Celebrity endorsement helped Radek Sali sell Swisse Multivitamins for $1.7 billion

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Radek Sali knows a thing or two about celebrity endorsement – as the 40 year old, retired CEO Radek Sali of Swisse Multivitamins – a wellness business that sells supplements, skincare and superfoods, he’s used celebrity endorsement as a way to build one of Australia’s biggest brands.

I sat next to Radek recently at a Hawthorn Football Club function, and I was pretty damn excited, as the Swisse brand is one that I’ve admired from a distance for many years.

From it’s high quality packaging, to it’s brand consistency, to it’s relentless celebrity endorsement efforts (think Nicole Kidman, Ellen Degeneres, Ricky Ponting to name a few) and high frequency TV and print advertising schedule, Swisse would have to be one of the most well-known and respected brands in Australia.

Radek started there in 2005 as the Operations Manager, he left there last year as a part owner having sold the business for $1.7 billion! He attributes celebrity endorsement strategy and an honest and meaningful business culture to the brand’s success

Awards won by Radek and his team include BRW’s Most Successful Business of the Year (2012); GQ Businessman of the Year; and in 2016 Ernst & Young’s Young Entrepreneur of the Year (for Pharmaceuticals).

Plus in episode 371 of Australia’s best marketing podcast:

• Resident techspert Dale Beaumont from 52 Ways brings back the GIPH … not the GIMP, the GIPH!
• I share another low cost marketing idea that’ll increase your average dollar amount per sale
• And we go back into The Small Business Big Marketing Show’s vault, revisiting a past interview with the creator of the world’s most viral marketing video

Here’s what caught my attention from chatting with Radek Sali of Swisse Multivitamins:

1. I love the idea that as brand builders we’re part of a Ferrari Formula One crew, and that whatever we’re working on we should be at full throttle, ready for it to all disintegrate once we get to the finish line.
2. “The sky is just the beginning.” – talk about glass half full! Radek is one of the more optimistic people I’ve ever met. I love how he’s always looking for a way to make something work.
3. I loved how he visited his retailers when he first stepped into the business all those years ago. If he hadn’t done that, he wouldn’t have uncovered the celebrity endorsement strategy that Centrim were using so well.
4. I loved his modesty. I mean the guy is responsible or building one of Australia’s most successful brands, he’s made $255M in doing so … but his ego was very in check.
5. I loved the the 3 pillars of premium, proven and aspirational, through which all business decisions were evaluated.

Links & Resources mentioned:

• Swisse Multivitamins website
• Light Warrior website
• Interview with Melissa Coker from the First Kiss video
• The Awesome Upsell Email
• How to use gifs in your marketing

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If something in this episode of Australia’s favourite marketing podcast peaked your interest, please leave your comment below.

This post was provided by marketing speaker Tim Reid who is the host of The Small Business Big Marketing Show, Australia’s #1 marketing podcast, also heard on Virgin Airlines. Subscribe FREE on iTunes or Android.