S-Word February 09

FEBRUARY ’09

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In Some Small Way Donate to the Victorian Bushfire Appeal and help families rebuild their lives.

Visit www.redcross.org.au to donate.

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in Yours s

Andrew

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B

usiness

STIMULATE ME W

ell governments are acting. From Japan to the UK to the US and Australia. They are all trying to save their economies.

At a recent client conference, I witnessed presentations by a couple of prominent economists. Their economic outlook was rather positive. More positive than most. They managed to analyse the situation by reviewing economic data to explain the situation we are currently in and put it all in perspective.

Their forecasts conclude that: ✔ Australia is well placed but faced with global downside risks & global contagion ✔ “Mild recession” in Australia…Severe “recessions” in the US,UK,NZ etc. ✔ Business environment: on average, significantly slower, a lot riskier & still disparate ✔ Households: big hit to wealth, restore savings, slower spending, job losses ✔ Government & RBA: countervailing forces, with scope for big stimulus – automatic & structural/rescue packages Ok, this is a couple of economists opinions but after the presentations I had some interesting conversations with both speakers.

Both agreed that this economic crisis started in 2007 but wasn’t raised as an issue until the Lehman Brothers Financial Institution collapse in 2008. The signs of a downturn have been around for some time. The wider business community simply didn’t think it was an issue.

Other observations that both speakers expressed was that this downturn could have some positive effects on the business community. Namely a shift in attitude in Gen Y workers and a “getting back to the fundamentals of business” approach by businesses. They believed we have had it good for a long time which has allowed many organisations to become a little fat and lazy. They hope that this will encourage businesses to strengthen their strategies even if they are being nudged to do so by the state of the economy.

It was agreed that 2009 is a year of great opportunity for those businesses that take up the challenge to consolidate their position in the marketplace. Sales might be harder to come by but if you work on your business to make it more competitive, look after your customers more than you ever have, then you will be better placed to make the most of the upturn in the economy when it happens.

By far and away the most interesting thought was the belief that the economic downturn would cease within a year and a recovery commencing in 2010. This was based on the view that the increased government spending and stimulus packages will bolster the economy.

So let’s dig into the stimulus’s packages and get this economy going. From what I have read, the latest stimulus package could help many Sill Marketing clients with incentives on capital expenditure.

For more information on the economic Stimulus packages, visit www.australia.gov.au.

As one economist said, “Go World!!!”. ■

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K

nowledge

GO BACK 10 YEARS. Email was just being adopted. The internet was a novel thing that we all new would take off if only we could get faster download speeds from our dial up modems.

d o o G A = n o i t o cate M + d Soun To Communi Way

10 years on and the internet has transformed the way we live. Our on demand society has lapped up all the benefits of the internet and who knows where it will end.

A major impact the internet has had, is in the way we research products and services we wish to purchase. Whether it is a car, house or business solution, our first response is to get on the internet. Our personal lives are becoming public through websites like Facebook, Myspace and Linkedin. We sell our cars, homes, boats and spare junk on the internet.

So if the internet is playing such a large role in our everyday lives, then how is it impacting the way in which we need to communicate our marketing messages?

The current 10 most visited websites in Australia are: 1. Google Australia 2. Google.com 3. Facebook 4. Windows Live 5. Yahoo 6. You Tube 7. Ebay 8. Ninemsn 9. Wikipedia 10. Myspace

The website that stands out most for business to business marketers at the moment is You Tube.

You Tube is a video sharing website that allows anyone and everyone to view and upload videos for public viewing.

Originally the domain of budding home video makers, You Tube has grown to the point where marketers are exploring the value of placing promotional videos online.

Whether it be a product overview, customer casestudy or company showcase, video can provide you with new ways to promote your business, services or products. Not only can you use sound, vision and motion to convey a message, but add character to your marketing pieces that can strongly impact customers perceptions.

Though video has been around for a long time, it has never been easier to broadcast on mass thanks to the internet, advances in video compression software and websites such as You Tube. High quality video stream seamlessly on broadband internet connections and can be cost effectively showcased on the web whether it is through existing video sharing solutions or loaded into your own website.

Developing an effective promotional video begins with detailed planning. Planning footage required to meet the objective, >>> 5

K

nowledge

>>> securing a location, ensuring you have the necessary equipment and having a clear plan as to what needs to be shot will ensure efficient production and therefore a more cost effective outcome.

to backing music and music style to coincide with different dimensions of the video may sound like a simple task but involves a lot of experimentation and time to ensure the perfect outcome.

If filming a casestudy video at a client’s site, it is important to ensure sufficient time is allocated to ensure the necessary footage can be filmed. Experience has shown that if you are rushed to complete filming you may miss out on necessary footage. You often only get once chance to film what you need to so plan well and don’t forget to allocate time for setting up equipment and packing up.

Once the editing is complete, the video is then compiled to create one playable file. As the computer must process massive amounts of data to compress and create one playable file, this step can take 1 to 4 hours on average. The time taken will depend on the length of the video and the compression level chosen. Higher resolution files will take longer than lower resolution versions.

Once all filming has completed, it is time to edit the video. This is where the art comes in. Editing involves bringing the motion and sound together to create a meaningful marketing piece.

Using motion with narration or sound can add impact that reinforces a message. Timing is critical. Timing of transitions

There are many file formats that can be chosen enabling playback in a number of different programs. Choose the file format that will best suit the end application. If used in a powerpoint presentation then output the file as a wmv file. If higher resolution version are required try, avi or mpeg files. If being played on the web try flv or flv4 files.

As editing and video compression technology rapidly improves, the ability to have high definition video streamed over the internet is a reality. Video on the web is a reality.

When it comes to cost you may be surprised.

Modern video editing software coupled with high speed computers can cut editing time in half. As time is money, reducing the time taken to edit a video can dramatically reduce production costs. As an estimate, a 5 minute casestudy video can cost anywhere between $5,000 and $10,000.

If you are considering developing a promotional video then speak to the team at Sill Marketing who can assist in planning, shooting and editing your video. â–

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D

esign Showcase

Event Management Client Motorola EMb Project Assist Motorola EMb develop and implement their annual partner conference Solution Sill Marketing assisted in the strategy development, theme development, delegate registration, venue liason, budget management, AV, and all design services including web and print. â– 7

S

-life Trevally Warhoo

King George Whiting

Queenscliffe Mackerel Trevally Garfish

Juvenile Snapper (Pinky) Snook (Sea Pike)

Boat Ramp

Fishing Port Phillip Bay In summer we go fishing. That’s the moto at Sill Marketing.

Being avid fisho’s, between my trusty graphic designer, Eva and myself, we have our local waters of Port Phillip bay covered. Whilst I fish the southern part of the bay, Eva has the Northern part covered with frequent sessions at Mornington pier and Kerferd Road jetty.

Barracouta

Bream

Though we do not share the warm and abundant waters of our northern neighbours you would be surprised at the quality fish life ready to be caught in Port Phillip Bay. Main species caught include snapper, trevally, warhoo, whiting, flathead, garfish, bream and gummy shark.

Famous for it’s Spring and Summer run of large Snapper, Port Phillip Bay can be fished all year round with different species targeted throughout the year. The fishing season cycle starts in October with squid entering the bay to breed. Following the squid is the large snapper. By Christmas the large snapper have started to exit the bay leaving swarms of small snapper behind that will not leave the bay until they have matured. Whiting come on the bite after Christmas as well as gummy sharks. The sharks and whiting will hang around until May. In the cooler months, Australian Salmon enter the bay with large schools often

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Heading ou

t the Heads

Kerferd road

Well, tha t's

NOT in P

ort Phillip

S

jetty

-life

Bay :)

Nice variety of fish from an evening sesssion at the local jetty

found around the Port Phillip Bay Heads although the winter weather provides a good excuse to have a rest from the fishing.

Eva is a regular at Kerferd Road jetty, managing to catch a feed on most occasions, whilst my fishing excursions revolve around trips to the inlaws at the southern end of the bay at Point Lonsdale. As they say, it’s always better to know someone that owns a boat than have one yourself and I am fortunate enough to have a father inlaw who owns a 6.8m custom made fishing boat. Our fishing trips focus on fishing for whiting near Queenscliff and out the heads in Bass Strait for species such as large flathead, barracouta and snapper.

Eva is currently winning the race with most fish caught and I hold the record for the largest fish.

Whichever way you look at it we both love the thrill of the hunt and enjoying the bay and the delights it offers.

If you are thinking of trying your luck to catch a few fish then give us a call and we can help in pointing you in the right direction. â– Fishing at M

ornington pi

er

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Sh

t It

With Sill Marketing Sill Marketing Video Services If you are seeking to communicate your solutions in a different way, then consider a video casestudy.

Sill Marketing provides end to end HD video services from script writing, shooting, editing and disc burning.

Contact Sill Marketing to see samples of our work or to evaluate how we can help you with our professional video services.

If you have an existing website or are looking at developing a new website that needs to be hosted, then look no further than Altitude Internet.

> Fast and Reliable Web Hosting > Includes web statistics > Email hosting > Web mail capable > Cost effective

Altitude’s secure, high speed and reliable web hosting services come at affordable rates.

Contact Sill Marketing for more information and pricing.

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Ph: (03) 9529 4988

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Sill Marketing Pty Ltd. 9/161 -165 Greville St, Prahran VIC 3181, Australia Ph. +61 3 9529 4988 Fax. +61 3 9529 4390 Email: info@sillmarketing.com.au

www.sillmarketing.com.au