The fight for PR turf, secrets of successful campaigns, free speech and ad bans to be discussed at Mumbrella360
Senior executives from The ABC, Fairfax Media, News Corp and Bauer Media and top ECDs from Droga5, The Special Group and 303 Lowe are among the final panellists to be announced for Mumbrella360, which takes place in a fortnight’s time.
Steve Coll, ECD at Droga 5, at Mumbrella 360 last year
The full lineup for four more panels have been released today. They cover the fight for what was traditionally media agency turf, how advertising is regulated, the realities of free speech and the secrets of a great creative campaign.
In The Great Convergence, panellists will debate the changing battle for agency turf. The debate was inspired by UM boss Mat Baxter’s declaration that his company was no longer a media agency and would be in a position to fight for earned media against traditional PR agencies. At the time, his claims were rebutted by the Group CEO and founder of PR agency One Green Bean and ad agency Host, Anthony Freedman, who will be on the panel.
do you really have to give creedence to UM’s unsustantiated and prima facie absurd proposition that they’re going to become a PR player? they’ll have no more luck at this than the ad agencies who’ve tried it … in the case of the latter, they’ve only garnered earned media by backing it with a big ad-style budget that’s unheard of in real PR-land (eg Best Job in the World was seeded by ads and the job itself was a paid position)
Best Job was seeded with recruitment ads – hardly big budget.
There are numerous other examples of PR led campaigns coming from ad agencies – MJ Bale springs to mind and that had no ads.
The thing about PR is that it is changing – current PR agencies need to invest to change with it whilst at the same time some of the smarter ad agencies are investing in it.
Who will get there first? Depends on who gets the good talent and has the clear airspace to succeed.