Is the Business of Business, Business?

We’ve recently spent a great deal of time in various units discussing the ethical responsibilities of organisations, and in particular, looking at whether the business of business is just business, and nothing beyond this. The arguments supporting this notion suggest that businesses already drive the economic welfare of a nation, and in doing so support employment, infrastructure, and both supply

Travel Trinkets

I have been privileged enough to travel very many places in the world, which means, I have also been lucky enough to have saved some money to buy everyone at home little souvenirs from each of my destinations. But the gift I’m about to share with you is unlike any other I’ve ever seen – Melbourne mother and business women, Annette Chambers, officially has the most marketable travel trinket ever

Monopoly No More

Hungry Jacks is throwing down just as much heat as their new counter campaign claims - Get your free food at Hungry Jacks instead of at ‘You Know Who.’ How much more clever and ruthless can you get?

Hungry Jacks seems to be very, extremely, confident in the superiority of their food as opposed to their competitors who are giving out small concessions in their monopoly board game imitation. This

When Beauty & Fashion Collide – Collaborations & Changing Expectations

Brand partnerships are no new feat in today’s collaborative marketing environment, and so when NARS Cosmetics announced their next collaboration during London Fashion Week, it came to no surprise that it would be with a fashion designer that closely echoed the brand’s own ethos, and whom they had worked with for many years.

Although not completely obvious, designers in the fashion industry form

Balloons and Internet for all, coming at you from Oceania

Google is set to launch one of its biggest and craziest (in a good way!) innovations yet - Project Loon. This initiative was started from right here in our own back yard as well! The project's purpose is to create widespread and low cost internet access for all areas of the globe in order to further increase the spread of knowledge and the speed with which the diffusion of information occurs. The

SMS Mentoring Program 2014 Graduation Event

Not long ago, I featured a post on this blog regarding a mentoring initiative run by the Sydney Marketing Society (SMS). The 8-week program that I participated in, ran throughout July to September, and was a unique opportunity for young marketing talent to connect with leading employers in the marketing sector.

To mark the completion of this year’s program, SMS held a graduation event at the

City of Melbourne – Re-branding for the Future

Having recently just visited Melbourne with Christine, I couldn’t help but notice the prominence of the city’s own branding. Whether it was on event tickets, billboards or magazines, Melbourne had been given a very clear identity, and one that perhaps is a lot more memorable than some of Australia’s other capital cities. 

Re-branded by Landor Associates in 2009, the brief for this project

Partners in Crime

Master of Marketing students go to Melbourne
Although Salil and I both spent much of our Melbourne shopping weekend with our own vast retail agendas, we came together where, and when, it counted most. Our ‘shop until you drop’ instincts took control as we fought our way through the plethora of fabric, countless discounts, and long fitting room lines during a busy Monday afternoon at H&M. This

Advertising: Our new best friend

Our first course of the semester is finally complete! MKTG6208 Marketing Communications came and went, but not without colourful friendships, a few all-nighters, and one very (hopefully) proud professor (Kate Charlton, featured below).




 (Picture by Elle Liu – Current Student)


The course took its students on an incredible journey through the ins and outs of the creative process within

From Wonder to Wanderlust: How BA’s ‘Magic of Flying’ Took Off

‘Magic of Flying’ was a brilliant campaign created to remind travellers of the many destinations available through British Airways. Could BA leverage new technology and the outdoor surroundings to convey this message?

BA’s agency, OgilvyOne, came up with two digital billboards in London. Every time a BA plane flew over one of the billboards, the LED screen showed a child looking to the sky and

Wayfinding: Where behavioural psychology mixes with business

Have you ever had that experience where you arrive at a new airport and walk out of the jetway only to follow the streamline of people flowing from the gateway towards baggage claim as if they have all done it and been there a million times? Well turns out, airport architects, construction personnel, behavioural psychologists, business managers, and marketing directors have all put their brains

The McDonald’s ‘McMate’ – The Burger Created by Australia

Back in May 2014, McDonald’s Australia posted an opportunity on their Facebook page to allow fans to help create a new edition to their menu. The ‘Build Our Next Burger ‘ campaign allowed fans to select ingredients from a range provided by McDonald’s, and the most voted for ingredients/burger combination was selected. In addition to the ingredients, the name of this burger was also voted for by

Traveling the world with your personal brand

What if your whole personal brand as a university student was being an athlete and a student at the same time? And, what if that brand got to represent your country and your university all around the world? It must be an extremely challenging role to play, but the University of Sydney students representing Australia at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland, make it look effortless.

If your mum were a professional, what would her role look like?

It's easy to take for granted the most important people in our lives, forgetting what they mean to each of us. That is, until we are reminded and given the opportunity to be grateful.

That's the insightful brilliance of the World's Toughest Job campaign by the agency Mullen for American Greetings. In the build up to mother’s day, the greeting card company tapped a universal consumer insight to

Umbrella Companies

Have you ever been shocked to find out that some of the brands and products you have been so very loyal to for ages were actually subsidiary companies to a larger, potentially less customer centred holding company? Well, Unilever is attempting to be one of the first to break that shock by incorporating all of its subsidiary companies into their newest logo, as seen below.




Research has

The Key to Luxury Brand Revival - Is Evolution the Solution?

When it comes to luxury fashion brands I have this overwhelming need to be in the know; whether it’s following changes in their corporate line-up, or obsessively waiting for new campaign images to be released – it’s been somewhat of an obsession of mine to consume this information and catalogue it for later use. So when I recently read about some of the challenges that the Italian luxury brand,

Vaccinations: to end possible pandemics or not?

Lucky for me, my parents felt comfortable having me vaccinated for many extremely harmful and contagious illnesses when I was little. Additionally, the United States of America had rules in place that protected me from illnesses while I was beginning school as a child, but sometimes you wonder why other people don’t want the same for themselves or their children, especially when exceptionally

Tip Top – Interactive Campaigns at their best

Perhaps one of the - dare I say - cutest campaigns to have been released in awhile, Tip Top Australia, (who, according to Bandt, bake over a million products for Australian families everyday) has developed a new spin on its age-old jingle – 'Good on ya Mum.'. The campaign stems from a website called 'Mum Song Dedications', which allows you to customise your own Good on ya Mum' song.



(Source:

Is there a minimum for EFTPOS here?

I don’t know about you, but I am getting really tired of the ‘minimum charge’ to use my credit or debit card as a form of payment at all my favourite places. And one day I really got down to thinking… “There’s no way the fees to use EFTPOS require vendors to charge upwards of $10.00AUD per transaction.” EFTPOS stands for Electronic Funds Transfer at Point of Sale, and I suspect it is being used

Welcome to our New Students

Last Thursday afternoon we gathered at the University of Sydney Business School to welcome our newest students to the course. The evening began with a short introduction by Pennie Frow, Course Coordinator, and Ellen Garbarino, Chair of the Discipline of Marketing, followed by brief speeches by current students Duncan Bell and Marco Tomaselli. As the evening wore on, and we all got better

And so the trending continues…

Out of all the travelling I’ve done, one of the most notable things I’ve
seen has been the excessive amount of airplane or ‘flying pictures’
people post on the internet of the beautiful views from above. That
being said, you’d wonder why some airlines haven’t been quicker to put
their logos on the wing of the plane somewhere, as seen below in the
Qantas and Delta shots:

        Qantas

Hashtag Marketing is in Vogue

In my last post I mentioned Virgin Australia’s newest campaign, which features a social media initiative involving, the hashtag #mealforameal. In an effort to capitalise on the growing activity on social media platforms such as Instagram, Virgin aimed to engage customers in a more personal, and more importantly, traceable way. Each time someone updates their social media accounts using this

Tourism: ‘Word of Mouth’ and Review Advertisements

As our July winter holiday comes to a close after next week, I’m sure we’re all going to be missing our warm tropical getaways; but we’re also going to be telling absolutely everyone about our travels! These vacation recaps with our friends may truly be where companies in the tourism industry make their money, because you don’t want anything but the best on your next trip.It is crucial for

Virgin Mobile Australia – ‘Making Mobile Better’ Ad

Although yet to go live (it’s part of a three month campaign that begins this week), Virgin Australia will be launching a new national campaign targeting ‘anti-social’ mobile phone behaviour. Fronted by American actress Jane Lynch (of Glee fame), the first campaign ad shows Lynch poking fun at the activities that many people are guilty of using their phone for; including taking ‘selfies’, texting

Watch what you say…

Cat got your tongue? No, no, no….that’s not quite right. CAUGHT RED HANDED: KLM Royal Dutch Airlines trying to make a sassy tweet that has since caused some serious backlash in one of the countries they service daily. Being the oldest airline in the world, still operating under its original name, having obtained that name from the Dutch Royal Air force, you think they would have known better….

SMS Mentoring Program 2014 – Launch Event

Last Wednesday I had the opportunity to visit the University of Sydney Business School CBD Campus for the launch event of the Sydney Marketing Society’s 2014 Winter Mentoring Program.The Sydney Marketing Society (SMS) is a not for profit student society based at the University of Sydney that looks to connect talented young marketers with leading employers in the marketing sector. The Mentoring

Deception Studies

All over the internet you’ll find everyone is just discovering a deception study conducted by Facebook in 2012 in conjunction with Cornell University and the University of California, San Francisco. As a previous psychology student, this is nothing out of the ordinary, and to be honest, you can’t be mad about what information gets used from the internet because you choose to put that content out

A New Realm in Digital Advertising – VidCon 2014

Young content creators at the YouTube convention VidCon  (Source: Los Angeles Times)


As someone who has created popular content on YouTube in the past, I am always keeping tabs on the changes in the landscape of this online community. Over the past few years, one of the notable differences that I’ve observed (as both a creator, and viewer) is the number of blue chip brands (Coke, Veet, Revlon

The little things

It’s always important when travelling to remember the phrase, “It’s not wrong, it’s just different.” However, with some of life’s little efficiencies that follow, there’s not a thought of it being wrong, and you may wonder why you haven’t seen it before. Having been travelling in Southeast Asia for almost a month now, and conducting various research, I have come across some marketing miracles

Master of Marketing Students visit Landor Associates

A few weeks ago, several students from the Master of Marketing course, including myself, were given the opportunity to visit Landor Associates’ Sydney Office, and hear about their unique approach to branding. Putting aside the breath-taking view from their office (as seen above), it was a truly insightful experience, and a great opportunity to ask industry specific questions and gain both an

The Global Takeover – Airbnb

If you haven’t heard of Airbnb, the bad news is that you’ve probably been living in a cave for the last couple of years. The good news is that now, thanks to this company, you may actually find someone who is interested in renting your cave.


Over the last couple of years, we have seen a massive shift in the way that the hotel industry does business. From the birth of review sites like Trip

FIFA World Cup 2014 – A Global Conversation

Our last post on this blog mentioned one of the many FIFA World Cup-centric ads that are currently being aired across the globe. After watching a few more over the last week, I wanted to profile one particular ad which I believe captured the true spirit of the event in a very relatable, and global context. The ad I am referring to is the ‘Global Issues’ ad which was aired by the U.S. sports

Ads you actually want to watch

A number of current trend studies have indicated a movement from televised advertisement to radio and social media ads. However, there may still be a culture out there specifically gathering to watch ads on TV.

For example, large-scale, international big sporting events, such as the Olympics or the World Cup sees big firms paying millions of dollars for their 30 seconds of not just fame, but

The Importance of Trade Shows – 2014 Hair Expo Australia

Over the weekend, I was lucky enough to be given a pass to attend the 2014 Hair Expo at the Sydney Convention Centre. Having never been to this event before, I was very much looking forward to seeing what was on offer - from both a personal, and marketing perspective.




Although my interest in hair care has been a long-standing affair, it’s only recently when I started studying Marketing that

Cadbury Malaysia in hot water over pig DNA found in ‘halal’ products

Cadbury has recently come under fire in Malaysia after traces of pig DNA were detected in two of their product lines during routine checks for non-halal substances, conducted by The Malaysian Health Ministry.

Considering that Islam is the most practised religion in Malaysia, and that those practising this religion are forbidden to consume pork or any pork derivative, it is fairly understandable

Open a New Friendship

I sit here wondering, there couldn't possibly be anything more brilliant that Coca-Cola could do next. However, their latest campaign “Friendly Twist” just screams consumer insight! You can view the full campaign in the video link below:




It goes without saying that American undergraduate freshman get to college or university without knowing anyone on campus. Often they experience homesickness

The A-List

With the recent rollout of Millward Brown’s 2014 BrandZTM
Top 100 Brands list, we can tell who’s in and who’s out. BrandZ is a metric specifically designed by Millward Brown and conducted over three steps to evaluate the performance and success of the world’s most influential companies. Every brand brings something completely different and unique to the table, yet BrandZ is able to compare

Storytelling - The New Way Forward

Within both the content being studied in our classes and my own extra-curricular reading, I keep coming across the idea of ‘storytelling’, and I really wanted to discuss how powerful this method of communication could be for a brand, if harnessed correctly.

The first instance of storytelling that I came across was in reading an article published by The Business of Fashion on the success of

The TEDx Sydney experience

I don’t think I have ever had such a fulfilling, inspiring, and exhausting day before TEDx Sydney 2014. I was lucky enough to have been one of the six recipients of the University of Sydney TEDx ticket giveaway from the ‘share your greatest lesson’ challenge, so I attended the TED exclusive studio event with fellow USYD student Ross Ketelbey (B.Sc).




The event stretched my mind in ways I

Is there no such thing as bad publicity after all?

For those of you possibly living in social media exile, last week celebrity gossip website TMZ leaked elevator footage of Solange Knowles physically attacking brother-in-law, and rapper Jay Z, following their attendance at the Vogue hosted Metropolitan Ball. The footage was missing audio, and so it didn’t take long for #whatJayZsaidtoSolange to start trending worldwide, and an internet and media

Co-creation in the Audi Virtual Lab

Audi faced a design challenge in 2004: how to use the lessons learnt from the poor reception of BMW’s iDrive to put together their own user interface.  Their
aim was to create the ideal embodiment of intuitive use; consoles that would
allow drivers to access information, communication platforms and entertainment that
would appeal to different customer segments. It needed to be Vorsprung durch

Why Liking Curly Fries Makes Me Intelligent

As an avid curly fry lover from way back, I was very pleased to recently discover that my love for this fun fried food actually makes me smarter.  What’s more, I was completely unaware of this link which left me pondering the impact of the many other things that I like?

So at this point, I am guessing you are either intrigued or convinced that this paradox is simply serving to disprove my

Burberry Kisses – Co-Creation at it’s finest

We’ve recently looked at the brand transformation of Burberry in our Internal Marketing studies, and although there was a brief mention of the digital strategies they’ve adopted (i.e. The Art of the Trench initiative), I wanted to focus on one of the more innovative, and frankly ingenious, campaigns they’ve run as of late. Burberry Kisses was developed in conjunction with Google, the brief being

Lufthansa says pilot’s strike to cost up to $103 million

Victoria Bryan reported on the negative impact the recent pilot strikes have had on the Lufthansa Airlines’ balance sheet, but also on it’s worldwide customer relationships, in the American Reuters Magazine on Friday 4 April 2014. The German airline had to cancel a total of 3,800 flights, which resulted in a loss of $103 million. According to Kratky, Chief Operation Officer of Lufthansa Airlines,

Customer experience vs. user experience

One of the marketer's role in an organisation is to understand the needs of its customers and develop a satisfying relationship with them. Today, many organisations dedicate specific marketing staff members solely to digital marketing and to considering how to improve 'customer experience' within digital channels.

When I came to know that the marketing community is all abuzz with the 'customer

Value Proposition Statements - A.K.A "Hey You There, Pay Attention To Me!"

What is a value proposition? It’s not a company overview or a mission statement and it’s not your brand slogan or motto. A value proposition is ideally created internally by your company and simply put - it is what value your product or service has to offer to your consumers.

Be wary, however, as consumers can shape their own value propositions for your offering. This is where marketing comes

Extending your reach through employees

I’m fascinated by the idea of ‘Employee Activism,’ and it has been a talking point in the business media in recent times.  I read about an interesting study by the PR and Marketing Communications agency Weber Shandwick. They surveyed 2,300 employees over 15 global markets, finding that 1 in 5 workers are ‘employee activists’; people who will publicly defend and advocate for their employer. They

How co-creation is defining a new direction for Airbnb

If you’re not familiar with Airbnb, then to put it simply, you’re not travelling the right way. Sure, we could all simply check into a hotel when we get to a foreign city, but in many ways this distances us from the sense of place and marginalises us to the category of a tourist. In the search for something more authentic, an experience with purpose, Airbnb connects property owners with short

Inspired by TEDx: What's your greatest lesson to share?

As marketing students, we may still have a lot to learn in the field, but what we’re already known for is effectively sharing and spreading the knowledge and skills we currently possess. With such a special organisation like TEDx arriving in Sydney in such a short time, what better way to spread experience than to get involved! For those who are not familiar with TEDx, it’s an organisation based

A Marketer’s Guide to the Business of the Blog

Blogging as a full-time job, in this day and age, is no new concept. There are countless blogger success stories out there for you to discover; whether it be 'Beauty Guru', Michelle Phan (who not only has her own makeup line, but also regularly collaborates with big name brands such as American Vogue, Lancome, Dr Pepper etc), to fashion blogger 'Tavi' (who started her blog at tender age of 12,

Fake meats, finally, taste like chicken

‘Beyond Meat’ is a company that produces plant protein substitutes for chicken and beef. A recent production error, discussed in an article in the New York Times by Stephanie Strom (published on 2 April 2014), proved that the ‘fake meat’ has come extremely far from the flavourless veggie burgers that used to be the only option for non-carnivores. It tastes so real that meat consumers did not

Is QANTAS using internal marketing to strengthen its brand in the tough aviation market?

Having recently had the pleasure (and I don't use this term lightly) of travelling to Singapore and returning from Hong Kong with Qantas, I am pleased to say I was both shocked and delighted by my experience.




I checked in feeling sorry for their employees, 5000 of which are to be sacked; none of them knowing who would lose their job, or when. But they did know that they were going to go,

TEAM: Together Everyone Achieves More

With the co-founding team of One Big Switch, Paul Hunyor and Lachlan Harris, to the rescue, there’s now nothing Australian citizens can’t achieve together. From banking, to electricity, to health insurance: if you help make the switch, the more you can save. The ‘switching’ objectives of this innovative company have their roots in a concept known as co-creation. Co-creation describes the ability

Dare to be “back”

Driven by the revolutionary development of technology, digital marketing, and particularly social media, has risen drastically over the last decade. The digital age has made such a large and lasting impact that we tend to expect to see all creative marketing for large brands done in this space.
However, last September, a famous European chocolate brand, Milka, launched a campaign in France and

Rebranding can sometimes work magic for your business

You probably noticed the aggressive media campaign for the newly rebranded radio station, KIIS FM from 106.5 MIX FM, back in the December – January period. Promotional material ranging from posters slapped on bus stops, YouTube videos, TV advertising and media announcements of Kyle and Jackie-O’s poaching from 2DAY FM built up sufficient hype for the newly rebranded station’s launch on the 20 of

From Planes to Trains: Famous Aussie Safety Campaign

How many dumb ways to die are there? So many! Which is exactly what Metro Trains Melbourne (MTM) wants their city-goers and train passengers to keep in mind. Preceding Air New Zealand’s more recent take on updating safety announcements, a Victoria state transportation company decided they needed a viral campaign to help lessen train, platform, crossing and station incidences along their busy rail

Analysing “Compare the Meerkat”

This campaign for www.comparethemarket.com (UK) is a brilliant concept that has been rolled out through multiple executions in the UK – 19 to be exact. It featured a TV spot, companion website and social media links. It generated such a buzz amongst the general population in the UK, that it is unprecedented within the Insurance Comparison Industry. It is arguably one of the most successful

A new way to advertise the ‘old school’

You can’t really get more old school than a book. So how, in this day and age, can you capture the attention of people with declining attention spans who are addicted to screens and checking their emails?

Bookworld captured my attention on two separate occasions. Now, that may seem pretty normal; we all encounter ads in our day-to-day lives. However, these were two occasions during which I

And the Oscar goes to…Samsung

If there was an Oscar for Marketing, this year the gold statue would definitely go to Samsung. If you have no idea why this is the case, you must have missed the most tweeted "selfie" of all time. As soon as Oscar host Ellen DeGeneres snapped the celebrity-stuffed selfie, including Meryl Streep, Kevin Spacey, Jared Leto, Bradley Cooper, Julia Roberts, Brad Pitt and Jennifer Lawrence using a

Ultra Reality: What would you do in this situation?

LG Meteor Prank
The LG, Korean electronics company created hidden camera prank advertisements to show off the clear image of their HD TV. Unknowing participants showed up to what they thought was a job interview, but were actually walking into the “ultra reality” of the LG TVs. Participants were secretly filmed, and their reactions to the episode have gone viral. LG successfully promoted the

Air New Zealand rebrands safety

Air New Zealand is one of those special companies. I know I have a
biased view, as I would definitely classify myself as a loyal customer.
But the fact of the matter is that their new safety videos are creating
quite a stir; a good stir.



 

What began as a way to separate themselves from the competition (and gain the short attention span of  their customers) has now become a tactic that

Tips for International Students

I clearly remember my first day of the Master of Marketing program at The University of Sydney Business School last year. I could not sleep during the nights leading up to it. I was nervous, but also very enthusiastic. I had so many questions. Besides general study concerns, there was one question that worried me the most – as an international student, what skills would I have to gain and

Going to places where brands have never been, with GoPro

There are a lot of murmurs about Gopro on the Internet at the moment, with many news websites speculating about their plans to take the IPO plunge. However, Gopro seems to regularly generate a lot of attention, as new videos are constantly circulating which showcase not only beautiful scenery and extreme sports, but also the capabilities of the tough little camera.

The word Gopro brings to

Are you supporting AT&T or Coca-Cola this Sochi Olympics?

The Sochi 2014 Olympics have begun. And despite all the political controversy, I believe that
the Opening Ceremony of the Sochi Olympics was simply stunning. I'm not only
talking about the lush fireworks, but also the hundreds of creative people who
put their hearts and souls into the design, production and performance.


However, the controversy surrounding the human rights
issues in

Tugging at Your Heartstrings and Changing the Way We Advertise

We’ve probably all watched the 3 minute 22 second video of Chipotle’s Scarecrow. It doesn’t seem like a long time – but for an advertisement on the internet, it’s held the attention of viewers far longer than most.

It’s an inevitable process. With the growth of online campaigns, viral videos, YouTube, Facebook, the cloud and platforms like Hulu and Netflix, the lines between marketing,

Newcastle Brown Ale's Almost Super Bowl Ad is Super Great

Newcastle Brown Ale didn't buy any airtime during the Super Bowl. You’d think that would be the end of their Super Bowl 2014 advertising story, but it’s not. Instead, they have made quite a splash through a hilarious campaign about how they almost did – including an endorsement by Anna Kendrick.




I’m not a beer enthusiast (or even a drinker for that matter), but the recent Newcastle Brown

Do you believe in marketing miracles?

As the
Christmas season approached last year, my 13-year-old son asked me if Santa
Claus was real.  It made me aware of the
fact that he is getting older, and beginning to question some of the ideas he
previously simply accepted as the truth. 
I procrastinated in giving him a direct answer. Instead, I left my son
wondering if there is something special and unexplainable about the Christmas

Armani models wanted

The
topic of branding has been weaved throughout the entire fabric of the Masters of Marketing program. In the Innovative
Marketing Strategies unit, we learnt that experiential marketing is a key
factor to brand building as it encourages deeper and more frequent thinking. As
markets continue to become more complex and competitive, many brands are turning
to experiential strategies in order to

What's your research method?

Understanding
your customer is fundamental to any successful brand. Marketing research seems
to be the key ingredient for many winning stories. Therefore, the big challenge
for marketers is to figure out the right method for the question at hand.

Now, more
than ever, the tool-box for market research is huge. For instance, online
surveys are now used as a knee-jerk answer to just about anything.

New year, new trends

No, I’m not talking about what will be
gracing the window fronts of fashion retailers. With a new year come new
resolutions, new habits, and new attitudes. As a marketer, anticipating these
new trends can be critical. For example, while all things digital has been
growing for a while now, the Internet is aflutter forecasting a trend in 2014
that will see people put down their devices. 

Master of Marketing welcomes 2014!

We’re refreshed and excited for the new year! Marketing Matters will continue to bring you news from the Master of
Marketing course, along with insights, news and opinion related to all things
marketing.



2013 saw the largest cohort yet, and many
of us have worked incredibly hard to finally arrive at our final project. With
the first ever mid-year intake, many of our fellow students will