Appco Group Product Owners meeting

The Appco Group Product Owners meeting, held recently at the Four Seasons Hotel, Canary Wharf, London, proved to be a was a successful forum for strategic initiatives.

Attended by Marketing Company Owners affiliated with the Appco Group, the Product Owners meeting sought to address business challenges and divisional issues. The Company's Senior Management made sure that it was an interactive day filled with motivational discussions. The day started off with an encouraging introduction from the Chairman Chris Niarchos, who talked in favour of having open discussions. He even proved this by stopping at intervals during his introductory speech to allow others to talk, making it more of an interactive thing. Lots of things were discussed including New Initiatives, Media Issues, the success of the Nationally Recognised Qualifications Scheme and a Business Development Update and it was Appco Group Managing Director Mike Blane who led the whole show.

"The quality initiatives and sales training initiatives established three months ago had a huge effect on the business. Sales, conversion rates and averages all went up by 25% across all divisions. We established a benchmark and the meeting allowed us to elaborate upon it so that it can be followed by the same astounding results in 2011. It was an astonishingly successful day and everyone should be congratulated for a job well done!” says Chris Niarchos, Appco Group Chairman about the Product Owners meeting.

Appco Group Rest and Relaxation week held

The Appco Group Rest and Relaxation week, an annual eagerly-awaited event, was held recently in Hamilton Island, Australia. The R&R week was attended by more than 300 delegates and this included Senior Executives, VPs, Product Owners, Organizational Heads, Assistant Owners, Team Managers, Administrators, and Support Staff.

The Appco R&R meet proved beneficial for all as they not only got the chance to interact and exchange ideas, but also to discuss a lots of things including divisional structure, improvement of training techniques, recruitment and retention, travel schedules, the 2011 meeting and event calendar. They also talked about the key strategies to take Australia and New Zealand forward. They also discussed success stories and strategies in the face of changing environment and consumer habits and needs. The event was led by Appco Group Chairman and Founder Chris Niarchos and Vice President Shane Ward while Country Head of Greece Howie Seymour, Vice President Asia and Country Head of Malaysia James Greaves and Vice President Tony Fernandez were the special guests.

The Appco Group Rest and Relaxation week also provided participants an opportunity to relax at an outdoor cocktail party and a group gala dinner that were part of the event.

Appco Group plans expansion into more countries

Even as Appco Group Singapore goes great in the direct marketing sector, the Appco Group of Companies, with an impressive global presence already, is all set for further expansion, worldwide.

It was at the recent meet of the company's Board of Directors and Senior Executives, held at the luxurious Hilton Vilamoura resort in Portugal, that the scope for further expansion was discussed. Potential new locations and plans were discussed in detail.

Appco Group, which does business in 25 countries, has already had country launches in Brazil, America and Russia this year. So now, it's on to newer locations. This is what company sources state about the expansion plans: “We have grown from being in one country, Australia, 23 years ago, to the massive global reach we now enjoy across 25 countries. If we want to expand into even more new territories going forward then we need to adapt. It is not enough that we are a world-leading direct marketing company- if we want to continue to thrive then we need to maintain standards as we grow. That is why we are investing our infrastructure, developing initiatives to provide the best possible support to the Field Representatives who are associated to our network, and taking steps to ensure that we continue to deliver the best possible customer service to our clients."

Appco Group no doubt is evolving into the real international direct marketing phenomenon.

Appco Group supports International Fundraising Congress

Even as Appco Group Singapore makes advances in the fund-raising sector, Appco Group makes news by supporting the 30th International Fundraising Congress (IFC), by being sponsors to the event.

IFC, started in 1981, is now the world's leading conference on fundraising. Attracting around 900 participants from over 55 countries, the IFC provides learning and networking opportunities as regards fund-raising. Appco Group sponsored the 30th IFC, held recently at the NH Leeuwenhorst Hotel in The Netherlands, not just by giving financial support but also by representing at the event its charity partners and discussing how fundraising as a sector can benefit from direct marketing. The company made its presence felt in all the different sessions, including the Masterclass programme and the Core Programme. (The four-day Masterclass programme featured talks on fundraising strategy, team leadership and digital communication while the three day Core programme comprised of shorter workshops and sessions engineered to motivate attendants with their energetic pace and wealth of insights.)

Appco Group is thus proving to be a real inspiration to many other direct marketing companies and also to people who want to contribute to great causes.