Alex Radford

Search and Performance Digital Media Specialist

Based in Auckland, New Zealand

Here are my thoughts and the odd photo...

Posts

  • July 31, 04:57 PM

    Steak!

  • July 30, 10:00 AM

    Hello Argentina! Amazing coffee shop round the corner from my hotel…

  • July 29, 03:51 PM

    Goodbye Auckland…

  • July 21, 05:29 AM

    Ready for some pain…

  • July 18, 03:33 PM

    It’s Monday, it’s Winter, but it’s a beautiful day here in Auckland City!!

  • July 17, 12:27 AM

    Watching Hot Tub machine! Love the 80s!!

  • July 16, 04:48 AM

    Just received 7 pairs of black socks from my Mum. Sent from Malaysia, with no note. Odd.

  • July 16, 12:37 AM

    This movie looks awesome

  • July 09, 11:07 PM

    Winter on Waiheke. Enjoying the sunshine!!

  • July 09, 01:59 AM

    OMD World Cup Final

  • July 05, 04:27 PM

    Warriors v Eels at Mt. Smart, Auckland.

  • July 04, 10:39 PM

    Cupcake bake off at work! My entries!!

    We don’t win…

  • July 04, 07:01 PM

    Yours truly on TVNZ’s The AD Show talking search marketing and all things Google!

  • June 26, 07:33 PM

    A true Welsh fan!

  • May 22, 11:20 PM

    Battle for Brand $; Facebook Versus Google

    Currently Google is the place you go when you need something. This has allowed Google to develop a $25 billion business that spans all walks of a consumer’s digital life: Google maps, docs, images, video, news, as well as being King of cloud computing.

    Only works if someone is looking for something. You’d never launch a product with just search.

    Facebook however has become the world’s main social metwork. The bottom line is that you are now trained to go to Facebook to discover things, just as much for brands as looking at your new girlfriend’s picture albums. Facebook has also become the place to go on the web for entertainment and general time wasting.

    Currently unlike adwords that seamlessly integrates itself in your search results Facebook ads are a little clunky to say the least, but it doesn’t take a huge amount of imagination to see how Facebook could build brand and discovery-based advertising into its product which will be useful to members.

    Like Google’s AdWords, Facebook ads will be most effective when they are integrated into the core product and are very relevant to the user. This however will mean divulging more personal details which rears up the privacy questions that have always haunted Facebook

    Unlike Google AdWords, this model will not be constrained by the fact that you have to actually look for something.

    With an effective and useful discovery advertising model, Facebook, is the first web company that has a very good chance of getting a significant share of the traditional TV and offline brand advertising market and thus, Facebook may well surpass Google’s advertising revenue, and market cap, in the next decade.

    You can see the Google just doesn’t get brand advertising. It’s big focus for 2010/2011 is trying to get a larger share of the traditional display banner business through its acquisition of double click. Google is a fantastic technology company but mediocre at product development, as can be demonstrated by their successes in the browser space, Gmail, Maps, and Android, but take their products such as their social networks like Wave, Orkut, Buzz and you can see nothing but mediocre executions.

    Facebook still has a long way to go and it does tend to piss off its base to time to time but in terms of advertising possibilities for brands moving forward unless Google can really start to innovate its advertising offering without alienating its users there is a good chance that Facebook may start to dominate the online media space. And with 99% of Google’s revenue coming from search there must be some concerned people at the Googleplex…

  • May 22, 09:33 PM

    Love this ad…

  • March 15, 01:20 AM

    My scooter is rubbish. Think I’m going to buy a Porsche 911. Any thoughts on which year was a good year for Porsche. Pre 1995 ideally…

  • March 05, 05:48 PM

    Off to Eden Park for the cricket… Hoping for another epic!

  • March 04, 10:52 PM

    On reflection definitely made the right decision. Well done me.

  • February 17, 02:01 PM

    Shake and bake!

  • February 16, 06:57 PM

    VOTE FOR HUTCHINS!

  • February 16, 02:47 PM

    The best website in the world. Ever. And its real :) http://ping.fm/egeel

  • February 15, 02:01 AM

    when i grow up i want to be a racing driver!

  • February 12, 03:09 PM

    Working on a Friday night and Saturday morning just feels plain wrong. We better win this pitch :)

  • February 11, 01:10 AM

    A ray of sunshine in an otherwise crappy day…

  • February 11, 12:17 AM

    Still at work… No golf tonight…

  • February 07, 12:52 AM

    Lunch at the Sawmill then afternoon chilling on Pakiri beach. Lovin’ Leigh…

  • February 05, 05:39 PM

    is having what can only be described as a perfect day…

  • March 05, 05:07 PM
  • March 04, 11:04 PM

    streaker taken out by andrew symonds

  • March 04, 03:34 AM
  • March 04, 03:33 AM
  • March 03, 04:21 PM

    Lostpedia

    Genius website giving you all the geeky info about LOST!

  • March 01, 04:09 PM

    wow!

  • February 28, 05:47 PM
  • February 28, 12:36 AM
  • February 27, 09:24 PM
  • February 27, 09:23 PM
  • February 07, 02:51 PM
  • February 04, 03:11 PM
  • April 22, 03:23 PM

    Amsterdam

    Just got back from a fantastic weekend with Matt Francis before heading off to New Zealand.

    Left at stupid o’clock from Bristol airport with all the stag dos and other scum heading for a weekend in the ‘dam! Knowing my way round Schipol I quickly found the train to Centraal Station and was sat in Dam Square waiting for Matt in no time at all. Met up with my old University friend Matt “Fat Franny” Francis and we wandered over to a fab restaurant just by the station call ‘elf’ [eleven] as it is on the eleventh floor of a building which at the moment houses the mesuem of modern art. The entrance looked like a council estate building; wall to wall grafiti, and the lift entrance had the enormous photos of a girl in her pants!! Nice. The restaurant itself was really interesting as it is also a night club so has a huge dancefloor, loads of space and generally very cool and hip. And the waitressess were fit!!

    After a Caesar salad and a couple of beers we headed back o Matt’s place which is about ten minutes from the city centre. A stunning place with so much potential. Huge open plan living room, massive basement and loads of room upstairs. With two creative types living in one place it was of course very hip and designer! So with a couple of beers in our bellies we got on the bikes and crawled our way into town via lots of bars and pretty girls! Ended up in a pub near where Matt used to live with a crazy friend of his called Mike who is a huge rugby playing friend of Matt’s. Mitchell passed by to say hi, as did his wife Addie and then we went on our merry way into Amsterdam for more booze a little wander round the red light district, and then on to a club and finally crashed to bed (well the sofa until six then bed!!).

    The next day started with the obligatory hangover then after some general faffing and dawldling we headed off back to the Jordaan for breakfast, a little light shopping and not too much walking as I had destroyed my shoes and my feet were killing. Amsterdam is such a fantastic city, but one that is greatly misunderstood by the majority. Yes it has legalised drugs and prostitution and is a little grotty but the good thing is that is all in one place, a very small place at that. The rest of the city is a delight with wonderful canals, fantastic restaurants, lovely shops and engaging people. It is a city that is both fun and romantic, inviting and bizarre. I love it and will miss it a great deal.

    So, anyway after the Jordaan we took a drive out to see Matt’s boat, which is going to be fantastic once it has been repainted and given a make over, hopefully in time for the summer, although at over 20 degrees the weather has been incredible! We then stopped off for lunch in North Amsterdam in this amazing restaurant by the sea that is just on it’s own. Nothing really around it but a greenpeace boat and an industrial estate (including a skate park and MTV’s headquarters mind you!).

    Another very simple lunch and some good banter with Franny, then back to his place, a few beers then off to this incredible Italian restaurant for dinner! This was an outstanding restaurant, and Franny’s bird new the owner so we got some incredible wine too! The steak we had was difficult to describe. It was almost raw but tasted like nothing I have had before. The texture was just perfect, the tastes were sublime and you could have cut it with a spoon! Just too much food to deal with clubs or even another drink so we headed home defeated and went straight to bed!!

    Sunday was a leisurely day. Cycled into town for breakfast as again Amsterdam bathed in the glorious sunshine. The joggers were out, as were the families - it really felt amazing to be alive! Breakfast was over the Amstel in North Amsterdam overlooking the river. Just a simple sandwich and a cup of coffee but more than enough after the night before! A long cycle back to Matt’s, a little rest then back in the car to Schipol and back to Bristol and reality!!

    It was really nice to see Matt and was great to see him so happy and he gave me loads to think about in terms of my move to NZ as he did the same thing seven years ago when he moved to the ‘dam and he is now finally settled with what seems to be a really lovely girlfriend, who I have still not met, even after two years!

Profile

Alex Radford

Head of Search at Omnicom Group New Zealand
Internet | New Zealand, NZ

Experience

  • Mar 2009 - Present

    Head of Search, NZ / Omnicom Group

  • Sept 2007 - Feb 2009

    Account Director / SureFire Search Ltd

  • Jun 2006 - Jun 2007

    Business Development Director / Fresh Buiness Thinking Ltd

  • Feb 2006 - Jun 2006

    Sales Director / B2B Portfolio Ltd.

  • Jul 2003 - Jan 2006

    Managing Director / Radfords Group

  • Oct 1997 - Dec 2001

    Event Manager / CMP Media

Education

  • 1993 - 1997

    Northumbria University

  • 1995 - 1996

    Institut d'Etudes politiques de Bordeaux

  • 1992 - 1993

    Hogeschool Rotterdam

Additional information

Websites:
Interests:
mountain biking, cinema, skiing, gadgets...

Recent tracks

Posts