Media Room

Next Digital, a full service digital agency, has appointed three new staff members to their business development and Sitecore team.

The largest independent digital agency in Australia has appointed Colin te Kempel to the position of Sitecore Product Architect, Nicholas Bye to the position of e-Commerce Business Development and Dan Frost to the position of Business Development Manager- Sport & Leisure. 

Having worked with Sitecore for five years, Colin te Kempel will bring his wealth of experience to Next Digital to manage the overall technical excellence of their work with Sitecore. 

“I’m excited to work for Next Digital as they have a strong technical expertise and focus on strategy led development in the digital space. I hope to compliment these qualities with my strong focus on automation and innovation” said te Kempel. 

Also joining the team is Nicholas Bye who will be responsible for providing significant ROI and e-commerce solutions to help clients prosper in challenging market conditions. 

“Next Digital is passionate about delivering on their customer’s expectations through their technical and strategic capabilities, which is a quality I admire and will implement in my work with retailers” said Bye. 

To further strengthen Next Digital’s business development team, Dan Frost will head the Sport and Leisure Department in Sydney and will be responsible for attracting new customers from the Asia Pacific region. 

“With Next Digital’s unique position as Asia Pacific’s largest independent full service agency I’m looking forward to attracting new customers from this diverse and growing market,” said Frost. 

Next Digital’s CEO, Andrew Burke said, “Expanding our team is a significant investment which will allow us to deliver even more relevant and effective digital strategies to our clients”. 

Next Digital is a leader in creating successful digital strategies for clients throughout the Asia Pacific region. They combine exceptional marketing thinking, regional understanding and technical firepower to develop and deliver broad digital programs.

-ends-

CP Communications
Phone: 02 9460 9200

About Next Digital
Next Digital is a leader in creating successful digital strategies for clients throughout the Asia Pacific region. They combine exceptional marketing thinking, regional understanding and technical firepower to develop and deliver broad digital programs.

Their love for all things digital has been going strong for more than 16 years. That journey has helped them hone their delivery and engagement approach, and has shaped how they innovate and keep in front of a fast changing digital space. 

Next Digital is a true full service digital agency with over 170 talented digital specialists working throughout offices in Melbourne, Kuala Lumpur, Shanghai, Singapore and Sydney. www.nextdigital.com  Read More

Strategic content agency Edge has just launched La Vie for Australia’s largest hotel group, Accor, using content based on research insights of what inspires people to travel.

Exclusive to Accor Advantage Plus’ 130,000 members, the online magazine will include features on destinations, experiences, cuisine, design and updates from hotels in the Accor group.  Read More

We achieved great media coverage for our client Macquarie University's Faculty of Business and Economics on Sky News 13 November 2012. Watch the interview here.  Read More

We achieved six pages of great media coverage for our client Lee Hecht Harrison in Business Review Australia November 2012. Read the full article here.   Read More

A survey of prospective franchisees has shown that 84 per cent of survey participants have little to no experience in social media yet feel it is important for franchisees to own and manage their own social media profiles for business.

The survey conducted by FranchiseBusiness.com.au of 600 Australian prospective franchisees highlighted although almost a third of survey participants had no experience at all in social media, 89 per cent of prospective franchisees believe social media is beneficial for business.

The survey revealed that majority of prospective franchisees see the value of social media yet most are still slow to gain the necessary experience in managing social platforms for business purposes.

Sales Manager for FranchiseBusiness.com.au, Raffael Fernandes, said “Although there is a very obvious indication that social media is seen as a necessity in franchise business by prospective franchisees there is still very little action going on.”

“Although 60 per cent of those surveyed believe they should manage their own social media profiles as a franchisee, their actions just don’t seem to be matching their needs – it’s very contradictory,” said Mr Fernandes.

In addition to social media, 93 per cent of prospective franchisees believe a website is important for a business and almost 80 per cent expect to manage their own website as a franchisee. However, 87 per cent of those surveyed have little to no experience in managing a website.

“There seems to be a gap between the expectations of online strategies and what they can do for business and the skill sets people actually have when it comes to using online strategies and tactics for business,” said Mr Fernandes.

The survey reported that less than a third of prospective franchisees had managed a website previously and only 47 per cent of those surveyed choose to use social media for professional purposes.

“Prospective franchisees now need to start growing their experience in the areas of social media and online. Learning the skills that will be able to meet their needs of managing and running a social media profile and website for business purposes will be beneficial for their future endeavours as franchisees,” said Mr Fernandes.

Prospective franchisees looking to invest in an Australian franchise surveyed about the effects of major issues in the franchise industry including financial, market environment and the online sector.

-ends-

About the survey
The survey of 600 Prospective franchisees looking to invest in an Australian franchise over the age of 18 years was carried out over the months of August and September 2012, covering all states and territories of Australia and representing all demographics.

About FranchiseBusiness.com.au
FranchiseBusiness.com.au is the official online business directory of the Franchise Council of Australia, listing franchises and service providers. Owned and operated by Catch, an online division of Reed Business Information Australia, FranchiseBusiness.com.au provides a comprehensive central online source of franchise opportunities and industry updates and news. www.franchisebusiness.com.au   Read More