Indice dei contenuti per May/June 2016 in NZ Marketing

Editor In 2009, Wired published a piece on Demand Media, a so-called content farm that spews out thousands of videos and articles every day. The story kicks off with an anecdote about Chilean videographer Christian Muñoz-Donoso who made about $200 a pop for producing short clips for the company. At the time the story was published, he had already produced around 40,000 clips (this number has no doubt increased since then) for Demand Media. With such a formidable collection of videos, you’d imagine that he’d have one that he was really proud of, a standout piece of work that he shared with his family while proudly gleaming “this is what I do”. However, when asked by the writer to pick a favourite, Muñoz-Donoso was unable to do so and simply…

2.5 MILLION New Zealanders have seen out of home advertising in the last 7 days 47% of New Zealanders see outdoor advertising at least once a day or every few days One of the biggest challenges facing outdoor advertising, according to the panellists, is the lack of an industry wide measurement system to provide accurate and realistic data. Historically, outdoor advertising suppliers have used different measurement methodologies, but with it proving hard to compare apples to apples, in 2013 iSite led the industry by adopting a single source of traffic data and a consistent application called DTV (daily traffic visuals). While this may have been a step forward for the industry, one respondent says it’s not a solution all suppliers can fully get behind as it’s “great for some products”,…

People appreciate personalisation. If we see our names on a piece of direct mail, digital or physical, there’s part of our brain that can’t help but stand to attention. But, if we realise it’s not suited to us, we lose that attention just as quickly. Direct marketing has come a long way from the (essentially) addressed mail it used to be. Technology has allowed the medium to have a bigger reach than ever. It continues to be a good channel, but there is room for improvement. Our email inboxes are somehow still flooded with direct mail messages we don’t want. Republik’s Paul McNamara says: “A direct mail campaign is only as good as the data, [otherwise] you get hit with a lot of DM both electronic and dimensional stuff ……

AT THE Beacon Awards this year, the audience stuck to the usual rowdy routine, ignoring the MC and focusing on enjoying a celebratory evening filled with average food and heavy drinking. Over the course of the night, there wasn’t much that could dissuade those in attendance from having a well-deserved blowout after a year of late nights, tight deadlines and constant client wrangling. However, when MBM co-founder and managing partner Matt Bale took to stage to collect the Sandy Smith Inspiring Individual award, the entire room paused. And as Bale’s wavering voice reverberated through the room, betraying the tears he was holding back, those in attendance stood up one by one, ensuring that he left the stage to a standing ovation. It was by far the most memorable moment of…

IT’S THE pause that does the trick. “Yes,” I say… and then pause. The pause is important because it allows time for the ‘Yes’ to be heard. And the ‘Yes’ is important, because— chances are—it’s not what the client was expecting to hear. They are the client after all and I am the creative. And everyone knows how difficult creatives can be, especially if you dare suggest they might consider making the smallest, tiniest, nanoscopic change. “Yes,” I say, immediately. “Of course we can do that.” The word ‘creative’ started life as an adjective—a describing word—but, as I just did, we frequently use it as a noun: a naming word. There’s a danger in that, because if I am the nominated ‘creative’, or my agency is, then, by implication, the…

BUILD IT and they will come. Well no, that only happens in Kevin Costner movies. Fortunately, to succeed in the age of the finger swipe you just need to convince a few people (the influencers) that you’re worth their time and they’ll magically bring the guys with the money to you. Unfortunately though, influencers are the hardest ones to impress. So what do we do? I was pondering this challenge recently when I came across the classic Geoffrey A. Moore book, Crossing the Chasm, a title that is 24 years old now. Not only was I reminded of how good it is, but also how relevant it is for today’s world. If nothing else – just marvel at the visual simplicity of his model (see page 71). The key here…

Asking to identify the best performing channel in advertising is akin to asking what the capital of the world is. Is it cosmopolitan New York? Commercial powerhouse Beijing? Or, perhaps, progressive Amsterdam? It’s a subjective question, loaded with myriad factors of influence. And it changes as the world evolves. Print, radio and television have all had their turn at the pinnacle of advertising. Although the dates vary from nation to nation, the golden age of newspapers is generally accepted to have run between 1830 and 1930, a period during which the channel had a veritable monopoly on the distribution of information. The 1930s saw the mainstream introduction of radio, and this channel then basked in the golden glow for about two decades. Until recently, the centre of the advertising universe…

Radio has been in the hearts, homes, minds and cars of people for a long time now, ever since it first crackled through the airwaves about a century ago. So naturally, advertisers have tried to use the medium to get into those peoples’ pockets too. Over the years, radio has changed remarkably. It’s no longer just a familiar voice or song when we turn the dial to our favourite station, now we can experience it through a bunch of different platforms, physical or otherwise. But this means there’s more competition than ever for ears and eyeballs alike and radio has had to work a bit harder as streaming services like Spotify and Pandora have appeared on the scene, attracting chunks of the audience. Despite the fierce competition, however, radio isn’t…

1 What would your response be to people I’m not going to downplay the big shifts going on in the media landscape – we’ve seen huge changes in consumption habits, shifting viewer preferences and audience fragmentation – but the fact is New Zealand viewers are watching more TV per day than they did 10 years ago. More, not less. TV is still the most powerful form of advertising, hands down. It works for advertisers because TV plays a big part in the daily lives of Kiwis and has a huge influence over their purchasing decisions. In a fragmented field, the scale and effectiveness of TV stands up to scrutiny and stands out with proven results. At TVNZ we’ve seen the changes in the media market as an opportunity to strengthen…

Unaddressed mail, otherwise labelled by two of our respondents as “the spam of offline” has been circulating for some time now, but with our feet firmly in the digital age, where there are more targeted marketing means available, it’s puzzling to think of why we still receive those pesky flyers. Apparently there’s a good reason why they’re still around, advertisers insist they work, and why would they waste the media spend if they didn’t? According to The Warehouse Group’s Sarah Leaning, The Warehouse still finds unaddressed mail to be an effective tool within a wider marketing mix. “They complement our various advertising, media and social marketing avenues and continue to be well received,” she says. While she didn’t elaborate, she said there was a measurement system in place to ensure…

In most cases, wasting money doesn’t happen instantly with a large splurge on a single item. It’s a slow insidious process that accumulates over time, manifesting in the shape of coffees, lunches and random treats. It’s two dollars here, three dollars there. It’s a dune constructed one handful of sand at a time. Apart from those frugal to a fault, this scenario is familiar to almost all Kiwis, most of whom have had their share of the standard ‘don’t waste your money’ or ‘live within your means’ advice from friends, family members and media commentators. In addressing the issue of saving practices among its customers, Kiwibank did not want to add more whips to the chastisement that Kiwis had become accustomed to. This approach would simply have been brushed off…

STORM IN A COFFEE CUP? With what looks like a badly signalled and poorly executed loyalty programme change, Starbucks have created a bit of a stir in the last few weeks. “It’s an exciting new program that gives members more Stars awarded based on what you buy, no matter how often you visit” according to Starbucks. One clever person has even created an online programme to show you, simply based on what you regularly buy, how much longer it is going to take to earn a reward (check it out, www.sbuxmath.com); in my case 12 visits previously got me a free drink, now apparently it will be 36 visits. Crikey. The passion involved in doing this tells you a lot about the way that a successful loyalty/rewards programme can become…

1 What media do you wake up to? I wake up to ‘Morning Rise’ – an early edition news show. 2 What TV shows are you watching at the moment? And how are you watching them? Any new piece of content on WatchMe (NZME’s video on-demand platform) and House of Cards season 4 on Netflix. 3 What music are you listening to at the moment? And how are you listening to it? Mahler’s 3rd Symphony, Tchaikovsky’s 6th, Kendrick Lamar, Flume, anything interesting on Spotify. If I’m in the car, I listen to Hauraki, bFM, George, RNZ National. 4 What’s your favoured social media platform? Is it a blessing or a curse? Twitter. It’s good. 5 What’s your favourite website? Metservice.co.nz. 6 Where do you get your news? Herald app, Huffington…

ON WHAT RNZ DOES We know we have a role to play. And that role is becoming more important because of the shrinking of some of the resourcing, but I think the way through is to work together to get some of that diversity. I want to make sure that we’re one of the sources of valued information. It’s a great challenge and privilege having this role to play, but we don’t see it as something we do by ourselves. We’re very much a part of the media as a whole. A very small of example of this would be a sensible approach to radio ratings [which now also include RNZ]. And I think we’ll see more of that in the future. ON INTEGRATION ACROSS THE ORGANISATION I think that’s…

Over the last year, numerous marketers have spoken about how much of their spend has been shifted across to the digital channel. It’s often worn as a badge of honour, an indication of how innovative their approach to marketing is. In a great interview with Digiday, Visa’s global head of digital and marketing transformation, Shiv Singh, laughed at this trend. “It’s really funny, because we went through a phase over the last five years where every marketer would say, ‘I’ve shifted 25 percent of my budget to digital’; and the next marketer would say, ‘I’m better than you, I’ve shifted 35 percent’; and the third would say, ‘I’ve shifted 80 percent.’ The point is that none of that matters …” Described like this, it almost seems akin to a group…

1 What are your thoughts on the latest radio listenership figures? The latest survey release is the first under a new provider – GFK. This is a major change for the industry as listenership is now being measured for 40 weeks of the year from February to October, compared to the previous two bursts of six weeks each. This will allow more frequent data releases and will give advertisers the most current and realistic understanding of listeners’ behaviour. There were clearly risks in both changing provider and methodology - moving from surveying a period where stations ran promotions in an attempt to increase their listenership to a continuous survey measure – but the ratings published show a 10.6 percent increase in the number of people listening, a fantastic result for…

New research has confirmed that retail catalogues remain one of the most effective advertising and marketing mediums among New Zealand retailers and consumers – what is it about this media channel that continues to stand the test of time? Our chat with Australasian Catalogue Association CEO Kellie Northwood sheds some light. The recent release of the first ACA Industry Report for New Zealand has found that catalogues are a strong performer with a powerful audience reach of 3.88 million across New Zealand. This sees letterbox marketing holding a higher audience reach than television, radio, magazines and newspapers. “Catalogues are the hidden gem for retail marketing, retailers know the increased sales results, brand equity and consumer drive from strategically planned catalogue campaigning. Catalogue marketing investment has continued to increase for the…

IF YOU think online ‘clickbait’ will be the death of journalism, take a ticket and stand in line. It has become the new orthodoxy. A cliché decrying listicles and ‘must watches’ and superlatives and cats. And it’s probably not right. The very concept of journalism dying at the feet of audience metrics is, in itself, a clickbait technique overstating a premise to troll and draw attention. Google the words ‘clickbait will be the death of journalism’ and see for yourself all those who’ve deployed its catastrophist wording to count another unique or page view. There’s a very real argument beyond the bait, however. It is an old one. Gizmodo.com analysed this and deployed this, high-appeal headline: “A history of clickbait: The First 100 years”. Tabloid newspapers have been fighting for…

Albert Einstein is quoted having said that if he had an hour to solve a problem that his life depended on, he would spend the first 55 minutes determining the proper question to ask. Once he knew the right question, he could solve the problem in fewer than five minutes. As major industries such as advertising and journalism wrangle with the rise of ad blockers, there is a danger of spending not nearly enough time or effort defining the questions we should be posing, or, worse still, whether we are asking the wrong one altogether. Ad blocking, as a technology, has existed for around 15 years. To everyone who was online back in 2001, you will remember that advertising was not exactly more subtle, or interesting or enjoyable to watch.…

WHEN WAS the last time you used social media to force an outcome? And yes, I say force an outcome because, let’s face it, we all know that as soon as you begin posting in a public forum you’re probably going to get a resolution. There is also undoubtedly a reason you’re posting publicly with a gripe, complaint or request. In fact, when you think about it, just consider the last time you might have called or emailed to lodge a complaint or, indeed, a compliment. Global statistics tell us that 78 percent of people who complain on Twitter expect a response within an hour and with more and more brands ripping up the rule book and finding creative ways to respond to their customers (music-streaming service Spotify often responds…

Is it time to jump in? Warning signs/tohu whakatupato/panneaux de signalisation/ Post Jump Benefits/hua peke pou/soume. re les prestations de saut/ポストジャンプメリ Professional development, continuous improvement, study, up-skilling; call it what you will, but let’s be honest. There are a million reasons not to. Kids to deal with, kids on the way, work commitments, busy schedules, sports, family – and they are all valid reasons. But here’s the thing – if nothing changes, nothing changes. If you are at a point in your career where you feel stagnant, where you are no longer moving forward, or even moving at all – maybe it’s time to jump in and make a commitment to change? So, what are some of the tell-tale signs to watch out for in the event of career stagnation?…