September 20, 2007 - by Paul Warwick
Research is getting me down
We've been doing quite a bit of research recently for a pharmaceutical client. These are always great projects to do, because they really blur the lines between research sessions and 'therapy' sessions. It often makes me think about how wierd respondents are and what kind of a person would sign up to forfeit their evenings in return for $75 and some stale sandwiches.
One of the most interesting things about the project was the volume of (off topic) spontaneous discussion about depression.
Specifically male depression. Men openly talking about themselves, and wives openly sharing their concerns about their husbands.
This might have triggered something in me because it also coincided with the beginning of the rugby world cup, which has been accompanied by a lot of coverage about how the current Japan coach and former world-cup-winning All Black John Kirwan has suffered from the condition- he is now the public face of an advertising campaign in New Zealand. I think there's more to it, though.
It's easy to draw cultural stereotypes about the Australian way of life and to talk about men not having the emotional support network that women have always had. It's also easy to look at the changing roles within society, where service-led economies put a premium on the more 'feminine' relationship skills and 'emotional intelligence' and think that it must be quite a difficult adjustment to make for men brought up within a strong manufacturing, mining and labouring economy. Equally neither of those may be any more than a red herring.
One thing I do think is true is that this problem is significant and is becoming more so.
Curently the most prescribed drugs in Australia are for cardio-vascular and related issues. Over the next 10 years, it wouldn't surprise me if anti-depressants stepped up to join them.
There's a fantastic job that communications could do to help with this situation. Sadly, when it happens, I don't think that campaign will be a government initiative, it'll come from one of the drug companies.
This article is posted in BRAND PLANNING / RESEARCH / TRENDS
September 13, 2007 - by Katie Chatfield
Mobile Messaging
I've been recently asked if mobile will ever be considered a serious channel by marketers...
Right this minute the mobile phone is bigger in its reach than the car, TV or internet.
Already in China, Japan and South Korea the majority of internet access is via mobile phone. In total over 750 million people access internet content via a mobile phone today
The Communities Dominate Brands post Putting 2.7 billion into context puts forward some great stats: There are 800 million cars, 850 million personal computers, 1.3 B fixed landline phones, 1.4 billion credit cards, 1.5 billion TV sets and at the beginning of 2007, 2.7 billion mobile phones. That's three times as many mobile phones as automobiles or personal computers. About twice as many mobile phone owners as those of fixed landline phones or credit cards. And almost twice as many mobile phones are in use as TV sets.
Australians love their mobile phones and there are more than 16.5 million mobile services in use in Australia, according to the Australian Communications Authority (ACA). We spend, on average, an hour on the mobile phone every day and 35 minutes of that is spent texting
It is inevitable that the mobile phone will become an important part of the communication mix. While the Australian telco's walled gardens and premium content focus have restricted advertising innovation, the times are changing.
It's important to keep reminding ourselvers that we are in the message delivery business. The ability for marketers to deliver timely and targeted messages to specific audiences is one reason that media planners still knock on the telco's doors. This, in addition to the mobile phone's ability to provide a procrastination destination and information a service for the 3.5 million people browsing the mobile internet in this country, means that there is a large and growing opportunity for brands to connect with their consumers by using this channel.
This article is posted in DIGITAL / TRENDS
September 11, 2007 - by Matt Perry
IKEA Hacker: A real world 'mash-up'
About six years ago, in the UK, IKEA launched a campaign called 'Throw Out Your Chintz'...it was a brilliant way of getting the UK to strip off the flock wallpaper (obviously flock is now inhenrently cool again but hey), throw out the chair and sideboard that you inherited from Nanna (again de-mob utility furnishings are de jour) and get yourself down to IKEA.
That was cool but this is even cooler. Now that those $15 stools and $50 shelving units are looking...well, decidely 2002...someone has come up with this little beauty. IKEA Hacker is brilliant! It's ingenious, it's creative and it ticks the box of sustainability too.
This article is posted in CREATIVITY / DIGITAL / TRENDS
September 10, 2007 - by Katie Chatfield
What's on your mind?
Part of a world map illustrating the origin and content of the most popular search queries via Google, revealing the preferences and interests of the world population. The map is based on data from the Google Zeitgeist statistics of 30 different countries from April to June 2006. Found on the Incom Project.
Every month the top 10 search terms in Australia can be found here.
This article is posted in TRENDS
September 5, 2007 - by Matt Perry
2007 WebTrends V2
The Communication industry really has become over complicated these days....