Not funny at all really.
Originally uploaded by Rich66.

As a marketer, where do I look for breaking news in the advertising and marketing world? Its not SMH or The Australian and it’s not B&T or Marketing Magazine.

It’s MuMbrella and Media Hunter.

Two non-commercial sites (at this stage) supplying news commentary quicker and more responsive for a small community of advertising and marketing people. 

And they don’t have the debt, overheads and shareholders to worry about. 

Newspapers and magazines will never completely die out, but is this the future of media and journalism? 

Lower-costs, smaller niche audiences and narrower focus…ticks all my marketing boxes.

  Spiekermann House Numbers 
  Originally uploaded by Stewf

Has the Australian Marketing Institute failed marketing metrics 101?

Let’s consider a few facts to weigh up the question.

In response to criticism from Australian Marketing Institute members, Australian Marketing Institute Chairman, Roger James published the following facts on Marketing Magazine’s website, dated 20th Jun 2008:

“In 1999 our membership was 3,400. Our membership is now over 6,000 and currently growing at over 14% net per annum.”

But a few months later, Australian Marketing Institute CEO Mark Crowe wrote in the Marketing Update newsletter:

“In the year to 30 June 2008 the Australian Marketing Institute has achieved a record 17.6% net increase in membership. This performance easily surpasses our previous record of 9%.”

“A large membership base (now at 6,800 members) provides the Institute with greater financial strength and increased authority to represent and promote the marketing profession.”

Hello…within 10 days the Australian Marketing Institute membership miraculously jumps up by over 12% and the annual growth rate grows from 14% to 17.6%.

I thought the Australian Marketing Institute was championing marketing metrics…these are simple marketing metrics and Mark and Roger can’t even agree on the official membership numbers.

Are you confused? I am…

Under the polished floors of the Australian Marketing Institute’s ivory tower, who’s telling the truth? Or has there been some creativity going on?

The plot thickens!

In this month’s issue of Marketing Magazine, regular marketing columnist Julian Cole has announced his Top 50 Australian Marketing Pioneers Blogs and Sticky Advertising’s very own bloggers Media Hunter and The Marketer claimed the number 18 and 22 spots, respectively.

According to Julian Cole: ”With Sticky Advertising having the minds of Media Hunter (Craig Wilson) and The Marketer (Gordon Whitehead) it would not be surprised if it was top dog in social media by 2010.”

Julian Cole and the team at Marketing Magazine saw a need for a filtering of the insightful marketing blogs from the total time wasters. While many marketers realize the power of blogs, they often don’t read them, simply because they don’t know where to find them.

“Blog’s excel at breaking news stories related to their industry, generating new marketing strategies or showcasing advice on marketing challenges. Believe it or not, blogs are now influencing the rest of your learning sources too.”  says Julian.

The Top 50 Australian Marketing Pioneers Blogs is a ranking of the top media and marketing blogs in Australia, as developed by digital strategist and blogger, Julian Cole. Released quarterly in Marketing Magazine, the rankings are constructed using six different comparative scores out of 10. 

1. Google Page Ranking (ranking from Google)
2. Technorati authority ( the number of unique blogs pointing to their blog)
3. Pioneer ranking (subjective score by Julian Cole, depending on how pioneering the content of the blog is)
4. Technorati blogs reactions (the number of times the blog is mentioned by others)
5. Alexa traffic rankings (ranking in terms of website), and
6. Bloglines (the number of subscriptions)

Flaming Lime
Originally uploaded by Jonathan Haas

I’d like to congratulate the Chair of the Australia Marketing Institute for such an articulate and educate response to Geoffrey’s article.

Roger James’ response highlights the fundamental problem with our Institute. Australia’s leading marketing professional body lacks any real credibility; it has no vision of the future, it’s bland and does not connect with the vast majority of marketers, in Australia.

Our Institute leaders have failed to respect the needs of all its members, who just want to be heard. Roger James seems to have a George Bush attitude of you are with us or you are against us.

I see Geoffrey’s comments as a marketer who is passionate about our Institute and the broader marketing community. As a marketer and an Institute member, I expect all comments or complaints to be embraced and celebrated, NOT ridiculed or labelled as a hunched back whinger. I especially have concerns when these words come straight from our Institute Chair.

Roger James is proud to talk about our Institute’s growth, but HELLO! The stark reality is that our Institute has had little growth over the last tens years. It’s your numbers! It has only attracted 10% of professional marketer’s living and working in Australia.

Roger James must be proud that 90% of all professional marketers living and working in Australia have never heard of the Institute or even worse, decided it’s not worth joining. I call it failure. God help Roger James if Gordon Ramsey visited the Institute’s Oval Office.

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The people at Australia’s leading Marketing magazine recently launched their new online presence with a promise "no one will be disappointed."

Well I think they succeeded.

Clearly, marketingmag.com.au is aiming to become the online home for Australia’s marketing community…not competition there! Sorry, I had to have another dig at Australia’s peak marketing body, Australian Marketing Institute.

Even after all the launch hype, these guys and girls have definitely taken a leap forward into the interactive world. What was previously a very boring web 1.0 site, now offers dedicated online space for Australian marketers to discuss daily industry news, to argue or agree with other bloggers and to share insight and opinion about the Australian marketing community.

This is unlike other Australian marketing sites which tend to censor even the simplest of user comment. Please view how not to do it…

marketingmag.com.au, also reports on a diverse range of marketing sectors, including direct marketing, branding, advertising, digital marketing and recruitment.

Its simple to use and pages load quickly. From my perspective, its a very good site. I’ve already had a taste of posting comments and participate in some lively debate. It may not be the flashiest site in the world, but its offers interactivity, collaboration and information.

Its worth a visit…