Cut the Cliches – Episode Five – Ben Beath

Digital.

A word which has become increasingly ambiguous. From a periphery channel, to core competency.

Within marketing the digital element of a campaign used to be considered as an after thought. Today brand planning centres around reaching consumers in a digital world.

It still means differing things, depending on who you ask. And for us here at ‘Cut the Cliches’, we turned to a man who has decades of experience in the field, leading his agency since 2009 and the era of mobile, through to the customer experience focus which his 150+ agency has today.

Ben Beath, MD at Loud & Clear helps brands transform internally to become more digitally enabled. Simply put, it’s about taking legacy infrastructure and streamlining the process for today’s increasingly time-poor workforce. This can, and often does involve automation, as we discuss the impact of Industry 4.0 on how jobs are viewed. Ben speaks about how to mesh technology decisions with customer-centred design thinking – we ask him what this means in practice for brands like AGL and FFA that he’s worked with.

Cut the cliches - Commswork - Loud & Clear - Ben Beath

We caught up with Ben, in his central Melbourne office, on one of the floors which the agency has expanded to following its acquisition by US-based global IT consulting group Avanade.

Throughout the podcast we discuss:
– what the acquisition means for Loud & Clear
– what are the most over-used phrases in the industry
– the effects of automation on the workforce
– the rise of customer experience officers in brands and how it’s affecting briefs
– how digital agencies can differentiate themselves in an increasingly crowded market
– and the effect consultancies are having on the conversations he’s having with clients

Next week we have a special on voice search, so tune back in for that.

Until then, enjoy your week.

Cut the Cliches – Episode Two – Elaine Pofeldt

We’re coming right back with another episode. Weekly now every Sunday.

Something for the morning commute.

And for this edition we speak with award winning journalist and author of The Million-Dollar One-Person Business, Elaine Pofeldt.

During the episode we cover:

– patterns of successful one person businesses
– achieving global reach through digital marketing
– how to find your niche
– maintaining balance in work/life
– importance of multiple revenue streams
– trends in freelancing

A massive thanks for Elaine’s patience in getting this one together.

Elaine Pofeldt, author of ‘The Million-Dollar One-Person Business’
Elaine Pofeldt is an independent journalist who specialises in small business, entrepreneurship and careers. She is the author of The Million-Dollar, One-Person Business, a look at how entrepreneurs are hitting seven-figure revenue in businesses where they are the only employees (Random House, Jan. 2, 2018).

Her work has appeared in FORTUNE, Money, CNBC, Inc., Forbes, Crain’s New York Business and many other business publications and she is a contributor to the Economist Intelligence Unit. She is also a ghostwriter.

As a senior editor at FORTUNE Small Business, where she worked for eight years, Elaine was twice nominated for the National Magazine Award for her features and ran the magazine’s annual business plan completion. Elaine graduated from Yale University with a BA in English. She lives in New Jersey with her husband and their four children and in her free time enjoys taekwondo, yoga and running.

Keep an eye out for next week’s edition with AADL’s Steve Sinha.