So you don't want to be caught reading the goss, but you also can't afford to miss it?
Fear not, as the days of hiding in the darkest corner of the newsagent, or sloping off to that quiet spot in your open-plan, beanbag-filled agency quarters to get this crucial information, could now be over.
That's because, like most things, the dirt has now gone digital - welcome to 'off the record' online - montly. (Don't forget you can catch it much earlier, forthnightly, in the mag).
Formally the back page of AdNews – we're not getting rid of it, oh no, – it's just going into the world wide web too.
Every month we'll put the best goss from the back page online. Need to be in the know first? Subscribe in print here. Otherwise we'll see you here once a month.
Making the right impression
Google likes to make an impression. But it also likes to sell them. A recently-published Google doc has been flagged to OTR by a number of different execs all raising suspicions that something is coming. The “Are Your Video Ads Making an Impression?” report offers “video ad viewability insights for digital marketers and publishers,” but it’s giving agencies the willies that Google is using it as a tactic to prime brands and agencies as it moves to a new charging mechanism, beyond
TrueView. As ever, no one will go on record about the latest move by our digital overlord.
Lost in translation
We all like to throw in a simile here, a metaphor there. Particularly a sporting one if you can. But it helps to understand what reference you’re actually making, otherwise you could be left looking like a loser.
OTR recently received a missive about a tech firm claiming to be ahead of the pack, but describing them as within the ‘peloton’ of companies in their space. So basically pretty much smack bang in line with everyone else. We think they meant ‘tete de la course’ …
Letter from the future
Clients get accused of behaving badly all the time. Sometimes it’s a little unfair. Other times it’s decidedly deserved. Just sometimes, it comes down to a clerical error. Having first discovered a client had called a review of their business via AdNews, a client meeting was called to inform the agency boss of the outcome of the pitch. It turned out to be a pointless meeting however, as the client’s PA was a little too efficient in posting the letter of termination. Meaning the postdated letter arrived, ahead of the meeting. Red faces.
Drinking buddies
It was like a scene from Romeo and Juliet, minus the star-crossed lovers. Two rivals sharing a beer at a Surry Hills drinking hole. One from one media kingdom and the other, from another. If only the person who witnessed the meeting thought more of it at the time, “I only remembered it a few weeks ago, I didn’t even tell anyone.” If someone had spoken up, maybe the cat would have been out of the bag sooner. OTR doesn’t mind, although it does lead us to question, why do so
many think The Clock is the best place for a clandestine meeting?
The booger
Pitching means game face and A-game. Everything is slick and polished, shoes are shined, hair is brushed – particularly for your first big presso. In reality, that’s usually the moment you find you’ve got toilet paper stuck to your shoe. Or lipstick on your teeth. Or your skirt is tucked into your knickers. Or in one highly-successful creative’s case, a giant tusk of a booger, perching halfway out of your left nostril.
The client saw, it can’t get worse than that. Oh but it can. A covert operation to remove said booger turned into an all out slime fest. At exactly the moment the client team turned back to pose a question. They got over it – and now it’ s a hilarious pitch nightmare story.
Mass exodus . . .
“WTF is going on over at MediaCom?” bellowed the caller. Well, since you asked, OTR will hazard a guess. The current mass exodus of top staffers including former CEO Mark Pejic appears to be a delayed response to the crisis at the start of the year. It leaves the ship pretty unsteady.
Which incidentally, it will be when the group CEO and chairman steps down too. Whoever takes on that job has a rough sea to cross and it seems like a very leaky boat.
Regulate that
Meanwhile some form of government regulation of the media sector is inevitable, according to some of what OTR hears. “It would only take another MediaCom episode” for the ACCC to become involved, apparently. It may level the playing field a bit, but of course every other media agency is squeaky clean, so there won’t be any more incidents. Phew.
An unlikely character
Hiring is tough. OTR knows. But it’s certainly easier when you know what you’re looking for. One creative shop has seen a few unlikely characters come through the doors in the hope of swiping an unusual role. The goldmedallioned hopeful appeared to be basing his approach to a job in advertising on Google images of advertising execs from the 70s.
Perks of the job
Despite many believing media agencies benefit from a host of free client perks, one media agency boss said the airline on its books never splurged once – not even a sniff of free air miles.
A New York exodus
Which well-known media agency boss is rumoured to be moving stateside and which Sydneybased creative personality may also be considering a move to the Big Apple?
Sour grapes?
We know pitches get heated, but we can only imagine the fires that were put out after one agency pitched a million dollar idea, only to find out another had already pitched the same idea first. It was purely by coincidence of course, but OTR can only imagine how the agency must have felt on hearing the news.
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