Sony Australia has appointed Simon Hovell head of brand marketing and handed Naked Communications an enlarged role on its agency roster.
Naked has been made lead agency by Hovell, who was previously brand marketing manager. He replaces group manager of brand marketing Vanessa Hamilton, who departed the company earlier in the year.
Naked previously handled experiential and activations work for Sony, in partnership with fellow Photon Group agency C4 Communications.
Sony has been undertaking an agency review, which was announced earlier in the year. Sony said it will not be dropping any roster agencies, which include Euro RSCG, Saatchi & Saatchi, Starcom MediaVest, Iris and Hausmann Communications.
Hovell said: "The appointment of Naked as our lead agency, to develop strategy across all of Sony’s electronics business, demonstrates the importance of focusing on customers in this category. Naked's speciality, of behavioural change, will become core to how we bring campaigns to market in Australia."
Naked managing partner Mike Wilson said: "Sony is evolving as a company, from an electronics-focused organisation to a broader network services and entertainment company. This is an exciting challenge for us to lead this strategy and support the focus on changing customer behaviour, primarily through online mediums and directly at the retail shopfront."
Meanwhile, Sony has appointed its national customer care manager Tim Simons to the newly created role of customer insight and experience manager, within the brand marketing team. He reports to Hovell.
The brand is still searching for a general manager of consumer marketing to oversee both the brand marketing and the product marketing departments, following the departure of Toby Barbour, as revealed by AdNews.
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Sunday, May 22, 2011
Success: Social media help reach the world
Next Article: Mary Holm: Trimmed KiwiSaver still best bet
Facebook, Twitter, blogs are cost-effective ways to target a specific market, says business owner.
Wendy Maddocks-Jennings is aiming to use only New Zealand-grown plants in her range of skincare products. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Expand
Wendy Maddocks-Jennings is aiming to use only New Zealand-grown plants in her range of skincare products. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Two years ago, former nurse Wendy Maddocks-Jennings would have told you that Twitter and Facebook were just amusing distractions for teenagers.
Now the small-business owner relies on social media to promote her natural skincare products to the world.
Sales for her Palmerston North-based company, MJ Health, are up 25 per cent on this time last year, thanks to her regular tweeting, blogging and Facebook updates.
Maddocks-Jennings exports most of her completely plant-based products to beauty salons and spas in Britain, Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia. She says adapting to social media has allowed her to find customers who would otherwise have been out of reach.
Twitter, Facebook and blogging are a more cost-effective way for a small business to really target specific groups of customers than traditional print advertising, she says.
The main cost in using social media is time, says Maddocks-Jennings, who estimates she spends 10 or so hours a week tweeting, updating her blog, responding to comments and posting videos on YouTube. She hires a contractor for media research and the advanced technical stuff.
MJ Health makes its plant-based skincare products under the Dr Wendy's brand. Another range, Earth's Gift, is mainly sold on Trade Me but uses some non-plant-based ingredients.
Maddocks-Jennings first recognised social media as a great way to promote brand awareness for her fledgling business after attending a social media marketing course run by New Zealand Trade & Enterprise and the natural products industry body, New Zealand Natural Products.
During the course she discovered she was the only one of about 20 who had a Facebook page - and she'd only set that up to keep in touch with a friend's plans for a school reunion.
The number of Kiwi businesses using social media has been a trickle rather than a flow. In March, the annual MYOB Business Monitor showed only 14 per cent of the 1000-odd Kiwi smaller businesses that were surveyed used Twitter, Facebook, MySpace or YouTube to promote their business. Similarly, just 12 per cent of all business owners wrote online newsletters or blogs to promote their business to existing and prospective customers.
Maddocks-Jennings says the trick when tweeting, blogging and posting is to keep things conversational, and to engage with and inform people rather than do the hard sell.
"It's definitely not about bombarding people with information. For example, I contribute to conversations in chat rooms where I'm not necessarily saying, 'try my products', but I might be informing people about the ingredients that I use."
She shares links to various industry-related blogs, news and events, and comments on industry-related news.
This doesn't just raise brand awareness, but also shows that the company "has a wider consideration than just the business side of things".
There is some direct promotion. Maddocks-Jennings has a small budget for Facebook ads, and offers products as giveaways at certain events.
Despite quickly getting up to speed with the technology, Maddocks-Jennings recognised she needed help with some of the more technical and time-consuming stuff.
She also needed to effectively research and communicate with her most lucrative markets: Hong Kong and Singapore. She hired a Mandarin and Cantonese-speaking intern to surf the net for product reviews and comments, and to do the more advanced technical things such as write html code.
Maddocks-Jennings, 45, had always had an interest in natural products, and had mulled the idea of starting her own business for years.
While nursing she had developed some serious allergies to hand cleaning products and latex. She found a teaching job at a local polytechnic and opened a small aromatherapy clinic.
When an opportunity for voluntary redundancy came up, she knew it was now or never for her business idea.
She set up the company in 2006 after studying for a doctorate in health science at Australia's Charles Sturt University. She spent 18 months developing a product range under her Dr Wendy's brand, and door-knocked pharmacies, beauty salons and health food shops around the North Island. She found it tough going: the recession was starting to bite and businesses were reluctant to take on a new product.
On the advice of a business mentor she narrowed her market focus to women over 30 and targeted only beauty salons, spas and therapists.
Knowing an export market would provide a bigger pool of customers, she successfully launched the product through distributors in Britain, and turned to Asia via Hong Kong, a common entry point to the Asian market because of its location, market size and because English is spoken.
She ignored Australia, having been advised there were already a lot of local brands with a loyal following.
Now Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Britain make up 80 per cent of her market and the rest is sold in New Zealand. Maddocks-Jennings aims to further develop the local market with a new range of salon-only products, and will tackle the Korean market this year.
All MJ Health's products are manufactured in Palmerston North. To cut costs Maddocks-Jennings hires a local commercial kitchen and a handful of staff only when an order comes in.
Being small allows her the flexibility to customise her range, which is important to her Asian market, where customers have different skin types.
The Dr Wendy's brand which sells in Asia is altered slightly to suit not only the local skin type but also to ensure the product's longevity in the humid climate.
Maddocks-Jennings aims to use all New Zealand plants in her products; right now she's at about 70 per cent.
She's also 80 per cent toward her goal of being completely organic.
The natural products industry in New Zealand is thriving: industry body, Natural Products NZ, estimates it is worth about $1 billion annually.
By Christine Nikiel | Email Christine
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YouKNOWItsTheTruth (New Zealand)
11:26AM Monday, 23 May 2011
I opened my facebook accont over 4 years ago, which I reckon made me one of the first (hundred thousand) people in this country to get one. In that entire time, I have never clicked on an advert, despite being bombarded with dozens of them each time I log on. Total waste of time and money if you ask me.
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Facebook, Twitter, blogs are cost-effective ways to target a specific market, says business owner.
Wendy Maddocks-Jennings is aiming to use only New Zealand-grown plants in her range of skincare products. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Expand
Wendy Maddocks-Jennings is aiming to use only New Zealand-grown plants in her range of skincare products. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Two years ago, former nurse Wendy Maddocks-Jennings would have told you that Twitter and Facebook were just amusing distractions for teenagers.
Now the small-business owner relies on social media to promote her natural skincare products to the world.
Sales for her Palmerston North-based company, MJ Health, are up 25 per cent on this time last year, thanks to her regular tweeting, blogging and Facebook updates.
Maddocks-Jennings exports most of her completely plant-based products to beauty salons and spas in Britain, Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia. She says adapting to social media has allowed her to find customers who would otherwise have been out of reach.
Twitter, Facebook and blogging are a more cost-effective way for a small business to really target specific groups of customers than traditional print advertising, she says.
The main cost in using social media is time, says Maddocks-Jennings, who estimates she spends 10 or so hours a week tweeting, updating her blog, responding to comments and posting videos on YouTube. She hires a contractor for media research and the advanced technical stuff.
MJ Health makes its plant-based skincare products under the Dr Wendy's brand. Another range, Earth's Gift, is mainly sold on Trade Me but uses some non-plant-based ingredients.
Maddocks-Jennings first recognised social media as a great way to promote brand awareness for her fledgling business after attending a social media marketing course run by New Zealand Trade & Enterprise and the natural products industry body, New Zealand Natural Products.
During the course she discovered she was the only one of about 20 who had a Facebook page - and she'd only set that up to keep in touch with a friend's plans for a school reunion.
The number of Kiwi businesses using social media has been a trickle rather than a flow. In March, the annual MYOB Business Monitor showed only 14 per cent of the 1000-odd Kiwi smaller businesses that were surveyed used Twitter, Facebook, MySpace or YouTube to promote their business. Similarly, just 12 per cent of all business owners wrote online newsletters or blogs to promote their business to existing and prospective customers.
Maddocks-Jennings says the trick when tweeting, blogging and posting is to keep things conversational, and to engage with and inform people rather than do the hard sell.
"It's definitely not about bombarding people with information. For example, I contribute to conversations in chat rooms where I'm not necessarily saying, 'try my products', but I might be informing people about the ingredients that I use."
She shares links to various industry-related blogs, news and events, and comments on industry-related news.
This doesn't just raise brand awareness, but also shows that the company "has a wider consideration than just the business side of things".
There is some direct promotion. Maddocks-Jennings has a small budget for Facebook ads, and offers products as giveaways at certain events.
Despite quickly getting up to speed with the technology, Maddocks-Jennings recognised she needed help with some of the more technical and time-consuming stuff.
She also needed to effectively research and communicate with her most lucrative markets: Hong Kong and Singapore. She hired a Mandarin and Cantonese-speaking intern to surf the net for product reviews and comments, and to do the more advanced technical things such as write html code.
Maddocks-Jennings, 45, had always had an interest in natural products, and had mulled the idea of starting her own business for years.
While nursing she had developed some serious allergies to hand cleaning products and latex. She found a teaching job at a local polytechnic and opened a small aromatherapy clinic.
When an opportunity for voluntary redundancy came up, she knew it was now or never for her business idea.
She set up the company in 2006 after studying for a doctorate in health science at Australia's Charles Sturt University. She spent 18 months developing a product range under her Dr Wendy's brand, and door-knocked pharmacies, beauty salons and health food shops around the North Island. She found it tough going: the recession was starting to bite and businesses were reluctant to take on a new product.
On the advice of a business mentor she narrowed her market focus to women over 30 and targeted only beauty salons, spas and therapists.
Knowing an export market would provide a bigger pool of customers, she successfully launched the product through distributors in Britain, and turned to Asia via Hong Kong, a common entry point to the Asian market because of its location, market size and because English is spoken.
She ignored Australia, having been advised there were already a lot of local brands with a loyal following.
Now Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Britain make up 80 per cent of her market and the rest is sold in New Zealand. Maddocks-Jennings aims to further develop the local market with a new range of salon-only products, and will tackle the Korean market this year.
All MJ Health's products are manufactured in Palmerston North. To cut costs Maddocks-Jennings hires a local commercial kitchen and a handful of staff only when an order comes in.
Being small allows her the flexibility to customise her range, which is important to her Asian market, where customers have different skin types.
The Dr Wendy's brand which sells in Asia is altered slightly to suit not only the local skin type but also to ensure the product's longevity in the humid climate.
Maddocks-Jennings aims to use all New Zealand plants in her products; right now she's at about 70 per cent.
She's also 80 per cent toward her goal of being completely organic.
The natural products industry in New Zealand is thriving: industry body, Natural Products NZ, estimates it is worth about $1 billion annually.
By Christine Nikiel | Email Christine
1.
1
comments
* Go to latest
* |
* Add
2.
YouKNOWItsTheTruth (New Zealand)
11:26AM Monday, 23 May 2011
I opened my facebook accont over 4 years ago, which I reckon made me one of the first (hundred thousand) people in this country to get one. In that entire time, I have never clicked on an advert, despite being bombarded with dozens of them each time I log on. Total waste of time and money if you ask me.
* Privacy Policy
* Terms of Use
* Group Sites
* Copyright 2011, APN Holdings NZ Limited
Assembled by: (static) on akl_n2 at 23 May 2011 16:10:27 Processing Time: 59ms
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