Tag: Melbourne city

Outdoor Advertising in Melbourne

May 4, 2009 • • 3 comments

In a city like Melbourne where the streets are often chock full of people, it is important for brands to invest in outdoor marketing to gain visibility, awareness and affinity, especially those targeting end consumers. Depending on the objective of the advertiser, these can be highly brand-oriented without any calls for action or be tactical and hard-selling if they are focused on specific groups.

Due to the limited amount of time which one has to glance at them, outdoor advertising creatives and messages must be immediately impactful and to capture one’s attention in the blink of an eye. They should be easy to digest and readily appreciate by the (literally) man-in-the-street. Creatives that are too visually cluttered or that contain too clever messages tend to get lost in the sea of images, failing to resonate with one’s potential target audience in a highly competitive market.

Here are some advertisements that I came across recently while taking a walk through the city. Do feel free to give me your views on whether they work or don’t work for you.

Alleys, Alcoves and Alcohol

March 27, 2009 • • no comments

Through the kind invitation of Tim Richards (who incidentally has a nice travel blog here called Aerohaveno), I had the privilege of visiting two of Melbourne’s famous street pubs and bars, located off the side streets from the junction of busy Elizabeth Street and Little Bourke Street. According to Tim, there are some 200 to 300 of these pubs and clubs located throughout the city. Like Singapore’s Boat Quay and Clarke Quay watering holes, many occupied previously disused warehouses, government buildings, and offices, and gave these cobbled recesses a new lease of life as F&B outlets.

Many of these bars are pretty modest outfits. The one I visited only had one or two staff manning the bar counter. However, they apparently have a fiercely loyal clientele, and I understand that the crowd usually moves in on Fridays and Saturdays. While these places weren’t overflowing to the gills during my bar hopping on a Wednesday night, there were a couple of customers.

The Madness Behind Hollywood’s Greatest Movie

March 17, 2009 • Blog • no comments

Set in 1939, Ron Hutchinson’s Moonlight and Magnolias is a comedic take on what could possibly be the true behind-the-scenes story of the making of Gone With the Wind. The premise goes like this: David O. Selznick has only five days to salvage the production of Margaret Mitchell’s bestselling novel while losing up to $50,000 a day. He enlists script guru Ben Hecht and fast rising director Victor Fleming to accomplish the task, locking them and himself in his office with only peanuts and bananas for sustenance.

Premiering at the Playhouse of the Art Centre, Melbourne Theatre Company’s production is helmed by veteran film director Bruce Beresford of academy award winning Driving Miss Daisy and Black Robe fame. Heavy on laugh-a-minute slapstick with a dash of social satire, Beresford’s tightly directed comedy benefits from the close chemistry and polished performance of the leads.

Playing main protagonist Selznick, Patrick Brammall’s energy and intensity portrays a man on a relentless mission, while Stephen Lovatt exudes the air of machismo characteristic of swaggering director Victor Fleming. Nicholas Hammond shines as cynical and calculating scriptwriter Ben Hecht, while Marg Downey’s portrays Selznick’s unflappable secretary Miss Poppenghul.

Opening on an energetic note, the production delivers memorable wisecracks and sharp repartees sprinkled with occasional physical humour. One could sense Selznick’s increasing desperation as reluctant conspirators Hecht and Fleming start bawling like kindergarten kids, and the cross-gender acting by Brammall and Lovatt scores high on hilarity. Towards the end, a distinct moral undertone could be detected as Hecht starts pontificating about racial rights while Fleming vows never to go back to his chauffeuring days.

Praise must also go to Shaun Gurton for costume and stage design, while Nigel Levings provide his expertise in the lighting design. Their painstaking attention to detail lends an air of authenticity in the recreation of a studio office set in 1930s America.

Celebrating Responsible Living

February 22, 2009 • Blog • 1 comment

As part of my long walk last weekend, I visited the Sustainable Living Festival held at Melbourne’s Federation Square just beside the Yarra River. It was a pretty interesting encounter for me and shows the extent to which environmental and social consciousness has taken root in this cosmopolitan and multi-cultural city. There were also several lessons to be learnt from my walk through the festival which may be useful for event and roadshow organisers in Singapore. They certainly pull out all of the stops to make the experience as thematic and holistic as they come – albeit in a socially responsible manner.

The only thing I can’t bring back though is the weather. Even though it is summer here in Melbourne, the temperature was a nice cool 22 to 23 deg Celcius, and the cool winds and dry weather made it even more comfortable.

Anyway, here goes…

Exploring Melbourne’s Picturesque Parks

February 21, 2009 • Blog • 2 comments

One of the reasons why I like Melbourne so far is because of its well manicured parks and gardens. In a way, the city is similar to Singapore, albeit with more stretches of greenery co-existing harmoniously with the concrete jungle. Coupled with the cool and dry weather, they make excellent locations for sport – lots of people run and cycle all hours of the day – having a picnic, having a snooze, or just reading a book or chilling with friends.

Being an outdoor person myself, I had to discover these parks and ventured on a very long walk today.

One of the first landmarks I saw on my walk through Victoria Street was this rather humorous though irreverent treatment of a former VIP of the city at a public park!