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A few months ago I discovered B1G1, learned about their Giving Projects and knew this had to become a small part of my every day business life. In short every time someone chooses to work with Lou McGregor Strategy a portion of his or her sales will go back in a real, tangible way to assist someone else in the world.
 
This is powerful and amazing and it works.
 
This month Gold Coast Tourism has provided a year’s supply of fresh drinking water to families in Tanzania simply by working with me. 
 
Fresh drinking water was selected as the project purely because in our City we are surrounded by it in abundance… we never can contemplate not having it like so many others.  Work with me and we'll find a giving project that connects with you.

Last week Gold Coast Tourism revealed a new era for the marketing of this City, Destination Gold Coast.
 
As part of the launch I was tasked with the project of bringing together City leaders with the objective of getting them to speak, not as a Corporate Citizen, but directly from their hearts about their own unique connection with this City.
 
Watching the passion, love and affectation that already exists and their excitement as the Gold Coast evolves was genuinely touching.
 
The most common thread in all the comments was that of PEOPLE… the people that come here to stay for a day or those that choose to make it home. The collectiveness of these people. As a big City with an eclectic village feel, this, in addition to our unparralled breathtaking natural environment, and other fast growing attributes, IS the secret ingredient of WHY both locals and tourists connect so strongly.

#wearegoldcoast is a calling for everyone of us to look up, take stock of how good we have it and celebrate that with each other and the world.
 
This brand has moved beyond the ‘perceived’ Gold Coast and is slowly unveiling the real Gold Coast, which starts, by unveiling real people.  Everyday people experiencing the everyday activities we have come to accept as 'normal'.
 
However, when you think about it from a tourist's perspective little of this is 'normal' and seeing locals experience the exhilaration of the sea and sand between their toes, eat 5 star food, incredible coffee, get up and close with nature, experience art and dance the night away (all possible in one day here)… is something extraordinary and something we are ready to celebrate.
 
We have it all here, all wrapped up in Destination Gold Coast.

 In 2015 an event called Big Blue Sky was born. It bought together over 200 Gold Coast people across a silo of industries around the notion of sharing ideas, looking at new models of innovation and shifting the perception of this amazing City, the Gold Coast. Just 11 months later, Big Blue Sky held it’s second event at the Sofitel, Broadbeach. The focus in 2016 was Finance, Education, Sport and Social Innovation.
 
What started simply as an idea, a passion and a ‘knowing’ that people wanted to get off the couch and come together to share challenges and seek solutions had now garnered interest from the City, Universities, Business owners, Students and the wider community.
 
Great! But here’s where the serious stuff starts.  How does this grow? How does it become a sustainable commercial model and, my challenge, how does it communicate and position itself in the marketplace because, lets face it, the brand is not selling ice-creams. It’s an incredibly multi-faceted entity.
 
How do you position a highly esertheric yet highly potential commercial model?
How do you appeal to Councilors at the same time as global thought leaders, Academics, Year 11 students and local Mums who have done a full day work just keeping the family afloat and feel like sculling a wine prior to 8am!

​As an experienced Brand Strategist I have re-engineered the positioning proposition of companies ranging from engineers, cleaning products, schools, tourism destinations, accountants and even horse breeding pimps. I have to say this was one of my biggest challenges, not merely because I was the original co-founder of Big Blue Sky, but because I completely get the confusion of the mixed messages that the entity stands for.
 
After a few weeks of frequently rocking in a corner rubbing my head, I decided to stop over-analyzing and simply do what I always do when unearthing the heart and soul of any business, product or person. Talk to people. Ask them questions. Listen to them carefully. Find the sticking points.

​So from analyzing all the comments, feedbacks, and testimonials; having serious discussions with the team, with people that came to the event, with students… a light started to go on. I then held a Workshop with 12 people who were really passionate about growing and being involved with the Big Blue Sky brand. These people ranged from individual business owners, Council, Corporate leaders, and of course some of the team. Whilst these people are as diverse as Big Blue Sky itself the following messages kept coming loud and clear.
 
Big Blue Sky is about opportunities for all.
Big Blue Sky has no glass ceiling.
Big Blue Sky is accessible.
Big Blue Sky is about talking and looking for more collaborative ways to work together.
Big Blue Sky is about removing barriers to conversations that need to be had.
Big Blue Sky is about better ways of doing business.
Big Blue Sky is about finding ways to adopt global innovation models.
Big Blue Sky is about sharing.
 
What I had thought was previously a quite esertheric and ‘hard to put a finger on’ brand started to showcase elements of real tangibility. 

​About each other. About the world.  About money. About their kids. About improving their business. About Harvey Spectre. About the USA Presidential election. About having fun. About their footprint on the earth.
They are people that are aware of the challenges we face and want to be part of find the solutions… together.
 
As it continues to grow Big Blue Sky will essentially always be a Business about people.  About people who want to do business in a way that is for the benefit for the whole community. When I looked at it this way Big Blue Sky in all its complexity is actual very simple.
 
Big Blue Sky is about bringing together the tangible touch points of a business that have the potential of making people’s lives better. It is about showcasing in all its glory the humane side of a commercial world. It is, at its very heart, keeping humanity the focal point of all exchanges, negotiations, ideas and solutions.