Lauren, Author at The Big Red Group

ANNOUNCEMENT: BRG Acquires Lime&Tonic

Purpose | Author: Lauren

MEDIA RELEASE: 4 September, 2019

Lime&Tonic today joins RedBalloon, Adrenaline and IfOnly as the latest experience marketplace brand under the Big Red Group (BRG) – the largest pure-play aggregator of experiences in Australia*.

The purchase of events and experiences brand Lime&Tonic follows the launch of IfOnly in June this year, and the group’s acquisition of Adrenaline in November 2018.

BRG serves an experience every 49 seconds in Australia, and has the vision to serve an experience every second by 2025. This latest acquisition is another step towards achieving that goal.

Co-Founder Naomi Simson said, “Gourmet dining and pamper experiences is what Lime&Tonic is known for, and we know from our other brands that this is one of the fastest-growing segments in the experience economy.”

“The Lime&Tonic brand will allow the group to serve customers a broader range of experiences. It is all about accessing amazing experiences and curating on behalf of our customers.

“Every aspect of Australian retail is facing increased competition from global players and this is no different for experiences. To compete in the experience economy Australian brands must be of a size that allows for the capital investment for growth, and working together is one way to achieve this.

“It is also becoming increasingly difficult for smaller businesses to navigate digital channels as large global players have deeper pockets to invest in technology, machine learning and big data. Key digital channels such as Facebook and Google have become increasingly expensive and it is proving challenging for the best marketers to keep up with shifting algorithms, rules and customer expectations.

“What I do know is that customers seek out experts and curation when it comes to experiences – and Lime&Tonic adds a wonderful dimension to complement the range of experiences we offer today.

“BRG has invested greatly in leading-edge technology, and data insights which are elevated further by our use of marketing AI technology to ensure customers are served the right experience in the right place at the right time.”

BRG Group CEO and Co-Founder, David Anderson, said BRG is rolling out a multi-brand strategy that will enable a central supply group to serve different customer needs via different experience brands.

“We are thrilled to welcome Lime&Tonic and its customers to BRG. The catalogue of unique gourmet experiences and bespoke events is an ideal fit for our other brands and will serve our customers more of what they want,” Mr Anderson said.

“We have a big vision for the next five years, both domestically and globally, and we’re excited to support Australian businesses along the way.”

Lime&Tonic will sit alongside experience marketplace brands RedBalloon, Adrenaline and IfOnly, as well as the BRG enterprise offering REDii and Marketics, the exclusive distributor of Albert AI marketing technology in Australia and New Zealand.

Key Facts

Big Red Group (BRG) founded July 2017 by Naomi Simson and David Anderson
IfOnly, launched by the BRG in Australia on June 3 2019 delivers unique luminary-led experiences that give back a portion to charity.
Adrenaline.com.au was the first brand acquisition for the Group in November 2018
RedBalloon has served almost five million customers since 2001
Collectively, BRG brands represent more than 2000 experience partners and more than 7000 experiences across Australia and New Zealand
The BRG is set to serve more than 600,000 experiences in FY20, with the vision of serving an experience every second somewhere on earth by 2025
Annual traffic to the BRG online experience brands nears 10 million (Hitwise).
More than two billion experience-related online searches are conducted in Australia annually – representing 83 searches for every single Australian (Hitwise).

* Hitwise – US, UK, AU online experience gifting website search traffic: Sept 2017 – Sept 2018.

Doin’ it for the ‘gram: The power of social media in helping bolster Australia’s ‘Experience Economy’

Experience Economy | Author: Lauren

Storytelling is as old as time, transforming over the years from folklore to digital social media status updates and posts. With the boom of technology and subsequent social media sites, millions of stories are shared online every day, by friends, family and celebrities alike. Almost half of the total world population (45%) use social media, spending nearly 2.5 hours of their day scrolling through social media feeds (Hootsuite, 2019).

Experiences inspire stories by their very nature, but in many ways it’s the ‘bragging rights’ and ability to share that story where many derive the greatest pleasure. Social currency is amassed according to likes, shares and comments against tweets, grams, status updates and snapchats. This in turn is helping to give rise to the ‘Experience Economy.’

The rise of ‘social media stories’

The experience itself is no longer enough, there is now a burning desire to share intricate details across a number of social platforms for it to be considered ‘real.’ But a new phenomenon is changing the way we share our experiences. Nearly a billion of us are using ‘social media stories’ across WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook, and Snapchat, and they’re growing 15 times faster than feed-based sharing (Hootsuite, 2019). Stories let us share our experiences instantaneously and live each other’s vicariously through our devices in our own space, at our own time, from anywhere in the world.

In addition, the ‘Experience Economy” is also being propped up by FOMO – or Fear of Missing Out. 69% of millennials have admitted to suffering it. This fear is being fed by the need to stay relevant and to continue to nurture meaningful connections with others online.

Changing the way we shop – from shops to swipe ups

Social media platforms like Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and Snapchat are contributing to a long-term shift in consumer spending, away from material goods and towards meaningful, valuable life experiences.

With 70% of millennials consulting social media or online reviews whilst shopping in store, its powerful reach is indisputable, with a further 40% of digital consumers using social networks to research new brands or products (Hootsuite, 2019).

Ca-ching – social media influencers

Also on the rise, are social media influencers, they saturate our feeds and it’s become a full-time job, promoting everything and anything from a luxury hotel room for the night, to a holiday abroad, or a slap-up meal in a Hatted restaurant. These gifted experiences are captured and embellished in envious Instagram posts, and shared in exchange for partnerships with businesses.

It isn’t all about Millennials

Despite millennials being in the driving seat of the ‘Experience Economy,’ social media is not a sensation unique to them. 82.3 percent of Baby Boomers belong to at least one social media site and are 19 percent more likely to share content compared to other generations. They make up an important demographic and should not be left behind by brands and businesses.

This topic along with other key themes is explored in depth in our white paper “The Experience Economy: Riding a rising tide.” You can download your free copy below.

Download white paper