TRACTION by RailGallery | Rail marketing magazine | 2016:11

1
TRACTION

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CONTENTS & CONTRIBUTORS
Contents
3
inFocus
The power of a good photograph
by Dora A. Ugalde
10
TRACTION
3
19
16
8
inSight
Marketing - investment or expense?
by Matthew Mulrine
15
onTrend
The end of PDF
by Andrew Leung
10
12
60 seconds story
Why is it important for your brand to tell a story
in 60 seconds
by Bianca Garrett
onTrack
Ready, set, go!
by Dora A. Ugalde
16
17
19
Flyby at 500 kph
Life changing moments
by Andrew Leung
RailGallery services
Portrait video - Yay or Nay
by Matthew Mulrine
Contributors
ANDREW LEUNG
Andrew is the founder and creative
director of RailGallery. He is a marketing
communication specialist with a
strong focus on visual and creative
communication. Rail is his life.
DORA A. UGALDE
Dora is a results-oriented and creative
communications strategist with a
track record of achievements in the
rail industry.
MATTHEW MULRINE
Matthew is an expert at using video
to persuade. His work is recognised
by the rail industry and has been
featured in many marketing channels.
BIANCA GARRETT
Bianca loves sharing her thoughts
in the marketing and communication
spaces. She specialises in content
development for online and print
platforms.

THE POWER OF A GOOD PHOTOGRAPH
3
THE POWER OF
A GOOD PHOTOGRAPH
“Hundreds and thousands of times we have heard that
‘an image speaks a thousand words’.
But is it true? Really?”
by Dora A. Ugalde

4
inFOCUS
Hundreds and thousands of times we have
heard that ‘an image speaks a thousand
words’. But is it true? Really?
As much as I would gladly write those 1,000 words, the truth is
I would lose two thirds of my audience if I did.
The overload of information with which we are bombarded
nowadays requires businesses, in particular, to go straight to
the point with acute precision.
There are three ways in which an image will help you do just
that.
1. Sparking curiosity
Let’s face it, you were probably wondering what a photo of
‘hundreds of thousands’ was doing in a magazine related to all
things rail. It worked! It got you started reading the story.
Although it’s true that if you kept reading this far, it’s mainly
because the subject was of interest to you, we have to
consider that without that photograph, perhaps you wouldn’t
have even started at all.
Visually attractive and vibrant images will help you or your
business stand out in the commercially saturated world of
media.
This is especially important in the space of social media in
which an image can make the difference between scrolling or
clicking through, which is like the modern equivalent of ‘make
or break’ in sales.
2. Presenting compelling stories
A professionally taken shot can help you show the quality of
your services and products.
Telling stories through images about what you offer will help
your potential customers imagine themselves in certain
situations, whether it is receiving a specific business service,
or using one of your products.
Of course, you can list specific product features in words,
but nothing is as effective as planting a positive image on
someone’s imagination.
Stock photo library
Visit our online photo
showcase to browse through
thousands of ready-to-use
photographs.
railgallery.com.au
Our passion is to capture the perfect
image that represents the dynamic
power of this industry.

THE POWER OF A GOOD PHOTOGRAPH
5

6 inFOCUS
3. Keep your audience engaged
Remaining on your customers’ minds is
a big challenge for small, medium and
large businesses. Whether you want
to extend your customers life cycle or
strengthen their loyalty to your brand, a
photograph can help you establish and
cement a visual identity.
These days, social media channels offer
you the opportunity to establish a closer
relationship with your customers. But
in order to do so, your business should
carefully balance the content that is
pushing out.
Constantly featuring your services or
products is not the most effective way of
retaining your customer base. Businesses
need to establish a relationship, a
‘friendship’ if you will. To achieve this,
social media content should also include
elements that are in tune with your brand
personality.
For example, it is no secret that
RailGallery specialises in marketing
services for the rail industry, but a key
feature of the business identity is our
passion for all things rail, so the content
of our Facebook page echoes this. We
keep connected with people, who like us,
are passionate about rail!
We do it because we think it’s cool
sharing some of the great photos we’ve
taken, but in doing so, we have noticed
and sometimes overwhelmed by the level
of engagement achieved.
Some of our Facebook posts have
reached thousands of people,
with a single image that does not have a
marketing agenda behind it, it just allows
us to keep connected to our clients and
stakeholders a.k.a our facebook
friends and fans.

THE POWER OF A GOOD PHOTOGRAPH
7
“A professionally taken shot can help you show the quality of
your services and products.”

8
inSIGHT
MARKETING
INVESTMENT OR
EXPENSE?
“Innovation is more often viewed internally as an
investment while marketing is considered to be a cost.
Why?”
by Matthew Mulrine
On the topic of business investment, the
father of modern management, Peter
Drucker, famously wrote:
“Because the purpose of business
is to create a customer, the business
enterprise has two - and only two - basic
functions: marketing and innovation.
Marketing and innovation produce
results; all the rest are costs.”
Yet, most people hold a different view,
and for good reason.
Think about your own business, what do
you provide to your customers and how
does your value proposition provide you
with a competitive advantage? This is
your innovation advantage.
How do you interact with your market,
such as suppliers, customers, leads,
shareholders, and what do you say and
do? This is your marketing advantage.
In essence, your core value proposition,
which drives revenue and supports the
continued existence of your business, is
comprised of two fundamental elements:
Innovation - the way you develop and
deliver your solution to your customers,
such as supply chain, people capability,
intellectual property, process advantages,
etc.

MARKETING, INVESTMENT OR EXPENSE?
9
Marketing - the way you build a
relationship of trust with your market,
such as brand equity, market research,
advertising, customer experience, etc.
Innovation is more often viewed internally
as an investment while marketing is
considered to be a cost. Why?
One of the main reasons marketing has
been tarnished is due to the difficulty
in getting people to pay attention to a
message in a crowded marketplace.
The traditional approaches have been to:
1. Yell louder (saturate the market with
your messages so they can’t be
missed or ignored).
2. Distract people (use creative
marketing to get people to pay
attention and then deliver your
message on the sly).
3. Steal credibility (build referred value
through product placement, celebrity
endorsement, and media coverage
so it seems that others love what you
have to offer).
All these approaches work; however,
when everyone else in the market is
doing the same thing it becomes very
difficult to stand out. In fact, the more you
rely solely on these approaches, the more
expensive marketing gets, and the more
it feels like a burden and a cost.
“Because the purpose of business is to create a customer, the
business enterprise has two - and only two - basic functions:
marketing and innovation.
Marketing and innovation produce results; all the rest are costs.”
A better way, is to see marketing as the
relationship you have with your market.
Sure, it helps to be well known or fun or
to have popular friends (the traditional
approaches).
Though the most important thing in a
business relationship is for the right
people to:
1. Trust you’re on their side.
2. Know you can help them.
3. Understand you can provide real
value.
Instead of spending millions on new
marketing ideas, which may or may
not provide a reasonable return, it’s
cheaper to refine your core marketing
to strengthen your relationships with
segments of your market.
Peter Drucker
The easiest way to accomplish this is
to deeply understand the needs and
desires of your target market. Then,
segment your audience into groups that
share similar needs and desires. Next
deliver tailored messages that focus on
providing real value to each group.
People respond best to messages that
target their specific circumstances. In
essence, we need to talk to the right
audience, at the right time, with the right
messages. This often means catering
to more segmented groups, or fewer
people, but ensuring we get the attention
of the right target market.
This is how you turn marketing from a
cost into an investment.

10 60 SECONDS STORY
60 SECONDS STORY
“Why is it important for your brand to tell
a story in 60 seconds?”
by Bianca Garrett

60 SECONDS STORY
11
“Society is simply too busy to give up longer than 60 seconds,
so organisations have to make every second count.”
For a business to be successful, it must
first be known.
The key to successful marketing of any
organisation is the ability to accurately
communicate what your business does,
stands for and aims to achieve in a clear,
concise, meaningful and engaging way.
In today’s society of fast interconnected
communication, everybody is pressed
for time. Attention spans are short. On
average individuals only watch the first
60 seconds of information from any given
medium and spend less than 15 seconds
actively searching on a webpage.
Seeing as companies generate value
from how well they are perceived by the
consumer, engaging them is vital for
the organisations’ success. Successful
branding is achieved when people
can appreciate, and understand your
business’ identity.
They develop a deeper understanding,
emotional interest and value of the
organisation, its products and are more
inclined to devote their loyalty based on
the organisations’ ability to communicate
their story in a simple timely way.
Time is of the essence in business; if you
cannot pitch what you do, what problems
you solve, how you stand out or persuade
the audience why they should care within
the first 60 seconds, your business will go
unnoticeable. As soon as you grab the
audience’s attention they’ll want to know
more and actively communicate with you.
Sally Hambridge, an ex-network engineer
at Intel said:
“Be conservative in what you send and
liberal in what you receive.”
In order to be noticed, your
organisational/personal branding must
clearly articulate your story; in what ways,
you are different, believable, meaningful.
This is called the “Elevator Pitch”
which builds reputation based on the
information promoted.
Within these 60 seconds it is vital to
maintain the audience’s attention. Thus,
storytelling is an efficient means to
relay succinct, relevant, interesting and
actively engaging information.
The tactic of storytelling captivates the
audience from beginning to end, almost
taking them on a journey. Emotion drives
engagement hence, is often used to relay
organisations key messages.
Coca Cola for instance, promotes
inclusion, positivity and socialisation
through “sharing happiness” of their drink
encouraging the audience to share in this
happy experience through purchasing
their product.
Many organisations employ specific
marketing tactics to get audience’s
undivided attention; such as, emotional
campaigns, songs, slogans, videos,
pictures, rhyme, catch-phrases and logos
to increase the level of retention, brand
awareness and customer loyalty.
Understanding your brand and then
broadcasting that story to public is vital to
gaining positive recognition.
Society is too busy to give up longer than
60 seconds, so organisations have to
make every second count.

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onTRACK
READY, SET,
GO!
“The story began when our client,
John Holland Group, engaged us to
produce a short video...”
by Dora A. Ugalde

JOHN HOLLAND GROUP
13
At RailGallery, we enjoy tremendously
every single one of the projects in which
we get involved, but every now and
then, a project comes along that when it
is completed… well, it leaves our team
with a huge sense of achievement and
satisfaction.
The reasons vary; it may be because the
project involves logistical challenges,
sometimes it’s a marked affinity with the
people with whom we liaise, and some
other times it is because we get to visit
great places or learn about innovative
products and services.
This year, we had the opportunity to be
involved in a project that has all those
characteristics, and even a few more.
The story began when our client, John
Holland Group, engaged us to produce
a short video to be presented at the
Christmas Party for their NSW and ACT
teams.
The project brief requested a four-minute
video that contained footage from
various projects carried out this year, and
included a few interviews with some of
their staff.
We knew we had a challenge ahead of
us because deadlines were tight, and we
had to cover a vast geography - Sydney,
Newcastle, Lismore, Parkes, Griffith and
Canberra.
This, and the fact that we would get
to venture into infrastructure projects
beyond rail, was enough for us to get
very enthusiastic form the get-go.
In just two weeks we developed the
creative idea, schedule and coordinated
the logistics for each on-site filming.
Then came the moment of truth, over
the following 12 days, our intrepid team
of videographers and photographers
covered 4,430km, conducted 24
interviews, recorded 32 hours of
footage, skilfully avoided crashing into
three kangaroos and of course braved
countless bugs.
Actually, their exact words were ‘trillions
of bugs’ but those of us who stayed at
the office know the filming crew tend to
overreact when it comes to insects, so we
believe that figure might be a bit inflated!
Bugs and kangaroos aside, the following
challenge was making sure that the
production stage ran as smoothly as
possible and that the video truly met our
client’s brief of creating a video that was
mainly light-hearted.
As we started going through all the
raw footage, we realised that there
were very powerful messages coming
from every John Holland Group staff
member interviewed, these messages
reflected the strong positive culture of the
organisation and what is important for
them.
Safety, team spirit and caring were
evident from the footage we captured;
but what impressed us the most is
that this wasn’t just a thing people
were saying because they were being
interviewed, our film crew experienced
first hand the safety and caring culture of
the people in the organisation.
Tan, one of our team videographers told
us this story: “While we were signing out
at the Lismore hospital project, the onsite
officers asked us where we were headed,
and we replied ‘Dubbo’. Straightaway
they said: Be careful with kangaroos
along the way, and don’t push too far,
even though Dubbo is where you want
to get to, you don’t need to get there
tonight if you’re too tired. Safety is more
important.”
Beyond, the strong safety culture, it was
evident that the people behind John
Holland’s projects feel extremely proud of
a job well done.
All interviewees were very aware and
mentioned the impact their projects
would have in the local communities,
whether it was improving irrigation
systems to help farmers, improving health
services infrastructure, or increasing
safety and accessibility for public
transport users.
And we knew we were on the same page
when they all mentioned how much they
enjoy that they get to do ‘cool stuff’,
you know, like building a helipad and
the associated helicopter landing test
runs, or building structures that are like
“building a giant jigsaw puzzle”.
After getting these insights, we decided
to have a conversation with our client and
advised them that developing a video
that contained those elements mixed
with some more funny statements would
be the perfect message combo to be
presented at their end of the year party.
Our client agreed and gave us the go
ahead for the editing stage. The result
was a 4-minute video that showcases
the year’s achievements of the company
and celebrates the essence of the John
Holland Group brand: ‘Powered by
people’.

14
onTRACK
Highlights
from our filming crew
Watch our videos
View our video production
work on YouTube:
youtube.com/railgallery
North West Rapid Transit
(Sydney Metro North West)
The first stage of Sydney Metro will connect Chatswood
to the North-Western region of Sydney. This project is the
largest infrastructure project since the construction of the
Sydney Harbour Bridge. Once completed, it will feature a
‘metro’ style automated train system, which is first of its kind
in Australia.
“The scale of this project is massive, we saw the team
working on the maintenance depot, control centre, and lower
the road bridge beam at Tallawong Road.”
“Standing at the entry point of the tunnel and imagining trains
running to Sydney CBD in the future, carrying thousands of
commuters through this vital link, it is a history in making.”
Andrew Leung
Lismore Hospital
Lismore Base Hospital is
one of two main public
hospitals in the Northern
NSW. The construction of the
South Tower has just been
completed, this 12-level
building includes the new
emergency department,
renal unit and a helipad.
“The helipad was completed
a few weeks before we
came in, and we had
the opportunity to film
the completed facility. It
was James Bond kind of
awesomeness!”
Tan Tran
Sydney Water
(Malabar)
The Malabar Wastewater
Treatment Plant will
improve the reliability of
the processes that treat
wastewater, which will also
lead to better environmental
outcomes.
“We were warned before
going to the processing
plant about the odour, but
it isn’t until you’re there,
that you fully understand
what they mean by strong
odour.”
Andrew Leung
Canberra Metro
The Canberra Metro project
includes the design and
construction of a 12 km
light rail route from the fast
growing area of Gungahlin
to the City.
“Seeing the construction
on Northbourne Avenue
and Mitchell is one of the
highlights of this project.
I can’t wait to catch the first
tram in 2019!”
Matthew Mulrine

onTREND
15
THE END OF
PDF
PDF
by Andrew Leung
Ahh... the good almighty PDF, one of
the most common file formats used
by millions to deliver documents to
colleagues and customers every day.
As a design agency, we love PDFs. It is
great for transferring documents so that
the design and format are embedded
onto one single file. It is very versatile
in creating paperless forms and getting
designs for client’s approval without
printing and mailing it. We love it! (At
least that aspect of it)
As end users, people often dislike
opening PDFs, especially on a mobile
device. We find people are extremely
frustrated when information can be
uploaded as a web page content but
uploaded it as a PDF instead.
Why? Here’s what we think.
Accessibility
Because PDF was designed to replicate
paper format electronically, it is very
difficult for people to read 2-point font
size when downloaded on a mobile
device. Even though it is not the end of
the world, zooming in a PDF and scrolling
pages makes the task more complex for
people.
Microsoft reported in a 2015 study that
humans have an 8-second attention span
versus a goldfish’s 9-second hold. So,
unless you can get your information to
your customers in a very concise way,
your PDF will not be very popular.
File sizes
Most PDFs are quite large in file size,
more likely in megabytes. So, if your
customers are accessing a PDF timetable
or any other document, it will use a lot of
their mobile data.
For those who have limits on their
download allowances, this will not make
them happy either. Besides, mobile
To satisfy customers’ needs,
we must think like them.
phone receptions is still not very strong in
some rural areas, which means it is likely
that PDFs will only be loaded partially.
Where is it?
Unlike a laptop or desktop computer,
mobile phones have a habit of saving
PDFs into random locations which are
often difficult for the user to locate.
Therefore, your potential customers will
need to download the PDF, and once
again use more mobile data.
Search engine optimisation
Search engines like Google or Bing,
pick up “metadata” from thousands of
web pages when your customers type
in specific keywords in the search field.
But because the PDFs are not designed
for search engines (e.g. as a stand-alone
content) on a website, it is unlikely for
search engines to display PDFs as a
result.
To satisfy customers’ needs, we must
think like them.
More and more people are connecting
through their mobile devices.
According to ComScore Media in
December 2015, 65% of time spent on
internet is now being accounted from
mobile devices, which is an increase of
13% from 2013. Any content that does
not fit onto a 5-inch screen will be difficult
to read.
It is good practice for websites
management to have a mobile friendly
version, which allows customers to
access information in a web based
format before you offer links for them to
download PDFs.
Also, make sure the mobile website is
tested by various stakeholders to ensure
the pathway to the content is simple and
logical.
As we always say, let’s put the right
content on the right channel.

16
LIFE CHANGING MOMENTS
500kph
LIFE
CHANGING
MOMENTS
“I couldn’t help but wonder why countries
around the world keep investing in
High Speed Rail but Australia is not.”
by Andrew Leung
Very recently while traveling in Japan,
I overheard a conversation on-board a
Shinkansen train, which very broadly
could easily be summarised as
“Everything for Europeans and Japanese
is doable, and everything for Australians
is too difficult.”
It is no secret that I am an avid train
enthusiast, so, the combination of that
with the conversation in the background
and being on a Shinkansen, probably
shifted my thoughts towards the High
Speed Rail situation in Australia versus
the rest of the world.
I couldn’t help but wonder why countries
around the world keep investing in High
Speed Rail but Australia is not.
Is it a lack of political will? Is there not
enough public support or interest? Is it
too expensive? Is it a matter of technology
being mature enough and affordable?
I do strongly believe that the benefits
of making High Speed Rail a reality in
Australia outweigh any excuse given.
For example, from a practical point of
view if Sydney were a 40-minute train
commute away, I could work in Sydney
and live in Canberra.
And just in case you’re wondering... No,
it’s not an impossible dream. In ten years
in Japan, people who live in Nagoya will
be able to work in Tokyo and travel back,
in around 40 minutes by Superconducting
Maglev trains.
But this is not only a matter of practicality
and making life easier, there are recent
studies that show High Speed Rail is
feasible and will provide benefits from an
economic point of view, not to mention of
course the environmental benefits.
So how is it that something that is
obviously beneficial for our Nation has not
gotten enough traction?
I believe that if we are to shift people
from advocating for road to rail, everyone
needs to do more than what we’ve done
in promoting this cause so far.
Effective communication is the key.
We need to find ways to inform and
persuade the public. We have to be
more efficient, clear and concise in our
approach.
Of course this not only applies to trains,
the same applies to things we want
to communicate with our clients and
customers every day.
Sometimes, the closer we are to a cause,
a topic, a product or a service, the more
difficult it becomes to make our point.
We have so much knowledge, information,
facts and figures, that creating a
compelling message feels almost like an
impossible task to do.
But the truth is that being able to
communicate in an engaging, persuasive
and meaningful way isn’t rocket science.
Dream big, go further!
Follow us
Our Facebook page features
news and photos that are
exclusively for the social
media channels.
facebook.com/railgallery

RAILGALLERY 17
CAPTURING THE
ESSENCE OF RAIL
A guide to our services

18 OUR SERVICES
RailGallery is the one-stop-shop for
all your marketing needs.
Our passion goes beyond creating
great visual communication.
We’re passionate about showcasing
the best our clients and the rail sector
have to offer.
With years of experience in the
rail industry, we have the proven
expertise to provide you with a
creative, reliable and cost-effective
marketing solution.
Get social!
RailGallery
@railgallery
youtube.com/railgallery
#railgallery
linkedin.com/company/
railgallery
Our services
Photography Videography Design for online & print
Professional and vibrant photos of
your products or assets will help
you increase your presence across
various marketing channels.
We work with you to find the best
way of capturing the essence of your
brand.
Browse through our comprehensive
stock photo library: railgallery.com.au
Whether you need to communicate
a success story, highlight a specific
product or promote your company,
we will make your video production
a seamless and hassle free
experience.
We guide you through the whole
process from script writing through to
final production to make your video a
compelling success.
Enhance your corporate image
through dynamic and visually
attractive graphic design. Good
design allows your products,
services and company to remain on
your customers’ minds.
From as small as a business card to
as large as a tradeshow booth, our
proven expertise in graphic design
will bring your brand to life!
Got a question? Talk to us!
We are always happy to receive comments about
your experience, to further develop our strengths and
continue to offer excellent service.
If you would like to discuss your upcoming advertising
or marketing project, we’d love to hear from you!
(02) 6100 8360
ask@railgallery.com.au
railgallery
railgallery.com.au

COMMENTS 19
PORTRAIT
VIDEO
YAY OR NAY
“More and more people are using
their mobile phones to watch videos,
how are we going to capture this
audience?”
by Matthew Mulrine
There’s only two things to consider about
portrait video:
1. The device people will use to watch
your content
2. The experience and message the use
of portrait delivers
Starting with the first, how people will use
your content. There continues to be a
trend towards greater watching of video
on mobile devices.
Portrait video works well on mobile
devices (phones and tablets), as it fits
the portrait screen aspect. On desktop
computers or TV, portrait video doesn’t
fill much of the screen and doesn’t look
great at all.
However, even if your audience is likely
to be using a relevant mobile device
to watch your video, keep in mind that
mobile devices can be turned sideways
into a landscape mode. If the viewer
does this, then portrait video may not be
a necessity, even when you’re targeting
mobile delivery.
The second point to consider is the
experience your audience get when
watching your video. Portrait video is
not how your eyes typically perceive the
world.
There is a reason why some films are shot
in super-wide format, as this is closer
to how we view the world through our
eyes (less vertical, and more horizontal
perspective).
So when considering if you want to use
portrait video, think about the message it
will deliver.
1. It’s unnecessary as mobile devices
can be turned into landscape mode.
2. The portrait video aspect does not
match the way the human eye works,
wide-screen landscape video is more
similar and thus likely to be more
immersive.
3. You will likely be perceived as cutting
edge or a trend setter when you use
portrait video, though this may change
in future depending on if the style of
video becomes popular.
So, for the meantime, my suggestion is
that there are very few companies that
would benefit enough from using portrait
video.
However, if being seen as on the cutting
edge of technology is important to your
brand, you may consider using it anyway.
Keep in mind Marshall McLuhan’s famous
quote “the medium is the message.”
Your thoughts?
Tweet your comments on
Twitter: @RailGallery
Read me online
Traction is now available at
railgallery.com.au

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