Last week, The Pitch Challenge (The Gruen Transfer, ABC) is to develop an advertisement to sell the unsellable - Convince Aussie to invade it’s close neighbour - New Zealand. Why would anyone want to invade such a beautiful and peaceful country like NZ?
The two agencies tasked with this brief came up with two smart ads, one that would really appeal to the (some) Aussies and the other, a cheeky play with NZ runaway success tourism campaign. Brilliant!
Apparently after the show was broadcasted, a small group of Kiwis took offence with the plot. In response, the producer of the show will give the Kiwis a fair go (Aussie slang) to “take their revenge” on the final episode of the show.
Google is making concerted efforts to attract and publicise its lighthouse Google Apps educatioin sector adoptionwins to proves its readiness to move into the enterprise space. See “Going to School with Google” (Google AU Blog)
IT News sources such as ZDNet will often cover these win-stories. Sometimes, I often wonder what happens after the switch? Switching core IT services like emails systems in a large organisation (like a University) aren’t like switching to a new grocery chain for food.Things often do go wrong.
Often with the introduction of a new operating environment, many legacy and unexpected issues arise. Are the users satisfied with the service level with these hosted services? Were the IT services able to receive adequate support when things falls apart? What are the statistic behind when these problems get resolved?
The complete story after a migration often goes unreported. In all fairness, the points raised can also apply to other companies including Microsoft.
(The Australian IT, 9 Jul 08 ) National Australia Bank has announced another wave of IT roles to be offshored that could see over 400 jobs sent to India by the end of the year.
From general (and ex-NAB) customer’s perspective, I’m not in favour of major outsourcing or massive usage contractual workforce. This structural workforce (and business process) change that rewards short term numbers gain for longer term decline in a company’s internal knowledge accumulation, customer knowledge, losing direct decision making ability and demonstrates a lack of commitment to the local customer base.
A recent article “How Offshore Outsourcing Affects Customer Satisfaction” published on WSJ reports on the very real cost of offshoring (up to 5% of a company’s market capitalisation). The authors understands the rational behind offshoring and recommends steps to minimise the downsides.
Congratulation to Team SOAK from Australia! The 2008 Microsoft Imagine Cup Software Design Worldwide Finals Champions! You brought home the (green and) gold!
I am extremely proud of your final achievement! You have achieved a first for Australia! Well done, David Burela (University of Tasmania), Dimaz Pramudya (Swinburne University), Ed Hooper (Melbourne University), Long Zheng (Monash University)!
Steve Vamos is making his way back to Australia after a stint as VP, Microsoft International Online Services Group. He was recently interviewed by MIS (a Fairfax publication) about Steve Ballmer’s Google strategy, Vista, his time in Redmond and what he plans to do when he leaves Microsoft. Steve also shared his advice for all Australian graduates out there look for new employment:
1. Find a place where you can learn from the people
2. A place where you can trust the people you work with
Great advice, Steve!
Steve has always been passionate about having the right values in place. During MS AU FY07 kickoff, Steve brought a trainer who elaborated the concept of having a player mentality. Not a political player but someone who takes undertakes responsibility, provides accountability and take pro-active steps to make sure that things happen the right way. I really enjoyed that session and I have a lot of respect for the man and his leadership style.
Team SOAK has exceed all expectation and has made it into the very last round of the worldwide Imagine Cup Software Design. They are in the FINAL 6! Awesome! Well done Ed, Dave, Dimaz and Long!
All the very best of luck to Team SOAK (L-R: Long Zheng, Dimaz Pramudya, David Burela, Ed Hoopers), the 2008 Australia Imagine Cup Champions during the 2008 Worldwide Imagine Cup Finals. I feel particularly proud of the quality of this year’s team. Here are my top 5 reasons why this team rocks:
Water, a real serious issue in country Australia. The team aspires to help to help farmers achieve sustainable use of their land by utilising sensor networks to ensure the best use of precious water resources.
Diversity, in the team setup. Team SOAK is made up of students from 4 Australian Universities, between two states (VIC and TAS) which includes Monash, Melbourne, Swinburne and the University of Tasmania. This multi-cultural team reflects the modern diverse Australian society.
Preparation. I know how early this team had been preparing for the competition. Ed has been aiming, learning and preparing for this competition since the 2007 Australia Imagine Cup finals.
Passion. This team is made up of 3 Microsoft Student Partners and 1 “bloody” Microsoft blogger. Common among them is a serious passion for technology, dream big and take technology onto the field.
Mates. This guys are my friends and I am proud of their current success. Anything more is a bonus. Good luck, boys!
Every day we’re exposed to an average of 3000 commerical messages on TV, radio, cinemas, billboards, magazines, newspapers, T-shirts, cups, public transport and the INTERNET. Have you wonder how advertising works and how it works on us? Check out ABC’s Gruen Transfer.
The Gruen Transfer hosted by Wil Anderson where a number of advertising agencies experts provide insights to the industry in lighthearted and funny panel discussion setting. These panel guests take part in weekly challenges, exercise and games to create ads for the unselliable (For example, “Making celibacy sexy!”)
Don’t forget to try the Consumer’s Revenge, where you can mix and match your own beer/ bank/ beauty cream ad!
