Retail and the Multi-Channel, Mobile Australian Consumer

By far the biggest impact on retail seen in the last twelve months has been the maturation and genuine arrival of mobile commerce in Australia. And of course when you get a room of 100 clever, on the ball Product Managers in one room together, brainmates Product Bash 2011 was dominated by the influence of mobile commerce on the retail experience. Our panel of Mark Rowland, Co-founder of online shoe retailer Style Tread, Andrew Rechtman, Product Director... Read More

How to Stay Afloat in a Competitive Retail World

As brainmates continue our exploration of the discussion coming from Product Bash 2011, our panel of Mark Rowland, Co-founder of online shoe retailer Style Tread, Andrew Rechtman, Product Director of PayPal Australia and Daniel Roberts, Head of Online for the Woolworths non-food businesses Dan Murphy’s, Big W and Dick Smith, shared their thoughts on “The Internet Super Mall and the Future of Retail”  in relation to how to stay afloat in... Read More

Product Bash 2011: The Future of Retail and Burning Audience Questions

At Product Bash 2011, brainmates asked their panel of Mark Rowland, Co-founder of online shoe retailer Style Tread, Andrew Rechtman, Product Director of PayPal Australia and Daniel Roberts, Head of Online for the Woolworths non-food businesses Dan Murphy’s, Big W and Dick Smith, to put on their best gypsy garb and take a deep longing gaze into the retail product manager’s crystal ball to give their perspective on the future of retail in relation... Read More

Why Do Australians Pay High Prices in Retail?

There is no secret that even as Australia experiences a strong dollar against the US currency, our prices seem extremely high, especially when compared to what we can choose to pay if we shop online from overseas. So why is this the case and how can local retailers manage to compete? The Product Bash panel of Mark Rowland, Co-founder of online shoe retailer Style Tread, Andrew Rechtman, Product Director of PayPal Australia and Daniel Roberts, Head... Read More

Make the customer the centre of your retail experiences

brainmates saw 100 passionate and hungry Product Managers join us at the beautiful Gaffa Gallery in Sydney on the 10th of November, 2011 for the end of year wrap up, Product Bash. This year we tackled the affect of the growth of mobile and online commerce on more traditional forms of retail under the topic heading “The Internet Super Mall and the Future of Retail.” We were very pleased to have join us Mark Rowland, Co-founder of online shoe retailer Style... Read More

brainmates October eMuse

Welcome to October in Product Management! This month, we get ready to take on our second annual Product Bash, get up close and personal with our own Natalie Yan-Chatonsky, and revisit the brainmates contribution to the 42 Rules of Product Management. We ask you to go past product differentiation, find problems worth solving, carve out some think time and get all creative! Are you ready passionate Product Managers? Product Bash #11 – The Internet... Read More

Ten minutes with brainmates Natalie Yan Chatonsky

What lead you to first get into Product Management? My first exposure to launching new products was when I was in business development at Yahoo. When I first started working at Yahoo in the late 90’s (prior to the dot com boom), it was my job to recruit offline big brand retailers to build their first online store through an Yahoo! Australia & New Zealand’s shopping mall. My role was to go out there and talk to retailers about how e-tailing... Read More

brainmates August eMuse!

brainmates – product management people After 7 years of brainmates, we’ve celebrated with a new look eMuse! Let us know what you think via brainmates on Twitter. This month sees brainmates Natalie add a splash and a dash to the Product Management cocktail shaker, we examine Turning Ideas into Business Cases in depth and Adrienne reminds us there is a little bit of Product Manager in us all. Cocktail Recipe for Happy Product Professionals After... Read More

ProductCamp Sydney 2011 Wrap-Up!

What a shift in conversation between Product Camp Sydney 2011 and 2010!  It’s great to see changes in our professional domain, a domain that is largely misunderstood by companies both large and small. Product Managers are starting to speak the same language. The impact of which will be the creation and growth of a baseline of understanding for the Product Management industry. This is exciting news as we can use this foundation as a spring board... Read More

Thanks Partying Product Managers!

Thanks for joining us for Product Bash 2010Dear Partying Product Managers! It was fantastic to see such a great turnout for our first Product Bash and our 8th Product Talk to date. The Topic of Product Excellence proved to be a fertile ground for discussion. The feedback we had during the drinks, post-talk was that the panellists were entertaining and informative with Jane Huxley regularly stealing the show with her wry sense of humour.  We... Read More

Calling all Product Managers!

Join us 11th of November for this year’s Product Bash! If you are a product manager, this invaluable evening will give you panel discussions, networking opportunities, debates and of course fun and festivity as the year wraps up in product management. To attend, head to http://bmproductbash2010.eventbrite.com/ For a sneaky peek at the sexy venue, check out the photos below. See you there! Like my style? Enjoy the content? Contact me if you... Read More

brainmates present Product Bash 2010!

After a successful year of coaching, training, networking and working closely with the product management community, brainmates have decided to launch Product Bash, an end of year celebration and summary of the year that was 2010 in true product management style. Not just any old Christmas Party or end of year booze-up, Product Bash will feature a tailored programme designed to generate discussion, thought and conversation about product management... Read More