Advertising & Promotion Campaigns

Time to put a cap on misleading jargon

The Australian Financial Review
Page: 35 : 6 May 2008
Original article by Peter Moon

LexisNexis Summary: Advertising & Promotion Campaigns

The Australian telco sector is guilty of using certain phrases in a misleading way and with a meaning not usually encountered. For example, a "capped" plan does not operate with a maximum threshold of what one can be charged, but rather a minimum monthly payment with scope for significant additional costs if extra services are used. Likewise the pricing of one-minute blocks for mobile telephone users varies between plans, making comparisons on included value expressed in dollar amounts a furphy. At least regulatory action has been taken by the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission against retailer Crazy John's over claims its handsets were "free"

YoMo "bursts onto mobile ad scene"

Adbrief
Page: 1/4 : May 2008

LexisNexis Summary: Advertising & Promotion Campaigns

YoMo, a mobile TV network, has quietly starting offering its services on Australia's east coast. Discussions are being held to expand the service to Telstra hot spots elsewhere in Australia. YoMo's news and entertainment packages are financed by advertisers and streamed via Bluetooth. Danny Schwartz, founder and chairman of YoMo, says six-figure deals have already been forged with advertisers, who are "warm to hot". National Australia Bank, Boost Juice, Krispy Kreme Donuts and Foster's are among the advertisers already using YoMo

Ooh la la

Marketing
Page: 24-26/28/30-32 : April 2008
Original article by Scott Drummond

LexisNexis Summary: Advertising & Promotion Campaigns

The Australian out-of-home (OOH) advertising sector earned net media revenue of $A427 million in 2007, with 2007 the fifth year of growth in a row. Of OOH's four categories - street furniture; large format; transit; and posters - only the last category recorded less than double-digit growth in 2007. One of the OOH sector's biggest developments in recent years will take place in late 2008 with the launch of its first industry-wide measurement system, Measurement of Outdoor Visibility and Exposure (MOVE)

Products & Services

Using our brains to connect with games of future

The Australian
Page: 31 : 6 May 2008
Original article by Mahesh Sharma

LexisNexis Summary: Products & Services

An Australian company has created a truly remarkable headset. Emotiv Systems has created the EPOC, which uses sensors and non-invasive electroencephalogram technology to "listen" to the electrical signals produced by the brain. The device will allow the user to play computer games using the brain as controller. The headset synchronises thoughts with 30 actions, such as pushing an object. The EPOC headset engages with the brain to read facial expressions, monitors emotions in the brain and allows the mind to give instructions. Emotiv employs some 50 staff, spread between Sydney and San Francisco in the US. The EPOC headset will be launched in the US for Christmas 2008 and it will cost around $US299 ($A318). The company believes that the EPOC also has applications in medicine, education and robotics

E-Business

Online car advertiser stalls float plans

The Australian Financial Review
Page: 15 : 6 May 2008
Original article by Neil Shoebridge

LexisNexis Summary: E-Business

Australian online advertising business, Carsales.com.au, has delayed its listing. It had planned a float in May or June 2008. This has been postponed because of the state of financial markets, but is expected to take place later in the year. PBL Media, which holds a 49.6 per cent stake, said that it did not plan to reduce its holding. The company posted a 50.2 per cent rise in revenue to $A32 million in the half year to December 2007

Woolworths checks out Facebook

The Australian Financial Review
Page: 1/34 : 6 May 2008
Original article by Ben Woodhead

LexisNexis Summary: E-Business

Woolworths is to begin a new online push, perhaps through social networking sites such as Facebook. Although Woolworths is notoriously secretive, on 5 May 2008 the CIO, David Beecham, indicated that the Australian-listed retail company has begun constructing internet shopping services from its annual IT budget of $A200 million. Since April 2008, some supermarkets have had self-serve check-outs. The company has developed an enterprise merchandising system that incorporates international taxation regimes and foreign currency transactions. Beecham wants retail to be central to consumers' lives and will invest in new purpose-built IT sites in Sydney, which will increase computing capacity four-fold

RBA may oppose eBay's PayPal plan

Inside Retailing
Page: 2-3 : 28 April 2008

LexisNexis Summary: E-Business

"The Sydney Morning Herald" claims the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) may oppose eBay's plan to make all buyers and sellers use PayPal. According to the media report, opposition from the RBA would almost certainly force the online auction house to abandon the plan. The RBA does not want competition to lessen in the payment systems market. The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission is investigating whether stipulating that all eBay purchases (bar cash-on-delivery transactions) must be paid via PayPal violates competition and trade practices laws. PayPal is owned by eBay

Marketing Strategy

Chartwell bosses face criminal charges

The Age
Page: A2 : 6 May 2008
Original article by Simon Mann

LexisNexis Summary: Marketing Strategy

Chartwell Enterprises was described as a classic pyramid selling scheme by administrator Bruno Secatore on 5 May 2008. Secatore said he had never before come across an outfit such as Chartwell, with no money invested on behalf of clients since 2006. Two key executives behind the company, Ian Rau and Graeme Hoy, are expected to face criminal charges after allegedly spending around $A2 million on home renovations and trading while insolvent

Franchisors' questionable conduct

The Australian Financial Review
Page: 18 : 6 May 2008
Original article by Damien Lynch

LexisNexis Summary: Marketing Strategy

The Australian competition regulator has all but ruled out changes to the definition of unconscionable conduct as defined in the Trade Practices Act. Speaking in May 2008, Australian Competition & Consumer Commission chair, Graeme Samuel, said although "churning" does occur within the franchising sector, the practice is "not endemic" and "not a matter that is rife". Churning refers to the practice whereby franchisors repeatedly sell the same franchise site, despite knowing it will not be successful. University of New South Wales Australian School of Business franchising expert, Frank Zumbo, said in April 2008 that unconscionable conduct allegations were too difficult to prove

Global rebranding for Grant Thornton

Marketing
Page: 15 : April 2008

LexisNexis Summary: Marketing Strategy

Accounting and professional services firm Grant Thornton has undergone the biggest rebranding exercise since the early 1980s. The branding revamp, which applies to websites, annual reports, advertising, stationery and brochures, was undertaken by Pentagram. Clare Taylor, a senior executive at Grant Thornton in Australia, claims the rebranding helps to distinguish the company from rival accounting firms, and also challenges "conventional perceptions about accounting firms"

Australia Post releases Easy Peel option

Marketing
Page: 15 : April 2008

LexisNexis Summary: Marketing Strategy

Russell Shewan claims Australia Post's new Easy Peel product has the potential to revolutionise direct mail in Australia. According to Shewan, Australia Post's national innovation and strategy manager at eLetter Solutions, the technology will greatly increase the number of organisations that can undertake direct mail campaigns. The Easy Peel technology hails from Japan, where it has proven so popular that it now accounts for 16 per cent of all Japanese mail. Easy Peel costs around the same to produce as a post card.

World piece

Marketing
Page: 16-20/22 : April 2008
Original article by Maria Nguyen

LexisNexis Summary: Marketing Strategy

The history of Lego, twiced named as the "Toy of the Century", dates back to 1932. It was then that Danish carpenter Ole Kirk Kristiansen first started making wooden toys, naming his toy company Lego two years later. However, it was not until 1958 that one of his sons patented the now-famous Lego brick building system. John Peddie, who came to Australia in 1962 from Lego's UK office to launch the new toy, was told by Sydney retailers that Lego would never sell because of the Australian outdoor lifestyle

Closing the loop

Marketing
Page: 44-49 : April 2008
Original article by Barry Young

LexisNexis Summary: Marketing Strategy

Changes to the way Australians consume media have increased the importance of point-of-purchase (POP) marketing. This is the view of Phil Smith, the CEO of Adval Australia, who says research indicates that consumers are 47 per cent more likely to buy a product with a POP campaign linked to it than without. Smith says a good POP campaign centres around understanding consumer needs. Research conducted by the Point-of-Purchase Advertising Institute indicates that around 70 per cent of brand decisions are made at the point of sale

The self-made dream

Marketing
Page: 60-61 : April 2008
Original article by Brett Lowe

LexisNexis Summary: Marketing Strategy

Australia has over two million registered businesses, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Of these, 92 per cent have annual turnover of less than $A2 million, so there is clearly lot of competition among small business. It is said there are three basic laws of business: a product or service to sell at a margin; a group of consumers prepared to buy the product or service; and a marketing campaign of sufficient skill to ensure the product or service will be bought on a number of occasions. Many small businesses appear to be ignoring the third rule, claiming that marketing is too expensive

Why most insurance marketing fails

Marketing
Page: 72-73 : April 2008
Original article by Malcolm Auld

LexisNexis Summary: Marketing Strategy

Most consumers see basic insurance like car or house insurance as a "grudge purchase". They do not want to buy cover but feel obliged to. Consumers either buy insurance when they have acquired something they believe needs insuring or when a current policy is being renewed. Insurance marketing tends to be very "hit and miss", but one way the chances of success can be boosted is to stage a competition for which one of the conditions of entry is the supply of the renewal date for the contestant's particular insurance policy

Turning bills into billboards

Marketing
Page: 92-93 : April 2008
Original article by Chad Pearce

LexisNexis Summary: Marketing Strategy

Trans-promotional marketing is one of the more notable developments in direct marketing in recent years. It involves combining marketing messages into a customer's bill or statement, and is considered much more effective than the traditional insertion of marketing material into the envelope that contains the bill. Not only are bills studied for quite some time when received, often by a number of householders, they are often then placed on the fridge or similar, thereby providing ongoing exposure to the message on the bill

Consumer Behaviour

Humble ute king of the road

The Sydney Morning Herald
Page: 1 : 6 May 2008
Original article by Joshua Dowling

LexisNexis Summary: Consumer Behaviour

The Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries has issued its latest data on vehicle sales in Australia. The figures for the month of April 2008 show that Toyota's Hilux utility truck, or "ute", model was the best-selling car overall, beating the family sedan stalwarts of Commodore and Falcon by GM Holden and Ford respectively. Utes are becoming more popular with non-commercial users who use them to transport large leisure equipment loads, and the vehicles are also selling in greater numbers due to the resources boom. Year-on-year, sales of all cars have grown 5%, while those of utes expanded at twice that rate

Platforms: are they the Facebooks of tomorrow?

Money Management
Page: 24-25/27 : 1 May 2008
Original article by Virginia O'Farrell

LexisNexis Summary: Consumer Behaviour

Australian financial planners who can attract clients when they are still part of Generation Y (Gen Y) can potentially have them as clients for decades to come. Although many Gen Yers have high disposable income, they also have high levels of debt and many are poor money managers. When it comes to the service they expect from planners, members of Gen Y appreciate the personal touch, 24 hour access to information about their investments, and lots of investment choice. They also rely a lot of advice from their friends when it comes to choosing a new product or service