Is the new Google ad service all it’s cracked up to be? I don’t know. It’s certainly not working for me but perhaps I am not an ordinary or ‘typical’ Google user.
I don’t think targeting ads to consumers is a bad thing. After all, wouldn’t we all be better off for receiving information of relevance to us, especially if it’s interesting and engaging. It’s certainly what most website owners want. A few years ago I was speaking to the marketing manager of one of Australia’s biggest niche websites, who was lamenting having to find another advertising agency, because the one they were using had started to introduce content that wasn’t closely related to their brand. It’s a common problem and why most companies look to source ads direct.
So it seems a bit odd when to see adverts for things related to my daily life, cropping up in any site to do with anything. The adverts often stand out like a sore thumb … they certainly get my attention but mainly because I am repeatedly exposed to the same images time and time again.
I deliberately didn’t turn off my privacy settings in Google because I was interested to see how this would work. As a heavy Gmail user, what I’m finding is a correlation between the adverts I am seeing and the business colleagues I am emailing. One or two in particular crop up 90% of the time. Today I had one appear and I’d emailed the company just last week. Since these are already clients or customers of mine, I don’t really need to be reminded they exist. In fact, it gets a bit annoying after a while. It’s like constantly seeing the same names coming up in a Facebook or Twitter feed, trying to boast about the same thing over and over again. After a while, you just switch off.
From the advertisers point of view, this might be a good thing. It certainly keeps reminding me they exist. But the human brain is complex and I’m not convinced that saturation advertising of this sort is good for any brand. Furthermore, if the adverts are primarily reaching people who already know about your brand, how are Google getting the message out to new customers? Is it working? I am a very heavy internet user and I write constantly on Google products. So why I am only seeing what I already know about?
I am very interested to know … what do you see in the ads below? Are they things that you can immediately relate to your day to day activity or do they appear to be completely random. Are they
This is an 8 year-old girl’s take on why you shoudn’t eat tuna. Explained in such simple terms, why would anyone stop for a moment to pick a can up off the supermarket shelf or in sushi? It shouldn’t really take a petition of lobbying campaign to change the industry, it’s just common sense that even an 8 year old can understand.
Over the weekend, we were visited by friends. Our kids spent a few hours play-acting Tin Tin in the garden, climbing trees and zipping down the flying fox. At around 11 o’clock, Patrick suggested we go geocaching. Ever heard of it? Nor had I but it’s an outdoor sensation that’s gripping the world.
Geocaching was recently described by an expert on ABC National radio as “treasure hunting for Tupperware”. There’s a website, reward scheme and millions … yes millions … of caches everywhere from your nearby park to the side of Mt Everest. Armed with just a phone GPS and wifi connection, you can isolate caches to within a few metres. None are hidden in plain view but most, though concealed, are quite easy to find. Some contain clues to other caches. Cache-hunters might pick an entire area and spend a day visiting out-of-the-way places that they’d never have thought to go to.
It's these sorts of experiences that are under threat. Theoretically children aren't allowed to handle frogs due to animal welfare legislation. The sensations and experiences we had as children are now theoretically illegal. Though authorities will turn a blind eye to some degree, the rules get tighter all the time and it's becoming difficult for even eco tour operators and educational groups to get permits for this sort of interaction.
So if such a harmless and fun activity succeeds in getting adults and kids outdoors into our parks and reserves, why is it being banned in places like NSW? Why are there increasingly regulations and constraints to other country pursuits, that provide a rare incentive for people to get outdoors, enjoy the natural environment and learn its values? Are our law makers out of touch not only with what’s good for us but also what people want and ultimately, what will help our economy?
Quoting from his book “Last Child in the Woods”, journalist Richard Louv says “For children nature comes in many forms … whatever shape nature takes, it offers each child an older larger world, separate from parents. Nature does not steal time like television, it amplifies it.” Louv loosely coined the term ‘nature deficit disorder’, to encompass incontrovertible evidence that immersion in nature is vital for our mental as well as physical development. Health disorders like early onset Alzheimers disease, Attention Deficit Disorder and myopia (all of which cost tax payers in health care) can be offset by encouraging more access to nature. Unless we want a future where children aren’t given the chance to engage with nature, it’s up to this generation – us as adults – to change things now.
Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard announced recently that she’d be cutting ‘green tape’ for development. She was pressured by business leaders gunning for economic development, so this is clearly code for allowing mining companies to more rapidly expand commercially, development that harms the natural environment. It’s unlikely there will be any reduction soon, in the controls placed on individuals and small business, when it comes to the utilisation of our own national parks for community well-being.
In the last few years, state governments have made it virtually impossible for casually-paid nature guides to show visitors birds and animals in National Parks, unless they undertake costly government-run accreditation. Shark watching and research tourism on the Great Barrier Reef has been stopped due to the ethical problems with handling sharks – even though recreational line fishing remains legal. Animal ethics approvals in some states don’t permit bird surveys for conservation groups, without an operations manual and annual reports to Animal Ethics committees – even if people are just observing. Without a permit, one can’t take a photo or video and then sell this, even if it’s promoting the beauty and importance of the place. An artist can’t even set up an easel and paint a depiction for sale. There are countless other obstacles to community groups, companies, families and individuals who want to use our national parks for personal gain, whether it be for commercial purposes or otherwise.
Out geocaching, I discovered a small park, situated on the summit of a hill no more than a kilometre from my house. It commanded views over the nearby forests and reservoir. The peaceful little park has picnic tables, a covered eating area and we were attended by hoards of Striated Thornbill and a raucous White-eared Honeyeater, as we searched. My daughter was the first to find a cache. She gleefully opened the box, lovingly concealed in the fork of an old tree. Inside were a few trinkets and a notebook. Dozens of people had scribed their names and the place had been visited just a few days before. We carried on and found another two that day, meeting a couple out doing the same thing.
We consider ourselves fortunate to live in an area surrounded by so much natural beauty. Our children have forever rolled about in grass, searched for lizards and snakes, discovered the names of birds in their garden and seen wildlife – Yellow-bellied Gliders, platypus, displaying Superb Lyrebirds – that even most local adults are oblivious to. As our daughters sat in the grass swapping trinkets in a cache at the site of a recent bushfire, there were bull ants parading around. Despite our warning, the kids didn’t care … where some might run a mile, they take everything in their stride. Nature isn’t scary, it’s surprising and exciting.
I thought, what if we can reduce some of the obstacles and inspire more families to get outdoors. By creatively engineering or allowing fun and informing activities in our public spaces, we might change how we value nature. Whilst ‘rules are rules’, we also need to adapt to altering trends and interests. A few years ago, the music industry was running scared about MP3 file sharing, now Apple iTunes sells a third of all music as MP3s. With an increasing population, stressed by the pressures of a 40 hour week, increasing living costs and the hiked value of the dollar, Australians may want to spend more time in National Parks. Values and attitudes have changed but the institutions that control our land have not … they are bound by rules and values that don’t necessarily reflect our needs and like the music industry, will have to change at some point – it might as well be sooner rather than later.
According to a Kaiser family foundation study, US kids spend an average of 53 hours a week at some sort of electrical device, up nine hours in just a few years. What future is there for our children, if rather than embracing their interest in technology and turning this into something that gets them outdoors, we make it harder for them? Our sense of ownership of public land in Australia has been all but destroyed. Surely National Parks should be something we’re proud of, we should feel part of and be allowed to undertake harmless activities without fear of reprimand, heavy fines or guilt.
Every day I learn more examples of rules and regulations, established by well-meaning but ill-informed government departments, that permanently close off potential for experiences with nature. There are only a few geocaches in our area – we saw far more discarded plastic containers, fast-food wrappers and the like. So what’s the harm in a few lovingly maintained additions? We might even encourage people to collect rubbish while they are out ; )
When laws are passed to regulate our countryside, why is it no-one ever seems to ask whether the negative consequences of such rules outweigh the benefits? Whether it be geocaching, birdwatching or any other country pursuit, perhaps we should consider the implications of setting barriers and whether they really achieve anything. In NSW, rangers are spending valuable time retrieving these objects and posting them back to people – time they could spend in habitat management for threatened species. What if they start fining individuals … and for a crime of what? Wanting to share enjoyment of the countryside in a harmless pursuit that could be turned to public good.
Maybe we should give these questions at least as much priority as the relaxation of environmental controls on mining. Maybe they are more important because these things affect us all in ways that are at least, if not more valuable to us, than mining revenue?
Facebook just spilt the beans on something we’ve known for a long time. Only a small proportion (16% to be precise) of followers ever actually see a wall post. Whilst social media remains a great tool for reaching people you know, likelihood is that a fair proportion of those are not ever likely to convert into some sort of action – whether it be subscribing to a conservation activity, donating to a cause or booking a wildlife experience.
We’re often lured by promise of large numbers of viewers or simply what we see other people doing. Even national or global press coverage is practically worthless unless one can capture the market that results from this publicity. Rarely is this possible. The publicity is ephemeral and for all the effort on your part doesn’t really make you more famous and people quickly forget you exist. It’s just human nature.
So how do we get around this?
Wildiaries has developed a network of promotional tools and mechanisms to market nature widely and to enable you to capture the interest that mainstream media doesn’t allow you to. The main benefit is in reaching new markets. Facebook and Twitter are dreadfully slow to build following and if you wait to use them to create a business, you’ll retire well before it succeeds.
Here are a five reasons why you should use Wildiaries. We’ve posed some questions. If you can’t answer these, then maybe we can help. Contact Simon Mustoe on simon@wildiaries.com or call +61 (0)405 220830.
1. You will save valuable time
Unless you can build your own database of followers very fast, you’ll waste significant amounts of time for little return. Most of the time, you’re reaching the same few people over and over again. Why not branch out and promote yourself elsewhere? Wildiaries is constantly reaching new markets through which you can gain access to people who have never before heard about you.
Do you know how to turn that occasional blip of interest from mainstream media into something more lasting?
2. We’re building a large market place for you
Wildiaries is constantly building campaigns to reach new markets. For instance, our associate Mike Da Silva develops cross promotional campaigns. Last year, two six week campaigns were run on behalf of a small Wildiaries client. 28,500 people opted into receiving information about Minke Whale swims. We manage these mail outs. These online processes allow people to find out about products they’ve never before heard about. As we build and our partners build, we’re starting to integrate other products and conservation information into this marketing material.
How long it would take you to build a Facebook following of 28,500 people?
3. You’ll reach new markets
We work with partners like Lifestyle.com.au, the Perk, Nikon Australia, Teds Cameras, Qantas, ANZ bank, 20th Century Fox etc. Campaigns reach upwards of 1 million people (a campaign we’re about to run is pipped to top 2 million) so in terms of readers and viewers they are at least as large, if not larger, than national press coverage. The difference is, we get a practical result from these campaigns. We receive those names for you to use in future marketing.
What’s it worth? If we have a database of 25,000 names and 1% of those eventually convert to a client, booking a $2,000 trip for two, that’s 250 clients or $500,000 of business. Let’s take another example. If 10,000 people sign up for a free subscription offer for a conservation group in year 1, we expect to get 70% renewal in year 2. If an annual subscription is $80, that’s $560,000 income in year 2.
When you’ve achieved national press coverage, have you ever been given any practical benefit?
Are you continually reaching new audiences when you advertise?
4. We are already a very significant market place
Let’s take a campaign that nets about 15,000 opt in names off a direct mailing to about 1 million people. That tells us that 1.5% of viewers are interested in receiving more information.
So on this basis, what’s a better use of your time? Should you strive to be written up in a national newspaper with a circulation of 1.5 million or post to Facebook (which boasts 10 million Australian users), or is it better to access the 15,000 names we’ve already ascertained have a direct interest in nature-based tourism? Fact is, the largest companies in Australia (see above) are following this process and creaming off the high quality followers, in order to generate interest and make sales.
Our website Bird-O.com has 30,000 unique visitors a year of which 50% visit the site more than once. The Wildiaries website reaches about the same number but is building all the time, plus we mail out information to 10s of ’000s and run a social media campaign reaching 100s of ’000s each month. Every one we reach is specifically interested.
For every $ of time or money you spend on promotion, what proportion of your current market is genuinely interested in supporting what you do, either in terms of a subscription or product purchase?
5. We have a higher rate of viewer engagement than industry averages
We’ve set up a system online which engages people at a much greater level than the travel or non-government charity sectors. A lot of it has to do with producing nice stories about nature. We can prove that people spend more time on the pages produced on Wildiaries than they do on sites like Facebook. When it comes to brand recognition, you need people to see your brand not only as a photo or logo but as a commentary on what you do best.
Most importantly of all, you need to be able to advertise your product but very subtly. If you’re not providing a link to products, you are wasting a significant amount of time creating material with no practical benefit to your organisation. However, if you do try a hard sell, you know that this won’t work either. We have spent two years perfecting this approach so it works for you. The statistics from our mail outs are evidence of this.
Commercial mail-outs (contain direct links to products) – EXAMPLE:
Open rate 30% | Click-through rate 4.5%
Non-commercial mail-outs (pages that viewers click through to, contain product listings) – EXAMPLE
Open rate 28% | Click-through rate 8.0%
Do you know what percentage of people are viewing your material, coming back and clicking through?
Does every single online posting you do, contains a clickable link back to a product or service you provide?
Blue Whale surfacing about 10 miles off the Great Ocean Road.
The Blue Whale season started, as always in November last year. Numbers usually begin to peak around this time … between February and March. Just last week we heard news that dozens were seen in just a few days.
Prompted by local birdwatcher and artist Brett Jarrett (http://brettjarrett.com) we recently headed out to Cape Bridgewater and took a look offshore. It was during filming for the National Landscapes Nature Series that we got to see our first Blue Whale of the season.
Well out to sea and between Warrnambool and Portland is where many of these mighty animals swoop back and forth, sifting gob-fuls of water for krill and fish. It takes a keen eye and a good telescope to see them from shore but patience will usually be rewarded. It only took us a few minutes to spot one on the horizon. The tall spout of exhaled air and water was only just visible to the naked eye. It would have often been the first sign to Russian whalers years ago, that plundered so many of these animals that few people think they could ever see one in real life.
Yet here, just a few miles from one of Australia’s most popular holiday destinations “The Great Ocean Road”, hundreds of Blue Whales congregate every year. This year, the only way to truly guarantee seeing one, is to go by helicopter. The Great Ocean Blues package is suited to groups. As well as Blue Whales, you’ll get to relax in the comfort of the delicate, light and airy luxury accommodation of Moonlight Escape.
With just a few weeks left to go in this year’s Blue Whale season, you could slip down right now and see for yourself. It’s only a couple of hours or so from Melbourne. Alternatively, put in an expression of interest for next year.
Date: 18 May 2011 Release date: Current Contact: Simon Mustoe, +61 405 220830 | Skype simonmustoe | Email simon@wildiaries.com
Wildiaries has established a firm footing as a business specialising in the niche but highly profitable wildlife experiences and nature industry.
Director Simon Mustoe says, “Wildiaries started with the realisation that there’s’ no way to connect the thousands of people world-wide who, each day, have experiences that are valuable for conservation and business”.
Those most active and skilled in the field of wildlife-watching are often professionals, people who make a living from inspiring other people about nature. Mustoe says, “we knew that many of our friends and colleagues run nature tours but are small businesses and hardly known. Many visitors, even locals, miss out on some inspirational experiences”.
Wildiaries provides a free-to-use online diary of wildlife experiences but tour operators can also opt in to manage and list their tours here, networking with clients and reaching hundreds of thousands of people through social media outlets each month.
Mustoe explains “on the surface of it, Wildiaries is a simple way to put up trip reports but there’s magic happening in the background. It’s pretty sophisticated”.
For tour operators, it’s a simple matter of getting ahead of the game. Wildiaries gives you access to people interested in nature and a way to appeal to a ‘new audience’ to grow your business. Mustoe says, “we’re already seeing benefits for our clients in being part of a niche community. Our overall social media presence has grown by about 200% in the last quarter alone”.
Wildiaries started two years ago, has amassed thousands of experiences and has clients in Africa, the US, Australia and Europe. The team has recently won a strategic partnership with Tourism Australia and has partnered with a top wildlife film company Balangara Films and pioneering digital marketing agency Mike da Silva Associates.
Mustoe says, “what makes Wildiaries special is that everyone on our team has a life-time of knowledge and is passionate about nature. This shines through in what we do”. The experiences that other people have with nature are powerful incentives to care more for the environment … “it’s a shared ambition that we have with our clients”.
With nature and wildlife a key tourism brand, we need to be able to provide our clients with excellent quality media to accompany promotions. We’ve teamed up with Balangara Films, that include BBC Natural History Unit-trained cameraman Nick Hayward, to bring you stories about nature.
Key to wildlife documentary video production is getting stunning images of wildlife. This requires great research, a keen eye for discovering opportunities, an intimate knowledge of how animals behave and an ability to tell a simple story through visuals.
There are few who can provide this unique mix of skills. With limited time for field work, you’re always looking for that elusive moment, on which an entire sequence will pivot. See for example, the footage achieved in just one morning at Phantom Falls – this would not have even been possible without expert knowledge of how to find the birds and how they were likely to behave.
But it’s not enough just to create a video, it also needs to be marketed. We don’t just produce great quality nature-based films for you, we also run an active social media campaign. We can leave you with a legacy of material on which you can build, continuously reminding people about what you do. Wildiaries is a fully integrated solution to marketing and promoting wildlife experiences.
Story-telling
We also have a unique approach to story-telling. Our strap-line is “People, Nature, Places”. It’s about capturing the true essence of the experience through the dedication, passion and knowledge of experience providers.
YOUR STORY, YOUR CONNECTION WITH NATURE
Ultimately, the aim is to produce a ‘bluechip’ product that has broad appeal and is lasting – unlike most advertorial videos – adverts by their very nature are ephemeral. We’d hope you can enjoy and use the videos we produce about you, time and time again.
What’s on Offer?
Wildiaries and Balangara Films offer blue chip video and stills photography, combined with award winning journilism to connect wildlife and tourism businesses.
on-line videos
on-line articles
blogs
podcasts
photo-journalism
Who Do We Service?
Any business that is involved in nature:
travel agencies;
tours operators;
wildlife experience operators;
accommodations;
wildlife and conservation organisations;
zoos; .. etc
Contact Us
If you would like to find out more and get a quotation for work, please contact us:
Simon Mustoe, DIRECTOR
Email: simon@wildiaries.com
Telephone +61 405 220830
Skype: simonmustoe
The Great Ocean Blues website has now been launched, giving Australians and overseas visitors the chance to experience the best the Great Ocean Road has to offer. Bookings are being taken for trips starting in the New Year.
Over the next 2 years, we’ll be working with accomplished wildlife film-makers Nick Hayward and Mark Pearce (Balangara Films) to bring you a unique insight into the continent. We’ll be producing 45 short video documentaries, featuring interviews with Australia’s most passionate tour operators, guides and conservationists – you can meet the very same people as you travel around Australia. The travel section of Wildiaries (http://wildiaries.com) will be embellished with information about their services.
We’ll introduce you to some of our unique and iconic wildlife … not just the ones you’ve heard of but other bizarre and special creatures that are there to see, if you know how and where to look. We’ll be blogging about our own experiences, showing you places you can go and building a portfolio of photos, video and stories.
The National Landscape program has identified 15 areas of Australia that are not only incredible landscapes but offer a rich cultural and natural history experience that makes Australia one of the best places on Earth to visit. These places are:
Australia’s Coastal Wilderness
Australian Alps
Flinders Ranges
Great Barrier Reef
Great Ocean Road
Great South West Edge
Greater Blue Mountains
Green Cauldron
Kakadu
Kangaroo Island
Kimberley
Ningaloo – Shark Bay
Red Centre
Tasmania
Wet Tropics
Join us on our journey and let us know what you think. To keep up to date with what we’re doing, you can subscribe to our FREE NEWSLETTER or follow us on Facebook / Twitter / Google+. Filming is due to start mid 2012.
Blue Whale seen from a helicopter, surfacing on the Great Ocean Road.
Wildiaries has teamed up with Moonlight Escape, Diverse Travel Australia and Heli-Explore to develop a package of accommodation, Blue Whale flights and wildlife viewing on the Great Ocean Road.
This package is likely to be available beginning New Year 2012.
This will be a once-in-a-lifetime experience that’ll leave you in awe of the majesty of the largest animal that has ever lived on Earth. You’ll be able to stay in affordable but luxury accommodation at Moonlight Escape,a stunning beach house designed by internationally famous and award-winning Australian architect Glenn Murcutt. You’ll be taken on a world-exclusive Great Ocean Blues Whale Safari, an experience that you cannot have anywhere else on Earth. On Saturday evening, a personal chef will create delicious, gourmet meals using local, organic produce and fine wines.
The package will include:
2 night’s luxury accommodation at Moonlight Escape on Cape Otway
Helicopter blue whale guided safari
Hosted lunch
Drinks and appetizers
Hosted three course dinner with personal chef
Breakfast hamper
Packed scrumptious lunch
Aesop and LaGaia beauty products
We are very excited about this possibility. Remember to subscribe to our Newsletter to keep up to date.
