Tag Archives: culture
Dream Employers – a brand story.
At the launch event for the Dream Employers, as a participant of the panel – James Garriock, CEO Insync Surveys asked me to respond to the following questions… I share with you the essence of my answers. 1. Brand is the most appealing attribute for a Dream Employer. What builds a brand and do you think a strong brand equates to a great employer. Why? Brands are built in the hearts of our customers through the relationships they have with…
Unique stories from Unique People.
RedBalloon will deliver 300,000 stories this year… I personally would love to hear more of them – every one is a unique story to be told. I heard this one today: “I had an excellent day. At 56 years of age and having tried to surf as a kid with no lessons had no idea. one lesson from RedBalloon I was able to catch a wave and surf across an un broken wave. An amazing experience and I would recommend…
Which RedBalloon for Oprah?
Sometimes – one does get slightly stuck on what to give someone… but if this someone happens to be very important – and her first ever (and maybe only trip to Australia) which RedBalloon experience would be perfect for her trip in December – HELP? Oprah Winfrey is coming to Australia for the first time in December and the RedBallooners are bouncing off the walls with excitement over the idea of sending Oprah on a RedBalloon experience while she’s here….
Fit to be an entrepreneur.
Some people shudder just to read the word fitness; others instantly feel a dull sense of guilt in the pit of their stomach, others of course live for it. Wellness, fitness, nutrition – are not things that you would expect to hear about from me. Looking after myself though is one of my responsibilities. I have so many people that count on me… not just my children, husband, family and friends, but the RedBallooners, our suppliers, customers, and the broader…
Cut through
I’m a marketer and a ‘sucker’ for new things… but the shear volume of messages that I’m bombarded with each day overwhelms. It is very hard to be a remarkable ‘purple cow’ as Seth Godin implored – when everyone is claiming to be a ‘purple cow.’ Real cut through comes from the authentic experience someone has of a brand. At RedBalloon we just figure that rather than making ‘promises’ and ‘ trying to sell’ stuff – we will just let…
Corporate Customer Love
I recently read the book Delivering Happiness by Tony Hsieh – CEO of Zappos.com – He believes much of the success of his $1billion online retail business comes from it’s commitment to the culture of the business – which allows every person in the business to stay customer focussed. He talks about customer happiness with religious zeal. The culture of the business means that there is not a department accountable for customer care – the whole company is. Every employee…
Bad Apple
In the last few posts I have been talking about what it takes to be a Great Place to Work. It’s all about trust and purpose. One of the questions I had recently at a speaking engagement is very relevant ‘What if you have a rotten apple inside your organization– someone who is not just disengaged but subversive….’ We are pretty close to our people at RedBalloon – as a leadership team we are all committed to the team and…
Thoughts from a RedBalloon veteran
On Friday it was time to farewell an original RedBallooner – Sarah was with us in the very early days – and has seen the business grow from 9 people to its present 50. She has caught the entrepreneurial bug and started her own show a named ‘Lady Bug’ as a fully fledged interior designer. As I listened to Sarah’s farewell words, I felt so very very fortunate, knowing that every person at RedBalloon is what makes our culture. We…
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...
