The David Awards
7th October 2009
Breastmates takes out the Supreme Small Business Award today as
the David Award winners are announced. They also jointly win the
title of Most Innovative Use of Marketing.
The organizer of the Awards, Heather Douglas, says, "The judges
felt there was a strong and varied field of entrants this year.
These finalists were inspiring, courageous business people with a
passion for what they do and the determination to make it work.
Some have overcome considerable adversity in order to reach the
success they now enjoy."
The judges said that the marketing category was "about smart use
of marketing that allows a small company to really punch above its
weight. A lot of larger more established companies could learn a
lot from these people in terms of how to get a market presence out
there without having to spend big dollars. The great thing with
Breastmates is that they really understand their market. They are
using their knowledge and their experiences to talk to customers in
their language," says Douglas.
The judges went on to credit Breastmates for establishing
themselves as experts, and using PR and that credibility to draw
people to their website. Breastmates owner, Frances McInnes,
says "I was just using my experiences to write about common
questions that mums have been asking, and getting some good honest
advice online to prepare people for the truth about babies. This
has enabled me to slowly grow a huge advice section on my website,
in addition to the online maternity store."
For her entry into the David
Awards, McInnes drew on the success of her free marketing in
particular when filling out the application forms. She uses Facebook, Youtube, twitter (@breastmates) and her blog
to add a personal and informative approach for customers.
Heather Douglas says "Breastmates does amazing stuff with blogs
and tweets to attract people into their business, and the
perception when you have a website with that approach is that it's
a much bigger company than they actually are."
Judge Nick Jones says that the David Awards are all about
celebrating small businesses that have done something
extraordinary. Businesses that have stood out above the rest and
been prepared to take on bigger businesses, the Goliaths, of the
market. The Overall Supreme winner of the Davids Awards wins an
office makeover and business boot camp package.
Douglas says "With Breastmates I was really impressed by the fact
that this was one woman that started with $50 and no knowledge of
websites. She has gone on to create a very viable successful
business but more so she has taken what is quite niche area around
breastfeeding and established herself as an expert…I just think its
an amazing achievement."
The photo above shows our certificate and trophy. The
trophy is a stone and slingshot, as in David and Goliath.