In his latest Stray Thoughts column, Breandán O Broin writes on why he believes Irish poet Brendan Kennelly deserves to be honoured as a national treasure We don’t have an honours list in Ireland; we are a proud republic, not a suppliant monarchy. But we do have the rank of laureate where we honour our writers […]
Articles Archive
Playing fair with interns
Colm Carey on why agencies should act responsibly when hiring interns Two major issues often concern people starting out on their chosen careers. One is getting a permanent job that takes them out of the gig economy, the other is getting a permanent roof over their head. The two needs are strongly connected. It cannot […]
MEC more than content
David Hayes, left, on why MEC’s Wavemaker gives media a new surge If there is one thing David Hayes is certain about in Irish media is that the old, reliable spot ad is dead and gone – or, at best, in a coma. Media agencies need to completely rethink how they operate and what it […]
Display ads could implode
Shane O’Leary on why the display ads bubble might be about to burst It was all supposed to be so different. Digital display advertising was supposed to be the big change for marketing. It would allow marketeers target effectively, measure concisely and ensure that the old adage of ‘half of my budget is wasted, I […]
Integrated take on RTE ads
Luke Reaper (pictured left) responds to a critique on a recent recall study for RTÉ At B&A, we do not normally comment on articles, but feel compelled to do so concerning Ruth Payne’s evaluation of our RTÉ research study in the March issue. In November last year, B&A conducted a piece of primary research for RTÉ […]
Crisis in adland? John Fanning says no
In an analysis of the advertising business, John Fanning writes on why the death of the agency has been greatly exaggerated It is now nearly 50 years since an ad appeared in the Sunday Times proclaiming that the advertising agency as we knew it was dead, that a new model was needed and that two […]
Measuring recall
Ruth Payne on why she finds fault with a new RTE media recall study Having recently attended RTE’s ‘The Power of Integration’ presentation, I was left feeling a little under-whelmed. The premise of the study was that running an ad on different platforms increases the likelihood of recall, cut through and buying intent. The research […]
Men at work
Colm Carey considers gender equality, reputation and shopping trends Gender equality at work and at home is a hot topic at both a macro and micro level. At the macro level, official policy is to have a fair representation of men and women at all levels in the workplace. At the micro level it comes […]
Tech savvy
Cera Ward, left, on selling Google and gender balance in adland Google has overtaken Apple to become the world’s most valuable brand. In a sign of the times, tech-related brands dominate the most valuable index with Amazon, Microsoft, Samsung and Facebook among other companies included in Global Finance’s rankings. Google’s value rose by 24 per cent last […]
Selfie power
Neil Douglas asks are young Irish consumers more self-obsessed than ever? In research we hear a lot of people saying it is a generational shift and that millennials are self-obsessed. It is certainly tempting to see the selfie as a modern expression of narcissism. But rather than narcissism, we believe that what we are simply […]
Finding a balance in adland
Shane O’Leary tries to broker peace by finding common ground in adland’s debate between nerds and artists. Should data really take precedence over the big idea? The battle lines have been drawn, sides are being chosen and the world is polarising. On one side, you have the ‘data is the future’ proponents. To them, data […]
Paul Farrell stays connected
Michael Cullen asks Paul Farrell about being left to his own devices at Virgin Paul Farrell may have caught some people in marketing by surprise when he joined Liberty Global’s Virgin Media as vice president – commercial from Davy last July. Given his earlier job roles, at WorldCom/Verizon and 02, there is little reason to be […]
Should creative or media lead?
Bonfire copywriter Lee Richardson considers the age-old conumdrum Should the design of advertising campaigns be led by media or creative strategies? It is a question which has dogged adland for many years. There are good reasons to choose both. Why go with a media-led strategy? By giving media the lead role, the client stays within budget, even […]
