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BakBalls Awards
BakBalls has won several awards including the Enterprize UQ Business School Competition in 2004 and most recently an award for innovation: BakBalls wins International Innovation Award (Oct 2005).
BakBalls Publicity
Since the release of BakBalls in October 2004, they have received a lot of publicity through national television, magazines and newspapers. Click on the links below to view press coverage BakBalls has received:
The Best Business Idea (Jul 2007)
The Bulletin: Back to the Future (Nov 2005)
Dragon's Den, Channel 7: Episode One (Nov 2005)
Management Today: A Smart Way to Encourage Innovation (Oct 2005)
UQ News Online: UQ Inventor no One-Hit Wonder (May 2005)
The Herald Sun: $100,000 Pat on the Back (Nov 2004)
Queensland Business Review: Back Pain Device Wins $100,000 Prize (Oct 2004)
The History of BakBalls®
BakBalls was born out of a desire to provide people with a device to self-treat their back pain and stiffness at home. As a sufferer of back pain, Mark Alexander (Sports Physiotherapist to the Australian Olympic term) wanted to find a way to relieve his own back pain on a regular basis.
He also wanted a device that would maintain his patients' backs in a healthy condition between treatments. After realising that there were no products on the market that all patients could use to safely treat their backs in the comfort of their own home, the BakBalls concept was born in 2002.
Mark set about designing a device perfectly tailored to the dimensions of the human spine which could be safely used by most back pain sufferers. Throughout 2002-2004 Mark experimented with different designs, manufacturers and prototypes to ensure that the product met the exact anatomical specifications required to effectively treat back conditions and relieve pain and stiffness.
2004 was a big year for BakBalls. In October the company won a prestigious business competition, the University of Queensland Business School’s Enterprize Competition. This provided the capital to start BakBalls production and take the product to market. Winning the competition propelled BakBalls into the limelight with Channel 9’s A Current Affair running the story. On October 28, 2004 the BakBalls story aired nationally to over a million viewers which produced phenomenal interest with over 2 million hits on the website in the week following.
Mark’s vision for the company is to be the most recognisable brand in the world associated with back and neck care.
BakBalls, produced under the parent company BakPhysio Pty Ltd, are now being produced, marketed and distributed worldwide. BakPhysio has a number of revolutionary new back care products in research and development stages all aimed at empowering back pain sufferers to help themselves improve their postures and reduce their pain. Mark takes an active role in the marketing and promotion of the product within the health professional communities and enjoys public speaking and educating the public on how to best care for their spines.
