Spinach Blog

We've previously blogged about public servants with a sense of humour when the 2010 census Twitter account was tweeting out pearls of light-hearted humour to the Australian public.

Being a correspondence this story is a little less social, but considering the writer had already blogged his letter, it's unlikely the responder didn't think this would go public.

First read the original letter:

http://haughtfeelings.wordpress.com/2012/04/17/my-email-to-yarra-trams/

Then the response:

http://haughtfeelings.wordpress.com/2012/04/30/the-response-my-email-to-yarra-trams/

Social media has meant that customer service experiences are now very quickly, if not immediately, put in the public domain.

I find it interesting that these examples of brands being allowed to show personality and humour are both public service organisations.  Surely there is more room for online customer service employees of the world to be more themselves.  Anyone who has had a laugh and a chat about the weather with a call centre employee will hang up feeling a little warmer about the brand they've just dealt with. And at the end of the day, we all know there is someone at the other end sitting at the keyboard.

Zoe Freeman, Digital Director

 

It’s not news that the past decade has seen some of the biggest technological shifts since the invention of the printing press. The way people can now communicate with each other, and the way businesses can communicate with customers, was not that long ago the stuff of science fiction.

If you listen to the industry’s digital acolytes this has signalled a paradigm shift of apocalyptic proportions for ‘traditional’ advertising. At the forefront of this is the ‘television is dead’ position popularised - with an obvious degree of self-interest - by various new-to-world digital agencies. To different degrees established advertising agencies have joined the chorus, either not wanting to be seen as cavemen or wanting to recoup their investment in newly acquired digital capabilities.  

Marketers, particularly in Australia, have been a bit more circumspect about going along for the ride.  But you would be hard pressed to find a brand that hasn’t at least dabbled with social media. And, of course, what career conscious marketer isn’t lured by the need to have ‘digital’ on their CV?

Ironically, all of this may have led to a rampant case of herd behaviour within the microcosm of the marketing and advertising community.

In comparison, counter-point perspectives have had a much smaller voice.  The ‘emperor has no clothes’ arguments have come largely from a few of advertising’s elder statesmen and academics.  These commenters tend to see the digital revolution much like the dot com boom of the 1990s; full of unfounded optimism and unproven potential.  Where the fundamental principles of how people relate to brands are ignored.  And where the engagement of the few doesn’t even come close to having the same impact as the semi-partial attention of the many.

If accepting that the case for a new communications paradigm isn’t as clear cut as it seems, then agencies and clients need a more reasoned approach to developing digital initiatives.  An approach where agencies detail up front what proposed ideas are realistically expected to achieve.  And where the basic thinking about an audience around and beyond their digital interactions is always done.  More on this in the third post of this series.

The next post will outline a rare counter-argument to the digital revolution from the agency side by one of the UK’s leading agencies.

Glenn Myatt, Strategy Director

 

 

It's good news for the advertising industry and not bad news for retail in this piece outlining a sector-by-sector forecast for 2012.

And despite the well-publicised blues in retail, Willee notes that the sector – the largest advertiser of all – reduced its advertising by just 2% in the year to September, and the next biggest categories of banking and finance, and automotive are also healthy.

Read the entire article here

Melbourne creative outfit Spinach Advertising has hired renowned channel planning specialist Ben Willee in what will be a new position within the agency.

Beginning in January, Willee will utilise his broad media agency experience across the areas of General Management, Business Development and Channel Planning within the creative agency, working closely with founders Craig Flanders and Frank Morabito.

Flanders said Willee’s strong strategic skills and business management experience would help drive a new skill set at Spinach, focussing on driving investment effectiveness for clients.

“Ben has an incredible track record in the area of consumer insights, ROI analytics, revenue growth and sticky client relationships, skills that will be well utilised by Spinach as we move to the next phase of our company’s development,” Flanders said.

“We’re excited to have someone with Ben’s business experience join the team and integrate with our creative talents as we have a strong focus on growth into 2012.”

Most recently the Managing Partner of Ikon in Melbourne, Willee also honed his management and strategic skills at Initiative, working out of both its London and Melbourne offices.  

Willee said he was excited at the prospect of joining a creative agency and putting his business skills to use while gaining exposure to new specialist skills.

“When I started my career in media, it operated very separately to the creative process.  And while I’ve had exposure to working with some outstanding creative agencies on successful campaigns over the years, joining Spinach and working side by side with its creative team will provide me with an opportunity to add value in a totally new way. I can’t wait to get started. “