Pigs Don't Fly

+ What Is Pigs Don't Fly?

2010-02-10T22:11:00.002+11:00

Another piece of blogging brilliance with this post...

... a place holder for later use.

Also if you haven't already, please vote for Zac and Cookies 'n' Cream here.

+ Jetstar In The Negative

2010-02-08T16:34:00.004+11:00

I've just spent the last four days flying around Australia hitting every capital city.

One thing I noticed, is that all of Australia does some terrible advertising, not just in this state.

But the other, after seeing it far too many times, was how awesome the Jetstar logo is. Take a look at the negative space between the T and the star...

Reminds me of the FedEx logo. Great stuff.

Nothing to do with what I normally write about but I'm tired and it's my blog and I think it's rad. That is all.

+ The Happiness Virus

2010-02-02T08:58:00.003+11:00

I'm sure you've all seen this piece by now...

Here's one somewhat negative review. And here's another.

Now I love a good opinion piece. I write them often. And I'm fairly certain that's how I fool most of you into reading this blog occasionally.

But I have to respectfully say these guys are wrong.

This is a fucking awesome viral by Coca Cola. And I can call it that because that was its intention and that's what it achieved. Yes it is probably fake and over acted, and yes it doesn't follow what some would dub the conventions of creating a viral... but it went viral. And in a big way.

The only people who are going to watch that and leave disappointed work in this industry I love called advertising.

But what really gets me excited in the pants about this is its branding. This is not just a piece of entertaining content that someone's slapped a logo on the end of (check out that link, would love to get your thoughts on that too). The video is about the product. And not just product placement. Even the current brand personality of happiness comes across.

I'm just gonna put it out there, but this is the perfect piece of branded content.

+ The Internet Is A Playground

2010-01-28T14:50:00.006+11:00

No, that's not just the name of David Thorne's new book that I just ordered.

I think it's also something brands need to realise before they come out to play. Because no matter how many "social media etiquette" rules you follow, at the end of the day there's always going to be a bully or a troll or a mob ready to push you off the monkey bars.

But I think it's important to note that this doesn’t just happen to brands in this space, but people too. It's almost inevitable, no matter who you are. So if it does happen, get back on your feet and give it another go. Although you can listen to advice from your parents (or the “social media experts”), at the end of the day sometimes it is going to happen anyway.

Probably best you don't listen to my Dad's advice though, which was when I got in a fight to always punch the bully back. Consumers may not like that.

+ Wrong Tone

2010-01-25T16:17:00.004+11:00

Are advertisers seriously still giving away ringtones as prizes?

I'm not even exaggerating when I say that every single mobile phone today has an option to make your own ringtone. From your own iTunes collection. For free.

Giving away codes to download them was lame five years ago. Move on peeps.

And even get me started on brands creating their own Crazy Frog style remixes.

+ No News Is No News

2010-01-21T09:22:00.006+11:00

One of the issues in not watching television, as my favourite co worker Stan points out, is that you miss ads. Which is fucking awesome for the most part except that people often talk about them. On more than one occasion I've been caught out where friends have turned to me as the one studying advertising and I've not had a clue as to what they're talking about.

Ads, it would seem, remain a popular conversation topic. Music is another, which despite the fact I don't listen to radio, strangely hasn't affected me. The biggest issue that I am suffering from, is news.

With the massive decrease in the consumption of traditional media, myself and many of my friends tend to be less informed about news and current affairs.

And the only real reason this has become an issue is because it's a popular conversation topic among peers that I can't always join in on. But other than that, is this a big deal?

For the most part, news programs have become commercial, vested interest vehicles of entertainment anyway. And as tragic as it was, is the death of four teenagers in a car accident really something that I should be concerned about?

Instead, democratically, the most important and the most interesting news finds its way to me. This means I receive a lot less unimportant news, yet the big stories, like an natural disaster leaving many in need of aid, are made aware to me through platforms like Twitter. The jet skiing squirrel does not (I use Digg for that).

Overlooking the fact I work (using the word lightly) in advertising, is it an issue that the next generation will be less informed about many of the ultimately pointless day to day news?

+ Yeah, Let's Pay For A Sarcasm Emoticon

2010-01-17T22:22:00.002+11:00

So someone, somewhere, somehow had a brilliant idea. That sentence, unlike the title of this post, was not sarcastic.

The idea was to introduce a mainstream emoticon for the emotion of sarcasm. It's call the SarcMark and it looks like this... .

I mean, overlooking the great choice of name that will surely be adopted into the masses (), a problem exists. You have to pay to use it. $1.99 will let you download software that lets you use it with a keyboard short cut as you would with any other emoticon.

A great idea was surely just killed. Yes they'll probably make a small bag of money but no it won't go mainstream if you have to pay for it. Not even the micro transaction concept can save it.

And if there's one thing you don't want from a new emoticon, it's people not knowing what it is or what it conveys.

Oh well, I wish the creators the best of luck.

+ It's My First Week

2010-01-15T17:12:00.006+11:00

So that finishes my first week at George Patterson Y&R. I'm not sure what I was expecting but I think the word "traditional" came to mind. Possibly in the way you'd look at an accounting firm.

Oh how wrong I was. I've already learnt so much, and it's only just the beginning.

+ The Call Is Answered

2010-01-11T10:29:00.004+11:00

A couple of months ago I put out the call that I wanted to do an internship. Well, George Patterson Y&R answered, and as of tomorrow I'll be there four days a week until I'm back at uni for my final year in March.

A young guy stepping into the oldest advertising agency in Australia... I think I'm going to learn a lot. I have no idea what I'm in for, but I'm pretty damn excited.

And perhaps the best part, I'll be going in on my first day with a Mohawk.

+ Just Me

2010-01-04T21:23:00.002+11:00

People often criticise myself and this blog because it's incredibly bias. "But you're just one person" or "You can't base anything off a sample size of one" are often comments that people like yourself leave.

Well... no shit. But that's all I've got. Every day I attempt to write about an industry I have very little experience in and certainly no money to fund some kind of research. So if you're expecting anything more than an arrogant young blogger's opinion, you're better off reading something else.

Don't get me wrong, I love comments that criticise, object, question and sometimes ground me. Often I change my opinion because of them. But just a heads up, there are plenty of more experienced bloggers out there, many of whom research a topic before they write about it. ;]

+ Reducing That Half

2010-01-02T14:18:00.003+11:00

John Wanamaker, who ever he was, supposedly said, "Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted. The trouble is, I don’t know which half."

As much as I hate to play to the whole "social media is a revolution" idea, I think in 2010 and beyond we'll start to see this wasted half reduced dramatically. Although I don't know if you would class the spend under "advertising".

The reason we haven't seen any kind of revolution yet is because no one is using it in any kind of revolutionary way. When we move beyond Facebook Fan Pages as the core of strategy, combined with increased accountability on agencies, we're going to start seeing some pretty amazing stuff.

The Utopian in me can't wait for a time when I'm discussing a night out with my mates on Facebook and and my favourite beer brand joins the conversation with information on the nearest and cheapest location to buy a six pack. Or a theatre, knowing my favourite movie, checks my calendar to see if I'm free and then informs me they're showing a screening. And my favourite candy brand is in on it too. How about a retailer makes a recommendation on what to buy my Dad for Father's Day based on his Amazon browsing habits, or even his Twitter usage. The examples are endless.

Obviously, we're not gonna be at this stage for a long time. And I'm not even sure how to get there. But at some point we'll start using this abundance of information, deal with the privacy issues and eventually develop the right technology to start reducing that wasted half of advertising.

But in the mean time, the least I can hope for is that Coles will stop wasting their half on me.

+ Subscribe To Pigs Don't Fly

2009-12-31T12:56:00.003+11:00

What better way to finish the year than with a placeholder.

I'll be using this post later on to direct people to subscribe to Pigs Don't Fly by RSS or Email.

Happy New Year.

+ The Wool Is Worth It

2009-12-30T21:17:00.005+11:00

I shop at Woolworths. And I will always shop at Woolworths. It's not that I have a logical reason to although I'd guess it's because my Dad did his weekly shop at Woolworths while I was growing up.

And I never plan to step foot into a Coles store, not even for specials. Assuming I always live in an area where there's a Woolworths close by, I'm a life long customer of the Fresh Food People.

So Coles, I'm giving you the heads up right now that any marketing dollars you spend on me over the next 50 years are wasted. But with your junk mail drops and interruptive traditional media spend, you continue flush money down the drain. Shame.

+ Spider Man Reveals Foe's Identity

2009-12-27T14:56:00.011+11:00

I'm sure you're all familiar with the story of the guy who tried to pay his phone bill with a picture of a spider. It quickly went viral and if you suss out the rest of David Thorne's page, you'll find much more hilarious content. He was also the same guy behind this McDonald's hoax letter.

Personally I find his work pretty damn hilarious. The emails back and forth are no more harmful than the prank calls we hear every day on radio, although I'm not sure where the line is when it comes to pretending to be a brand. I'm certain the Brand Manager had a blast the day that letter went viral.

I bring this up because of David's latest email exchange; hilarity ensues. The interesting thing about this however, is that Simon's Twitter account was quickly discovered. Needless to say, Simon received a fair amount of abuse, most of which was anonymous. Simon then took it upon himself to respond to blog posts, comments and even write a post of his own. And while it probably wasn't David's intention to have Simon's personal account identified, suddenly this "harmless" prank became somewhat more serious. Simon's online persona and his offline world very quickly collided, and much more became at stake.

I think we're going to see this happen more often, definitely something to be cautious about.

Also, how good is the title of this post?

+ Liking The Blue Bird

2009-12-20T15:25:00.005+11:00

Question; do you favourite tweets?

If so, why? Personally I tend to favourite a tweet that I want to save for later use. It might have a link or something of interest that I don't have time to look at, or it's on my iPhone and want to check it out when I get home.

I don't believe it is used as a recognition tool or similar to the way you mike 'Like' someone's status on Facebook, but rather a book marking tool. I'm told there are websites where you check out who has favourited which of your tweets, but being unofficial I can't really see that being its purpose.

What do you favourite and why do you do it?

+ I've Sneakily Turned This Into An Ad

2009-12-16T16:50:00.005+11:00

I've always found it interesting the degree to which marketing bloggers and people on Twitter promote the campaigns they're working on.

I guess I've kind of come to expect it simply given the industry they work in. And I'm certain this is not a new concept, only replacing a group email to family and friends to give a campaign a bit of a kick start.

But it does raise some questions about honesty and transparency. Especially when it goes beyond blogs and Twitter and into much more personal networks like Facebook. As a marketer or an advertiser, should I be pumping my work through something like a status update, even more so when it doesn't look like "work"?

I've been thinking about it because over the next few months I'll be using a lot of my social networks to get people to Vote for Zac and Cookies 'n' Cream as the next SupaShake flavour. As you can see I've put a banner to your right and I'll be promoting it quite heavily through Twitter and Facebook until February.

I think it's a bit different because this is somewhat of a competition not just a campaign I'm running, but still raises some questions. One of them may be, how many of you will get tired of me talking about it over the next few months?

+ The Man Behind The Blog

2009-12-14T13:53:00.009+11:00

When you're sitting behind a computer screen, you can be anyone you want; yourself, a character, an unintentional character or no one. It's why there's so many problems with the Anonymous. I tend to find the person behind a blog just as interesting at times as the content. That's why when it comes to writing this blog I try to ensure the online me is as close as possible to the offline me.

I was speaking to a friend recently who said she had finally gotten around to meeting a blogger she been reading for a long time. Unfortunately, the person she met was not the person she'd come to know online over the past few years. The personalities were very different.

I'd like to think I'm fairly true to myself here, although I don't think I'm as arrogant in real life. I'm much more "average" when I'm kicking it offline.

But it's an interesting area. Does it matter that the person behind a blog, Twitter account or even a YouTube channel is hiding behind a character? Or is it preferable that they be who they want? Or is acting as someone else not an issue at all?

I think it will increasingly raise issues as more and more of the online world converges with the offline at events and social outings like New Media Beers (Friday 29th Jan, 7.00pm, The Cabinet, 11 Rainbow Alley #NMBMelb).

+ Just Ask

2009-12-10T13:03:00.005+11:00

I can't believe I'm going to do this but I'd like to give out some advice; just ask.

If you want something or need something, I've come to realise there's no harm in just asking occasionally. I've blogged about how I use Twitter for that exact reason and it even worked for my internship (more deets on this soon).

Next year I'll be stepping in as President of the La Trobe University Hockey Club. Part of our long term strategy is to build new grounds on the Bundoora campus. A sub committee has spent 18 months putting together a business case and is now looking to make it happen.

To get support from local members of parliament, we just asked.

To get media coverage from local newsapaper editors, we just asked.

And to fund the $3.7 million, we'll just be asking.

I think you'll be surprised at how often people are willing to help. And if there's anything I can do for you, just ask.

+ 1800 PIGS DONT FLY

2009-12-08T13:06:00.009+11:00

Two questions for you...

In a time where iPhones and Blackberries run amok, do phone numbers in commercials like 1800 INTERNET or 13 PIZZA become irrelevant?

And on a completely different topic, if I can write a blog post in 140 characters or less, such as the one above, should I just post it on Twitter instead?

+ Fontastic

2009-12-05T23:00:00.006+11:00

I find it incredibly hard to get the tone of what I'm writing right.

And it became even harder the other day when someone told me they weren't a fan of the font this blog was written in. I think they compared it to writing a love letter in crayon. The content might be there, but it loses its power because of the font it's written in.

I suppose it makes sense, everything on this blog from the layout, my picture, the header and even to the font its written in all adds to its personality. But does it change the way you read it?

Have you considered what font you write in, and perhaps less importantly, should I change mine?

+ How I Ended Up Running A $100,000 Campaign

2009-11-28T01:16:00.004+11:00

In August this year I stumbled upon a contest called Bob's Got No Idea. The brand behind the campaign was yet to be revealed and entrants were asked to submit an essay or video demonstrating some sort of creativity about advertising.

I initially dismissed it but at the last minute (reflecting back, somewhat gladly) decided to enter with this submission...

This put me through to the next round where a group session would take place in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Perth. The morning consisted of some creative activities with a panel interview that afternoon. Here it was revealed to us that the brand was SupaShake, a milk drink you shake to make thicker. Three people were to be selected from around the country to become Flavour Crusaders, who would each be assigned a new flavour. Each Crusader would have to develop the strategy, creative and execution for a campaign to drive consumers to a website to vote on their favourite flavour and their favourite Crusader.

The flavour with the most votes would be put into production and the Crusader with the most votes would receive an additional $10,000 worth of prizes.

A few weeks later I got the call. I was one of three Flavour Crusaders selected. I pocketed $6,300 prize money, a new video camera and an amazing opportunity to head up a campaign for SupaShake.

Over the midsemester break I was put up in a hotel in Melbourne for what at that stage I only knew was a workshop. Tegan from Queensland and Andrew from Western Australia were also flown down where we were introduced to the Morph Marketing crew, the guys that would be helping us along the way.

The weeks consisted of an introduction to the industry, meeting some peeps from Clemenger BBDO and OMD, the development of a strategy, creativity and execution. On the Friday morning, we pitched to the client and the other heads at Fonterra.

Since then, I've been working with the client's feedback, changing the campaign around, developing new ideas and finally, as of only a few weeks ago, settled on a campaign. The launch of the campaign is today. And the campaign is...

Zac won't stop until Cookies 'n' Cream is on top.

As for what I've got planned, well I'm sure I'll keep you updated over the next few months. Luckily for me, the launch is in Surfer's Paradise on the Gold Coast for schoolies, so I'm heading up there for a week to kick things off.

And it goes without saying, I'd love for you to vote for me.

+ Australian Marketing Trade Press Awards

2009-11-23T22:30:00.003+11:00

Welcome to the 2009 Australian Marketing Trade Press Awards.

As you've no doubt noticed, with the new year approaching trade press publications go crazy with their annual awards. Which isn't surprising really given this is an industry that places such importance on self recognition. Is it just me or does the whole concept of nominating yourself for an award seem odd? Or more so that you have to pay for it? But before I turn this into a rant about weirdly shaped trophies and unnecessary flight carbon emissions, I ask you; who will award the awarders? Said publications will recognise the best in the industry throughout 2009 in a multitude of categories, but none of which are Best in Trade Press.

So with the little credibility I have, let the awards begin...

In third place, we have AdNews. A close call between Campaign Brief, which honestly I only read for the anonymous comments, and B&T, who I'm still not sure why exactly I read. I think it might be Inga Van Kyck's half page ramblings in each edition but unfortunately it's not enough to overcome the few issues I have with their magazine. Which of course leaves AdNews, who provide the serious news I probably won't have to worry about for a few years, but still find interesting... sometimes. Although they're the only magazine I haven't seen my name in yet, for 2009 they take out third. Congratulations AdNews!

In second place, we have Marketing Magazine. The growth of its thriving online community provides some unique content, even if sometimes some articles sound a lot like a media releases. For some reason I was invited to write for them this year, which of course wins them some non objective votes. Plus the magazine's not bad either and for 2009 they take out second. Congratulations Marketing Magazine!

In first place, we have Mumbrella. Headed up by a man who lives in tees he buys off the internet, Mumbrella had a big first year. With its news, opinions, video content, job board, podcast and a host with a funny accent; you can't really go wrong. Mumbles has been more than kind to me this year, although did confuse me as someone who lived in Sydney, almost losing him this award. A top read that covers just about everything, including some witty comments from time to time and for 2009 they take out first. Congratulations Mumbrella!

You will all receive your invoices in the mail before Friday.

+ One Person

2009-11-19T19:13:00.004+11:00

I've been thinking a bit about the agency process recently.

And it surprises me how much impact just one person in that process can have. In some cases millions of dollars are put on the line, and it can all come down to a single few people.

A client might turn down a great idea. An account manager might not be convincing enough. Or the creativity didn't hit at the right time. But on any other day, with any other person, the outcome could be different.

And for some reason, it's been doing my head in lately. Crazy.

+ The Daily YouTube Fix

2009-11-15T12:25:00.003+11:00

Just an observation I thought I'd share with you all.

Over the last 10 months, I've watched 6,148 videos on YouTube. On average, that's 20.5 videos a day. And if the average video is 2.7 minutes long (sorry academics, no peer reviewed source provided), that's 55.35 minutes a day.

This means I'm spending more time consuming a single website than television, radio, newspapers and magazines combined. Thankfully, there's no way to track how much time I spend on Facebook.

I know I'm not an accurate portrait of this generation, but I'm not even sure the above stat includes videos embedded on third party websites.

+ My Agency

2009-11-13T18:16:00.007+11:00

I was in a meeting today (I won't drop any names, but they were certainly worthy of dropping) and I was asked, "If you started an agency today, what would it look like?"

I threw out some generic ideas and buzz words, and of course it wasn't until I was on my way home that an idea hit me.

There is a fundamental problem with the agency/client relationship. Agencies are constantly forced to compromise on pieces of communication for client approval. It makes economic sense because without happy clients there's no one to pay for the expensive furniture in the office. But, it does mean the communication is not at its most effective. It seems to me, the two parties in this relationship have almost opposing objectives. These differences are usually overcome by settling somewhere in the middle. An area of compromise.

So if I started an agency today, perhaps its motto would be "No Compromise". At all. If the client wasn't 100% happy with the work, then we wouldn't work with them. It's either take it, or leave it.

Financially, it's never going to happen. But it does ensure only the best work is ever done.

Unfortunately, it doesn't overcome the fact this is an industry where success is determined and therefore influenced by awards. But maybe it's the start of a conversation worth having.