Message from our CEO We all have busy working lives that can sometimes make it hard to find the time to connect. As you are important to our business, I wanted to bring you up to speed with the achievements of the drinks association in FY 15/16. On July 1, 2016, the drinks association board signed off a new three-year strategy. While it will be challenging, I am confident we will deliver on all the objectives. As you know, the drinks association is owned by and the drinks association CEO Sandra Przibilla operates for the benefit of its members. It strives to devise and develop useful services for both existing and potential new members by reinvesting profits into business growth. We have spent the last 12 months aligning every aspect of our business with our four pillars: promote, connect, inform and strengthen.
Strengthen – providing relevant, accurate data During the coming year, the drinks association will continue to ensure its strategic direction aligns with the needs of our members. We are also constantly looking at ways to improve offerings to you.
Promote – supporting high quality, credible industry events, alerting members to new products, updates Among the exciting developments already in place and innovations through our publications and social this year are a digital version of drinks trade, a newmedia channels. look website, a new HRD Forum and a corporate partnership with The Drinks Industry Show. Connect – through events and workgroups. Turn the page and I'll run you through our Inform – at forums, network breakfasts and through accomplishments to date and introduce you to our premium services. some of the new faces on our dynamic team.
Our latest initiatives It’s been another successful year for keeping the business on budget, while also launching several new initiatives to add value for our member companies and the drinks sector. We launched a new commercial initiative with SKUvantage called drinks Library to house and manage digital assets for member companies and the broader industry. It has already been embraced and is proving to be a very successful initiative from both a functional and operational perspective. The Industry Benchmark Survey continues to build and now has the full support of both the supplier and retail sectors. Our expanded Shopper Tracker service has a strong subscriber base that continues to grow. The next two to three years will see this service expand and develop to continue meeting industry needs. Retail Ad Watch and the Brand Portfolio service have undergone significant change through consultation with the industry and continue to evolve and attract new users. The Liquor License Database is a unique database that has been expanded to include new attributes to increase the value of the data.
Your chance to win a $500 JB H-Fi voucher the drinks association wants to know what you think of the new-look drinks central site. We're hoping you'll take a few minutes to fill out our survey. Click here to start the survey. We know how busy you are, so to show our appreciation for taking time out of your day, we're offering a $500 gift voucher from JB Hi-Fi for the best 25 words or less thoughts on the site. We can't wait what you think!
Member companies use this service as a singular source for license information and we will develop this service even further in 2016/17 through the expansion of industry standards for outlet classification and identification. It’s a very exciting time in this space. Our Retail Banner Database is a subset of the Liquor Licence Database and contains information on outlets branded by a banner. Again, this service is a single source of data and used extensively by the industry and supported by all major banners. There are many other services the drinks association delivers to its members and wider industry and business community. Check out our updated website at www. drinkscentral.com.au to see more.
Keeping you informed Our suite of publications continue to perform strongly. Our readership is growing and our reach is expanding. Our commitment to keeping you informed means we now offer a monthly drinks news newsletter, a weekly drinks bulletin newsletter and a daily drinks newsfeed at drinkscentral.com.au We have also increased our social media presence. Keep an eye out for us on Facebook, Twitter, Linked In and Instagram. We are always assessing ways we can be more effective in this increasingly digital world.
Our events
Watch this space!
Events are a core component of our association and our annual series of Network Breakfasts are well supported. The challenge is to attract speakers who present well and have information to share that resonates. Recommendations and suggestions are always welcome. The annual Australian drinks Awards have huge support from within the industry. While the 2016 awards will be held in September, it’s worth noting the event sold out in February. On September 7, we will welcome 500 guests to the Sydney Cricket Ground to celebrate our industry at the 4th annual awards. We are committed to delivering an exceptional night.
Supporting diversity Women in drinks has been in existence since 2014 and underwent major changes in structure during the first half of 2016. A new mission statement and vision supported by a three-point strategy with education as the main platform has been launched and is already rolling out. The Women in drinks board will be sharing more information on the strategy at an upcoming Network Event on November 7 at Luna Park. I also look forward to seeing you at the International Women’s Day Business event and lunch at Doltone House Darling Island on March 8, 2017.
From left: Alana House, Sandra Przibilla, Hope McMurdy and Kathy Sloan.
Changes to the drinks team The team at drinks has also undergone changes. Hope McMurdy moved into a newly created role in January 2016 as the General Manager of the association and is settling into the role and rising to the challenges it brings. Kathy Sloan is Member Liaison and is working well with members, generating increased interest as she spreads the association's story through the industry. Alana House joined us in April as our first dedicated Communications Manager and brings her wealth of experience to the business. Alison Herring has recently joined us in a Senior Administration role and is assisting both Hope and I and supporting the business. Noxi Sigwela joined us in our services division and has now moved to a newly created role as the
Systems and Projects Officer – a much needed role in our business as we continue to grow and expand. Lisa Channel is services leader. James Ravestijn recently joined the services team. Michelle Goh has joined us in a part-time capacity for accounts receivable. And Jessy Li, our longest serving employee, has recently celebrated 10 years with the business. Jessy works in the services team. It's been wonderful to spend another year supporting the drinks industry. I look forward to finding new ways to make your working life easier. Regards, Sandra Przibilla, CEO, the drinks association