introducing the mandarin
TRANSCRIPT
Insights & ideas for public sector leaders and decision makers
Introducing The Mandarin…
What is The Mandarin?
"The scholar-bureaucrats who ran the Chinese imperial government were known in the West
as Mandarins (a term coined by the British). They were China's best and brightest, and
served the Emperor in the imperial court and as imperial magistrates and representatives in
the hinterlands. ”
- Facts and Details.com
The Mandarin by the numbers
1.3m
The number of
federal and state
public
administration
professionals in
Australia
$200bn+
The value of goods
and services
purchased each
year by federal and
state governments
20%
The percentage of
executive level
roles within
government around
Australia
4x
The rate of growth
of senior exec
roles within
federal
government
compared to rest
of public sector
$8.5bn
The amount spent
by the federal
government in 2012
on management
consulting and
business
professional
services
What is The Mandarin?
The Mandarin will deliver news and analysis for
the public administration profession, with a
particular focus on senior executives, and will be a
destination for key decision-makers within the
Australian public sector.
The Mandarin will be founded on quality, trusted
journalism presented in an informative style
providing professionals in the public sector with
both a daily news service and a deep repository of
ground breaking information and analysis on the
emerging issues and trends in public administration.
The Mandarin will publish a minimum of 25
pieces of content each week, including video
interviews, covering the diverse array of subjects
confronting public administration professionals.
Dedicated subject areas will include general
management, public sector finance, technology,
procurement and infrastructure. The site will also
provide summaries, commentary and analysis on
key research papers from the private sector and the
academic community examining the role and future
of public administration.
The Mandarin is a subscription based service for
passionate participants and observers of public
administration in Australia.
Who is behind the The Mandarin?
The Publisher
Private Media is Australia’s pre-eminent
online publisher, with a suite of mastheads
including Crikey, the Power Index, Smart
Company, Property Observer and Women’s
Agenda.
Editorial Advisory Board
The Mandarin has assembled an advisory board of
distinguished public administration professionals and experts
to ensure it delivers relevant news and analysis for public
sector executives. The Advisory Board includes:
• Terry Moran AC – former Secretary of Department of
Prime Minister and Cabinet.
• Ken Henry – former Secretary of Treasury
• Graeme Samuel AC – former Chairman of the Australian
Competition and Consumer Commission.
• Lucy Turnball AO – former Lord Mayor of Sydney.
• Professor Gary Banks – former chair Productivity
Commission
• Geoff Gallop – former Premier West Australia
• Helen Silver - former secretary Premier and Cabinet
Department Victoria
Who is behind the The Mandarin?
The Publisher
Tom Burton is publisher for The Mandarin.
Tom is an award winning journalist and
leading digital communicator and publisher.
He has most recently led the transformation of
the Australian Communications and Media
Authority digital practice.
Private Media is Australia’s pre-eminent
online publisher, with a suite of mastheads
including Crikey, the Power Index, Smart
Company, Property Observer and Women’s
Agenda.
Editorial Advisory Board
The Mandarin has assembled an advisory board of
distinguished public administration professionals and experts
to ensure it remains at the forefront of the conversation around
the issues and challenges of public leadership and
administration in Australia .The Advisory Board members are:
• Terry Moran – former Secretary of Department of
Prime Minister and Cabinet.
• Dr Ken Henry – former Secretary of Treasury
• Graeme Samuel – former Chairman of the Australian
Competition and Consumer Commission.
• Lucy Turnbull – former Lord Mayor of Sydney.
• Professor Gary Banks – former chair Productivity
Commission
• Geoff Gallop – former Premier West Australia
• Helen Silver - former secretary Premier and Cabinet
Department Victoria
Key features of The Mandarin
1Speaks with authority – The Mandarin will be the destination for authoritative
analysis and commentary on the key issues confronting public administration professionals
in Australia. The Editorial Advisory Board is comprised of eminent leaders in public policy,
politics, business and academia and our contributors will be leading experts in their field
A forum for thought leadership – The Mandarin provides a unique opportunity for
firms to showcase their thought leadership credentials in a forum dedicated to serious
discussion about the business of public administration
A unique and hard to access audience – The Mandarin will target senior and mid-
level executives who take the business of public administration seriously. The authoritative
tone and highly regarded contributors will ensure The Mandarin becomes a destination for
hard to reach, information hungry public sector professionals
Fresh content & deep analysis – The sector will be covered daily with regular updates
on the big issues making news in the public sector. In addition, there will be in-depth
coverage of key subject areas such as management, finance, technology, procurement and
infrastructure with insight from both public and private sector leaders. The Mandarin will
also provide news and analysis on events and trends in public administration from around
the world
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3
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How The Mandarin will build its audience
Existing Private Media audiences
Private Media’s suite of websites currently reaches 900,000 unique viewers per month, with around 150,000
of those engaged directly in the government sector. In addition, our existing subscriber base includes contact
details for more than 11,000 public sector professionals, ensuring an immediate audience for The Mandarin.
Search Engine Optimisation
As Australia’s leading digital publishing company Private Media is uniquely placed to ensure The Mandarin
is recognised online as the pre-eminent destination for individuals seeking information about the Australian
public sector. The Mandarin website will be optimised for search, so it will become prominent when
relevant search terms are used. The Mandarin will also build online credibility through its Partner links and
affiliations.
Partner Audiences
The Mandarin will work with our partners to promote this online community. In particular our partnership
with the Institute of Public Administration Australia provides access to professionals in the sector.
Social Media
The Mandarin will create an online community through social media that allows content to be accessed and
shared easily. We are already engaging with the more than 20,000 members of Linkedin groups dedicated to
the Australian public sector.
PR and word-of-mouth
The Mandarin publisher, editor and writers will be active participants in industry forums and the broader
public debate about public policy, programs and administration.
Audience metrics
The Mandarin will be targeted at public agency heads and aims to attract 5,000 – 10,000 senior
executive subscribers within 18 months of launch. In addition it is anticipated 50,000 unique
browsers per month will be attracted to the general news content available outside the subscriber
pay wall. The audience is primarily senior public administration professionals (numbering around
200,000 across federal and state governments): the key decision-makers.
A unique thought leadership opportunity
The Mandarin will become a destination for key decision-makers within the Australian public sector,
providing our partners with a unique opportunity to present their thought leadership credentials and
best regulatory practice to the only significant community of senior public administration
professionals in a highly credible editorial environment.
The Mandarin will provide a forum for partners to provide expert analysis and commentary
concerning the key issues and trends confronting the public sector, and share market initiatives,
research, info graphics, video and discussion papers with this senior constituency. Most importantly
The Mandarin will provide access to a community of senior decision-makers that is time poor but
information hungry.
The subscription model creates a highly engaged and influential, but traditionally hard to reach
audience.
Engage with key decision-makers in the public sector
Partnership Opportunities
The Mandarin partnerships
Sponsored content featuring partner’s latest insights, research & analysis –
one article per month featured on The Mandarin for a week, followed by a further week
of prominence in the subject matter category. Sponsored content will also be promoted in
corresponding subscriber email campaigns.
Partner page – a permanent place on The Mandarin website for each partner to
showcase its insight and analysis and its suite of products and services. Partners will be
able to display any content, regardless of whether it has appeared elsewhere throughout
the site.
Leaders video interview – each platinum partner will have the opportunity to
contribute two Leader interviews per year. Each interview will be placed on the
homepage for one week and included on the partner page for the duration of the
partnership.
Reports digest – each week The Mandarin will distribute a digest of topical research
and discussion papers. Platinum partner papers are guaranteed inclusion in the digest
(identified as partner content).
Email campaigns – once each quarter platinum partners will have content of their
choosing (e.g. whitepaper, opinion editorial) distributed to the The Mandarin subscriber
list.
Direct feed to customer information system – this offer is exclusive to Platinum
members and will allow partners to access a live feed of content and distribute internally
in a manner that meets organisational needs.
Platinum partnerships
The Mandarin partnerships
Sponsored content featuring partner’s latest insights, research & analysis – one article per
month featured on home page for a week followed by a further week of prominence in the subject matter
category. Sponsored content will also be promoted in corresponding subscriber email campaigns.
Partner page – a space for each partner to showcase its insight and analysis and suite of products and
services. Partners will be able to display any content, regardless of whether it has appeared elsewhere
throughout the site.
Leaders video interview – each gold partner will have the opportunity to contribute two Leader
interviews per year. Each interview will be placed on the homepage for one week and included on the
partner page for the duration of the partnership.
Reports digest – each week The Mandarin will distribute a digest of topical research & discussion
papers. Gold partner papers are guaranteed inclusion in the digest (identified as partner content).
Email campaigns – twice a year gold partners will have content of their choosing (e.g. whitepaper,
opinion editorial) distributed to the The Mandarin subscriber list.
Gold partnerships
The Mandarin partnerships
Sponsored content featuring partner’s latest insights, research & analysis – one
article per month featured on home page for a week followed by a further week of prominence in
the subject matter category. Sponsored content will also be promoted in corresponding subscriber
email campaigns.
Leaders video interview – each silver partner will have the opportunity to contribute two
Leader interviews per year. Each interview will be placed on the homepage for one week and
included on the partner page for the duration of the partnership.
Reports digest – each week The Mandarin will distribute a digest of topical research &
discussion papers. Silver partner papers are guaranteed inclusion in the digest (identified as
partner content).
Silver partnerships
Key benefits of partnership
1Unique thought leadership and engagement opportunity – The Mandarin
provides access to a community of senior decision-makers who have historically been
hard to access, are time poor but information hungry. Partnerships provide a unique
opportunity to engage with this senior audience in a credible and respectful
environment.
First-mover advantage and pre-emptive rights - Foundation partners will
automatically have pre-emptive rights to renew their partnership at the end of each
year, for three years.
Rate protection - Foundation partners who commit before launch will have their
package rate locked in for three years.
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Marketing Opportunities
The Mandarin marketing opportunities
Advertising
The Mandarin will offer a maximum of 10 exclusive
advertising packages per year providing a premium
opportunity for marketers to promote their services
and insights to readers.
Each advertiser will have an equal share of page
impressions throughout The Mandarin, or the ability
to focus their campaign on those sections of the site
most relevant to their brand, services and insight.
Furthermore, each advertiser will have content of their
choice distributed to The Mandarin subscriber list
twice a year.
The Mandarin marketing opportunities
Marketers will be able to submit
articles to The Mandarin for
publication, showcasing thought
leadership in their respective field.
Articles will appear on the
homepage for two days and in a
prominent place in the relevant
section for a week. The article will
also feature in relevant daily email
distributions to subscribers and will
remain on the site for a minimum
of 6 months.
Sponsored content
The Mandarin marketing opportunities
With more than 150,000 public sector readers a month across the Private Media suite of digital
properties we have unique insight into the interests and preferences of this audience and the
editorial expertise to create content that engages and informs.
Our strategy and campaign team use this insight to create content for our commercial partners that
showcases thought leadership. Our editorial-first approach places compelling story telling at the
heart of our work, so that your content connects with the audience in a way that only great
journalism can.
Our team can create an entire campaign that utilises multiple platforms and channels or a one off
in-depth report or story.
Strategy and campaigns
Appendix – audience overview
Appendix 1: The Mandarin target audience
The Mandarin has identified the size of the target audience of senior to mid level public sector
executives at approximately 270,000. This is comprised of:
• Federal government – the State of the Service Series 2012 (Australian Public Service
Commission) identifies 44,835 senior to mid level executives within the Executive Level 1 to
Senior Executive Service Level 3 bands, representing 29% of the total Australian Public
Service workforce. Overall, the rate of growth for senior to mid level roles is approximately
four times the rate of the rest of the service.
• State governments’ – reporting requirements differ for respective state governments. However,
an analysis of permanent employees earning $90,000+ per annum cross–referenced with
‘managerial’ and ‘professional services’ classifications identifies that approximately 20% of
state government employees are senior to mid level executives. This equates to approximately
225,000 state government employees.