It has been a fantastic year for Connecting Images, its clients and suppliers in which we have strengthened existing relationships and created some very exciting new ones! The team has enjoyed the opportunity to work on some exciting AND challenging projects!

Amongst our many highlights for the year are:

ASSA ABLOY - producing internal, external publications, media campaigns

Baldasso Cortese Architects has been responsible for some very successful projects in 2008 - particularly in Childcare and Education, and we have enjoyed supporting these efforts with some very targeted media campaigns.

Festival Indonesia was a fantastic event held in August full of colour, culture, fragrant food and trade opportunities.

Future Fibre Technologies’ unique fibre optic security systems has come under the spotlight. Trade shows, media campaigns and online marketing have kept us busy.

Heat Beads^® brand new website www.heatbeads.com.au was launched. This website is going gangbusters, already achieving previously undreamt of results in terms of user engagement and Search Engine Optimisation (SEO). 150 new opt in subscribers to the site, in the first 20 days of December is most encouraging.

New clients, Optalert www.optalert.com and Dr. Murray Johns www.epworthsleepinessscale.com, are very satisfied with their refreshed websites. Each site provides astounding information in terms of drowsiness detection technology and research. Brilliant product for transport, mining and railway industries particularly, and an extremely important work safety innovation.

Portfolio Management Services has joined us as a client and we look forward to working with the team in 2009.

Profitable Hospitality’s annual Chicago tour went off without a hitch this year, making it one of the best to date. Working on the inaugural Food & Beverage Summit in collaboration with the Club Managers Association of Australia in October was hugely rewarding and a great success!

Review has attracted strong traffic to its site, driven by a regular blog, showcasing the latest styles and trends. In 2009, we will continue to grow web traffic and drive user engagement.

Ronson Gears is still getting rave reviews for its ‘Gear Whispers’ Newsletter; we’re pleased to hear.

Vividas Asia Pacific has achieved some impressive wins in 2008. Its highlights include the live streaming of the Rip Curl Pro at Bells Beach over Easter and the Rip Curl Pro Search World Tournament in Indonesia in August. The rapid uptake of live streaming by corporates, as a highly successful communication tool, is impressive.

The Connecting Images team wishes all you all a very enjoyable festive season and a productive, fulfilling and prosperous New Year! We look forward to working with you in 2009.

The Connecting Images office will be closed on December 24 and will reopen on January 12.

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is of growing importance in a world where reputation is everything. Business is being held accountable for its actions in so many ways, in the communities where its stakeholders live and work.

Governments cannot fund all worthy causes. Businesses and individuals will be increasingly called on to support the necessary work of so many.

Corporate sponsorship is a positive way in which business can demonstrate its commitment to CSR, and help fund projects/research conducted for the better good of our community.

An example is the work done by the Juvenile Diabetes Research Fund. The JDRF is making strong headway in working to ‘find a cure for Type 1 diabetes and its complications’ and has raised more than $US1.3billion for research.

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, ‘in 2004 982 new cases of Type 1 diabetes were recorded in children aged under 15 years’. This equates to an annual incidence of around 1 in every 4,000 children under the age of 15, which has seen the frequency of cases double since 1983.

In May this year, Merilyn’s 19 month-old granddaughter, Milly, was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes. This means a life dependent on up to six insulin injections a day - at this early stage!! - so we have a very personal reason for wanting to find a cure.

Thanks to so many of our clients who generously supported JDRF when staff members Merilyn, Kirsty and Cal joined other family members in the JDRF fundraising walk in October.

If you are a current client or supplier of Connecting Images, click here so that we may donate to the JDRF on your behalf, this Christmas.

One of our favourite blog topics is website design and useability, especially in the context of conveying a desired image for your business.

We can’t bang on enough about how important your website is in the sales and marketing process, given it is most often the first contact potential customers have with you.

This week the Optalert website, www.optalert.com went live. Our brief was to redesign the site with a fresh new look that would accurately depict the future direction of the company. Optalert is a company that produces fatigue management systems for the road, rail and mining industries.

Our priorities:
Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) was a consideration throughout the entire process with copy being written with carefully planned keyword density. As proven by the results we have achieved for many of our clients, SEO should dramatically improve Optalert’s ranking on search engines such as Google. Including the right keywords should also increase the average number of pages visited by users, and the amount of time they spend on the site.

The new interface has been carefully designed to ensure the site engages the user and increases the number of conversions of web visitors to become new business.

Thinking of giving your current website a face-lift? Why not come in for a coffee and a chat? Give Merilyn or Cal a call on (03) 9819 2566.

Festival Indonesia, Australia’s largest Indonesian-Australian exhibition, was staged over three days at the Royal Exhibition Building in August. Working with the Indonesian Consulate and Festival Indonesia Inc., CI developed a campaign to promote the astonishing breadth and diversity of Indonesia’s culinary and cultural delights, its breathtaking tourism destinations and outstanding business opportunities. Two-way trade between the two countries in 2006-2007 was estimated to be $10.4 billion, and it is predicted that by 2020, Indonesia will be the world’s fifth largest economy.

We worked with Festival Indonesia Inc. to develop its key messages and communication goals, source and write up successful case studies and run an effective online publicity campaign – e-newsletters and blogs targeted to appropriate communities – together with a highly successful print and broadcast media campaign, which helped draw the crowds. We also assisted in confirming a key Gold Sponsor for the event, Villa and Hut.

“Festival Indonesia is a great opportunity for Australian businesses to secure one-on-one time with Indonesian exporters, business and government leaders,” said Franz Madlener, Director Villa and Hut, who believes some of Australia’s biggest opportunities lie “not only in what Indonesia can make for us, but in the businesses we can set up in Indonesia”. Put simply, he says, “Indonesia is the next China” (The Age, Aug.28 2008).

SBS played a major role in the pre-publicity of the event, as well as setting up an onsite broadcast over the weekend. Twenty-eight interviews with performers and delegates were recorded during that time, bringing colour and fun to the Museum forecourt.

Feature articles appearing in The Age, Herald Sun, MX, Asian Executive and local papers were supported by radio advertising and pre-event interviews. Festival Indonesia was highlighted on Channel 9’s Postcards, and also made international headlines in The Jakata Post.

Connecting Images prepared a comprehensive report of the 2008 event, and has developed a detailed timeline to assist a seamless production in 2009.

Have an upcoming event that would benefit from a professional promotion strategy? Arrange to come in for a chat by calling (03) 9819 2566.

Future Fibre Technologies (FFT) is an Australian company that manufactures and markets a range of fibre optic intrusion detection and location systems - amazingly effective solutions for securing high value assets and critical infrastructure.

Focused totally on the security industry, FFT is a world leader in fibre optic perimeter intrusion detection, detecting third party interference (TPI) on oil and gas pipelines, and protecting sensitive data communications cables.

Early in 2008, FFT engaged Connecting Images for an initial media campaign to support the company’s presence at the IFSEC tradeshow in the UK, where it showcased its unique perimeter protection products.
With little or no previous media awareness of FFT, our brief was to identify appropriate media, build relationships with relevant journalists, introduce them to the FFT products and capabilities with the view to achieving editorial exposure. The outcomes were most rewarding, and FFT has now appointed Connecting Images as its marketing and PR agency on a 12 month retainer.

FFT’s fibre optic perimeter intrusion detection systems protect hundreds of critical infrastructures around the world - including some airports.

While spending on explosive detection and passenger screening at major commercial airports around the world has increased massively in the years since the terrorist attacks on September 11, nothing has changed regarding the security surrounding Australia’s major airports themselves.

Connecting Images developed a media campaign around this issue, securing great media uptake and interest. Recently three more European airports commissioned FFT Secure Fence(tm) - this single system protects an entire airport perimeter and can pinpoint intrusions to within 25 metres.

Our focus now is on developing more web content, quarterly newsletters and regular blogs, strengthening FFT’s online presence and SEO, maintaining a prominent presence in national and international target publications, and supporting the company with its marketing and promotional activities at trade shows around the world. FFT is represented in English, Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian, Spanish and Japanese translations.

FFT is also very progressive with its customer induction and training. Our first project in 2009 will be to work with FFT to develop a new 2 hour training DVD, designed to enable integrators of the FFT systems to install them in the most effective manner, thus reducing the need for direct FFT involvement in installations. This training video will be available to all FFT installers - both new and existing.

As mentioned earlier last month, it is becoming more economically viable for a business to create or re-develop a website. As your website is more than likely to be the first point of contact most potential clients will have with your business, it is so important that it makes a good first impression. It is important also that your website represents the values and direction of your business, for now and into the future.

We recently partnered with Heat Beads^® to redesign their website, www.heatbeads.com.au. The goals included creating a better user experience, allowing visitors to the website to find what they want - quickly - and for the site to be an appropriate reflection of the market leader in solid BBQ fuel. This was achieved with a clean design, succinct copy and ‘fresh’ images all working hard to reflect the BBQ Culture of the Heat Beads^® Company and its community.

We specialise in creating websites that are search engine friendly and contain effective sales and marketing content. To find out more, give Cal Tod a call on (03) 9819 2566.

As the web “matures” it is becoming more economically viable for business to produce effective websites - especially when the benefits of the levels of exposure the business should receive are considered.

However, as they say it is a jungle out there, and there are a wide variety of options and price tags attached when it comes to website development and re-development.

Even with low cost solutions, building a quality website that is easy to navigate, contains concise and persuasive copy, and most importantly has been designed for Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), which allows your website to be easily found by your target audiences on search engines such as Google, you’ll need the knowledge and expertise of a good developer with an understanding of marketing.

We thrive on building sites that drive traffic and engage users with brands. We recently partnered with Optalert to build their online presence and also create a secondary site for the founder to manage his intellectual property and research papers.

We recently launched EpworthSleepinessScale.com. The brief was to create a site with an academic, yet friendly feel to appeal to a diverse range of users including, corporations (pharmaceutical companies), governments and academics.

Connecting Images are experienced at website developments and re-developments and will be able to evaluate your business’ needs and simplify the tech talk to make it a pain free process. To find out more or discuss your business’ web needs, contact Cal on (03) 9819 2566.

Long-time client Ken Burgin (Director of Profitable Hospitality), the Restaurant and Catering Australia team and the CI team have just returned from the fourth annual ‘New Trends Study Tour’ to Chicago and Las Vegas.

Organised once more by Connecting Images, our largest ever group (37) of enthusiastic hospitality business owners, managers, marketers and chefs came along to experience hospitality American-style. Word has spread and the event is clearly a ‘must-do’ on the hospitality calendar.

Organising an 11-day, value-packed educational tour program of behind-the-scenes visits to leading Chicago hospitality venues, as well as to the National Restaurant Association (NRA) Show – one of the world’s largest foodservice trade shows – is no easy task. And that’s before you mention coordinating flights, accommodation and transport to boot. But it’s all just a day in the life of Connecting Images, and the end results are extremely rewarding.

Hospitality people certainly enjoy a good time, but more importantly, those on the Profitable Hospitality tour are innovative, progressive, open to new concepts and definitely trendsetters.They know the value of visiting new places, seeing new things and speaking to international experts one on one – all opportunities that would otherwise not be available to them if they travelled independently.

They also enjoy the unique opportunity to share experiences with a diverse range of operators from back home in Oz! Our group bonded instantly, and despite a packed itinerary, information overload, and considerable sleep deprivation, the feedback we have received has been phenomenal.

Whilst opinions on many things differed, one thing we all agreed on… nobody does coffee like the Australians!