Pulse Collective’s Lauren Fried Slams Government’s Census Campaign

Pulse Collective’s Lauren Fried Slams Government’s Census Campaign

The federal government’s 2016 Census campaign was “lazy”, “uninspiring” and filled with errors, according to Pulse Collective founder and managing director Lauren Fried.

Appearing on Gruen (the well-known TV show on the ABC that covers everything advertising) last night, Fried slammed the 2016 census ad campaign and the problems surrounding the execution of the data gathering exercise.

Dubbed #censusfail, the Gruen panel agreed the advertising campaign had little to do with Australians taking a pause, the campaign’s tagline, and should have been more about it going online, noting that there was no mention of the online component until two thirds into the television advertisement.

“This is a very lazy and uninspiring campaign,” Fried said. “This was an opportunity to make Australia really optimistic about the future, to make them excited and not scared, and it’s not what happened.

“When you see the imagery in the ad, it’s so boring. It’s like McDonalds showing you the transaction of paying for the burger or getting your rego papers in the mail. Show me how I’m going to feel when I’ve eaten the burger or driving my car down the street with people looking at me.”

The Census was plagued with problems when its online platform suffered an outage for more than 40 hours on the night of its official launch (9 August), with many Aussies still yet to complete the survey.

“Every single person that ever touched that campaign … should have been sitting in a room together – it’s one day. If anything was going to go wrong, it was that one day,” Fried said.

“They should have had 50 different landing pages for the website in case it went down so it goes up quickly. This is basic 101 about how to talk to customers.”

Before the Census even began, questions were raised about data safety and the government has since denied the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) website was hacked or attacked and any data was lost.

Fried said data is a very sensitive space and we are seeing at least one red flag about data protection in the media every day.

“So it’s ludicrous to think this was well and truly not on their radar and a priority and a critical component of their campaign,” she said.

“Where it becomes a bit tricky is when the people you are handing your data over to you don’t trust. Government and businesses that normally we don’t trust are always on the defensive. They are not on the front foot when it comes to talking about data because they want to pretend the problem doesn’t exist.

“If you want to be a member of say Priceline you have signed that off and you know they have your data. In return you get discounts and stuff for free. With the government, because we haven’t agreed to it, that’s the problem.

While the Census colour and branding has traditionally been orange, this year the government changed it to green to reinforce its digital and environmentally-friendly approach.

Fried said businesses and brands don’t change their colours without good reason, and when they do, it is based on a core value of the business.

“If you’re going to be true to that then every tactic, media, marketing has to go through that filter,” she said.

“The way they celebrated that was to light up buildings (in green) using electricity? It’s like ‘let’s celebrate Earth Hour and turn all the lights on’. It was just error after error.”




Please login with linkedin to comment

Census 2016 pulse collective RadiumOne SOFYBeFresh

Latest News

Archibald Williams Wins NBA Digital, Activation & Fan Engagement Accounts For APAC
  • Media

Archibald Williams Wins NBA Digital, Activation & Fan Engagement Accounts For APAC

Independent brand and digital agency, Archibald Williams (AW) has been appointed to lead the NBA account across the APAC region. The NBA is one of the most prestigious sporting leagues in the world and basketball is one of the fastest-growing sports in Australia. Effective immediately, AW said it was “excited” to work across all digital, […]

QMS Champions Creativity As First Most Contagious APAC 2023 Sponsor
  • Advertising

QMS Champions Creativity As First Most Contagious APAC 2023 Sponsor

Leading digital outdoor company QMS has announced it is the first-ever inaugural partner for Most Contagious APAC, the landmark London event by creative and strategic intelligence company Contagious, which will be showcased in Australia on Tuesday, 12 December in Sydney and Wednesday, 13 December in Melbourne. Most Contagious is an event that delivers key advertising […]

OMG’s Annalect First To Get Meta’s Advanced Analytics
  • Technology

OMG’s Annalect First To Get Meta’s Advanced Analytics

Omnicom’s data and analytics division Annalect has partnered with Meta, giving it access to Advanced Analytics (AA) – one of Meta’s privacy-focused measurement solutions – to provide Omnicom’s clients with future-proof, next-level measurement. Omnicom is the first holding company to have access to AA. AA allows advertisers to combine their first-party data with Meta’s ads […]

AKQA Launches Eco-Conscious AI DIY Assistant Encouraging People To Gift More Sustainably
  • Technology

AKQA Launches Eco-Conscious AI DIY Assistant Encouraging People To Gift More Sustainably

WPP’s AKQA has launched Fixmas.gift, an environmentally conscious AI-powered DIY assistant, affectionately known as Fixie, for a one-stop solution for all things repair. Fixmas.gift hosts an array of guides and inspiration to empower people to prolong the lives of their belongings or purchase pre-owned items that need a little love and care. Fixie can: Help […]

Marc Collister: AI & Automation Set To Revolutionise Creativity In 2024
  • Opinion

Marc Collister: AI & Automation Set To Revolutionise Creativity In 2024

Marc Collister (pictured) of P2 Content Creators spills the beans on his 2024 predictions drawing from two decades of experience in the advertising, film and television industry. I’m certain it will come as no surprise that in 2024, we can expect our industry to move at breakneck speed again. With even more rapid shifts in […]

Opinion

by B&T Magazine

B&T Magazine
Zeno Group Australia Bolsters Client Offerings With An Expanded Creative Services Portfolio & New Senior Leader
  • Marketing

Zeno Group Australia Bolsters Client Offerings With An Expanded Creative Services Portfolio & New Senior Leader

Zeno Australia has announced expanded creative design capabilities and the appointment of Jim Michell (lead image) to its senior leadership team. The new moves support strong growth in the region. Zeno Australia’s clients, including Abano Healthcare, Motorola and Yorkshire Tea, can now tap into a suite of creative design services to augment the agency’s work […]

Assembled Media Inks TikTok Creator Campaign for BIC
  • Campaigns

Assembled Media Inks TikTok Creator Campaign for BIC

Assembled Media, is drawing upon the creative power of TikTok Creator Marketplace to help generate unique, impactful content for iconic stationery brand, BIC. The social activation campaign titled ‘A Pen for Every Side of You’ promotes the flexibility of BIC’s 4 Colours pen and is active nationwide on the BIC Stationery TikTok account. The campaign […]

Big data and analytics visualization technology with scientist analyzing information structure on screen with machine learning to extract predictions for business, finance, internet of things
  • Media

IAB Launches Fourth Module In Its Marketing Measurement Innovation Series

IAB Australia has launched ‘Evolution in Market Mix Modelling’, the fourth module in its Marketing Measurement Innovation Series, which has been developed by IAB Australia’s Ad Effectiveness Council. The module explores what is driving the increased use of MMM and how the technique is evolving with advances in computing power and machine learning to provide […]

Aerial view of a coal fired power station with large cooling towers emitting co2 into the atmosphere. With its lights already turned on the power station is illuminated in moody twilight.
  • Media

Scope3 Expands Carbon Measurement Capabilities To Include DOOH Advertising

Scope3, the collaborative sustainability platform leading the decarbonisation of media and advertising,  announced the addition of digital out-of-home (DOOH) to its emissions measurement. With DOOH ad spending predicted to grow from $17B in 2023 to nearly $24B by 2028, measuring this channel brings us one step closer to understanding the total impact of digital advertising […]

January 14, 2023 - New York, New York, USA: 2023 NRF Big Show press conference with Composition 2024 NRF Singapore.    Photo by Ian Wagreich / © Ian Wagreich Photography
  • Marketing

Now Open For Registration – NRF 2024: Retail’s Big Show Asia Pacific

NRF 2024: Retail’s Big Show Asia Pacific, is now open for online registrations for the main conference. Jointly organized by the National Retail Federation and Comexposium, Retail’s Big Show Asia Pacific will take place from 11 – 13 June, 2024 at the Sands Expo and Convention Centre in Singapore and is expected to draw thousands […]