Welcome to Our New Home

Welcome to Business Communications Management's new-look newsletter.

Whenever we come across interesting media, marketing and advertising news we will update our blog and then let you know.

Each month we will send an email with highlights from this month's entries.

Best of all, you get to participate - comment on marketing news or send us your questions.

All you have to do is register with our blog host Blogger.

Business Communications Management's October special - Media Training, two for the price of one - just click here!

Crunch, Crash, Bash

Have fun seeing other people wreck their cars in this award-winning series of advertisements for US company Carfax.

Our favourite: the little old lady trying to reverse her car out of the gararge.

Call Business Communications Management today to find out how outstanding creative can reduce your advertising spend and increase sales.

Bowser Bites Business

The sky rocketing price of fuel is expected to add inflationary pressures, according to TD Securities.

TD Securities chief strategist Stephen Koukoulas said inflation was accelerating to concerning levels and was above the top end of the RBA target range.

"With the economy also picking up and wages growth rising, the RBA will be increasingly keen to increase interest rates to guard against an even more dramatic inflation problem in 2006," Mr Koukoulas said.

It is uncertain what that will mean for business in the short to medium term, however it does present an excellent opportunity to review business expenditure and determine if it has an impact on your business' profitability.

If you would like assistance in improving the profitability your enterprise, call our strategic alliance partners The Centre For Business Success for an obligation free meeting.

Don't Get Stuck On Stupid, Reporters

For anyone who has ever had troublesome dealings with the media, the gold star moment in September has come from three star US General Russel Honore.

While briefing reporters in New Orleans ahead of Hurricane Rita, the General was firm in letting the reporters know that the most important issue was outlining the evacuation procedures for the flood soaked city.

From the transcript:

"You're asking last storm questions for people who are concerned about the future storm. Don't get stuck on stupid, reporters. We are moving forward. And don't confuse the people please. You are part of the public message. So help us get the message straight. And if you don't understand, maybe you'll confuse it to the people. That's why we like follow-up questions. But right now, it's the convention center, and move on. "

The General's style may have been rather assertive - very few people could get away with "don't get stuck on stupid" - but he does provide an excellent object lesson for anyone who wishes to deal with the media.

Top 5 Press Conference Tips
1. Be calm, confident and exude authority.
2. Know your message and support your messages with statistics and
facts
3. Repeat your message often
4. Bring off-topic questions back to your message
5. Be correct. If the reporter has the wrong message or is going off on a tangent bring them back to the right message politely and firmly

Special offer for October: Business Communications Management is offering Media Risk Management and Training workshops for only $495 for groups of two. That's half price.

Normally our Media Training workshops are $495 per person.

The sessions are ideal for senior executives and business owners and give a grounding in the following areas:

1. How The Newsroom Works
2. Preparing Your Message For The Media
3. Staging A Media Launch
4. Surviving The Front Line
5. Interview Techniques for Print, Radio and TV

The workshop is three hours in duration and includes an exclusive Media Training Work Book.

To book your place, call Jeanette during office hours on (07) 5591 8081 or by e-mail: enquiries@bcm-online.com.au

Additional note: Anyone who would like to see the video of General Honore in action, just drop us a line!

UPDATE: Those enterprising Americans have turned the good General's phrase into a marketing opportunity.

Did You Hear The One About The Polish Hardware Store...

There are times where we all get stuck on coming up with a fantastic marketing concept, but the Bepol hardware store in Poland thought they'd struck a goldmine with their idea to improve customer loyalty.

Those who spent more $US3000 ($Aus3,939) were given a gift voucher to visit a neighbourhood brothel.

We don't know how successful the promotion has been - particularly in a conservative Catholic country - the owner, Roman Myszko, admitted to Agence France Presse only two clients had spent up that big and neither had taken advantage of the offer.

The secret to successful loyalty programs is knowing your market and then being prepared to test measure.

So where do you begin? By answering the following questions:

Your Clients
1. Who are they are?
2. What they buying from you?
3. How often are they buying?
4. How much are they spending?
5. Would you like to increase the frequency of purchasing or the dollar value of the spend or both?

The Program
1. What is the offer? Is it something that will make my clients go "Wow"?
2. By how much to you expect to increase sales?
3. Is testing in place so you can measure the results?

If you have any questions about creating and executing customer loyalty programs, just send us an e-mail or leave a message for us here!