It’s only fitting that CUBED Creative Director and resident outspoken opinion-giver, Dave, will be jetting off to Sydney this Thursday to give his two cents worth as a creative judge at the 2010 ADMA Awards.

CUBED and ADMA have enjoyed a close partnership for years now. Mike Chuter was Chairman of ADMA in Victoria,  Kim McDonnell tutored the ADMA Direct & Digital Marketing course for 4 years, plus we’ve competed in (and won) a couple of ADMA pitch challenges, not to mention creating the artwork for ADMA events.

So Dave’s taking his role as a judge very seriously. He’s already packed his best red pens and is setting his standards high.

And, after warming up by judging the ADMAs, he’ll be jumping on a plane heading for Europe and the USA. We can only assume that in London he’ll be judging the weather, in Boston the tea and in Miami the vice. (He won’t tell us why he’s going to Amsterdam).

Anyway, Bon voyage Dave. Be sure to send us a postcard.

So, in the last 12 months we’ve seen the GFC pass by, the FIFA world cup come and go for another 4 years, we’re entering into the finals season and the Ashes battle is almost upon us.  Oh and let’s not forget the change in government leadership and the fact that the final of Masterchef gazumped the political debate on television!

Lots of change, lots of action but, in the communications world, the fundamentals remain the same.

A marketer’s goal is still to understand brands and consumers, and work out the most efficient and effective ways to build and sustain a relationship between the two.

More questions are being asked about the success of marketing communications at a campaign level as well as at the boardroom level.  In addition to this, the ongoing proliferation of media channels, the advent of new and innovative digital channels and content distribution providers, have all increased the potential for wastage as well as the greater potential for targeting.

Our mantra “Don’t count the consumers you reach, reach the consumers who count” is more relevant than ever.

The question on most marketer’s lips is “how do I make social media work for my brand as well as my customers”.  Some brands have managed to engage consumers  well, for example the recent Old Spice Twitter campaign, others have failed and been caught out – after all, as David Ogilvy said “the consumer is not a moron”.

As consumers receive more messages through more channels than ever before, they will continue to be more selective, so relevancy is still so important.  Relevancy is driven by a better understanding, fuelled by greater data insights – I don’t just mean more interrogation of the customer database, although this will certainly help deliver the insights, but by collating as much research, consumer behaviour and information available from a multitude of sources.

Not every business has the luxury of a customer or prospect database, but I would recommend that every business should aim to develop one regardless of industry sector.

Another way to increase relevance will be to focus more on testing different strategies and executions and measuring the outcome.

Australia has been criticised for not focussing more effort on testing but we are seeing more clients allocating more funds to learning more with the ultimate ambition to increase effectiveness.

And I can’t comment on the next 12 months in direct marketing without making a huge point about the creative idea.

Driven by insights, demonstrating relevancy, the creative idea has to be delivering to the single most important need that the consumer faces in the context of the communication.  It has to ensure cut through, it has to be surprising and it has to get the consumer to open the envelope, read the email, click through, and ultimately respond to build that dialogue that only direct marketing is capable of building.

Cheers,

Mike

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Last night, at the No Vacancy Gallery it was a gloves off, bare knuckle fight between CUBED and Mark.

This wasn’t just inter agency rivalry gone mad, it was the inaugrual [y]ADMA Slam Down.

We’re thrilled to report that we finished victorious, with the ‘rad trophy’ – a [y]ADMA-branded boxing glove – heading straight for the agency pool room.

The Slam Down was a Gruen-Transfer style pitch where two under 30 teams had to use direct response smarts to make Bud Naked cask wine cool. Team CUBED’s “Bring something new to the party” campaign involved a grape-stomping event that would put Bud Naked wine in the hands of influencers – the folk who latch on to new trends and disperse them through their social circles.

But it was more than just an event, it was a solid brand launch strategy that was insight-driven, well delivered and met with thunderous applause.

So three cheers to Steph, Stef and Dan.

You did us proud.

Open Day is the biggest day of the year on the university calendar.

This year, the University of Ballarat chose Sunday 29 August for their Open Day – a week after the government chose to hold a federal election.

Just like Julia and Tony, we’ve been on the campaign trail for a month now, with a brand new TVC (that takes a different approach to the live action TVCs we shot last year), a couple of radio commercials, outdoor billboards, bus backs, online and press advertisements.

We’re surrounding prospective students with the message that the University of Ballarat Open Day opens doors, encouraging them to visit the three Ballarat campuses and discover how the university could help them learn to succeed in their chosen career.

Kate, our Associate Creative Director, is so keen to experience Open Day for herself, she’s booked a weekend in Ballarat. So if you’re weighing up university options right now perhaps you should join her and have a look around.

Last night, the 2010 AWARD School Graduation was held at the SmartArtz Gallery in South Melbourne, and CUBED were there in force.

For those who aren’t familiar with AWARD School, it’s a training program for aspiring copywriters and art directors that’s run by our friends at the Communications Council and taught by industry professionals. So it gives students the chance to learn from the pros and develop a decent folio of work.

The room was packed and we met up with plenty of familiar faces including our regular intern and AWARD School graduate, Lanah Phan, pictured below with Steph and Dave.

By all reports it was a successful night and there was plenty of discussion and debate about the work on the walls that has carried over into today.

So congratulations to all involved!

We’ll see you again at next year’s Graduation Night.

There’s a primary school rule that haunts every copywriter I’ve ever met.

It makes us tear out our hair in debriefs, bang our heads against the table in meetings and, worst of all, bore our art directors to tears with passionate rants about language.

The rule is this: “Never start a sentence with and.”

Here’s a fun thing to do.

Read that rule, out loud, to a copywriter near you. Watch as their eyes roll towards heaven, their face reddens and they start furiously defending and. It really is the single most frustrating thing you can say to a writer.

See, copywriters write to sell.

We’re not putting together a formal business proposal, writing a thesis or doing a Grade 2 test where it would be inappropriate to start (or end) with and.

We’re writing to convince someone to take action – whether it’s to buy a can of soup, vote Green or take out a home loan. In this environment, starting with and is one of the most powerful ways to add drama to our writing. And emphasis.

And pacing.

There’s no word like it for really adding some punch to your writing or making the important bits really stand out.

Actually, until this morning I thought it was the rule itself that was incorrect (or just old fashioned), but it turns out I’d simply forgotten the definition of a sentence. If Grade 2 is as far back for you as it is for me, here’s a refresher:

A sentence is a group of words that includes a subject and a verb and expresses a complete idea.

So truth is, we’re technically not breaking any school rules by starting with and. Because the ’sentences’ that start with and, but or because are not strictly sentences. They rely on you having read something before them. They don’t express a complete thought. So they’re just phrases.

And there’s no rule (Grade 2 or otherwise) that says you can’t start a phrase with and.

xk

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When the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) spoke to CUBED about doing a brand audit we were all ears.

No one more so than our designer, Ellie. She quickly recognised the need to retain the current logo and brand equity while standardising the appearance of the name and refreshing the colour palette. Easier said than done of course, as the trick here was to retain the integrity of the brand while simply refreshing the look and feel.

In other words, don’t go overboard.

So we carefully toed the line between ‘refresh’ and ‘retain’, ultimately developing a consistent logo lock-up, a refined two-colour palette, and an ownable, flexible blend of images and graphic elements.

The retro cool of the logo has been brought to life with the use of ‘UN blue’ while the deep navy is retained to add a certain weight and trustworthiness.

We were happy with the results. As was ACCI.

In fact, Ben Carter, ACCI’s Marketing Manager, (snapped below with our Chantelle) was so proud of the work he devoted a page of the Winter 2010 edition of “Commerce & Industry” magazine to the project.

Thanks Ben!

To quote Mary Poppins, a spoonful of sugar makes the the medicine go down.

In this case, the spoonful of sugar was a tank-full of petrol. And the medicine was a meeting with a financial planner.

We were working with AMP’s Financial Planners last year on the launch of their new superannuation product and they decided an incentive was needed to encourage clients to visit them – a $50 fuel voucher.

We just had to come up with a cost effective and engaging way of delivering the message.

We created an oversized postcard with a lift-up ‘fuel cap’. By die-cutting and hinging the ‘cap’ we created something that was tactile and playful whilst also adding some drama to the offer and giving the piece impact.

A big impact helps to generate big results.

And big results mean happy clients, happy customers and a very happy agency.

On the official scale of exciting things, paying bills is usually a notch above watching paint dry.

Thankfully, TRUenergy bill payments just became far more interesting. Because paying your bill on time now comes with a chance to win a Samsung 3D (yes, 3D) TV.

To let customers know about this great deal, we developed a piece to be sent out with their bill that literally puts the offer right in the customers hands.

A life-size Samsung TV remote control with the competition details inside.

It’s simple, tangible, straight-to-the-point and it quickly dramatises the idea of winning a shiny new 3D TV.

So if you’re a TRU customer, look out for your next bill, pay it before the due date, cross your fingers and leave your fake remote on the coffee table to impress your friends.

And if you’re not a TRUenergy customer, click here and join in the fun.

Whenever we have a client meeting with ANZ, our staff are lining up to come along.

If you’ve ever walked into the ANZ Centre, you’ll know exactly why.

The building is magnificent.

Just last week it won (another) award for interior architecture.

But it’s much more than just a pretty face.

It’s also one of the world’s most environmentally progressive workplaces with a six (count ‘em, six) star green rating. Most of the energy is generated on-site and their underfloor air conditioning system uses water from the Yarra to reduce demand on the cooling towers.

Cool, huh?

If you’d like to check it out for yourself, you don’t need to set up a client meeting as an open-office is scheduled for Saturday, 24 July and Sunday, 25 July with tours of this jaw-dropping building every half an hour between 10am and 4pm.

Maybe we’ll see you there.