Former Mediacom exec Rob Moore launches Volcano, a marketing agency for SMEs

The strategy to target “the 2.3m local small to medium businesses that employ almost 70% of Australians, and contribute more than half of the country’s GDP” is very appealing.

But I find it interesting that per ABS data “At June 30 2019 there were 2,375,753 actively trading businesses in the Australian economy”.

So 97% of all businesses are local small to medium businesses?

Further,
* 55.6% of all businesses are households
* 62.8% of all businesses are non-employing
* 74.5% of all businesses had turnover of less than $200k

I love the strategy and the offer, but I doubt that the size of the market that will engage is not as large as foreseen, and very tight purse strings, meaning that marketing budgets will probably be in the four figures and maybe some in five figures.

That is why agencies don’t engage with them (rather than ‘ignoring’ them), simply because it is not economic at virtually any level.

I wish Rob good luck, and I hope he has factored such sobering facts into his plan.

well @Stats-Man, there’s a super positive comment ;-)….I do question why you took the time to, 1) find those stats, and 2) share them…no benefit to anyone, anytime, anywhere…..why couldn’t you 1) contain your stats and/or 2) simply wish Rob and the team all the best……negativity at a time that is simply not called for.

All the best Team Volcano for the adventure! I wish you every success!

A quick Linkedin check would suggest that this is currently a one man band solution – nothing wrong with that at all – but claiming that a single person can :

“play[s] in all of the spaces you’d expect us to – media, PPC [pay-per-click], social, email, CRM [customer relationship management], CRO [conversion rate optimisation], e-commerce – and we do it well”

To any significant degree is frankly ludicrous

Rob all the best with the venture. You will be a great partner to all SMEs that gain your services. Keep up the good work!

@not a stats man

I found stats-man’s comments interesting.

Having worked with SME’s I can vouch that there are many people offering them marketing services. The issues anyone who wishes to call SME’s ‘customers’ is time / labour. It can take you as much time to get a canpaign out of the door for a top 100 company as it can for a medium sized company. The top 100 can pay a lot more and pay on time…

The pro’s: Often with SME’s there is less red tape. You liaise with the boss who can make a decision immediately. You can also build true relationships and transform people’s businesses. It can be very rewarding.

Good luck with the venture!

Smart guy and has a lot to offer the sme segment, who mostly are overlooked. Good luck Rob.

Dept. of Industry, Innovation, Science, Research and Tertiary Education: “Small businesses make a significant contribution to the Australian economy, accounting for nearly one-half of private sector industry employment and contributing approximately one third of private sector industry value added in 2010–11.” Deloitte Access Economics: ‘Connected Small Businesses, 2017’; “SMBs make an important contribution to the Australian economy, accounting for over half of private sector economic activity in Australia and over two-thirds of private sector employment.”

Looks like SME is an important and growing sector.

First, let’s wish Rob well with his new venture. Good on him.

Second, who’s to say his strategy of targeting SMBs is not right? It only has to be right for him. Perhaps he hasn’t got ambitions to become the next global media behemoth, and that’s totally ok. Perhaps Rob has other motivations, like taking control of his life, spending more time with his family, not having to answer to other people etc etc.

Hi all,

Thanks to everyone that has taken the time to comment, and for the well wishes.

There’s a fair bit of decent observation above but it would be remiss of me to chuck my 2c in:

Big agencies do ignore SMEs, in the main. As Stats-Man says, this is usually an economic decision – and one they are entitled, and usually sensible, to make. Equally, while some SMEs do receive great service from big agency partners it is also not uncommon to hear SMEs referred to as ‘rats and mice’.

When you are independent you can make selective decisions about who you work with and why you work with them. Volcano certainly isn’t planning on converting 2.3M SME clients. I would be very satisfied with a roster of 15-25 clients over the next 18 months because this will allow me to put some real energy into businesses that resonate with me and make a difference in their communities. Frankly, it also leaves me room in my life to focus on other interests like learning new skills (I’ve been learning calculus during lockdown – never know when you might need it) and being an active participant in my kids’ lives.

An interesting name ‘misrepresenting capability’ because I’ve certainly experienced many agency teams that have done just that in pursuit of self-interest. While it’s a bit snide to call Volcano a ‘one man band’, I 100% own the fact that Volcano is a vehicle for my skills and experiences and the value I can add to a client. Am I claiming to do absolutely everything myself? No. Do I have a network of trusted, passionate, and liked minded experts to tap into? Yes.

Frankly, I hadn’t planned to launch Volcano in any kind of official way. I was quite happy to fly under the radar and do my thing. However, I’m extremely grateful for the platform – and kick up the arse – that Mumbrella has given me and I’m really excited for what the future may bring.

Rob

PS – the other great thing about running your own show is that you can call people snide without worrying about getting a call from head office. 🙂