Media Monitoring from Winter to Spring: Perth Media's Top 5 Recent PR Results

Australian Vanadium Limited COO Todd Richardson

Media interest was high for vertically-integrated Australian Vanadium, Bryah Resources and Adelaide-based Renascor Resources.

Non-mining clients remain as strong as ever, with our Adapters suite of products proving a powerful draw to small business and startups. Here are the top 5 results:

 1. Australian Vanadium Limited (ASX:AVL) appeared in Bloomberg, covering the importance of vanadium price stabilisation for the uptake of the VRFB (Vanadium Redox Flow Battery) by the large-scale energy storage batteries sector.

 2. GWN News interviewed Australian Vanadium’s Todd Richardson about the Federal Government’s recognition of the company’s Meekatharra-based Australian Vanadium Project.

 3. London-based Fastmarkets profiled Renascor Resources’ (ASX:RNU) graphite export plans. ‘Interview: Renascor MD lays out plans for Australian graphite flake development.’

 4. Last month, The Kalgoorlie Miner featured Bryah Resources Limited’s (ASX:BYH) ties with OMM, a subsidiary of OM Holdings (ASX:OMH). Highlighted was the significance of its multimillion-dollar joint venture to power promising drilling programs.

 5. Perth Media’s Adapters suite of products for small business and startups remains an important offering and its uptake is strong, covering areas as diverse as Feng Shui to Oil and Gas Decommissioning. The latter, through Written Adapters, tells the story of Perth startup Ajero Pty Ltd.

Janine Taylor - Consultant, Perth Media

Coming Soon: Perth Media's Adapters Podcast with Torrance Mendez

Perth Media consultant Torrance Mendez, a seasoned professional and one-time news reporter, this week begins a new Adapters podcast series, interviewing small businesses and organisations about their history, products, dreams and innovations.

He will be working this afternoon from our partner recording studio at a Vic Park location.

The first guest is Jackstar Bookkeeping’s Jackie Roufail!

Adapters: Exceed Customer Expectations, says Perth’s Captivate Connect

Mark Horwood of Captivate Connect

Not all Australian companies understand the importance of customer experience, warns Perth entrepreneur Mark Horwood who is changing how businesses around the world relate to clients.

He says customer experience quantified a person’s emotional response in dealings with a company or organisation, and most major US corporations had hired a director of customer experience.

 “We need to look at some of the reasons that this is important, that a customer ‘feels’ an emotional attachment to a business,” Mr Horwood said.

His firm, Captivate Connect, developed new technology to defeat frustrating on-hold phone calls by helping organisations to interact with consumers who were waiting to speak to a staff member.

Mr Horwood says businesses and organisations must exceed consumer expectations to enjoy the benefit of positive customer experiences.

He noted the evolution of commerce with disruptors, such as Uber Eats and Amazon, and commoditisation, in which products or services became indistinguishable from similar ones.

Mr Horwood continued: “Do you ’feel’ any emotional connection to Amazon or the Uber Eats delivery person? Nope. Can you remember the name of the restaurant from which the Uber Eats bag emanated? Nope.”

He said commoditised products had thin margins and were sold by price, not brand. Typically, ever cheaper and common technology was sold by more suppliers who lower prices even further.

“So, when a business does not want to be seen as ‘the same as everyone else’ – chasing prices to the bottom and squeezing margins – what can it do,” Mr Horwood asked.

“It must make the business different in the mind of the customer,” he explained.

“To do this, it needs to create a connection – not an Uber Eats bag type of relationship, but one where the customer forms an emotional connection. One that is memorable long after price is forgotten.”

Mr Horwood said a five-star restaurant that met customer expectations had done just that. But a pasta joint in the suburbs that exceeded customer expectations might be more memorable.

“Which of these two restaurants are you going to bother rating on Google,” he asked. “Which will you tell your friends to go to?”

He went on: “Larger corporations have the most to give and the most to gain from improving customer experience as generally they are not too good at it.”

Mr Horwood singled out being kept waiting on a telephone as a pet hate. “Why do they do that in this day and age of modern technology when there are so many caller preferred options,” he asked.

Captivate Connect’s world-leading phone technology offered entertainment to people on hold as well as information, a quiz, several genres of music and, importantly, a podcast, download of the company app being called and option to be called back.

The internet helped Captivate Connect establish a bigger customer base in the US than Australia.

“From a business perspective, you gain from this new service not only from having improved customer experience, but higher Google ratings and, of course, the business database grows from every number that requests the quiz or app or podcast link,” Mr Horwood said.

He said customer experience differed from customer service. The latter concerned human interaction and directly supporting customers but was only one aspect of dealing with customers.

“Customer experience is the sum of the entire customer journey with your business,” he said.

For more information go to: www.captivateconnect.com

This article is one of many featured in 'Adapters', a series in WABN exclusively for Perth Media clients, profiling news of innovative small businesses, start-ups and not for profits.

Adapters: Perth Skincare Manufacturer – Marina’s Ambrosia – Plans Sustainable Shift to Eco Packaging

Marina Herlihy of Marina’s Ambrosia

Perth businesswoman Marina Herlihy is rebuilding her thriving skincare and cosmetics firm after realising that her company must take responsibility for eco-friendly social change.

Ms Herlihy wants to appeal to a new market, despite returning annual profits of 20 per cent year on year from Marina’s Ambrosia, the brand of organic personal care items she launched a decade ago.

 “Each day I get between 10 and 20 customers who want to know if I use biodegradable packages,” Ms Herlihy says. “These customers are generally in their early 20s to mid-20s and many of them won’t buy if the packaging isn’t sustainable.”

She identifies these inquisitive young people as drivers of future business growth and has decided to meet their demands or risk being wiped out in today’s new world of environmental awareness.

“I’m budgeting for my products to be made in biodegradable packages for a relaunch in the new year,” Ms Herlihy says.

 Her range of organic products will be offered in organic packages, including bamboo. “My products come from the Earth and soon you will be able to return them to the Earth,” she says.

Ms Herlihy said plastic harmed the planet and everyone must work against it. A sustainable business must have sustainable products, she reasoned, and cancelled her existing packaging order.

“If I don’t do this now, then changing to biodegradable packages later will become a huge demand that will be overwhelming. And if my products don’t shift off the shelf there won’t be an income. And that is where brands fall down.”

 Some customers wanted refills instead of repackaging but that approach was costly, inefficient, impractical and did not always work for mail order items. 

Initially, she planned to offer organic packaging within 10 years but was acting now because of a sense of urgency driven by a new generation of customers.

Redesign costs surprised her. She retains a designer in South Africa having been intimidated by quotes for work in Australia. “I couldn’t afford in Australia the calibre of the work that I will get in South Africa,” Ms Herlihy says.

Customers can expect products packaged in bamboo and cardboard. Old labels in black, white, silver and green are likely to be displaced by biodegradable ones in earthy bamboo tones.

Products would either be recyclable or biodegradable.

Ms Herlihy says the need for change was driven by plastic – a cheap, ubiquitous product that was hard to break down. She hoped scientists could one day produce a chemical bath that could dissolve plastics acceptably. “We cannot stop plastics, but we must slow their advance,” she says.

Some recyclable products posed problems. Glass, for example, was disliked for skincare and cosmetics packaging because, if dropped in a bathroom, it could shatter or break a tile.

Similarly, cardboard could be compromised by moisture. Marina’s Ambrosia was successfully selling deodorant in cardboard tubes with waxed-paper linings. “Everybody loves it,” Ms Herlihy said.

Bamboo packaging held great promise because, like wood, it was recyclable. Ms Herlihy had found a supplier in Indonesia who farmed sustainably and did not employ child labour.

Ms Herlihy, a mother of four who trained in naturopathy, founded her company after inventing what is now her bestseller, Organic All Over, a body lotion that successfully treated her bad skin.

Marina’s Ambrosia has a catalogue of more than 100 products with a global customer base.

For more information go to: www.marinasambrosia.com

This article is one of many featured in 'Adapters', a series in WABN exclusively for Perth Media clients, profiling news of innovative small businesses, start-ups and not for profits.

Perth Media Testimonial: Partners in Grain WA

"Partners in Grain WA recently held a Summit that had limited opportunity for participants to attend and was not open to the general public, however the importance of the event being held and the learnings coming out of it were relevant and valuable to the wider industry. Engaging Perth Media was instrumental in gaining state and national exposure of the Summit, its key achievements, awareness of our organisation and our ability to exceed sponsors expectations. Cate Rocchi’s PR skills turned our relatively small event into a positive national news story for the farming sector and wider agricultural and business sectors."

Erin Green, coordinator, Partners in Grain WA

Perth Media Testimonial (From the Archives): Southern Forests Food Council

There are many interesting projects we have worked on, including the SFFC several years ago promoting truffles and many other producers in Western Australia.

“The Southern Forests Food Council values Cate’s talent in engaging with our producers to tell their unique stories of people, place and produce, creating great exposure for Genuinely Southern Forests.” 

Media results included articles in The Australian newspaper, Augusta Margaret River Mail, Perth Now, AAP, SBS News, ABC Regional, Farming Ahead Online, The West Australian, WA Business News, Busselton Dunsborough Mail and RM Williams magazine.

Laura Bolitho, Office Manager, Southern Forests Food Council Inc

Perth Media Testimonial: Blockhead Technologies 'Excited to Reach a Global Audience Thanks to Perth Media's Excellent Network'

Blockhead Technologies - Supply Chain Intelligence Redefined

“Blockhead Technologies saw excellent success from the engagement of Perth Media to assist with the design and distribution of a press release that announced a global customer would be leveraging our software solutions.

Nationally, we featured in some of the top mining news publications, and internationally we saw reach in the media in Canada, Russia and also Yahoo News. We are excited to continue reaching a global audience thanks to Perth Media’s excellent network.”

 Josh Horneman - Advisor, Business Development, at Blockhead Technologies

Media results included feature articles in Mining Global (London) and Acuris’ Mergermarket.
 

Media Monitoring: Perth Media's Top 5 Recent PR Results

Perth Media continues to log excellent results. Our top five recent include three ASX-listed clients as well as two of Perth Media’s Adapters clients: one utilising our Written Adapters service and the other advertising her brand through our first ever Adapters Film.

 1. Australian Mining Review’s ‘In the Spotlight’ series focused on Renascor Resources Managing Director, David Christensen.

 2. Prestigious global financial publication Acuris/Mergermarket featured Bryah Resources after an interview at Diggers & Dealers last month: ‘Bryah Resources could seek further JV opportunities as manganese strategy advances.’

 3. Adapters Film is up and running. Here is the first: Marina’s Ambrosia short film.

 4. Several clients appeared in Stockhead, including Australian Vanadium Limited, on lower vanadium prices prompting new Vanadium Redox Flow Battery (VRFB) developments.

 5. Through our Written Adapters product, Raj Singh of RealIQ outlined his novel co-living accommodation developments in India.

- Janine Taylor, Consultant, Perth Media

Perth Media Testimonial: Public Relations Campaign for Advanced Energy Resources on Refurbished Wind Turbines ‘Results Speak for Themselves’

On 19 June 2019, Perth Media ran a campaign on behalf of Advanced Energy Resources (AER).

Founded in 2006, AER is a WA electricity generator and retailer focused on supplying 100% renewable energy to its customers by 2025. Construction of its 3.5MW wind, solar and battery project will power GMA Garnet’s wet plant operations 40km south of Kalbarri in WA, a region of generally weak electricity network coverage.

On Perth Media’s successful media campaign, AER business development manager Steve Wall said: “When we announced our Australian-first 3.5MW Wind/Solar/Battery hybrid project to supply a mine in the Mid-West, we were determined to gain maximum exposure for our success.

“Cate and her team worked quickly and enthusiastically to ensure our story was embraced by a large number of industry, regional and general media outlets – including requests for interviews.”

Funding of $3 million by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA), the Federal Government’s renewable energy programs manager, furthers its Advancing Renewables Program by commercially trialling AER’s back-to-back inverter technology. This, and the use of refurbished turbines, is a world first.

“Perth Media displayed a good understanding of AER’s business and the renewable energy industry in WA. The results spoke for themselves.” - Steve Wall, business development manager of Advanced Energy Resources.

Adapters: Perth's Real IQ Seeks Investment for Co-living Accommodation in India

Real IQ’s Raj Singh has launched Boston Living

Perth entrepreneur and real estate owner, Raj Singh, is teaming with an Indian property development group to deliver a revolutionary form of co-living accommodation in India that aims to attract Australian investors.

His real estate company, Real IQ in Northbridge, signed a joint venture with INCOR Group of India to provide fresh, purpose-built homes for university students and IT professionals in the teeming sub-continent.

“About 13 per cent of Indians migrate to other states for education, employment or marriage opportunities. That’s more than 150 million people,” Mr Singh says. “About 50 per cent of them are aged 18 to 35, and they need a place to live. Existing rental stock, which is not organised, is grossly inadequate to meet demand.”

Co-living is the answer, he says. For a set fee, tenants get purpose-built apartments with all essentials, including furniture, laundry, cooked food and even Netflix TV.

Two people who may or may not know each other cohabit separate beds in a one-bedroom unit; four people in a two-bedroom unit and, in each case, they share lounge, kitchen and toilet. As well, there are premium studio units for one person, targeted at the business community.

“We’re not selling apartments,” Mr Singh says. “We take the whole building and operate it like a hotel. It’s a new way of tenanting apartments that is more efficient and less costly. And funkier.”

Fully furnished homes will cost 10 to 15 per cent less than what tenants now pay, with the bonus of better locations, services and quality, inclusive pricing and onsite security staff.

Mr Singh says they fill a growing need for good accommodation in bustling hubs of education and technology in the metros of Bengaluru, Chennai and Hyderabad.

The target group is millennials – 18 to 35-year-olds – comprising students and professionals, a significant number of whom hold well-paid jobs with global tech giants.

Real IQ’s joint venture partner, INCOR Group, is one of South India’s most respected corporate houses in real estate. The group services more than 3600 families and INCOR has a penchant for building well-knit and vibrant communities. Through the Omni chain of hospitals, comprising six hospitals with more than 850 beds, the group also has a major presence in healthcare. In view of the considerable unmet need for organised accommodation, INCOR has launched Boston Living, a co-living brand that seeks to create a unique living experience.

Boston Living is renovating a former 260-room block of flats in Hyderabad to provide 500 co-living beds, to demonstrate the lifestyle. A new 500-bed development in Chennai is scheduled for completion in six months, to be followed by another with 1500 to 2000 beds in 18 months. A new 1000-bed complex is planned for Bangalore. Land is already set aside. Boston Living aims to incorporate 15,000 to 20,000 beds of premium co-living by 2023.

Mr Singh plans to fund the project by pitching to Australian institutional investors and high net worth individuals. Australia’s low interest rates will lead investors to diversify into emerging overseas markets, he predicts. Under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India’s economy is geared to double in five years’ time, spurred on by regulatory changes to attract foreign investment.

Mr Singh was born and raised in India and has more than 17 years’ experience in real estate in New Zealand and Perth.

He took note of India’s booming economy and spent 18 months researching its property market and tax structures, the latter to provide solutions for investors outside of India.

Mr Singh teamed up with property developer, INCOR Group, where an old friend, Surya Pulagam, was at the helm. They planned co-living projects under the banner, Boston Living, to meet accommodation demands of an increasing number of young people in fast-growing cities.

“Our goal is to get the millennials to switch to co-living from traditional home rentals,” he said.

According to his research, India’s 3.6 million beds in the shared rental market in 2018 will grow to 5.7 million by 2023. Co-living’s 2.6 per cent of rentals will grow to 8.3 per cent in that timeframe.

Nearly 40 per cent of India’s millennial workforce are migrants. About 4.7 million migrant millennials are employed in the service sector across India’s top seven cities, a figure expected to increase to approximately 7 million by 2023. Most of them stay in unorganised rented accommodation.

For more information please email: raj.singh@realiq.org

This article is one of many featured in 'Adapters', a series in WABN exclusively for Perth Media clients, profiling news of innovative small businesses, start-ups and not for profits.