I noticed this article in the Oz Media section today:
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/media/fairfax-tries-yet-again-with-afr-site-revamp/story-e6frg996-1225801820958
This in my mind is very simple - the AFR has over the last 5 years made a complete mess of its Web strategy. They have ideal content for the Web, a great brand name, and are in a data-hungry market.
In that time, their 'subscription' strategy has been an epic failure on two important counts:
1) Their numbers have been very low (under 5,000 apparently)
2) Even those that subscribe to the paper version of the AFR don't access the Web content simply because it wasn't easy to access or search, and in fact, for a while there, it was almost unusable.
There are two groups that any advertiser (and media agency, publisher, TV Network, Radio Network etc.) would like to get their hands on:
1) Men 18-35 (and in my business, getting them to respond to anything)
2) The mythical 'business decision-makers', CEOs, ABs etc.
The AFR has the second group in spades, but I would suggest, just based on anecdotal evidence, that they are pretty pissed off with the AFR, and its constantly changing online model...I know that agencies are - it's very hard to buy effectively on the AFR site.
The one constant in all of this? The head of AFR, Michael Gill, who is now blaming technology on the need to revamp yet again - whatever else Michael is, he is a great survivor.
I know some guys who were made redundant at Fairfax recently - one in particular was a senior media sales guy who did a great job, kept clients happy, and was a thorough professional (and a nice guy), and yet he got punted from his (I am guessing here) 150k a year job, yet Mr Gill, who I'm sure is getting paid a little more than that, somehow survives...all I can say is, good luck to him.
m
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Crazy Bulgarians or What is the world coming to?
So I read this article in the SMH (via the Telegraph) yesterday:
http://www.smh.com.au/world/russian-road-roulette-is-all-the-rage-in-sofia-20091026-hgva.html
If you're incredibly lazy, the synopsis is that a gang of 20-somethings in Sofia (the capital of Bulgaria) meet up late at night, and play russian roulette in the streets by running their 4 wheel drives through red lights at up to 200kmh, and that 5 people have died in the last couple of months, and several people have been injured.
And I thought to myself, what the hell is going on, and what is wrong with these people? Is this the ultimate expression of a society that's bored? They no longer have the yoke of oppression, there hasn't been a war or a revolution for a while in Bulgaria, so is it they don't have enough danger in their lives, so they try and kill themselves and other people?
This seems to me the extreme extension of the Happy Slapping phenomenon that happened in the UK a while back, or the Japanese habit of doing a Hopoate on friends and perfect strangers...and I just don't get it.
I haven't been in a proper fight (I don't think basketball or rugby count) since I was 11 years old, and I think just navigating life, kids, mortgages, marriage and friends has more than enough excitement for me thank you very much. I do like to drive fast, and have in the past been known to drive really quickly, but I just don't get this need to push life right to the edge like this...maybe I'm missing something.
Sofia is supposed to be one of the most beautiful cities in Europe, as well as being one of the oldest. And yet, here they are doing this to each other.
Is there a moral to this story? If there is one, it is this: if you're driving in Sofia late at night, stop at all traffic lights, even green ones, and look both ways, or better yet, stay out until dawn.
meh
m
http://www.smh.com.au/world/russian-road-roulette-is-all-the-rage-in-sofia-20091026-hgva.html
If you're incredibly lazy, the synopsis is that a gang of 20-somethings in Sofia (the capital of Bulgaria) meet up late at night, and play russian roulette in the streets by running their 4 wheel drives through red lights at up to 200kmh, and that 5 people have died in the last couple of months, and several people have been injured.
And I thought to myself, what the hell is going on, and what is wrong with these people? Is this the ultimate expression of a society that's bored? They no longer have the yoke of oppression, there hasn't been a war or a revolution for a while in Bulgaria, so is it they don't have enough danger in their lives, so they try and kill themselves and other people?
This seems to me the extreme extension of the Happy Slapping phenomenon that happened in the UK a while back, or the Japanese habit of doing a Hopoate on friends and perfect strangers...and I just don't get it.
I haven't been in a proper fight (I don't think basketball or rugby count) since I was 11 years old, and I think just navigating life, kids, mortgages, marriage and friends has more than enough excitement for me thank you very much. I do like to drive fast, and have in the past been known to drive really quickly, but I just don't get this need to push life right to the edge like this...maybe I'm missing something.
Sofia is supposed to be one of the most beautiful cities in Europe, as well as being one of the oldest. And yet, here they are doing this to each other.
Is there a moral to this story? If there is one, it is this: if you're driving in Sofia late at night, stop at all traffic lights, even green ones, and look both ways, or better yet, stay out until dawn.
meh
m
Monday, September 28, 2009
Am I a whiny bitch?
I run an affiliate marketing network (one of the two big ones in Australia), and have done for nearly 4 years, after working in most facets of online for 12+ years.
One of the trade magazines in Oz recently wrote a 5 page article about affiliate, and quoted our Marketing Director extensively, and was, overall, a balanced and positive article, which we normally would have been very positive about.
The only problem? The headline: 'It All started with porn' I think it was mean to be a funny intro about the misconceptions about affiliate marketing, but I was, and still am pretty pissy about it.
We don't, and never have had anything to do with the adult industry, so I was a little hot under the collar, and fired off an email to the editor of the publication suggesting that, despite the fact they had a much closer link to the adult industry, I thought it was unlikely that they would intro an article about Google or YouTube in quite the same way.
To be fair to her, she got back to me quickly, and did try to answer most of my queries, and simply said that the intro was 'irreverent', but still just an intro.
The rest of the email was ok, but I was a little taken aback by this sentence:
'...we need you to be a little bit more appreciative of our positive coverage and a little more understanding of our misguided coverage if we are to ever cover affiliate again.'
So here's my question: am I being a little sensitive, or is that just outrageous? It's not a big trade mag, so I'm not too stressed whether they do or don't cover affiliate again, but I'm trying to figure out whether I should really get annoyed about it, and escalate the issue given that I was fundamentally threatened by the editor, or whether I'm being a whiny bitch? I did a bit of research on the editor, and was amused to find a huge piece in The Age from 2 years ago about living in Barcelona - this obviously qualifies her to comment on the cutting edge of online marketing in Australia - it was a nicely written piece...
Genuinely interested in people's opinion here
cheers
m
One of the trade magazines in Oz recently wrote a 5 page article about affiliate, and quoted our Marketing Director extensively, and was, overall, a balanced and positive article, which we normally would have been very positive about.
The only problem? The headline: 'It All started with porn' I think it was mean to be a funny intro about the misconceptions about affiliate marketing, but I was, and still am pretty pissy about it.
We don't, and never have had anything to do with the adult industry, so I was a little hot under the collar, and fired off an email to the editor of the publication suggesting that, despite the fact they had a much closer link to the adult industry, I thought it was unlikely that they would intro an article about Google or YouTube in quite the same way.
To be fair to her, she got back to me quickly, and did try to answer most of my queries, and simply said that the intro was 'irreverent', but still just an intro.
The rest of the email was ok, but I was a little taken aback by this sentence:
'...we need you to be a little bit more appreciative of our positive coverage and a little more understanding of our misguided coverage if we are to ever cover affiliate again.'
So here's my question: am I being a little sensitive, or is that just outrageous? It's not a big trade mag, so I'm not too stressed whether they do or don't cover affiliate again, but I'm trying to figure out whether I should really get annoyed about it, and escalate the issue given that I was fundamentally threatened by the editor, or whether I'm being a whiny bitch? I did a bit of research on the editor, and was amused to find a huge piece in The Age from 2 years ago about living in Barcelona - this obviously qualifies her to comment on the cutting edge of online marketing in Australia - it was a nicely written piece...
Genuinely interested in people's opinion here
cheers
m
Monday, September 21, 2009
Virgin Blue's Epic Marketing Mistake
I travel Syd-Melb and back at least once a month, and have done for at least ten years for work. I am a Virgin Blue regular, and have been ever since they launched in 2000. Why? They are overall cheaper, they are more often than not on time, their crew are smiley and nice, if occasionally a little officious, but they do 'live the brand'. The other thing about Virgin Blue is that, when they started out, they were determinedly egalitarian. The prices were relatively easy to predict, and I would regularly get Seat 1a, right next to the door.
But all this has changed in the last year, ever since Virgin brought in the empty red chairs up the front - I have been on flights where from row 7 back it was completely chockers, and there was one wanker in a suit sitting up the front (and no, it wasn't me, I average $200 return on Virgin).
I can't comment on the business model - maybe selling 50% of those seats on the busy 6/6:45/7am flights @$500 each makes sense, but from a marketing poiint of view it's a complete catastrophe -it takes Virgin's egalitarian, happy smiley brand ethos and craps all over it. I was on a 60% full 8:15 pm flight last night (had an 8am conference date - www.marketingnow.biz, so wanted to get there the night before), and there were ZERO peeps in the red seats.
Wake up Virgin Blue and smell the coffee - democratise the Red seats, or (GASP) reward your frequent flyers by letting them use them if they're not full.
cheers
m
But all this has changed in the last year, ever since Virgin brought in the empty red chairs up the front - I have been on flights where from row 7 back it was completely chockers, and there was one wanker in a suit sitting up the front (and no, it wasn't me, I average $200 return on Virgin).
I can't comment on the business model - maybe selling 50% of those seats on the busy 6/6:45/7am flights @$500 each makes sense, but from a marketing poiint of view it's a complete catastrophe -it takes Virgin's egalitarian, happy smiley brand ethos and craps all over it. I was on a 60% full 8:15 pm flight last night (had an 8am conference date - www.marketingnow.biz, so wanted to get there the night before), and there were ZERO peeps in the red seats.
Wake up Virgin Blue and smell the coffee - democratise the Red seats, or (GASP) reward your frequent flyers by letting them use them if they're not full.
cheers
m
Thursday, May 14, 2009
affiliatsyd Wrap Up
Viva9 organised the first Australian affiliate/performance marketing conference http://www.affiliatsyd.com, which was held last Wednesday, May 13th in Sydney.
Our aim was to create a wide-ranging list of topics and speakers, and really focus on interesting and challenging content, rather than the dreaded 'Advertorials' that we have all seen in our professional lives.
We were also keen to present different perspectives - publishers, clients, agencies, emailers, social media experts, and Super-affiliates, and I think we succeeded really well.
Firstly, I have been bowled over by the response - 200 delegates registered, and for our morning keynote it was standing-room only, with over 170 people in the room.
The keynote was Mr Jay Berkowitz, CEO of Ten Golden Rules, and he was fantastic - he built his presentation from the building blocks of how to create a powerful online presence from the very basics, all the way up to really cutting-edge stuff, which had me scribbling furiously. He is a great speaker, and a lovely guy to boot, and we really enjoyed having Jay at the conference - it was a fantastic start to the day.
Other highlights:
Our Social Media panel, with Lee Hopkins, Laurel Papworth, and Jay doubling up, was awesome, Lee is full of passion and ideas, and was inspiring. Laurel, one of Australia's most prominent bloggers, and Twitterers, talked about the 'Ripple Effect' of social media, which was great, and Jay focused on his pet topics of audio podcasts and the power of online video, as well as the need to create and maintain your own personal brand.
Our power affiliate panel exceeded all of our expectations - Roland Bleyer (never a man to be short of an opinion) and Greg Simon from Fat Cat Rewards gave us an insight into the world of the Super-affiliate - men who live and breathe performance marketing. Craig Seitam from Shopper's Bonus came at it from a different perspective - the '10 hours a week' man, who derives about A$1,000 a week from his affiliate activities - not bad....
Other highlights were Dave Fowler from Lyris HQ, a hard-core email deliverability man if ever I met one, as well our Sports Betting panel - still trying to remember the tips they gave at the end.
Anyhoo, more to come on this topic - watch this space.
cheers
matt
Our aim was to create a wide-ranging list of topics and speakers, and really focus on interesting and challenging content, rather than the dreaded 'Advertorials' that we have all seen in our professional lives.
We were also keen to present different perspectives - publishers, clients, agencies, emailers, social media experts, and Super-affiliates, and I think we succeeded really well.
Firstly, I have been bowled over by the response - 200 delegates registered, and for our morning keynote it was standing-room only, with over 170 people in the room.
The keynote was Mr Jay Berkowitz, CEO of Ten Golden Rules, and he was fantastic - he built his presentation from the building blocks of how to create a powerful online presence from the very basics, all the way up to really cutting-edge stuff, which had me scribbling furiously. He is a great speaker, and a lovely guy to boot, and we really enjoyed having Jay at the conference - it was a fantastic start to the day.
Other highlights:
Our Social Media panel, with Lee Hopkins, Laurel Papworth, and Jay doubling up, was awesome, Lee is full of passion and ideas, and was inspiring. Laurel, one of Australia's most prominent bloggers, and Twitterers, talked about the 'Ripple Effect' of social media, which was great, and Jay focused on his pet topics of audio podcasts and the power of online video, as well as the need to create and maintain your own personal brand.
Our power affiliate panel exceeded all of our expectations - Roland Bleyer (never a man to be short of an opinion) and Greg Simon from Fat Cat Rewards gave us an insight into the world of the Super-affiliate - men who live and breathe performance marketing. Craig Seitam from Shopper's Bonus came at it from a different perspective - the '10 hours a week' man, who derives about A$1,000 a week from his affiliate activities - not bad....
Other highlights were Dave Fowler from Lyris HQ, a hard-core email deliverability man if ever I met one, as well our Sports Betting panel - still trying to remember the tips they gave at the end.
Anyhoo, more to come on this topic - watch this space.
cheers
matt
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
