SwitchSelect

Awards

NetGuide Web Awards - 2008 Best Small Business Website.

Switchselect.com has been awarded the 2008 Best Small Business Website. The NetGuide Web Awards were developed to promote and recognise the quality of Australian Web sites. The first awards program was run in 2005 and it has now become a regular fixture on the NetGuide calendar. This year's nominations for the Web Awards highlighted yet again the depth and quality of Australian Web sites.

Click here to view the NetGuide Web Awards Winners for 2008.

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Switchselect.com named in 'SMART 100' Index

Click here to view the Anthill Smart 100.

Switchselect.com has been named one of Australia's 100 most innovative products, according to 1,600 maven judges, in one of the largest and most audacious innovation awards of its kind in Australia - the 'SMART 100' Index. A revolutionary breast cancer detection test has been named the most innovative product in Australia, heading a list of 100 innovative Australian products celebrated at Anthill Magazine's inaugural Smart 100 Awards. The Smart 100 was unveiled at a ceremony on Thursday 9 April, 2009, held at LifeLab, Digital Harbour in the Melbourne Docklands.

About Switchselect.com

Launched in January 2008, Switchselect.com was named at number 26 on the Smart 100 list, have pioneered online energy comparison and simplified the process of researching and selecting an energy company best suited to customer's needs.

Over the past year Switchselect.com has enabled thousands of Australian customers access to cheapest and greenest energy offers available. The free service provides the public with a simple, easy and secure interface that not only gives them the opportunity to switch their supplier online, but educates them about the energy industry and the benefits of deregulation.

What we do is simple. We remove the smokes and mirrors, reduce the stress and hassle out of switching energy providers and offer Australian energy retailers a non intrusive way to market their products." says Switchselect.com founder and Managing Director Leon Hayes.

Some regions of Australia are home to some of the most active markets for customer switching energy retailers in the world". Hayes said.

Over the past two years we have been determined to position ourselves as not only a market leader in energy comparison but also as a providing simple and effective ways to understand the market data and offers. To be recognised for these efforts by the 1600 mavens, who ultimately are our prospective customers makes us extremely proud". With customers becoming aware of cheaper options households are turning to Switchselect.com as a trusted source of utility price comparisons. We have seen a dramatic increase in website traffic over the past quarter and have facilitated customer switching across the country".

About the Smart 100 Leading business magazine Australian Anthill and market research leader Colmar Brunton joined forces to create the 'Smart 100', Australia's largest and most democratic innovation awards. The Awards process spanned over six months and harnessed the power of 1,600 mavens identified by Colmar Brunton to judge the 861 products entered. The SMART 100 aims to bring a greater commercial focus to the concept of innovation, returning ownership of the principles surrounding this important word to the private sector," said James Tuckerman, Founder and Publisher of Anthill Magazine and founder of the 'SMART 100' Index. Most awards rely on the expertise of a select few. The inaugural 'SMART 100' employed the knowledge and opinions of over 1,600 'maven' judges." The Smart 100 contains representatives from a broad range of industries, proving that Australia has a diverse and robust talent for innovation. Industries represented include medicine and biotechnology, sport, energy, occupational health and safety, textiles, telecommunications, education, art and the environment. The word 'innovation' means many things to many people. In fact, it is so over-used it is in danger of losing its meaning and relevance," said Tuckerman. As a nation, we are facing new challenges. New ideas are needed to fuel new industries for Australia to remain internationally competitive. The 'SMART 100' Index is not just about unearthing these innovations. It is also about market testing the ideas by putting them under the scrutiny of people with a unique ability to gauge their future success." The 'SMART 100' aims to bring a greater commercial focus to the concept of innovation, returning ownership of the principles surrounding this important word to the private sector.

What is a 'maven'?

Academics have known about the existence of Mavens for many years, claiming they have a particular psychotype. However, it was Malcom Gladwell's book 'The Tipping Point' that really gave rise to this underutilised group in society. Gladwell described Mavens as 'those who are intense gatherers of information and impressions, and so are often the first to pick up on new or nascent trends". 'Maven' is a Yiddish word that means, literally, "one who understands". According to John Shanahan, CEO, Colmar Brunton, The maven's unique talent is his or her ability to unearth and identify, from all the new products and services available in the marketplace, the innovations that are worth propagating. A maven also generally has the ability to communicate the potential of the innovation to the broader public and, therefore, plays an integral role in the mass take-up of any innovation.

These people have the ability to identify innovations that will meet an important need for the population. The hypothesis is that Mavens will provide a more predictive measure of innovation than mass consumers or, indeed experts in the field - because they have a unique ability to identify the importance and relevance of an innovation."

What is Anthill Magazine?

Anthill is one of Australia's leading business magazines and online communities. It is dedicated to innovation, entrepreneurship and the commercial development of Australian ideas. Anthill is distributed nationally through over 1,200 newsagents, via subscription and through its recently relaunched website (http://anthillonline.com).

Who is Colmar Brunton? Colmar Brunton is one of Australia's largest market research agencies, with offices in Singapore and every mainland state of Australia. Colmar Brunton stays at the forefront of technology by embracing new ways to gain greater insights from research. Colmar Brunton and Anthill have partnered in the development of a new methodology that combines traditional measures with new technologies and crowd sourcing techniques.