Now that I have interviewed the key members of the getclosure! team, I’d like to introduce you to some of the other masterminds who have played a significant role in the successes achieved to date.
My first interview is with Catherine from MANGO–OMC who manages all media relations for getclosure! Catherine is a real high-flier and I feel privileged to work with such a creative and driven young woman. She has an endless stream of innovative ideas and has really done wonders for getclosure!
A bit about MANGO-OMC and your role at getclosure!:
1. What inspired you to start up your own business?
I actually started working for myself while I was still studying. I had completed an 11 month internship programme as part of my studies and despite being offered a permanent position, I decided to complete my optional fourth year instead.
It was during this year that one of my old clients, Woolworths Financial Services, contacted me to publish an internal magazine for them. My second client was Top Billing magazine and the third was the Department of Economic Development and Tourism. By this stage I was nearing the completion of my studies and with three clients already in the bag, and a fourth in the pipeline, I decided to keep going.
2. What has been the highlight of your working life so far?
This is a tough one… The fact that I get to stand up each morning, go to work in an environment of my choosing with an amazing team, is a constant highlight. It’s great knowing that the hours and effort I put in are for myself and that what I put in is what I get back.
3. What does OMC stand for and why did you decide to incorporate it in your company’s brand name?
OMC stands for ‘Open Minded Communication’ and I included it because I wasn’t allowed to register only ‘Mango’ as a company name when I initially applied for a CC registration. The ‘OMC’ was actually derived from a business card for a German art gallery. When I spotted the letters ‘OMC’ the first thing that came to mind was open minded communication and the name stuck.
4. Why is the MANGO-OMC team entirely made up of women?
*Laughs* This was never my intention and through the years we have in fact had three male consultants operating under the MANGO-OMC brand working on various projects. Not being a very ‘girly’ girl, I never imagined that I would land up in an office with just women. I’m lucky though because we have a very dynamic team and believe it or not, no office politics! (Touch wood)
I must add that our team is complimented by a number of incredible men including the best print designer, the smartest IT ‘geek’, the best wiki and Wordpress builder and various others who make our day jobs possible. We are currently looking for consultants though and if a guy applies and meets the criteria, he will get the job.
5. What other clients do you service at the moment?
We are currently working on the Rocking the Daisies Music Festival, Shake Interactive, House of Tracy Gold, the City Improvement Districts for Green Point and Oranje-Kloof, PlayUKInternet.com, Apffelstaedt & Associates, Tourism Safety and Support Programme and Autism Western Cape (Jail4Bail campaign).
6. How long have you been working with getclosure! and what role do you play?
We have been working on getclosure! since October 2007 and were initially brought on board to keep getclosure! out of the media! (Strange but true.) getclosure! was then still in its beta phase and wanted to avoid a giant influx of traffic for fear that the system would not be able to cope with the volumes.
Since its launch in February 08 though, things have been going full steam ahead and our primary role is to create awareness – be it through coverage in magazines, newspapers, radio, online etc. – to build the brand, to encourage word of mouth through social media platforms and competitions and to forge media partnerships. We are also very involved with the getclosure! blog and the creation of content as well as in building the getclosure! community.
Lastly we assist getclosure! with both their short and long term strategy as we believe in the company, the service and the people that make it happen.
7. Why did you choose to work with getclosure!?
It felt right. I do a lot of business based on gut feel and after hearing what the service was all about and understanding its potential to affect and effect change, I realised that despite being at capacity in terms of workload, we needed to make a plan and so we did.
8. What are the 5 things that you enjoy most about getclosure!?
- The team. They are truly an inspiring lot and a pleasure to work with. (And no, I did not get paid extra to say that.)
- How, when people realise what the service is all about, they are blown away by it.
- The fact that the service is discreet.
- The simplicity and ease of use.
- The open source mentality.
9. What do you consider to be getclosure!’s greatest achievement to date?
Its ability to maintain an independent and discreet service that disseminates key information about consumer rights and remedies while allowing thousands of consumers and companies alike to get closure on unresolved consumer related issues.
10. What are your goals for getclosure! for the next 6 months?
To continuously spread the word on the getclosure! service, to forge meaningful media partnerships and to continue implementing a fully integrated communication strategy with the view of incorporating a mobile element in the near future.
