Advertising & Promotion Campaigns

Myer shops for new creative in a 10-year low

The Sydney Morning Herald
Page: 28 : 21 August 2008
Original article by Paul McIntyre

LexisNexis Summary: Advertising & Promotion Campaigns

Myer has issued an expressions-of-interest call to major creative services agencies, and is undergoing a review of its communication contracts. Myer CEO Bernie Brookes is believed to be communicating with alternative advertising suppliers to replace current contract holder, STW's Badjar Ogilvy. Industry experts believe Photon is well positioned to gain work on the department store chain's account, one of the biggest in Australia, given that Brookes and Photon CEO Matt Bailey are well acquainted

Maccas ground down in ethical turf war

The Sydney Morning Herald
Page: 28 : 21 August 2008
Original article by Julian Lee

LexisNexis Summary: Advertising & Promotion Campaigns

Companies associated with the Rainforest Alliance (RA) have been asked to remove the word "fair" from advertising. Rival non-government organisation Fairtrade agrees, believing that McDonald's claim of supporting a "fair deal for workers" was not in line with its campaign with RA which, in contrast to Fairtrade, promotes environmental sustainability ahead of workers' rights. Gloria Jeans has also been requested by RA to remove the word "fair" from its advertising, although the alliance emphasises that its goals to address environmental, ethical and economic concerns are shared with Fairtrade. A McDonald's spokeswoman said in August 2008 that the company has complied with all of RA's requests

Brand power opens the gates

The Australian Financial Review
Page: 74 : 21 August 2008
Original article by Andrew Burrell

LexisNexis Summary: Advertising & Promotion Campaigns

Sponsors of the 2008 Olympic Games are reaping the benefits of their efforts to persuade organisers to allow more people into Beijing's Olympic Green. The 1,000 hectare area contains the Water Cube swimming facility, as well as the Bird's Nest athletics stadium. Due to China's security measures, entry had been restricted to those holding tickets to Olympic events. However, sponsors including McDonald's, Johnson & Johnson, adidas and Coca-Cola complained, likening the Olympic Green to a "ghost town". A decision to provide more passes to the Olympic Green, combined with the start of events in the Bird's Nest, has boosted the number of people visiting the Olympic Green to more than 220,000 per day

IFSA plans assault on underinsurance

Independent Financial Adviser
Page: 6 : 18 August 2008
Original article by Julie May

LexisNexis Summary: Advertising & Promotion Campaigns

The Investment & Financial Services Association and 20 of its members will fund a campaign aimed at increasing public awareness of underinsurance. The campaign, which has received initial funding of $A250,000, is due to be launched by the end of 2008 and is expected to run for as long as five years. Richard Gilbert, the CEO of the Association, said it was rather disturbing that only 31 per cent of Australians have insurance on themselves, compared with 84 per cent who have car insurance

Products & Services

Chefs serve ban on GM foods

The Weekly Times
Page: 7 : 20 August 2008
Original article by Lyndal Reading

LexisNexis Summary: Products & Services

Around 150 Australian chefs have now signed a charter affirming they will not serve genetically modified (GM) food. They include Melbourne chef Tobie Puttock, of Fifteen Restaurant, and Dure Dara, the president of the Restaurant & Catering Association of Victoria, who both signed the charter on 19 August 2008. On the same day, Greenpeace announced it was launching a petition that calls for all GM food to be labelled. The petition has the support of leading nutritionalist Dr Rosemary Stanton. However, Stanton says she does not support the recent decision by Gene Ethics to place on its web site a map that shows where GM canola is being grown in Victoria, stating its actions were "irresponsible"

E-Business

RBA talks to PayPal

The Australian Financial Review
Page: 11 : 21 August 2008
Original article by Julian Bajkowski

LexisNexis Summary: E-Business

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) is understood to be engaged in discussions with eBay's payments subsidiary, PayPal. The talks are believed to relate to alleged anti-competitive transaction rules that the central bank is reportedly seeking to remove. Andrew Pipolo, PayPal's Australian MD, has stated that his organisation will co-operate with the RBA. There have been some suggestions that PayPal should move to comply with the Australian Securities & Investments Commission's rules on electronic funds transfers

Marketing Strategy

Woolies shelves Safeway brand

The Age
Page: A3 : 21 August 2008
Original article by Ari Sharp

LexisNexis Summary: Marketing Strategy

Australian-listed Woolworths will adopt uniform store branding for its national chain of supermarkets. The retail giant will phase out the "Safeway" brand, which the group has used in Victoria since 1985. Jeff Rogut, an expert on the retail industry, believes Woolworths' high profile will ensure that the rebranding has little impact on the group. Tim Riches of FutureBrands also says the move is unlikely to affect consumer's shopping preferences. There is also speculation that Woolworths will axe its "Fresh Food People" slogan

Marketing codes vie for credibility

The Sydney Morning Herald
Page: 28 : 21 August 2008
Original article by Julian Lee

LexisNexis Summary: Marketing Strategy

Advertising agencies will be issued a set of guidelines by an environmental agency following concerns regarding misleading claims. The Total Environment Centre (TEC) will release its recommendations on 21 August 2008, a week before the Australian Association of National Advertisers (AANA) is due to issue its own guidelines. TEC director Jeff Angel wants to combat hyperbole in green advertising by asking agencies to ensure claims are true and not exaggerated. Angel believes the AANA guidelines will merely be a "reactive" tool for dealing with complaints. Minter Ellison partner Lynne Peach says that beyond guidelines, advertisers must take the law into account by not misleading consumers or making false claims

Consumer Behaviour

Local boost Viva's coffers

The Australian Financial Review
Page: 65 : 21 August 2008
Original article by Michelle Singer

LexisNexis Summary: Consumer Behaviour

Vivas Lend Lease rejected suggestions of a slowdown in the Australian property market on 20 August 2008. Vivas apartment sales and marketing director, Des Surleff, said 70 per cent of construction costs at the company's Sugar Dock development were met by pre-sales. Surleff acknowledged a softening of consumer confidence, but said the higher end of the market targeted by Vivas is not as vulnerable to interest rate moves

Seven wins gold, gold, gold

The Age
Page: 14 : 21 August 2008
Original article by Debi Enker

LexisNexis Summary: Consumer Behaviour

The Seven Network's coverage of the Beijing Olympic Games ensured that it had a big win in the national ratings race in the week ended 16 August 2008. Seven had a 43.9 per cent share of the viewing audience, with the Nine Network running a distant second with 18.5 per cent of viewers. Seven had the highest-rating program of the week, with its prime-time coverage of the Olympics on 13 August attracting an average audience of 2.13 million, giving it a 44 per cent audience share for the night