Securing opportunities for Brisbane 2032
You’ve got a leak, who do you call?
Probably not the ‘best’ plumber in Brisbane. You call the one you’ve seen around, the one recommended on the local Facebook feed. The one with the branded vans…the one so and so from across the road mentioned. The one whose name feels familiar.
That simple decision says a lot about how people buy. And it’s exactly why I left a recent Committee for Brisbane webinar on Brisbane 2032 procurement thinking less about procurement and more about marketing.
Dominique Lamb, Director of Community Affairs to the President of Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games joined Jen Williams, CEO of Committee for Brisbane to speak about the opportunities the Games will create for Brisbane businesses of every size. One message stood out to me, obviously because I am a marketer… but of course I am now writing about it because it is important for all of us, to secure opportunities for your business: you need to be visible long before procurement begins.
She also said, “Don’t write yourselves off. This supply chain is very large.”
This just screams opportunity. So, how can you contribute and how will you be visible?
If customers can’t find you, Brisbane 2032 won’t either
One of the biggest misconceptions is that Brisbane 2032 will only benefit major contractors. In reality, opportunities will flow to businesses across hospitality, transport, catering, accommodation, security, landscaping, training, cleaning, signage, printing, technology, professional services and countless other industries. If you can solve a problem, there is likely to be a place for your business.
Being Brisbane based, we naturally think about everything Brisbane will need to deliver the Games. But just as importantly, it is now time to think about everything the international athletes, their nations and support teams will need as they plan their journey to Australia. Training facilities, accommodation, catering, transport, recovery services, meeting spaces and specialist suppliers will all be researched and booked well before they arrive. If your business isn’t easy to find online, it may never even make the list or plan.
The challenge isn’t simply being capable. It’s making sure people know you exist.
Visibility isn’t vanity. It’s commercial strategy.
Psychologists call it the mere exposure effect. Marketing scientists like Prof. Byron Sharp call it mental availability. Different names for similar concepts, that certainly equates to more than just brand awareness. It’s the science of salience, we trust what we recognise, in this case familiarity breeds contentment. Hence why tackling your visibility early is important …
The procurement process for a “world stage” event like Brisbane 2032 may be rigorous, but people are still people, and in this case many of them are actually our people. Meaning, this time it is local. Familiarity reduces perceived risk; it also encourages referral.
Businesses that clearly articulate what they do through their website and consistently demonstrate their expertise with case studies, articles, photography and thought leadership on channels such as LinkedIn are far easier to shortlist. Businesses with identical capability that remain largely invisible often miss out.
Brisbane is a big small town
Anyone who has worked in Brisbane long enough knows someone always knows someone. It might be one of the things we love most about doing business here. People genuinely enjoy making introductions, recommending good businesses and helping others succeed. It’s a big country town in many ways, and those connections matter.
At Focused Marketing, many of our clients have come through word of mouth. Clients recommend us to other clients. Those relationships have become one of our greatest strengths because good people tend to look after each other.
But referrals rarely happen in isolation. They are often reinforced by visibility. Before someone makes an introduction, they’ll usually look at your website, your LinkedIn page or examples of your work. They want confidence that you’ll reflect well on them.
Some of our longest client relationships started simply because we showed up and shared what we knew. A tender workshop Kerri presented for Business South Bank members led to an introduction to Legends Global. Five years later, we’re still working together and love every minute of it. Had we kept that knowledge to ourselves, that opportunity may never have existed.
I see the same behaviour at home. My teenagers discover new cafés, emerging clothing labels, musicians and local businesses almost entirely through social media. Many aren’t household names. They have simply mastered the art of showing up consistently.
It’s a good reminder that visibility creates familiarity and familiarity creates preference. You might be exceptional at what you do, but if people can’t find you, they can’t recommend you. In business, if you don’t show people what you do, they simply won’t know.
Brisbane businesses are incredibly good at backing each other, but if you’re hoping to attract work from interstate or overseas, relationships alone won’t do the heavy lifting. Your website, search visibility and digital presence become your introduction. When someone goes looking for you, can they find enough evidence to confidently put your name forward?
Trust starts long before the tender
Imagine two businesses with twenty years’ experience.
One has an outdated website, old photography and a capability statement that hasn’t been updated since 2018.
The other regularly publishes project stories, shares client wins, updates LinkedIn, showcases its team and has clear evidence of successful delivery.
Which business feels like the safer choice? Not necessarily because they’re better, but because they’ve done more to reduce uncertainty.
You can’t be shortlisted if nobody remembers you.
What becoming ‘games visible’ really means
Marketing readiness in this case isn’t about flashy advertising. It is about making it easy for someone to say yes.
Ask yourself:
- Does our website clearly explain what we do?
- Do we have current case studies?
- Are client testimonials visible?
- Does our SEO work?
- Is our capability statement up to date?
- Could someone understand our expertise in a few minutes?
- Are we sharing knowledge that builds credibility?
- Would a procurement team find evidence that supports our claims?
These are the foundations of trust.
The opportunity is bigger than Brisbane 2032
The Games provide a deadline, but the lesson applies to every business, every day. Visibility influences recruitment, partnerships, referrals, tenders and everyday buying decisions. It influences confidence.
The best businesses don’t always win. The visible ones usually do.
Where to next?
If this article has prompted you to think about how visible your business really is, there are lots of resources on our website. These are a great next step:
- The hidden cost of stop start marketing
- How to write a capability statement that wins attention
- Why every website should prove, not just promise – you have 7 seconds!
- Marketing assets every growing business should have
- How AI search is changing business visibility
- Winning work – buyers often decide before they speak to you
And if you’d like a fresh set of eyes on what you could do to improve your visibility and searchability, we’d love to have a conversation. No hard sell, just a coffee and some practical advice about where your biggest opportunities might be.
This article provides general marketing advice for businesses seeking opportunities arising from projects associated with the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Focused Marketing is not affiliated with, endorsed by or an official partner of the Brisbane 2032 Organising Committee, the International Olympic Committee or the Australian Olympic Committee.
