Thankyou (company)

Thankyou is an Australian social enterprise. From the sales of its water, body care, and food products, the company donates funds to safe water, hygiene and sanitation programs, and food security programs in 16 countries.[1] The company has gained attention for its use of public lobbying via mainstream and social media in order to influence supermarket retailers to stock their products. Campaigns have led to partnerships with retailers including Coles, Woolworths and Australia Post.[1][2][3]

Thankyou
TypeSocial Enterprise
Founded2008 in Melbourne, Australia
Founders
  • Daniel Flynn
  • Justine Flynn
  • Jarryd Burns
Brands
  • Thankyou Body Care
  • Thankyou Baby
Websitethankyou.co

History

Daniel Flynn, Justine Flynn, and Jarryd Burns created Thankyou in 2008.[4] Production began after an agreement with a factory that provided services at no upfront cost as well as a donation from Visy Industries of 30,000 prototype bottles.[1][4] Distributor Metro Beverage company picked them up shortly after.[4]

In 2013, Thankyou launched lines for body care and food that fund hygiene and sanitation programs as well as food security programs. They rebranded from Thankyou Water to Thankyou and launched the Coles and Woolworths Campaign – a digital marketing and social media campaign targeting Australia's major supermarkets.[5][6][7] In addition to social media efforts, Thankyou had support from the Channel 7 programme Sunrise as well as celebrity endorsements from Chrissie Swan and Jules Lund.[2][8] They also flew helicopters (donated by benefactors) carrying banners over both Coles' Melbourne headquarters and Woolworths' Sydney headquarters with messages thanking the retailers for "changing the world (if you say yes)."[4][8]

In August 2013, it was revealed that Thankyou was giving up to 30 per cent of its profits to Samaritan's Purse – a controversial evangelical Christian organisation that proselytises in developing countries "with the aim of demonstrating God's love and sharing the good news of Jesus Christ".[9] Samaritan's Purse was not a signatory to the code of conduct run by the Australian Council for International Development, which bans aid as a vehicle for promoting religion or political groups and requires financial transparency and auditing. Thankyou Group co-founder and managing director Daniel Flynn also acknowledged the company had ties to the Planetshakers Church. Soon afterwards, Thankyou Group announced that it would no longer support Samaritan's Purse.[10]

In 2014, Daniel Flynn was named Victorian Young Australian of the Year.[11] By 2016, Thankyou raised $3.7 million for projects that have given over 190,000 people access to water, another 300,000 access to hygiene and sanitation, as well as funding 19.1 million days worth of food aid.[12]

In July 2016, the company launched their baby care range which included nappies, body wash and shampoos.[13] In December 2017, Thankyou announced they were ending their food product line.[14] Thankyou expanded into New Zealand in June 2018 with their body care range.[15]

In August 2020, Thankyou announced that they had stopped producing bottled water citing the negative environmental impact of the product as the reason. News.com.au noted that the company has already been gradually withdrawing for the bottled water category for several years due to strong competition from supermarket home brands.[16]

Development work

In 2014, Thankyou launched "Track Your Impact."[17] In April 2015, Thankyou began its first Australian project, The Salvation Army's Hamodava Café in Melbourne CBD.[18] They currently work with, Red Cross, Oxfam, Salvation Army and CARE.[19]

By 2016, Thankyou raised $3.7 million for projects that have given over 190,000 people access to water, another 300,000 access to hygiene and sanitation, as well as funding 19.1 million days worth of food aid, across 17 countries.[4][12]

References
  1. Cannata, Sarah (4 June 2015). "Saying Thank You In the Best Way Possible". Huffington Post. Retrieved 23 February 2016.
  2. Bleby, Michael (17 July 2013). "Thankyou Water takes public aim at Coles, Woolworths with social campaign". Fairfax Media Publications Pty Ltd. Retrieved 23 February 2016.
  3. Richardson, James (23 June 2011). "How Thankyou Water is using Facebook to get stocked at 7-Eleven". Optimising Pty Ltd. Retrieved 23 February 2016.
  4. Kimmorley, Sarah (5 May 2015). "IN GOOD COMPANY: How Thankyou water got the attention of Australia's biggest retailers". Allure Media. Retrieved 23 February 2016.
  5. ""Thankyou Water Muesli"...Whoa. What?". Adnews. 20 June 2014. Retrieved 23 February 2016.
  6. Collins, Ben (17 July 2013). "Thankyou Launched A Campaign To Get Coles And Woolworths To Stock Its New Products Today". Allure Media. Retrieved 23 February 2016.
  7. "Water Startup Thankyou Launch Cole & Woolworths campaign, bring Masterchef finalist in as their Chief Taste Officer!". Startup Daily. 17 July 2013. Retrieved 23 February 2016.
  8. "Thankyou products launched in major supermarkets". Niche Media. 2 August 2013. Retrieved 23 February 2016.
  9. Battersby, Lucy; Holland, Angus (11 August 2013). "Thankyou Water evangelist links revealed". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
  10. Battersby, Lucy (20 August 2013). "Fund-raiser Thankyou Water drops support for evangelical group". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
  11. Boothroyd, Aoife (1 November 2013). "Thankyou founder named Victorian Young Australian of the Year". Cirrus Media. Retrieved 23 February 2016.
  12. "Justine Flynn". ICMI. Retrieved 23 February 2016.
  13. Keating, Eloise (28 July 2016). "Why Thankyou Group is making a play for the baby care market despite the odds being stacked against it". SmartCompany. Archived from the original on 24 December 2020. Retrieved 24 December 2020.
  14. Koehn, Emma (7 December 2017). "Why Thankyou Group is pulling its food range: "It feels hard, but it feels right"". SmartCompany. Archived from the original on 24 December 2020. Retrieved 24 December 2020.
  15. Fletcher, Jack (24 June 2018). "Social enterprise to end extreme poverty launches in New Zealand". Stuff. Archived from the original on 24 December 2020. Retrieved 24 December 2020.
  16. "Thankyou to stop selling bottled water". News.com.au. 12 August 2020. Retrieved 24 December 2020.
  17. Phillips, Campbell (3 April 2014). "Conscientious Commerce: Thankyou Reaches $1M Given". The Media Pad. Retrieved 23 February 2016.
  18. Korssen, Tiffany (28 April 2015). "CHow a visit to The Salvation Army's Hamodava Cafe helped turn Trevor Wulf's life around". News Corp. Retrieved 23 February 2016.
  19. White, Kye (23 June 2014). "Where does the money go? Thankyou wants to track the impact of charity spending". Private Media Pty Ltd. Retrieved 23 February 2016.
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