This story is simply one of the basic lessons in life – and in business even more so. People have long memories, they move from company to company. Some of the lessons I learned 20 years ago as a young marketer I keep with me today. This story is one I want to share with my children. If we get this right… then really the world is a great place to be every day. We live in a fantastic country…
Monthly Archives: May 2009
Apparently Mum is recession proof.
From time to time the RedBalloon marketing team put a survey out to our customers… We wanted to know more about what people do for their Mums on Mother’s Day. Well apparently people are defying economic uncertainty and pressures to tighten spending, Respondents have vowed not to forget Mum this Mother’s Day – but our Valentines aren’t so lucky! (Perhaps we should rename the Rudd initiative the Mums stimulus package?) We had more than 2,400 responses to the survey, 60…
Great Places to work…’is more than just company sponsored dog walking.’
It was actually Marcus Buckingham who said in the book ‘First Break all the Rules’, that leadership was more important than ‘company sponsored dog walking’. This is relevant when you look at the segment from sunrise. We have had many emails since this article on Sunrise about – ‘What breed is Dexter?’ (Spoodle) He has the role at RedBalloon as the Head of Security.- and he is a very long term employee (employee #2). There is much more to being…
What is more important, talent or drive?
I was recently asked a whole bunch of questions by a journalist…. here is my response. Talent versus drive: As an entrepreneur we face much adversity, in fact we are like those clown punching bags that you hit which keep bouncing back up. You have to have drive, persistence and passion. There is no faking it until you make it. You must truly believe in your purpose and keep going and going as if this was the last day to…
Imagine running a business based on fun - that's what I decided to try when I left a very serious corporate career in marketing to set up RedBalloon...
Looking after the ‘lucky country’
I have been visiting a number of the RedBalloon experience suppliers (many of whom are small enterprises)– meeting with them first hand to get a good understanding of how business is tracking and what is going on in their businesses. I’ve discovered unanimously that they are all of one mind, that is, as times look increasingly uncertain, more than ever businesses need to reinforce the great relationships that they have. Whether that is with employees, customers, distributors, suppliers or other…