Media Hunter

The Pascha Storm revisited

Twelve months ago this weekend Newcastle, NSW was battered by what became known as the Pascha Bulker storm. A wild weekend of cyclonic winds and driving rain resulted in widespread flooding, blackouts, several deaths and a calculated $2 billion in damages and loss of income. The lasting image though was of the cargo ship Pascha Bulker washing up on the city's doorstep.

Some friends and I got together after the storm to pay tribute to the volunteers and heroes of that crazy weekend. The result was a single, video clip and eventual concert. Craig Rosevear was responsible for most of this effort, while Sticky Advertising helped shoot and direct the following video clip. The amazing storm images were  courtesy of NBN television.

Newcastle Herald feature on NEWFM woes

by Craig Wilson

The Newcastle Herald H2 section had a 2 page piece today on the problems at NEWFM titled Rock Bottom. Herald journalist Neil Jameson interviewed me for the story for advertising industry perspective on the current commercial radio imbalance in the Hunter.

The full story can be viewed here.

Expert brand advice with the all new Sticky Branding

Media Hunter has a new sister. A sister weblog that is. I am proud to announce the birth of Sticky Branding, a dedicated brand advice and analysis site.

Here at Sticky Advertising we are passionate about strong branding. Not just brand and logo design, but carefully positioned, well-articulated brands. We believe in communicating the brand personality and crafting a powerful and memorable tagline.

Its all part of effective branding. And its all discussed in detail at Sticky Branding.

In fact, the site will even go so far as to explain a step by step process for creating effective brand communication.

So drop by and meet Media Hunter's sister.

Blogging and the media

In mid-2007, around the time Age of Conversation was launched, I sent some press releases to local media announcing the fact that a fellow Novocastrian had been published  as part of this unique world-wide effort.

A few days later I ran into one of the journalists who had received the press release and asked him whether he would be running the story. "Love to," he said "but management would hang me." He explained that his publication didn't recognise bloggers, saw them as the enemy and would not be giving any column space to stories about them. It was an interesting reaction and telling of the paranoia in the traditional media about the emerging social media culture.

Tough times for ad agencies

Suddenly the once crowded Hunter advertising ranks are looking decidedly thinner, with another Newcastle advertising agency closing shop. The Boutique Agency was a partnership between well-known media identity Deb Austin and Tim Neve. The agency ran for 5 years before shutting its doors at the end of January 2008.

2008 Newcastle TV Ratings Forecast

The summer silly season grinds to a halt this weekend as the formal TV ratings system kicks back into gear for 2008. And what an intriguing year it promises to be in the Hunter ratings race, with plenty of anticipation and uncertainty.

2007 ended with NBN winning every ratings week, but looking nervously over their shoulders as Prime came within a whisker of taking their first ever non-Olympics winning weeks. While NBN claimed the mantle of ratings winners, it seemed Prime were a lot happier, having stitched up the 25-54 audience against NBN's aging viewers. SC Ten finished the year a little stronger and performed well in their target audience of 16-39 years. It set up an eagerly awaited battle for 2008.

Newcastle Foreshore Triathlon Success

Sticky Advertising were heavily involved in the successful running of the recent Newcastle Foreshore Triathlon. The agency introduced new major sponsors Xerox Business Centre and Southern Cross TEN to the event and were minor sponsors themselves.

Sticky managed the advertising and promotion of the event, securing a significant on-air commitment from Southern Cross TEN and a host of PR opportunities for the organisers.

The Foreshore Triathlon has been run annually by the Newcastle Triathlon Club and is the premier triathlon event in Newcastle. The recent February 3 running was the 18th in the event’s history.

Sticky would like to thank Xerox Business Centre and Southern Cross TEN for their support, and congratulate the Newcastle Triathlon Club on another successful event

Successful Showcase

Yesterday we held the inaugural Sticky Media Showcase in Newcastle. This was an initiative of my agency Sticky Advertising, bringing together the region's media to present on the latest developments and plans for 2008. Clients and contacts of the agency were privy to some exciting news including the latest media ownership changes and how they will affect this market.

We Can't Be Beaten

Speaking of community efforts.... a great initiative has been undertaken by local muso's and marketers to say thanks to all the volunteers and heroes of the recent storms and floods in the Hunter Region.

Craig "Rosie" Rosevear, formerly of the Screaming Jets, currently with The Retro Rockets and DV8 and owner of Rosie's School of Rock has decided to hold a tribute concert on the Newcastle Foreshore on July 22.

As part of the tribute he and a bunch of Newcastle music legends got together to record a roaring version of the old Rose Tattoo hit "We Can't Be Beaten". The song was recorded at Tighes Hill TAFE, and an alternate version has been recorded featuring local SES workers.

Newcastle advertising agency Sticky is producing an accompanying video clip featuring the band, SES, Hunter Jaegers and images of the storm event. Sticky have also been co-ordinating the publicity and sponsorship for the CD and concert.

NBN Television have thrown their support behind the concert with a free advertising schedule, while ONE80 Digital Post are donating editing facilities for the production of the video clip.

Adding to the community driven flavour, the CD cover art is largely made up of images sourced from Flikr and used with permission of the owners.

Companion Credit Union have come on board as major sponsor of the event with a generous donation. The CD will be available from Companion branches from 18 July.

Finally, Newcastle-based "citizen powered media" site Hunters Best have become the information base for the event and CD launch.

This has all come together in a matter of days and demonstrate the power of a community pulling together fr a common cause.

Congratulations everyone involved.

Hunter Export News Spotlight

The Hunter Region has a new export industry champion with local marketer Gordon Whitehead adding his voice to export news with The Marketer. This new blog concentrates on all the latest exporting and marketing related news from the Hunter Valley.

I can vouch for Gordon and his passion for these topics as he also works with me at Sticky Advertising.

Blog on Gordon!!!