Maxys Max Media and Entertainment

About the Event

It is forecast over 90% of future Internet traffic will be video - covering everything from entertainment and advertising to health and education.

Australians now spend more time online than watching television and as we know media is increasingly fragmented. Today customer attention is scarce - you have an average 12.5 seconds on a website to capture attention and generate a call to action.

This group discusses developing effective digital media communications - from clients all the way to vendor solutions.

Each month commencing at 5PM sharp and running for an hour we'll hold an informative but social meetup group bringing together a wide mix of people covering film and video professionals; actors, presenters, sales, advertising and marketing people, Internet technologists, investors and clients.

Each month we'll have short presentations/ interview followed by short Q&A, drinks and offline social networking.
This month

We've all suffered "death by Powerpoint".
This months CLIVE-ALIVE event will focus on "effective online communication" and creating engaging content.

Our special guest speakers this month will be -

* Rose Fulete, National Advertising Sales Manager, CMPMedica (www.mydr.com.au)
* Scott Maxworthy, CEO Max Media and Entertainment & Chris Schwager, Creative Director RidgeFilms
* Jo Wilton - Professional Presenter
* Andrew Brain, General Manager, Virtual Communications - a clients perspective

From Bricks to Clicks and back again

I'm sitting in a non descript coffee shop in Melbourne putting together some thoughts on Internet Retailing, a smiling waitress brings my coffee and BLT across to "table 23".

As we know the only reason a business exists is to service a customer - the rest, accounting, production, operations etc is just how you achieve that position.

"God this is good!", the sandwich I've just bitten into is fresh - it melts in my mouth.  I sip my coffee "ohhhh fantastic".  That's what I love about Melbourne, 9/10 times you get a great coffee - whether it's the weather being cooler than Sydney or just greater competition raising the standard?  Who knows?

From a retail marketing perspective - Yes online social media has fundamentally changed corporate communications and the advertising landscape BUT the fundamentals of customer service are still the same.

Most business simply treat the web like a brochure - smart internet retailers treat it like a store.

Why do less than 40% of small businesses have a website?  Why are most websites boring?

Most websites don't engage with their visitor, they're boring and driven by technologists not business owners.

"Hi Max, would you like another coffee?"  

Hmmm, the only way they knew my name was when I ordered 40 minutes ago - nice personal touch.   I speak with the owner, there are over 150 coffee shops within a 500m radius - every small details counts - word of mouth is critical. Customers now travel several blocks.

With so many web developers and new media gurus out there it makes you naturally ask the question how many have ever run a real bricks n mortar business dealing face to face with a demanding public?

Key point to understand is that social media technologies are just a series of new tools, like a carpenter has a nail gun and electric saw.  To get results you still need to know the theory to know how to knock a frame together and integrate into the rest of the building.

The new web is social - the challenge is to engage, not force your message down everyone's throat.

The only thing really new here is the speed and ease in which people easily share good and bad experiences.

As a business you either choose to ignore or embrace your communities.

There is an investment to make in online customer engagement and most businesses don't get it.  Business need to realise that today many new customer first impressions and interactions are through their website and with average conversions of 1% (and best practice of 15%) there certainly is room for improvement.

Drive from a customer perspective - a builder has to follow an architects plans - an engineer makes sure it's structure is sound. 

The architect designs based on the clients (your) needs and desires - not what is going to win them an award!

Many businesses will not get results of their online programs because of poorly thought through strategy and selection. 

How does your website connect with the rest of your marketing and corporate communications?

More: HOW TO: 7 Ways to Survive in Internet Retailing

The challenge for retailers is to make their websites as engaging as their stores (should be).

One thing about the digital media space is that it is never boring - there is constant innovation and learning but at the end of the day it's all about communications - which is people talking with people.

Digital communications is now embedded into all our lives - from your mobile phone, conventional email through to blogs, Facebook and Twitter.

As the NBN (National Broadband Network) pipe expands so will the range of digital products and services on offer.  In fact,  Australian's spend more time on the Internet than watching TV or with any other media (Neilsen/ Love Digital)

Video on demand, IPTV, peer-to-peer (P2P) video, and Internet video are forecast to account for nearly 90 percent of all consumer IP traffic in 2012 (Cisco), more importantly around those video elements will be a myriad of interactive services - many of which we haven't thought of yet - health, education, entertainment and so on.

The economy of tomorrow will be connected by this high speed network connecting Australian customers and businesses to the global market.  At the moment Australia is ranked about 18th in the world and we are about 1% of the global GDP marketplace.   The potential opportunity is substantial.

Australia has the potential to be world leaders - in fact the US is already looking at what we've done with the NBN but the answer is more than infrastructure - ie like power poles are to electricity - it's how you use and create that counts and with limited capital that requires strategy and focus.

If Australia is going to compete on the world market then we need to not only develop the technical infrastructure but the skills development, effective capital investment framework, digital media strategy and thought leadership for the next wave of Aussie entrepreneurs.

Design - From the broad to the specific

Like a lump of clay on a spinning wheel the Australia's Most Influential Photo project is beginning to take shape.

With any new idea you need to start with a broad idea in mind, let it spin and take shape. 

What do you want to do?  What is the objective of the exercise?  How will success be measured?

Objectives

• Increase awareness of CLIVE and generate sales.
• Incorporate online social media marketing into the marketing process and use as a case study.
• Incorporate my photography (particularly portraits) interests into customer engagement process (build photography skills and customers).
• Start now

Action

So, what have we done today.

1. Further conceptualisation of the project.
2. Created a website page for the project.
3. Created an Influencer submit form on the CLIVE website (using RSFORMS) for people to submit.
4. Created a Flickr Group
   
5. Created this blog entry - this will automatically feed into Twitter, then into my Facebook; RSS feeds etc.

What to do next?

1. Fire these links off to a few friends and start to get a bit of traction.  Note to self:  This is not a short term project so it is going to take a year or two to really evolve.
2. Short-list my own influencers and contact them (this will enable me to work through the next part of the process).
3. Develop some database reports and marketing ideas