December 2011
21 Dec, 2011
Christ
Christmas is the mid-winter celebration of the birth of Jesus of Nazareth. Christmas means literally Christ’s mass. It is derived from the Middle English Cristemasse, from Old English Crīstesmæsse, a phrase first recorded in 1038.
Sometimes Christmas is abbreviated to Xmas, the X representing Christ. Although this irritates some people, it is a very old tradition, with an early form, Xres mæsse, appearing in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle of about 1100.
Christ is the main title given to Jesus, it comes from the Greek, khristos, for the anointed. This term replaced the Old English name, hæland, for “healer” as the preferred descriptive title for Jesus. Jesus has about 200 different titles or names in the New Testament.
Jesus the Saviour
The Hebrew name for Jesus is Yeshua, a name found 27 times in the Hebrew Bible. Yeshua is short for Yehoshua (Joshua), which means Yahweh (God) is salvation. It is derived from the Hebrew verb yasha which means saves or delivers and Yeho of the divine name of God, Yahweh. (Matthew 1:21—She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.)
Messiah
Messiah comes from the Aramaic meshiha and Hebrew mashiah meaning anointed (of the Lord), from mashah meaning anoint. Christ is the Greek translation of the Aramaic, messiah.
In the Old Testament prophesies, the Messiah was the term used for the awaited leader who was to deliver the Jewish nation from the oppression of the Romans. The modern English form represents this transferred sense of the liberator or saviour of a captive people.
Emmanuel
Emmanuel meaning meaning God is with us (Matthew 28:20—I am with you always, even unto the end of the world). It consists of two Hebrew words: El, meaning God, and Immanu, meaning with us. This is an example of theophany, using God’s name (El) as part of given name, which is common throughout the Old Testament (Daniel—God is my judge; Gabriel—strong man of God; Israel—struggles with God; Michael—who is like God; Nathaniel—gift of God; and Samuel—name of God).
Lord
Lord, is the English translation of the Greek word Kyrios (κύριος) for God, lord or master which appears over 700 times in the New Testament. Kyrios was the common translation of the Aramaic, Mari, which was a respectful form of address, meaning a superior teacher, a ranking similar to Rabbi.
Redeemer
The Redeemer (Job 19:25 But as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives. In the end, he will stand upon the earth) comes from Latin redimere to redeem, buy back and, in this sense means that Christ will redeem the souls of mankind by his sacrifice upon the cross.
1 Dec, 2011
Competing for a public procurement contract is a demanding process. Government tender responses require a lot of information. Your organisation needs to be prepared to dedicate staff and resources to putting together a tender response that can win against your competitors. We have put together this short guide to help you write the best tender response documents.
We have broken down the essential elements of winning a tender into six components; the first five are about getting into the race and the last is about winning it. To be able to win the work your tender response must be: compliant; comparable; comprehensive; competitive; convincing; and extraordinary.
COMPLIANT—Compliant with the tender’s requirements
A tender is essentially a request for an organization to provide evidence of how well they will meet the needs of the client. The Government agency will evaluate submissions against the rules, procedures and criteria outlined in their request document. Due to Government procurement rules they will follow these procedures rigidly and without favour. To be in the running your tender must meet all the requirements of the tender.
Where you don’t meet the criteria of the tender you may have the scope to be able to submit a non-complying tender if the process allows it. However, this must be agreed and negotiated with the agency before submission.
COMPARABLE—comparable in presentation
Thousands of hours of time may go into preparing a response and it is important that it shows. There are those in the process who think that if all the information is included the document will speak for itself. Experience shows that if your documentation is presented badly it is perceived as lacking in care and is judged harshly.
You must present your documentation at least as professionally as your competitors. This means ensuring the document is well-designed and creates a professional image for your organisation. It is also very important to make sure that the document is properly edited and comprehensively proofed. Timings and costs must be checked as these can be the deal breakers. Some important considerations that are sometimes overlooked:
- Editing to ensure there is consistent style, a well-understood structure, and that the most important selling points are made clear;
- Consistent design including fonts, page layout, covers, inserts—make sure diagrams, images, CVs, case studies, support documents match in style.
- Structure and order—make sure the numbering of pages, figures and images, support documents and appendices are correct and that there is a good table of contents.
- Proofreading and checking—time is always short in preparing a tender and deadlines are met with little time to spare but it is essential to make sure all the numbers are properly checked and the text independently proof-read.
- Quality printing and binding—professional digital printing on high-quality paper presented in custom-made binding shows your organisation’s pride and professionalism.
COMPREHENSIVE—Comprehensive in addressing all the tender’s requirements
Small mistakes or omissions may disqualify you from the tender process. It is better to make sure that if you find the requirements ambiguous you provide enough information for the assessors to find what they need. Don’t allow your tender to be disqualified because it did not provide enough information.
Many requests for tender restrict the number of words or pages that can be used in responding. This is understandable but don’t allow a space restriction to prevent you from properly presenting your case. Where the space is inadequate additional information can be provided as addendums, appendices or attachments. These are increasingly provided in multi-media formats.
The tender assessors are primarily concerned with getting value for money from the provider of the service. Make sure that you provide as much information about your service provision that will help the assessment. Some of the key areas
- The relative risk of the proposal and how it will be managed and minimised, including the flexibility of the proposal and your organisation to adapt to possible change;
- The performance history of your organisation in delivering the service or similar services (to time, cost and quality). Show that you can mobilise the resources to do the work in a cost-effective way for the client, to meet deadlines and to respond to changing situations;
- All direct and indirect financial costs and benefits over the life of the procurement (including maintenance and disposal costs); and
- Your organisation’s performance in environmental, social and economic management.
COMPETITIVE—competitive in terms of value-for-money
Governments are now recognising that value-for-money (VfM) and not price is the most important aspect of assessing service or product delivery. Many organisations try to compete on price alone, which is a dangerous strategy if your competitors can undercut your price or if they can offer additional services for the same price.
Being competitive now means an emphasis on value-for-money. This is where tender can be won against your competitors. Your organisation’s bid should emphasise business benefits to the client such as: service improvements, risk reduction, energy savings and reduced greenhouse gas production, lowered maintenance costs, higher quality or reliability, or reduced whole of lifetime costs etc.
CONVINCING—convincing in making the decision easy for the panel
Selling to government is not difficult if you understand what the client wants and needs. To create a convincing argument for the assessment panel you must understand what they want, what they need and how they operate. Then you can explain clearly how your organisation will provide the wants and needs of the client.
Make sure you have developed a logical argument. The argument for the client to chose your organisation must include:
WHY—demonstrate understanding of the client organisations goals and objectives for undertaking the work;
WHAT—demonstrate detailed understanding of the client’s requirements;
WHEN—ability to meet the deadlines and timelines and to deal with contingencies;
HOW—ability to undertake the work based on capacity, resources, skills, experience and past performance and can manage financial, commercial and legal risk; and
WHERE—ability to deliver services or products to required locations
EXTRAORDINARY—extraordinary in making your bid stand out
Now that you are a fully complying bid how will you win against all the other fully complying bids? This is the most difficult question in every tender bid. Presenting bids that are differentiated from the competitors is about marketing and salesmanship. This is not about providing a neat description, with lots of clever diagrams and a colourful cover—all your competitors will be doing the same. Differentiation needs two essential components:
- PROVIDING the most innovative and value-for-money product or service; and
- CONVINCING the assessors that your solution is the most innovative and value-for-money product or service.
Marketing here is about fully understanding your client’s needs and tailoring your product to this need. This is marketing in its truest sense and must not be confused with the sense of promotions and advertising.
Convincing the assessors that your solution is the most desirable requires your bid to contain something of a “wow” factor. This is where the bid presentation needs to be creative and dynamic. Determining the wow factor also requires a good understanding of the client organisation’s needs and wants.
Extra-ordinary performance in the tender process requires that you have a superior understanding of your clients needs. You need to understand and interpret the client’s needs beyond the documentation and present your work to emphasise the superior way in which you meet their needs.
1 Dec, 2011
The Australian Centre for Retail Studies has produced a series of reports on Australian Consumer Trends. In one of their recent reports they characterise Australian consumers into six key types: value, busy, green, local, bored and digital.
Looking at your customers in different ways can help you to adjust your marketing and advertising strategies to win more business. Madrigal Communications suggests some ways to win these different types of Australian consumer.
The Value Consumer
The Global Financial crisis has increased uncertainty about the future economy. Consumers have responded by being more conservative and cautious with their spending, either looking for better value or if not finding the value not spending at all.
As a value shopper the consumer is more analytical and more rational in their behaviour. Consumers are buying what they need now and postponing what they want until another time. They are less likely to impulse buy.
Businesses have to respond to the value customer by giving them more for less. This means giving discounts, providing better service or creating improved products. Businesses can’t rely on brand loyalty they have to give more to the discerning customer.
The Busy Consumer
In modern Australia we are all time-poor. We work long hours. We are studying hard, working hard and trying to raise our children. Both parents are working and rushing home to cook dinner and taxi their children to sports or other activities.
Time is the most important commodity. Consumers now value their time highly and put a large value on it. Supermarkets are the preferred shopping venue not because they offer choice but because they have become one-stop-shops—we can get nearly everything we need in one shopping trip.
Businesses have to respond by simplifying the buying process, by placing importance on speed, simplicity and convenience.
The Green Consumer
The rise of the environmental movement has focussed us all on protecting our planet from the detrimental effects of consumerism. We now think about what we buy in terms of the environmental impacts of the product or packaging. We all are aware that we can reduce the impact of plastic bags to the environment by using reusable bags (although we may not always use them).
There is an increasing niche market of consumers who are highly motivated to protect the environment and are willing to spend more on being environmentally friendly. Green consumers consistently discriminate in their purchases in favour of products or services that have less impact on the environment.
Businesses have to respond by being more environmentally conscious. This includes being socially, ethically, and culturally sensitive and aware in providing and marketing your product and service.
The Local Consumer
Supporting local businesses is important to many Australians. Buying from local businesses supports the local community and economy. It also offers the advantage of better quality product or service without having to travel further to get it. Consumers are becoming increasingly aware of where and how products are produced, leading to a surge in country of origin products for the retail industry.
Businesses need to respond to consumers who want meaningful relationships with the “brands” and organisations they deal with in their lives. Make sure that you have good front counter staff, make the management accessible to customers and value the customer relationship. Customers seek out personal interaction with people they can trust.
The Bored Consumer
Consumers are bombarded with advertisements and promotions and offered and infinite variety of complex plans or packages. Consumers have become de-sensitised and consequently bored with traditional retailing and advertising. Consumers have become cynical and do not engage with traditional mainstream marketing.
Consumers are therefore searching for more connection with retailers, and a more engaging shopping experience.
Businesses need to respond by offering consumers greater involvement in the transactions and more personalised products and services.
The Digital Consumer
The rise of Web II, as well as the main social media platforms, such as Facebook and Twitter, has led to the emergence of “connected” consumers who spend considerable amounts of time interacting with businesses online. Digital consumers seek channels to generate recommendations for good service and to complain on line.
User generated content and online communities are changing the way consumers engage with businesses as well as changing how and why they shop.
Businesses need to respond by creating ways for on-line consumers to develop more meaningful relationships and to participate in more engaging experiences with the business. Make sure your website is linked to Facebook and customers have opportunities to engage online.
1 Dec, 2011
Here are some interesting facts on how people choose their holiday destination from a report How do Australians choose holiday destinations and experiences. The Cooperative Research Centre for Sustainable Tourism looked at consumer choice behaviours for choosing domestic and overseas destinations for holiday experiences. They suggest that the most important decisions made by people choosing a holiday are:
- whether to travel,
- where to travel and what to do,
- when to travel,
- how long to stay, and
- how much to spend.
While travel businesses are interested in how consumers make these decisions, the most significant one is how they choose their destination.
Most marketing activity is aimed at persuading tourists to choose a particular location. However when a tourist’s buying behaviour relates strongly to what the travel motives are it is important to look at these motives.
The five strongest motives in choosing a holiday destination were:
- to have fun,
- to visit new places,
- to relax mentally,
- to get away from everyday life, and
- to experience something new.
The five weakest motives for travelling on holiday were:
- to master a skill,
- to engage in challenging physical activities,
- to improve self-confidence,
- to engage in nature-based activities, and
- to engage in non-challenging physical activities.
There are seven key motives involved in tourism consumer behaviour:
- Nature,
- Social and self enhancement,
- New experiences and knowledge,
- Health, exercise and skill,
- Relaxation and escape,
- Adventure and excitement, and
- Family, friends and fun.
So when you are thinking about your marketing plan you need to focus on one or more of these key motivations.
1 Dec, 2011
In another post we describe how you can use sporting events to promote you products and services to your customers. By tapping into the media attention that comes with the publicity given to events you get your customers to engage more with your business.
Here are some Sydney sporting events for you to take part in this summer.
Horsley Park Mud Run
Saturday 3 December 2011, Horsley Park
The Horsley Park Mud Run describes itself as an obstacle-jumping, mud-crawling, hill-climbing gallop around the Sydney Equestrian Cross Country Course! You can follow in the hoof-steps of the equestrian Olympians on this unusual cross-country course.
They say “you will get muddy, you will occasionally neigh or grunt like a horse but you will definitely earn your sugar cube at the finish”.
The Bondi to Bronte Ocean Swim
Sunday 4 December 2011
The Bondi to Bronte Ocean Swim has become one of the classics on the Sydney Ocean Swim calendar. The swim runs between the first two surf life saving clubs in the world.
The course starts in front of Bondi Surf Club, runs out from Bondi, around McKenzies Point and down the coast into Bronte Beach, a distance of 2.2-2.5 kilometres (depending on the positioning of the buoy).
Starting and finishing at two different beaches is one of the unique aspects of this event. Afterwards there is a celebration at Bronte Park with live music, food and entertainment for the kids.
Hawkesbury International Sand Sculpting Championships
11 January 2012 Howe Park Windsor
The Hawkesbury International Sand Sculpting Championships will be held on the banks of the Hawkesbury River at Windsor. For four days sand sculptors from Australia and around the world will compete in this inaugural event. The winner will be announced on 11 January and the exhibition will continue until 29 January.
Australian Open of Surfing
11 to 19 February 2012
The Australian Open of Surfing will take place at Sydney’s iconic Manly Beach, the spiritual home and birthplace of Australian surfing. It runs for nine days and is a celebration of surf and youth culture in Australia. It will attract the world’s elite surf and skateboard athletes, and showcase music, fashion and art.
The Wild Women on Top Sydney Coastrek
Friday 2 March 2012 to Sat 3 March 2012
The Wild Women On Top Sydney Coastrek is a 50-100 kilometre team trek along the Sydney coastline, including ocean and harbour beaches, headlands, cliff tops and bush tracks from Palm Beach to Coogee.
It is an endurance challenge, to promote health and fitness, teamwork, mental and emotional toughness and fun! The event raises money for the work of The Fred Hollows Foundation.
Wild Women On Top Sydney Coastrek is open to both men and women, but at least half the team must be women!
Mardi Gras Drag Races
Friday 2 March 2012
To win the Mardi Gras Drag Races you are going to have to get out of the lycra shorts and into a frock, paint on a moustache and spend an afternoon camping in the sun. Sydney’s drag kings and queens emerge from the nightclubs to compete at Bondi Beach in a range of competitions and games, including the Dainty Dune Dash and Handbag Discus.
Sydney Harbour Regatta
Friday 9 March to Sunday 12 March 2012
The Sydney Harbour Regatta is a major sailing event in Sydney. Over 300 yachts and 2,500 crew members compete inshore and offshore, over two days, on eight course areas and in over twenty-four divisions. It attracts the most prestigious racing yachts and the most popular international yacht racing classes.
There are also on shore activities taking place in and around the Middle Harbour Yacht Club over the weekend of the regatta.
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