Bradman Foundation Calls up 24 Hour Business Plan for History Making Innings
“The Bradman Foundation is quite a traditional brand. And we wanted to modernise it: we wanted to make ourselves more relevant to new and more diverse audiences. The 24 Hour Business Plan gives you the perfect structure for a very concise and executable plan – I'll be looking to adopt it through my business as well.”
– Andrew Wildblood, Non-Executive Director at Bradman Foundation, and Chief Executive Enterprise and Government at Vocus Communications
The Bradman Foundation, a non-profit charitable trust, was established in 1987 with the full support of Sir Donald Bradman AC to promote cricket as a valuable cultural and sporting force within the community.
"Ultimately, we're celebrating the past and the possibilities of the future through cricket," says Andrew Wildblood, Non-executive Director on the Bradman Foundation board. "I love being on the board because I'm a deeply passionate cricket man. And it gives me an outlet to do good for cricket and continue the legacy of The Don."
Wildblood is also a highly experienced C-level executive who built his career on customer engagement and customer advocacy at Telstra and Vocus, so he's equally passionate about guiding organisations towards bigger market opportunities – all while continually strengthening the base.
"The Bradman Foundation is quite a traditional brand. And we wanted to modernise it: we wanted to make ourselves more relevant to new and more diverse audiences, including domestically and overseas," he explains. "But if we hadn't had the help of the 24 Hour Business Plan we would have been drifting: the 24 Hour Business Plan helped us be really clear about what we are and also what we're not."
Attracting new audiences and supporters
For many years, the Bradman Foundation brand has been firmly tied to a destination: the Bradman Museum in Bowral, established in 1989 alongside the Bradman oval to honour The Don's legacy.
The Bradman Foundation, established two years earlier, was always focused on promoting the playing of cricket 'as it should be played'. The Don's express wish for the Museum was that it 'honour and strengthen the game of cricket and its role was to encourage and inspire the young people of Australia to serve their nation with courage, honour and humility'.
"The Market Context workshop helped us focus on our need to attract new audiences," says Wildwood. "We get 20,000 visitors a year to Bowral but there are millions of cricket fans around the world we need to engage with, so we need to think more globally rather than just being focused on Bowral."
Bradman's legacy includes tertiary scholarships for Australian students who balance cricket and education, as well as supporting several cricket programs in the community, such as the Coverdrive Disability Program and young women's cricket.
During the 24 Hour Business Plan workshops, the Senior Advisors helped the Foundation members think about new ways to support Bradman's legacy, including growing its revenue streams to augment earnings from the Museum and merchandise.
"We realised we need a strong philanthropic arm, so we have to be very clear what we stand for to attract investments," explains Wildblood. "We condensed our thinking to what the brand represents and how we bring it to life. We want to be known as History Making: celebrating the past, the present and the possibilities through cricket."
The team set an audacious goal for the Foundation that bring History Making to life: to be the respected voice of the ongoing history of cricket, whilst creating social cohesion, and doubling investment by 2025.
"The Bradman name is quite iconic," adds Wildblood. "Though young people might see him as a guy who played cricket in the 1920s, 30s and 40s, when they're from the era of T20 and ramp shots – it's a very different cricketing era and we need to reflect that in all our activities."
Sharpening the strategic focus
Diversity of thought is now considered essential on modern boards because it encourages a wealth of ideas and better understanding of broader social responsibilities.
The Bradman Foundation certainly has some big names on its board, including leaders from the worlds of law, tourism, commerce, politics, and sport, and as Wildblood points out, there's no shortage of ideas for what the organisation could do next.
"It's not always easy getting alignment on strategy, especially when you have so many influential and very senior people on a not-for-profit board with so many ideas," he says. "So it was very useful having really experienced people from 24 Hour Business Plan come in and help us develop a new strategy."
Wildblood appreciates how quickly the Senior Advisors from 24 Hour Business Plan corralled the board's ideas to refine a new marketing and new brand strategy for the Bradman Foundation. He believes the big benefit of bringing in C-level leaders from outside the organisation is they draw on their own successes with big brands to challenge the group's thinking:
"They've been there before. They've got scars on their back, they understand how you do it, how you think around it, and then how you execute it," he says. "And that richness of experience just means you get a better outcome quicker. The proudest moment for me was to get a board aligned around a common strategy. The 24 Hour Business Plan gives you the perfect structure for a very concise and executable plan – I'll be looking to adopt it through my business as well."
