Welcome to the Digital Marketing Inner Circle

This week Denise Shrivell profiles Neil Ackland – Managing Director of Sound Alliance. In his profile Neil tells us how he started his digital career – enthusiasm, a great idea and clearly sheer gumption and initiative through a single email, speaks volumes (something to remember). Neil recognizes the fundamental shift the media industry is experiencing and brings up the effect the National Broadband Network (NBN) will have on our media habits and how advertising will be applied in parallel with these changes.

He also offers some perspective…..there is no doubt the digital industry needs to address its measurement issues to evolve and reach its potential (and some others he notes in Q5) However, other media have their own complex challenges to address. Sound Alliance has been on my radar for some time. One of the first things that struck me is they are not reliant on advertising as their only revenue source – others are just starting to see this inevitable light now. It is no secret I am a sucker for a strong, well managed, nimble independent media business. To all those who work for larger corporations – have a go in an independent, or do your own thing, at least once in your career – there is nothing quite like it – just see Neil’s comments in Q3.

Name: Neil Ackland

Works: Sound Alliance

Job Title: Managing Director

1. How, where and when did the digital industry find you?

I was working in event marketing back in 2000 but desperately needed something that would inspire me. I was never really very driven working for other people. I was 23 and I had no experience in digital whatsoever. At that time online seemed like a brave new world where experience wasn’t as important as a strong idea and enthusiasm. My idea was for an online only ticketing service allied to independent event editorial.

In doing my research I discovered a new online magazine called inthemix. I dropped the guys running it, Andre Lackmann, Matt Callander & Libby Clark, an email via the site and they got back to me. We met, I volunteered my ideas and services and we began working together outside of our day jobs. The rest is history…

2. What is your current role and what do you actually do?

I’m the Managing Director of Sound Alliance. I’m responsible for the three business divisions; Media, Ticketing and Marketing Services, and each of the business units that sit within those divisions. I primarily work on business strategy, planning, sales and marketing but my role also sees me involved in content, site functionality, design and development, finance, acquisitions and operations. I’m an entrepreneur at heart and I’m constantly looking for opportunities within our existing business and outside it. I take most pleasure from spotting new opportunities and taking them through to fruition.

3. Can you give us some insights into Sound Alliance’s journey so far and your forward plans?

From a spare bedroom in 2000 we are approaching our tenth year in business. We are, in essence, an old new media business.

Every year as our experience broadens we spot new opportunities and launch new businesses around them. It’s as if I’m in a new job with new challenges each year and that’s enabled me to stay fresh, enthused and totally engaged. We’ve never stood still. I don’t think we know how to.

Looking forwards, we are launching a new version of inthemix with a full suite of cutting edge applications, content and advertising offerings which will see the ITM communities engage even further.

4. Take a punt on the ‘next big thing’ in media?

Firstly, it won’t be the vast majority of things currently being touted as the next big things… Twitter, digital radio and so forth

I think the next big thing in Australian media will be the NBN. Better connections create bigger opportunities. Faster speed will change the game completely. From an advertising perspective, without the limitations of file size restrictions the creative potential of online advertising will open up. From a content perspective the lounge room big screen will finally have access to a world of content beyond Pay TV and FTA and accessing content this way will become the norm, not the exception.

The movie and TV industry will be facing the same issues music faced over the last five years with downloading movies and TV shows illegally being as common and quick as downloading music is today. Reaching mass audiences simultaneously will be increasingly difficult with only live sport, entertainment or news events pulling the big numbers.

5. What trends do you think the digital industry will see in the next 12 months?

Less is More
I think the industry has lost its way, with performance degrading the value proposition and over-supply of inventory forcing CPM’s down. Sites like smh have up to 15 ads on their homepage. As an advertiser how is your message meant to have any impact amongst all that clutter? I hope (wishful thinking?) that the next 12 months will see some publishers strip back the number of ad units per page and focus on quality not quantity. I believe advertisers will pay a premium for a less cluttered environment and that should drive demand.

Fish where the fish are
We’re seeing brands move away from trying to drive traffic to their big flashy website and looking more at existing in contextually relevant environments, where their audience already spends time, either communicating or exploring interests. Whether that’s offering up content and interactivity within ad units or using branded content to gain exposure via editorial and integration.

This changes the role of the digital agency dramatically as the game shifts from being the best at building flashy websites to being the best at utilising social media and other digital channels to get the right message to right person at the right time – context, relevance and immediacy.

Engagement vs Total UB’s
I think for the industry to develop, some fundamental things need to change, and fast! The metrics used to evaluate and buy digital media are out of whack. Total UB’s is only part of the puzzle, an important part, but not the whole story. Engagement metrics should be as important in the buying decision. It’s too easy to generate big total UB figures using SEO & SEM or by sharing traffic around a big publisher network. Buyers need to go a level deeper and then the real story around engagement jumps out.

6. Where do you see the digital industry in the next 5 years?

I think the fundamental shift that’s happening is that digital has moved from being a fringe channel to being at the centre of the idea and execution. Instead of bolting digital elements onto a campaign, it’s now the backbone of it. Eventually ‘Digital’ will be a defunct term as almost everything will have ‘digital’ functionality. The lines will be redrawn.

7. How do you see other media evolving in the next 5 years?

Digitalising things like TV and radio will make all channels more measurable, interactive and social, and should also allow us to move towards single unified metrics for comparing media consumption. Advertisers will demand measurability and effectiveness and media will have to adjust and evolve to meet those demands. I still find it bizarre that ratings are determined based on small cross section of the population. Maybe that works when there are five channels to choose from but the plethora of media options available is endless and will continue to fragment. The technology exists to measure consumption better, so why hold it back?

8. What does the digital industry need to do to better position itself in the broader media landscape?

Branding vs DM – More research to demonstrate online’s ability to build brands and drive consideration. If online advertising effectiveness is measured and valued on direct response alone, the industry will not develop. There simply will not be the funds to produce the quality of content and functionality to lure in consumers. Micro-payments and charging consumers is not the answer. It has to come from taking risks, trying and proving new advertising models that put digital on par with traditional media.

9. What tips can you give to aspiring web entrepreneurs or to those starting in our industry?

For a web idea to succeed in today’s economic climate the business model needs to be really robust. The days of just getting heaps of traffic and expecting the rivers of gold to flow are over. The Youtube, Myspace, Last FM and Bebo success stories were traffic success stories, not business success stories. I think the good ideas we will see coming through will be more modest, more local and more sustainable, and based on business realities like revenue and profit.

10. Where do you get your industry information from?

I like commentary and opinion from people I trust and respect. I follow bloggers overseas and a few great ones locally like Ben Shepherd’s Talking Digital and Nick Crocker’s Way Cool Jnr. Twitter as a tool is most powerful for keeping on top of industry info. I also meet regularly with my peers and mentors in the industry and share information as openly as I can.

11. What industry groups or networks are you a part of?

I’m not big on networking in a traditional sense. I find some of the industry groups can spend too much time navel gazing and be a bit fluffy. I prefer to stay focused on the large task at hand and spend quality time with people whose opinions I trust and respect.

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