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Culture Jamming. Anti-Monopoly. Alternative to. Pro-Competitive. Sharing. Media Watching.

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You know Mazda, I only say this because I love you, but what have you done?

With Ford and Volkswagon releasing fantastic looking utes fairly recently, why have you done this to yourselves.

The Ssanyong in the pic above has been seen as one of the most disastrous design flops of all time. The problem for Mazda is that their new ute bears a more than passing resemblance to the failed Korean monstrosity.

Maybe it'll look better in the flesh. Maybe. God I hope so.

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As their advertisements keep on harping - the NAB aren't part of the old timer banking crowd. Instead they show they're part of the "Scumbank" crowd by not passing on the whole .25% interest rate cut.

Nice. And this on top of a $5.5 billion dollar full year profit.

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Is Telstra Worth The Extra Cost?

So here's my gripe. It's about Telstra. Yes they're the big kid, with the big coverage. They have the speed. They have the best uniforms in their stores. But.

What's with their pricing?

Optus have been advertising the Samsung Galaxy S2 for the last 6 days or so - $49 per month plan. It'll probably be back up to a $59 per month plan by the time you read this. Good price I reckon. Their network covers 97% of the population according to their propaganda. Nice, especially for a city boy like me.

On the other hand is Telstra. Superior rural coverage is a plus but the price of their mobiles is exorbitant. For the very same Galaxy S2 they are stinging their customers $79 per month for the privilege. Doing some serious mathematical calculations leads me to believe that I'll be paying $720 extra over a two year contract compared to the $49 Optus offerering.

Why Telstra, why?

Probably because a lot of you are willing to pay.

Stop it will you!

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Poker Machine Pre-commitment Is Bunk

In a fit of righteousness, Australian politicians are set to force the club industry into a corner by instituting a precommitment limit to their poker machines.

While the "hows" have not been fully ironed out the "whys" are out in the open. In a nutshell a few "holier than thous" are looking out for the unfortunates.

All well and good, but there are grand issues with this:

Why are the few dictating to the many. This is not representative of the majority as it should be in an elected system. Why do one or two politicians wield so much power?

Do we really need to have our gambling habits recorded. Pre-commitment would require tracking via some sort of identity card. There are issues of privacy. Should we also submit to the government our drinking and smoking habits?

Will the club itself be forced to carry the cost of upgrading poker machines and maintaining the tracking systems? Clubs in Victoria have already paid exorbitant sums for their poker machines and this could be too much for some clubs.

Will the casinos be enforcing pre-commitment? What about the roulette tables? Although a large proportion of problem gamblers are losing too much to poker machines there is an undeniable contribution made by alternative gambling - casinos, online, the tote.

Are we not responsible for ourselves? If the government is forced to hold our hands when it comes to gambling surely they should force us to pre-commit to exercise, maximum calorie intakes and booze quotas.

In a nutshell this pre-commitment cannot occur. It violates our free will. It will cost jobs and increase government expense. It will send gamblers to online sites that cannot be made safe. Let's all get a little real.

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Oscar's Law & The Bull Terrier.

Fear is a bitch. It sells papers, keeps trashy "current affair" style television running and now it's putting one of my mate's freedom at risk.

Here's the thing. My mate is an English Staffordshire Bull terrier and the recent press coverage over dangerous dogs has risen to a moronic fervor. Newspapers like Melbourne's Herald-Sun have splashed images of dogs, bare toothed, across their pages in an attempt to sell their wares.

A few of days ago they had a large spread detailing how Joe Public could identify the "dangerous" American pit bull breed. I read through the description and my dog ticked off all of the major features. Weight, wrinkled brow, tail, build - check. So now everyone unaware of the differences between English Staffordshires and American Pit bulls will think them one and the same. Nice.

Staffordshire Bull terriers, if you don't know, are a truly remarkable breed. Often called the "nanny" dog due to their love of children. They are energetic, amazingly friendly, easily trained and useless as guard dogs (they are way too trusting). They are the descendants of the fighting dogs of old but, over a hundred years of selective breeding, have retained the muscles but discarded the battling temperament.

So instead of creating hysteria, the government and the media should take a responsible approach to the situation. They need to:

Take a peek at Oscar's Law. Puppy farming reinforces bad traits in all dogs and promotes genetic flaws. Perhaps all dogs bred for sale need to come from a registered, accredited and educated breeder - perhaps TAFE qualified.

Focus more on the requirements and responsibilities of pet ownership.

Stop targeting certain breeds. I've seen more bites by smaller breeds like Pekingese than any big dog. These small breeds can still crush bones with their teeth. Don't be "dogist" alright!

Let us know your thoughts. Do you agree? Do you disagree? Are we on the money or on the nose?

Cheers.

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Commercial Mystique - A Formula For Success?

There really has to be a commodity called “Commercial Mystique”. Perhaps it could be defined in an equation along with product momentum and a mysterious factor-x. Products like the iPad and the iPhone have it. The Collingwood AFL club has it. But to garner this commercial mystique you can’t apply the same factor-x as anyone else. Each industry is different. Each segment of the same industry is different. To beat your opposition you have to find that one unique factor and make it your own - it’s then amazingly difficult for your opponent to overtake you.

The Collingwood football club’s factor-x is most likely a combination of Eddie McGuire’s ability to occupy media interest and the commercial interest that comes with the possibility of media exposure. Teams like North Melbourne, Richmond and Footscray just can’t summon enough of this factor-x to make a dent in Collingwood’s success. Unfortunately it’s been shown that wealth and football department expenditure equal success as shown by Collingwood’s impressive form over the last couple of years.

Apple Inc is the obvious target for chatter about commercial mystique. Their products are undeniably pretty but functionally disabled when they’re compared to their opposition. The standard lines are that products like the iPad and iPhone are too closed. You can only install software that’s been vetted by Apple. You can’t use memory cards to expand storage. All valid points but at the end of the day Apple Inc’s factor-x has made them the company selling the most popular smartphones and tablets.   So what is Apple Inc’s factor-x? Choice and OS ecology. It’s a no brainer. Apple gives you the choice of memory size and 1 operating system. Done. Dusted. The major oppositions give you multiple choices and it becomes confusing. Android offers a multitude of handset manufacturers with customised operating systems and processor speeds. The OS itself is fragmented heavily. The Microsoft OS for phones, whilst elegant, just doesn’t have the backing of the hardware manufacturers. So if you want a new tablet and phone you can choose fragmented and confusing or go with the reliable, simple, interoperable offerings from Apple Inc. But what about the departure of the soul of Apple, Steve Jobs? This will make no difference at all. Taking a peak at the share prices this morning, Apple Inc has dropped just over 0.5%. A mere sniffle. If you believe that Jobs was the brains behind Apple then you’d have to believe that his succession plan took this into account. If you thought Apple was more than 1 man then what’s the worry. The factor-x will carry on. So what can the opposition do to battle the commercial mystique, product momentum and factor-x of the biggest players in their sector? Easy as 1, 2, 3 I reckon.

Listen to the pundits - they are the thought leaders in each industry. They influence. They reason. They point out the faults. They own the communication channels.

Make it simple - make your product the simple choice. 500 models does not maketh an easy choice. People often buy in groups - father recommends to son and the brand loyalty remains. Make it too complicated and you’ll fragment these groups.

Don’t take your customer for a fool - bad comments are 10 times as sticky as good ones. Loyalty is built on goodwill.

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Speak to us!

Just a quick note to kick us off.

If you've been annoyed by surreptitious advertising, feeling manipulated by the "media", company's that are taking the proverbial p*ss, or things that are generally underhanded - let us know!

We're here to talk about these sort of topics, generally venting spleens, and pointing out the wrongs that, in our opinion, need righting.

The easiest way to speak to us us to do the twitter thing.

We are at @subvertised - DM us. Mention us. We'll have a chat. Let's do some "Culture Jamming".