Section: Newsroom

Adrenaline and Tourism Australia are inspiring Australians to ‘Get Amongst It’ in new campaign

Sydney, 21 May 2021 – Big Red Group brand Adrenaline and Tourism Australia have this week launched the first of a five-part campaign, inspiring Australians to take exciting holidays at home and ‘Get Amongst It’ with adventure.

As part of the broader Tourism Australia ‘Holiday Here This Year’ campaign, phase one of ‘Get Amongst It’ focuses on Port Lincoln in South Australia. The other four Australian adventure capitals will be unveiled over the coming month.

As part of the campaign, Adrenaline engaged local content curators to showcase their favourite adventures, local knowledge and holiday itineraries, aimed at encouraging Australians to tap into their adventurous spirit and get amongst it.

Adrenaline’s Brand Manager, Toni Westlake is excited to play a role in inspiring Australians to adventure more domestically, “our consumer insight analysis showed that many Australians had unused annual leave and no inspiration for how to use it. In fact, Australians have nearly 175 million days of annual leave due, an increase of over 23 million days from early 2020. With international borders still closed, this highlighted a perfect opportunity for us to partner with Tourism Australia, and inspire the domestic market to adventure when they holiday here this year.”

All that’s needed is a little inspiration, and for that, Adrenaline is on hand to provide some exciting options that will not disappoint. Phase one of the ‘Get Amongst It’ campaign features diving with sharks and sea lions in Port Lincoln, through to kayaking in Coorong National Park. And with more than 2500 experiences across the Adrenaline site, there’s something for everyone.

As Australia’s economic recovery continues, and consumer confidence is at its highest since February 2020, this campaign seeks to build on the surge in Australians participating in experiences, while injecting funds into small businesses, local tourism operators and communities.

The ‘Get Amongst It’ campaign will run until the end of June.

Big Red Group supports Dine & Discover

NSW residents to have access to over one thousand RedBalloon and Adrenaline experiences through NSW Government’s ‘Dine and Discover’ scheme.

Sydney, 19 March 2021– Big Red Group brands RedBalloon and Adrenaline have joined the Service NSW list of ‘Dine & Discover’ providers for NSW residents.

Dine & Discover NSW is a scheme aimed at stimulating the NSW economy through encouraging people to get out and about, boosting spending at dining, arts and tourism businesses.

Following a successful pilot program, vouchers will roll out by Local Government Area (LGA) throughout March, with NSW residents aged 18 and over eligible to apply for 4 x $25 vouchers through their MyServiceNSW account. Vouchers can be used at participating NSW businesses registered as COVID Safe, and will be divided into 2 categories:

• 2 x $25 vouchers to be used for eating at restaurants, cafes, bars, wineries, pubs and clubs (excluding public holidays)
• 2 x $25 vouchers to be used for entertainment and recreation, including cultural institutions, live music, and arts venues, any day of the week (excluding public holidays)

From 19^th March 2021, NSW residents will be able to redeem their vouchers across eligible RedBalloon and Adrenaline experiences. These experiences will be clearly denoted on both RedBalloon and Adrenaline websites.

Matthew Cavalier, Chief Growth Officer at Big Red Group comments:

“We are incredibly proud to partner with Service NSW to help bring the ‘Dine & Discover’ initiative to life through RedBalloon and Adrenaline. Being part of this initiative is another way for us to support our broad range of NSW suppliers and the wider hospitality and tourism industry.

It truly is a great program encouraging NSW residents to dine and discover across their own backyard. The vouchers are the perfect reason for residents to try something new, take on an experience they may have wanted to do for some time, or to tick something off their bucket list.”

Vouchers are accessible through Service NSW until 30th June 2021.

Big Red Group’s Team Oscar successfully completes Cerebral Palsy Alliance’s ‘Krazy Kosci Klimb’

13 February 2021 is the day that Big Red Group’s leadership team assembled at the start line alongside Oscar and his proud supporters, ready to accompany him on his mission to summit Mount Kosciuszko.

Since meeting 12-year-old Oscar several months prior, and learning about Cerebral Palsy Alliance’s (CPA) annual Krazy Kosci Klimb, the Big Red Group team had been looking forward to the event. They had been captivated by Oscar’s spirit and enthusiasm for life, and were highly invested in helping him realise his dream.

Looking at the rugged path that stretched ahead, breathing in the crisp mountain air, they knew it was going to be something special. But never did they expect to gain so personally from the experience.

The night before at the pre-event dinner, the team was inspired by young Hannah Diviney – the teenager who founded the event so young people with disabilities could have their lives forever enriched through participating in such challenging events.

Hannah asked the room full of participants and supporters, to put their hand up if anyone had ever been told they couldn’t do something. Or if they ever felt on the outside. A sea of hands went up. Hannah said “you see, we’re all the same. Disability, no disability, we’re all fighting the same battles to be heard and seen.”

As the race began, Oscar charged ahead leaving the team in his wake, setting a strong pace with theme song “Eye of the Tiger” blaring across the valley. Oscar was kitted out with special boxing gloves, while his team were dressed from head to toe in colourful boxing attire, a tribute to Oscar’s favourite sport.

As hours passed, and the ascent became harder, Oscar’s enthusiasm began to wane, and deep fatigue took hold. It was then that the real teamwork kicked in.

Each of Big Red Group’s leaders bring diverse strengths and skillsets into the business every day, each of which complement each other. And there amid a mountain climb, it was no different. They each gave what they could to help Oscar through, whether it was nurturing, humouring, mentoring, physically carrying, or just listening – providing whatever support they could.

But it was team leader Maddi from CPA who was instrumental in helping Oscar to continue. Oscar told Maddi that he had no energy in his legs, and was struggling to keep moving.

Maddi replied “it’s okay, my legs have energy, you can borrow some of mine. And when they get tired again, there will be someone else in the team who has energy, and you can borrow some of theirs. That’s how you’ll make it.”

And so it was teamwork every step of the way, with energy being borrowed to propel a 12-year-old with big dreams up a great mountain. It was tough, there were times they thought they might not make it, but collectively they pooled their strengths to help Oscar achieve his goal, and in the process, raise much needed funds from CPA.

As Madeline Robin’s, Big Red Group’s Director of People and Culture reflected after crossing the finish line, drawing parallels from the event to business “it’s not your moment to sprint when your team is tired, you have to respect how other people are feeling, and where they’re at in the journey. You have to take people along with you.”

This undertaking fell perfectly in step with BRG’s commitment to the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which underpin Big Red Group’s ESG agenda, aligning with Goal 3, Good Health and Wellbeing, and Goal 16, Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions.

Big lessons learned from remarkable people, and new goals reached through a truly memorable event.

DAVID ANDERSON
BIG RED GROUP CO-FOUNDER

Partnerships simply don’t get better synergy

A landmark partnership between Tourism Australia and The Big Red Group brands RedBalloon and Adrenaline encourages more Australians to explore and experience our extraordinary backyard.

Sydney, 10 February 2021 – The Big Red Group brands RedBalloon and Adrenaline have forged a partnership with Tourism Australia, recognising the shared value in teaming up to bring experiences to life for all Australians.

Bringing Tourism Australia’s ‘Holiday Here This Year’ campaign to life, RedBalloon and Adrenaline have invested heavily to shine a light on the experiences category, pushing incremental revenue back to their expansive supply community and showing off our unique backyard to encourage Australians to explore like tourists.

To bring this to life, RedBalloon and Adrenaline have created incredible campaigns that drive engagement with their brands and categories, inspiring Australians with a huge range of experiences, and leveraging powerful AI performance marketing tools that convert Australians into customers for their supply community.

As Australia begins its road to economic recovery, this partnership seeks to inject much needed funds into small business, local tourism operators and regional communities, further building on the 800,000 customers delivered to small experience suppliers through RedBalloon and Adrenaline in 2020.

Matthew Cavalier, Chief Growth Officer at The Big Red Group comments:

“Our partnership is a fantastic opportunity to support Australian economic recovery and our experience suppliers who have faced incredibly challenging trading conditions. It’s through our partnership with Tourism Australia, that we can reach millions of Australians and provide them with inspirational ideas and easy, online booking capability to Holiday Here This Year.”

Adding to comments, Tourism Australia’s Managing Director Phillipa Harrison said:

“Through the ongoing rollout of our Holiday Here This Year campaign, we are encouraging travellers to support our tourism operators and communities across the country by not just booking a holiday but an experience as well, particularly ones that are typically popular with international visitors.

There are so many unique and wonderful experiences on offer across Australia, and with overseas travel off the cards for the time being, now is the perfect opportunity for Australians to enjoy their own backyard.”

The partnership commenced on January 11th and will conclude on February 28th 2021, with the campaign outperforming all media benchmarks with record low engagement costs and a significant uplift in customer bookings year-on-year during the campaign period to date.

Big Red Group Shaping the Future of Work

Bringing Experiences @ Work to Life

On a beautiful blue sky Sydney day in mid-September 2020, the Big Red Group  leadership team gathered harbourside to talk tactics for the day ahead. It had been almost nine months since they had physically seen one another, or their team members.

When the pandemic was announced in March 2020, Big Red Group relinquished the office space, and quickly moved to a remote working model. Over the course of the year, small teams would gather at co-working spaces to collaborate, however for the most part, work was from home.

There were weekly online ‘Town Hall’ gatherings, and daily communications from CEO David Anderson and the leadership team, but the one thing missing, was that physical ‘in-person’ connection.

Despite the distance, productivity and output were at an all-time high, with outstanding results delivered by the team. Momentum was building across each of the businesses, just as the appetite for experiences had grown with customers and business clients alike.

And while stringent Covid-19 regulations remained, the leadership team knew bringing everyone together for the company-wide regatta was not going to be easy, however felt it was the right time for people to reconnect.

As the Big Red Group cohort began to converge waterside at the Maritime Museum at Darling Harbour, they were greeted by a fleet of six yachts. There was a feeling of great excitement and anticipation. Although no co-mingling was allowed between vessels, and a strict adherence to numbers onboard was required, everyone knew if they followed the Covid-19 protocols, it could be done safely and successfully.

Earlier in the year, Big Red Group had launched their ‘Experiences @ Work’ program, which had maintained employee engagement and lifted morale throughout the extended period of remote working, with both online and small team building experiences such as cooking and art classes. However, with restrictions on gatherings starting to ease, the time had come to reengage and bring larger scale physical experiences back to life.

Yachts were assigned, and Big Red Group emblazoned spray jackets and survival kits promptly distributed, transforming the masses into professionally styled sailors ready to undertake the great race.

As yachts sailed beneath the iconic Harbour Bridge and prepared for the start, shouts of encouragement and competitive banter began to build, it was anyone’s race.

However, no one understood the competitive nature of Big Red Group Co-founders David Anderson and Naomi Simson, both prepared to put everything on the line for their teams to come out victorious.

After a tightly contested race of near misses and spirited efforts, Team Simson aboard yacht ‘Isolation’ came away with the win. The day clearly brought to light Big Red Group’s six-point framework of Leadership, Development, Collaboration, Culture, Innovation and Connection which had been fundamental in navigating the business throughout a challenging 2020.

Remarkably, during difficult trading conditions, Big Red Group continued to shift the way people experienced life in 2020, maintaining consistent support of local and regional Australian businesses, delivering 800,000+ customers to a vast network of experience suppliers.

This takes Big Red Group’s tally to over 6 million experiences served, well on the way to achieving their goal of delivering an experience every second by 2030.