GRIND Youth Website Wins Internet Best Practice Award

Darwin City Council’s youth website GRIND has won the 2010 Australia and New Zealand Internet Best Practice Awards in the Best Youth Initiative category. GRIND was also a finalist in the Best Access Initiative Category.


GRIND has many purposes. It aims to be a positive website that is genuinely "by youth for youth". It provides a supported vehicle for a youth voice, promotes the positive contribution that young people make in our community, provides an outlet for youth culture and expression and debunks the negative stereotypes so often portrayed in mainstream media of young people.

GRIND, one of Council’s key projects, presents and coordinates diverse activities such as large scale music gigs, skills workshops and youth community consultations.

The entire production of GRIND from running team meetings, design of the site, editing, interviewing and administration is undertaken by the GRIND youth team with support from Council's Youth Services. All decisions relating to the running and production of the website are made by the GRIND youth team. Visit the site: http://www.grindonline.com.au/

“I would like to congratulate those involved in the GRIND website, one of Council’s key youth projects. Too often these days, young people receive bad press – GRIND is an excellent way to showcase and demonstrate to the Darwin community and on a national level just how vibrant, creative and active these young people are,” Lord Mayor Graeme Saywer.

This recognition continues to showcase Council's excellence in providing high quality websites. In August Darwin City Council’s website scored the highest rating in an independent website usability study by 600 people of Australia’s capital city council websites.

Why every retail and hospitality business needs to get on to Foursquare

By Tracy Jones

There’s a revolution going on in the social media world that will change the way retail and hospitality businesses interact with the public – Foursquare.

And anyone who thinks they can ignore this platform like all other social media networks should think again – your business is probably already on it.

Foursquare is essentially a tool that allows people to mark places on an electronic map and post comments about them. Using mobile phones, users can “check in” to these places and share their views with the world.

The places people tend to mark are shops, restaurants, cafes, hotels and entertainment and tourist venues.

What makes Foursquare different from other social networks is its ability to locate nearby places and tell you in full detail what other people think of them – good and bad.

Here’s how it works. If you stand in the middle of Smith Street Mall and log into Foursquare using your mobile phone, the application brings up a list of places nearby including cafes, apartments, hotels and bars.

Now click on the “Tips” and you’ll get a list of what people think about these places. Here are a couple of real examples (without the names of the venues):

• “The banana spring rolls are tremendous.”
• “Not a fan of the prices here.”
• “One of the best restaurants in Darwin.”
• “Try the rice noodle soup with crispy chicken … delish.”
• “Girl at the front desk is rude.”
• “Avoid this place like it’s on fire.”

My bet is that 90 per cent of the Darwin businesses listed on Foursquare now have no idea they are there, let alone what people are saying about them.

If you’re not convinced about the value of being on Foursquare yet, here are four good reasons you should reconsider:

1. Go viral: If one person checks in to your business, they share the news with 50 or more friends on Facebook and Twitter. If 10 people check in, that’s 500. You can do the maths…

2. Get honest customer feedback: If someone checks in and loves your steak burger, you’ll find out straight away, along with all their friends. Conversely, if someone hates your schnitzel, everyone will find out. But at least you can do something about it.

3. Offer special discounts to people nearby: You can check out Foursquare places that are close to you and see if they have any special offers for anyone who checks in. Curve Café at Darwin Waterfront offers a “buy a drink and get a drink for a friend” for every second check-in. Worth a visit.

4. Reward your loyal customers: Get a loyalty program without the expensive set-up costs. Offer a free meal for every 10th check-in to your business. It’s easier to keep existing customers than to find new ones.

Students on track to complete house construction in just three days

After one day on the job young construction trainees at Marrara Christian College are on track to build a house in just three days.

Students from the College’s Fabrication and Construction Trade Training Centre – which includes 65 per cent Indigenous students – have installed the walls, floors and roof trusses on the revolutionary wooden flat-pack house.

Marrara Christian College Trade Training Centre Manager Richard Hart said the shell of the house will be complete at the end of day two.

“Today the students will concentrate on completing the ceiling and start on installing some windows,” Mr Hart said.

“The wiring and plumbing is underway and will also be finished before the day is out.”

The quick build home uses a unique panelised building system by Carter Holt Harvey which allows a home to be constructed on site by trainee construction workers under supervision and is perfect for remote communities where labour and accommodation costs can be high.

“With this new panelised building system, we can build a house from the ground to lock-up in just three to five days using construction trainees under the supervision of qualified tradesmen,” Mr Hart said.

Members of the public are invited to watch the house under construction.

The home is under construction at the training centre at the school in Amy Johnson Avenue. Visitors should follow the signs to the centre from the school entrance.

 

Facebook evangelism: Vatican uses social media to reach a modern congregation

Pope2You online TV, a Vatican Facebook app, YouTube channel and an iPhone app signal the bold entrance of the Vatican into the world of social media. 

Monsignor Paul Tighe, Secretary of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications will be in Darwin this month to talk to public relations professionals from around Australia about the opportunities the World Wide Web and social media has presented to the Catholic Church.  

“We recognise that a church that does not communicate ceases to be a church,” said Monsignor Tighe. 

“Many young people today are not turning to traditional media like newspapers and magazines any more for information and entertainment.” 

“They are looking to a different media culture and this is our effort to ensure that the Church is present in that communications culture.” 

At www.pope2you.net you can watch videos of the Pope’s latest homilies and speeches or watch a live feed of activity in St Peter’s Square via satellite.  

The Pope’s Facebook application gives Catholics the chance to ‘meet the Pope on Facebook’ and send virtual cards with messages from the Pope to their friends.  

“New technologies mean that priests have the possibility to reach people that maybe traditionally they wouldn’t have been able to reach,” said Monsignor Tighe, live to camera on another Catholic video sharing website, all.gloria.tv. 

All.gloria.tv shares videos from Catholics around the world, from the Pope himself to US President Barrack Obama. The site even offers an online dating service for Catholics.  

“The priest is, at the heart of his vocation, a communicator,” said Monsignor Tighe. 

 "Communication of the Gospel must be at heart of the ministry of a priest and I am pleased to work in the Council that has a mandate to harness the potential of the media - new and old - as a means of evangelisation." 

Monsignor Tighe will be speaking at the 2010 Public Relations Institute of Australia National Conference at the Darwin Convention Centre along with representatives from Virgin Galactic, James Hardie and BBC Australia.  

PRIA National President Robina Xavier said the Vatican presentation fits perfectly with this years’ conference theme, PR in a Different Space.  

“All of the conference keynotes, workshops and panel discussions will inspire and encourage participants to do what they do best in a different space or from a new perspective,” Ms Xavier said.  

The conference includes eight keynote addresses and forty speakers over nine streams in a line-up that promises to get public relations and communication professionals ‘all hot under the collar’, according to Ms Xavier.  

“There’ll be case studies including that from Jessica Watson’s Manager Andrew Fraser on her round the world voyage and the BBC’s Louise Alley on bringing Top Gear to Australia. 

The 2010 Conference program includes a Gala Dinner and the 2010 Golden Target Awards Ceremony that celebrates PR campaign best practice at a national level. 

- - -ends - -  

Media are welcome to attend all events at the conference at the Darwin Convention Centre from 25 to 26 October 2010.  

For more information on the PRIA Conference visit http://www.acevents.com.au/pria2010/.  

To arrange an interview, or to attend one of the keynote addresses, please contact:  

Janelle Rees at Creative Territory on 8941 9169 or at janelle@creativeterritory.com.

Taking Crisis Communication training to a new level with iPad

For some time Creative Territory has been offering workshops about communicating in a crisis. With our extensive experience in handling crises in the Northern Territory in particular, we’ve developed a good understanding of how communication can make or break your reputation when things go wrong.

But in delivering our training, something has always been missing – the consequences. Most crisis training includes some type of scenario exercise, but they are virtually all linear. The scenario plays out the same regardless of what people decide in the workshop itself. While they promote discussion, there are no consequences for choosing the right or the wrong path.

For six months we’ve been working on a way to get some real interactivity into the mix, so people could make choices along the way and see the consequences of those choices.

Thanks to the iPad, and a lot of work scenario planning, we’ve developed a way. And the feedback has been amazing. See Recovery in action with a free demo at this link.

Here are some comments from our first workshop, held in Alice Springs last week:

“We’ve only been going for two minutes and I’m already more engaged in this than I have ever been in a workshop before.”

“The iPad delivery is cool. We were all sitting there waiting for our turn to play.”

“At first I wanted a whiteboard to write everything down on, but then I realised we didn’t need one.”

“It’s great that there are consequences for what you decide. It makes it more real.”

We’ve called our new workshops Recovery, because we teach our clients that this is where your decisions need to be leading whenever you are faced with a real or potential crisis. The decisions you make and the things you say in the heat of the moment can have a lasting impact on your reputation and bottom line.

Recovery is presently undergoing trials in the Northern Territory and Queensland, with plans to launch it in Darwin in October.

International and Galactic Speakers Announced

Stephen Attenborough, Head of Astronaut Relations for Virgin Galactic, has been announced as one of the keynote speakers for the 2010 Public Relations Institute of Australia National Conference.

Other speakers announced for the conference include:

-          Sean O’Sullivan, Public Relations Manager of James Hardie

-          Andrew Fraser, Managing Director of 5 Oceans Media (media campaign manager for Jessica Watson’s solo around the world voyage)

-          Jeff Bullas, Founder of JeffBullas.com

-          Anne Gregory, Board Member of the Global Alliance of PR and Communication Management

To find out more about these and more than 40 other speakers visit http://www.acevents.com.au/pria2010

 

 

Is your advertising dollar buying you new business?

Advertising can be one of the most expensive elements of marketing your business. It can be highly effective, but the return on your investment will vary widely depending on your business, product and audience targeted.

The Benefits

• It is highly visible and seen/ heard by a lot of people
• It reaches customers who don’t already know about you
• Imparts new information to those who do (such as special offers and discounts)
• If done well, can have high recall
• Places you into people’s consciousness, even if they don’t need your services right now.

The Pitfalls

• It can be expensive to make the ad and then run it (depending on the media chosen)
• It will not reach people who are not watching and listening to the place where your ad is.

Is advertising for my business?

Before you consider advertising, you need to have a thorough understanding of your target audience and what they watch, read and consume. Try asking some of your existing customers where they heard about you. Have they seen any of your latest advertising? What magazines do they read? What radio stations do they listen to and when? What other advertising have they noticed?

Which advertising works best?

There is no easy answer to this question. It really depends on where your customers are at. But some media is better at some things than others, as shown below. We've used examples of Northern Territory media to demonstrate.

Newspapers: Examples include the NT News, Darwin and Palmerston Sun, Centralian Advocate and regional weeklies such as the Katherine Times, Territory Regional Weekly and Eylandt Echo. Newspapers have a short shelf life but high circulation. Depending on the publication, they can be really cheap to advertise in. You pay more for Saturdays and Sundays, colour and specified pages. Be aware that public notices cost more per column centimeter than regular advertising and the ad size is smaller. At the same time, public notices offer highly qualified traffic – people looking in the cars section are actually looking for cars. Newspapers are best for imparting lots of information. Design and layout of your ad will be an additional cost of between $100-$500 depending on size and style.

Magazines: Examples include Darwin Life, Resident, Intensity, fishing magazines and Top End Arts. Magazines generally have a longer shelf life, which means your ad is seen for a long time. Most magazines are also directed as specific target audiences, so readers are better qualified. Some magazines also offer complimentary editorial if you buy advertising. Design and layout of your ad will be an additional cost of between $400-$1500 depending on size and style.

Radio: Examples include HOT 100, MIXFM, Territory FM, KIKFM, Larrakia Radio, 8HA and Sun FM. Each individual advertisement on radio is relatively cheap, so you run a lot of ads. Set a budget and ask the radio station to design a campaign for you. Production of your ad will be an additional cost of between $100-$1000 depending on style, voiceover, music and sound effects used.

Television: Examples include Channel Nine, Southern Cross, Imparja and Channel Ten Digital. Television advertising can be expensive, but ask your salesman to work to a Budget. Less watched shows can be much cheaper to advertise in, along with morning and daytime timeslots. Production costs vary wildly – from as little as a couple of hundreds of dollars to over $100,000. Most businesses can make a simple but effective advertisement for $1000-$3000. Beware of special approvals needed for TV advertising and allow plenty of time for production.

Online: Examples include news websites like www.ntnews.com.au, Facebook and Google AdWords. Online advertising is cheap to produce and run. With improvements in targeting, they can also bring you very qualified inquiries. First consider whether your audience is online.

Free Not for Profit Workshops a Great Success

Creative Territory's free workshops for not-for-profit groups have been a great success, with around 100 people attending 14 workshops in Darwin and Alice Springs over the past five months.

Director Tracy Jones said delivering the workshops to attendees was a privilege.

"Not-for-profit groups are able to deliver PR campaigns on a shoestring with passion for their fuel," she said.

"It has been great to work with so many dedicated and inspiring people."

Details about the new workshop series will be released soon.

Book this week for the national public relations conference in Darwin

The national conference of the Public Relations Institute of Australia is being held in Darwin in October with the theme PR in a Different Space.

With early bird prices expiring 30 July, now is the time to get online and book your space.

Go to http://www.pria.com.au to book your spot now!

 

12 Ways to Improve Your Profits

By Janelle Rees

Over the past few months at Creative Territory we’ve downed our blogging pens while we’ve been busy developing the Marketing Health Check – a 12 point checklist to help local businesses pinpoint simple and cost-effective ways to turn their marketing dollars into increased profits.  Here’s a sneak peak from Section One of the marketing health check:

TARGET AUDIENCE

Who is your target audience? Consider:

- Primary audience (most important)

- Secondary audience (not as important)

- Stakeholders (industry bodies, the media, Government, other local businesses)

Understanding your target audience is critical for ensuring your marketing activities reach people who are actually interested in the products and services you have to offer.

There are three different audiences to consider:

Your primary audience: This is your most important audience. These customers are your bread and butter, the types of people you do business with every day.

These are the people you need to make sure your marketing is reaching.

Your secondary audience: This audience is not as important as your primary audience. These are people who might not personally be interested in your products or services, but might mention them to a friend, discuss your business in a social setting or influence other people to use your business.

Your stakeholders: These are the groups or individuals who are not necessarily customers, but who are affected by your business or who have an effect on your business. This includes groups such as the body corporate in your office building, your landlord, your local council, residents who live in the vicinity of your business and more.

Why is your target audience important?

If you don’t understand who your target audience is your marketing efforts cannot be guaranteed to reach them. On the other hand, if you have a clear understanding of who you want to reach the best way to reach them will quickly become obvious.

For example, it if you are a provider of after-school care services you would not want to advertise on television during the day. Why? Because your target audience, working parents, are at work and not at home watching television.

A more effective marketing activity might be to place an advertisement in the school newsletter. Your target audience is parents of students in the location you provide after-school care. An effective way to reach those specific parents is through their child’s school.

How do I know who my target audience is?

When you are identifying your target audience, think about gender, age, geographic location, income level, preferred leisure activities, their profession, their media activities (do they read magazine? Watch particular TV programs? Are there certain times of the day they listen to the radio?) and anything else you know about them.

It can be helpful to think of a specific individual who has all the characteristics of someone in your target audience.

Did you find this helpful or know someone who would? To access the complete Marketing Health Check including a worksheet to help you identify the characteristics of your target audience contact us today. We’ll arrange a time to meet with you to go through the health check in detail and provide advice specific to your business.

Creative Territory

think outside the circle

T: 08 8941 9169

E: darwin@creativeterritory.com