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After speaking only a month ago about the 2009 Australian Social Media Revolution being an article in the Australian Financial Review. It was great to see that the company (The Population) that I moved to Sydney to help form and work for, got a great feature in today’s AFR.

The Population will be Australia’s first fourth pure play Social Media Marketing Agency. I feel like everything is in place for this to be something really big, the opportunity to work with the very talented and experienced Tony Thomas and the fact Photon Group has seen the enormous potential and backed it.

This is a once in a lifetime opportunity which I believe will make up for everything that I had to give up in Melbourne including an amazing girlfriend, my close group of friends, my Masters degree and a close relationship with my family.

I took part in Melbourne’s first Marketing Podcast Smackdown. It was an awesome collaboration between Marketing Today and The Gen Y Podcast. The recording revolved around a debate on whether Viral Marketing was a waste of money, with the heads that we had conversing in that room it was always going to be a great debate.

Listen here
Also check out Nat’s (Gen Y Podcaster) new blog Love me you’re famous


Another great collaboration that I am loving at the moment is Hilltop Hoods (my favourite Australian Hip Hop act) who have just come together with the smart Australian outfit Lowrider to remix the HH classic Roll On Up.

TAC proves that advertising can shift cultural norms.


After listening to a podcast of Peter and Colin, I thought about the amazing role TAC has played in driving cultural change within Australian society. Drink Driving was something that was embedded in Australian culture and it was not until the great ‘If you drink then drive you’re a bloody idiot’ campaigns that Victorians started to change their behaviour.

Their latest ads on wearing motorcycling protective gear are great too. As a person outside the target market (I dont own a Harley yet!) I have still been affected by these ads, I am now more aware of what motorcyclist are wearing.

For more on marketing and cultural change listen to this podcast from Peter and Colin

Following on from The Big Ad and Flashbeer comes the next Big Fosters Idea, ‘VB Stubby Symphony’

Just like the past campaigns they have housed it on a main site, thank god someone ripped it on Youtube. I think they really let themselves down by not letting people view on Youtube and embed the video on blogs.

However there are some nice consumer involvement treats in this site. They have used SuperVirals as the host site for their ‘Create Music using VB Stubbies Competition’. However again (see past post) I think that Supervirals is such a narrow channel, this should really of been done through Youtube.

I think overall this is a great idea, and as was pointed out to me, it is capitalising on the most iconic part of the VB brand, the song.

George Patterson Y&R are behind this idea with Jim Ingram and Ben Couzen cracking this big idea. Well done boys!

Mike Smith from the soon to be World Renowned Smith Communications takes us on a tour of Naked Communications, Melbourne Office.



As Faris would say; Talent Imitates Genius Steals

From humble beginning being printed and handed out at Melbourne Music Stores, this e-Mag has gone onto have over 200,000 downloads of the latest edition. Hands down the best read of the year. Check it out here.

Mscape is taking computer games outdoors. People are now playing computer games on mobile devices, with the outdoor environment acting as the playing field. Mscape is an extension of the popular Alternative Reality Games. There is so much opportunity here for brands and companies; they could set up offline treasure hunts or whole games for people to play in.


Here is a making of a Mscape game - Timehole

Melbourne Healthy Burger franchise ‘Grilld’ is the first to have a stab at the riding the coat tails of the upcoming Australian election. With the national election looming it seems that there will be a number of brands jumping on the political band wagon.

Grilld have set up the Vote Grilld, the reason behind it is to help decide the three new burgers for the range and to get a larger Customer database. There are three parties the Green party, Republican United Meats Party and Right Wings Party.

The video is a little weak, don’t know what they are trying to do with the voice. The instore promotion is very strong with ballot boxes, political posters and the staff wearing Vote 1 badges. I will try to get some photos up soon.

Connex new campaign is out and I am a big fan. Leo Burnett have created the fictional character of Dr.Martin Merton, who has a PHD in Train Etiquette. He is in Melbourne, Australia to help commuters with train etiquette.

This reminds me of the campaign that Naked Communication did with setting up the fake company for Hypnomarketing. Creating a rich story around a communications idea. The campaign is a great example of Intergrated Marketing Communication.

With intergration being launched around the hub of the website www.martinmerton.com. But then there is free book signings at diffrerent stations. I have seen outdoor media for the campaign and also banners on Myspace. The content (consisting on tutorial videos) of the site was suprisngly funny and risque in terms of advertising for public transport.

Leo Burnett have carried on from their Cannes Shortlisted work for Connex 'TXT whatever the delay'

Photos sourced from Duncan's Print