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Six Ways Marketers Can Really S.P.R.I.N.G. Forward

Spring seasonWe love spring don’t you? The weather warms up, the sunshine-filled days are longer and we get inspired to revitalize our work and personal lives. To celebrate the arrival of spring, here are six ways to engage consumers and put some spring in your brand’s step.

S = Store Experience

Physical stores are here to stay for a long time but they are no longer the center of the shopping experience. Consumers now use technology such as the Web and mobile apps along with the in-store visit to compare prices, learn about an item’s features and search for what they want. Even so, the popularity of the store visit hasn’t waned so it needs to be a great experience for everyone who enters.

For a look at the future of retail from Deloitte and STORES Media click here.

P = Personal Involvement

Consumers are human so they take things personally. Whether it’s the foods they eat, the cars they drive, the homes they live in or the clothes they wear, our purchases reflect who we are. Brand marketers must understand what makes their customers tick and demonstrate a personal connection with them so they become loyal customers.

R = Relationship Building

Just like people, every local community has its own personality. Marketers can build strong relationships with consumers by demonstrating an interest in improving the fabric of the local community. Our Fuse4Community program helps marketers achieve this goal by working with and leveraging the resources of nonprofit organizations for mutual benefit.

I = Involve Consumers

We are in the Age of the Consumer. Influence has shifted from manufacturers to consumers. Take a few minutes to watch this video where a Dean from The School of Business and Technology at FIT explains this important change.

N = News Coverage

Getting a brand featured in traditional news media is still a valuable communications goal for any marketer. However, today there are dozens of niche blogs, online outlets and many social media platforms which allow brands and companies opportunities to tell their story and engage with target consumers. It’s now much easier to connect with your target audiences and industry influencers in two-way conversations due to the proliferation of new media opportunities.    

G = Give Back

It’s good for a company to give back. Consumers will notice and will support those companies that do. Donna Karan explained her belief in and practice of conscious consumerism when she spoke in January at the National Retail Federation’s BIG Show. She urges retailers to do their part to make a difference.

Evidently this idea also applies to individuals who work for companies and is discussed in length in a recent story penned by Susan Dominus in The New York Times Magazine. Adam Grant is the youngest-tenured and highest-rated professor at Wharton who has written a new book based on his research called, “Give and Take.” His work in the field of organizational psychology suggests that the more individuals give back of their time and energy to help others, the more they and the companies they work for will reap the benefits. You can read the story here.

Happy Spring!

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Is Brick-and-Mortar Yesterday’s Retailing Model? Obviously not.

People shopping in a retail mallBefore you know it spring will arrive and along with colorful flowers new stores will sprout welcoming customers who want to shop in person. For a myriad of reasons shopping offline hasn’t lost its appeal among today’s consumers. When referring to the increase of Web retailers opening stores, Sucharita Mulpuru, an analyst at Forrester Research says in The New York Times:

“Well over 90 percent of sales still happen in physical stores, so there is a huge, compelling reason to think about the physical store as a driver of sales.”

The word has evidently gotten out!

Those that have been selling their wares exclusively online like the Gap’s Piperlime, men’s apparel brand Bonobos (which starting selling at select Nordstrom’s last year) and the eyeglass company Warby Parker, have already or soon will open their own bricks-and-mortar locations. Bonobos’ decision to build physical stores and their Guideshops are explained in the New York Times story cited above.

A retail partnership will bloom in March when the Canadian apparel brand Joe Fresh opens nearly 700 shops within JC Penney department stores across the U.S. Known for its brightly colored clothing at affordable prices for men, women and children, Joe Fresh already operates six stand-alone stores in New York and New Jersey.

Retailing has become a multi-faceted business where it’s necessary to interact with customers face-to-face in addition to doing so via e-commerce websites to build strong brand loyalty and repeat business. This is clearly evident in our neighborhood.

We are located equidistant between New York City and Philadelphia, where the Quaker Bridge Mall has undergone a major transformation. It added 25 new retailers last year, four new ones (Bachrach, Vans, Lush and Bebe) will open by this summer and others are expected to be announced this year. One new addition is the high-end retailer Michael Kors which plans to open about 40 stores in North America this year. The Princeton MarketFair mall located a few miles away has also been adding stores and new restaurants.

Airport terminals now feature a variety of shops beyond fast-food restaurants in their food courts or kiosks selling souvenirs. A businessman can conveniently pick up a suit or tie he may have forgotten to pack for a meeting and a working parent can return home with a birthday gift she bought while waiting for her flight to board.

This is an exciting time for retailers and consumers alike as companies are reinventing themselves by forming partnerships, opening in unlikely locations and entering new markets to meet the needs of consumers wherever and whenever they have the urge to shop.

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Giving Back With The “Three T’s”

Fall for Comedy Show and Gift RaffleAny marketer is familiar with the four P’s: product, price, place and promotion but how about the three T’s? A friend of mine holds leadership roles at various local nonprofits and recently said that when it comes to philanthropic endeavors there’s three things we can offer – our time, talent or treasure (i.e.$).

I hadn’t heard that before and was glad to read about the first ever “Giving Tuesday” held on November 27, 2012. The campaign encourages ways to give back and volunteer kicking-off at the start of the annual holiday season. Word spread on Twitter with the hashtag #GivingTuesday.

The idea started with New York’s 92 Y along with its co-creator the United Nations Foundation. They got other influential founding partners involved which in turn motivated more than 2,000 nonprofits, companies and individual stores to participate.

This year I personally gave of my time and talent to help a nonprofit that I’m a member of by planning, chairing and helping to publicize an event that was open to members and the public. My friend Doug is a professional comic and I had seen him perform a very funny routine at a local coffeehouse so I suggested we plan a comedy night in the fall. Everyone loved the idea. We hoped to make a profit to off-set the comedy night’s costs and help fund activities we hold to aid needy families in central New Jersey.

I named the event “Fall for Comedy” Show & Gift Raffle to resonate with prospective ticket buyers and the media. Our planning began over the summer. The show featured Doug and two other fellow comics, Harris and Robin, who regularly perform at comedy clubs in the New York metropolitan area. We kept the cost relatively low at $25 per person in advance and $30 at the door, including dessert; and also organized a gift raffle featuring prizes donated by two dozen local businesses and organizations.

A dedicated, talented group of volunteers stepped-up to solicit donations and raffle prizes, design the flyer, buy decorations and refreshments, send email blasts, garner publicity, set-up the room prior to the event, work at the event and do many other tasks. Lucky for us, the volunteer who designed the attractive flyer above is the Creative Director of an Ivy League university in town.

Considering that the event was held in mid-November in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, I was relieved and glad we obtained print and online media coverage, all went smoothly and it was a success. Everyone had a great time and we made a nice profit.

Here’s to a joyful and meaningful holiday season and Happy New Year for you and your families.

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10 Tips for Glowing Media Coverage

Halloween Jack-o'-lanternsA favorite Halloween pastime for many families is carving out pumpkins and illuminating them to create beautiful, unusual Jack-o’-lanterns.

We’ve done some carving of a different sort by crafting 10 tips marketers can use to help tell their brand’s story so it glows and engages their audiences.

Just as Jack-o’-lanterns are one aspect of Halloween fun in addition to costume parties and trick-or-treating, garnering media coverage is one effective “tool” in a marketer’s toolbox to reach influencers and consumers. The tips listed below comprise a brief guide.  Each one has to be considered in conjunction with the strategy and objectives of the specific communications program.

 

  • Identify the media spokesperson and make sure they are prepared for the interviews. Options include: the CEO or company founder, a company expert, a celebrity, an author, chef or lifestyle guru.
  • Think like a journalist and answer why should his or her readers/viewers/listeners care? Communicate what’s newsworthy, special or beneficial about your brand’s story.
  • Consider partnering with a nonprofit on a cause-related program that helps those in need.
  • Inquire if satisfied customers who have benefited from your brand or service would agree to discuss their experience during media interviews.
  • If given a choice, pick an optimal location for the interview. Will it be conducted in an office, at a trade show, an event, or in a studio? Perhaps there’s another setting that would provide the best visuals, authenticity and news value.
  • Communicate how the product or service will benefit consumers, the environment, the education system or another important social sector.
  • Find out what trends are happening in your space to which your product or service contributes.
  • Align your brand or service with an upcoming holiday, season or annual community event.  
  • Research and investigate prospective speaking opportunities for the spokespeople at events where the media will be invited.
  • Produce and provide video or images to supplement interviews designed for different platforms such as TV, the internet or mobile devices.

In the case studies section of our website you’ll find several examples of media coverage we’ve arranged on behalf of clients which illustrate the points made above.

Do you have any other tips to add?  We’d love to hear from you!

{Image by Daniel Troutman; iStock photo}

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Social Consciousness = Good Business for 2013

As summer turns into fall and you focus on business planning for 2013, are programs that help the communities in which you do business included? If not, they should be.

According to a recent Nielsen study when a company becomes socially conscious it helps the bottom line. Almost half of global online consumers who responded to the survey said they’d be willing to pay more for goods and services from companies that are giving back. You can read about it here.

This is not a new concept. The Body Shop, Starbucks Coffee and Kenneth Cole are just a few examples of companies which have successfully incorporated social responsibility into their culture.

We’ve worked on many cause marketing types of projects over the years. The thing is that now more than ever, socially responsible products resonate with consumers both young and older. People are opting for brands and services that are making a difference and are also choosing to work at firms that give back.  As explained in this AP story, more baby boomers aspire to careers that provide meaningful work or they are including a social purpose into their own entrepreneurial companies.

I’ve recently read about two new interesting initiatives scheduled for this month and next which are designed to engage consumers and do good on the local level. They are highlighted below:

One new initiative to help feed hungry Americans this fall is Run 10 Feed 10. The partners are Unilever, Women’s Health magazine, The FEED Foundation and Crowdrise as reported in The New York Times this summer.  Each person who registers to run in races to be held in New York and 10 other cities from September 23 through October 13, will help feed those in need in the runner’s local community.

Another is from the American clothing retailer Eileen Fisher which is committed to social purpose and invests in women’s issues by supporting various nonprofits. This weekend, on Saturday, September 15, Eileen Fisher will hold a LIVE LIFE LOCAL event at 175 local specialty stores with a portion of the proceeds benefiting Girl Talk, a national peer-to-peer mentoring program.

So by working up a sweat during a 10K or with the purchase of a new fall sweater we can help others thanks to these worthwhile partnerships – it’s all good!

 

{image by Ben Hung; iStockphoto}