EXTRA >> IT IS a play on the David and Goliath story, so it is no wonder Click PR’s rebranding as Sling & Stone coincides with the public relations agency going after some giant accounts.

The rebrand represents the agency’s focus on exclusively working with disruptive, innovative brands challenging their industries and changing the status quo.

“We are very proud of our agency’s history as Click PR, and what we have achieved over the past four years,” said the agency’s founder and managing director, Vuki Vujasinovic. “However, when looking forward to 2015 and beyond, we realised we needed a new brand to signify who we have become.

“We decided that our identity needed to match our evolved specialty, services offered, mission, and values.

“Just like the entrepreneurs and challenger brands that use smart, efficient, and agile tools to take on bigger competitors, David opted for just a sling and stone when he successfully took on Goliath.

“We’re humbled and honoured that some of the world’s most respected disrupters and innovators choose us among the hundreds of agencies in the country, and we are thrilled that we now have a brand which truly reflects that.

“Our business has grown and evolved since we first opened our doors, and the new name reflects the direction of the business. The rebrand includes a new name, website, brand identity, and all visual communication.

The rebrand completes a huge year for the agency, which won competitive pitches including Autodesk, Criteo, Prezi, and Xero.

“We began representing local startups Clipp, CoinJar, Divvy, OpenAgent,and more,” Mr  Vujasinovic said. “We brought on great talent throughout 2014 including James Hutchinson (AFR), Kya de Rome (Hotwire), Damian Francis (AdNews), and Kasi Reynolds (Macquarie).

“We were also named the 2014 CommsCon Boutique Agency of the Year, and a finalist in the 2014 Holmes Report Asia-Pacific Tech Consultancy of the Year.”

www.slingstone.com

ends

EXTRA >> WHEN Fairfax Media’s Adele Ferguson and the Four Corners team of Deb Masters and Mario Christodoulou teamed up to thoroughly cover unconscionable banking practices among Australia’s big banks, they knew they had a vital story on their hands. Little did they know that story would also deliver the coveted Gold Walkley Award for journalism.

The trio won Australian journalism’s top honour and were cite for their “meticulous and courageous work” in uncovering banking practices that had cost families, in many cases, hundreds of thousands of dollars in poorly-advised and heavily leveraged investments.

‘Banking Bad’ was the culmination of two years of vigorous investigation by Ms Ferguson, who this year took her investigation to a wider audience with the compelling Four Corners report. Her research exposed the impact of highly risky advice on the individuals who trusted their financial affairs to the Commonwealth Bank, and also uncovered the failure of corporate regulator ASIC to respond to the concerns of whistle blowers inside the nation’s largest financial institution. 

The Walkley judges said, “Financial stories aren’t traditionally photogenic, but the team has elevated business journalism by capturing the human side and through dogged investigation.”

Taking out the Walkley for Outstanding Contribution to Journalism, imprisoned Al Jazeera reporter Peter Greste was recognised for his brave ongoing fight in Egypt – and not only for his personal freedom, but also for a free press and an open democracy in the most difficult of circumstances.

The Nikon-Walkley Press Photographer of the Year Award went to Andrew Quilty for a compelling and moving portfolio of local and international photojournalism. Mr Quilty also took out Nikon-Walkley Photo of the Year.

The West Australian’s editor-in-chief, Bob Cronin, was awarded the Walkley Award for Journalism Leadership for the outspoken and uncompromising leadership that has marked his 54-year career. He was praised by peers for his unflinching loyalty to his staff when standing up to mining billionaire Gina Rinehart. 

The 59th Walkley Awards for Excellence in Journalism were presented in 34 categories. More than 800 journalists and media identities gathered at Sydney’s Dockside Pavilion for the 2014 event, hosted the ABC’s Sarah Ferguson.

www.walkleys.com

GOLD WALKLEY

Adele Ferguson, Deb Masters and Mario Christodoulou, Four Corners, ABC TV and Fairfax Media, “Banking bad”

LEADERSHIP

Bob Cronin, West Australian

MOST OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTION TO JOURNALISM

Peter Greste

NIKON-WALKLEY PRESS PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR

Andrew Quilty, Oculi

PRINT/TEXT NEWS REPORT

Paul Maley and Greg Bearup, The Australian, “That’s my boy: kids witness war’s horror”, “Plotter’s nephew in Syrian combat”, “Aussie fighters leading extremist PR: ASIO”

ALL MEDIA SOCIAL EQUITY JOURNALISM

Belinda Hawkins, Australian Story, ABC TV, “Searching for C11 Part One and Two”, “Breaking the Code”

ALL MEDIA MULTIMEDIA STORYTELLING

SBS Online Team, SBS Online, “Cronulla Riots – The day that shocked the nation”

NIKON-WALKLEY PHOTO OF THE YEAR

Andrew Quilty, TIME LightBox, “Baby burns victim in Boost Hospital”

ALL MEDIA HEADLINE JOURNALISM

Paul Whittaker, The Daily Telegraph, “Cardinal spin”, “The Grapes of Bof”, “Palmersnorus”

ALL MEDIA COVERAGE OF INDIGENOUS AFFAIRS

Paul Daley, Guardian Australia, “Why does the Australian War Memorial ignore frontier war?”, “The bone collectors “Indigenous Australians in wartime”

ALL MEDIA COVERAGE OF COMMUNITY AND REGIONAL AFFAIRS

Ben Smee, NT News, “Chasing the circus: a year of chaos and scandal in Territory politics”

ALL MEDIA SPORTS JOURNALISM

Robert Dillon, Newcastle Herald, ““Bye Bye Boganaire”

SPORT PHOTOGRAPHY

Cameron Spencer, Getty Images, “H₂0 Action”

RADIO NEWS AND CURRENT AFFAIRS JOURNALISM

Hayden Cooper, ABC Radio, “Journalism on trial”

RADIO DOCUMENTARY, FEATURE, PODCAST OR SPECIAL

Sarah Dingle, AM and Background Briefing, ABC Radio, “The Salvos: A matter of trust”

FEATURE WRITING LONG (OVER 4000 WORDS)

Paul Toohey, Quarterly Essay 53, “That Sinking Feeling: Asylum seekers and the search for the Indonesian solution”

ALL MEDIA SCOOP OF THE YEAR

Michael Brissenden, Ewen MacAskill and Lenore Taylor, ABC News and Guardian Australia, “Australia’s spy agencies targeted Indonesian president’s mobile phone”

ALL MEDIA CARTOON

Ron Tandberg, The Age, “Joe’s budget”

ALL MEDIA ARTWORK

Eric Lobbecke, The Australian, “Chopper Hockey”

ALL MEDIA COVERAGE OF A MAJOR NEWS EVENT OR ISSUE

Matt Brown, Hayden Cooper, Aaron Hollett, Stuart Watt, Michael Carey and ABC News Team, ABC News Digital, ABC TV News and ABC Radio “Gaza Conflict”

FEATURE WRITING SHORT (UNDER 4000 WORDS)

Ruth Pollard, Fairfax Media, “If this happened in Europe, the world would not be silent”

NEWS PHOTOGRAPHY

Brendan Beirne, News Corp Australia, “Bondi Biffo”

ALL MEDIA BUSINESS JOURNALISM

Nabila Ahmed, Sue Mitchell and James Chessell, The Australian Financial Review, “Myer, DJs Merger proposed just before directors’ trade”, “DJs chairman must step down”, “Mason to purge DJs board”

FEATURE/PHOTOGRAPHIC ESSAY

Eddie Jim, The Age, “Hayden”

ALL MEDIA INTERNATIONAL JOURNALISM

Lindsay Murdoch, The Age, “Baby Gammy was left behind”

ALL MEDIA CAMERAWORK

Wayne McAllister, ABC News and Foreign Correspondent, ABC TV, “Laksi violent protest”, “Spratley Islands: reef madness” “Ukraine Crash Site Fight”

TV/AV NEWS REPORTING

Matt Brown and Mark Solomons, ABC News, “Syria death”, “Jihad middleman”, “Bomber video”

TV/AV DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS

Nick McKenzie, Richard Baker and Sam Clark, 7.30, ABC TV, “State of the union”, “Jobs for the boys”

TV/AV WEEKLY CURRENT AFFAIRS

Adele Ferguson, Deb Masters and Mario Christodoulou, Four Corners, ABC TV and Fairfax Media, “Banking bad”

ALL MEDIA INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM

John Lyons, Janine Cohen, Sylvie Le Clezio and Mary Fallon, Four Corners, ABC TV, and The Australian, “Stone cold justice”

ALL MEDIA INTERVIEW

David Speers, Sky News,“What is metadata?”

ALL MEDIA COMMENTARY, ANALYSIS, OPINION AND CRITIQUE

Waleed Aly, Fairfax Media, “Brandis race hate laws are whiter than white”, “The logic of PNG policy is sanctioned horror”, “Deciding which deaths matter and which don’t”

WALKLEY DOCUMENTARY AWARD

Dan Goldberg and Danny Ben-Moshe, Mint Pictures & Identity Films/ABC TV, Code of Silence

WALKLEY BOOK AWARD

Paul Kelly, Triumph and Demise: The Broken Promise of a Labor Generation, Melbourne University Press

2014 WALKLEY AWARDS BOARD JUDGES

Quentin Dempster, presenter 30 NSW, ABC TV (Chair)

Angelos Frangopoulos, CEO, Australian News Channel

Michael Beach, deputy editor, The West Australian

Marina Go, general manager, Hearst Bauer Media Brands

Anne Davies, senior reporter, The Sydney Morning Herald

Narelle Hooper, editor, AFR BOSS Magazine

Liz Jackson, reporter, ABC

James Kirby, managing editor, Eureka Report

Nick Moir, photographer, The Sydney Morning Herald

John Stanley, weekend breakfast presenter, Radio 2UE

Dennis Atkins, national affairs editor, The Courier Mail

ENDS

VICTORIA-based café chain, Degani has successfully orchestrated a dramatic boost in franchisee enquiries – signing 10 new ones in other markets – and customer engagement through its new digital and social media strategy.

For three months in late 2014, the company focused its marketing on digital, social and online media including utilising Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, to drive its key messages and hone in to its target market. The most spectacular result among several positive outcomes was the signing of 10 new franchisees in the first three months. 

Degani’s main goal, through engaging digital and social media as a platform, was to create a voice for a brand that really – other than in Victoria – in early 2014 had no market relevance in Australia. Facebook was a key driver in turning this around and allowed Degani to focus on geographical targeting to potential new franchisees in markets that were unbeknown.

Living and operating in a digital age is something businesses must start to do as part of their normal practices said Clementine Scott, marketing manager for Degani. 

“Progressing our strategies into the digital space was an absolute must and it began when we turned to online sources to learn more about our audience,” Ms Scott said.

“From this, we identified that our core audience, which is potential franchisees, were aged between 30 and 54, were professional managers, frequented cafes and coffee shops regularly and had at least $100,000 in savings. We therefore had to develop our strategies to suit this.

“Once this profile was shaped, we tailored our communications to ensure we were speaking to this core group with the right messages and information. We launched a modern campaign to suit this profile audience, drove it heavily through social and online media and, as a result, we attracted 10 new franchisees who came on board in the first three months.”

A combination of organic engagement and advertising allowed the franchisor to tap into an online audience that was as close to its created profile as possible, in turn, creating more relevant enquiries for the business.

Ms Scott said launching a new campaign – and using hashtags for the clever ‘For the Love of Coffee’ promotion includinf #mydegani and #fortheloveofcoffee – helped propel the company’s Twitter feed to more than 500 followers and encourage re-tweets and brand awareness.

Ms Scott said Degani’s research showed its audience was consuming 80 percent of their daily information via online channels, which reinforced the company’s decision to ensure more messages were being displayed through its own online channels.

According to the June 2014 report from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), 26 percent of all businesses have a social media presence now, including a presence on blogs, micro-blogs such as Twitter and content communities such as Facebook and Linkedin.

Ms Scott said the propensity for a business to have a social media presence increased in alignment with staff growth and this was a trend she saw as as a growing one.

“It makes sense that the bigger a company grows, the greater the need for social media,” Ms Scott said. “What was once utilised to communicate key messages is now being used for attracting the right employees and partners and that’s exactly what we see the benefit in for Degani.”

Degani was founded by Melbourne-based entrepreneur George Pezaros in 1999, starting with a single bakery café in Victoria’s Clifton Hill, and has grown to 70 stores renowned for their individual, chic interior fit-outs and featuring exceptional coffee and fresh food.

www.degani.com.au

ends

EXTRA >>

EVERY MARKETER knows that, occasionally, you have to do something spectacular to give your brand a boost.

How do you do that if your brand is made up of super heroes? Mattel’s answer is its Extreme Toy Travel campaign – which is currently sending Superman into space, with the help of RS Components and the electronics engineering community DesignSpark.

Mattel’s Extreme Toy Travel marketing campaign takes its action figures to exotic and extreme locations all around the world and engages children in these ‘adventures’ through modern communications and social media. But they had to do something special for Superman, after all.

Inspired by Felix Baumgartner’s record-breaking freefall from the edge of space in 2012, Mattel Italy, together with La Scatola dei Giocattoli, a support project for Mattel customers, approached RS to replicate this jump with one of its Superman action figures. RS teamed up with Rlab, a peer run community hackspace, card modeller Jude Pullen , and high altitude balloonist Dave Akerman , to send Superman to space and back in a custom-built capsule.

A team of makers, hackers and engineers on the DesignSpark community designed and built a capsule that is attached to a weather balloon. The craft, packed full of electronics and 3D printed components designed for the mission using DesignSpark software, travelled to a height of around 39km at the edge of space, where Superman then freefell back to Earth.

The capsule included a Raspberry Pi to capture mission data, as well as a specially designed tracking unit to locate and retrieve Superman.

The launch took place on September 12, from Ross-on-Wye in Herefordshire, the UK.

During the flight, the mission data was collected along with HD videos and images. Both Superman and the capsule were monitored through a radio connection and a GPS.

At the end of the mission, RS posted the video footage and all the design files, bill of materials and design notes on the DesignShare section of DesignSpark under an open source licence so others could build their own.

Both Mattel and RS shared with their communities a video to show Superman’s flight to space and back, enhancing their brands to new audiences through a most unusual project.

“I wanted to personally follow the launch of the spaceship with Superman,” Mattel South East Europe associate digital marketing manager Andrea Ziella said.

“It has been very exciting for me to see the Toy Travel in Space project come to life. The whole experience felt like travelling back in time to when I was a kid and dreamt about going to the moon with ships I had built myself.

“We are delighted to be partnering with La Scatola dei Giocattoli and RS Components to create this unique journey that demonstrates their innovation and technology expertise.”

Ms Ziella said the Toy Travel project also aims to enrich children’s learning experience and inspire their competitive creativity by engaging them to build their own spaceship and posting the design on the La Scatola dei Giocattoli website. La Scatola dei Giocattoli is a project born in 2013 with the purpose to engage both adults and children in a different point of view on the world of toys, promoting creative exchanges, social medialinks, online entertainment and by developing real-world events.

www.lascatoladeigiocattoli.it/viaggiodeigiocattoli/ .

www.rs-online.com/designspark/electronics/eng/blog/hack-superman-launch-day

www.mattel.com

ends