Last week I was on a panel at the Australasian Media & Broadcasting Congress where we were discussing the future of advertising. One of the questions I was asked was whether I thought 3D TV was the future of television advertising. My response was an emphatic NO.

Masterchef winner Adam Liaw

Nonetheless we did discuss many concepts that probably going to be a big part of television and advertising going forward and it seems to me that Masterchef has them in spades.

1. A good storyline will always be successful, even if its not alone in guaranteeing success. Masterchef cleverly builds towards a climax like most reality TV shows but really allows us to follow the growth of the contestants over the series. We get to know them and see them improve.

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For decades governments of western nations have granted permission for media licenses but also regulated the general nature of media content, deciding what can and can’t be offered to the public.

The Internet has been the one form of media that seemed to escape regulation. The ease of content creation and distribution online has allowed the Internet to become the most lawless media, with our own common sense and decency being the main filters.

Clearly this unregulated and uncensored media has been a concern to governments around the world. Strict nations, such as Iran and China, with a history of cracking down on free speech have imposed strong filters to prevent their people from accessing material not deemed acceptable, but recently it seems that countries usually associated with free speech are now getting into the act.

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The Toowoomba property market received a significant boost when Dan Dwan and Markus Eames established the Colliers International office last year.

Colliers International Toowoomba specialises in Commercial, Industrial, Retail & Residential property in Toowoomba and surrounding areas. They represent property investors, developers and occupiers in local and global markets and offer service ranging from Facility Management, Project Marketing to Sales and Leasing.

Toowoomba is a diverse real estate market with everything from modern offices, pubs and clubs to rural retreats, resorts and retirement villages. Dan Dwan and Markus Eames focus on delivery the best reals estate advice and service in the region.

Note: this post is a search engine optimisation test.

some of the Colliers International riders in Tour de Kids

I had the distinct honour of participating in the Tour de Kids charity ride from Melbourne to Sydney last week as part of the Colliers International team. Part of my job was to cover the event online for Colliers and demonstrate how effective modern mobile and web-based tools can be.

We decided to keep things simple by setting up a Posterous site to post all the daily updates and photos then compliment it with a dedicated Twitter account.

It couldn’t have been easier. Another Colliers rider and I were able to post directly to the website from our phones. The PicPosterous iPhone app meant that I could post images and short descriptions immediately from anywhere on the ride, allowing those following the event to gain almost real-time access.

We also pointed visitors and Twitter followers to the donations page of Tour de Kids urging them to support the riders. We felt it was important as a charity event to encourage donations whilst people were engaged rather than delay action.

It worked extremely well with riders raising more money for Starlight Foundation than ever before in the ten year history of the Tour de Kids and generating a considerable amount of media coverage.

Tour de Kids Peloton - photo by Steve Ferguson

All-in-all it was a great example of how easy it can be to engage and share online.

On a personal note, the Tour de Kids was an amazing experience. The people who rode and ran the event were extremely generous, paying their own way and raising almost $500,000 for seriously sick kids whilst enjoying the highs and lows (literally) of pedalling 1200km in 7 days. Meeting some of the families who Starlight help and hearing their stories was truly moving and was a reminder of how lucky most of us are to be in good health.

Congratulations to everyone involved.

Trade Promotion Optimisation helps products fly off shelves

Trade promotion optimisation involves analyzing and understanding what worked, what didn’t and why, in the retail trade and FMCG industry. In Australia its a fascinating field that we’ve been investigating lately.

It seems that most FMCG’s have highly sophisticated delivery chains but desperately need effective trade promotion optimisation to track the effectiveness of campaigns on stock movement.

Trade promotion optimisation software provides FMCG’s with the ability to quickly and accurately TRACK their sales and promotional funds, use sophisticated multi-causal models to confidently PREDICT consumer response to promotions, and streamline the entire promotions lifecycle to OPTIMIZE the price, volume and profit across their entire customer landscape.

We believe that integrating an online optimisation strategy can complete the sales and analytics cycle from FMCG supply chain, retailer and consumer.

Its an interesting area that we’ll be monitoring over the coming months.

Last year's Tour de Kids riders

In early March I will be riding in the Tour de Kids, an annual cycling challenge raising vital funds for a variety of children’s charities. My charity for this event is the Starlight Children’s Foundation.

Starlight are dedicated to granting a once in a lifetime, life changing experience to wish children who are referred by qualified health professionals. Starlight’s aim is to create long lasting memories for the wish child and their entire family.

Sadly Starlight has had to cut down on the amount of wishes granted throughout Australia because of funding. I’m hoping that we can turn this around and help Starlight grant the wishes of serious ill children all over the country by donating to Tour De Kids for 2010.

The fundraising target I have been set is $1000 but I’d love to show the corporate community how bloggers and social media types (i.e. you) have the ability to band together for a good cause…how the long tail of an online community can collectively achieve great results.

Every dollar can help, so your contribution – large or small -  to my fundraising efforts will be enormously appreciated.

You can donate here on my Tour de Kids Page.

I will be riding on behalf of one of the event’s major sponsors, Colliers International and will be covering the event for them online via a dedicated blogsite and Twitter (links coming soon) so everyone can see the action and follow the ride.

The event is fairly demanding with an average distance of 150km per day and some hilly terrain. The second last day from Canberra to Bowral is around 190km, so I’ll be suffering plenty but knowing that its all for a great cause and worth every bit of it.

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The Internet, Twitter especially, exploded with indignation today when the Australian government announced it will proceed with controversial plans to censor the Internet.

The Communications Minister, Stephen Conroy, said today he would introduce legislation just before next year’s elections to force ISPs to block a blacklist of “refused classification” (RC) websites for all Australian internet users.

While the Australian government may be proposing an Internet filter with the best intentions of protecting the youth of our nation against “immoral content”, most experts agree that this is easier said than done and could do more harm than good.

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I just love this little video. Its nothing to do with media, but plenty to do with marketing, focus and passion. We could all learn something from this guy. Highly recommended.

Hat tip to Australian Anthill, where I first came across the video.

by David Dale

AUSTRALIA has made an enormous evolutionary leap over the past ten years, and we should be proud of the way we’ve matured into sophisticated, discerning consumers.

That’s one theory, anyway. Cleaning out a mouldy filing cabinet last weekend, I came across a way to test if the claim is true — a fat document, sent out to journalists exactly ten years ago, with these words on the cover: “RATINGS REPORT – NINE SHINES IN 1999″. It’s Channel Nine’s 60 page analysis of trends in television at the end of the 90s. I can say with absolute confidence that Nine will not be sending out a report anything like it this year.

Since we’re only a week away from the end of the 2009 ratings period, it’s possible to find some illuminating differences between the way we were and the way we are. Check out these ratings charts, and see if you agree with the comparisons I make afterwards…

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Which media will cross the digital divide?

It seems to me a that significant divide has opened up due to the digitisation of media.

The most obvious gulf is between the media who have embraced the digital future and those who haven’t. Think Huffington Post / Rupert Murdoch.

You see new media is more than just about electronic distribution and speed of production. Its more than pixels verses print (or radio waves or TV signals). New media has thrown the game wide open. Its hard to regulate and won’t be controlled by a handful of powerful owners.

New media involves an entirely new approach. It is challenging and mocking old media business models and embracing social media philosophies.

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