About iplug

What is iplug really about?

If you’ve checked out the rest of our website, then you’ve probably figured it out. We want to make our country a better place to live, and specifically we want all Kiwis to get a better deal.

So the prime reason for this site is simple – let’s support those thousands of Kiwi businesses that are giving it a go; that are doing their best. By regularly Plugging these businesses we create a culture of positive reinforcement that can only result in better customer service. Very simple concept really – we reward the behaviours we want, and by doing so we get more of them.

We would like a see a country where Plugging is so common, that EVERY business and organisation treats EVERY customer as a potential Plugger. We all respond to incentives and businesses are no different – make ‘word-of-mouth’ really work for them, and they will want it. And the only way to get word-of-mouth is to please your customers – and that’s good for all of us.

We also want to provide good business role models for anyone entering business, especially the younger generation. We want these people to understand the association between serving your customers' needs and being rewarded.

We want to show that it is possible to offer real promotional value to our customers at a fraction of the price of other forms of marketing, while giving heaps of $$ back to schools and charities and others who need it, and allow the active promoters of the system a little reward of their own.

But it runs deeper that all of that. Here’s the secret agenda;

Kiwis can be the world’s best supporters, but we can also be the biggest critics when things don’t go so well. We’d do much better if we backed ourselves a bit more, and if we supported those Kiwis that do give it a go. We’d be better off as a country and we’d be happier about who we are as a people.

Let’s be honest – we’ve allowed a culture of blame to develop in this country. The thing is, people who blame make themselves victims, and victims are not winners. We at iplug believe that Kiwis are winners and need to realise it more.

Our contribution is to create a community where good performance is acknowledged and rewarded.

Will you help us please?

iplug was first conceived as a means for smaller businesses to compete with large businesses (with the big budgets) without having to bankrupt themselves on marketing campaigns. It was an unfortunate fact that many good businesses failed because not enough customers knew they were good, while those same customers continued giving their custom to the businesses with the deepest pockets.

The idea that a business could list on a searchable directory and only make it to the top of the searches by being 'good' rather than 'rich' was appealing.

But now we're sure you understand that iplug is much bigger than that...

About iplug specifically

iplug was started by three Kiwis on the Kapiti Coast, New Zealand, in late 2008. Development of the site took the launch date into April 2009 and head office will remain on the beautiful Kapiti Coast forever.

iplug is a New Zealand company and all currency transactions are to be in New Zealand dollars.