╠ Infotalk? Or just Telstra talk? ╣

I noticed an Infotalk ad on TV a few weeks ago, basically it was another 'Brand Power' style ad however this time for technology. What they basically do is act as a third party and say 'We looked into it and like this company.' The problem with this however is they usually fail to mention 'By the way they paid us to say that.' Of course it is kind of stand out if you're a bit cluey but it does work on some.

On a basic level it is deceiving, it's buying credibility as opposed to actually earning it. To prove how sketchy some of these companies are Gen Y podcast discovered that the company What's New(Not the retail store) ran a product of the year competition where if you got shortlisted you owed them $5,000 and if you won you owed them even more in order to be able to advertise that you won. That's right, they actually ran a competition where if you even placed, you owed them money. Now obviously there is value in saying you won and that's why brands enter and are willing to fork up, but overall it doesn't seem quite as accurate and unbiased product of the year competition when you start to expose it bit by bit.

Now what got me about Infotalk is that it's only done one brand, Telstra. I waited for about a month to see if this changed in any way, see if they mentioned any other brands to give them credibility, however the site still appears as you see it above as just a push for Telstra. I dn't know if it will change in the future but my suspicion is that Telstra may have been responsible for propositioning the brand power group in order to make a brand power that was more suitable for their market.

I personally think some of these ads border on lying to consumers when they make sure to appear to be independant and think something should probably be done about it. What are your thoughts?

╠ Etiwhat Stadium? ╣

On one of my various trips via a delayed Connex train I noticed a new tag on the seemingly confused Telstra Dome which has had so many name changes since its opening it almost seems like an unloved child. I'd like to take some time to go through some of the names. Odds are I've forgotten some it's happened that many times.

First off was Colonial Stadium which started out just plain confusing because I'm not too sure of others but personally I'd never heard of Colonial and therefore took no interest. The other problem with this was the increasing issues that arose. The docklands ground seemed to face issue after issue with no relief in sight which whilst putting Colonial's name in the spotlight, it leads to horrible brand association.

The second name I can remember is the recent one of Telstra Dome. Now this name I believe worked. The brand was already established so it was just every single mention was advertising that you knew...however what I see being the problem with this was that it could only last so long. It went from being TELSTRA Dome to Telstra Dome. When talking about sport Telstra was a ground, not a phone company. So the value detereorated over time until I suspect it was no longer worth it.

Now comes Etihad. Personally I don't understand the value in unknown companies getting into such advertising. I may be wrong and it may be a popuar brand but nobody I know actually knows what Etihad is (They're in the air travel business btw). When you go in like this all you get is a name and sure it gets your name known but if people don't know what you do is it really worth it? I haven't researched enough to know which part of the air travel market they're a part of but apart from that 'Oh that's who they are!' factor I don't see much in it.

Another factor is that it is an international company trying to put the tag name on something that will predominantly be used for events that promote the Australian spirit and again I don't know others but my first thought when seeing the name was of rejecting it for trying to find such an easy way to break into the hearts of patriotic Australians without actually being Australian.

Personally I think the name is a mistake and perhaps even a waste. Personally I'd like to see something that was at least somewhat related to something to do with the actual events held there. Nike Stadium perhaps? Even something loosely related that is sold on the premises? Coke Stadium?

I'm not sure if it is the stadium selling itself short or Etihad paying too much but I certainly feel like there could have been a more overall profitable agreement happen here.

What do you all think? Is Etihad Stadium a mistake?