The Fuel Agency

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Mercedes-Benz Truck & Buses appoints The Fuel Agency

Following a competitive pitch, Mercedes-Benz Trucks and Bus has appointed The Fuel Agency to launch the next generation of Mercedes-Benz trucks in 2016 and beyond. As the lead agency, Fuel will be working across the Trucks and Bus division during an exciting time for the brand.

“We’re delighted to be supporting one of the world’s most iconic brands, on such as significant launch,” said Tim Kidman, Fuel’s CEO. “The new Mercedes-Benz truck range is world class, and we look forward to leveraging our years of automotive, truck, finance and after-sales experience.

Developed specifically for Australian conditions, and currently undergoing a rigorous evaluation, the next generation of Mercedes-Benz trucks are due to launch later this year.

Mercedes-Benz Trucks & Buses The Fuel Agency

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Fuel’s technology at play

Our recent campaign for Telstra showcased Fuel’s commitment to using smart technology to engage and educate the customer, and reflected the need to keep content simple and relevant.

This hugely successful game allowed our client to launch a new product and educate their channel. It also identified where there were knowledge gaps so that specific and tailored content could be provided.

“My team are LOVING the online game ... it's a fantastic, fun way to drive education ... if someone gets a question wrong they jump straight back on to play again until they get all the questions right”

To find out why Telstra called Fuel’s launch their best ever, contact Fuel today.

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Building a mobile brand

Google shared their thoughts on ‘Micro Moments’ – as they said, content may be king in many people’s eyes, but with so much content and conflicting points of view, how do you get the right message to your customers?

Maybe we should look at children’s books for inspiration? They’re bold, colourful, attention grabbing and simple. Content should be too, because the stats are clear:

62% of digital media time spent is mobile (3 hours per day)

55% of mobile traffic is video (1)

Mobile drives commerce. In Q1 2015 it’s up 123% (2)

In fact in store 82% of smartphone users turn to their devices to help them make a product decision (3)

So never forget, if you want to engage consumers with your brand, make sure your message is more useful than interesting, and that it’s relevant to them.

Sources: (1) Global Mobile Data – Cisco 2014-19, (2) Venture Beat, (3) Google – Consumers in the micro moment March 2015.

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News from New York

Thoughts from Google, Deloitte and more

At the recent Magnet Global Independent Agency Conference in New York, Fuel heard from some of the biggest brands in the world, including Google and Deloitte.

Not surprisingly, many had a conflicting point of view, and that reflects a common question; who should you listen to?

Here’s just some of what they were saying – we’d love to hear your thoughts and challenges, so feel free to email us if there’s anything more you’d like to know or discuss.

A glimpse into the future

According to Deloitte Consulting, ad effectiveness will continue to decline:

In 2013 the number of consumers that got their initial inspiration from a retail brands advertisement was 70%. In 2015 it’s just 30%

Predicted spend in the next 3-5 years:

Mobile and social 45%

Marketing and customer technology 31%

94% of CMOs will use advanced analytics and mobile applications

So what has all this technology shift delivered?

Consumers are happier - 45% say digital makes shopping easier

20% increase in conversion rate when using digital in-store

33% increase in basket size

So if you are resisting technology, it might be time to start looking at your customers and how they are engaging. More and more are using technology to improve their purchase experience, and more importantly, their purchase size.

Source: Deloitte Consulting, The New Digital Divide

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Inciting, influencing and inspiring change

I’d like to introduce you to the new look Fuel. We’re still the same agency at heart, with the same great talent, so for us it’s not a rebrand in the traditional sense.

A lot has happened since the agency launched in 2000, and so we decided to spend some time considering where we’ve been, and what we wanted to achieve next; for our clients and ourselves.

Today is the first day of that bright future. The new logo, new website and the rest of the new branding is just a very small chapter in the adventure.

We reaffirmed we’re all here for the same shared reasons; we love doing great, powerful work that helps influence and shape people’s lives, if even for a moment.

Whether it’s putting a smile on a face, or stopping someone long enough to make them think and act, we are driven by the need to incite, influence and inspire change.

We’ve also decided to share our passion for great work and the interesting stuff we see and hear, across advertising, media and technology and a range of industries.

Hopefully, it will interest you as much as it interests us, so expect one of these eNewsletters once in a while. If not, then of course unsubscribing is free.

Warmest Regards, 

Tim Kidman

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The Victorian Government, The Fuel Agency and Facebook are making a stand against cyberbullying.

Cyberbullying is relentless. Where once children could leave the school ground and find sanctuary in their home, they can now be pursued wherever and whenever they are connected. Often with devastating consequences.

It's such a serious issue that the Victorian Government has launched phase two of their $4 million Bully Stoppers program, focusing on cyberbullying.

At the launch of The Fuel Agency's Speak Up Against Cyberbullying campaign, Premier Denis Napthine said, 'The Bully Stoppers: Speak Up Against Cyberbullying campaign is about empowering young people to speak up if they're being bullied online and helping parents and teachers to identify the signs of those at risk.'

One of the challenges faced when tackling cyberbullying is the relative youth of the issue; parents know and understand schoolyard bullying; it's a familiar concept. Cyberbullying however, is an entirely new concept, on an entirely unfamiliar platform for most.

And when you marry that problem with the fact that a majority of kids try and tackle cyberbullying on their own, we're left with a problem of horrifying gravitas.

Fuel's Speak Up Against Cyberbullying campaign takes the symbol and intuitive act of online sharing, to take the power back from bullies, and let kids know that a problem shared is a problem halved. If they speak up, their parents, friends and teachers can help.

In a first, Facebook is a campaign partner, helping to share information on dealing with cyberbullying with young people, and to connect parents with advice and support.

Facebook's Head of Policy Australia and New Zealand, Mia Garlick said, 'Facebook takes a proactive approach to tackling bullying online and is pleased to be partnering with the Bully Stoppers program to increase understanding and awareness of the issue.'

View the student video here. View the parent poster here. View the student poster here.

For more information visit www.education.vic.gov.au/bullystoppers, or contact Tim Kidman at Fuel on 03 8415 8601.

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PC users might want to disable their Flash plugins... immediately

CryptoLocker / CryptoWall Virus The "Fax Report" email doing the rounds contains a particularly nasty virus called CryptoLocker. It likes to encrypt your precious document and photo files and then demand you pay a ransom (in BitCoins) to restore access to them. This ransom-ware virus is also being spread via Flash banner ads. No click required. It installs on page load! Prevention Steer clear of email attachments which contain zipped "PDFs" which try to open as .exe files (ie, faxreport12345.pdf.exe). Incoming emails will often be addressed to someone you know and BCC'd to you. So don't be fooled. Because it is being spread via the Google Ad network, you can catch it from just about any website containing Flash banner ads. So seriously consider disabling your Flash plugin in your browser. Chrome: Settings > Show Advanced Settings > Content Settings (under Privacy heading) > Under Plug-ins, choose Click to Play. Firefox: Use plugin https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/flashdisable/ IE (recent versions) Settings > Safety > Active X Filtering Detection Of course, running a full scan with Malwarebytes is advisable for all - regularly. Free version download http://www.malwarebytes.org/mwb-download/, if you don't already have it. Nb. You should already have it! Recovery If you find yourself infected, authorities are adament you should never pay the attackers. This will only fund future virus development. Fortunately one group of industry experts has found a way to expose the decryption code required for your particular CryptoLocker (v1) infection (they are all different). They are your best chance for recovery http://www.decryptcryptolocker.com

This service does not offer a magic pill for all infections. They cannot help if you are infected by CryptoWall, Synolocker, CryptoLocker V2 or others. And it is unlikely they will provide decryption keys for them anytime soon.

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Manage browser tabs for improved productivity

How often do you find yourself with a multitude of browser tabs and windows open? Do you leave them open all the time? You're probably slowing your entire system down due to the RAM they are using, not to mention making finding the tab you're after more difficult than it needs to be!

You might not be aware that tab management exists; here's a couple of things that might change your process for the better.

Tabs Saver Save your currently opened set of Chrome tabs for later use. Great for when you have a group of sites you regularly access (lunch break, news, cloud services).

Ctrl(or Cmd)-Shift-D Did you know you can bookmark all currently open tabs in one go? They save to a new bookmark folder and you can open all of them again at once! Ctrl-Shift-D / Cmd-Shift-D

The Great Suspender If you regularly have a huge volume tabs open, perhaps this Chrome plugin can help improve your overall system performance by reducing their RAM requirements until active?

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We've moved

We have moved to a fantastic new space in East Melbourne, with incredible views across Yarra Park and the MCG.

The Fuel Agency   Level 6, 126 Wellington Parade   East Melbourne VIC 3002 The Fuel Agency   Level 11, 390 St Kilda Road Melbourne VIC 3004 The Fuel Agency Level 7, 390 St Kilda Road Melbourne VIC 3004