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  • When a company goes green, does the consumer really care?

  • There is no doubt that awareness surrounding environmental impacts associated with a consumer lifestyle is growing. In recent times this has been supported by extensive media coverage and political debate, and a growing number of topical events have sprung up, such as the Carbon Solutions Forum. This is resulting ...

More Around the table

During a recession are marketing budgets the first victim and where do you feel the financial axe should fall?

The last recession I had the pleasure of being a part of was the dotcom induced one. The first budgets to get cut back then were non-revenue producing ones, like content acquisition. Then of course the staff amenities budgets like the corporate billiard table and Formula One networked arcade gaming machines. ...

Is there a danger in choosing an agency staffed predominantly by ‘pretty young things’?

Shit, I hate questions like this. No matter what I say I’m on a hiding to nothing. While working at a major international agency I was asked to look into buying another agency that could help augment and extend our offering. It hurts me to say this because I like the pretty young things around me as much as – if not more than – the next man, but going through the process of buying an agency makes you really look at what’s on offer.

Has anxiety become the driving force behind consumer behaviour?

As consumers, what is it that motivates us to buy? Want? Need? Or is it actually fear and anxiety? With wars in Iraq and on drugs, terrorism, poverty and hunger, and increasing fears about the stability of the world's climate, five industry experts offer their opinion on the key drivers for consumer behaviour in our world today.

Was the London 2012 logo worth the £400,000 it cost to produce?

NO!… now what to do with 299 more words? Joking aside, the problem with the 2012 ‘logo’ and the vilification it has received since its initial launch is also reflected in the wording of this question. Wolff Olins wasn’t paid four hundred grand for a logo alone, it was paid this amount to develop a complete visual ...

Is Australia suffering from a skills shortage in digital media and, if so, what can we do about it?

The skills shortage we are suffering is quite consistent with other areas of our industry, but has been further aggravated by the exploding growth of the digital world. Internet ad spend growth has been extraordinary. A year ago, most of the pundits were forecasting that internet ad spend would reach $1 billion ...

Should 2006 be considered a year of change or stagnation in the marketing industry? What were the three most significant developments in the marketing world in 2006?

One could argue this question either way with some authority, but I think the major developments this year were in the planning phase. So, rather than looking back, let’s look forward… One could argue this question either way with some authority, but I think the major developments this year were in the planning ...

With the imminent ‘downfall’ of traditional advertising a hot topic among marketing commentators, is direct marketing coming to the fore as an effective and measurable medium? Is direct marketing the ‘new cool’ as proclaimed by ADMA?

Whatever people class as traditional advertising, it’s probably not facing imminent downfall. Building brand equity can still be very effectively accomplished by traditional words and images, though the vehicle by which they are delivered may change. Whatever people class as traditional advertising, it’s probably ...

What steps should Myer’s new owners take to revive the brand of one of Australia’s oldest retailers? Should they attempt to muscle in on David Jones’ successful fashion positioning or follow a different path? Is it too late for Myer?

Should they attempt to muscle in on David Jones’ successful fashion positioning or follow a different path? Is it too late for Myer? In a brilliant recent article in London’s Financial Times, ‘The Strange Death of Modern Advertising’, Maurice Saatchi stressed that in our media-diffracted, information-overloaded age ...

Sumosalad recently staged a protest at the opening of Victoria's Krispy Kreme doughnut store, citing the growing obesity issue and the need for a healthy balanced diet as their cause. Was this a great publicity stunt or do consumers see through transparent grabs at media exposure?

Krispy Kreme is a phenomenon – a brand that features in Michael Jackson's lyrics, and takes on a holy grail-like aura in The Simpsons. It is quintessentially American. It represents the fat side of Americanism, a perceptual space from which McDonald's is trying to escape with its 'Lighter Choices' advertising.

With the World Cup firmly in the spotlight, marketers from around the world have been scrambling to align their organisations with the great event. Will the tournament be a success for companies that have taken major sponsorships or will their investment show a poor return? In 2006, are ‘non-official’ sponsorships a cheaper and more effective option?

From an Australian perspective, a commercial association with soccer-now-called-football is an interesting proposition. I had always lamented the fact that football mad Aussie kids turn to other football codes after the age of 10 or 11, and that effectively Australia had no part in the World Game. But that was before the revolution, before Frank Lowy and the extraordinary John O'Neil. Finally kids have a reason to continue playing football and, if they do, our talent pool will be that much richer. Perhaps we should ban the AFL and the NRL and channel all our best footballers into the two international codes. Wonder if that would fly?

Tourism Australia’s ‘So where the bloody hell are you?’ campaign has raised eyebrows both in Australia and overseas, particularly in the UK where it was deemed offensive and initially banned. Is the new campaign press-generating brilliance or should we expect better from a publicly funded organisation?

Vulgarity? Australian society was built on vulgarity. It’s our stubbies and thongs culture that appeal to the Brits. You won’t find any nancy boy refinement out here. That TV commercial tells it like it is. There’s no subtle subtext. Just ‘get your arse over here, cobber’. The target audience is not your Wagner-loving Covent Garden snob. It’s your Barmy Army bovver boy, attracted by the games we play on Cronulla Beach.

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