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

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

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

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

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

Jamie Oliver, Woolworths, Christmas, and our very own, Amanda!

December is well and truly here. Although
in the southern hemisphere we don’t get the snow and frost, it doesn’t make the
festive season any less of a celebration! One of the most important elements of
this time of year is food. And how lucky we are in Australia, to be spoilt for
choice and quality. However, in a season of overindulgence, the need for
advocates for healthy eating is more

Louis Vuitton’s lesson in sensitivity

In advertising, especially in fashion advertising, it is all about
shaping the boundaries of creativity. It is all about trying to make your
customers to say WOW.  In doing so, marketers
and advertisers sometimes forget that there are specific sensitive areas, like the
deep seeded feelings of a nation, that could turn any creative idea into a
mess. In such instances, nobody can predict how

Coca-Cola to donate advertising spend to typhoon relief

It is incredibly rare to see a meme on the
underdog site, reddit, praising the
actions of a global giant. So when the above meme appeared on the forum, it was
hard not to notice. Although discussion on the topic varies from critique to
compliment, the commitment made by the company in support of the victims of
Typhoon Haiyan is significant.



From 18 November, all media from Coca-Cola
has

Everything Is Samuel L. Jackson's Fault

   



This advertisement is for an independent US nonprofit organisation called Common Sense Media . According to their website, their goal is to “help parents make informed media decisions for their children” relating to movies, television, games, music, books, websites and apps.Do you think this advertisement is effective in communicating the key message to the target audience of

Integrate fried chicken into your life

We’ve been learning a lot about Integrated Marketing Communications lately in our Master of Marketing. It’s been an eye opening experience, and now I see the world around me so much clearer. Maybe ‘clearer’ isn’t the right term… I see the world around me with a critical eye; constantly trying to decipher what is being communicated to me through subtle techniques, suggestive words and

Why we become a brand liker on Facebook?

I have just become a Red Bull Facebook fan. Honestly I don’t know what compelled me to sign up. Yes, I do like all extreme sport images they post. But being a Master of Marketing student, I query about if there is something more than simply being a Facebook fan of particular brand, or whether or not it actually affects my purchasing habits of Red Bull?



Why do consumers sign up for brand pages

Australia at Cannes Lions

Australian Ads have had the most successful campaign in the history of the Cannes Lion.


The 60th Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity has become a proud part of Australian advertising history. Never before has Australian creative talent fully dominated the list of Cannes Lions winners. In my opinion, the Cannes festival is highly conservative – a kind of bourgeois event where

3-Bee Printing: Clever Advertising

3-D Printing. Who hasn’t heard of 3-D Printing? I can tell the hot-topic is on the minds of the creative team at Dewar’s Whiskey, and they’ve very cleverly jumped into the bandwagon with their campaign for the new Dewar's Highlander Honey.



The very cinematic clip depicts “The sweetness of honey. The bite of 80,000 bees.” The ‘trailer’ is for a documentary on the process of how the bees

“Half the size, twice the happiness” Coke taking sharing seriously.

Recently, my group conducted a presentation and research assignment around The Coca Cola Company’s co-creation efforts in our Internal Marketing class, with Professor Pennie Frow. We found that, while with good co-creation intentions, a global company like Coke ultimately still held a lot of control when it comes to co-creation, as they simply have too much to lose if anything goes wrong. In