Some one I had not seen for a while heard me present at a large business meeting recently. After the event he said ‘You are still so passionate about your business…’ And it’s true I am. But it came across very cynically. RedBalloon has just had a fantastic fathers day – 1000s of Dads got to have a good time, we have launched in Sydney and Melbourne city stores with Myer and our corporate business is winning major contracts almost…
Category Archives: Articles
Defining the terms of engagement-
I’m sometimes invited to sit with organisations to support them designing their ‘engagement’ programs. It’s interesting that each organisation seems to speak in a different language. For instance, I was talking to a client last week who was saying ‘incentives’ but what they really meant was ‘at risk compensation’. There are many mechanisms we use to deliver engagement (and that could be customer engagement or employee engagement). Now I’m not saying that my definitions are right… but it will help…
Out of the mouths of babes?
We have intern’s work with us on a regular basis at RedBalloon. Justin, from Boston University was with us for 8 weeks. It was interesting to read his report at the completion of his time with us. There is no doubt that RedBalloon is a ‘modern’ business – built on values and a fundamental respect for each employee. I was surprised at this young (19 years) interns view on the world given his youth. RedBalloon has been formally recognised at…
Neither cost cutting nor stinginess are strategies for growth
The downturn is affecting our behavior. Businesses and people are becoming more frugal, but when does frugal turn in to down right stingy and what does it cost? Our second value at RedBalloon is generosity, and that means being generous with our time by listening and providing information, not just with customers and suppliers but also with each other. During my corporate life, I remember asking many bosses to support me or assist with a particular project, only to find…
Why do women need their own awards anyway.
Last year I was (and the RedBalloon team) honored being named winner National Telstra Business Womens Awards – Innovation – at the event I committed to be a great ambassador for the awards ‘and do them proud’. (speech below). So now it is time to nominate those women who you see who are up to stuff. Women who are both interesting and interested, who contribute to the bigger picture and support those around them. The journey through these awards is…
Which traits get you ‘ahead’ in business
The interview for Marie Claire asked such a variety of questions..the answers might be of interest. What one trait has helped you most in business? Knowing what I stand for, my values and those of the people around me…. People can copy what you do but they cannot copy who you are or the relationships you have. Every day I use my values to make choices and decisions – it makes it so much easier to recruit people if you…
Which is more critical, the idea or the execution?
I was asked for a magazine interview whether the idea or execution were more important.- It is execution everytime. I have a personal motto ‘If it’s meant to be it’s up to me.’ This does not mean that I have to do all the work but it does mean that I have to stay focused on the out come and never ever, ever give up until it get’s done. At RedBalloon we have hundreds of ideas ‘daily’ we could do…
Play it forward – with your team
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…
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…
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...
What RedBalloon did in the ‘downturn’
BRW is going to publish its Fast List soon… and we’ve just found out that RedBalloon has made the list for the sixth time. The team is pretty chuffed. Not a bad effort given that it is all organic growth. (ie we have not made any acquisitions). The bigger you get the harder it is to keep growing quickly. Together with the ‘down turn’ I had no idea how we would fair this year. I’m over the moon that we…