Naomi Simson is a corporate marketer and the founder of RedBalloon, an online powerhouse – the largest experience network in Australia and New Zealand. Think Amazon or Etsy or Alibaba but not just for physical things, rather for experiences. She was also a judge on the Australian version of Shark Tank and is the author of Live What You Love: When Passion And Purpose Change Your Life. 

Her insights offer a masterclass in branding, strategy, and business building. She left a highly successful corporate career, because she saw an opportunity that few saw at the time. Driven by a desire to create a business with purpose, she transformed a simple idea—gifting experiences—into one of Australia’s most recognized online brands. Starting with limited resources and a big vision, she pioneered the experience economy, building trust in a nascent internet age and reshaping the online retail sector in the region.  

In this episode, Naomi shares the keys to building powerful brands, staying in sync with customers, and managing culture so you can keep your company relevant in an ever-evolving market. 

In this episode, we cover: 

• How we should really be thinking about branding, as in what IS a brand? Her answer may surprise you, and it could change how you think about your brand architecture. It certainly did for me and for every business builder I’ve spoken about it since 
• Why one of the most important metrics that will determine the speed at which you scale is … customer acquisition cost 
• How brand equity is the key to reducing that customer acquisition cost 
• Why it’s important to understand what “job” your customers are “renting” your product or service to get done and specifically tips you can follow to make sure you are constantly in touch with what they want  

Let’s dive in with Naomi Simson. 

Thanks for listening! This episode is brought to you by Kaihan Krippendorff of Outthinker Networks, Verne Harnish of Scaling Up, and the team at Growth Institute.