 posts
Flock hither, experts for the day
I hate big political news stories. Every Tom, Dick and Harry, who normally wouldn’t hold a single political view other than ‘don’t raise taxes’, suddenly becomes an expert. I reckon horse racing followers must feel the same way on Melbourne Cup Day.
So the electorate was engaged in politics for five days. Great. Watch them disengage in an instance now this farce is over....
Trust deficit
Kevin Rudd is gone. Played the high risk game and I expect he will fall hard. The lesson? Relationships are everything. You don’t get anywhere on your own. Common sense, I know. For a bloke as smart as Rudd, it’s staggering that he doesn’t get this.
9 tags
On the front foot →
If I was Kevin Rudd right now I’d probably be pissed off beyond all belief about the Happy Little Vegemite youtube release. Although it was inevitable something was coming, you wouldn’t expect to be ambushed with a bunch of out-takes from a video shot months ago.
Nonetheless, you have to assess the lie of the land and get on with it. If I were advising Kevin right now, I’d tell...
8 tags
Yearning for a fair contest
If our national debate was a football match I reckon you’d be outraged. Everyone expects the home team will get a few more free kicks but I think most of us hope that the umpires help contribute to a fair fairer contest.
I have to admit to a very nerdy guilty pleasure of mine. I have a morning ritual in the office. When I get to work I grab all the papers and spread them out on my desk to...
14 tags
Mining mogul to become media magnate
Oh wait, I think I have the terms mixed up in my headline. It should be the other way around right?
I’m not sure why it matters. A mogul and a magnate are broadly the same thing. Both terms are used to describe people with large fortunes. Both denote power and influence. Regardless, we know these terms to be industry specific. I’ll stick to the preferred terms from now on because...
January 2012
3 posts
10 tags
The trouble with 'just do it'
There can be no doubting that the ‘just do it’ line from Wieden+Kennedy has been an inspirational and transformational cultural force. It is a powerful and universal call to action that demands you stop making excuses for inaction and get on with it.
In the context it was intended to apply - personal fitness - the logic is irrefutable. But where I have trouble with ‘just do...
7 tags
Brand lessons from Southeast Asia
If you’ve ever been to Southeast Asia this photo will be a familiar sight. There are crowded market places teeming with vendors, all of whom sell almost exactly the same stock, everywhere you go. This has long been a source of fascination to me. Why doesn’t anybody try to sell something different? Why doesn’t anybody try to stand out from the crowd?
There is probably a...
4 tags
First know your audience. Then care about them.
Conventional wisdom
One of the oft-cited truisms of communications theory and influence is knowing your audience. This is more complicated than it seems because often your audience is made up of wide and disparate groups. At times, the only thing they may hold as a common interest is your product or service. Our industry spends a lot of money trying to learn more about our audience (or...
December 2011
3 posts
6 tags
A big win for social marketing
It wouldn’t be a stretch to say social marketing has its fair share of critics. At worst, we’re called nanny state moralisers. At best, we make a difference to behaviour and it is discarded as coincidental. A story published in The Saturday Age seems to point to a big win in the social marketer’s battle to encourage people to take regular cancer detection tests.
Although the...
Making a difference: the fetish for a generation...
Why are gen-y adults flocking to work in volunteer organisations, the public service and pursuing unrealistic artistic careers? I don’t know to be honest. I have a theory though.
I know that the environment we grew up in was one of unparalleled prosperity and growth. Although I will admit that not every kid that grew up in the 90s benefited from a privileged and comfortable upbringing, I...
5 tags
Cultivating guilt, retaining customers
Guilt is a particularly powerful emotion because it can make people act against their own self interest. In criminal law, for example, guilt pushes people to confess to crimes which effectively condemns them to jail or in some cases death. So if it is such a powerful emotion, one that can make people act against rational self interest, would it be a good idea to use guilt as a customer retention...
November 2011
1 post
