Channel Four Change the rules

Channel 4 yesterday became the first major UK broadcaster to simultaneously broadcast its programmes on television and online.

Think about that statement. It has some pretty amazing implications for the way we communicate. C4 may be the first, but they will most certainly not be the last to offer this service to their customers. Similar arrangements are being put in place by the other major broadcasters.

In short, more and more PC screens will be doing the job of TV screens.

So, you may ask, what does that mean for my business?

The answer, I believe, is quite a lot. Apart from any potential personnel issues over how best to encourage staff to stay tuned to their work in hand rather than the Big Brother house, it’s yet another example of the massive diversification of the communications sector.

I’ve said before, when the phrase digital highway was first coined, I am pretty sure very few people actually realised the scale, and scope of the digital age that beckoned.

C4 yesterday opened a new route on this highway. And there will be plenty more to follow.

In business terms, C4 clearly believe they have a valuable route to market. For them, it’s a call on whether they want to extract public as well as commercial value from their media system.

The technology – and legislation - that allows them to do this could have benefits for business. Think about the commercial application of this sort of technology. Think too about the opportunity it may give you to target very specific audiences with key sales messages.

Technological advances like this may sometimes appear limitless. If you’ve thumbed through any national newspaper magazine in recent months you’ll have seen dozens of adverts for TV’s described as being “HD Ready”.

For the uninitiated that means High Definition – a quality of TV picture the like of which we have never seen before, according to the words in the adverts.

I’ve seen some demonstrations of HD and have to say there is a clear difference in the quality of the image, and I can imagine it will catch on. While C4 are spreading their on line service, Sky TV, and others, are investing millions in HD technology.

As sister companies under the massive Murdoch global media banner, it was no surprise to see Sky TV and The Sunday Times joining forces to promote HD technology in last weekend’s edition of the newspaper.

Nor, I suspect is it any surprise that these advances in technology – including the new set top box for HD reception – come to market during the middle of one of the world’s largest televised events currently taking place in Germany.

Make no mistake TV technology is changing fast. – At a pace that leaves many viewers in the BBC camp. And that’s Bewildered, Baffled and Confused.

The trick is to make sure you – and your business - are not left there while the rest tune in elsewhere.

Embedding Enterprise

Spoke at a an event today in London about entrepreneurship and how we make Uk more entrepreneurial some high level thoughts:

1. Inspire under graduates more
2. Make enterprise part of the curriculum
3. Get more business people working closer with schools

Met some inspirational people doing some great things

India Graduates Each Year

Engineering degree holders 1,000,000
Engineering diploma holders 16,000,000
Software professionals 840,000
(UK 6,000 IT new professionals per year)

Source http://pdixon.blogspot.com/

Blackberry

I read an interesting article today about Blackberys! I have had one for a year or so now and still weighing up whether it controls my life or I benefit from it. My summary today is my mobile phone company benefit most.

Image Source

www.utexas.edu

Saturday

Well today has been nice caught up with friends home from New Zealand and hang out with family ...

The battle of the brands

Stand by for the battle of the brands - aka the World Cup!Players representing their countries in Germany may consider themselves to be approaching a high point of their careers - especially those who survive to the later stages and even the final. But in terms of career development and satisfying professional ambitions they are far from alone.

The reputations - and I dare say careers - of some of the most talented and ambitious brand managers and marketing maestros in the world will also be put to the test. Not only during the next four weeks, but for a much longer period when sales performance and market share, rather than goals for or against, are being measured in corporate boardrooms all over the world. In terms of brand management, profile and awareness, Germany 2006 must be about as big as it gets. If you doubt me, take a look around almost any supermarket, petrol station forecourt or off licence and you'll soon see evidence of brand promotion linked to the World Cup. In these outlets, the battle for market share looks every bit as fierce as the challenges likely to face England as they make their way through Group B and, hopefully beyond. And yet while brands like Sainsbury's; BP and Threshers are fighting for success by association,

I can't help but think the real battlegrounds are the sports retailers all over the world where brands like Nike and Adidas stand to win or lose so much. Football's coming home for Adidas: the German company has had more than 100 people working full time on its World Cup activities for two years. Bear that in mind when you watch the TV coverage. Adidas estimates it will achieve football sales of 1.2bn Euros this year alone. If that sounds impressive, consider how successful arch rival Nike has been since making its first charge into the World Cup during the 1994 event hosted in its home market of the USA. Nike football sales are said to be worth $1.5bn a year. The last time the pair went head to head in front of a football audience was during last month’s Champions League final between Arsenal and Barcelona. The finalists are both sponsored by Nike – but Adidas is one of the tournament’s main partners and sponsors.

The next few weeks provide a challenge for small businesses too – especially in a region like Merseyside where football is a passion. In real terms, productivity will probably drop in the coming weeks – but weigh that against the near delirious state the nation will find itself in if England actually do bring the trophy home. That really will be good for business.

Matt Johnson is Managing Director of Mando Group a Liverpool based Web Development and Design Consultancy www.mandiogroup.com

Welcome to my blog

Well it late one Friday night and after hearing http://pdixon.blogspot.com/ speak on Wednesday and thought I would set a little blog up for myself.