G&T And BadNews

My last post about the marketing trade press caused quite the stir. I suppose you could call this the sequal.
Dear Tim Addington and Matt Porter,

I am subscribed to both your magazines, B&T and AdNews respectively. And I have a problem, I sincerely hope you can help.

But before we get started; Timbo, I must admit I was disappointed you failed to reply to my last letter. Matt, I hope you see this as an opportunity to one up yourself on your rival by dropping a comment below. And just so you don’t feel left out Kylie Flavell, I have no complains about Marketing Magazine today.

Anyway bros, included in my subscription to your magazines, I receive a daily email updating me on what’s what in the industry. This is how the daily routine usually goes…

4.41pm B&T Daily Update arrives in my Inbox.
4.42pm AdNews Daily Update arrives in my Inbox.
4.43pm I delete both without reading either of them.

If I’m really interested in something from that day I will normally choose AdNews over B&T for reasons already discussed on this blog but the problem is you both practically send out the exact same thing. Let’s take a look at the two editions side by side from yesterday…


Not only is nearly every article on the same topic but some of them have almost the exact same headlines. There are more similarities in the “bonus material” too. How exactly is it that you guys differentiate from one another?

Because if you don’t find a way before my subscription runs out, I’m probably going to ditch one or both of you. Just giving you the heads up.

Zac Martin

11 Comments
  • Anonymous
    Posted at August 27, 2009 1:58pm, 27 August Reply

    Um, you need to learn grammar, sentence structure and spelling – if I got this I would ignore it as coming from an illiterate.

  • Nathan Bush
    Posted at August 27, 2009 1:58pm, 27 August Reply

    I would have assumed you'd have unsubscribed from B&T by now if your bark was as bad as your bite? Regards, your Grandmother.

  • Zac Martin
    Posted at August 27, 2009 2:17pm, 27 August Reply

    @ Anonymous

    And I'm going to ignore you because you can't put your name to your comment. Also this is a blog, not an academic paper, "grammar, sentence structure and spelling" don't matter.

    @ Nathan Bush

    I still flick through the print edition.

  • Melissa Smith
    Posted at August 27, 2009 2:42pm, 27 August Reply

    I don't really understand the point of commenting anonomously, its just as easy to put your name there.

    Agree with you 100%, there is no differentiation (is that a word??) between the two. I know they both have value, but personally prefer Marketingmag. And whats with the email updates? Bizarre.

    Zac i'd like to say i think you're fantastic and you get a lot of shit from your commentors, but at the end of the day, they're still reading so they must find what you have to say valuable, at least some of the time.. I love how you stir the pot, wish there were more like you out there! 100% support if you don't like the opinions of Zac Martin, don't read his freaking blog! At the risk of sounding like an obsessed stalker, i think you're awesome =)

  • Stan Lee
    Posted at August 28, 2009 12:08am, 28 August Reply

    Lazy journalism. End of story.These mags rely on press releases for stories and news. That's why they're the same.

    Will they change this because you wrote about it on your blog?

    Doubt it. They have an audience comprised of everyone in the industry. You however are, with the greatest respect, a teenager with an opinion. Which makes you unimportant and irrelevant in their eyes.

  • Anonymous
    Posted at August 28, 2009 1:57pm, 28 August Reply

    It's the nature of competition, Zac.
    Just unsubscribe mate, find something positive to focus on, and stop moaning.

  • Anonymous
    Posted at August 28, 2009 3:10pm, 28 August Reply

    agree with your point, but it's been this way forever. most trade rags are rehashed press releases.

    sounds like you're angling to write for them to me.

  • Anonymous
    Posted at August 28, 2009 7:15pm, 28 August Reply

    If you want a future in comms/marketing/social media than "grammar, sentence structure and spelling" – it's the basis of good copy.

    See http://www.qbrand.blogspot.com/ re: Country Road if you are series about a future in this area.

  • Wags
    Posted at August 29, 2009 9:26pm, 29 August Reply

    [BIG GRIN] at the last Anon comment… Blogs are conversations, not "high-level" corporate annual reports. While I normally wouldn't defend arrogant young Zac, I do take great pleasure in noting that Anon's comment contained twice as many spelling errors as the original post!

    And Zac, as others have said, simply unsubscribe from the emails, and signup instead to a couple of media release lists… cut out the middle-man!

  • Kate Kendall
    Posted at September 13, 2009 11:00pm, 13 September Reply

    Wow, surprised I've only just got to this now. Did you get any response?

    Must say, you're certainly opening a whole can of worms here Mr Martin. I'm glad I haven't received one of these posts directed @MarketingMag to date. You must play nice with Sean though or big mama will come after you. 😛

    Nice headline by the way…

  • Kate Kendall
    Posted at September 13, 2009 11:02pm, 13 September Reply

    Just missed the line about Kylie – look what speed reading will do to you. *Please insert this context into the comment above.*

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