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Assessment Task 6 – Final Journal Entry / Self Assessment

Posted on 6/12/2006 at 2:02 AM - 1 Comments - Post Comment - Link

Assessment Task 6 – Final Journal Entry / Self Assessment Role My role in the research group was to focus on the study of 3G mobile and overview of Cross-platform advertising. The research on 3G was to provide a key example of new technology influencing the advertising industry. I was tasked with finding as much research on 3G as possible and translating this into an effective summary to be used in the final hypertext output. Together with this, I was to provide a summary of cross-platform advertising. This was to highlight the ways in which large campaigns were using new technologies to effectively reach their audiences in new and creative ways. I felt that within my role I produced quality information and research, as well as polished essays on both these topics for use within the hypertext model. Delivery against Project Aims Explore if campaign strategies or approaches within the advertising industry have changed as a result of new technologies. We looked at a number of different campaigns through the research project and came to understand a number of ways new technologies have changed the advertising industry. I believe I delivered against this aim by providing a number of case studies, highlighting industry trends and backing conclusions with statistical evidence. The project would have been further enhanced by industry interviews and greater technological retrospective information. Highlight new media technologies and some of the ways in which they are currently used by advertisers. Through our case studies I was able to highlight a number of the ways advertisers currently use mobile technologies as well as other new media technologies to enhance cross-platform advertising campaigns. Greater focus was needed to effectively translate these case studies into the presentation material. Explore some of the benefits and limitations new technologies can offer to the advertising industry. Whilst I spent a considerable amount of time looking at benefits of new technology for the advertising industry, I struggled to cover in great detail the limitations. These limitations were only covered at a high-level, and this was impacted by the lack of research material available on ‘technological limitations’. Understand the drivers behind big-budget campaigns and advertising expenditure. I felt that in my research I failed to detail key drivers behind advertising expenditure, however I was able to give considerable insight into drivers of campaigns. I was limited by the commercial sensitivity of advertising expenditure information. Look at the factors forcing development of new media technologies and observe how they are better than traditional forms of media. With 3G I was able to give a solid background around the factors forcing the development, however at no stage through the research did I establish how these were ‘better’ than traditional forms. During my research I felt that ‘new technology being better old’ was not a reality for the advertising industry. Make recommendations as to how now new media technology can be effectively utilized. Whilst recommendations were made within our research for ways in which new media technology can be effectively utilized, I found it more effective to highlight specific cases as leaders of industry. These recommendations became more an example of ‘best practise’, however the research certainly fell short of acting as an effective body of reference for advertisers. Strategies Used Due to the contemporary nature of the topic being discussed I focussed on journals, articles and business forums as opposed to more traditional texts. I tried to use case examples that were recognisable to a wide audience and focus on the key achievements of these examples. Rather than focus on the many elements that came together for a campaign, I tried to highlight the approach and philosophies that made these campaigns successful. I wanted to convey clearly the principles and ideas driving campaigns and highlight the key considerations. As a result of this approach the research at times lacked detail and occasionally bordered on ‘stating the obvious’. The topic chosen did not have a great deal of established text material, and as a result I found a great deal of research to contain speculation and generalisations as opposed to proven concepts. I struggled here to make recommendations to industry, as many of the ideas were unproven and as a result I chose to focus on examples of best practice. Resolutions to difficulties As a group, I don’t believe we were able to effectively work through difficulties. I think our presentation suffered greatly through lack of organization and the inability to arrange all group members to meet regularly or for sufficient time in preparation for the tasks. Both my group members had a great deal of time spent ill, and I often struggled with being unable to contact them or having them not provide key deliverables. I certainly did not enjoy the group work aspect of the project, and I think there were a number of shortcomings in our work as a result of the group being unable to gel. Connections to other projects There were a number of other projects that had some link to ours, however I did not spend a great deal of time speaking to others about their research tasks. This was mainly as a result of time constraints, however the areas of overlap were often sketchy. I was confident in the individual research I had chosen and the case studies focussed on.

Individual Progress Update

Posted on 4/27/2006 at 5:39 AM - 0 Comments - Post Comment - Link

Role in Research Group

Currently, I am researching information on our research question, specifically articles and case studies around 3G mobile and cross platform marketing practices. I am looking at a number of different articles and case studies to bring back to the group, where focus areas will be decided.

This research will form the basis for interview and survey questions and allow the research to be further specified.

Progress

To view the current 3G offerings within the market I looked at Telco websites for the primary providers including Three, Optus and Telstra.

www.optus.com.au
www.three.com.au
www.telstra.com.au

All user sites showcase the features of 3G functionality and indeed there are many articles on the role that 3G services will play in the Australian Telco market. An interesting example of current ‘entertainment’ campaigns is Three’s Big Brother campaign offering a number of interactive services.

http://planet3.three.com.au/bigbrother/

Handsets are being heavily subsidised to convert users to the new platform with the aim to start increasing revenues from the value add services.

It is not just trash TV that is embracing 3G, the ABC provides a number of interactive news and entertainment features including streaming video, with more to come.

http://www.abc.net.au/abccontentsales/s1098494.htm

A good example of these interactive features can be seen for the ABC movie show.

http://www.abccontentsales.com.au/contentlicensing/samples/MOBILE_atthemovies_main.jpg

The slow start (with Optus and Telstra only recently joining the 3G market) is much talked about. With predictions that telcos will still have a tough time building up content revenue.
http://www.theage.com.au/news/technology/telstra-opts-for-soft-3g-mobile-start/2005/09/04/1125772410938.html

Sites such as 3G.co.uk offer a number of press release articles about worldwide 3G trends. These are as diverse as ‘deaf customer breakthroughs in Sweden’ to new technologies such as ‘3G office card enhancements’.

http://www.3g.co.uk/PR/Sept2004/8346.htm

Articles such as the below on the Indian market, show the forces pushing when mobile subscribers number 80million compared to just 7.5 million internet subscribers. This highlights the benefits of convergence in such a market and how large companies are focusing attention to suit.

http://inhome.rediff.com/money/2006/apr/25bspec.htm

Of all the 3G case studies viewed, the most interesting is a current Audi one (detailed at www.adverblog.com). In this campaign the Audi TT Quattro Sport model is being made available to 3G users areto view content related to the TT Quattro. “Viewers can take a tour of the entire car, using their keypads to zoom in on particular features.”
My main source of Marketing information has been via the ‘Marketing, Creating and delivering value’ textbook.
Subjects such as product differentiation hold a great deal of importance to 3G and cross platform advertising, as this is a great new way for product campaigns to differentiate themselves.
Global Marketing is another concept relevant to our project as most of our case studies centre around Big Brand campaigns. Global marketing is how companies focus on cultural similarities in implementing promotion strategies and it is important that the cross-platform approach can transcend any cultural differences.
‘Marketing, creating and delivering value’ also has some detail around impacts of technological advances, not only on promotional activity but also around price points and ‘highest bidder’ selling. This technological advance is also causing challenges around where R&D should be focussed.
Other articles have provided information on how much companies are spending and where, as well as how new media (e.g. internet) advertising allows closer monitoring of campaign success.

Problems Encountered
Working on a new media topic, there is not a great deal of established texts and most of the information needs to be sourced from internet / ad-hoc articles.
Another challenge is the sheer mass of information that is out there at the moment and being able to narrow this down to what is relevant to the subject topic.
Busy schedules as always are a challenge.

Problem Resolution
It will be really important at the next group session to target the research to overcome problems of ‘mass information’.
Once a foundation of research is formed for development of research questions / interview questions, industry will be able to provide some information to decrease the dependency on traditional texts. This will go some way to mitigating the problem of ‘new media’ topics.
My group members have been really supportive and committed to the project, which has made development much easier.

Individual Progress Update

Posted on 4/27/2006 at 5:39 AM - 0 Comments - Post Comment - Link

Role in Research Group

Currently, I am researching information on our research question, specifically articles and case studies around 3G mobile and cross platform marketing practices. I am looking at a number of different articles and case studies to bring back to the group, where focus areas will be decided.

This research will form the basis for interview and survey questions and allow the research to be further specified.

Progress

To view the current 3G offerings within the market I looked at Telco websites for the primary providers including Three, Optus and Telstra.

www.optus.com.au
www.three.com.au
www.telstra.com.au

All user sites showcase the features of 3G functionality and indeed there are many articles on the role that 3G services will play in the Australian Telco market. An interesting example of current ‘entertainment’ campaigns is Three’s Big Brother campaign offering a number of interactive services.

http://planet3.three.com.au/bigbrother/

Handsets are being heavily subsidised to convert users to the new platform with the aim to start increasing revenues from the value add services.

It is not just trash TV that is embracing 3G, the ABC provides a number of interactive news and entertainment features including streaming video, with more to come.

http://www.abc.net.au/abccontentsales/s1098494.htm

A good example of these interactive features can be seen for the ABC movie show.

http://www.abccontentsales.com.au/contentlicensing/samples/MOBILE_atthemovies_main.jpg

The slow start (with Optus and Telstra only recently joining the 3G market) is much talked about. With predictions that telcos will still have a tough time building up content revenue.
http://www.theage.com.au/news/technology/telstra-opts-for-soft-3g-mobile-start/2005/09/04/1125772410938.html

Sites such as 3G.co.uk offer a number of press release articles about worldwide 3G trends. These are as diverse as ‘deaf customer breakthroughs in Sweden’ to new technologies such as ‘3G office card enhancements’.

http://www.3g.co.uk/PR/Sept2004/8346.htm

Articles such as the below on the Indian market, show the forces pushing when mobile subscribers number 80million compared to just 7.5 million internet subscribers. This highlights the benefits of convergence in such a market and how large companies are focusing attention to suit.

http://inhome.rediff.com/money/2006/apr/25bspec.htm

Of all the 3G case studies viewed, the most interesting is a current Audi one (detailed at www.adverblog.com). In this campaign the Audi TT Quattro Sport model is being made available to 3G users areto view content related to the TT Quattro. “Viewers can take a tour of the entire car, using their keypads to zoom in on particular features.”
My main source of Marketing information has been via the ‘Marketing, Creating and delivering value’ textbook.
Subjects such as product differentiation hold a great deal of importance to 3G and cross platform advertising, as this is a great new way for product campaigns to differentiate themselves.
Global Marketing is another concept relevant to our project as most of our case studies centre around Big Brand campaigns. Global marketing is how companies focus on cultural similarities in implementing promotion strategies and it is important that the cross-platform approach can transcend any cultural differences.
‘Marketing, creating and delivering value’ also has some detail around impacts of technological advances, not only on promotional activity but also around price points and ‘highest bidder’ selling. This technological advance is also causing challenges around where R&D should be focussed.
Other articles have provided information on how much companies are spending and where, as well as how new media (e.g. internet) advertising allows closer monitoring of campaign success.

Problems Encountered
Working on a new media topic, there is not a great deal of established texts and most of the information needs to be sourced from internet / ad-hoc articles.
Another challenge is the sheer mass of information that is out there at the moment and being able to narrow this down to what is relevant to the subject topic.
Busy schedules as always are a challenge.

Problem Resolution
It will be really important at the next group session to target the research to overcome problems of ‘mass information’.
Once a foundation of research is formed for development of research questions / interview questions, industry will be able to provide some information to decrease the dependency on traditional texts. This will go some way to mitigating the problem of ‘new media’ topics.
My group members have been really supportive and committed to the project, which has made development much easier.

Individual Progress Update

Posted on 4/27/2006 at 5:39 AM - 1 Comments - Post Comment - Link

Role in Research Group

Currently, I am researching information on our research question, specifically articles and case studies around 3G mobile and cross platform marketing practices. I am looking at a number of different articles and case studies to bring back to the group, where focus areas will be decided.

This research will form the basis for interview and survey questions and allow the research to be further specified.

Progress

To view the current 3G offerings within the market I looked at Telco websites for the primary providers including Three, Optus and Telstra.

www.optus.com.au
www.three.com.au
www.telstra.com.au

All user sites showcase the features of 3G functionality and indeed there are many articles on the role that 3G services will play in the Australian Telco market. An interesting example of current ‘entertainment’ campaigns is Three’s Big Brother campaign offering a number of interactive services.

http://planet3.three.com.au/bigbrother/

Handsets are being heavily subsidised to convert users to the new platform with the aim to start increasing revenues from the value add services.

It is not just trash TV that is embracing 3G, the ABC provides a number of interactive news and entertainment features including streaming video, with more to come.

http://www.abc.net.au/abccontentsales/s1098494.htm

A good example of these interactive features can be seen for the ABC movie show.

http://www.abccontentsales.com.au/contentlicensing/samples/MOBILE_atthemovies_main.jpg

The slow start (with Optus and Telstra only recently joining the 3G market) is much talked about. With predictions that telcos will still have a tough time building up content revenue.
http://www.theage.com.au/news/technology/telstra-opts-for-soft-3g-mobile-start/2005/09/04/1125772410938.html

Sites such as 3G.co.uk offer a number of press release articles about worldwide 3G trends. These are as diverse as ‘deaf customer breakthroughs in Sweden’ to new technologies such as ‘3G office card enhancements’.

http://www.3g.co.uk/PR/Sept2004/8346.htm

Articles such as the below on the Indian market, show the forces pushing when mobile subscribers number 80million compared to just 7.5 million internet subscribers. This highlights the benefits of convergence in such a market and how large companies are focusing attention to suit.

http://inhome.rediff.com/money/2006/apr/25bspec.htm

Of all the 3G case studies viewed, the most interesting is a current Audi one (detailed at www.adverblog.com). In this campaign the Audi TT Quattro Sport model is being made available to 3G users areto view content related to the TT Quattro. “Viewers can take a tour of the entire car, using their keypads to zoom in on particular features.”
My main source of Marketing information has been via the ‘Marketing, Creating and delivering value’ textbook.
Subjects such as product differentiation hold a great deal of importance to 3G and cross platform advertising, as this is a great new way for product campaigns to differentiate themselves.
Global Marketing is another concept relevant to our project as most of our case studies centre around Big Brand campaigns. Global marketing is how companies focus on cultural similarities in implementing promotion strategies and it is important that the cross-platform approach can transcend any cultural differences.
‘Marketing, creating and delivering value’ also has some detail around impacts of technological advances, not only on promotional activity but also around price points and ‘highest bidder’ selling. This technological advance is also causing challenges around where R&D should be focussed.
Other articles have provided information on how much companies are spending and where, as well as how new media (e.g. internet) advertising allows closer monitoring of campaign success.

Problems Encountered
Working on a new media topic, there is not a great deal of established texts and most of the information needs to be sourced from internet / ad-hoc articles.
Another challenge is the sheer mass of information that is out there at the moment and being able to narrow this down to what is relevant to the subject topic.
Busy schedules as always are a challenge.

Problem Resolution
It will be really important at the next group session to target the research to overcome problems of ‘mass information’.
Once a foundation of research is formed for development of research questions / interview questions, industry will be able to provide some information to decrease the dependency on traditional texts. This will go some way to mitigating the problem of ‘new media’ topics.
My group members have been really supportive and committed to the project, which has made development much easier.

Project Brief

Posted on 3/16/2006 at 9:18 PM - 0 Comments - Post Comment - Link

Questions How does the popularity of Blog advertising impact traditional forms of media advertising such newspaper, television and radio? How are new media technologies changing the creative and financial direction of cross-platform advertising campaigns in Australia? How is competition within the Australian telecommunication industry driving new technology content to mobile users? How is competition within the Australian telecommunication industry changing the content we receive on our mobile phone. Part 1 Project Brief Background - Aims - Scope - Research Questions - Research Design - Outcomes - Time Line - Part 2 Collabarative contract / group governance Group Goals - Responsibilities - Dispute resolution procedure -

Week 2 - Questions Development

Posted on 3/16/2006 at 2:52 AM - 0 Comments - Post Comment - Link

Identify Common Threads Legal implications of Blogging - Australian free speech in new media - How big are blogging audiences / weekly monthly readership - What market segment reads the blogs - Who sponsers bloggers - How much revenue is generated by the individual bloggers Cross Platform advertising and new media - How technology is reducing advertising costs and increasing viewers. E.g Carlton Beer. - Free distribution (e.g. email) is encouraging companies to invest more in creative advertising. For example, funny or clever ads will be shared between audiences - Advertising on Blogs - Impact this has on traditional advertising strategy / revenue. - What are the implications of selling traditional television programs via new media on traditional advertising? How new mobile content technologies impact on traditional media. - What are new mobile technologies - Mobile blog technologies - How television stations plan to work with these changes Identify and Name the Differences Legal implications of Blogging - Defamation and laws / rights of independent bloggers - Are bloggers subject to the same laws as journalists Cross Platform advertising and new media - None How new mobile content technologies impact on traditional media. - What is the impact on cross-media ownership laws in Australia - Telecommunications drivers for delivering new services - Mobile content impact on the Music industry 3 Questions How does the popularity of Blog advertising impact traditional forms of media advertising such newspaper, television and radio? How are new media advertising technologies changing the creative and financial direction of cross-platform advertising campaigns in Australia? How is competition within the Australian telecommunication industry driving new technology content to mobile users? How is competition within the Australian telecommunication industry changing the content we receive on our mobile phones?

Google, Google

Posted on 3/9/2006 at 4:46 AM - 0 Comments - Post Comment - Link

Coy, Peter 2006 THE SECRET TO GOOGLE'S SUCCESS; Its innovative auction system has ad revenues soaring. Business Week 0007-7135 March 6, 2006 i3974, p42 Expanded Academic ASAP (Gale) This article is mostly centred around Google's auction methodology for drawing out money from its advertisers. It emphasises the key point that this multi-billion dollar phenomenon wouldn't make a cent if not for its dedicated ad-space alongside search results.

Research Likes / Dislikes

Posted on 3/9/2006 at 4:35 AM - 0 Comments - Post Comment - Link

Research Likes. - Learning new things - Discovering academic debates - Finding rare information - Backing personal opinions with research - Working in groups Research Dislikes - Time better spent watching TV - Lack of information when writing about uncommon topics - Academic year takes place during Footy season - Working in groups - Complex referencing

Creativity

Posted on 3/9/2006 at 4:20 AM - 0 Comments - Post Comment - Link

The Force Behind the Shift. Sure, creativity is the decisive point of competitive advantage. In a world where mass economies of scale homogenise product offerings, it becomes more and more important for a business to differentiate itself through creative key points. This is also a part of common recognition of the importance of change, "if you stand still as a business you are dead". Without new and creative ideas, it is not possible to drive change. Florida talks about how what we consume help to form our identity. This rings many bells with me, the films we watch, the sports we play, the food we do / don't consume. Our likes and dislikes are often debated on merit and assist us in seperating ourselves from those around us. I myself am more of a Beatles man than an Elvis man and this gives me a sense of who I really am deep down inside. I am slightly sceptical of Florida's 'Creative Class'. His definition is fluid and a little vauge, keeping his argument at a conceptual distance. Not that there is anything wrong with this, it just causes me to loose interest as I search for something a little more substantiated and relevant to rest my thoughts on.

"I Google Stuff Good"

Posted on 3/9/2006 at 3:58 AM - 0 Comments - Post Comment - Link

Is Google making us stupid? Point 1. "The more citations, runs the academic rule of thumb, the more important the work." Haigh, illustrates how the internet search engine technology is turning this rule on its head. I remember when I was first introduced to Google in my first year of university it was by an RMIT lecturer, who pointed to the algorithm upon which Google based it search as a sign of credibility (no doubt because of the algorithm’s resemblance to the academic citation rule of thumb). Point 2. “People understand the difference between reading about a disease in New Idea and in the New England Journal of Medicine” The problem of credibility within the World Wide Web is an interesting one. I remember recently when looking for a new car online, one ‘seller’ tried to lure me into a con by requesting I leave an amount of money with an escrow service. I am reasonable savvy to internet lures ‘too good to be true’ and quickly turned down the offer and reported the ‘seller’ to the classified host. It did raise my interest in these escrow cons and in my research I came across one website detailing a number of GUIs (Graphic User Interfaces) or layouts of fake escrow websites used in these type of cons. I was amazed by the professional design and it re-enforced the message that on the net, you can’t judge the quality of the site by its cover. Point 3. “We have become obsessed with seeing everything in the universe as information to be linked and ranked”. Google plays a very important role in my work life. Not an hour goes by when the latest pop-culture reference or water-cooler scandal isn’t placed through the Google filter in hope of a little bit more detail. Powerpoint is my tool of choice in presenting information in those above me on the corporate ladder… 3 dot points to a page, no more than 6 pages including a title page and summary. Keep it at a high level, and make sure it relates to the ‘bigger picture’. This little snippet from the article really captures what is key cultural shift away from detail.

Melbourne Central 'Hunt and Gather'

Posted on 3/9/2006 at 3:51 AM - 0 Comments - Post Comment - Link

The thing I found most interesting about wandering around Melbourne Central with a digital camera with a small group of strangers was our different interpretations / understanding of media. Whilst I was willing to acknowledge anything with a 'flashing message' or any vehicle for a piece of advertising to be attached as 'media', others had more conventional ideas. One thing that is clear, there is a hell of a lot of advertising going around, and I wonder how much of the 'hyper-messaging' I really process... especially when I spend most of my time preoccupied with the thought of my next meal... I could really go a whopper for some reason.