Advertising & Promotion Campaigns

Clever campaign sizes up a pig's life

The Sydney Morning Herald
Page: 33 : 6 March 2008
Original article by Julian Lee

LexisNexis Summary: Advertising & Promotion Campaigns

An Australian advertising campaign will focus on factory farming of pigs. Luke Fox, of agency Loud Advertising, won an award by poster company, Adshel. He has the use of 100 superlite poster sites for one month. The advertisements will highlight the small size of pig pens. The printing and installation costs will be funded by animal rights group, Animals Australia. Pork industry body, Australian Pork, said that the campaign focused on emotion instead of facts

Unilever's pitch dissolves in the wash

The Sydney Morning Herald
Page: 33 : 6 March 2008
Original article by Julian Lee

LexisNexis Summary: Advertising & Promotion Campaigns

Environmentalists and consumer groups say Unilever is reluctant to change its range of washing powders, despite calling for a crackdown on "greenwashers". The global food and soap company launched a range of laundry liquids with a reduced environmental effect in early March 2008, although the products do contain harmful phosphates and sodium. Environmentalists say more environmentally friendly alternatives are available in other countries, such as Europe and North America, where phosphates are banned. Unilever and Colgate-Palmolive control more than two-thirds of the global laundry detergent market

Ten boosts ad cash despite loss of final

The Australian
Page: 35 : 6 March 2008
Original article by Lara Sinclair

LexisNexis Summary: Advertising & Promotion Campaigns

The Ten Network in Australia broadcasts Australian Football League (AFL) matches. It shares the free-to-air TV rights with the Seven Network. The latter will broadcast the AFL Grand Final in 2008. However, Ten managers are adamant that the Ten Network will garner millions in advertising revenue for the AFL matches it will show. Ten will broadcast a number of key AFL events in 2008, including the Brownlow Medal presentation. AFL sponsors signed up by Ten include Toyota, Harvey Norman, NAB and Red Rooster. The Seven Network is busy signing up motor racing sponsors as well as those for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games

Aunty taken to task for sneaking prices into ABC Shop ads

The Australian
Page: 32 : 6 March 2008
Original article by Lara Sinclair

LexisNexis Summary: Advertising & Promotion Campaigns

Australia's public broadcaster has been criticised for including price details in TV advertisements for ABC Shop products. The Community & Public Sector Union claims that the ads for gardening products were in breach of the ABC's charter. However, an ABC spokeswoman says that including price information in the broadcaster's ads is permitted under the ABC Act. The spokeswoman says the ABC has "clear parameters" regarding the use of price details in advertising

Products & Services

Brewers toast two shades of green

The Sydney Morning Herald
Page: 33 : 6 March 2008
Original article by Julian Lee

LexisNexis Summary: Products & Services

The two big brewers in Australia are each launching a "green" beer. The product will be produced with few or zero greenhouse gas emissions, at each stage of its life-cycle. Foster's Group has chosen to use its Cascade brand of beer and Cascade Green will be carbon-neutral. The advertising will focus on how clean and green Tasmania is, where the Cascade is produced in a "natural" way. Lion Nathan has developed a "green" beer called Barefoot Radler. Lion Nathan marketers will focus on the taste of the beer, putting its green credentials second. Many consumers want to buy green products, but are put off by price and quality issues

E-Business

Counting on insiders for the numbers

The Australian Financial Review
Page: 28 : 6 March 2008
Original article by Neil Shoebridge

LexisNexis Summary: E-Business

The online advertising industry in Australia wants to get a reliable method of counting website audience figures. The industry wants a single set of reliable figures that advertisers can use when comparing online and traditional media for advertising purposes. Five senior executives have joined the board of the Interactive Advertising Bureau, to help develop a single, accurate measure of web "eyeballs". There are a number of web audience measuring systems in Australia, and some critics find this confusing. Marketers and media buyers spent around $A1.5 billion on online advertising in 2007 and they want more information about web audiences. The same debate is taking place in the US

News delves deep into online search market

The Australian
Page: 34 : 6 March 2008
Original article by Lara Sinclair

LexisNexis Summary: E-Business

A new CEO will help News Digital Media increase its share of the Australian internet search market. John Allan will replace Gary Cox as CEO of the TrueLocal division. It is thought that Allan will target distribution and marketing in co-operation with other assets of News Limited. The online directories market is forecast to grow from $A235 million in 2007 to $A532 million by 2010

Marketing Strategy

Ikon scores A+ after helping Labor over the line

The Australian
Page: 34 : 6 March 2008
Original article by Lara Sinclair

LexisNexis Summary: Marketing Strategy

Ikon Communications has received the top ranking in a list of Australia's best-performing media buying groups. The annual rankings are produced by Paris-based RECMA, and show that Ikon increased its ranking from B+ to A+. It gained a number of new accounts in 2007, including Coca-Cola, BMG, Thrifty Car Rental and Sportscraft. Total Advertising & Communications' ranking increased from B+ to A, while Zenith Optimedia gained an A ranking, compared with a C previously

Consumer Behaviour

Not enough pain to satisfy the Reserve

The Australian Financial Review
Page: 34 : 6 March 2008
Original article by David Bassanese

LexisNexis Summary: Consumer Behaviour

Australia's economic health is not due to the mining boom alone. The national account data released on 5 March 2008 show that consumer spending and infrastructure investment are significant factors. The interest rate increases by the Reserve Bank of Australia are most likely to impact the housing and consumer sectors of the economy. Domestic demand in the non-resources states of New South Wales and Victoria grew by over 4.5% in 2007. Meanwhile, consumer spending grew by 6.7% annualised in the December quarter, while investment growth increased by 12% and is forecast to grow by 25% in 2008. Housing and exports continue to be the weakest economic sectors

Another dent in large-car sales

The Age
Page: online : 6 March 2008
Original article by Barry Park

LexisNexis Summary: Consumer Behaviour

There are signs that Australian motorists prefer to drive smaller cars. On 5 March 2008, figures from the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries showed that sales of Australian-made big cars dipped by 20% in February 2008, compared to February 2007. The sales of the large Mitsubishi 380 fell steeply. Mitsubishi management earlier indicated that it will stop building cars in Australia at the close of March 2008. Sales of the big Ford and Holden cars also declined in February 2008. The star performer was the light car segment. Smaller cars which sold well included the Toyota Yaris, the Mitsubishi Lancer, the Ford Focus and the Toyota Corolla. Many motorists flocked to buy four-wheel drive cars