The Works Blog

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  Prediction week #5 - The Transmedia Groove Train

  December 22, 2011 By Jon Holloway

  There is always a buzz word rocking around the agency world that all the cool kids use, right now it’s Transmedia.

  Marketers have again taken a word that has been used for a very long and made it their own, a simple definition would be the telling of a story across multiple medias like Year Zero. An excellent game based on the album of the same name by NIN.

  So the basic premise is doing things across multiple platforms and taking your audience on a deeper more engaging, more fulfilling story based journey. The switched on brands have been doing this for a long time, Red Bull are masters at this story based cross media communication.

  In 2012, there will be a Groove Train of brands and agencies jumping on the transmedia bandwagon. We may actually see the end of large scale ‘single-channel’ campaigns. Mass media, like TV will become only the trigger for campaigns that are sewn far and wide across digital and real life experiences.

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  Prediction week #4 - Content, content value and monetisation

  December 21, 2011 By Jon Holloway

  The big buzz word in 2011 has been content, for a while ‘content is king’ has been on the lips of every marketer across the world.

  2011 has seen this cranked up another notch, brands competing with entertainment, bands and in the social world every brand is challenged for air time by the likes of Red Bulls content machine.

  Moving in to 2012, content is going to be even more on the agenda, the merging of the real world and digital world is going to make every brand consider a deeper journey through entertaining content. The key for 2012 will be the value chain, how this content effects the buying process and how content can be monetised to drive in to retail and e/m/f-commerce.

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  Prediction week #3 - Get your brand story right or face a price war

  December 20, 2011 By Jon Holloway

  Brand is a big word and one that is thrown around a lot in the marketing world. It means so much to so many and in 2012 those companies who don’t have their “Why” (or brand story) sorted out, will need to do so, and quick… ‘cause if they don’t they’ll be forced into price wars.

  But in many categories it’s not going to matter anyway, because “brand” as a concept will continue to come unstuck in 2012 – it was over-mystified during bubble times (when everything sold/went up, and much of that was misattributed to the power of “the brand”) but in recessionary times it’s clear that in only a handful of categories can “brand” command a sustainable price difference.

  This will mean a renewed focus on innovation especially customer service and customer experience innovation.

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  Prediction week #2 - Promo app lust moves to m-sites

  December 19, 2011 By Jon Holloway

  Is the day of the promo app numbered? With thousands of them being ignored on an ongoing basis and smartphone usage in Australia growing rapidly. Brands need to get serious about mobile and what it means to them.

  Our prediction for 2012 is that the lust for promo apps will move towards mobile sites as users interact more with search and browsers on their ever smarter smart phones. Mobile apps will become defined around their utility and purpose as we all strive to cut down the noise and save time.

  How is your mobile strategy for 2012?

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  Prediction week #1 - digital spend 2012

  December 16, 2011 By Jon Holloway

  Next week is prediction week on The Works blog, short, sharp and to the point predictions ending on friday 23rd with our views on what will drive marketing in 2012.

  So today, to kick it off, a budget prediction around digital, media, content and platforms:

  2011 is 10% content and platforms, 90% media.

  2012 will be 40% content and platforms, 10% community management, 50% media.

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  You can no longer ignore digital (obvious but not mainstream!)

  December 16, 2011 By Jon Holloway

  Over the past few weeks as we move towards 2012, the predictions have started flowing around digital in a new year and what it means for marketing and marketeers in Australia.

  Some are good, some are wrong, but one thing that seems to be a key guidance point is that digital is no longer an option, it is an absolute must have for the ever evolving research generation.

  I am not going to rant on about the usage of digital platforms, the growth and ROI of social channels, this has been done. I am just going to take this back to the plain and simple.

  What is the first thing you do when you see something great? You Google it! You look for the next level, in fact there is a rapidly growing trend towards Facebooking it.

  So what does this mean? Spending hundreds of thousands of dollars above the line is mostly doing one thing, lighting the ignition paper for a campaign or idea. But ignition is not enough, in the modern world consumers have access to so many more channels, second and third screens, they want and crave more and we would be stupid not to create a longer journey, isn’t it just common sense?

  As brands and agencies we need to take this ignition and then excite the audience with more engaging elements across the real world and digital ecosystems. Providing links in to areas where people can experience and share the idea, the brand or the campaign.

  This isn’t a prediction as it is already happening and the really effective brands and campaigns have already smashed through this barrier and are reaping the rewards of a longer audience journey.

  So to end on a prediction. 2012 » Ignite, excite and unite.

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  Welcome Paddy, our new general manager

  December 14, 2011 By Gemma Hogan

  Signalling a strong commitment to further embedding managerial and operations excellence, Paddy Morahan has been appointed to the position of General Manager. With over 18 years experience in the business, Paddy will play a pivotal role in furthering The Works unique position of Creatives on the Forefront.

  When I asked Damian Pincus, Creative Partner and Founder at The Works about Paddy, he said: “I could not think of a better guy to steer the agency. He’s a natural manager and really gets the business. Coming from Host, until recently another independent agency, he understands the value of unique business models. With Paddy on board we know we will move from strength to strength and push The Works creatives on the forefront model even further.”

  Paddy Morahan was lured to The Works from Host, where he worked as Director of Operations. Previous to Host, Paddy worked at Leo Burnett and M&C Saatchi in Sydney, Mad Dogs & Englishmen in New York and Bartle Bogle Hegarty in London.

  Speaking of his new agency Morahan says: “The Works is a vibrant and creatively driven independent agency. With such a unique business model and a strong, diverse talent pool, I can only see the agency prospering well into the future.

  The partners’ entrepreneurial spirit will ensure that we have the agility to deliver fantastic work in new, highly-efficient ways.” he added.

  True to The Works way, we’ve asked Paddy about his ambition. He will get back to us when he’s able to filter them all down to one, two or four!

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