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The parent company of experience gift aggregator RedBalloon is taking a walk on the wild side through the acquisition of Adrenaline.com.au.
Speaking to Business News Australia, RedBalloon founder and Shark Tank mentor Naomi Simson says the acquisition will allow the overarching Big Red Group to play in the big leagues by widening its offering and boosting its international footprint.
"In terms of what [the acquisition] means to us, we will be delivering an experience every minute which is over 500,000 experiences this year," says Simson.
"We've both been selling experiences for a long period of time. RedBalloon is famous for gifting whereas Adrenaline is clearly positioned in the extreme sports, adventure, and very male sector."
She says bringing Adrenaline into the fold will help serve different audiences in different ways.
"If you look at this tourism set, it's all owned by American or international businesses. So, for Australian businesses not just to survive but to thrive you have to have the platforms but also the different audiences and that's what this really proves and is able to demonstrate to the market."
Following this first acquisition for Big Red Group, Simson says there are more prospective companies on her radar.
"Our job is to make sure each customer is being served appropriately, while also growing the business for our partners and deepening our engagement in the experience category," says Simson.
"Next year is going to be the year of experiences."
"Whether it's business customers or consumers we know that there is an absolute trend towards the experience economy. People are spending more time together so that makes this equally exciting in terms of the consumer trends and its exactly the right time to be investing and doubling down and making sure that we are absolutely, no doubt about it, the market leader and can compete against the big guys offshore."
Adrenaline and its 18 staff have moved into Big Red Group's Sydney head office today, under the guidance of Julia Wilson as general manager.
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Business News Australia
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