02
SLIMLINE
SUCCESS
03
BIRTHDAY
BADGE PROMOTION
04
NEW WEBSITE
LAUNCHED!
KOALAKnews
KOALA
ISSUE No. 20
l JUNE 2007
NEW TEAM
builds links to success
There’s a new spring in the
step of Koala’s head office
with virtually a whole new team
dedicated to proving the best
possible service.
Alison, Felicity, Lisa, Jacqui and
Michelle are the new face of Koala’s
office staff who provide a vital link with
Koala’s extended family of distributors.
These five talented new staff members
bring with them a tremendous amount
of experience and vitality.
We welcome them and look forward
to their contribution in helping shape
Koala’s future success.
Meet the all new Koala crew: Alison, Michelle, Felicity, Jacqui and Lisa
Alison joins us on reception to ensure callers can reach
the right person, every time, Felicity helps on reception
and assists with filing and accounts. Jackie will shortly
be joined by Cathlin taking on the challenging roles
of driving Koala’s commitment to customer service.
Michelle looks after the marketing, design and website
needs of the business and Lisa assists Graeme with
specialty cards and sales support. Remember these
faces because you’re going to be seeing and hearing a
lot more from this sensational six!
There’s a new force to be reckoned
with in Western Australia with four
new distributors joining the fold.
Also joining Koala is Sandy Clarke as an
account manager dedicated to supporting
the new distributors and selling new racks.
Rachel, Maxie, Gina and Joanne have
come on board and have already started
achieving great results.
She too has hit the ground running with a
number of new installations to her credit.
WESTERN FORCE
Servicing racks all over WA, they take over
from Bronwyn Hill who left in February.
No doubt they will all benefit from learning
together and we look forward to exciting
things to come from Australia’s largest
state.
SLIMLINE
Egg-sellent
RESULTS
Koala’s specialty cards have proven
when it comes to designing a range for
special days we can deliver!
In the past Koala has
struggled to truly capitalise
on big events but not any
more with our Easter
and Mother’s Day cards
achieving tremendous
results.
The growing popularity of Slimline
cards continues to close the gap on
a rack by rack basis.
Slimline cards are now selling on average
2.6 cards per pocket, per month.
This is a great result as Slimline cards
approach Traditional series cards which
are selling at 3.3 cards per pocket, per
month.
But the range which never fails to surprise
is Gift Wrap which is streaking ahead with
sales of 3.5 sheets per pocket, per month.
Julie’s efforts paid off with
the design of an Easter
range which appealed to
the child in all of us.
It’s the first time we’ve really excelled at an
Easter range and it’s a tribute to everyone;
from the design team, the warehouse staff
who got the cards out on time and the
distributors who stocked them prominently
in their customer’s racks.
The Easter range showed what we can do
when we strive together.
The Mother’s Day range was also a great
result – maybe too good a result with the
whole range almost completely selling out.
We apologise to the distributors for not
being able to supply them with more cards
but after not running a Mother’s Day line
last year, the response from consumers
was way above our expectations.
Get ready for Christmas!
QUICK NEWS
closes gap
With so many racks available Koala now
gauges sales on the number of items sold
per pocket, per month.
As a barometer it gives us an accurate
picture of how well various ranges are
selling and the overall forecast is for sunny
days ahead.
While new designs always prove popular
by giving consumers something new they
are not the biggest driver when it comes
to sales.
Koala has found “service frequency” or
how often a rack is serviced, has the
single biggest impact on how many cards
are sold.
The more frequently a
rack is serviced the more
cards are being sold
but the reverse is also
true – tired racks don’t
perform.
So now is the perfect
time for distributors
to get back out there
and re-energise their
installations.
Distributors will also be buoyed to hear
there are another 40 new Slimline and 40
new Traditional designs to be released this
month.
This follows the release of a further 12
new Gift Wrap titles.
NEW release news
Hot off the presses...We have just released
• 36 New Traditional titles and
• 40 New Slimilines
QUICK NEWS
QUICK NEWS
take a bow
distributors double
Congratulations to Dolly Alpkaya who services
the South West territory of New South Wales.
Late last year Dolly celebrated her four-year
anniversary as a Koala distributor making her
the second longest serving behind Victoria’s
Bob Nettleship – but not by much, with less than
three weeks between them.
Well done Dolly and we’re proud of the way you
continue to grow the business.
Speaking of distributors, congratulations to the 16 who
are smashing sales records for the financial year ending
in June.The business is really progressing well and hatsoff to the 16 distributors who are achieving 10% or greater
than budget. This is a great sign for the company as a
whole and provides terrific motivation for all distributors
to match their success. Those hitting double digits are:
John, Anthea, Meredith, Vicky, Dolly, Tiziana, Bob, Leah,
Lyn C, Lyn J, Leigh, Margaret, Jenny, Lyn Ann, Michelle &
Debbie. Also Sharon, John and Linda in New Zealand.
QUICK NEWS
tic-tock stocktake
Stocktake time is fast
approaching. This is a
reminder to all distributors
that stock takes need to be
completed and returned to
Koala by June 29, 2007.
That’s only a couple of weeks away and we’ll be
sending out the details of what’s required soon.
CONSOLIDATE LOCAL
w
Expand Global
Koala’s international expansion
continues with Frank visiting the
UK and Canada this month to
track our progress.
With Koala’s presence firmly entrenched in New
Zealand he said the company’s focus this year
would be to consolidate the existing business
and look to creating a strong foothold in North
America.
Reuben and Emma have done a great job in the
UK but with more than 250 million perspective
customers in North America it is one of the most
attractive markets in the world.
Initially Frank will be working hard to establish a
representative and small network of distributors
in Canada with the view of expanding it to the
US within the next few years.
It is an exciting proposition but one which can
only be achieved through the hard work and
support of all our staff; from the warehouse
through to sales, administration and support.
While Koala’s sights are set firmly on expanding
the brand throughout the world it is essential to
maintain and grow the business in Australia and
New Zealand.
This includes achieving greater market
penetration and refining our processes to make
it easier and more efficient for distributors to
grow their businesses.
new BADGES
Tradefairs
Koala will be out to further penetrate existing
territories and attract new retail customers
when it attends three tradeshows later this
year.
The first is in Brisbane 14-17, New Zealand
22-24 July followed by Melbourne 4-8 August
and Sydney 15-18 September.
Koala continues to capitalise on the exposure
these shows provide and we look forward
to seeing many of our distributors becoming
involved.
LOYALTY
brings rewards
Koala is about to announce the
most exciting loyalty program in the
company’s history.
In the lead-up to the Loyalty Program,
Koala Knews can reveal details of the
up-coming badge promotion.
The loyalty program is designed to
recognise and reward high performing
retailers who regularly promote Koala’s
whole range.
Distributors will start receiving dynamic-looking pointof-sale boxes containing colourful and quirky badges.
Customers who purchase a Slimline card will be able
to purchase a badge for 50c(Aus).
Or they can buy a badge on its own for $1(Aus).
The badges are FREE as a BONUS to any retailer
who upgrades or installs a 139 slmline rack.
This represents a total profit of up to $200 for the
retailer for absolutely nothing!
Stocks are limited
so don’t miss this
fantastic promotion!
The program is going to create such a buzz
around Koala’s Traditional, Slimline and Gift
Wrap lines the details are being kept closely
under wraps.
It will be launched to the sales team in June
with distributors and retailers set to find out
in July. Stay tuned!
Details will be revealed to Account Managers on 18 June.
QUICK NEWS
QUICK NEWS
WHITEKNUCKLE Wait
Flying can make anyone nervous but imagine you’re stuck on a runway in a country two
days after there was one of the worst air disasters in living memory.
Welcome to Mitchell Marsh’s nightmare.
Mitch, who works with Paul in the warehouse, was stranded for two days in Bali after a
Garuda passenger jet crashed at Yogyakarta on March 7.
Returning from a week in Bali Mitch had an agonising two-day wait on the tarmac as
officials grounded all Garuda flights.
It would be enough to test even the stiffest of resolves especially given the language
barrier and the chaos and confusion which swept through the country.
Will he be flying again any time soon? You bet! As soon as he gets another chance.
QUICK NEWS
QUICK NEWS
PHONE A FRIEND or email
There have been a couple of incidents where deliveries to distributors
have not met their delivery date.
If this happens call Paul or send him an email to let him know.
It is important distributors inform Koala because we can follow up the
incident and work to have it resolved before it becomes a problem.
By working pro-actively with our courier StarTrack we can guarantee
distributors get their cards when they need them most, which is on
time!
FLASH website
MAKEOVER
THE NEW & IMPROVED KOALA WEBSITE WENT LIVE IN
APRIL — BRINGING WITH IT A WHOLE NEW LOOK!
With Flash animation, easy-to-use navigation tags, latest news and
e-commerce functionality the website gives Koala a commanding Internet
presence.
The clean new look is sophisticated while the intuitive layout makes it easier than
ever for consumers and distributors alike to access anything they need at the click of
a mouse. The pages also download faster than ever which is perfect if you’re using a
dial-up connection.
Since joining Koala in February, Michelle Willmott has worked her heart out to re-build
the website in just three months. She’s done a terrific job and the secure distributor
section features everything a distributor could need by way of forms, news, sales data
and other useful tips.
www.koalapublishing.com.au
Sensational
SIXTY
Our General Manager, Frank
Noone has just celebrated his
60th Birthday.
Frank is celebrating in style
with an overseas holiday
cruising down the Danube.
Congratulations Frank!
ONLINE ORDERING
One of the other exciting features is it offers the fax service online.
This means fax service customers can now log on and order everything they need
through the website, no more waiting around for confirmation or replies – it’s all instant
and the warehouse can start processing the order as soon as they hit enter.
Dr Carl ties the knot
SPECIAL
Delivery
Design guru Dr Carl Hensel and his wife Tabitha are celebrating the
delivery of their first child Gracie. Carl and Tabitha were married last
month and have been eagerly awaiting the birth of their baby girl. Baby
Grace Hensel arrived on 18 May at 12.30 pm. Weight: 9lbs - Length: 60cm
Our receptionst Melina Brown also
celebrated the arrival of her first child,
Bella Hope, on Tuesday 17 April.
We hope you and Chris
enjoy your precious little
girl and we look forward
to your return.
Mum and bubs are doing great........ Carl
says ‘Grace is the single most beautiful
child in the universe!’
Carl has already photographed and put
Samantha Grieves’ new baby on a card and we wait with
baited-breath to see a few more beautiful baby designs in
coming months.
STAFF NEWS
STAFF NEWS
GOODBYE Gary!
After 15 years with Koala Publishing Gary Rochester is
hanging up his hat and is set to retire at Evans Head.
Gary has been an integral part of Koala’s history from
its early days when he was a business partner with
Tony.His contribution to Koala has been vast, seeing it
emerge from its infancy as a poster and fine art prints
supplier to what it is today.
Gary will be sadly missed around Koala but with heartfelt
thanks we wish him every joy and happiness in his
retirement on the far north coast of NSW.
Thanks again Gary it’s been a wonderful journey.
STAFF NEWS
QUICK Recovery
Koala is hoping for the speedy recovery of its resident
QuickBooks queen Tracey Mors who suffered an
aneurism recently.
Tracey spent some time in hospital where doctors were
able to successfully treat the aneurism and the good
news is she is back on her feet.
Tracey’s infectious personality and enthusiasm is sorely
missed by all at Koala but we’re sure, when she’s ready,
she will return brighter and better than ever.
STAFF NEWS
CRACKERJACK Paul
Warehouse manager Paul West has rolled his way
into the third grade division of his local lawn bowls
competition.
Showing the warehouse staff are a multi-skilled mob he
started in fifth grade but quickly impressed selectors and
moved up two grades.
He has been enjoying the challenge and was hoping
to turn is 0-7 record around with his first win in the final
match of the competition recently but whatever the result
we’re sure he’s had fun.