Media Hunter

Ads' 30 seconds of fame under threat

Source: Rachel Browne, Sydney Morning Herald

THE traditional 30-second television advertisement is under threat as viewers use new technology to skip ads and companies increasingly turn to product placement to spruik their brands. Australia is the world's third-largest paid product-placement market after the US and Brazil and advertisers are expected to spend almost $280 million on product placement in Australian television programming this year, custom media research firm PQ Media says. The trend for product placement on TV shows is partly due to the introduction of personal video recorders such as TiVo and Foxtel iQ, which make it easier for viewers to avoid commercial breaks.

Online passes $1.5bn

Source: Mark Chenery, Adnews.com.au

Advertisers spent $1.524 billion on online advertising in the 12 months to June 2008, according to the Interactive Advertising Bureau's (IAB) latest Online Advertising Expenditure Report.

The report shows strong growth across all categories of online spend during the 2007 to 2008 financial year. In the 12 months to June 2008, search and directories advertising remained the fastest growing category of online spend - up 34% to $706 million.

General display advertising was up 23% over the 12 month period to $411 million, while online classifieds grew 21% to $407 million.

Net to gain ads share

Source: Lara Sinclair, The Australian

TRADITIONAL media such as television, print and radio will lose 11 advertising share points in the next five years, slipping to 70per cent of what will be a $15billion industry by 2012.

The change, predicted in PricewaterhouseCoopers' Media and Entertainment Outlook, will be driven by the internet, whose share will increase from 12 per cent last year to 21.5 per cent over the same period.

While the report made it clear the industry was falling from a peak of 11.5 per cent growth last year, it predicted a soft landing compared with the uncertain general economic conditions.

How Gruen made people love adland

Source: Simon Canning, The Australian

THE ABC's surprise hit of 2008, The Gruen Transfer, which wound up last night, may have unwittingly taught the advertising industry a lesson that for too long has fallen on deaf ears.

Over eight weeks, the show, which revealed the dark underbelly of the industry, attracted more than a million viewers per episode.

But has it been good or bad for adland?

The show's producer, Jon Casimir, and Zapruder's Other Films founder Andrew Denton set out two years ago to work out how to bring to life on TV what happens in the boardrooms of agencies.

The format was a big risk for everyone involved, from the ABC all the way down to those appearing on the show -- and, of course, their clients.

Man vs Banner Ads

Just came across this laugh out loud video from Current TV, titled "Man vs Banner ads. It's more serious problem than I originally thought.

Nike's 'Just Do It' Slogan Turns 20 - Just watch it

Source: AdAge.com, Natalie Zmuda

(Editors note: JUST WATCH THIS IN AWE)

Nike's "Just Do It" theme is 20 years old, and the marketer is planning a push of Olympian proportions to commemorate its anniversary.

Online social networking reaches mothers at home with their kids

Source: Simon Canning, The Australian

WEBSITES and advertisers targeting the parent market are embracing the latest online trend of social networking to further expand their reach.

Last week, one of the leading sites, Kidspot.com.au, had a soft launch of extensions to its site that aim to turn it into a social networking forum for mothers.

Children's product giant Huggies has also invested heavily in its own social networking and information portal, the Huggies Club.

Traditional v new media debate

By Craig Wilson

At the Sydney PubCamp Web 2.0 Media Day much of the discussion and vigorous debate centred around the topic of traditional verses new media. The room largely divided into two camps, with the majority supporting new media. This was fairly predictable given the nature of the day and the web 2.0 focus of the event.

What surprised me was the strength of conviction and belief in one form of media over the other. There seemed to be very little middle-ground.

As a representative of an advertising agency I saw the debate from a very different perspective. We are heavy users of traditional media but very interested observers and emerging users of new media. Our view is definitely that there is room for both and will continue to be for quite some time.

The passionate new media fans clearly believe that new media will swamp, overtake and render extinct the traditional media channels such as television, radio and press. Clearly there is evidence that Gen Y and younger have adopted significantly different media consumption habits than their predecessors. TV viewing in declining, radio and press have experienced a similar downturn in overall consumption.

The Future of Marketing + Advertising

Amazing. Thought provoking. Insightful. Paul Isakson might be onto something here. Discuss:

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The Gruen Transfer brings ads and viewers to ABC

The Gruen Transfer (TGT) is a show about advertising, how it works, and how it works on us. Hosted by Wil Anderson, TGT  decodes and defuses the commercial messages that swirl through our lives, with the help of a panel of ad industry experts.

Each week, Wil is joined by some of the best and brightest minds of the advertising industry, experts prepared to share the ideas and insights that drive them.

Guests on the program face a series of challenges designed to show the thought processes - and, often, the brilliance - of advertising, as well as its understanding of who we are and what we want.

Each week TGT examines the tactics used to sell a particular product; it could be cars or chocolate or cleaning products.

In a segment called 'The Pitch', agencies compete to fulfill an impossible brief. For example, 'make Brendan Nelson a winner'. Elsewhere, 'Consumer's Revenge' allows our audience to participate in the show by making their own ads on this website. The best ads will be played during the show.