| Issue 17, November 2003 |
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This is m-news, M Power's monthly e-newsletter. We hope you enjoy reading it. M Power is a communication, consulting and training company. m-news includes information about related themes - six quick snippets about business, organisational and individual effectiveness, communication and public relations. Communication empowers. Karen Morath, managing director, M Power
1. Outdoor advertising increasingly popular 1. Outdoor advertising increasingly popular Outdoor advertising - everything from bus sides to billboards so large you could hide a semi trailer behind - is in long-run growth mode.
Global spending on the medium grew over 14 per cent in the four years to 2002, some of the expenditure displacing advertisers' spend on print ads.
Among the reasons for outdoor advertising's current success are that it appeals to people's communication needs in an era of sound bites and nugget information and that with the use of GPS technology to use tracking devices to monitor people's exposure to billboards, measurement is increasingly accurate. Source - Forbes Global, October 13, 2003 "It's better to be 80% right today than 100% right tomorrow." Source - Becky Stein, Russell Reynolds Associates Inc.
3. Communication and communications I was privileged to spend some time with Professor David Potts recently. David was the first professor of communication in Australia so I was keen to explore with him the use in the industry of the terms communication and the plural communications. He describes communications as the hardware, such as computers and telephones (and linked to the term telecommunications), and communication as the software, as in the process and result of communicating. So using the words
correctly - communications companies can sell you a phone system and
communication companies can advise on strategies to enhance your
internal and external relationships.
4. Gratuitous plug for M Power If you are planning a function that would benefit from the professionalism or pizzazz that a guest speaker or MC could bring, please consider a speaker from M Power's Speakers' Agency. We represent a number of professional speakers, who address topics from comedy to sport to business and beyond and can tailor a presentation to suit your needs. For information about our speakers, log on to our website http://www.communicationempowers.com or call Tracey on 9510 2592.
5. Customer service - what it is and isn't I have had two recent experiences with communications companies - one provides our telephone calls at the office and the other my internet access at home. After 45 minutes of frustration dealing with the phone company, I asked our designated account manager how we were better off using their service, compared to one of their competitors. She told me we weren't any better off as all phone companies are the same (yes, really). Meanwhile we are on the look out for one that at least tries to add some value for its customers. After more than two years of uninterrupted service from my internet provider (AAPT, fabulous!), I had a connection problem and called their customer service number. I had my problem fixed in literally a minute. The customer service man then went on to THANK me for my continued custom and as his records told him that I had not previously needed a service call, wished me two more years of uninterrupted service. Is your organisation in the business of customer service?
6. This month's book review
'Survival is not enough. Why smart companies abandon worry and embrace change', by Seth Godin, The Free Press, New York, 2002. This man is a genius. His writing is laboured and verbose, but it is with his truly original thinking that he connects with his readers. This book is about change and challenging convention and thriving as an organisation. Godin calls it 'zooming' and invents a whole raft of new jargon to describe his ideas. If you think your organisation could use a shake-up or if you want to challenge your own views about organisational or personal effectiveness and get an injection of enthusiasm along the way, then this book is for you. The writing is patchy, but perseverence rewards. To buy Survival is not enough from Amazon click here. © M Power 2003 |
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