July 28, 2008 at 11:01 am · Filed under America, Media Industry
The US Presidential race looks like a one hose race if the media coverage is to believed. This weekend newspapers devoted extensive coverage to Barrack Obama addressing 200,000 people in Berlin. At the same time John McCain went grocery shopping with a mother and her children - then stopped by a wiener stand. Earlier in the week he was photographed driving in a golf cart with former president Bush (the first one).
Comparing the two images it’s not hard to see who is the media’s darling. When Obama travelled the Middle East news anchors were flown in to host live coverage from each stop. That same week McCain had an Op-Ed refused by “The New York Times.”
This won’t be an election - it’s shaping up to be a landslide.
Yet in the months that await the general election, Obama has to manage his campaign. If it’s presumed he’ll win then supporters won’t bother to vote. And McCain can use he underdog status to his advantage - so long as he’s not driven to the polls by an old man in a golf cart.
July 23, 2008 at 9:30 am · Filed under Media Industry
“Who” magazine has the formula. “Vanity Fair” was dragged back from extinction by Tina Brown by mimicking the same approach. Celebrities sell magazines. Increasingly, they sell newspapers and boost television ratings.
Earlier this month Pamela Lee Anderson was in Australia for a guest appearance on Channel Ten’s “Big Brother” show. While filming on the Gold Coast she took a petition to the local branch of Kentucky Fried Chicken to protest the treatment of pre-meal chickens. Her entrance to the fast food outlet received a 1/4 page in “The Australian.” Of course the photo of her in a low-cut top featured prominently.
Last weekend the latest installment of Batman broke box office records. Last night star Christian Bale was questioned for hours in a local police station as his mother and sister accused him of assault. He was released without charge.
Channel Nine evening news has morphed into a celebrity roll-call each night. August publications like “The Australian” dedicate large swathes of space to starlets delivering animal rights messages. Radio National on ABC brings assault accusations to the top of the hour news broadcast.
It’s not fair to fault the media. They are delivering what consumers want. In a constant race for better ratings, news outlets fill up with the material consumers want. And if we’d prefer stars to hard news then that’s what we’ll get.
July 16, 2008 at 1:31 pm · Filed under Australia
We’re Catholic Central in Sydney today - World Youth Day kicked off last night with an opening mass for 100,000 pilgrims. The even was filled to capacity before the first homily was spoken. Thousands mor were turned away.
This world record mass for Sydney will stand for a few days - on Sunday 500,000 are expected for the Pope’s mass at Randwick in Sydney.
On the streets there’s a wonderful buzz. People are smiling and clapping and shouting hello. There are flag bearers from every nation. While traffic is chaos and normal city life has come to a halt it’s all for a good cause.
Enjoy Sydney, pilgrims! Just make sure you leave it as clean and beautiful as you found it!
July 16, 2008 at 12:03 pm · Filed under Australia
We’re leaving Commonwealth Bank after five years, and have refinanced our home with Westpac. I realise there’s little difference in service levels today. Instead we shopped for the best product fit.
What was interesting was the call I received yesterday from the “Customer Retention Unit” at Commonwealth Bank. Their operator called unsolicited and starting asking questions to verify my identity. Having received hundreds of phishing emails over the years I wouldn’t speak to him until I could verify he was actually from CBA. That took another call - and a telephone answer tree - and five minutes. But later we were re-connected.
I like the idea of a “retention team” but by the time a bank has received discharge instructions it’s probably too late. And for me the tipping point was when I was referred to (again ad again) as a “Valid Customer.”
I’m sure I am.
But more than likely the customer retention specialist meant “Valued Customer.” It’s time for more training CBA. Good acts poorly executed lead to bad results.
Fare thee well!
July 16, 2008 at 10:49 am · Filed under America, Australia
Today the Australian dollar is approaching parity with the USA greenback. The Federal Government in America is taking a larger role in managing the economy with the bail-out of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Global stock markets are shedding value quicker than the “Biggest Loser” drops kilos. And in California depositors line up around the block to withdraw funds from failed bank IndyMac.
When did our grandparents know they’d entered the Great Depression?
The October 1929 stock market crash was one event. It did not define the Great Depression - it was the first major indicator. Then a series of collapses and inter-linked events sent the world into depression. These included bank failures (not unlike Indy Mac or Bear Stearns), company collapses, property price drops and loss of confidence in the central bankers.
When did they know? When will we know?
July 15, 2008 at 1:19 pm · Filed under Australia
On Saturday night we were all discussing the transformation of Sydney to a holy pilgrimage site. The last time this many frocked congregants arrived was for Mardi Gras and that was a different party altogether.
I was pinned as a communications person because of my annoyance at the World Youth Day logo.
Look - it is nice and visual and snappy. But the annoyance stems from the mix of an acronym (WYD stands for World Youth Day) and an abbreviation (SYD is short of Sydney). Wid Sid 08 rests uneasy on the eyes and the tongue.
That said - I wish all pilgrims in Sydney a wondrous week. I had the pleasure of sharing a bus ride this morning with international revellers. It’s great to see the city abuzz with cheering visitors - go Wid Sid!
July 8, 2008 at 4:34 pm · Filed under America, Australia
I serve on the Board of Directors of The American Club, a private dining and business club on the pretty end of Macquarie Street here in Sydney. The name hearkens back to post-WWII when ex-servicemen started an entertainment venue for Yanks. Today the club caters to all nationalities and commands the top three floors overlooking Sydney Harbour.
In recognition of its American ancestry, the Club has two portraits framed at the entrance. Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and US President George Bush greet all newcomers.
Last week the club hosted an event and amongst the crowd were a mob of unruly Texans. (Editor’s note: I understand unruly and Texan is overkill, much like patrician New Englander.) The next morning both framed portraits were missing! Someone stole George Bush and Kevin Rudd.
Kevin didn’t go far. Must be his conservative nature. He was found in the lobby of the building no worse for wear.
George is still missing. Seems he was more attractive to our Texans than Kev ‘07. So if you see a framed portrait of George wandering the streets of Sydney, tell him a wall on Macquarie Street misses him.
June 30, 2008 at 5:25 pm · Filed under Globalisation
Today marks the end of the financial year in Australia. Yes, instead of following a calendar year we close our books and report taxes from 1 July to 30 June. My theory is the summer sun made it too vexxing to consider doing accounts in early January - that’s when every self-respecting Aussie is at the beach or burning meat on the Barbie!
In 1992 when providing a speech to mark the 40th anniversary of her coronation, Queen Elizabeth said it had been an “annus horribilis”. If you can’t decode the meaning of the Latin phrase she said it had been an awful year:
“1992 is not a year on which I shall look back with undiluted pleasure. In the words of one of my more sympathetic correspondents, it has turned out to be an Annus Horribilis.”
The financial markets would tend to agree - today we close the year and it has been really savage. Stock markets are down 20% - officially entering bear territory. Inflation is up. Profits are down. Credit markets are tight.
Perhaps we’ll have a resurgence this year. Probably not. Be prepared for a year of bear. Then next year we can ponder - what’s worse than an “annus horribilis”?
June 23, 2008 at 5:37 pm · Filed under America, China, Globalisation
Once in a while you get to attend a fantastic presentation. Last Thursday I listened to John Micklethwait, Editor-in-Chief, The Economist. This news weekly is by far the best news magazine in the world. Amazingly they sell 180,000 copies in their home country the UK while total global sales exceed 1.3 million copies every week. The event was sponsored by Sydney Ideas at the University of Sydney.
Micklethwait makes “Big Picture” look small. He was singularly capable of encapsulating global issues and concerns in a broad perspective. Rarely do pundits back away from the headlines to achive such clarity.
There are dozens of themes and issues he explored. I’ll hone in on one - the upcoming Beijing Olympics and the USA Presidential Elections.
Make no error - China is poised to win a record number of Olympic gold medals. And they will run a flawless games with military precision (oops - did I say military?).
The United States hates coming in second in an Olympics. And if the games are truly “crisp” and run in military fashion, it will exacerbate anti-China sentiment.
Did you know the USA was in recession? Housing prices are expected to fall a further 20% by some estimates. And Iraq will still be dragging on (Congress approved funding last week).
So a matter of weeks before the USA election there’s the populace - bitter over second place, juggling home finances, worried about the nation’s future. This will all play into an election focused on nationalism, security and trade restrictions. And just as the USA economy is being kept alive by trade, there are no new free trade deals going through Congress.
According to Micklethwait, if you want to predict the outcome of the USA elections in November keep an eye on the medals tally in Beijing in August. If the USA is routed then a democrat will get in with a license to close the country down.
And if you ever get the chance in this life to hear Micklethwait speak then take it - he’s fantastic!
June 19, 2008 at 1:20 pm · Filed under America, Business Start-Up
Starting a business forces you to learn new skills and to reach out for new learning sources. I enjoyed Guy Kawasaki’s “The Art of the Start” even though the second half was better suited for a company making product. And yesterday at a friend’s recommendation I bought “The E-Myth Revisited” by Michael Gerber*. Thanks to Paul Giezekamp at Property Secrets for turning me onto this gem.
The first half is rubbish and could have been edited to a chapter - but then I wouldn’t have felt right paying $34.99 for the paperback (did I mention books are expensive in Australia?). But the second half takes it up a notch and provides exceptional value.
Here’s the gist - Entrepreneurs have a “fit” and come up with a great idea. That one moment justifies their being. Taking that idea and turning it into a successful business requires different skills. Enter the Manager and the Technician. This trio of personalities will get a business running.
Better yet - treat your new business like a franchise. How can you capture the processes and eliminate the variability? Plan business #1 like it’s a model for office #5,000 and suddenly you have a successful model.
At Ford Motor Company I became a Six Sigma Green Belt - basically an apprentice who knows the tools and has completed a project. What Gerber recommends is a “DMAIC” approach to any small business - Define, Measure, Analyse, Improve and Control. Treat this as a never ending cycle and you have a model you can replicate.
“It is literally impossible to produce consistent result in a business that depends on extraordinary people,” writes Gerber.
This for me was an “Aha” moment (or is that “Eureka”?). What I disliked about my time in major agencies was the lack of process or systems. In my 25 year career I’ve worked for Hill & Knowlton, Edelman Worldwide, Gavin Anderson & Company and Burson-Marsteller. Each had some level of process most usually confined to administration, reporting and finance. There was no well understood process for taking a client brief - or developing a communications solution. There were some courses meant for the junior levels but little consistency across offices - or even practises in the same office.
The challenge is to stop criticising and start developing processes that can be repeated, defined, measured and improved.
Suddenly this new business is looking a lot more interesting!
*Footnote: “The World’s #1 Small Business Guru” the cover proclaims - and here I thought that noodle shoppe guy in Kyoto held the title. Why do Americans crave to be World’s #1 all the time? Baseball’s “World Series” only has teams from the USA - oh, does the token Canadian team really portray the globe? Segue to Freddy Mercury…(click below)…
« Previous entries ·
Next entries »
Thanks for visiting!
