There were 54,000 more men than women aged 30-something in Australia in 1976.
But by 2004 there were 20,000 fewer men than women aged 30-something, a new report shows.
The reason for the so-called “man drought” is that the globalisation of labour is now attracting young men in particular out of Australia to stronger economies in the northern hemisphere.
Not even small talk is sacred anymore. P&G has enlisted a stealth army of 600,000 moms who chat up its products
Procter & Gamble Co. couldn’t ask for a better salesperson than Donna Wetherell. The gregarious Columbus (Ohio) mom works at a customer service call center unaffiliated with P&G, where she knows some 300 co-workers by name. Lately, Wetherell has spent so much time at work talking about P&G products and handing out discount coupons that her colleagues have given her a nickname. “I am called the coupon lady,” Wetherell says.
Multiply Wetherell by 600,000 to calculate the size of P&G’s new advertising army. That’s the number of moms P&G has enrolled in Vocalpoint, a so-called word-of-mouth marketing program it has developed to pitch its own and other companies’ products. By crafting product messages mothers will want to share, along with giving them samples, coupons, and a chance to share their own opinions with P&G, the Cincinnati consumer-product giant is using personal endorsements to cut through advertising clutter. “We know that the most powerful form of marketing is an advocacy message from a trusted friend,” says Steve Knox, Vocalpoint’s CEO.
A recent Yahoo!/Harris poll had some telling results for small business owners.Some highlights:
GALLUP NEWS SERVICE: PRINCETON, NJ — Gallup’s monthly measure of Americans’ views of the national economy shows no substantial change in November compared with October’s results. According to Gallup’s monthly index of two key economic ratings, fewer than one in three Americans can be classified as uniformly positive about the economy, one in five give it mixed reviews, and 45% are uniformly negative. The pattern of this consumer confidence measure in 2006 has been a broad, U-shaped curve — down in the middle of the year and back up this fall to essentially the same level it had when the year began. More from Gallup …
Australian Communications Minister Helen Coonan has hit back at comments by media mogul Rupert Murdoch that Australia’s Internet speeds are a disgrace.
Mr Murdoch has slammed the Federal Government and Telstra for not spending enough to keep Australians up to world standards.
He said up to $12 billion is needed to bring fast Internet access to every Australian town at levels seen throughout Asia and the United States.
But Senator Coonan says Internet speeds are not as slow as the News Corporation chairman suggests.
Australian Crisis management guru, Ross Campbell, says that websites and blogs are now used as an intrinsic and strategic communications asset in the conduct of crisis resonse and recovery.
For over 100 years the Melbourne Cup has run on the first Tuesday of November and the great American humorist, Mark Twain, while visiting Australia in 1895 observed that the Melbourne Cup was the Australasian National Day:
“It would be difficult to overstate its importance, it overshadows all other holidays and specialised days. Cup Day and Cup Day only commands an attention, an interest and an enthusiasm which are universal and spontaneous, not perfunctory. Cup Day is supreme, it has no rival. In America we have no annual supreme day, no day whose approach makes the whole nation glad. I think it must be considered that the position of Cup Day is unique, solitary and likely to hold that high place for a long time.
Commenting on the social specaacle, Twain added, “Their clothes have been ordered long ago at unlimited cost and without bound to beauty and magnificence and have been kept in concealment until now. And so the grandstands make a brilliant and wonderful spectacle, a delirium of colour, a vision of beauty. The champagne flows, everybody is vivacious, excited, happy, everybody bets and gloves and fortunes change hands right along all the time.
If you would like to download an instant ebook version of Michael’s new book WOMBAT SELLING: How to sell by Word of Mouth, simply click here.
How to buy your own hard copy:
WOMBAT SELLING: How to sell by Word of Mouth
Author: Michael Hewitt-Gleeson (Hardie Grant Books) July 2006.
WOMBAT Selling is available now from Borders and Dymocks
and your local bookstore. RRP $24.95 paperback.
________________________________________________________________
WOMBAT SELLING is a completely rewritten and updated version of NewSell, first published in New York in 1984 and then in Australia in 1990. It became required reading for any businessperson. It exposed the dirty secret of traditional selling: that we actually have no way of knowing how to close the sale!
Hey Michael, Mate, that was an awesome book - I know for a fact it’s practical because I joined a new organisation as Marketing Manager just over 2 months ago. In the last couple of weeks, I identified key customer contact points in the business and started to look at how we can enhance the experience at every contact point. What you say in your book truly made sense. I love it.
Cheers
Jin Wan
WHEN: The next masterclass is on Tuesday 21 November. Commencing at 6pm sharp to 8pm close. Reservations by email only.
WHERE: Melbourne Exhibition Centre, Suite 1, Level 5
2 Clarendon Street, Southbank, Melbourne.
WHAT: “How To Raise The Innovation Intelligence of Your Enterprise”:
A 120-Minute Innovation MasterClass with Michael Hewitt-Gleeson.
WHO: Open to all. Including; teachers of thinking; businesspeople and entrepreneurs; others who are interested in raising their innovation intelligence.
FEES: There are no fees. Seating must be limited to ‘first come first served’. These pro bono events are sponsored by School of Thinking and Melbourne Exhibition Centre to promote Thinking in Melbourne.
HOW: Email to reserve a place for you and your associates in these unique events. Say which dates you wish to attend. Give the the full names and organisation of participants. You will receive confirmation by return email. All privacy is respected.
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