PR and marketing

Almost 73 per cent of Australian workers in the mining, industrial and construction sectors have expressed their concern about the widening gap between the two-speed economy.

These are the findings of a recent survey of 1,030 Australians, working in the mining, industrial and manufacturing sectors, conducted by Ferret.com.au – an online business directory servicing the Australian mining, industrial and manufacturing sectors.

The survey revealed growing concerns of economic pressures caused by the weaknesses in the manufacturing, construction and retail industries in opposition to the mining boom.

Dom Weatherhead, Account manager for Ferret.com.au said, “This was one of the most significant responses when it came to addressing concerns and issues regarding the mining, industrial and manufacturing sectors. It shows that confidence really isn’t all that high at the moment.”

In addition to growing concerns about the Australian two-speed economy, was the belief that the mining boom is causing a skills shortage in Australian businesses that are outside of the mining sector. However, those surveyed also expressed concern about a skills shortage in the mining sector, with just over 50 per cent believing the shortage does exist.

“Just over 51 per cent of those surveyed expressed concern for skills shortages occurring in sectors like manufacturing and retail due to the mining boom, but almost the same amount of those surveyed expressed concerns about a shortage of skills in the mining sector as well,” said Mr Weatherhead.

In response to the skills shortage, 54 percent of the Australian workers in the mining sector indicated they believe automation is needed and only 10 per cent indicated they don’t.

“Automation is slowly increasing in the mining sector, with many companies implementing automated machinery in remote areas and places they find difficult to employ workers for,” said Mr Weatherhead.

“Although there are some negative aspects to automation, these results indicate that these workers are worried about the skills shortage and believe automation may be the answer.”

Business owners, managers and employees of the mining, industrial and manufacturing sectors were surveyed about the major issues of their sector including economic, environmental issues, and cost and effectiveness of resources.

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For further information or interviews please contact:
Lauren Milne
CP Communications
Phone: 02 9460 9200

About the survey
The survey of 1,030 business owners, managers and employees of the mining, industrial and manufacturing sectors over the age of 18 years was carried out over the months of March and April 2012 covering all states and territories of Australia and representing all demographics.

About Ferret.com.au
Ferret.com.au is an online business directory servicing the Australian Manufacturing, Industrial and Mining industries. Owned and operated by Catch, an online division of Reed Business Information Australia, Ferret.com.au provides a comprehensive central online source containing the latest product, company and industry news updates. www.ferret.com.au

A new online comparison company launched today, Split It, will dramatically increase transparency in the online comparison industry by paying Australians to compare and purchase private health insurance online.

The health insurance comparison service will split previously hidden broker commission payments with customers – delivering on average $200 cash back with each private health insurance policy purchased.

Split It was created by former NAB banker Tim Andrew and former KPMG health consultant David Ingram in response to the insurance, utilities and mortgage comparison sites that don’t provide Australians with a complete choice, instead listing only those suppliers who pay generous commissions.

As well as providing a full range of health insurance policies to compare, the Split It model will disclose every broker fee paid to the site. Split It will then share with the customer at least 50 per cent of each broker commission earned.

Mr Andrew said, “Research shows on average we spend $20,000 per household on needs like insurance, energy and banking so we want to give Australian consumers better value for their money.”

“Consumers don’t know that $100 million of hidden fees are being paid to health insurance comparison sites annually because commissions received from brokers haven’t been disclosed. Split It provides a fairer alternative that shares profits with Australians.”

“Customers told us that in order to get the right insurance they want to compare a full range of policies, not just the few that pay the most commission.”

For the first time customers can be assured that the product they are recommended is based on their needs and not on some hidden commission being paid to the comparison site.

Visit www.splitit.com.au for details.

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For an interview or more information please contact:
Lauren Milne
CP Communications
Ph: 02 9460 9200

About Split It
Split It provides a simple way for people to compare a wide range of possible health insurance policies online. Their first site compares private health insurance options and later sites will include online comparison of other insurance, finance, telecommunications and utilities products online. Split It are the only online comparison service that helps customers choose the best cover for the best price and also displays and pays customers at least half of the commission earned after they purchase. www.splitit.com.au  

Next Digital today announced the appointment of Ashley McVey to the position of Senior Digital Strategist.
Ashley’s key objective will be bringing his best practice and innovative thinking into the digital strategies developed for Next digital’s clients.

“I am thrilled to be given this opportunity to help expand the portfolio of an industry leading digital marketing and strategy based agency like Next Digital. I am excited to be working across the existing client base and in helping to secure new business as well,” said Mr McVey.

Prior to Next Digital, Ashley spent six years in London building on his digital marketing experience particularly in ecommerce.

General Manager - Client Services & Marketing at Next Digital, Stephen Lord said, “Ashley will bring with him an excellent understanding of digital marketing channels from the highly competitive UK market and will add significant capability to our fast growing ecommerce offering.”

“Ashley will bring over six years of agency and network experience to this position as well as a strong background in winning new business pitches. We are delighted to have such a talented and experienced strategist join the team,” said Mr Lord.

While based in London, Ashley worked at Digital Agency, Found, as Digital Strategy Director where he was responsible for new business and digital strategy. Ashley also worked at TradeDoubler in London working with both new business and digital strategies.

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For further information or interviews please contact:
Lauren Milne
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 Brisbane, Kuala Lumpur, Melbourne, Shanghai, Singapore and Sydney. www.nextdigital.com

A survey of the Australian hospitality industry shows that although the boom of online, ecommerce and digital media are well on their way to being powerful business strategies, the hospitality industry is still wary of online business and ecommerce.

The survey conducted by GoHospitality.com.au of more than 850 businesses highlighted that almost a third of the respondents don’t have a website for their business and more than 52 percent do not feel the need to buy or sell any products or services online.

The survey revealed that many businesses in the hospitality industry have been reluctant to adopt an online business strategy.

The survey, however, did show an increase in interest toward the utilisation of online marketing. Although more than half of those surveyed do not use the internet to buy or sell, 82 percent stated they would begin to engage in online buying and/or selling in the future.

Additionally, while 85 percent of business owners surveyed believe that a website is important for their business, a quarter of them do not believe their customers find them online. Furthermore, more than one fifth of business owners in the hospitality industry believe they are unaffected by the internet and mobile commerce.

GoHospitality.com.au Account Manager Kylie Tabrett said, “Although there is indication of attitude changing towards the internet and digital strategies in the hospitality industry there is still very little action going on. Although the internet is the preferred source of information for the hospitality industry their actions just aren’t matching their needs.”

“There seems to be something stopping business owners in the hospitality industry from integrating more with the internet. More than half of those surveyed claimed not to shop online for hospitality products and yet 96 percent believe it’s a viable channel – it’s very contradictory,” said Ms Tabrett.

When business owners were questioned about the internet and an increase to global competition via online businesses and ecommerce:

• Just over one third did not believe the internet helped their business to compete globally in any way.
• 73 percent do not believe their business will be negatively affected by customers going online to shop with overseas suppliers.
• One fifth were unsure whether or not their website helped them to compete with global competition.

“Although businesses in the hospitality sector appear confident about global competition only 26 percent surveyed said their business can compete with overseas pricing. The majority stated they believed they could only sometimes compete,” said Ms Tabrett.

Almost 40 percent of business owners shop online from overseas businesses with 86 percent of those online shoppers claiming to have saved money.

“We see business owners in the hospitality industry shopping online because it saves them money and yet those same business owners are claiming they do not believe their customers will go the same way,” said Ms Tabrett

Australian made products were said to be much more expensive with 74 percent of the surveyed business owners stating overseas products were cheaper but when questioned on quality vs. price 57 percent were confident that their customers would opt for quality even if it meant spending more money.

However, when asked whether the business owners themselves would opt for Australian made over price just over half stated they would in fact go with the cheaper option.

Ms Tabrett said, “The flood of coupon sites offering discount deals in accommodation, dining, and entertainment are signs that the industry is responding to a competitive local market with price conscious consumers. Naturally, businesses are branching out overseas to buy cheaper supplies in order to compete and increase profitability.”

“In addition to leveraging the internet to source products for their business, it seems the hospitality industry is yet to realise the real potential of the internet as a tool to future-proof their business and build on the engagement and loyalty of each customer. Otherwise a discount will trump quality every time,” said Ms Tabrett.

Business and non-business owners in the hospitality industry were surveyed about the effects of major issues in their sector including financial, environmental issues and cost of resources.

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For further information or interviews please contact:
Lauren Milne
CP Communications
Phone: 02 9460 9200

About the survey
The survey of 866 business and non-business owners in the hospitality industry over the age of 18 years was carried out over the months of September, October, November and December 2011, and January and February 2012 covering all states and territories of Australia and representing all demographics.

About GoHospitality.com.au
GoHospitality.com.au is an online business directory servicing the hospitality industry. Owned and operated by Catch, an online division of Reed Business Information Australia, GoHospitality.com.au provides a comprehensive central online source containing the latest product, company and industry news updates.
www.gohospitality.com.au 

KEY FINDINGS FROM THE SURVEY

Online trends and buying habits

• 76 percent reported the internet to be the number one preferred source of information to support purchase decisions.
• The internet is a rich resource for hospitality professionals who claim to use the internet primarily for researching products & services (83.8 percent) – as well as finding suppliers of sought products and services (81.3 percent).
• Of the hospitality professionals surveyed (non-business owners), 48.8 percent claimed they will change their buying
  habits to incorporate products from overseas.
• Hospitality professionals surveyed agreed that while Australian products were more expensive (74.2 percent) – they also agreed that they were a better quality (63 percent).
• Business owners also felt confident that their customers would opt for quality (57.1 percent) over price (42.9 percent).

Search Engine Optimisation

• Of those businesses who reported having a website, more than half (51.8 percent) were confident of their SEO performance.
• 27.9 percent were certain their SEO was not good and 20.2 percent were unsure whether their SEO was good or bad.
• Results indicate a significant portion of the hospitality market has an understanding or awareness of what SEO (and Internet marketing) is.

Hospitality industry outlook on the Carbon Tax

• More than half (53.5 percent) of the hospitality industry believe carbon emissions will not be reduced as a result of the carbon tax.
• 52.5 percent of the hospitality industry claimed they would use alternative energy sources in the future due to the carbon tax.
• 91.2 percent of the hospitality industry claimed they do make an effort to reduce carbon emissions and 41.5 percent already use alternative energy sources for sustainability.
• 91.4 percent of the hospitality industry is concerned about environmental issues of which the majority worried about Water conservation and consumption, followed by climate change.

Future outlook for the hospitality industry

• While 62.1 percent of hospitality businesses felt positive about the future of the industry, the remaining 37.9 percent of businesses were either unsure (27 percent) or did not think the future of the Australian hospitality industry looked promising (10.9 percent).
• The main concern for Hospitality businesses in 2012 were reported as the Global financial crisis, followed closely by the declining retail sales in Australia.

One of Australia’s leading digital marketing agencies, Next Digital, has successfully acquired South East Asian digital marketing agency, FutureLab Asia.  With an ideas led approach and focus on social media, FutureLab Asia was identified as a natural fit for Next Digital to continue its growth strategy in Asia.

FutureLab Asia’s social media strategy skills will be integrated into Next Digital’s service offering across its three Australian offices and its three Asian offices in Kuala Lumpur, Shanghai and Singapore.  

The acquisition will strengthen Next Digital’s ability to create sophisticated social strategies for its clients in addition to the core digital strategy, creative, web, ecommerce, mobile and digital marketing services it offers.

“Next Digital undertook extensive research into digital marketing businesses in the ASEAN region and found FutureLab Asia to be a great business, with world class talent and services that really complement what we already offer,” says Andrew Burke, Chief Executive Officer for Next Digital.

“This acquisition will enable Next Digital to improve the way we deliver on the social media needs of our clients, and reinforces our focus on becoming a creative leader in Australia and the wider region.”

FutureLab Asia has a comprehensive portfolio of clients including well known brands such as Maxis, Johnson & Johnson, AirAsia and 7-Eleven.

“Their idea processes, creative thinking and ability to execute amazing and award-winning campaigns will add that extra level of firepower to Next Digital,” explains Mr Burke. “Acquiring FutureLab Asia is a key step in our growth strategy and follows our continued strong growth in China.”

The founders of FutureLab Asia, Janet Teo and Vic Sithasanan, will be joining Next Digital, and heading up two separate locations in South East Asia: Janet Teo is CEO of Next Digital Kuala Lumpur and Vic Sithasanan is CEO of Next Digital Singapore.

“We are exceptionally proud to have these two talented and passionate professionals driving the Next Digital business in the ASEAN region,” states Mr Burke.

With over 15 years experience with global brands they will be the driving force behind Next Digital in South East Asia.

“Next Digital is developing a strong network across the region, has great talent across its offices and focuses on developing exceptional work. We are all really excited to be part of this vibrant company and feel a close kinship because we share similar values,” adds Mr Sithasanan.

“Being part of Next Digital brings huge benefits to our current clients as we expand our digital offering in the Asian market, and provides us with the scale to compete with global agencies.”   

Effective today, FutureLab Asia will be rebranded as Next Digital.

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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 Brisbane, Kuala Lumpur, Melbourne, Shanghai, Singapore and Sydney. www.nextdigital.com