I’m Tristan and I work for AIESEC – the world’s largest student-run organisation focused on providing a platform for youth leadership development.  I am working with RB as the manager of the AIESEC – RB global partnership and I am here to talk about two exceptional, achievement oriented and globally minded organisations working together to provide better opportunities for young people around the world.

My first interaction with RB came when I visited the global headquarters in Slough to meet Sandra and Indy, in the Communications team, with which we have the partnership.
I was impressed and excited about the feeling of energy and achievement across the office, and I instantly understood the degree to which our two organisations aligned; I began to think about the opportunity which existed.

Our first initiative together was to promote the poweRBrands game amongst the AIESEC members globally, through our international newsletter, facebook and twitter channels. It was very well received and from there sparked a competition within AIESEC’s global HQ for who could progress the fastest in the game.

Indy then took part in the next great adventure between our two organisations, for the RB Partnership Launch at the biggest event in AIESEC’s calendar, the AIESEC International Congress 2010 in Hyderabad, India.
Here RB interacted with over 600 delegates from 100+ countries, all excited to learn more about our newest global partner. RB sweetened the presentation by distributing hundreds of RB flip flops and USBs to the cheering crowd of young leaders. In the lead up to this launch, I spent many hours with Indy and Sachin (from the RB India office) tailoring and sharpening the presentation to make it as powerful and exciting as possible.
Once we completed the address, I was content and proud of our work and result, and could feel the genuine interest that had now grown amongst the delegation to learn more about RB’s opportunities for the AIESEC network.

Now we look forward to our most exciting shared initiative – the AIESEC-RB 2030 Product Challenge, in which AIESEC members around the world will create innovative and unique ads for household products imagined for the year 2030.
Launching today, members will have the opportunity to use their creativity and imagination and video-making skills to produce a one minute advertisement of an RB product of the future that’s relevant to their local environment.
I am eager to see the creativity of the AIESEC network, and to watch as hundreds of people interact around these ideas on the AIESEC facebook page.

We are excited to introduce thousands of young people from around the world to Reckitt Benckiser and their work opportunities, and look forward to growing a stronger and impactful partnership.

Like many Australians, I love my nightly fix of MasterChef on TV, a competitive cooking game show which is currently the top rating series on Australian TV. So imagine my delight when we were told we would be facing a cook-off challenge after our Quarterly Sales Meeting! 

The sales department was split into 3 teams and we were each put to the test of creating a 3-course lunch consisting of entrée, main and dessert. Chefs were brought in from Bar-be-School, a BBQ cooking school, to teach us all the secrets of a good BBQ. We beat, chopped, sieved, marinated and tossed for the title of best cooking team…who would have thought that whisking eggs would be so tiring?! 

‘Core values’ isn’t just a term found in company recruitment brochures at RB; I saw them in full force today even though we were outside the office. Team Spirit was definitely present, as we worked together to prepare our dishes whilst protecting our respective cooking territories from potential sabotage such as egg throwing and utensil stealing – all in the name of friendly competition of course! 

Then there was the Achievement in creating not only great tasting, but aesthetically pleasing dishes with the clock ticking down quickly, it couldn’t have been achieved without everyone’s input. I guess it’s true when they say we RB’ers live and breathe the RB core values! 

.And the best thing? 

Being able to eat all the food we collectively worked so hard to prepare and cook! My favourite was the succulent, lightly salted BBQ salmon on skewers our team prepared, no bias of course! Perhaps today’s lessons on how to cook a good BBQ might inspire me to actually cook something more exciting than spaghetti bolognaise at home! 

Aside from all the cooking, the Quarterly Sales Meeting was a chance for the sales team to come together and hear about what’s happening in other channels within the sales stream. It was great to hear how other teams were tracking and to hear about the focus areas for Quarter 3, such as Finish Quantum launch and Germwatch. 

It was also a great opportunity for the RB Graduates to get up in front of the business to present, as we were each given the task of providing the sales team with an update on what’s happening with our respective channel and action plans for next quarter.

As an RB graduate you might often feel as though you’ve been thrown in at the deep end, but looking at it from another perspective, it’s also reassuring to know that RB has enough confidence in you as a graduate to present something as significant as the sales results.

Yum! 

I was given total Ownership of the project. My team was extremely helpful when I asked for guidance; I was able to pick their brains whilst piecing together my presentation. Sometimes presenting in front of your peers is more daunting than with external customers! The best thing about presenting today, other than the practice, was that people were genuinely interested in what I had to say and I got some great feedback, which is always nice to hear after putting in effort and time in preparing and practicing! 

All in all, a great afternoon filled with great laughs and good food, what more can you ask for?

Last Wednesday, new show Junior Apprentice was shown on British TV, in which 10 teens battle to win £25,000 from Lord Allan Sugar.
It’s a spin-off from the hugely successful BBC show The Apprentice and the young competitors are aiming to win the cash towards their business development.
The first episode saw the teenagers selling £500 worth of cheese at various markets around London.

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Whatever you think about the show, it certainly brings out the best and the worst in people.
And it got me thinking – what sort of person do you need to be to work at Reckitt Benckiser? Do these young Apprentices have what it takes?
What does it take to succeed in such a successful company? And what does it take to succeed in an arena like The Apprentice?

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Well, you certainly need to show the same courage these 10 contestants showed on Wednesday night.
28,000 people applied to take part in the show – with only 10 spaces available.
And although job hunting may not be quite so competitive, people still need to push themselves in order to match the success of the business they are in.

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SURVIVOR: Junior Apprentice contestant Tim Ankers

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This week we where introduced to Tim Ankers from Lancashire; Tim was part of the losing team in the end, but throughout the show he thought differently to those around him and had ambition for the team.
Unfortunately he didn’t quite have the stamina to carry out all his ideas and that was his downfall.

Ultimately Tim ended up in the board room facing Lord Sugar, but thanks to his initiative and aspiration during the task he managed to survive.
However, team leader Jordan, who didn’t motivate Tim to continue striving to out-do the competition was fired.

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This may be a show produced for it’s entertainment value, but the skills tested and the challenges given are all in a day’s work at RB. The candidate they are looking for has to be driven and bold and must outperform everyone else – very real qualities that RB looks for in it’s own candidates.
This is a show for newcomers, for up-and-coming talent – something RB is also determined to find.

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So could all the contenders cut it at RB? Well one way to find out would be to join in our Virtual Career Game (it’s not as easy as it looks, believe me!)

And if, unlike Tim, you aim to outperform, to strive to do it and keep at it, then RB could be the place for you too.
Take a look at our Core Values and see if they match yours.

.You can watch the full episode of Junior Apprentice on the BBC iPlayer now.

Today the Brazilian coach, Dunga, announced the soccer team that will play during the next World Cup in South Africa.
Here in Brazil soccer is even more important than politics!
And you certainly notice that through the marketing campaigns that are on air at the moment: Big industries are investing in new advertising only related to Brazil and the World Cup.

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Good examples of this are: Local sports brand Olympus, the beer brand SKOL, the bank card OUROCARD and many others. There’s even one featuring Maradona.
But is Reckitt Benckiser changing its campaigns because of that? And why are they doing it?

On the one hand, being a local company, representing local brands, means that you have to be attached to local target populations feelings, mood and above all make them see that your product is as connected to the local environment as the consumers are.
On the other hand, being a global company representing global brands and thriving for consistency around the globe means that your product has to reach the target consumer in the same way but in different parts of the world.
So for example we cannot have one campaign about Brazil on air in Argentina.

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So, here at RB Brazil, as Brazilians we are all in the World Cup mood, as keepers of global brands we will not translate that into our TV campaigns, but we will use it on a different way.
One example is using this to incentivise employees: a challenge for the sales team. If they achieved certain targets the best ones will go to South Africa to watch the World Cup –  a great incentive and everybody is very enthusiastic about it.
This is not bad, isn’t it?
The winners were announced today by our president and they will be able to watch the players Dunga has just selected.

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Here is a video of one of the local campaigns now on air here in Brazil:

Have you ever had a rival? Someone you really wanted to beat? From the bottom of your heart?
I am sure if you look back in your life there is at least one person you will remember.
I played 15 years of basketball and let me tell you I had a lot of rivals!

Maybe Reggie Miller, one of the world’s best basketball players, brings it perfectly to the light:

Reggie played for the Indiana Pacers in the 1990s and he was the biggest rival of the New York Knicks.
In his comment in the video above he says that “in the moment it was so intensive and so pressure packed” but when he looks back on it, “it was the best time of his career” because he never knew what the next game would bring. But the two most interesting parts of the interview are where he says that the 20,000 people in the arena yelling against him always pushed him over his limits and the way he talks about the New York Knicks fans.
He is full of respect.

So, how about rivals in business?
For us the two biggest rivals in our German FMCG market are Henkel and Procter & Gamble. And what should I say is, of course, WE are ALWAYS in first place…;)
But seriously I would not be so passionate for this company if I was not sure about our position as the market leader. However, do I sometimes think “wow, this was a good idea from one of our rivals”?
Yes, every now and then I do. They do a great job as well. But in such situations it is up to us to be a little step faster. And this little step is the one which pushes you beyond your limits.

So how do I realize this rivalry at the point of sale?
Within my resellers I know how our position is at every shelf. I know how many second placements we have compared to others. And yes, every company tries to get the best spot in the shelf on eyelevel for the customer and as many facings as possible. Everyone fights for the biggest and best looking second placements. So, it is always a discussion with the reseller who has the better brands and who should stay wider and bigger.
It is always about the right argumentation and the right connection to the reseller who gets the best spots.

Ok, what did I try to tell you with this post?
In my eyes everyone needs rivals to get the best out of you. But within a rivalry it is most important to play hard but fair.
Be respectful.

And now for all of you fans of good old entertainment, this might have been the biggest rivalry in sports history!
Hulk Hogan vs Ultimate Warrior: Watch as Hulk hands the victory belt over to his rival and raises the hand of the Warrior. Enjoy.