Would You Share The Last Piece Of Content You Created?
“Would you share the last thing you created, In all honesty?”
That was the question posed by Neal Mann, digital strategist for News Corp Australia, at an event hosted by social tech provider, Livefyre in Sydney.
Mann, who made his digital mark as the multimedia innovations editor at the Wall Street Journal, says few people are willing.
“Most people don’t say yes. They don’t. Because they’ve not actually created [content] to engage an audience, they’ve created it to get it out the door.”
Mann gave a frank assessment of the state of digital in Australia based on his experience in the States. “We’re about three years behind the US,” he said.
“There are conversations going on with brands now that were had in 2011 in the US.”
However he says mobile consumption is far more advanced in Australia than America.
“It’s a huge opportunity, obviously, with mobile usage particularly on social, to actually leapfrog ahead in terms of how the US operates.”
The key to reaching the same level on all platforms as our US counterparts lies in the attitude Australian brands, publishers and companies have towards content creation. Mann argued that Australians are not deliberately making engaging content.
“It’s worth highlighting engagement on Facebook and marketing. There’s a big difference between paying for engagement which is kind of the initial stages of what happened with social. Now, if you look at the US brands in particular that are notoriously in news, they’re creating content that’s cool.”
Mann made reference to The First Kiss short film, a campaign created by lesser-known fashion brand WREN.
“It was an amazing advert, everybody shared it. It had 35 million views in two days.” The video became one of the most talked about marketing campaigns and just a month after its release, WREN increased sales by 13,600%, and website traffic by by 14,000%.
“Nobody paid a dime to share that,” said Mann.
Another example Mann referenced was Pepsi.
“Again, an amazing advert that was shared, nobody paid a dime for that. It gives you an example of where brands are in the US market and where we will get to in Australia,” he said.
Mann said Australia is currently in the headspace of paying for engagement rather than producing work that is engaging.
Fellow panelist, Robb Miller, VP for global sales at Livefyre added: “Brands can’t force the virality of content, but they can ask: is it interesting enough to share? In my experience, people open up to timeliness, authenticity, and humour in content.”
Miller said there is a difference between ‘socialising’ and ‘viralising’. He said: “Socialise is about aggregating social media content and using it on your owned properties. Viralise is just a cheeky way of saying distribution to a third party social media channel, hoping it becomes popular.”
“Something brands and organisations do here is try to engage people in the conversation, but do nothing with it,” said Mann.
In the US, Mann pointed to sports shows that stream live tweets during broadcast.
“Soon in Australia we’ll see a real step towards that fully integrated social model. The other thing is, research is showing people want to get involved across-platform. People don’t just want to be involved on TV. It’s about how that clip is then transferred to YouTube. How to get viewers involved on that? How do you bring that back to a social feed? And if you’re only offering one solution, they probably won’t even engage to begin with.”
Mann is adamant that a shift in thinking is essential in order to engage the audience from the start and keep them there. While at News Corp, Mann contributed to cross-platform success as The Australian celebrated its 50th anniversary.
“They republished front pages from history, which was great for the newspaper audience, but that’s not really that interesting to the social audience. We got them to access PDFs from a media archive and turn it into a mobile-first timeline where you put your age in and it delivers the front page from the day you were born – that’s all that anyone really cares about,” said Mann.
Mann and the panel agreed that one of the reasons Australia lags in digital is because brands and companies are risk averse, they’re waiting for a solution with proven return on investment.
Although ultimately, Mann said, it’s not just about making content go viral. It’s producing work that people actually want to share.
“In a newsroom setting I hear people ask: can you socialise this? What they mean is: make it go viral. I look at them and go: you wouldn’t even share it,” said Mann.
Please login with linkedin to comment
Advertising Expenditure Forecasts Advertising Standards Bureau BWM media agency Newsreaders of Sydney Online ads SBS 2 Temperature driven advertising The Australian University of Western AustraliaLatest News
Medallia Appoints Heather Paterson As ANZ Country Manager
Medallia has appointed Heather Paterson as its new ANZ country manager to drive further growth across Australia and New Zealand. With a strong sales performance and leadership background, Paterson joins Medallia as ANZ country manager following more than seven years with leading SaaS financial technology provider, Intralinks, where she was most recently director for Asia […]
Spikes Asia Brings Spikes Awards Forward To February 2021
Spikes Asia today announces that the 2021 awards will take place in February, bringing them forward to the first quarter of the year. Judging for the Spikes Asia Awards, the region’s most prestigious creative branded communications accolade, as well as the Tangrams Awards and Young Spikes competitions will all take place in February 2021. In […]
Finalists In Round One Of 2020 Australian Effie Awards Announced
Following a rigorous round of online judging by 133 industry experts, The Communications Council today announced that 88 finalists from 24 agencies on behalf of 36 clients have made it into Round Two of the Australian Effie Awards. Finalists will now compete for Effies, Australia’s only awards based on proven advertising effectiveness – across 26 […]
IAS And Channel Factory ‘Channel Science’
Integral Ad Science (IAS) today announced the launch of “Channel Science”, an industry-leading partnership between Channel Factory and IAS. The Channel Science solution helps advertisers to leverage both companies’ technologies through a single product to ensure their YouTube campaigns are brand-safe, brand-suitable, and performance-optimized. More than ever before, advertisers are searching for ways to streamline their media buying and improve […]
WPP AUNZ Launches Secrets & Lies Podcast Series
WPP AUNZ has launched its inaugural podcast series, led by WPP AUNZ Chief Strategy Officer, Rose Herceg (pictured). The podcast series will focus on the company’s recent thought leadership study: Secrets & Lies Chapter 4, Humanity & the Machine. Aired over the next few weeks, each discussion will take a deep dive into exploring the role […]
Google Presses Play On Programmatic Audio
If CV-19's given us anything, it's more podcasts than you could listen to in 1000 lifetimes. Monetise yours with this.
10’s Axing Fallout: Kerri-Anne Calls It “Heartbreaking”
Grant Denyer to host the news, weather, The Project, The Bachie, Family Feud & Saturday Night Rove following 10's cuts.
Indie Agency Hardhat Wins Vision Australia Creative Account
Hardhat celebrates Vision Australia win with a VB case & Jägermeister. Thankfully, no reports of anyone getting blind.
Prince Harry Compares Social Media And Online Advertising To Lead Paint
The errant Royal has weighed in to the advertising debate. His grandmother apparently still hates his wife, however.
Tuesday TV Wrap: Masked Singer Already On The Up Following Okayish Debut
Forget all about yesterday's kerfuffle, declares 10; instead look at these big, new, shiny numbers over here instead.
Westpac Group Partners With Verizon Media DSP For Omnichannel Solution
Westpac Group today announced it has partnered with Verizon Media’s Omnichannel DSP across its entire brand portfolio including Westpac Bank, St George Bank, Bank of Melbourne and Bank of South Australia. The new partnership gives Westpac Group access to Verizon Media’s end-to-end strategic marketing and planning capabilities including: first-party data based audience insights; full-service omnichannel […]
Mark Lollback Joins The Foodbank Australia Board
Mark Lollback proves he's Mr Nice Guy. Although, Mrs Lollback wishes he'd turn his socks in the right way before wash.
Now That’s Whopper Protection! You Can Now Get Your Burger King Order Printed Directly Onto A Face Mask
Burger King face masks not only provide CV-19 protection, it also protects against that vile stench in its restaurants.
Adobe Analytics Adds Mobile App
If there's anything to be said about the Adobe company, it doesn't sit on it laurels. Discover its latest gizmo here.
Nova Cuts 70 Employees Amid Pandemic
All B&T will say here is, whoever decided having Szechuan bat for dinner was a good idea has a LOT to answer for.
Introducing The Women Leading Tech Product Finalists
B&T doesn't like the phrase "stellar line-up", but it's been forced upon us with these Women Leading Tech finalists.
Barbra Streisand Lends Voice To Campaign Calling On The LGBTQI+ To Oust Trump
One need only attend the B&T staff interoffice karaoke competition to know of our unflinching affection for Babs.
“The Value Needs To Be There For Everyone”: Osher Günsberg On The Three-Way Exchange Of TV Show Sponorship
Thankfully, Osher was spared 10's purge yesterday. Otherwise B&T would look like right fools wheeling this out today.
Sleep Apnoea Tackled In Witty Work From ResApp Health & Isobar
Sleep apnoea ranks alongside haemorrhoids and constipation in the humour stakes, so it's hats off to the agency here.
Man Of Many Appoints Tim Fernandes As Sales & Partnerships Manager
Man Of Many announces new sales and partnerships manager who, without even a hint of irony, is actually a man.
“Simply Disingenuous!” Coles Challenged Over Its Decision To Phase Out Its Printed Catalogue
When it came to the artistic nuances of raw sausage photography, nothing could hold a candle to the Coles catalogue.
Major Stars Including Kerri-Anne Kennerley & Tim Bailey To Go As 10 Announces Major Restructure
Network 10 is set to undergo a massive restructure, leaving a number of high-profile journalists out of a job, including Kerri-Anne Kennerley, Natarsha Belling and Tim Bailey, B&T understands. As first reported on The Sydney Morning Herald, the restructure was announced to staff on Tuesday. As part of the restructuring, the presentation of the weekday […]
The Alcohol & Drug Foundation Team With Dee Madigan’s Campaign Edge To Tackle CV-19 Drinking
Concious of our own drinking habits at B&T during lockdown, "margarita hour" has been moved from 10.30am to 10.45am.
How To Get Out Of A Cashflow Crisis
Here's top tips on getting out of a cashflow crisis that don't include robbing the kids' moneyboxes or a 7-Eleven store.
BWM Dentsu’s Haystac Launches As The Social Relations Agency
Haystac relaunches as a "social relations agency" which, it's quick to stress, doesn't include a match-making component.
Another Win For The Hindus As Ganesh Mini Skirt Latest To Face The Chop
If B&T has become anything, it's now your one-stop-show for the latest angry Hindu news.
Nielsen Data: ABC Tops Digital News Rankings
'Wood Whittlers Weekly' and 'The Pigeon Fancier Gazette' shock omissions from latest Nielsen news site rankings.
Victorian Government Rolls Out Sobering COVID-19 Campaign Via M&C Saatchi Melbourne
It's yet another sobering CV-19 ad, amid reports the Grim Reaper's publicist is starting to field some genuine interest.
Dating App Thanks Masturbators For Resisting Lockdown Sex In Colourful New Campaign
Here at B&T we strongly endorse the notion that chronic masturbation sends you blind. Hence our white stick & Labrador.
Switch Digital Nabs Simonds Homes Account
Switch Digital snares Simonds Homes account which, B&T can confirm, is no way affiliated with Mr Red Symons.
