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

In business today if you don't add value or have a unique offering or experience then you risk becoming either commoditised, disintermediated or both.  That equals either reduced margins or lost sales.

Every business needs customers and sales.  In the old days of strong conventional media influence (TV, radio, print) there was a direct relationship between advertising spend and sales.  This benefited big brands and advertising industry "wizardry" model.  Brands were at the centre of the circle. In todays increasingly fragmented media landscape that model no longer stands true.  

The Customer is at the centre of the Universe - smarter, with rapid access to information, sharing and a click away.

From an advertising point of view todays consumer is less influenced by interrupt and repeat  forms of irrelevant advertising messages but increasingly influenced by trusted friend word of mouth.

Think restaurants - you've been searching for a good local Yum Cha - one day you're talking "Yum Cha" with a trusted "foodie" (note relevance) friend and they recommend a place you haven't heard of where the food is great.  Note: A point on "trusted relevance" - if my Aunt Mable who's idea of a great meal is Fast Charlies down the road then her opinion does not hold much credibility, weight or "influence".

Word of Mouth is increasingly the most important element to new buyer decision making.

Think of McDonalds and how they've effectively implemented "cradle to grave" targeted and engaged kids who influence their parents decision making - the paths of least resistance.

It is easier to market to friends then strangers.

Herein lies the challenge for all businesses to become customer centric, engaged, marketing to influence the influencers, creating tribes and a groundswell.

Five Elements of a Social Media Approach

In terms of social media then in my opinion it's very much like running a pub.

1. you need to create or meet a unique need (overall Digital Media Strategy),
2. people need to know about you (Marketing),
3. their first experience has to be great (Experience) - worth sharing,
4. you need to provide a range of tools (the technology) and content for them ("sneezers") to share
5. and then you need constantly engage with the market, service existing customers and innovate.

The 5 Elements Digital Success

1. Fast – news, ideas information spreads like wildfire
2. Easy – technology – share, implement, create
3. Personal - conversation, engagement, trust
4. Creative – be remarkable, step out side the box
5. Return on Investment

Social media questions to begin?

1. Where are you now and where do you want to be?
2. List all your current customer touch points - is it fragmented and departmentalised?  What communications channels are most used and effective? 
3. Do you have a centralised CRM (Customer Relationship Management) System - are your customers on Twitter and Facebook? How often do you talk?
4. Who are the influencers in your customers sales process and external industry experts in your market - how well do you know them? Do you read and comment on their blogs.
5. Why do your customers REALLY buy from you and what can you do to improve?

Footnote:  From "Sneezers" to "Flamers".  The local Yum Cha we'd become customer advocates "Sneezers" (about a 1/2 dozen visits in the last month) dumped us in a terrible corridor table yesterday (ie should never offer this to any customer) - a matter of being too greedy for the $$$.  We walked out, to be offerred a better table.  We ate becuase we were hungry but will never return.

Corporate Social Responsibility increases brand effectiveness (and makes you feel good)

I've been heavily involved with personal computers since I was 13 years of age - that's 30 years!  Less from a technical side and more on how it improves lives, increases sales and productivity.

During that time we've seen massive technological advancement in computing and communications and it has fundamentally changed the world we live in.  We've seen significant social and business transformation - from the old military type centralised business hierarchy models to much more flatter, localised organisational structures. 

In fact, business and social structures resemble information structures - it's all about how we connect and with whom.

And, as we move into an ever increasing connected, mobile, rich media social communications world, we will see new business and social structures emerge.

What does this mean?

Technology fundamentally increases productivity and corporate and personal transparency.  Business, government and individuals need to embrace both social responsibility and online connections to survive and thrive.

From a business marketing branding perspective, customers will increasing value corporate social responsibility in their purchasing decision making criteria.

For any new purchase most people start with search - imagine if the first story about you is bad PR!

Giving something back

A couple of months ago I was involved with producing videos for AGL's Corporate Community strategy - great stuff.

On Friday 6th March I was fortunate to be invited as a "DragonFly" for the NRL St George Dragons 2009 Season Launch.

Moving away from the traditional Season Launch and to focus on the Dragons’ commitment to community, Dragons staff, players, Immortals, Corporate Partners and key stakeholders came together to create a “perfect day” for the local community to officially launch their 2009 season.

Note: I'm sure there are a few other clubs who now congratulate the Dragons!

The theme for the Dragons 2009 launch was a “Perfect Day” based on a quote from a famous NBA Basketball Hall of Fame Coach and Player, John Wooden

“You can’t live a perfect day without doing something for someone who can never repay you” John Wooden, Basketball Hall of Fame (Coach and Player)

The Event was put together by my good friends Monique McDonald from Creative Stars Event Management www.creativestars.com.au and Louise Weaver Corporate Conscience www.corporateconscience.com.au.

I personally congratulate St George Dragons for their great vision (even if I am a one eyed Cronulla Sharks Supporter).

Well done - a perfect day!

Digital Paper Evolution

Much is said about the end of print and television - yes and no.  Of a weekend I still like to read the newspaper or magazine down the beach or the coffee shop of a morning but yes, day to day, news is mostly delivered via internet news feeds, blogs and email report subscriptions.

Like we've seen in music what we'll see is more of convergence and transformation from analogue to digital - like old vinyl records to CD to online. Conventional media will increasingly incorporate digital elements - website addresses, semacodes, interactive advertising and so on.

The hardware may change - paper vs electronic but not the central communication.

This month Esquire magazine launched a new digital cover - very cool.

Magazines in particular offer a great model for online social community engagement - they already have a central subject matter; readers and advertisers - the challenge is the transformation - to maintain advertising revenues, profits and subscriber loyalty in the highly competitive online space - online, a reader's attention may only be a click then onto something else - consumer attention is not guaranteed.

The central factor here is maintaining "customer attention"

One of the major costs to magazines is production and distribution and certainly distribution and consumer consumption habits are changing. Many magazines look a bit like Hugh Hefners old smoke jacket - not with times, a sort of Gatsby feel.

Digital production costs are decreasing and digital media will increasingly encroach across all marketing and advertising channels - from interactive billboards to eventually videos on soup cans on supermarket shelves.

I can see it now as I walk past a can of spaghetti on a supermarket shelf. "eh, maxy boy, think spag on toast tomorrow morning after you've played touch footy [noise from left] over here mate, the low fat one!"...taking it further, imagine being a bloke (or girl) trying to buy some nice lingerie for your girl.... the mind boggles...back to subject.