When the Barbie movie first came out, I was hesitant to go see it. Then my friends – from ages 14 – 70 - kept saying “Have you seen Barbie? It’s fantastic! It’s not what you expect!”

The Barbie movie broke 17 box office records. The biggest opening by a female director, highest grossing film by a female a director and the highest grossing movie of 2023, to name just three. Aside from the hundreds of millions of dollars invested in pink-saturated marketing and 100+ brand collaborations to create hype, why did this movie, starring a 64-year-old doll, create such a buzz?

I believe it’s got a lot to do with the brand’s willingness to listen to its customers, adapt its product to reflect consumer attitudes and evolve to remain contemporary, in demand and relevant.

Barbie launched in 1959, the brainchild of Mattel co-founder Ruth Handler, named after her daughter, Barbara. ‘Ponytail Barbie’ was influenced by 1950s movie stars,...

Our new Conscious Consumer research (download free here) reveals that Australians are most inclined to switch brands to support a cause in the ‘everyday food items’ category. 

An excellent example of an everyday food item that’s changing the lives of sick kids, is Mum’s Sause, sold through more than 800 Coles supermarkets across Australia.

Every time customers purchase a bottle of the pasta or pizza sauce, 50c goes to the charity, Hospitals United for Sick Kids (formerly Curing Homesickness), an alliance of hospitals, foundations & paediatric services, that’s all about getting kids home from hospital and back to the things they miss. The money generated goes towards purchasing state of the art equipment, investing in ground-breaking research and funding support programs for children in hospitals across Australia. Money generated in each state through sales of Mum’s Sause, goes directly back to fund areas of greatest need prioritised...

I have to confess, coming back to work last week after a month off, was tough. Getting going has been akin to winding up an old car! What the hell is that noise (oh, it’s the alarm). How on earth do I log onto Zoom? What’s the password for that (and that?). Not to mention, the cat isn’t happy that I’m no longer able to attend to his every whim. He keeps walking across my laptop to get my attention and……….SDSRFSGUDSYU NFIBUHJBPOMBH[PGLJJ][DTHT;J/YKHKDFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF

Yep, that was him!

Easing back to work after a glorious time off isn’t easy, even if you do love your work, as I do. Which is amazing given I’m 29 years in business this year. I sought advice from some amazing leaders that I follow and here are a few of their tips for getting back into the groove that I’ve embraced.

1. Motivation mix: Create a playlist of tunes that get you hyped. Spotify have a good mix. Blast in the car or...

It’s not that I don’t like Christmas. It just doesn’t like me.

When I was little, about 8 years old, I awoke early on Christmas Day to discover the wreckage of our tree and presents (what was left of them) strewn around the lounge. At first we blamed the cats, but then realised, to our growing horror, that we’d been burgled. After the initial shock, we all got angry and my older sister pronounced that Santa wasn’t real and that reindeers didn’t eat the cookies I’d put out; she did.

This cast a dark shadow over the festive season, for sure.

Later, as my parents’ relationship crumbled, Christmas became fraught with arguments and long silences –  excruciating for a teenager searching for her identity and positive role models.

At 15 ½ , I left home and moved to central London for my first job in a PR firm. London certainly puts on a great show at Christmas, and for a few years I was swept up in the magic of...

In Part 1, we explored some of the partnerships funded by the Marketing purse, including Brand Aligned Partnerships, Co-Branding and Cause Related Marketing. Now, we look at Sponsorship.

Sponsorship

We’re all familiar with sponsorship, we see sponsors whenever we attend a sporting event, festival or theatre.  The images above, show what is called a ‘lock up logo’, combining the corporate sponsor and sponsee together.

In the context of a corporate-cause sponsorship, the best definition is “when a company contributes financially towards a non-profit program, campaign or event”.  A sponsorship is driven by a commercial desire by the company, it’s at the opposite end of the investment spectrum from a philanthropic gift. The benefit for the sponsor is usually a marketing benefit such as exposing a company/brand name/logo to a particular audience, sampling a product, getting ‘rub off’ halo effect from the alignment, and so on....

In the past decades, there’s been growing demand for companies to take responsibility for their negative impact on society and the environment.  As a result, two concepts – and terms – were born: CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) and ESG (Environmental, Social & Governance). While these terms are often used interchangeably, it’s important to understand that they’re different.  

CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) refers to a company's voluntary practices and actions aimed at improving social and environmental conditions, beyond what is legally required. The term was coined in 1953 when American economist Howard Bowen published a book called ‘Social Responsibilities of the Businessman’. It became part of corporate language globally in the 1990s. 

There are two expressions of CSR – one is internal and the other is external, or, publicly visible. Internal activities involve ensuring that the daily operations of...

There are distinct and different ways of partnering with a company, and therefore, an array of different terms (jargon).

If your organisation wants to partner with companies, it’s vital your Board understands the different terminology as they have funding & legal consequences. If YOU are the changemaker tasked with winning corporate partners, you must know the differences, so you can enter negotiations with authority and confidence.

Regular readers of my blog will be familiar with the 4 Purses: the four purses within a corporate, company or brand that may hold resources, expertise and cash for non-profits & social enterprises. Each purseholder has a different motivation for partnering with a non-profit or social enterprise, hence why there are so many techniques and terms. If you’re unfamiliar with the 4 Purses, download our free Infographic here, it’s a gamechanger in understanding the corporate sector.

Let’s dive into the largest and most...

Let’s demystify a term that frequently makes headlines but is often misunderstood: recession. It’s easy to get sucked into doom and gloom thinking, which can erode your confidence when approaching corporates and undermine your negotiation.

A recession definition

A recession is typically defined as a significant, widespread and prolonged decline in economic activity across a country or region. A common rule of thumb is that two (2) consecutive quarters of negative gross domestic product (GDP), reflecting a decline in output and income, means recession[1]. However, it's important to note that the term ‘recession’ is not just about numbers and statistics; it has real-life implications for businesses, individuals, and the overall economy.

Economic Downturn definition

While a recession is generally associated with a decline in GDP, an economic downturn can be a broader term encompassing various indicators, such as rising unemployment, falling consumer spending,...

_{Sally & Hailey at Harry Styles, February 2023}

When Hailey met Georgia in 2019 she’d been running her modular training program for 22 years. The popular program, HeartSmart®, was delivered via Masterclasses and later as a physical toolkit.

Georgia and Hailey’s vision for the program was to take it online, and thankfully Georgia had all the skills needed to make that a reality. However, Hailey knew that there was one critical element to the program that had to be resolved before they could move forward.

That one thing? Finding a way to enable non-profits to place a dollar value on their assets, that didn’t involve outsourcing to a media expert.

“We need to find someone that has the skill and breadth of experience to create a DIY model , otherwise an online program simply won’t work” said Hailey.  “But I know just the person who could do it for us”.

Enter Sally Phelps, who was Business Director at global media &...

Back in 2019, Hailey was burned out from running a small business for 24 years. Her husband Tyrone – and rock of 19 years – was concerned. The vibrant, funny woman he’d met all those years ago was depressed, despite having built over 50 partnerships investing over $40 million into charities, she felt like a failure.  One day, his wife came back from the shops with a glint in her eye.  It wasn’t a purchase that had done it, she’d met a young lass named Georgia. Hailey felt it was a serendipitous meeting.  It was. Georgia had the skills Hailey lacked (online technology, social media, filmmaking, editing to name a few) and the energy and enthusiasm only a 23 year old has. 

After one meeting it was clear the two women were going to create magic together.  Georgia insisted on getting Hailey’s training for non-profits into an online format so that it was not lost forever.  But skills and enthusiasm were not enough, money...