WEBVTT - Barry Urqhart with Tony McManus - Wed 18 Jun, 2025

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<v Speaker 1>Now barrierkut is managing director Marketing Focus. Always good to

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<v Speaker 1>catch up with Barry. Well, we talk to Barry in

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<v Speaker 1>a regular basis. Good morning, Good morning, Tony. I'm fascinated

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<v Speaker 1>with as many are, and we're trying to get our

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<v Speaker 1>heads around for those a little older and infinitely more wise,

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<v Speaker 1>not necessarily always more wise, by the way. But the

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<v Speaker 1>new big thing is that AI. How do we I mean,

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<v Speaker 1>it's just going to be. It's moving so quickly, I think, Barry,

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<v Speaker 1>isn't it?

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<v Speaker 2>It has been, Tony, But to a large extent, a

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<v Speaker 2>lot of people use that as a collective noun AI

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<v Speaker 2>artificial intelligence. It's anything but artificial. In fact, when you

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<v Speaker 2>think about it, it's programmed intelligence because to a large extent,

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<v Speaker 2>for them to come up with any conclusion with an

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<v Speaker 2>algorithm or a computer algorithm type basis, you've got to

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<v Speaker 2>have some sort of basis on which to come to decisions.

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<v Speaker 2>So we have had for a long time, right back

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<v Speaker 2>to the days of the IBM golf boil typewriter, that

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<v Speaker 2>was a form of artificial intelligence and technology. It's just

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<v Speaker 2>been a progressive development of that type of situation. It's

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<v Speaker 2>just that its growth has been exponential in the last

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<v Speaker 2>three to four years.

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<v Speaker 1>Makes sense. Let me give you an example. So I'm

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<v Speaker 1>not wild about social media, don't fully understand it, particularly Facebook,

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<v Speaker 1>and I particularly like it at all for a range

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<v Speaker 1>of reasons. Put that to one side for a moment.

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<v Speaker 1>On LinkedIn, I just happened to cruise into my LinkedIn

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<v Speaker 1>site and in LinkedIn to reply to some of the

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<v Speaker 1>lovely greetings that I saw some days after my birthday

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<v Speaker 1>last week. And all you've got to do is start

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<v Speaker 1>to type one word, and it almost does it for you.

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<v Speaker 1>By way of thanking people who considered it a lovely

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<v Speaker 1>gesture to send a birthday message. I hardly had to

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<v Speaker 1>do anything. Hit a little button. It says thank you

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<v Speaker 1>for your lovely note.

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<v Speaker 2>Almost well anticipated intelligence. That sort of thing says scripting

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<v Speaker 2>that your texts, and you were saying that you want

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<v Speaker 2>to have to rest onto everything. Well, that's a very

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<v Speaker 2>easy collective way of doing it, because the important thing

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<v Speaker 2>is at the bottom. It's got a name, Tony McManus.

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<v Speaker 2>It's the personalization rather than the impersonalization of artificial intelligence.

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<v Speaker 2>It's a label that really the means and I think

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<v Speaker 2>you as a consultant and a person who speaks of

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<v Speaker 2>many conferences on customer service. When you've got technology interspersing

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<v Speaker 2>and interrupting personal communications, you really are fracturing relationships. So

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<v Speaker 2>you've got to utilize artificial intelligence, whichever mode or model

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<v Speaker 2>it is, into the fact that you don't replace humanity.

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<v Speaker 2>You complement humanity by using that. Because artificial intelligence improves

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<v Speaker 2>internal efficiency, it does not enhance external effectiveness. That's the

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<v Speaker 2>critical issue to remember it all the time.

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<v Speaker 1>Corporations need to be aware, are aware, they're sensitive to it.

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<v Speaker 2>They're spending too much money on saying we'll hold on.

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<v Speaker 2>We've got to be in on this. You know, I'm

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<v Speaker 2>an older person. I'm fifty and sixty years of age.

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<v Speaker 2>I run this business. I've been the managing director for

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<v Speaker 2>ten years. My staff tell me I'm an analog manager

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<v Speaker 2>and we're now in a digital era, so I'm out

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<v Speaker 2>of tup. So I'm going to spend a lot of

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<v Speaker 2>money making sure that we've got access to all the

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<v Speaker 2>capital equipment for artificial intelligence. And that's the problem. In

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<v Speaker 2>many instances, You've got artificial intelligence, so you've got capacity,

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<v Speaker 2>but you haven't got capability. What we need to do

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<v Speaker 2>is to make sure that internal to companies, You've got

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<v Speaker 2>a lot of situations where people within the organization can

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<v Speaker 2>use the technology or artificial intelligence to the advantage of

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<v Speaker 2>the business and more importantly, to the advantage of the

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<v Speaker 2>existing past and prospective customers.

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<v Speaker 1>So in terms of shopping out shopping habits where in

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<v Speaker 1>the day you look at maybe the specials that were

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<v Speaker 1>printed in the local newspapers, you look at those specials

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<v Speaker 1>tick maybe things that were at that stage reduced, and

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<v Speaker 1>that's where you would go to shop. A lot of

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<v Speaker 1>that now is so easy to do using I don't

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<v Speaker 1>know what it's AI, but you can do that's pretty

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<v Speaker 1>much on your phone as you're walking into the store

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<v Speaker 1>planning well.

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<v Speaker 2>And truly, Yes, this is the latest MOLL coming out

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<v Speaker 2>of the United States of America agency purchasing or I

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<v Speaker 2>agency purchasing, and it's about four percent, or you know,

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<v Speaker 2>marginally less than three percent, but it's growing to about

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<v Speaker 2>four percent of the market. So Tony McManus wants to

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<v Speaker 2>buy a product. It might be a microwave, it might

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<v Speaker 2>be a television so it might be a new radio.

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<v Speaker 2>It'll be a digital radio that he wants to listen

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<v Speaker 2>to on three AW or it might be six PR

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<v Speaker 2>or you know five am that sort of thing. So

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<v Speaker 2>but the point is is he getting the right prices

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<v Speaker 2>the right value? What you can now do and this

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<v Speaker 2>is what the Americans are doing with this augenic purchasing.

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<v Speaker 2>So the AI becomes your agent. You give them a

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<v Speaker 2>brief of what you want to buy, what you're looking for,

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<v Speaker 2>what are the brands, what's the price range that is

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<v Speaker 2>tolerable to you, and they will go out search, select,

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<v Speaker 2>choose nomination and actually be able to transact the business

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<v Speaker 2>and organize delerlavery for you across the board. Now you

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<v Speaker 2>can see what's having the problem there. You've now got

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<v Speaker 2>artificial intelligence acting as the agent for the consumer talking

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<v Speaker 2>to the algorithm of the department store, the retail operation

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<v Speaker 2>and everything else has been marginalized. So there's no relationships,

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<v Speaker 2>there's no personal loyalty, there's no repeat business. And so

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<v Speaker 2>a lot of businesses are saying, I don't know whether

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<v Speaker 2>I want to become a fulfillment center for artificial intelligence.

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<v Speaker 2>So this is a great new model. And look, here's

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<v Speaker 2>the point. If you look at it and say, let's

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<v Speaker 2>take away the pursuit of what's the cheapest price and

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<v Speaker 2>say what is the one thing that annoys many people

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<v Speaker 2>when they're buying products. Now you are talking about Paul McCarty.

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<v Speaker 2>Now paor McCartney's tickets sold very very rapidly. Let's take

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<v Speaker 2>that as the case. It's employed. What you can now

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<v Speaker 2>do is you go to your artificial intelligence, you develop

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<v Speaker 2>them as an agent, give them a brief. So Paul McCartney,

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<v Speaker 2>Taylor Swift, or whoever else it may be, is coming

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<v Speaker 2>to Melbourne, Adelaide, Sydney, Brisbane or Warn and Bull and

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<v Speaker 2>say what I want is some tickets. I'm prepared to

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<v Speaker 2>pay this price. I would like that range, and I

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<v Speaker 2>want it on mat night. And so you can give

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<v Speaker 2>them a brief. And so rather than you waiting online

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<v Speaker 2>on a telephone, online with the social media, or more

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<v Speaker 2>particularly physically waiting in a queue trying to get tickets,

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<v Speaker 2>artificial intelligence can take all the toxicity and the frustration

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<v Speaker 2>and annoyance by simply saying, hold on, I'll do that

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<v Speaker 2>on your behalf. And that is AI agency purchasing used

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<v Speaker 2>in the most appropriate manner because it's saving you time,

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<v Speaker 2>which is time is money. Therefore, the value proposition is

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<v Speaker 2>greatly enhanced when you use artificial intelligence intelligently.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, it's a beautiful observation. The great band Credit House

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<v Speaker 1>doing some shows. Credit House, it was, and I just

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<v Speaker 1>thought you I'd love to see that. Sure enough soon

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<v Speaker 1>as I said at that loud Credit House as something

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<v Speaker 1>hits the phone. They're doing a series of concerts I think,

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<v Speaker 1>in the beautiful Yarra valley here in Victoria. They're going

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<v Speaker 1>all around Australia, but here a valley here in Victoria.

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<v Speaker 1>And I looked at the thing, and you can play

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<v Speaker 1>one hundred and thirty one hundred and eighty dollars a

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<v Speaker 1>ticket or something. But then you have a selection of

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<v Speaker 1>going into a restaurant or a cafe or a certain section,

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<v Speaker 1>and the prices are all structured accordingly. It's just it's

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<v Speaker 1>a different it's a completely different way to maybe you

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<v Speaker 1>and I might be used to going to Melbourne Sports

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<v Speaker 1>Depot to buy a ticket all those years ago.

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<v Speaker 2>Yes, And of course the point is it's now pricing. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 2>if there's five people wanting that particular ticket, the price

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<v Speaker 2>goes up inordinately high. What you've got to do is

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<v Speaker 2>have the artificial intelligence, you know, acting as your agent,

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<v Speaker 2>say well, this is the price range that I want,

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<v Speaker 2>and these are the seats that I will go into.

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<v Speaker 2>I won't take on the wings. I want to be

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<v Speaker 2>more on the center aisles and that type of situation.

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<v Speaker 2>And people are very very happy with that type of situation. Now,

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<v Speaker 2>a lot of people say that is the future, and

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<v Speaker 2>therefore there's going to be you know, you've got to

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<v Speaker 2>get onto that. Interestingly enough, the bigger businesses like the

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<v Speaker 2>department stores, discount department stores, the global retailers, even the

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<v Speaker 2>platforms like TikTok Amazon, they're saying, we don't know whether

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<v Speaker 2>we're losing control of our supply chain. We'll use it selectively,

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<v Speaker 2>but we're not going to make it randomly available because

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<v Speaker 2>all of a sudden, the whole equation of relationships of business,

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<v Speaker 2>the value of brands, well, you've lost all of that

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<v Speaker 2>type of situation because Tony, you're old enough as I'm

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<v Speaker 2>old enough to remember that when you were went into

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<v Speaker 2>the workforce and you went into sales, and they will

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<v Speaker 2>always say, the important thing is what is the lifetime

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<v Speaker 2>value of your customers. With artificial intelligence and agency purchasing,

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<v Speaker 2>it's transaction by transaction. That's fine if you're a president

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<v Speaker 2>of the United States or the name of Donald Joe Trump,

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<v Speaker 2>you don't need to be transaction or what you need

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<v Speaker 2>to do is to develop relationships and so all the

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<v Speaker 2>time utilize it to improve and complement the human quotion.

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<v Speaker 2>But never deal out of the equation the human quotion,

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<v Speaker 2>because that's not going to be the future of businesses.

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<v Speaker 2>Because many small business owners here today their whole superannuation

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<v Speaker 2>fund is geared to one day I'm going to come

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<v Speaker 2>and say, no, that's it. I want to sell my business.

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<v Speaker 2>If all the transactions are done by online with algorithms

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<v Speaker 2>and artificial agency purchases, there is no business to sell.

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<v Speaker 2>So never step back and say, well, I'll allow technology

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<v Speaker 2>to run my business because it's the most efficient way

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<v Speaker 2>to do it. It can be unquestionably, and it's proving to

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<v Speaker 2>be right now, a false economy.

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<v Speaker 1>False economy. We'll leave it there. Always good to talk

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<v Speaker 1>to you, Barry. Thank you, Barry. You could manage your

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<v Speaker 1>director marketing focus Bricks and water. It's and curious. I

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<v Speaker 1>don't know what you saw on the news last night

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<v Speaker 1>about Australia posts on all the news services Australia posts

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<v Speaker 1>they're slightly new experience of picking up a parcel. At times,

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<v Speaker 1>they are a change in m