Turning Customers into Tribes

"Studying geography at Lancaster was amazing. It provided me with a chance to learn about different cultures and the way people live all over the world. During my time at Lancaster, I was lucky enough to go on many field trips which sparked my love for travel.

Soon after graduating, I stumbled across Think Pacific, an organisation that takes volunteers to remote villages in Fiji, South Pacific. After studying all about this part of the world for my course, I jumped at the chance. For the next 3 years, I worked and lived on remote islands across Fiji.

During my time in Fiji, I noticed that the communities were so supportive and everyone made sure you felt so welcome. The Fijian villages are extremely close knit communities where everyone truly looks out for one another. Without the Fijians knowing, their humbling approach to supporting each other is in fact the perfect way community spirit is developed. I wanted to take this Fijian spirit and apply it to marketing, through Bula Marketer - helping businesses develop meaningful relationships with communities around their brand.

I met Nigel on an island the size of a football pitch somewhere in the Pacific Ocean and over the years we’ve taken this Fijian way of life and applied it to marketing. We’ve been able to build passionate communities around brands through marketing that looks after customers as if they were members of a tribe.

Lancaster University allowed me to learn about culture and sparked a passion for travel that I’ve been able to utilise in business. It all started at Lancaster but the journey has only just begun!"