Last year two black sheep was awarded the City of Sydney’s Small Business of the Year, so if anyone can make a new concept like this fly it is the Wright brothers (excuse the pun).

Park Bench has now been open for a few weeks and is buzzing every time I drop by, so I thought it was time to get the low down on how they did it, in another Innovate or Die exclusive.

Park Bench by Night

What is Park Bench all about and why did you start it?

Park Bench is a pop up concept.  Essentially, we were approached by the landlord at the 580 George Centre to come up with a concept to fill an empty tenancy for around 6 months right on George Street. After agreeing terms just before Christmas a retro themed dessert bar became the plan.

The opportunity to trial a new business concept in prime retail location on George Street for a short-term without too many restrictions was just too good to turn down. Our attitude was, we have to make it work given that we know the area and agreed terms, which would make a short-term business viable if we drive it hard.

Why desserts? Why not just another two black sheep coffee shop?

To put another two black sheep store in the same centre would have been high risk given we are still relying heavily on regulars from the same office towers and area. We were determined to create a new brand and have always been interested in desserts as the margins are similar to coffee, but gelato and dessert is less labour intensive, so in theory, simpler.

However, one thing we are conscious of is utilizing the space as best as possible for the short time we have it. We are listening to what customers want, hence why we have put a coffee machine in with two black sheep coffee, and we will evolve to have a light breakfast and lunch offering very shortly making Park Bench a café by day, dessert bar by night.

So far, we have been able to fall back on a lot of our experiences and systems from two black sheep to get things moving, but having a new, fresh identity was more about doing something in the particular space we were offered. Had it been a block away, maybe two black sheep would have been the answer.

Park Bench Friday night gelato and jam session

Where did the name “Park Bench” come from?        

Park Bench literally came from a dinner table conversation between the two of us and a good friend, Nic.

We wanted a theme that reflected a picnic in the park, revived memories of 1980’s childhood, ice cream bars and iconic Kiwi imagery. We tossed up between a couple of names, the other being “Back Yard Cricket (BYC)” and then Nic just said, “How about Park Bench?”

Suddenly we could see the bench itself being the theme, ice cream in the park is a classic experience and it all just seemed to fit with the retro/garage theme, not to mention the fact we always intended to use recycled materials and do the majority of the building and labour ourselves.

Does the target market differ between “two black sheep” and “Park Bench”?

Having traded for five weeks, our market seems to be different in some ways. The CBD has a large Asian community that loves gelato and dessert as well as two black sheep coffee. In the evening, they make up the bulk of our trade. We are also pitching to couples or groups who are popping by after dinner or a movie or show given Event Cinemas and The Metro are within 50m.

During the day our coffee is very much pitched at corporate workers who may want to enjoy a slightly unique dine in experience while still catering for the commuter on the move. Being on the street front means we have a more transient audience, so in essence, we probably do have a slightly different target market. two black sheep is very much built on regulars and returning customers. 

What are you doing at Park Bench that is different and innovative?

Firstly, a pop up in the CBD seems to be unique. A lot of our customers haven’t heard of the concept and it seems to be more prominent in inner city suburbs like Darlinghurst or Surry Hills.

The main point of difference around Park Bench lies in the fit out. By using recycled materials (milk crates with cushions for seats) and shipping pallets (for coffee tables) we are grabbing people’s attention and rocking the traditionally plastic boat of the CBD.

A lot of people take photos of the seats or at least stop and look. Our plywood and spray painted branding gives a basic DIY/old garage kind of theme and enhances the temporary feel of the place. We even used an old garden fence for our retro family feature wall. Garden fencing can make great wall paper!

But basically, we wanted to turn the traditional Gelato Bar concept on it’s head – they always seem to be very clinical looking – white tiles, slick fit outs, and a bit too plastic looking for us.  By using interesting textures and features, like grass on the ceiling with upside-down picnic tables, it creates a very unique atmosphere.

Park Bench Authentic Furniture

How are you marketing Park Bench?

Initially, we have used two black sheep to cross promote the Park Bench project. We started with “coming soon” posters in store at TBS and on the blacked out windows of Park Bench while we were building. As our launch date approached, we handed out a few hundred postcard style invites using a photo of our Dad in 1985 (as seen on the family feature wall at Park Bench) to give a retro, moustache clad feel to the brand.

We have also run online marketing campaigns on Facebook, trying to generate interest by rewarding followers with $50 of free gelato. 580 George Street showed their support by putting up signage in the lower ground and HSBC lobby to make the locals aware, and the next step is to get on board with The Metro Theatre and try to get their customers through our door.

What has been the best part of opening Park Bench?

Our ambition to roll out more two black sheep stores hasn’t changed. This is a heavily systemised business where we have years of experience and have had some success.

Rolling out a concept like Park Bench in a new market (dessert) and being able to get it up and running from concept to opening inside a month was extremely rewarding! It gives us great confidence to roll out another two black sheep because we feel like in coffee, we know what we’re doing whereas with Park Bench, we are still trialing, testing and measuring.

This, coupled with a no constraints on design, getting back to basics and starting something fresh and coming up with a new concept have all been fantastic.  Orchestrating a complete build in 10 days, creating a network of trades people and creating a completely new company from scratch, under pressure, has been a huge learning curve.

What has been the hardest part?     

The biggest battle has been the fact that we are both enormously committed to the shop in terms of hours at this stage, meaning we essentially don’t have enough time in the day to work on, not in the business. We are still training and assembling our team too.

However, aside from feeling a bit over worked, the biggest challenge is cracking the formula for the space. By this we mean that we feel when we understand exactly what our customers want, what offering works for this location and how we manage that, we feel we will see growth accelerate rapidly.

For now, we continue to try new products, work on new ideas and understand a new business. Each day, things are growing and improving, our systems are getting better and we overcome a hurdle, one at a time.

What’s next for the two black sheep/Park Bench boys?   

Our number one priority for 2012 is to expand on two black sheep. We would love to have another store open and trading by the middle of the year. We are starting to get pretty active in the market for new sites again and feel we have a model that fits high foot flow, CBD locations.

In terms of Park Bench, if the concept works, it may stay longer than 6 months, or it could be rolled out somewhere else. If it only lasts 6 months, then hopefully we hit our targets and learn some fantastic lessons along the way.

So to all you data monkeys out there, enjoy!

Here’s an excerpt:

The concert hall at the Syndey Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 38,000 times in 2011. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 14 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.

Click here to see the complete report.

Fate however decided otherwise, and probably for the best, as just a few weeks ago I was named B&T Young Achiever of the Year for 2011.

Chris Maloney B&T Young Achiever of the Year 2011

But enough about me, in this post I want to recognise the incredible Innovate or Die interviewees that have taken home awards themselves this year.

two black sheep

In 2010, two black sheep were named Cafe of the Year in the 2010 City of Sydney Business Awards.

In 2011, the boys took out Cafe of the Year again, then stepped it up a notch to take out Small Business of the Year.

Well done Adam, Dave and the two black sheep team! You make my day (and coffee) every morning.

Two Black Sheep taking out Small Business of the Year

Jump Tours

Greg Price and the team at Jump Tours have been nominated for Best Tour in Tasmania at the Golden Backpack Awards for the last 3 years.

This year Jump Tours took out the major prize against some much bigger competition.

I remember the day Greg quit his investment banking job to start Jump Tours, and I couldn’t be more proud of what he has achieved.

Jump Tours taking out the Golden Backpack Award

Chimu Adventures

Another Greg. Another award winning tour company.

This time the award winner is Greg Carter and the team at Chimu Adventures who took out the Australian/Latin American business council’s Business Excellence Award for 2011.

If you are heading to South America, don’t tour with anyone but Chimu!

Chimu Adventures taking out the Business Excellence Award

Digitalpress

The final award winner (that I am aware of) is Theo and the team at Digitalpress, who were awarded a Gold medal in the Print Innovation category at the NSW Printing Industries Craftsmanship Awards, for their work for Castrol.

Theo easily takes out the most innovative person I have interviewed, and this award does not come at a shock. Well done Digitalpress!

Digitalpress award winning work for Castrol

You

Innovate or Die is a labour of love, and I’ll probably never get rich off it.

So it is your support that keeps it going, and for that I have to say the biggest thank you.

I wish you and your families a safe and happy holiday season, and I look forward to sharing more inspiring Innovate or Die interviews with you in 2012.

Much love,

Chris Maloney.

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• Top 10 Innovate or Die Interviews Revealed (innovateordie.com.au)

Having personally done a bunch of award-winning work with Chris and Peter in my time at Commonwealth Bank, I just had to meet up with the Bohemians to see what they were up to.

And they certainly didn’t disappoint. Here they share the Bohemia story in another Innovate or Die exclusive.

What is Bohemia?

Bohemia is a new agency operating system that brings together a collective of experienced and networked individuals, unencumbered by traditional agency buying models, licensed to go deeper into a client’s business than ever before to put media and data led strategy at the centre

The Bohemians - Chris Christofi, Brett Dawson and Peter Leaver

Where did the brand name “Bohemia” come from?

We first saw the name Bohemia and its definition on the wall of a pub in Caxton St, Brisbane.

Bohemia: A community of persons who adopt manners and mores conspicuously different from those expected or approved of by majority of society.

It went into the mix of over 50 potentials and surfaced top as it pointed to a community of people (as opposed to agency naming conventions around principal names), being different and the link to our positioning of marrying the art of strategy with the science of media and direct response.

Why did you start Bohemia?

We saw an opportunity for a new way of thinking about solving business problems.

When client budgets come under pressure then they look for their agencies to deliver more and more pressure is applied on the outcome, our agency is based on the premise of both, so we expect to be an attractive proposition to clients looking to get more out of their relationship.

We feel the time is right for our new model as it is designed around the time. The huge growth of social and smart phones and the importance of a customer’s own digital assets mean clients have more opportunity to influence existing and potential customers via the non-traditional media channels.

We want to provide them with a partnership which will help them make the most of their own, social and the external media options all in the one place.

How is Bohemia different and innovative compared to traditional media and advertising agencies?

What makes us different is where we start i.e. our starting point is what our clients own (their customer data, their brand, their web assets, their sponsorships etc). Our objective is to leverage and/or create owned assets before we even consider advertising.

Media agencies have traditionally been custodians of the largest portion of a client’s budgets and use an abundance of data and research combined with strategic planning and robust management tools to make decisions around media placements.

We plan to take the core elements of this discipline further into a client’s business and merge this with the clients internal data sources to put a new level of strategic thinking around a client’s own assets and communications to their existing customers.

What are influence maps and how are you using them?

We believe that in every category there’s an influence network that we need to understand if we are to effectively drive customers attitudes to brands. These influencers can be media personalities, experts, celebrities or experts.

Our approach is, with the aid of proprietary research, to build an Influence Map that identifies the key sources of influence. This allows us to explore how to leverage these sources within a communication strategy i.e. build an “influence the influencer” strategy.

Brett and Chris, you spent many years in senior roles at Ikon, one of Australia’s leading media agencies. Why go out on your own?

The need to feed our entrepreneurial was growing and after many years driving the success of other people’s business we saw an opportunity to put our experience and philosophies to work for ourselves and our families.

Peter, after a successful career at Commonwealth Bank, why the move agency side?

I wanted to challenge myself to apply all the skills and experience I have gained on one of Australia’s great brands, to help other companies build their businesses.

It is really exciting working with really talented people like Brett and Chris, and our combination of skills provide a unique positioning for us in the market.

We talk to clients about optimising their owned assets first, making sure they have the right foundations in place to maximise lead conversion or drive positive brand experiences, and my time at Commonwealth Bank taught me a lot about how to do this effectively.    

What has been the best part of starting Bohemia?

The first pitch we did together as Bohemia reinforced the excitement of the journey we’ve undertaken. It was with enormous pride that we stood up and presented the child that we had created for the first time.

What has been the hardest part?

The hardest part so far is to resist taking on business because its available rather than because we want to work with the particular client. So far we’ve been able to resist and work with like-minded people.

What is the best piece of business advice you have received? 

Costs should follow revenue.

Where do you see Bohemia in 5 years time?

At the forefront of the reborn full service agency model where creative and media happily co-exist to drive communication solutions that are truly interactive.

Also working with a few clients who have become our friends and for whom we’ve done the best work of our lives.

Related articles

• STW and Simon White launch media + DM agency Bohemia (mumbrella.com.au)
• Ikon hands Dan Johns national CEO role, Brett Dawson and Chris Christofi move on (mumbrella.com.au)