For the last few months, two very different things have been occupying my mind and my time. The completion of both coincided. One was hiking.
A team from AdNews’ publisher Yaffa Media entered the Oxfam Trailwalker - a 100km hike from Sydney’s Hawkesbury River to Manly to raise funds for the global aid charity. It took months of training, but we finally crossed the finish line. It took 37 hours and just about every emotion ever imagined and every ounce of strength and teamwork we could muster.
The other thing that’s taken up my time is the relaunch of AdNews. A very different kind of challenge (much less physically demanding for a start) but also a feat of teamwork.
The challenge was how to evolve AdNews, a brand and title that has been around for nearly 90 years, keeping true to what came before, bringing in new elements and transforming it into a monthly read.
Our aim? To offer thinking, insights and ideas that will help you be more informed, think differently and explore ideas.
You’ll find some of the regulars but with an updated look and an expanded remit and some new features altogether. You’ll notice a more global feel to some of what’s in these pages – that’s deliberate, because while there’s much to learn from our own shores, the world of media and marketing is not confined to regions.
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We go behind the scenes of an agency in our Meet the Team feature [p26], this time we explore what it means to be a ‘monkey’ as The Monkeys turns 10. Our Investigation cover story [p32] aims to take on a big topic and dig beneath the surface while in The Big Question [p37] we tackle the big stuff going on in the world and how it impacts the media, marketing and creative industry.
In The Work [p10] we talk to both the agency and the client behind TAC’s Graham Project to understand how it got off the ground. It’s a look at the strategy behind creativity and making bold, brave work.
Our marketer profile [p13] is stepping up a gear with a much more in-depth look at global strategy. We kick off with Samsung and a profile interview with global VP of marketing Pio Schunker who is behind the brand’s global repositioning as well as local CMO Philip Newton.
In Creative Choice [p48] we’ve taken a thematic approach to critique Olympic ads and brought a client side marketer into the mix alongside ECDs. You’ll find the same in Creative Focus [p44] where we explore the process of creativity from both the agency and client side.
Then there’s more profiles, bite-size, informative features on ad tech, a glance at the major headlines, and we ask real people beyond the advertising world to tell us what they think of ads in Reality Check. Plus, we welcome GroupM’s chief digital officer Rob Norman, one of our new regular global columnists and one of the smartest thinkers in the business, to offer a global view.
So here it is. The first edition of the new monthly AdNews. We hope you like our new look and what we’ve done with it. The Trailwalker might be over, but AdNews is an ongoing journey. We’ll keep evolving it over the coming issues, so please do tell us what you think. I’m open to a little constructive criticism.
To read the full magazine, and check out the new features, download a digital version of AdNews on desktop, Apple or Android here for $5.99. You can also subscribe to the premium print edition here.
Have something to say on this? Share your views in the comments section below. Or if you have a news story or tip-off, drop me a line at rosiebaker@yaffa.com.au
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