Hi there, I’m Kathryn and I’m a Campus Brand Manager for RB based at the University of Birmingham in the UK.
I’m going to be blogging here to tell you how I’m developing this exciting chance to be an ambassador for RB and spreading the word about the career opportunities available here.
You can read my full profile and follow me on Twitter too.

When starting out as a Campus Brand Manager the last thing I would have expected to come out of the role was to be asked ‘are you the flip- flop girl?’.
But having been given 300 pairs of RB branded Havaiana flip-flops at my disposal, perhaps I should have guessed that would have been the case.
I discovered that through my activities I was starting to create a buzz around RB. Creating awareness within a student population, especially with freebees, isn’t hard as long as you come up with creative, interesting and fun ways to do so.

And even though my role has been hard work so far  it has also been hugely rewarding and great fun!

My first idea was inspired by the mass congregation of Birmingham University students to their student union night. Where better to target my market with RB branded flip-flops then girls in high heels after a long night out?I managed to create an enchanting flip-flop Cinderella moment as well as raising the awareness of RB!

Now, ask yourself this question: if you saw a free pair of flip-flops would you take them?
I wanted to see if the students at the University of Birmingham would take the opportunity. I placed the flip flops where I knew students would be walking past, then strategically placed myself so I could not be seen.
Then I recorded their reactions to the free RB ‘gifts’.  You can see the large variety of responses for yourself on this video:

For the University of Birmingham’s football team, they jetted off to Newquay for their yearly tour!

So I thought what better opportunity to raise awareness than to give a pair of flip-flops to each of the players that went. This reached a wider audience as well as making the flip-flops an exclusive extra for the tour! They produced some very amusing pictures which can be found on the University of Birmingham Reckitt Benckiser’s Facebook group.

This role has given me the opportunity to push myself. I have been left to my own devices to use my initiative, to think creatively and to take on new challenges. Students’ lifestyles are high paced and very demanding; they keep me on my toes to come up with original ideas.

As a Campus Brand Manager for Reckitt Benckiser, raising awareness is central to my aim.
I am looking forward to putting into place the many other ideas that I have up my sleeve which I know will continue the buzz around RB  at the University of Birmingham.

It’s a word we hear thrown around all the time these days by companies.
But what does it mean in the business world? And HOW do you actually go about making it an intrinsic part of a company?

And what can it mean for YOU as an employee?

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RB is driven by innovation.
It’s not just a part of who we are, it is our primary objective. Our company culture is steeped in it. It is what has made us the success story we are to date.

We are the world’s fastest growing company in household cleaning, health and personal care and it is our systematic approach to innovation which holds the key to this success. Nearly 40 % of our sales come from products launched in the past 3 years.
And everyone, from the CEO down, is motivated to drive innovation.

This is something which was recognised by The Economist when RB was given their Innovation Award.
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The power behind RBs innovation is its people – both the consumers and the employees.
Consumers are put at the very centre of our decision-making – RB wants to discover the small ways we can make life better for them. And then give it to them.
And so we build consumers into our product development – we spend time with them to discover their insights at every step.

But it’s also about the people who work here.

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Even during the recession RB showed strong sales and profit growth – quite an achievement. But this was all down to the strength of our innovative and  entrepreneurial company culture.
Talented people don’t want to work in an environment where they feel bogged down with bureaucracy. They want to get things done; to work somewhere where their ideas are accepted.
And for innovation speed is crucial. And this is why we are a ‘principle’ oriented company rather than a ‘process’ oriented one.

It’s all about letting people have ownership of their ideas and not putting too many decision layers in their way.

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Of course, this kind of life isn’t for everyone. But those who love it really love it. It’s exciting, fast paced and challenging. You are learning very quickly and there is a buzz about your career.

You can also check out our IdeaLink website which enables us to work with innovators outside the company.

…and how to make it happen.

Wikipedia says that “Rock ’n’ Roll is a genre of popular music…” To me this guy right here represents perfectly what Rock ’n’ Roll is all about:

Entertaining, talented, unique, powerful, impressive – Rock ‘n’ Roll.

I will never forget Jan 6th 2010. The store manager of one of my biggest stores in my sales area called me:
“Holger, we will make the deal you offered me three weeks ago.”
My first thought: “ROCK ‘N’ ROLL!”
During my first weeks at RB Michael, one of my colleagues, told me a saying. I don’t think you can translate it one by one but maybe you will get the meaning: “Mass sells mass.”
The meaning is: the more entertaining, unique, powerful and impressive your appearance at the point of sale (POS) is, the more you will sell.
And yes, by using these four words you see the connection to the dance-video on top. The last description of Rock ‘n’ Roll missing is “talented”. This you only get when you are able to sell highly talented products like ours at RB.

You might ask me to explain and describe what we did at this specific store but I am not able to put it into words. To really make you understand what I mean by talking about “Rock ‘n’ Roll at the POS”, you have to take a look at the pictures below.

Entertaining, talented, unique, powerful, impressive – Rock ‘n’ Roll.

And it is true. Customers buy more. They are entertained and they know that this impressive appearance goes along with very talented brands which stand for a high quality and unique products.

The secret behind this story is not really a secret. Why did the store manager order this huge amount of products at once? He understands how the business works. He knows how customer think. He is aware of the topic “Rock ‘n’ Roll at the POS”.
But in my eyes the key factor was trust. The buyer trusted me. He was sure that I would never sell him products which he would not be able to sell to his customers again.
Being a good salesman means in my eyes to be open minded, caring, understand a buyer’s needs, find a connection to him.

I am sure that everybody can be a good salesperson. The most important thing is to listen to a buyer’s needs. Find out if you are able to read needs.

Rock on…

It’s been a while since I last posted a blog post on here.
Since then I’ve moved to the Finish delivery team of the New Technologies Group.

And one of the things we are working on is asking where the general public thinks the future of Finish (Calgonit, Electrosol) products should head. And what will they look like?

So we are offering £1,000 to the best response to the question: “What do you think the next generation of Finish dishwashing products should look like?”

There is an explanation how to enter on the Reckitt Benckiser Facebook page.

Your entry could simply be a comment, but for the best chance of winning you should send pictures and descriptions of your vision. And you can enter as many times as you like.

So what are you waiting for . . .  visit our Facebook page, have a go and good luck!
Edd

The Australian RB offices have been hit with an influx of bizarre activity - cryptic concrete chalking, mirror messages and, more bizarrely, thousands of rubber duckies appearing everywhere!

As part of the internal OHOP (Our Home Our Planet) committee we were challenged to develop an internal employee teaser and education campaign to coincide with an exciting event.

And before you ask what’s with all the ducks check out the great media event held in Sydney CBD.

Above is a photo from the Our Home Our Planet Media launch  featuring Aaron Wood (2001 Young Australian of the Year, National Environment Winner), our celebrity spokesperson.  

These 5600 ducks represent 5 million litres of water that could be saved annually if every Australian household currently hand-washing converted to using a dishwasher. By 2026 it would be the equivalent of the water in Sydney Harbour. Other helpful water and energy saving  tips can be found at  www.ourhome-ourplanet.com.au

The internal teaser campaign culminated with the inaugural RB OHOP Olympics held at RB Aus offices where employees were invited to win great prizes by participating in ‘green themed’ events such as:

Overall the launch was a great success and we are looking forward to bigger and better next year!

For more information visit the Our Home Our Planet page.