The Real Hunt for Red October

Friday September 16 2011: In October 2001 online experience retailer RedBalloon made its first sale. Wind the clock forward ten years and more than 1.1 million Aussies and Kiwis have been on a RedBalloon experience.

Countless employee engagement and workplace culture awards, ongoing entrepreneurial recognition for founding director Naomi Simson, and an unwavering focus toward the company purpose of ‘changing gifting in Australia forever’, has seen this company - that was started in the front room of a terrace in Balmain -become an iconic Australian brand.

Founding director Naomi Simson puts this success down to “hard work, dedication, persistence and expelling the word failure from my vocabulary.”

“Don’t be fooled into thinking RedBalloon was an overnight success – it was three months after the site launched in 2001 before we made our first sale!

“I used to walk around Sydney going to meetings with red balloons tied to my briefcase hoping that someone would notice the URL, and I would sit on my couch at night stuffing customer vouchers into envelopes. It was 15 months before I drew any sort of wage from the business.

“But I never thought of us as a small business; we were a big business in a small, agile body. And now look at us – we’re celebrating ten years and we want to thank our loyal and fun-loving customers for supporting us along the way.”

In fact, a number of iconic Australian brands are celebrating birthdays in 2011 – Cheezels are celebrating 40 years in Australia, Country Road Kids have been in stores for a decade, and the infamous Speedo ‘budgie smugglers’ turn 50 this year. So what is RedBalloon doing to celebrate this milestone?

They’re giving away $10,000 worth experiences as part of the ‘Let’s Paint the World Red’ photo competition!

In response to a 35 per cent increase in revenue from photography experiences between 2009 and 2010, RedBalloon has created a tenth birthday photo competition to celebrate the brand and the rise of the amateur photographer.

To enter the competition and take your share of the $10,000 prize kitty, visit http://competition.redballoon.com.au/red

-ENDS-

For more information please contact:
Lauren Ashton, Communications Specialist - P: 02 8755 0034 M: 0404 136 765 E:lauren@redballoon.com.au

About RedBalloon
RedBalloonhas been giving people the chance to fulfill their dreams for a decade in Australia and New Zealand. With thousands of Unique Gift Ideas & Experience Gift Vouchers like Race Car Driving, Hot Air Ballooning, Horse Riding on the Beach, Tiger Moth Flights to Massages, Romantic Dinners and Getaways, RedBalloon has the perfect present for any occasion. RedBalloon Experience Vouchers, Gift Certificatesand Gift Boxescan be purchased online or in selectedretail outlets.