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.

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.

Ad folk are frequently told to ‘live the brand’.

That’s just what we did today for the University of Ballarat and UB Tec.

The taglines for these two brands are ‘Learn to succeed’ and ‘Your hands-on career starts here’. We reckon we brought those ideals to life by using students from the Arts Academy as voice over talent in the latest batch of radio and TV commercials.

Thanks Marty, Elise and Nicole! You did a great job – and it looks like you’re all off to successful careers.

Imagine our delight when we discovered our freelance web designer, Harry, is also a magician.

Prepare to be dazzled.

Apple did it.

So did Xbox.

And if you scratch around the recesses of your mind, you can probably recall Star Trek doing it too.

There’s no denying it. These days, it’s all about the next generation.

So it’s no surprise that ADMA’s got in on the act and released their latest model – complete with wireless capabilities and extended battery life.
It’s known as [Y]ADMA (Young ADMA): a group of young DMers from all over industry, here to turn you on to the coolest people, events and trends in direct marketing.

A couple of CUBED kids have signed on to be part of the committee. So we’ve been overhearing whispers of secret parties and creative rumbles around the office for the last few months.

Now, finally, they’ve announced their pre-launch party.

And it sounds like it’s gonna get ugly.

The group is kicking off with the [Y[ADMA Slam Down – a creative pitch that pits two DM creative teams against each other in a gloves-off, winner-takes-all challenge.

The stakes? A rad trophy and the chance to bask in one’s own glory.

The bloody scene is set to unfold at the Brood Box (off Little Bourke Street) on Thursday 19th August. We’ll all be heading down to drink the free booze and cheer on Team CUBED.

If you’d like to join us, you can get your tickets here.

And if you want to follow [Y]ADMA’s  shenanigans in the meantime, check out their Facebook page and Twitter feed.

Everyone wants to make it to the finals.

So we were thrilled to find out last week that we made it. The ECHOs that is (though we probably could have turned out a better team than the French had we gone to the World Cup).

To quote the ECHO awards themselves:

“The DMA International ECHO Awards Competition honors the world’s best direct marketing campaigns — campaigns that have raised the bar in terms of strategy, creativity and results. Campaigns recognized by ECHO not only do everything right in terms of marketing and creative execution, they demonstrate insight into audience behavior and earn the involvement of their target markets.”

Of course, we’re by no means guaranteed of picking up a trophy, but it’s an exciting time for CUBED for two reasons. Firstly, this is the first time we have entered work into the ECHOs, and secondly, BOTH pieces of work we entered are finalists.

Bottom line is, we’re damn proud of the work we do for our clients so naturally we’re chuffed to see it recognised on an international stage.

And while we know awards aren’t everything, in shows like the ECHOs the work only gets a gong if it got results.

Our fingers (and Ned’s paws) are crossed. Now it’s just a matter of waiting for October when the winners are announced.