The Big Red Group (BRG) has launched the premium curated experiences brand, IfOnly, in Australia.
IfOnly is a partnership with the US site of the same name, founded in 2012, with the purpose of unlocking access to extraordinary experiences for social good, with every listing benefitting a cause.
Partnering with local and world-class ‘luminaries’, experts in their field, celebrities or other noteworthy personalities, brands and charities, IfOnly offers experiences across entertainment, culinary, music and more, with up to 80 per cent of the funds going to an associated charity.
The brand launches locally with more than 20 charities set to benefit initially, including Cancer Council, R U OK!, Starlight Children’s Foundation, OzHarvest and The Sony Foundation.
BRG Co-Founder, Naomi Simson, says the launch of IfOnly is testament to the Big Red Group’s purpose ‘to shift the way people experience life’ and is a response to the continued growth of the experience economy, a subject on which the group have published a new whitepaper.
“Customers, more than ever, want to align themselves with brands that have a true social conscience and who are actively contributing to the community,” Simson said.
“Australians are known as charitable people, and the way we value activities and our time more than material possessions is unlike any other time in history,” she said.
BRG is focused on offering a broad range of experiences, across different brands, that serve different purposes for their customers and clients. The fundraising channel for Australia’s not-for-profit sector is part of the brand’s social commitment.
“IfOnly is all about making the impossible possible and answering a consumer desire for richer experiences that give to both the recipient and our communities via the strong philanthropic focus,” Simson said.
Simson herself will be hosting a range of premium experiences, with the proceeds going to the Research Foundation of Cerebral Palsy Alliance of which she sits on the Board of Governors.
Simson’s experiences will fund a valuable preventative public health campaign to educate about the link between Cytomegalovirus (CMV)* and children born with cerebral palsy.
IfOnly US CEO John Boris is thrilled to be partnering with the BRG to bring the premium experience offering, with a charitable twist, to a new market.
“By combining the Australian experiences market leader with the leader of premium experiences in the US, we are able to bring our unique offering to new audiences and support more causes,” Boris said.
“Whether you want to have a bucket-list experience – such as playing soccer with Rinaldo or meeting the Rolling Stones, or you want an amazing local experience such as a cooking class with a lauded local chef – IfOnly has it all, and a portion of every experience we sell goes to support charity,” he said.
The launch further powers the BRG’s multi-brand strategy, to appeal to different audiences with different experience needs, and follows the acquisition of Adrenaline only six months ago.
IfOnly joins RedBalloon, Adrenaline, Marketics (Albert AI) and Redii, cementing the group’s position as the largest online aggregator of experiences in Australia, and third largest globally (Hitwise 2018). As a $100m business and experiences market, BRG has also unveiled a new research report detailing the depth and opportunity of the ‘Experience Economy’ in Australia.