Tag Archives: Australia

Industry News

Advertising to give local graphic design a boost in 2015

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Rachael Micallef is reporting in AdNews.com.au that the Australian advertising industry is increasing it’s demand for digital designers in 2014/2015 with a 4% revenue boost forecast for that period. This is very encouraging news going into the new year, for local digital designers as the advertising industry embraced multichannel campaigns versus traditional print, radio and television.

“Adland is investing deep into digital and it’s not just boosting its own bottom line. Multichannel graphic designers have seen a major boost in revenue as a result of carving out a niche in this speciality advertising area, according to a report from Ibisworld.

The report is forecasting growth from Australian advertising agencies will flow into specialised design services, resulting in a boost of 4% revenue growth over 2014/2015.

Much of this is based on the adoption of digital technology, which has led to bigger multichannel advertising and wider branding strategies, all of which require strong design.

Ideaworks executive creative director Tom Hoskins told AdNews the increased demand is ‘absolutely’ something it has seen in its business. The GPY&R agency specialises in shopper and retail executions and Hoskins said the business has a specialised team which works on graphic messaging.

‘Smart brands realise that they need to invest in graphic design or tangible experiences,’ Hoskin said.

‘Brands are investing in design much more than just a simple veneer of experience and the digital explosion has helped that become much deeper. So design has now almost permeated the whole way through from start to finish.’

Bloke creative partner Mike O’Rouke said his agency brings in graphic designers on a freelance basis when they are needed rather than outsourcing the skills, so he hasn’t seen this trend in his own business.

However he said design overall was starting to play a bigger role for marketers and brands.

‘Design is solving a lot of people’s marketing problems because it goes across so many different channels. So you have to nail that first,’ O’Rouke said….”

Reproduced in part from AdNews.com.au by Rachael Micallef
Read more at http://www.adnews.com.au/news/advertising-to-give-graphic-design-a-boost-next-year#OYgRHS4hZ2SPJTLW.99

Cool Vidz

Carling Beer

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It may be a cop out to like a beer ad. But I cant help myself. And I refuse to apologize. When beer ads are good they are very very good, but when they are bad, they are awful. Luckily this Carling Beer ad falls is in the ‘very very good’ category.

It starts off with a fantastical idea that voodoo is in fact real. The great thing is, we’re willing to accept it. Maybe it’s that there are so many Sci-Fi and fantasy films out nowadays, or maybe we all just want to escape the boring monotony of our ‘muggle’ lives (10 points to gryffindor for that excellent Harry Potter reference) Regardless of why, when the voodoo works, we believe that is the pretense of the ad. The voodoo is the humor. I’ve never use the word voodoo so much. Voodoo. Back on topic, the actual humor in this ad comes from realism. And I love that. It’s almost like the creatives say ‘gotcha’ at the end.
Now maybe it’s my love for this Ricky Gervais style humor or maybe it’s that yes, the boys and girls at Creature London ‘got me’, regardless, the moment they break the voodoo act I smile. Every time. And that’s a lot, this is one of those ads I just had to watch again.
While my favorite part is that ‘reveal’ I have to give credit to the set designers, stylists and the whole crew along the way. With great costumes and a set that reminds me of my house (just a whole lot better) around Halloween, the viewer doesn’t even bat an eye when the voodoo ‘works’. And i havent even mentioned the score yet, that’s a whole lot of genius in itself.
This ad totally brings out the giggly child side of me, the side of me that eats hot chips with my ice cream, watches comedy reruns till 3am and has me out buying sprinkles to make some good old fashioned fairy bread. Which has me questioning whether this ad effects the side of me that shows my ID and can figure out complex sums (ie. how many beers can I buy and still be able to afford to feed myself this week?)
Nowadays there are brilliant ads, but I do wonder sometimes on their effectiveness, for an ad selling alcohol just abiding by the rules while still getting your product name on screen is tough enough, so my thoughts, for this particular ad, is that the effectiveness comes with the brand recognition. They are using their two ‘brand ambassadors’, they boys who have appeared in previous Carling ads, so there is continuity, and the ‘feel’ of the ad is similar to past ones, plus the memorable ‘Its good, but its not quiet Carling’ tag, all ties in nicely. I’d like to think if I had the option for a Carling I’d give it a shot. Figuratively. I’m not in the habit of taking shots of beer.
However I won’t know for sometime as I have never seen a Carling beer in Australia, but I am one of those ‘I’ll have what s/he’s having’ when it comes to beer, so maybe its on tap every- where and I’m just oblivious. Do tell me if it is around, I enjoy being corrected on the internet. Either way, this ad deserves a slap on the back for its use of realism as the part of the ad that is ‘out of place’. Well done Carling. You got me.
And now for the credits; please hold your applause until the end.
Agency: Creature London
Creative directors: Ed Warren, Stu Outhwaite & Ben Middleton
Creatives: Lyd Raghavan & Steph Rohr.
Production company: Smuggler
Directors: The Sniper Twins
Audio post production: Factory
(Thanks australiancreative.com.au for collating this neat little breakdown of the worker bees, it would’ve taken me a whole 20 minutes to present it so nicely, and there are way to many cat videos I could be watching instead.)

Post by by Katrina Fowler