31 August 2008

Posted at 15:27h in andy lee, gen y marketing podcast, hamish and andy, hamish blake, jake lawton, marketing magazine, nat graf by

Last Friday night I headed down to the Gen Y Marketing Podcast recording studios after being invited on to record an episode. For anyone who doesn't regularly listen to these guys, it is well worth subscribing. Marketing Magazine has even likened them to the marketing version of Hamish and Andy and are definitely one of my favourite podcasts going around at the moment. Check out the episode here....

19 May 2008

Posted at 18:51h in andy lee, hamish blake, smith's by

I love Hamish and Andy. And so do many others according to their ratings and podcast ranking. In fact I can't remember them falling outside the Top 3 Most Downloaded over the past year. Over the last two weeks they've been in search of The People's Chip. It started as a simple phone topic about Light 'n' Tangy Chips (Which came first: The flavour or the name?) and one caller said she used to work as a chip flavour scientist. This raised the question, could Hamish and Andy develop their own flavoured chip? Smith's jumped right on board. And for two weeks they've had a solid endorsement from a reliable and popular source. Even better, the idea originated from the consumer and even the selected flavour was the idea of a consumer. And so we have the invention of the Gravy Chip. An excellent move by Smith's with a campaign that wouldn't have appeared in their marketing strategy a month ago....

05 May 2008

Posted at 00:44h in andy lee, chris lilley, hamish blake, logies, summer heights high by

...Not Chris Lilley. Some actress picked it up instead. In what was an incredibly long event, filled with shameless plugs by Nine Network, the biggest disappointment in Australian television history occurred when Chris Lilley was denied the Gold Logie for Summer Height's High. Even Hamish and Andy, comedic gold, seemed to swing and miss tonight. Perhaps they need to stick with their powerhouse radio show? The highlight was, lo and behold, Chris Lilley's Mr G performance. At least they recognised him (and good quality television) by awarding him the Most Popular Actor and Most Outstanding Comedy. Can't wait to see what he does next....

18 April 2008

Posted at 21:47h in andy lee, connex, grr, hamish blake, optus, shampaign, sprite, truth hunters by

The Grr campaign has been launched. I have no idea what its about but I like it although it does remind me of Sprite's Truth Hunter campaign. On one hand, the promotion is far better. They've been using Hamish and Andy by asking contestants to do things that make you go "Grr" for $1,000. One contestant had to get home wearing just his underwear. Another had to listen to the same song for two hours. I've also seen some clever print ads. On the other hand, I'm failing to see the brand tie in. There is a small Optus logo on the website but I'm really not seeing the connection. Perhaps its a shampaign with more to come soon...

24 February 2008

Posted at 12:00h in andy lee, blogspot, chaser's war on everything, facebook, hamish blake, naked, sprite, truth hunters, youtube by

Or is it? In what was set to be a very creative campaign Sprite's Thirst For Truth was launched a month ago. Appearing as a cross between the Chaser's War On Everything and Hamish and Andy, Truth Hunters AJ and Nicos aim these three minute videos at 16 to 24 year olds in an attempt to uncover "unspoken, brutal honest truths". The campaign has your usual vitals; a Facebook page, YouTube channel, blog and more but it seems the campaign hasn't quite received the attention they wanted. A contest asking for user submissions of people videoing their own Truths didn't receive a single entry. Promotions were run through billboards, bus sides and a cinema spot, yet $500 and a free trip to Sydney went unnoticed. Even after a month, I only heard about this campaign through someone at Naked Communications. It raises the question, does new media require old media? Can you successfully market a campaign digitally without a traditional launch? Perhaps in two years things will be different but at least here in Australia and now in the present a thirty second spot would have benefited this campaign greatly....