Formula One says goodbye to Honda

Despite being involved in Formula One racing for 40 years, Honda has been forced to pull its team out of the sport due to slumping car sales. The Japanese manufacturer had the highest spending team last season with a budget of £148m (AUD$337m), which was not covered by sponsorship deals, but scored only 14 points ...

Barbie beats Bratz off the shelves

Mattel’s prized girl, Barbie, appears to have won the battle against her younger rival, MGA Entertainment’s Bratz doll, after seven years of fierce competition. Following a four-year legal dispute, MGA Entertainment has been ordered to remove its entire range of Bratz dolls from stores by early next year. The jury ...

Benchmarking Black Friday: online consumer behaviour leading into Christmas

If Black Friday shopping trends in the US are anything to go by, Australian retailers can expect more consumers to shop online this Christmas season. However, new behaviour suggests they’ll be tougher to sell to and won’t hang around online for long. Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, traditionally used as ...

PRIA stresses PR during an economic downturn

The economic downturn can be a great opportunity for organisations to build brand awareness and stakeholder confidence, according to the Public Relations Institute of Australia (PRIA). PRIA national president Tracy Jones said smart organisations are using the current climate to take stock of their position. Jones ...

Over the hump…

Certainly one of the weirdest offerings we’ve seen come across the OTH desk, Pete the Meat Puppet is yet another video that will cast a viral shadow over people’s emails. It focuses on Pete’s conception by a lonely butcher (who subsequently dies after creating him) and his search for the meaning of life, a journey ...

TAC gets into gaming

In-game advertising has now begun in Australia with Sensis’ digital media business, MediaSmart, sealing a major deal with Victoria’s Transport Accident Commission (TAC) to make targeted advertising available within PlayStation 3 games. Sensis’ general manager of digital marketing services, Thomas Arthur, indicates ...

Search still strong player in digital marketing

Australian search advertising reached a total value of AUD$869.7 million during the 2008 calendar year making it the fastest growing segment in the local digital media advertising industry. Keyword sponsorships continue to lead demand accounting for 51% or $442.6 million of the total revenue. ...

News Digital Media focus on the target: advertisers

Ed Smith, the chief commercial officer of News Digital Media, recenly announced the launch of two new advertising targeting initiatives, Audience and Contextual Targeting, created to help advertisers connect better with their target audience. Audience Targeting News Digital Media’s Audience Targeting initiative ...

Who's who in the Zoo: TorchMedia new senior face

TorchMedia has promoted Cameron Baxter as its group sales director. Its current GSD, Tim McDermott, has decided to return to radio with 2UE. TorchMedia’s group managing director, Mark Fishwick, says “Cameron has been with TorchMedia since its inception and has been instrumental in the success of the Victorian sales ...

Dancing man hits big in Visa campaign

Matt Harding’s silly dance that he devised in a Brisbane office block has not only turned him into YouTube’s most enduring star – it has also made him a global marketing success that includes the lucrative speaker circuit and a book that is scheduled to appear in May 2009 (a collection of anecdotes about making his ...

Not just another coupon website: MoneySaver.com.au

A new online shopping community capitalising on the demand for internet discounts recently launched. MoneySaver, a free, home-delivered special offer catalogue and part of the Niche Media stable is expanding into the online sector with its new website, MoneySaver.com.au. MoneySaver.com.au aims to help advertisers ...

Wind taken out of Atheists’ sails

Who says atheists don’t have a sense of humour? The Atheist Foundation has been organising an awareness campaign, with humorous slogans such as ‘Atheism – because there is no credible evidence’. But according to the Foundation’s president, David Nicholls, APN Outdoor has rejected its suggestion – because of the ...

Who’s who in the Zoo: Tham new Ogilvy and Mather Worldwide creative director

Khai Meng Tham has been named as the worldwide creative director and chairman of Ogilvy and Mather (O&M) Worldwide. Tham, a Singaporean, has held the co-chairman and regional executive creative director positions for O&M Asia Pacific since 1999, and has seen the agency become renowned for its level of creative ...

Dr Pepper stops to steal the roses

Popular US softdrink vendor, Dr Pepper, has landed itself in trouble over a publicity stunt in which it offered to give every American a free soft drink if Guns N’ Roses managed to release its long-awaited new album Chinese Democracy by the end of 2008. The campaign was an unmitigated success in attracting attention ...

Over the hump...

What would the chances be of escaping a pod of killer whales? Well this little chap copes surprisingly well. To top it off the penguin and crew cruise off into the horizon, with his wing on one of the member's knee. Awww... Check out the video below! ...

Online advertising delivers FMCG brand building

Research conducted with Kelloggs confirms medium’s ability to drive strong branding campaigns for marketers Online advertising contributes to brand building according to research recently released by Nielsen Online and IAB Australia.  The research which involved a comprehensive study of the medium’s brand ...

Rupert says journalists forsaking their own

There are predictions of rough times ahead for the publishing industry, but it seems Rupert Murdoch believes the profession may still have a bright future, if it can get rid of reporters and editors who have ignored their readers. “My summary of the way some of the established media has responded to the internet ...

Twitter says no to Facebook’s offer of ‘a good time’

Despite floating a very attractive offer, Facebook’s bid to acquire Twitter in exchange for $500m worth of stock failed after the two companies failed to agree on the stock’s value. Facebook has expressed its interest in acquiring the micro blogging site for a number of weeks. However, the main stumbling block was ...

Google aims for TV Ads

Google has been in the news for a number of reasons lately – AdWords updates, potential takeovers, stoushes with Yahoo – but it seems one of the company’s interesting initiatives, Google TV Ads, has gone unnoticed. According to a posting on Andy Beal’s Marketing Pilgram site, Google’s Stephanie Duchaine, believes ...

'Find the game you were meant to play' - IGN.com's first creative campaign

IGN.com recenty announced that George Patterson Y&R have developed the first Australian IGN.com creative campaign. Launching on November 21st, the campaign will initially run online before a roll-out of print executions nationally. Developed by gamers within GP Y&R, the creative team on the campaign included: Creative ...

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