In a bid to stay afloat in a sector that has been one of the hardest hit by the domination of digital, Civic Video Group has created an unlikely new business. Civic Video Group has launched Civic Management Services (CMS), an infrastructure and services company assisting organisations in business development and management from a broad range of industries. CMS has worked with brands including Charlie Lovett, Global Franchise Partners, and Wise Education Group and provides companies with b
business development and planning services, accounting and financial management, IT, franchise support, purchasing and procurement, and warehouse and distribution.
It is predominantly made up of existing Civic staff, with digital marketing teams in Sydney and the Philippines introduced specifically for the new business.
Rod Laycock, CEO of CMS, says the business is a unique model in the Australian market.
“I don’t think there is anyone else is Australian doing something like this,” he said.
“We’re still running Civic Video Group with CMS the parent company, but we have morphed all the internal team into a new business where we are now providing an infrastructure business service to help other businesses grow.
“A lot of companies support multiple brands of their own, but I don’t think there’s anyone providing services to client companies and helping them to grow separately.”
Laycock says CMS, which launched in April, was brought on by the need for Civic to adapt to changing market conditions.
“There’s challenges with piracy and streaming services, and because of this we have had to evolve the business on a number of occasions over its history.”
Civic has more than 100 stores in Australia and 40 in New Zealand. Civic’s second tier chain, Movie HQ, has around 30 stores in Australia.
“It’s still a sizeable franchise group, but if we didn’t do anything the business would probably continue to diminish over the next five years to a point where it will just become a small group.
“What we have done instead of slowly diminishing, is looked at what other revenue streams we can generate together.”
The company will not open any more Civic stores, but plans to rollout more MovieHQ outlets.
“A lot of the stores have already diversified their range of product because what we have really become is an entertainment destination rather than just a movie destination.
“They have a broad range of snack foods, drinks, and ice creams, but as we expand CMS and bring on board new clients, they might bring on new products or services that can be channeled through the Civic stores as well.”
E-commerce is also being considered for Civic and Movie HQ.
“Online is something we have looked at but there’s a lot of challenges in that business and not many returns.
“It’s still on our radar but it’s not a high priority. Our priority is supporting our bricks and mortar stores.”
