Big Red Group acquires Adrenaline

Sydney, AUSTRALIA – 12 NOVEMBER 2018

Big Red Group has today announced that Adrenaline.com.au joins RedBalloon as a subsidiary of the Big Red Group (BRG), the largest pure-play aggregator of experiences in Australia*, and considered the third-largest globally.

The BRG is poised to further broaden the appeal of experiences to new audiences by actively seeking to acquire new marketplace brands with a vision to scale domestically and propel the business into international markets.

During FY19 the BRG will serve an experience every minute across Australia and New Zealand through its various subsidiary brands.

Big Red Group co-founder and spokesperson, Naomi Simson, says the acquisition cements the Group’s commitment to customers on both sides of the marketplace, specifically thousands of experience supply partners.

“The acquisition of the Adrenaline business in Australia complements our existing assets; RedBalloon, known for experience gifting and Redii.com, delivering experiences in the B2B reward and recognition space. This deal brings a new adventure-focused audience to the BRG,” Ms Simson said.

“We see momentum and demand building for experiences that serve different purposes for our customers – from gifting to team events, bucket lists, travel and the ‘things to do’ market.

“With a multi-brand strategy, we can expand our range to appeal to different audiences with different experience needs.

“We work with approximately 3000, mostly small business, experience supply partners across Australia and New Zealand. As experience aggregators, the BRG offers its partners another distribution channel, delivering repeat customers, brand reach and world-class technology as part of our shared service portfolio.”

Simson said this is the Group’s first acquisition, however, there are a number of other local and international brands the BRG is eyeing to join its stable of online experience retailers.

“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,” Ms Simson said.

“We’re committed to staying at the leading edge of technology and have invested greatly in infrastructure to build a globally scalable platform. An investment justified by the economies of scale achieved in serving different audiences from the one system.”

Adrenaline has moved into the BRG Head Office in Sydney, under the guidance of Julia Wilson as transitional GM, who will also oversee the BRG Marketics (Albert A.I.) business vertical within BRG.

The Adrenaline and RedBalloon brands will continue to operate separately, but will both leverage Big Red Group’s technology resources and infrastructure stacks built to improve efficiency internally, including access to their now 2,000-plus Supply Partner network. Marketing teams will also operate separately, as both brands work differently to drive growth in a developing market. Both businesses have seen a shift towards mobile engagement and increasing demand for personalisation.

About Big Red Group:
The Big Red Group (BRG) is Australia’s largest provider of travel and engagement experiences for consumer and business clients, through leading experience brands RedBalloon, Adrenaline, Lime&Tonic, and REDii. Founded in 2017 by CEO David Anderson and RedBalloon Founder, Naomi Simson, The Big Red Group the BRG are experts in providing unique experiences to all audiences, confidently shifting the way people experience life.

Headquartered in Sydney, Australia, BRG controls a national network of experience professionals working with small business suppliers and clients to deliver an experience somewhere on Earth every second.

Media contacts: James Murray, Corporate Communications Executive
james.murray@thebigredgroup.com.au