A judge’s perspective on how to win an Effie
Colin Wilson-Brown, Effies chairman of judges and principal, The Clinic, asks aspiring winners to put themselves in a judge’s shoes to make the process less painful - and increase their chances of victory. Put yourself in the position of a judge. They have 12 entries...
Finance and media agencies – what you need to know part two
In these exclusive excerpts from our IPA online Commercial Certificate, we look at the role of finance within all components of a media agency, from pitching for new business to booking media. Client approval process Prior to committing any plans with media owners an...
What’s your passion?
Ahead of his highly anticipated AWARD talk taking place in Sydney next month, JWT Worldwide chief creative director Matt Eastwood reveals how his passion outside of work has helped fuel his success in the advertising industry. TCC: What is your passion? ME: My passion...
Finance and media agencies – what you need to know part one
In these exclusive excerpts from our IPA online Commercial Certificate, we look at the role of finance within all components of a media agency, from pitching for new business to booking media. Just like media, the world of finance comes with a language of its own that...
Defining problems, identifying audiences and unearthing truths
We talked to AJF Partnership head of strategy Jacqueline Witts on asking the crucial questions of ‘why’ and ‘who’, ahead of her session at IPA Campaign Planning Melbourne. TCC: Why is defining a problem key? Who is it essential for? How do you do it? JW: Defining...
Culture, creativity and competition – our picks from around the web
This week, these stories on company culture grabbed our attention, from the role creativity and competition play, to the increasing importance of wellbeing. Here they are for your reading enjoyment: “The Adam & Eve/DDB school of creativity” and “Dentsu Aegis uses...
Insight, knowledge, understanding and trends: the building blocks of campaign planning
J. Walter Thompson head of planning Simon McCrudden discusses how planners must combine their knowledge of campaign planning fundamentals with new information and channels to deliver fresh and unexpected strategies. TCC: What are the fundamental building blocks of a...
My Journey: Sandra De Witt, account manager, The Brand Agency
It’s time to celebrate the achievements of CommsCouncil course graduates. In this new series, we’ll be profiling recent completers to share their learnings, career goals and overall inspiration. Meet Sandra De Witt, account manager at The Brand Agency in Perth, who...
The power of purpose
Paul Gage, head of strategy Asia Pacific, GTB, illustrates the power of purpose and its impact on business - as well as outlining his own professional purpose. A clear purpose brings organisation and focus to a business. It’s not a tag-line. It’s not a ‘brand’...
Data breach update to Australian privacy law
By Stephen von Muenster, principal, DVM Law. In our increasingly online economy, data breaches are an unfortunate reality for all businesses, and a threat to consumer privacy and safety. A data breach is essentially any intentional or unintentional release of secure...
‘Plan with a publishing mentality’ – Emotive Content’s Simon Joyce
Ahead of his session at IPA Campaign Planning, we asked Emotive Content CEO Simon Joyce to explain the fundamentals of ‘always on’ content strategies and what brands can do to keep up. TCC: Can you describe/define ‘always on’ to someone who’s never heard of it, or a...
Nominations open for 2017 NSW Creative Achievement Awards
Photo: MCA Liz Ann McGregor + Simon Mordent ©Brendan Read 2011 The NSW Government is calling on the state’s brightest creative talent to nominate for the 2017 NSW Creative Achievement Awards. The awards, to be held on 14 June at the Museum of Contemporary Art during...
Social influencers, brands and agencies: what the AANA update to advertising laws means
By Stephen von Muenster, principal, DVM Law. It is evident from a casual gaze through social pages or industry commentary that brands are increasingly turning to social influencers to promote their products through online social channels, with the intent of...
Writing your Effies paper: it won’t be fun, but it’s worth it
By Fabio Buresti, executive planning director/partner, The Monkeys. Every time I see the call for entries every year, part of me just dies inside. You’ve got to prepare yourself mentally for the challenge ahead, because an Effie is not easy to win. Seeing how few...
What is an idea and why do our brains like them so much?
By Ben Keenan, award winning copywriter and creative. The best common example of what an idea is, and why our brains like them so much, can be found in jokes. A joke is an idea. This is the second funniest joke in the world according to the UK website Chortle: A...
The Australian Directors’ Guild awards first Gender Matters: Commercial & Content Directing Mentorships to eight recipients
Eight recipients of the first Australian Directors’ Guild’s (ADG) Commercial & Content Directing Mentorship program were announced at an event last night at FINCH attended by members of the screen and advertising industries. Acclaimed director Gillian Armstrong...
Constraining and unleashing creativity – our picks from around the web
We took to the web to digest the most interesting recent stories on creativity, whether it’s pressure thanks to either politics, time or bad behaviour, or defying convention as Warhol did. Here they are in case you missed them. ‘Has the democratisation of distribution...
Youngbloods QLD announces GPY&R’s Angus Whitton as chair
Youngbloods QLD is kicking off 2017 with the appointment of GPY&R’s Angus Whitton as this year’s chairman. Assisting him as co-chair is last year’s PR manager, Nina Clarke of Ray White Commercial. Says Whitton: “I’m very excited to begin working with the committee...
From implementer to leader – the art of account management
By Bryce Coombe, client partner, CHE Proximity. There’s a big difference between being an implementer of advertising strategies to someone who leads the marketing communications process. A whole step change is required in terms of not just skills and experience, but...
The magic of ‘bottle episodes’ and how they can inspire brands with zero
Nick Geoghegan, strategy consultant at eatbigfish, argues that brands and creatives can learn from budget 'bottle episodes' to turn constraint into creativity. Last week, I was listening to The West Wing Weekly, one of my favourite podcasts (ok, ok I'm a nerd). The...
News Corp Australia opens entries for the Cannes Young Lions competition
News Corp Australia, the official Australian representative of the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, has today announced that entries for the 2017 Cannes Young Lions competition are now open. Now in its ninth year, the competition searches for the...
The work behind the work part one: an insight into the industry’s top campaigns
From a new evolution of the human body to provoking thoughts around gender equality, there’s something the country’s most impressive recent campaigns have in common: they’ve genuinely connected with people and even changed behaviour in some instances. We’ll be...
IPA Eff Test quiz – How effective are your campaigns?
Do you know how to fully evaluate and hone effective campaigns? Can you rigorously evaluate the impact of that campaign, without falling into some classic traps of misinterpretation? Finally, are you up to speed with the tactics involved in writing up an effectiveness...
Risky business – is screen scraping legal?
By Stephen von Muenster, principal, DVM Law. It’s no secret that commercialising data is big business. But is the way you collect data legal in Australia? A common way for businesses to extract and use data is screen scraping. This process can provide...