Day 2

Brismark

Today we woke up at 5am to get ready to visit the Brisbane Markets for a presentation by Brismark. After a rushed morning and strange non functioning sleep state we eventually made it down to the bus once we did a mad dash up to our buffet breakfast to stuff some rashins into our handbags. When we arrived at the markets we were greeted by Vanessa the marketing director and did a bus tour around the huge area. Although on the way we could barely keep our eyes open, as soon as Vanessa jumped on the bus we all suddenly had a huge burst of energy, which Vanessa's bright and excitable personality was responsible for.

Vanessa pointed out to us all sights of interest along the way and also spoke about the devastating floods they had quite recently experienced. Another devastating issue for them was the role of Woolworths and Coles as buyers whom they referred to as 'the bullies'. Here the big companies are having a huge effect on the pricing of the goods as they often sell below price an therefore essentially set a price for the rest of the wholesalers and grocers who will then make minimal profit. 

After the bus tour we all hopped of the bus into the markets where we wore our very stylish flouro vests over our corporate gear. The markets were full of life and there seemed to be so much going on, it was a very fast paced working environment where we were warned not to lose our toes! Along our walk we stopped and spoke to many of the wholesalers who told us about how the market worked and the hard times they were in at the moment. The market runs on supply and demand and many of the workers explained that majority of their stock was hidden from the buyers meaning that they could vary prices depending on the customer. The politics in the marketplace was also something that stood out and was    

something that Vanessa said had to be closely monitored. 

Once we had done our lap of the marketplace we were in Brismark's kitchen where we were provided with a hearty breakfast which included an amazing roll and of course beautiful fresh fruit. 

Vanessa then did some brainstorming with us on what the company could do to promote this kitchen in the community and how it would be done. This conversation revealed that Vanessa only had 1 hour of internet access a week!  an incredible disaster as far as anyone in a marketing role could be concerned. This fact only reiterated that the business was run in a very traditional yet somewhat ancient way. 

We then got the opportunity to speak to two both Carl and Carlo who had been Brismark members for many years. This was a chance for all of us to ask relevant questions for our assignment topics. A big research topic in most of our cases were online, social media and multi channel retailing which in this business honestly seemed hard to make a connection with. The men explained that their product required face to face interaction as their produce is based on quality. Quality could not be portrayed in a photo, their customers liked to touch and taste the product. The importance of the customer relationship was also discussed and we were told that workers on the floor would be armed with all the information about every product and be capable of building a true dialogue and long term 'friendship' with their buyers. This was most important as it is through word of mouth that they gain customers rather than advertising as such. Another topic was the fact that their industry is perishable goods, so compared to most companies it is hard to have a business plan as the turn over needs to be fast. Their industry at least for me, proved that product and customer are at the core of every decision. As much as new technologies can improve a business, if you don't have the resources or customer demand, maybe their is no benefit in going down that path, sometimes it is better sticking with what you know and what you are good at. 

When our discussion was over we headed back out to get back on the bus and to out surprise by this time the markets were completely deserted, nothing but some left over fruit lying on the ground. We said our goodbyes and off we went. 

Day in Brisbane

When we arrived back at the hotel some of us headed over to the library for some note taking and blogging. It was a very modern library and right out the front was the farmers market, where some of the food we saw that morning had ended up. So after our time in the library we had a wander and picked up ourselves some lunch and a gourmet ice cream. After we filled our stomachs we decided to go for an explore around the rest of Brisbane, our travels included the Botanical Gardens and the Ferris Wheel.  

   

                                      

When the evening came the group headed to Sofitel for some drinks, it was a beautiful hotel with a great atmosphere and then once again we went out in search of a meal. This search found us at a contemporary Chinese restaurant where we had all you can eat dumplings. After this long day I was well and truly ready for bed. A great second day.