Marketing news

Ad agencies will no doubt be watching closely to see if the change in leadership at Qantas sparks a review of the marketing and advertising companies it works with, including its ties to Singleton Ogilvy & Mather. Qantas’s chief executive, Geoff Dixon, will hand over to his successor next week, Jetstar’s chief, ...

Unpack your cape, wash out those plastic fangs - it’s time to get into Halloween marketing mode. Traditionally a holiday celebrated outside of Australia, Halloween still brings out kids and teens to harass their neighbours for loot (generally of the sweet kind) under threat of ‘eggings’ or toilet paper sieges. ...

With his ‘illustrious’ movie career on hold and the ATO crawling up his pants, Australian actor Paul Hogan has still had time to criticise Tourism Australia’s latest $50m ad campaign, saying the country should be promoted as it was when he was involved – focussing on the ‘friendly residents’. We remember Hogan’s ...

Rolling Stone magazine is extending the brand’s presence into social networking site MySpace. The monthly music magazine has launched its presence on MySpace (www.myspace.com/rollingstone) as part of an ongoing strategy to get closer to current and prospective readers. Following the recent purchase of Rolling Stone, ...

Now you can sit on something green... Atlas Creative has launched the GreenSeat in Australia. Manufactured in Australia from a Scandanavian design, the GreenSeat is the perfect answer to the lack of sitting at outdoor festivals and events. 100% reusable and recyclable and with low production costs, the GreenSeat ...

Wondering why that person across from you on the train is getting hot and bothered over their iPhone? Yes they could be tech-nerds, but now Mills & Boon is introducing its range into the e-book publishing world, deciding to make dozens of new titles available as digital downloads every month. They can be read ...

Traditionally combining boats and beer has not been a great idea, but beer stalwart Lion Nathan has decided that it’s a great way to pitch its mid-strength XXXX GOLD brand. The ‘XXXX GOLD Boat Building Project’, developed with BMF Sydney, spells the end for the long running ‘Jacko’ campaign that supported the brand ...

Search engine megalith Google has been foiled by Russian regulators who have said that it cannot acquire Zao Begun, a local advertising company in Russia. This effectively halts a $140 million deal that was agreed to in July and dampens Google’s attempts to break into the lucrative Russian market. The agency that ...

The woes continue for Microsoft’s beleaguered online services division, which includes the company’s ad sales operation – it has posted an operating loss of $480m, nearly twice as much the $267m loss it made a year ago. Due to forecasts of a difficult ad environment, the company has cuts its year-end projections. ...

Tooheys has launched its White Stag beer in Australia with a humorous TVC advertising campaign using the theme of ‘Carb Relief’. The campaign centres around the slogan, ‘Because Tooheys White Stag has 1/3 the carbohydrates than full strength beer, we sent them to the people who appreciate them the most – Americans.’ The ...

Coca-Cola Australia has launched Powerade No Sugar, a new scientifically formulated sports drink containing no traces of sugar. The launch of Powerade No Sugar is being supported by a multi-million dollar integrated marketing campaign, featuring extensive out-of-home and print advertising, mass sampling activation, ...

Australia’s big banks are failing to make the grade according to consumer ratings released by Mozo.com.au, which named Bendigo Bank as Australia’s favourite bank. Mozo.com.au is the first service to combine financial product comparison tools with customer ratings, allowing Australians to compare banking products ...

Online retail monolith Amazon.com, shares have plunged 14% following a bleaker outlook on revenue projections. Amazon.com said it would earn between US$6bn and $7bn during the fourth quarter. The lower estimate is more than $1.2bn down on the $7.2bn it had earlier projected. It is bad news for investors in Amazon.com ...

The Australian Marketing Institute's (AMI) Awards for Marketing Excellence were held on the 22nd of October in Melbourne and showed diversity in the winners, with Youngcare and the University of Sydney Union both taking out the AMI 2008 Marketing Program of the Year award.The Certified Practicing Marketer of the ...

This year’s Marketing Agencies Association Worldwide’s (MAA) Globes have been the most successful for Australian agencies, which included the top gong, the Best in the World for Leo Burnett’s Earth Hour campaign. The MAA Globes for the Best Promotional Marketing Campaigns in the World for 2008, hosted this year ...

If only every marketer could have a pet like Patches the horse. To dote on them, fetch them beer from the fridge, answer the phone and accompany them on the latest fast food drive-thru hurl, hell even sleep in their bed! This is small town life at its finest. Long live the cute pet videos on YouTube! ...

Saatchi & Saatchi X worldwide CEO, Andy Murray, has appointed Barney Hylton to the newly created role of regional CEO, Asia-Pacific. Previously regional business director across 11 Asian markets at OgilvyAction in Tokyo, he has nearly 10 years’ experience in the Asia-Pacific region. He will report directly ...

The rumour that Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook is considering a possible move into the digital music business, has popped up online again today, further heating the rivalry between MySpace and the site. Zuckerberg is talking to song-streaming services and music community sites, such as Rhapsody.com, iMeem.com, ...

News.com.au, News Digital Media's online news centre, is undergoing a relaunch. The new site will feature a new, edgier logo, and ‘drag and drop’ technology to personalise what news you want to view on the site. A more sophisticated content management system is also on the cards. This ability to allow customers ...

Fresh from its launch of the Baz Lurhmann-directed ‘Come Walkabout’ campaign, Tourism Australia has announced that its sponsorship of an online reality show on social networking site Bebo has been a raging success, which has been viewed by 18 million people in Britain and Ireland. The Australian reported that the ...

Foxtel recently announced the programming line-up and advertising partners for its new channel 111 HITS which launches on November 1, 2008. The channel will target the 25 to 44 year-old demographic and will be the new home to top-rating series such as: Friends, Will & Grace, Ally McBeal, The Wonder Years, That ...

LONDON - Cadbury is to be an official sponsor of the 2012 London Olympics in a £20m deal, which is likely to anger some health campaigners. The London Organising Committee is set to announce the tier-two sponsorship deal with the confectionery giant within the next few days. Cadbury will be able to use the Olympics ...

Just when you thought that US election campaign advertising couldn’t go any further. We’ve borne witness to one of the most expensive presidential campaigns in history, with millions being spent on all ad channels available. Now there are reports that the Obama’08 campaign has purchased ad space in online video games. The ...

Channel Ten have announced a massive decline in both their annual normalised net profit and in the network's group earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA). The latter fell 11.8% to $209 million for the year ended August 31, 2008. Harold Mitchell of Mitchell Communications Group rejected ...

One of the world’s largest market research firms, Research International, has been in the process of a global rebrand. As part of the rebrand, the company is restructuring its 40,000 case innovation databases to make data more accessible. This aims at enhancing RI’s ability to provide fast, reliable, local market ...

www.theaustralian.news.com.au Marketers investing in the broadsheets are going to have to think on their feet as time gets lean for the papers. In a recent speech to the Sydney Institute on the future of print media and quality journalism, Fairfax Media's chief executive David Kirk, defended the company's restructure ...

A couple of juicy links this time around. First up, for those of you just about ready to collar the next 'poor banker' that laments the end of the good times, vent spleen and knuckles by checking out this great little online game, Spank the Banker (definitely safe for work and not what it sounds like!) Click on ...

Pacific Brands has launched a new campaign for its iconic Dunlop Volleys brand. The campaign coined “Volley Goes International” features five clutter-cutting TVC’s titled by the location that they are featured in, including Kenya, Cambodia and Azerbaijan to name a few. Volley's website has been given an interactive ...

The latest push by MySpace to bring in more advertising dollars relies on some unusual ingredients. (http://www.computerworld.com/) MyAds is the online social network's launch into do-it-yourself ad service for small businesses, which will enable anyone to create customised banner advertisements using MySpace's ...

Mini has again come up with a rather interesting marketing idea. This year over the Motor Show period the company will have a fleet of specifically designed Minis on the streets of Sydney offering the public chauffeur driven rides in and around the CBD. Mini has a history of coming up with ideas to coincide with ...

Yes, we all love and support Aussie music, but what about the jingles? Those little ditties that we sing at work that encourage us to buy Vegemite and tampons?The Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) and the Australian Guild of Screen Composers (AGSC) have announced the nominees for the 2008 Screen Music ...

So that crazy guy with the tin foil hat that sits at the tram stop was right – corporations are using subliminal messages to control our brains! Network Ten has been chastised by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) for broadcasting material below or near the threshold of normal awareness during ...

M&C Saatchi has announced that it has a new Australian CEO. Formerly chief operating officer in Ogilvy South Africa, Mike Abel is well known in the global agency sector. The Financial Mail named him Agency Leader of the Year in 2006. Abel built Ogilvy into the number one agency in South Africa in 2008, both ...

Now for your weekly fix of Google news. Google and Yahoo have decided to further delay their controversial search-advertising deal following the announcement of investigation by the US Department of Justice. The agreement, announced just after Microsoft’s bid for Yahoo fell apart, will let Yahoo run Google ads with ...

Move over Lara Bingle, here comes the Baz Luhrmann Australian tourism machine! To bring the country’s tattered advertising strategy back into line, big bad Bazza (not his nickname overseas, only in Australia) has created a series of ads aimed at showcasing Australia as a place to escape to from the hectic pace ...

Marketing must hang its head in shame this month because in our Promotional Products feature in the October issue of Marketing, it seems there was a very important number left off one of the stats. It was printed that 6.1 percent of business travellers could recall the advertiser’s name on a promotional product ...

Just one clip for you in today's Over the Hump, but it's gold. Diesel are a brand well-known for their happiness to stand out fromt he crowd and their irreverent take on advertising. But there most recent promotion for their upcoming 3oth Anniversary pushes all the boundaries. It's a brilliant piece of viral goodness, ...

So you might have heard that Nando’s Australia is trying to work the credit crunch trauma into a nice angle for their latest discount offering. The press release reports that they're giving away 'free chicken'. Well... not exactly. Nando’s national marketing manager, Justin Monaghan said: “With all the doom and ...

Amadeus Capital Partners and Wellington Partners have invested US$18 million in a Series B round financing in EnQii Holding, a global leader in the management of digital out of home (DOOH) advertising and merchandising networks. ...

Loved the V Festival? Well, the brains behind it, music intelligence agency Thought By Them, and Virgin Mobile today confirmed an extension of their partnership to include the development of music strategy, music-based creative and activation. The company (a division of Sound Alliance) will work with Droga5 on the ...

Not sure who did the stats on this one, but the advertising industry has denied there is any link between food advertising and childhood obesity. The news.com report says that at a federal parliamentary inquiry into obesity in Australia, held in Brisbane, MPs were also told that advertising standards prohibited ...

Spin Communication’s campaign for Van Heusen – Van Heusen Stories – has been banned by Brisbane Transport, who has labelled the underwear ad as ‘too racy’ for Brisbane buses. Interestingly, the ad has been deemed acceptable for Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth travellers. Is Brisbane becoming the prude of Australia? Emil ...

NEC Australia has revealed the creation of a new marketing division aimed at strengthening its brand and stature in the Australian ICT Market. The move will see NEC bring its marketing functions under the umbrella of a new single division. Craig Norton has been appointed as general manager of marketing to head ...

Ever been to your local Bottle-O and couldn’t decide what to buy? A six-pack from a local microbrewery? A bottle of Pinot Grigio from an obscure Italian province? More than 250 bottleshops across Australia are now using a new digital advertising system created by digital signage group Moving Tactics. And the company ...

Today's Over The Hump? Three things to get the rest of the week rocking and rolling: Do something good for the environment and feel better about yourself - Walk to Work Day Have a laugh at statistics - the mercurial Dimitri Martin digs into data, showing it can be funny (check out the first YouTube clip below) Be ...

To coincide with the release of seven of our iMedia Brand Summit exclusive videos (with seven more to come!), the results from our latest poll are in. It's good news for those businesses running events in Australia - it seems that 62% of you find summits and events in Australia useful. A further 11% of you have ...

Starting to sweat over the idea of recession? Watching the budget numbers daily to see if they dwindle? Apparently there are ways for marketers to weather a potential storm – via email marketing. The latest white paper from Silverpop, ‘Seven Ways to Beat the Bear’, describes why a recession is the perfect time to ...

Talk about having confidence in those who lead you – nearly one third of Generation Y believe that their employers will lay off staff because of the downturn in the economy, according to a survey by Talent2. But it seems this viewpoint is not as pessimistic as that of the general population. Almost half of respondents ...

PDM, one of the larger providers of out of home digital media, is partnering up with magazine publisher, Pacific Magazines. Launching with PDM’s Boost TV, the partnership will see the company’s digital signage network deliver advertiser and brand messages to target demographic groups shared by Pacific Magazines ...

Mount Franklin has begun a campaign to support the National Breast Cancer Foundation’s (NBCF) Pink Ribbon month. The integrated campaign is aimed at helping raise awareness about breast cancer research. One of components of the campaign includes having the CCA building dressed with a huge pink ribbon that will be ...