Newsletter December 2021

Acknowledgement of Country

Banter Group acknowledges the Gundungurra people as the Traditional Owners of the land on which our agency stands, and extend this  respect to all First Nations peoples, including  Elders past, present and emerging.

The last newsletter for the year is always fun because it has little to do with marketing and everything to do with celebrating a finish line 🥂. A tough, hard yakka finish line 🏁 this year has too. It only seems appropriate, that I also finish this year with the most relevant Banter Value: WE FEEL YOU.

Treat others the way you want to be treated.
We act with regard for the feelings, wishes, and rights of others.
Clients are respectful of our experience and value our contribution.
Use as much of us as you need, when you need us.
Our world changes constantly and we roll with the punches.
The computer doesn’t say no.
Family comes first.

From us to you, have a super fabulous end-of-year celebration. 🤗

Put your feet up, let your hair down and do what makes you feel good, with humans that you love 💞. We’re doing the same, and will close Banter from the 23rd December reopening on 10th January. Thanks for being there for us as wonderful clients, suppliers, colleagues, and passers-by. See you on the flip side!

Valentina xxx

Meet the Banter Council: Our Leadership Team

If I’ve truly learned anything in 20+ years of team management, it’s that leadership starts with discipline at the top and a capable team around you. A good leader has an effective team, and that’s why I have Banter Council. This wonderful group of ladies support the foundations of Banter and craft our plans together to meet our strategic goals. 🥅

You’ll be seeing more and more of these good humans so it’s important you know who they are. From L to R: Amberley Guilly (Account Director), Francesca Bozic (Creative Director), Elizabeth Pilkington (Strategy Director), Valentina Borbone (CEO), Nicole Meehan (General Manager). Each of us brings our experience, performance, culture, and care to the business with a view to growing, strengthening, and evolving Banter to be a sustainable and inclusive workplace that we all want to be part of. 💪

Insta Guides: what you need to know

I haven’t given Guides enough attention but you should know about them. They are a 1-year old feature from Insta that curates your posts into a 📚 ‘library’ of similar content. They can be created using pre-published posts, places, or product listings from the creator’s account or public accounts. Each guide includes a cover image, title, introduction, and optional descriptions for entries. Kinda like Story Highlights that are grouped, but they aren’t Stories, they are posts, and they make a little e-book of your content.

Keeping up my Banter Values theme, here is a great Guide example from HubSpot: Doing Good Is Good Business. You’ll get the drift when you click. Guides appear in a dedicated tab on a person’s or brand’s profile and can be shared in Stories or direct messages.

If you’re ready to give it a crack, follow this bouncing ball blog from Sked, it’s easy.

Rather than review one of our projects, I’ve pulled a few interesting bits together, you know, a little lighter than a marketing strategy!

📦📦 We moved office! After 3 years at Station Street in Bowral, we’ve moved into a brand-spanking-new warehouse in Mittagong. Our two-story space gives us room to move in a new ‘hood. We’re lucky that our neighbours include the awesome Jess Hunter Interior Design and her new venture, Form Studio; the flavoursome Il Positino Deli with delights from around the globe, and you can’t miss the delectable Ms Peacock chocolates less than 50m away. We have a little decorating to get organised and then a party 🎈in the new year. Looking forward to showing it off to you!

We turned 4! With the commotion of lockdown, I forgot to tell you we turned 4. We didn’t forget to celebrate though – I did a masked courier delivery to everyone in the team to drop off a personal pavlova and a mini bottle of bubbles. The 5 hour round trip was like a Sunday drive through the countryside and was actually just what the soul needed – a bit of 1:1 time, minutes for some, with each and every single person without another distraction. Happy 4 year anniversary to all 16 of us. 🥂

Last-Minute Gifts – we have you covered. We know how crazy this time of year can be, so here are three great ideas for gifts for everyone.

1. 🍴🍷 Tickets to the Southern Highlands Food & Wine Festival on February 26/27. Boasting a huge range of stallholders and an up-close and personal live workshop lineup of some of the best talents across the country, it’s going to be a big celebration following a 2-year interruption from fires and the c-word. Book yourself into the stunning Berida Hotel and make the most of a short-stay weekend away. 🍴🍷

2. When you need to say thanks and not sure what to get? Thankly has that covered. These are perfectly curated, interesting selection of gifts for all walks of live and budgets. They’re beautifully wrapped and delivered with a handwritten card for that extra touch. So easy! 🎁

3. T-Post. Just what it says on the box. 👕 A t-shirt subscription in the post. You don’t even have to pick the design, just pick the size! The Swedish quirk is that the t-shirt includes a story printed on the inside of the shirt and the front design inspired by that story. Send something in the post every month that isn’t a bill. Now that’s a grand surprise.

4. Fashionista sustainability is alive and well with Pop It On, a brilliant Insta-only recycled fashion offering where some proceeds of sale are then donated to Pop In Southern Highlands (assisting women and children experiencing domestic violence). I’m talking Chanel, Dior, Lee Matthews, Salvatore Ferragamo and Scanlan Theodore to name a few. Get in quick though, these are barely worn (if not brand new) items that are HOT HOT HOT. What’s special about this? A beautiful community member wanting to help Pop In. 🕶️🛍️

Finalist: Most Inclusive Employer

This year we were a finalist in the Local Business Awards for Most Inclusive Employer. I’m thrilled for Banter to be recognised in this way as we have strived from the outset to provide an equal, fair, flexible, and inclusive environment for all our team. This nomination isn’t about a single individual, it’s about everyone. It’s a cracking way to end our year, and if I have just one thing to say about this: not all disabilities can be seen – focus on ability. If you’re ready to really face what inclusion means as an employer, give Nova Employment a call, they have amazing candidates with outstanding skills who just need a chance to shine. Congratulations to all the nominees, and to the winner of the category, Lil Piggy Cafe. 👏👏👏