I never thought I would get to write that as a headline – but that’s exactly what happened in Chennai this month! Working in the scientific services group, one of our roles is to support claims, demonstrations and approve marketing communications for the brands we support. Demonstrations are a really powerful tool in communicating with our consumer. It’s easy to be sceptical about claims made in TV advertising, it’s a lot harder to disregard when you see it with your own eyes!

This month marketing organised a “Great stain-off” which included use of a 20foot cloth, lots of messy stains and numerous packs of Vanish! We invited residents to throw wine, iodine, ketchup, juices, tea and coffee at 4 targets on our 20ft cloth. 3 stains successfully within the target won residents a prize – I’m sure you can guess what that was !

After a messy hour, the yellow cloth was looking a bit worse for wear and it was definitely time to bring out the Vanish. Taking half the cloth for washing, residents looked on as Vanish got to work. Everyone was intrigued by the oxygen action you could see and had lots of burning questions. The Grande finale was revealed when washing was complete and the cloth was hung next to its messy counterpart.

I think the results speak for themselves!

One of RB’s 4 core values is Team Spirit.  Now, this does not necessarily mean team work, as teams don’t necessarily need to work together to succeed.  I decided to investigate what some of our senior management’s thoughts were on this specific core value in the first part of a four part blog series.

After speaking with Brian, Senior Talent Acquisition Specialist, he conveyed to me that team spirit is more of a mindset, where everyone here shares the same common goals, passions and mindsets to advance the business.

Paul, National Sales Director for Wal-Mart, believes that team spirit and team work actually go hand in hand, and you can not have good team work without team spirit. Paul also touched on the fact that as an organization, RB does a great job of instilling team spirit from day one; however, we must improve our team work and internal communications across all facets of RB if we want to enhance our current processes.

Larry, HR Business Partner, said that there are teams in every organization, all across the world.  If you compete as a team that means only one team can win.  At RB, because we all share a common goal and possess the winning spirit, we succeed and over perform time after time.  “It’s a vibe, people here just get it”.

So, to sum this up, what is the difference between teamwork and team spirit – RB style? Well, in traditional organisations, people are expected to work together as a team on every project. Team spirit – RB style means that being in a lean and non-hierarchical organisation, you are fully in charge of every projects you take on. But even so, we are all united in spirit as a team who wants to win – and win big time!

I invite all of the bloggers to share their feelings on team spirit; my guess is that it will be similar no matter what country you’re in, what position you hold, or how long you’ve worked at RB.

A big THANK YOU to everyone I interviewed, myself and our readers truly appreciate your insights.

Today, we’ve had an intern training session aimed at generating ideas on increasing brand awareness. There were interesting talks about our company’s values and goals and how we can help further develop and promote them. For us interns, the most exciting part of this is the role we can play in shaping the promotional strategy, whether that may be at our university or at RB job fair stands. We are also encouraged to voice your own ideas. This is what’s so great about being part of the RB team. You help build the RB brand by sharing your ideas. You have a voice!

Me (on the second row to the right) with the RB marketing team in Brazil !

Last week, I put the question to Reckitt Benckiser’s directors, managers and associates alike: “If you were to give one tip to candidates applying to RB, what would it be?” Three of the people below were assessors during my assessment day, so what they have to say to you all potential RBers out there will be really valuable!

If I look back to when I was going through the RB recruitment process, I think the best advice I would have given myself would have been to…

Be yourself! At the end of the day you don’t want to be working in an environment which doesn’t suit you. The culture at RB is very unique and our assessment process is about finding people who will excel in this environment. Think of it like a dating agency . It’s as much about finding what you want from a company as what a company wants from you.

Be an all-rounder. Yes you may have just studied science for 4 years, but RB is more than just that. We look for your business acumen, logic, negotiation skills, teamwork and so on. Be 3D!

Good Luck

It’s a little quiet in the office today with everyone a little weary and worn out from the last few days of beaches, parties, celebrations, spa’s … oh and work presentations and conference. Yep, it’s that time again, the Australian Conference 2010!

We left Sydney bound for the Crowne Plaza, Terrigal early Monday morning, had a bite to eat and then got stuck into a bit of team building – what better activity than Bare Foot Bowls! Whilst I wasn’t able to bring my knowledge and expertise of the game to the table much (I can’t say bowling is my forte!), everyone still managed to have a fabulous time catching up, having a drink and using all their energy to get the ball closer than any of their teammates could – Reckitt Benckiser competitive? Never!

The next day was Conference Day, whereby each respective brand and account team presented updates to the business regarding strategies and new product developments for 2011, new TVC’s and advertising as well as results to date and plans to reach their balance to go targets. As a newbie in the Marketing department, it was really interesting to understand the differences between different brand approaches and idea generation – particularly the disparity of issues faced between Household and Health & Personal Care categories.

That night, 1920’s flappers, gangsters, and even Biggles, concentrated the building as we had our themed 1920’s party night. A fun night of Black Jack, Roulette, dancing and celebrating had by all.

Following our morning of presentations, everybody participated in an interactive group activity named “The Photography Challenge”. This task was a great opportunity for people in all different departments (Marketing, Sales, Supply, Regulatories, Finance) to work and compete together and assist each other with challenges such as being creative in a very short timeline (definitely a challenge that arises in all of our day to day workings in the office!). At the end of this activity, I presented my team’s photography to the business and outlined the creative and artistic rationale behind each image – our team managed to come out of top for this competition … must have been all that birthday energy!

Our next conference day (and my birthday, I might add!) consisted of an informative presentation on some potential new additions to the RB portfolio – Scholl Footwear (of which the ladies might recognize as the infamous “Party Feet Gel Cushions”), as well as Durex (I don’t really need to detail this one…!).

These additions to the portfolio would generate many new business challenges and opportunities for the RB Australia business, as distribution channels for these ranges expand outside the general Pharmacy and Grocery networks and into unknown territory such as fashion outlets, convenience stores and bars/nightclubs.

Another interesting challenge that we were given this day was the “Million Dollar Challenge” in which we were again split into cross-functional teams and tested with the question, “What would you do with $1mm?”. Each team were given a certain brand challenge (increase Pine O Cleen wipes penetration in the market, enhance consumption of Vanish in-wash, drive Finish tablets through increasing frequency of dish wash usage and tablet trade-up) in which we had to brainstorm and present 3 key ideas. Our team chose to increase Pine O Cleen wipes penetration mainly through trial and new users, for example alliances with MasterChef, wipes sampling through the new Coles recipe cards in store and partnerships with hospitals for new mothers bounty bags. Although we did not win this challenge, it was really remarkable to see that RB willingly will be supporting the winning team’s ideas on Finish by investing an incremental $1mm into the plan for 2011.

To top off our week at Conference that night was a Black and White Soiree Ball where everyone had the chance to let their hair down and party it up one last time before returning back to the office. We had a fabulous band called the Figaro’s performing Italian Opera music, a beautifully set up ballroom, awards for ‘best dressed’ as well as prizes for winners of competitions throughout the week. A really great end to a fun and enjoyable week away.

And back to the office we are.

Although a little more drained than before we left, definitely refreshed from a good break away – who knows where to next? I think we’ll push for New York and see how that follows through …