Indholdsfortegnelse for October 2016 i AdNews

Trust is a big deal and it’s being shaken. The recent scandal that has enveloped Dentsu Inc in Japan isn’t exactly a surprise to anyone. Everyone knows the Japanese media market is a very murky world indeed. Its opaqueness is well documented and the control Dentsu Inc has there is quite staggering. It’s hard to imagine similar ownership structures here. The transparency train has reached Japan and the repercussions will be mighty. More than 100 clients are affected and the first to emerge was Toyota. A client relationship that goes back decades and one so deeply engrained with the agency that some have said it was difficult to see where Dentsu’s team ended and Toyota began. If an agency can so knowingly rort a client with which it has the…

Dentsu Japan has apologised and reimbursed JPY230 million (A$3 million) to more than 100 clients over “suspicious” digital transactions. The scandal, first revealed by AdNews before making global headlines, initially surfaced when key client Toyota questioned billings from Dentsu's performance-based digital business DA Services and Links. After receiving an inadequate response, Toyota began a broader sweep of billings while Dentsu launched its own internal investigation and went public with the findings. Dentsu’s chief executive Tadashi Ishii admitted the agency had overcharged 111 clients in 633 transactions. The problems include discrepancies of advertising placement periods that may or may not be intentional, failure of placement, and false reporting regarding performance results or achievements. It also includes incidents where "invoices did not reflect actual results, resulting in unjust overcharged billing". The scandal…

The Beatles were right to ask the question, 'Will you still need me, will you still feed me, when I'm 64?" The reality for people in the broad, vast 50+ age bracket is that marketing disappears almost entirely. It also means a huge missed opportunity for marketers, brands and advertisers, to engage this lucrative spectrum of potential buyers. Ipsos research director and author of the report Second Life: The Age of Agelessness, Laura Demasi said the implications for reaching this demographic are huge, but no one is any taking notice. Her report found the population aged 65 and over is projected to skyrocket to 23% of the total in 2056, up from 14% in 2011. The number of people aged between 65 and 84 will also more than double during…

One in two Australians now classify themselves as foodies, according to a recent report by NewsLifeMedia. You only have to scroll through Instagram, go online, switch on the TV or stroll through a newsagency to see food is everywhere – dominating everything from the covers of magazines to prime time television. In the last six months publishers have dialled up their attention on food. News Corp has launched a dedicated food network, Food Corp; Seven West Media and Pacific Magazines unveiled food title Foodiful; Nine Entertainment Co built out Nine Kitchen; Yahoo7 launched Be with a specific food vertical; Gourmet Traveller released multicultural editions and Fairfax-owned Allure Media invested in food, lifestyle and DIY platform Kin Community. The dinner plate is the new battleground and it’s not only publishers chasing…

Who would agree to buy 38% of their oranges from a supermarket at the start of a year, regardless of what happens in the marketplace? The evolution of media planning has been through a number of phases over the decades. Since media split out of creative agencies we have seen four overlapping paradigms. The '360 Era', where plans used multiple touchpoints to bring multichannel ideas to life; the 'Channel Planning Era' where neutrality became critically important; the 'Earned, Owned and Paid Era' where media agencies started to grow their competencies outside of paid media; and the 'Data is the New Black Era' where multiple data sources brought a new accountability to planning. Each era reflected the opportunities in the marketplace of the time and moved the media planning discipline to…

Here’s hoping the next 70 years are as terrifying as the last.CLEMENGER CELEBRATING 70 Since this year’s Cannes Lions Awards, there’s been some discussion in AdNews about the lack of ‘indie’ agencies among the 71 Lions won by Australians. It’s true. If we look back it wasn’t that long ago when independent agencies were producing some of the best, most innovative and most recognised work out of this country on a regular basis. The sort of work that made people jealous. Work that pushes you to be better, work that positively impacts pop culture, work that works. Unfortunately, that isn’t the case regularly enough right now, but the issue of creative standards is bigger than indies vs networks. I returned to Australia last year after five and a half years…

INGRAM Um … at the risk of Cuz reading this and punching me in the face for using a terrible pun, I actually give this the thumbs up. But it’s weird as hell and I kinda feel dirty because I like it. I hadn’t seen this campaign before, so I had the benefit of watching the whole thing back to back and it allowed the oddness of it all to actually make sense. It’s obviously making a strategic play into digital banking but I like that it has found a fun way to tell me this. And I admire the bravery to try something different in the banking category. BALLESTY I woke up knowing I was doing this for AdNews today and I promised myself that I would be the…

Diageo has shifted the focus of its marketing and dropped $20 million on campaigns to support the launch of four premix drinks. The company wants to make the $2.3 billion ready-to-drink category “sexy again” with new products under its Bundaberg Rum, Gordon’s, Smirnoff and Pimm’s brands. The move echoes a wider shift in the industry towards products low in alcohol and sugar to appeal to increasingly health-conscious Australian consumers. Both Heineken, which launched Heineken 3, and CUB are also leveraging the market demand for healthier options through new products and marketing. Of the $20 million investment from Diageo, $10 million is backing the latest Bundaberg product, Lazy Bear. The product is designed to take on beer and put the Bundaberg brand front of mind for men looking for a new…

We are in an age where journalism’s value is being questioned. It feels like every other week another publisher is being forced to lay off journalists as consumers add more screens to their lives, their attention span dwindles and they flock to social media to get their clickbait news fill. Yet at the same time every media owner is desperate to be a “content creator” because they know that great content always connects with consumers. Fair enough, given the plethora of briefs that inevitably ask for advertorial, branded content or sponsored content. But be warned - there is vast difference between blogging and experienced, trusted journalism that brands want to be associated with and consumers want to engage with. A huge difference in fact - and audiences are smart enough…

Ad tech tax Programmatic’s role in digital ad buying has grown from virtually zero to nearly half of all transactions in just five years, according to the IAB, but when the ad tech programmatic revenue outweighs publisher revenue, questions arise about just how big the ‘middlemen’ cuts are and if some of the fees and services are even necessary. According to an industry study released last year, conducted by PwC and sponsored by the IAB in the US, ad tech accounted for approximately 55% of programmatic revenues, while publishers accounted for approximately 45% of programmatic revenues in 2014. The study found that as there are so many programmatic platforms and technologies offering a wide range of solutions there’s an increased number of touch points in which transparency can be obscured.…

In 1991, Steve Vizard won a gold Logie for his parody of then current affairs TV show host Darren Hinch, famous for his 'shaming' approach, as well as playing an advertising executive named Brent Smyth. A year later, Australia's broadcasting rules were enacted in parliament and the hit comedy show Vizard starred in, Fast Forward, had its final season. Darren Hunch left our screens so long ago that his real life protagonist Hinch, a Melbourne radio host, has divorced and remarried multiple times, spent time in prison for contempt of court and recently entered federal parliament as a Senator for Victoria. During that time, the internet has come and completely changed the media landscape while Australia's media laws have been collecting dust. Now, Hinch is one of a handful of…

Facebook has copped some deserved flack after it emerged it had been over-inflating the average time spent watching video on the platform by as much as 80% for the last two years. It has fuelled further debate around the 'black box' practices it and other digital platforms operate and put the platform's measurement integrity into question. Facebook is often criticised for 'marking its own homework' by not allowing third party verification of its metrics. “The danger is that these digital publishers can cut the numbers whatever way they like in their favour. It just lacks integrity,” one agency head of digital told AdNews. Jason Tonelli, chief digital and technology officer at Publicis Media, says: “Our broader concern is that publishers do not act to allow us to use our third…

Recently UK ad tech journalist Chris Lake created a spoof ‘pin the tail on the mar-tech donkey’ meme, made up of all the providers out there. While we don’t recommend this as a method of selecting an ad tech vendor, it does serve to highlight the seeming pot luck nature of finding a vendor that provides what you actually need, at a reasonable price, and delivers on its promises. There are a few key questions to ask when reviewing ad tech suppliers. “Avoid falling for the magpie effect and don’t buy something just because it is shiny and new. Rather ask yourself: Does the new solution fit your strategy? And if yes, can a vendor present real case studies with sales impact? Get references from other clients if possible. If…

INGRAM It’s a bit like the banking version of ‘So God Made a Farmer’, but I love it. I saw it on telly a while ago and got that nice little jealous feeling. It’s not a blockbuster, but I like what it’s saying and how the bank is positioning itself. It’s actually a very similar strategy to the Westpac ad, but the NAB version is way classier. I still fucking hate the banks, but this makes me hate NAB just a fraction less. BALLESTY I’m a dad and therefore I love this campaign. However, thanks for the $450,000 reminder of my crap investment with zero ROI over 18 years per small human (cold sweats appearing as I am typing). I do like this new direction for NAB and I am…