US Natural Gas Situation as of June 2016Bruce LaCour
Natural gas price is beginning to increase and the switch from coal to gas for electricity production as well as the LNG export movement will place increased upward pressure on the natural gas price.
US Natural Gas Situation as of June 2016Bruce LaCour
Natural gas price is beginning to increase and the switch from coal to gas for electricity production as well as the LNG export movement will place increased upward pressure on the natural gas price.
SynergyO2 es una fórmula coloidal altamente concentrada y súper mineralizada con la combinación exacta de aminoácidos, sílica de origen vegetal, electrólitos y minerales esenciales, todos combinados para proporcionar al cuerpo un proceso e limpieza, reconstrucción, nutrición y regeneración, brindando mejor equilibro, optimizando los niveles de energía y generando mayor vitalidad. Es reconocido mundialmente por su eficacia y por ser un portador de la salud.
1
MKTG 5001
Marketing Principles
Group Assignment Stage 1
SUPERTEAM
Mobile Wi-Fi Router—Amazing Wi-Fi EGG
Lecture: Tuesday 1 – 4 PM
Name
SID
Jie Lin
460221773
Yingrui Wu
460308122
Selena Yun
460240419
Chunchen Wei
450514302
Yimeng Zhu
450519949
SID:460221773 460308122 460240419 450514302 450519949
12
Executive Summary
This marketing plan is to access the tourist industry in Australia in order to identify the opportunities to introduce our product of mobile Wi-Fi router which named Amazing Wi-Fi egg.
With the growth of the global economic, people are more likely to travel abroad. Being a famous tourist destination, Australia has received hundreds billion revenues from tourism last few years. For those short-term tourists, there is a huge demand for the Internet, because they have to connect their families as well as share the travelling experience and search some popular tourist attractions. Despite the fact that there are already some companies that can provide the portable Wi-Fi rental service, they put a lot of limitations on their plan and do not consider the consumers’ priorities. This creates a unique opportunity for our Amazing Wi-Fi egg to enter the Wi-Fi rental business with brand new concept and features. The target segments of our Amazing Wi-Fi egg is the foreign tourists aged between 18 to 55, who indicated to be accustomed smart phone users.
In this report, a situation analysis about the current environment will be given first, in which, the economic factors, technological factors and the legal factors will be analysed and followed by a critical trend. then, the three main competitors of our product will be identified and analysed by using some form of SWOT analysis and a multi-criteria analysis. The the product concept which is about the core product, the critical features and the differences will be given. after that, the specific market segment, the customer behaviour and the market research will be discussed detailed one by one.
1.Introduction
Australia is a famous tourism country, and the tourists spent $107.1b in Australia during 2014-2015(Pash 2016). With the development of the economic, more and more people decide to travel aboard, the number of international visitors to Australia has witnessed a stable increase, reaching 6859000 in 2015, with an 8% growth (Australian Government Austrade 2015). As a result, the industry of Wi-Fi rent begins to boom. The Wi-Fi egg aims to provide the Internet to those short-term foreign travelers to Australia, thus helping them to surf the Internet or connect with their families and friends via the portable Wi-Fi.
In current Australian market, there are some special companies that offer the Wi-Fi rent service such as the Australia Wireless Rental, and some telecommunication operators also provide this service such as Telstra, ...
The need of innovation and knowledge as the most valuable asset in the processKoenraad Seys
The pressure is on innovative capacity. Everybody agrees. Trends indicate shorter product or service life cycles. Customer satisfaction is short lived. Earlier than ever they want something new. Building on experience or a long lasting competitive advantage is less an option. However innovation can only be realised and delivered with a motivated team of knowledgeable people having sufficient entrepreneurial blood so they want to go and explore. They will explore the fundamental needs of existing and potential customers, but also their capacity to be creative and learn new skills and techniques and optimise team interaction. Younger employees tend to have higher education than previous generations. They are skilled in new technology however lack experience.
Learning and knowledge exchange or sharing patterns will need an upgrade. Not only is experience still an asset, existing workforce will need to work longer careers than previous generations. Increasing age and life expectance, decreasing numbers of younger people will require all of us to make longer careers. Understanding added value of all team members will become key differentiator for teams, groups and companies to maintain their market postion. We summarised the reasons for investing in innovation, knowledge creation sharing and new approaches to come to products and services in a slide doc stuffed with facts and figures about the need for investing in what is most probably the strongest sustainable asset you will ever have.
Digital Innovations in Local Radio & Television (BIA/Kelsey Presentation to T...BIA/Kelsey
Every broadcaster recognizes that digital media technologies are transforming the business. It’s a gold rush to win the billions of dollars available in digital ad revenue. The key to success? Cross-platform digital strategies that offer advertisers and consumers valuable integrated solutions.
This presentation, made to the Texas Association of Broadcasters 2014 Convention & Trade Show, discusses how radio stations can exploit their local promotional appeal and local sales force to produce cross-platform campaigns that add significant value to a station’s digital business.
The session, expanded on the following topics:
• Local Market Forecast. Where will local radio and television be in five years? We will share findings from our national and local ad forecasts and examine where the top five business categories are spending dollars.
• Ad revenue drivers. Small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are becoming the backbone of today’s local radio and television advertising revenues. We will discuss how to capitalize on this trend and drive revenue.
• Cross-Platform Selling. Small businesses are moving their advertising to the Web. Radio and television broadcasters are uniquely positioned to serve SMB accounts on air, online and on mobile. We’ll share what stations must do to mobilize their local sales force so they have a full understanding of the digital elements necessary for a successful campaign.
• Mobile. More Americans are using their mobile phones as their primary source for news. We’ll share findings from our own consumer shopping research and discuss the top three ways broadcasters can tap into this opportunity and leverage their news content on mobile.
SynergyO2 es una fórmula coloidal altamente concentrada y súper mineralizada con la combinación exacta de aminoácidos, sílica de origen vegetal, electrólitos y minerales esenciales, todos combinados para proporcionar al cuerpo un proceso e limpieza, reconstrucción, nutrición y regeneración, brindando mejor equilibro, optimizando los niveles de energía y generando mayor vitalidad. Es reconocido mundialmente por su eficacia y por ser un portador de la salud.
1
MKTG 5001
Marketing Principles
Group Assignment Stage 1
SUPERTEAM
Mobile Wi-Fi Router—Amazing Wi-Fi EGG
Lecture: Tuesday 1 – 4 PM
Name
SID
Jie Lin
460221773
Yingrui Wu
460308122
Selena Yun
460240419
Chunchen Wei
450514302
Yimeng Zhu
450519949
SID:460221773 460308122 460240419 450514302 450519949
12
Executive Summary
This marketing plan is to access the tourist industry in Australia in order to identify the opportunities to introduce our product of mobile Wi-Fi router which named Amazing Wi-Fi egg.
With the growth of the global economic, people are more likely to travel abroad. Being a famous tourist destination, Australia has received hundreds billion revenues from tourism last few years. For those short-term tourists, there is a huge demand for the Internet, because they have to connect their families as well as share the travelling experience and search some popular tourist attractions. Despite the fact that there are already some companies that can provide the portable Wi-Fi rental service, they put a lot of limitations on their plan and do not consider the consumers’ priorities. This creates a unique opportunity for our Amazing Wi-Fi egg to enter the Wi-Fi rental business with brand new concept and features. The target segments of our Amazing Wi-Fi egg is the foreign tourists aged between 18 to 55, who indicated to be accustomed smart phone users.
In this report, a situation analysis about the current environment will be given first, in which, the economic factors, technological factors and the legal factors will be analysed and followed by a critical trend. then, the three main competitors of our product will be identified and analysed by using some form of SWOT analysis and a multi-criteria analysis. The the product concept which is about the core product, the critical features and the differences will be given. after that, the specific market segment, the customer behaviour and the market research will be discussed detailed one by one.
1.Introduction
Australia is a famous tourism country, and the tourists spent $107.1b in Australia during 2014-2015(Pash 2016). With the development of the economic, more and more people decide to travel aboard, the number of international visitors to Australia has witnessed a stable increase, reaching 6859000 in 2015, with an 8% growth (Australian Government Austrade 2015). As a result, the industry of Wi-Fi rent begins to boom. The Wi-Fi egg aims to provide the Internet to those short-term foreign travelers to Australia, thus helping them to surf the Internet or connect with their families and friends via the portable Wi-Fi.
In current Australian market, there are some special companies that offer the Wi-Fi rent service such as the Australia Wireless Rental, and some telecommunication operators also provide this service such as Telstra, ...
The need of innovation and knowledge as the most valuable asset in the processKoenraad Seys
The pressure is on innovative capacity. Everybody agrees. Trends indicate shorter product or service life cycles. Customer satisfaction is short lived. Earlier than ever they want something new. Building on experience or a long lasting competitive advantage is less an option. However innovation can only be realised and delivered with a motivated team of knowledgeable people having sufficient entrepreneurial blood so they want to go and explore. They will explore the fundamental needs of existing and potential customers, but also their capacity to be creative and learn new skills and techniques and optimise team interaction. Younger employees tend to have higher education than previous generations. They are skilled in new technology however lack experience.
Learning and knowledge exchange or sharing patterns will need an upgrade. Not only is experience still an asset, existing workforce will need to work longer careers than previous generations. Increasing age and life expectance, decreasing numbers of younger people will require all of us to make longer careers. Understanding added value of all team members will become key differentiator for teams, groups and companies to maintain their market postion. We summarised the reasons for investing in innovation, knowledge creation sharing and new approaches to come to products and services in a slide doc stuffed with facts and figures about the need for investing in what is most probably the strongest sustainable asset you will ever have.
Digital Innovations in Local Radio & Television (BIA/Kelsey Presentation to T...BIA/Kelsey
Every broadcaster recognizes that digital media technologies are transforming the business. It’s a gold rush to win the billions of dollars available in digital ad revenue. The key to success? Cross-platform digital strategies that offer advertisers and consumers valuable integrated solutions.
This presentation, made to the Texas Association of Broadcasters 2014 Convention & Trade Show, discusses how radio stations can exploit their local promotional appeal and local sales force to produce cross-platform campaigns that add significant value to a station’s digital business.
The session, expanded on the following topics:
• Local Market Forecast. Where will local radio and television be in five years? We will share findings from our national and local ad forecasts and examine where the top five business categories are spending dollars.
• Ad revenue drivers. Small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are becoming the backbone of today’s local radio and television advertising revenues. We will discuss how to capitalize on this trend and drive revenue.
• Cross-Platform Selling. Small businesses are moving their advertising to the Web. Radio and television broadcasters are uniquely positioned to serve SMB accounts on air, online and on mobile. We’ll share what stations must do to mobilize their local sales force so they have a full understanding of the digital elements necessary for a successful campaign.
• Mobile. More Americans are using their mobile phones as their primary source for news. We’ll share findings from our own consumer shopping research and discuss the top three ways broadcasters can tap into this opportunity and leverage their news content on mobile.
Melissa Preddy presents "Localizing National Business Stories" at the SABEW 2011 Spring Conference in Dallas, Texas on April 9, 2011. She will present a Webinar on the same topic, "10 Tips for Localizing National Stories" on June 21.
For more information on free training for business journalists, please visit businessjournalism.org.
Retail Sales and Consumer Spending - United States - September 2022.pptxpaul young cpa, cga
Summary:
The pace of sales at U.S. retailers was unchanged in September from August as rising prices for rent and food chipped away at money available for other things.
Retail sales were flat last month, down from a revised 0.4% growth in August, the Commerce Department reported Friday. Retail sales fell 0.4% in July.
Source - https://www.mysanantonio.com/news/article/Retail-sales-flat-in-September-with-inflation-hot-17508899.php
In 2015 there 456K registered in apprenticeship programs as compared to 398K in 2019
The goods-producing sector has only produced on avg 21K/yr. since Nov/15. The # of certificates has been avg. about 53K/year in 2019 as compared to 57K (2015)
https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/201209/dq201209a-eng.htm
10 Video Ideas Any Business Can Make RIGHT NOW!
You'll never draw a blank again on what kind of video to make for your business. Go beyond the basic categories and truly reimagine a brand new advanced way to brainstorm video content creation. During this masterclass you'll be challenged to think creatively and outside of the box and view your videos through lenses you may have never thought of previously. It's guaranteed that you'll leave with more than 10 video ideas, but I like to under-promise and over-deliver. Don't miss this session.
Key Takeaways:
How to use the Video Matrix
How to use additional "Lenses"
Where to source original video ideas
Unleash the power of UK SEO with Brand Highlighters! Our guide delves into the unique search landscape of Britain, equipping you with targeted strategies to dominate UK search engine results. Discover local SEO tactics, keyword magic for UK audiences, and mobile optimization secrets. Get your website seen by the right people and propel your brand to the top of UK searches.
To learn more: https://brandhighlighters.co.uk/blog/top-seo-agencies-uk/
Digital marketing is the art and science of promoting products or services using digital channels to reach and engage with potential customers. It encompasses a wide range of online tactics and strategies aimed at increasing brand visibility, driving website traffic, generating leads, and ultimately, converting those leads into customers.
https://nidmindia.com/
When most people in the industry talk about online or digital reputation management, what they're really saying is Google search and PPC. And it's usually reactive, left dealing with the aftermath of negative information published somewhere online. That's outdated. It leaves executives, organizations and other high-profile individuals at a high risk of a digital reputation attack that spans channels and tactics. But the tools needed to safeguard against an attack are more cybersecurity-oriented than most marketing and communications professionals can manage. Business leaders Leaders grasp the importance; 83% of executives place reputation in their top five areas of risk, yet only 23% are confident in their ability to address it. To succeed in 2024 and beyond, you need to turn online reputation on its axis and think like an attacker.\
Key Takeaways:
- New framework for examining and safeguarding an online reputation
- Tools and techniques to keep you a step ahead
- Practical examples that demonstrate when to act, how to act and how to recover
Short video marketing has sweeped the nation and is the fastest way to build an online brand on social media in 2024. In this session you will learn:- What is short video marketing- Which platforms work best for your business- Content strategies that are on brand for your business- How to sell organically without paying for ads.
The What, Why & How of 3D and AR in Digital CommercePushON Ltd
Vladimir Mulhem has over 20 years of experience in commercialising cutting edge creative technology across construction, marketing and retail.
Previously the founder and Tech and Innovation Director of Creative Content Works working with the likes of Next, John Lewis and JD Sport, he now helps retailers, brands and agencies solve challenges of applying the emerging technologies 3D, AR, VR and Gen AI to real-world problems.
In this webinar, Vladimir will be covering the following topics:
Applications of 3D and AR in Digital Commerce,
Benefits of 3D and AR,
Tools to create, manage and publish 3D and AR in Digital Commerce.
Digital Money Maker Club – von Gunnar Kessler digital.focsh890
Title One is a comprehensive examination of the impact of digital technologies on
modern society. In a world where technology continues to advance rapidly, this article delves into the nuances and complexities of the digital age, exploring Its implications across various sectors and aspects of life.
In this presentation, Danny Leibrandt explains the impact of AI on SEO and what Google has been doing about it. Learn how to take your SEO game to the next level and win over Google with his new strategy anyone can use. Get actionable steps to rank your name, your business, and your clients on Google - the right way.
Key Takeaways:
1. Real content is king
2. Find ways to show EEAT
3. Repurpose across all platforms
Come learn how YOU can Animate and Illuminate the World with Generative AI's Explosive Power. Come sit in the driver's seat and learn to harness this great technology.
Mastering Local SEO for Service Businesses in the AI Era is tailored specifically for local service providers like plumbers, dentists, and others seeking to dominate their local search landscape. This session delves into leveraging AI advancements to enhance your online visibility and search rankings through the Content Factory model, designed for creating high-impact, SEO-driven content. Discover the Dollar-a-Day advertising strategy, a cost-effective approach to boost your local SEO efforts and attract more customers with minimal investment. Gain practical insights on optimizing your online presence to meet the specific needs of local service seekers, ensuring your business not only appears but stands out in local searches. This concise, action-oriented workshop is your roadmap to navigating the complexities of digital marketing in the AI age, driving more leads, conversions, and ultimately, success for your local service business.
Key Takeaways:
Embrace AI for Local SEO: Learn to harness the power of AI technologies to optimize your website and content for local search. Understand the pivotal role AI plays in analyzing search trends and consumer behavior, enabling you to tailor your SEO strategies to meet the specific demands of your target local audience. Leverage the Content Factory Model: Discover the step-by-step process of creating SEO-optimized content at scale. This approach ensures a steady stream of high-quality content that engages local customers and boosts your search rankings. Get an action guide on implementing this model, complete with templates and scheduling strategies to maintain a consistent online presence. Maximize ROI with Dollar-a-Day Advertising: Dive into the cost-effective Dollar-a-Day advertising strategy that amplifies your visibility in local searches without breaking the bank. Learn how to strategically allocate your budget across platforms to target potential local customers effectively. The session includes an action guide on setting up, monitoring, and optimizing your ad campaigns to ensure maximum impact with minimal investment.
Search Engine Marketing - Competitor and Keyword researchETMARK ACADEMY
Over 2 Trillion searches are made per day in Google search, which means there are more than 2 Trillion visits happening across the websites of the world wide web.
People search various questions, phrases or words. But some words and phrases are searched
more often than others.
For example, the words, ‘running shoes’ are searched more often than ‘best road running
shoes for men’
These words or phrases which people use to search on Google are called Keywords.
Some keywords are searched more often than others. Number of times a keyword is searched
for in a month is called keyword volume.
Some keywords have more relevant results than others. For the phrase “running shoes” we
get more than 80M relevant results, whereas for “best road running shoes for men” we get
only 8.
The former keyword ‘running shoes’ has way more competition from popular websites to
new and small blogs, whereas the latter keyword doesn’t have that much competition. This
search competition for a keyword is called search difficulty of a keyword or keyword
difficulty.
In other words, if the keyword difficulty is ‘low’ or ‘easy’, there won’t be any competition
and if you target such keywords on your site, you can easily rank on the front page of Google.
Some keywords are searched for, just to know or to learn some information about something,
that’s their search intention. For example, “What shoe size should I choose?” or “How to pick
the right shoe size?”
These keywords which are searched just to know about stuff are called informational
keywords. Typically people who are searching this type of keywords are top of a Conversion
funnel.
Conversion funnel is the journey that search visitors go through on their way to an email
subscription or a premium subscription to the services you offer or a purchase of products
you sell or recommend using your referral link.
For some buyers, research is the most important part when they have to buy a product.
Depending on that, their journey either widens or narrows down. These types of buyers are
Researchers and they spend more time with informational keywords.
Conversion is the action you want from your search visitors. Number of conversions that you
get for every 100 search visitors is called Conversion rate.
People who are at different stages of a conversion funnel use different types of keywords.
Financial curveballs sent many American families reeling in 2023. Household budgets were squeezed by rising interest rates, surging prices on everyday goods, and a stagnating housing market. Consumers were feeling strapped. That sentiment, however, appears to be waning. The question is, to what extent?
To take the pulse of consumers’ feelings about their financial well-being ahead of a highly anticipated election, ThinkNow conducted a nationally representative quantitative survey. The survey highlights consumers’ hopes and anxieties as we move into 2024. Let's unpack the key findings to gain insights about where we stand.
A.I. (artificial intelligence) platforms are popping up all the time, and many of them can and should be used to help grow your brand, increase your sales and decrease your marketing costs.In this presentation:We will review some of the best AI platforms that are available for you to use.We will interact with some of the platforms in real-time, so attendees can see how they work.We will also look at some current brands that are using AI to help them create marketing messages, saving them time and money in the process. Lastly, we will discuss the pros and cons of using AI in marketing & branding and have a lively conversation that includes comments from the audience.
Key Takeaways:
Attendees will learn about LLM platforms, like ChatGPT, and how they work, with preset examples and real time interactions with the platform. Attendees will learn about other AI platforms that are creating graphic design elements at the push of a button...pre-set examples and real-time interactions.Attendees will discuss the pros & cons of AI in marketing + branding and share their perspectives with one another. Attendees will learn about the cost savings and the time savings associated with using AI, should they choose to.
Videos are more engaging, more memorable, and more popular than any other type of content out there. That’s why it’s estimated that 82% of consumer traffic will come from videos by 2025.
And with videos evolving from landscape to portrait and experts promoting shorter clips, one thing remains constant – our brains LOVE videos.
So is there science behind what makes people absolutely irresistible on camera?
The answer: definitely yes.
In this jam-packed session with Stephanie Garcia, you’ll get your hands on a steal-worthy guide that uncovers the art and science to being irresistible on camera. From body language to words that convert, she’ll show you how to captivate on command so that viewers are excited and ready to take action.
For too many years marketing and sales have operated in silos...while in some forward thinking companies, the two organizations work together to drive new opportunity development and revenue. This session will explore the lessons learned in that beautiful dance that can occur when marketing and sales work together...to drive new opportunity development, account expansion and customer satisfaction.
No, this is not a conversation about MQLs and SQLs. Instead we will focus on a framework that allows the two organizations to drive company success together.
The digital marketing industry is changing faster than ever and those who don’t adapt with the times are losing market share. Where should marketers be focusing their efforts? What strategies are the experts seeing get the best results? Get up-to-speed with the latest industry insights, trends and predictions for the future in this panel discussion with some leading digital marketing experts.
Digital Marketing Trends - Experts Insights on How to Gain a Competitive Edge
Fairfax media
1. Case of Fairfax Media Limited
Media Industry: Strategy and Implementation
Written by Gábor Bene
Zoltán Czére
Halil Yildirim
3rd December 2014
2. 1
Table of contents
I. Introduction 2.
II. Financial problems 3.
III. The obligatory mogul behind the media company 3.
IV. Outsourcing & downsizing strategy 4.
V. Digitalization & trends 5.
VI. CEO Gregory Hywood (2011-present) 6.
i. Critiques of Gregory Hywood 6.
VII. VII. Fairfax Media in 2014 8.
3. 2
I. Introduction
Fairfax Media is the second most influential commercial media organisation in Australia and
one of the biggest employers of journalists in the country. The company publishes some of the
main metropolitan broadsheet newspapers: the Age, the Sydney Morning Herald and the
Australian Financial Review1.
As the company claim, Fairfax comprises metropolitan, rural, regional and community
mastheads and serves its audiences through high-quality, independent journalism and offers
dynamic venues for commerce and information. 2
The 1st table illustrates the media ownership of the company as of December, 2014.
1. table: Media ownership of Fairfax Media Ltd.
Source: http://www.fairfaxmedia.com.au
Fairfax is the main competitor to Rupert Murdoch’s News Limited, which controls most of
the Australian newspaper industry. Articles in Murdoch’s Australian newspaper have claimed
that Fairfax’s the Age will lose money next year, after losing $101 million in revenue and $68
million in profit over the last five years. According to others, the Sydney Morning Herald is in
even worse position.3
1 http://www.themonthly.com.au/issue/2011/january/1298525748/margaret-simons/crises-
faith
2 http://www.fairfaxmedia.com.au
3 http://www.themonthly.com.au/issue/2011/january/1298525748/margaret-simons/crises-
faith
Print
• The Australian Financial Review
• The Sydney Morning Herald
• The Age
• The Canberra Times
• The Land
• The Sun-Herald
• Fairfax Community newspapers
Digital
• Domain.com.au (real estate)
• Drive.com.au (automotive)
• MyCareer.com.au (employment)
• RSVP.com.au (personal dating)
• Weatherzone.com.au (weather)
• Brisbanetimes.com.au (online news)
• other online news sites
4. 3
Almost a decade ago, Fairfax Media was one of the most powerful institutions in the
continent of Australia4. However, due to ineffective decisions and the company’s passive
response to the changing, evolving market, Fairfax lost a whole lot of its worth.
The company answered the financial downturn mainly by cutting its costs. Though Fairfax’s
overall profitability improved in 2014 as advertising volumes increased after the global
financial crisis, structural problems remained5. More on this topic in later chapters.
II. Financial problems
From 2007 Fairfax Media was suffering from serious financial decline. The media industry,
especially printing branch generally faced challenges regarding their revenue and cost
structure, Farifax Media was not an exception either.
The stock price of the company has declined by 60 per cent by September 2011 comparing to
2007 and this trend didn’t stop there, in June 2012 it was 85 per cent lower than in 20076.
The reasons of this distrust of the market can various fact. The change of the reading habits
caused a shift from newspaper sales to online publications. This caused a constant decline of
revenues which began in 2008 and hasn’t stopped since then. The costs couldn’t catch on with
this diminution thus 2014 was the first in 5 years when the EBITDA was positive.7
III. The obligatory mogul behind the media company
The largest shareholder of the company is Gina Rinehart since 2010. Gina Rinehart is a
mining heiress Hancock Prospecting Group, the wealthiest person of Australia and the 6th
richest woman on Earth. She had acquired 18% of the shares. Since she expressed her interest
to increase her shares to 19.99%8 which would be the maximum allowed by the laws of
Australia, however the board rejected it and made her decrease her ownership to 14.99%.
4http://www.yasni.info/ext.php?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.readings.com.au%2Freview%2Fstop-the-presses-
by-ben-hills&name=Ben+Christopher+Hills&showads=1&lc=en-us&lg=en&rg=us&rip=hu
5 http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-08-14/fairfax-posts-profit/5670322
6 http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-06-17/fairfax-media-to-cut-1-900-jobs-as-readers-shift-to-web.html
7 http://www.fairfaxmedia.com.au/ArticleDocuments/193/2014-10-
21_5_Year_Summary_Schedule.pdf.aspx?Embed=Y
8 http://www.smh.com.au/national/gina-rinehart-lifts-stake-in-fairfax-to-15-as-pressure-for-board-seats-builds-
20120614-20d5n.html
5. 4
Because of the disagreements about editorial independency with Hancock Prospecting she
was not offered a seat int he board so she couldn’t have a a bigger impact on company
decisions.
IV. Outsourcing & downsizing strategy
FAIRFAX Media's contentious decision to outsource a key part of the production process at
its flagship mastheads has angered staff, but management remains convinced that the change
will help the trans-Tasman publisher meet both the commercial and editorial goals of
newspapers in a digital world9
Outsourcing of news, business and sport sub-editing to Australian Associated Press subsidiary
Pagemasters at the heart of this transformation. Cuts to the printing operations in Australia
and New Zealand also will be made, with a total of 350 redundancies in printing and editorial
expected to cost $25 million in 2010-11.
Outsourced the sub-editing of some sections to Pagemasters which is a global provider of
design, sub-editing, listings and imaging services in Australia, New Zealand, the UK and
Canada provide complete media production services to metropolitan, regional and community
newspapers, websites, magazines, businesses, sporting bodies, and government and education
sectors10
Accelerate the sale of its radio assets -- a divestment Mr Hywood is already considering -- or
the partial sale of NZ auction website Trade Me website which is the most visited in New
Zealand before Google New Zealand, and is currently ranked 1,943rd globally in order to
free up cash for shareholders. Fairfax has completed the sale of its 51 per cent stake in Trade
Me, the online shopping site confirmed in December 2012.It proceeds from the sale to be
used to reduce Fairfax's net debt. Mr Hywood expects that it will generate annual savings of
$15m and allow further investment in "quality journalism"
Photographers are the next victims of Fairfax’s cost-cutting: the majority will soon disappear
from newsrooms. Fairfax announced plans to fire 75% of its highly respected photography
9 http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/fairfax-vows-to-lift-quality-by-outsourcing-production/story-
e6frg8zx-1226049421305
10 http://pagemasters.com/about-us/
6. 5
pool, leaving far fewer photographers working across The Sydney Morning Herald, The
Age and The Canberra Times.11
V. Digitalization & trends
The term ‘digital disruption’ is well known to all of us here today. Jeff Bezos, himself now a
newspaper proprietor, decided that an ebook should cost under $10. Netflix delivers a
platform where people can watch an array of content whenever they like; the music industry
innovates in the sound quality on compact discs and then along comes Spotify. 12
The old models of production and distribution are being changed forever; entire supply chains
will disappear; customers’ behaviours change and eventually too, so must the behaviour of the
incumbents if they are to have a place in the new environment.
The Internet has not just offered new and cheaper platforms for advertising and, because of
the superior functionality of online search, especially classifieds, it has also dramatically
lowered the barriers to entry for new competitors
At Fairfax there are 140,000 digital-only subscribers to The Age and The Sydney Morning
Herald while those titles have around another 110,000 subscribers who have bundled physical
and digital packages2. Both the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age have more digital
subscribers on Monday to Friday than they have subscribers to their physical paper (though
less than their total sales)
Today newsrooms are looking more and more like Silicon Valley start-ups. Never have the
barriers to entry been so low for competitors and competition so intense. Three of the top 10
news sites in Australia according to Nielsen were not there three years ago
Due to the Internet disruption on the printing business, Fairfax rely on changing their
conventional method of printing and distrubition business model. Fairfax’s circulations have
been rapidly declining, which Hywood says is part of a deliberate strategy to boost per-paper
profitability. Included in this strategy of moving away from a reliance on print has been the
sale of the Chullora and Tullamarine printing plants, which were state-of-the-art facilities
established with much fanfare in the early 2000s just before the internet began to seriously
11 http://www.crikey.com.au/2014/05/07/more-photographers-subeditors-to-go-in-new-fairfax-restructure/
12 http://www.malcolmturnbull.com.au/media/speech-to-the-newspaper-works-forum-innovation-and-
deregulation-in-the-inte
7. 6
disrupt the print business model. Hywood says the sale of these plants is saving the company
$45 million a year in running costs, with printing done more cheaply in regional centres.13
VI. CEO Gregory Hywood (2011-present)
Hywood was appointed CEO of Tourism Victoria in 2006 and in 2008, he concurrently held
the position of Deputy Secretary (Brand, Communications and Tourism) at the Department of
Innovation, Industry and Regional Development
In October 2010, Hywood was appointed an Independent Non-Executive Director of Fairfax
Media, and following the sudden resignation of CEO Brian McCarthy in December 2010,
appointed interim CEO. By March 2011 Fairfax Media confirmed his appointment as
permanent chief executive and managing director
Mr. Gregory Colin Hywood, also known as Greg, has been Chief Executive Officer and
Managing Director at Fairfax Media Limited since February 7, 2011.14
VI.1. Critiques of Gregory Hywood
1- Loss of Experience, Decrease in Quality
Over the past two years, Fairfax has engaged external consultants, Bain and Co to devise a
strategy to slash costs, which included sacking photographers, not replacing senior journalists,
closing down printing presses and moving the papers to a tabloid size.
Good editors have left. Some of the expertise is no longer there in terms of particular writers,
it’s across the board. All of those decisions that are frugal and lead to a lack of employee
quality ultimately will transfer to a lack of product quality
Training of journalists, sales people and others across the entire company seemed to have
stopped where it was once a priority15
13 http://www.crikey.com.au/2014/07/21/fairfax-weathered-the-storm-says-hywood-but-more-cuts-possible/
14 Sinclair, Lara (7 December 2010). "Former Fairfax journo Greg Hywood replaces Brian McCarthy as CEO".
The Australian. Retrieved 11 May 2011
15 http://www.theaustralian.com.au/media/fairfax-board-to-blame-says-former-ceo-brian-mccarthy/story-
e6frg996-1227019826092
8. 7
The consultants have recommended a lower-cost newsroom, replacing senior journalists who
leave the company with third-year trainees. Cost-cutting exercise, slashing staff numbers and
replacing senior journalists with junior employees on lower salaries.
The loss of experience at Fairfax for the problems besieging the company, including
publication of an anti-Semitic cartoon two weeks ago that resulted in a subscription boycott in
the Jewish community
2- Unrighteous Pay Rise & Strike Action
Fairfax Media chief executive Greg Hywood was protected from the cutbacks, taking home a
salary of $2.8 million including shares — up almost $1 million on the year before. In total, the
executive remuneration at Fairfax grew from $4.1 million in 2013 to $6.5 million in the 2014
financial year3Fairfax Media’s long-serving group general counsel and company secretary,
Gail Hambly, also received a generous salary top-up, with her total package including shares
rising from $718,000 to $1.063 million. Chief financial officer David Housego’s total salary
increased from $841,000 to $1.3 million, while Publishing Media managing director Allen
Williams also received a substantial pay rise to take his pay including shares to $1.196
million, up from $775,000.
Company had authorised stop work meetings today at 3pm for 30 minutes in Sydney,
Melbourne, Canberra, Newcastle and Illawarra.
Moreover, MEAA members at Fairfax Media have voted to accept the latest offer from the
company for a newenterprise bargaining agreement for editorial staff employed on the
company’s Metro Daily mastheads (including WA Today and the Brisbane Times). At the
same time journalists condemned the recent actions of management of rewarding themselves
with multi-million dollar bonuses. These actions are in stark contrast to the preparedness of
MEAA members to accept a sub-inflation pay rise in order to protect the long-term viability
of the company.16
16 http://www.fairgofairfax.org.au/
9. 8
3- Relations with competitors
According to some rumors, Fairfax CEO Greg Hywood “planned to ski” with competitor
James Packer in Aspen in 2013. This was not the first time a Fairfax executive was linked to
one of the competitors and these links supposedly kills Fairfax reputation across shareholders.
One of the most important criterias of any Fairfax director should be that they are independent
of any association or sympathy with its competitors since it can easily destroy Fairfax, being a
public company. 17
VII. Fairfax Media in 2014
In 2014 the company achieved some remarkable successes. It’s financial results turned into
positive profit, revenues went higher for the first time in years. The strategy of being more
agile, leaner and digital focused organization seems to start working.
In spite of the problems of the previous years Fairfax still has some excellent points. 60% of
Australia and 80% of the population of New Zealand consume Fairfax content18. They own
severaly newspapers and magazines. The Sydney Morning Herald is number 1 in total
masthead readerships in Australia. Besides that Fairfax Media ownes, The Age, The Canberra
Times and The Australian Financial Review, latter one is the most widely read business news
in Australia.
Fairfax media has also ownes the biggest dating site of Australia which has 500.000
subscribers, as they have managed to merge RSVP and Oasis Active.19 They are also present
int he real estate advertising business with owning Stayz20 and Domain21, two widely used
websites in Australia. These acquisitions shows that Fairfax Media strikes to get the
substitutial products of their former advertising products, realizing that costumers are not
looking for a new flat or a relationship in newspapers.
Some challenges have remained in their last year too. Their radio stations cannot fit their
strategy, which can be a problem and also a cause of their difficulties to monetize their market
17 http://www.smartcompany.com.au/growth/economy/32835-killing-fairfax-book-james-packer-and-rupert-
murdoch.html
18http://www.fairfaxmedia.com.au/ArticleDocuments/191/2014%20FAIRFAX%20Annual%20Report.pdf.aspx?
Embed=Y
19 http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/latest/fairfaxs-rsvp-strikes-deal-with-oasis-active/story-e6frg90f-
1226862790146
20 http://www.stayz.com.au/
21 http://www.domain.com.au/
10. 9
share. It’s not clear either how their organizational structure is alligned, which can cause
serious problems in the long run.