marketing

This is a copy of the artwork we have developed for for Father’s Day for our four Sophie Randall card and gift shops in Melbourne.  We do not use collateral from card companies other than header cards – hence the need to create our own seasonal pitch.  Father’s Day tends to be promoted with a more traditional look than other seasons.  We wanted something lighter but still emotive.  For those interested, we did the artwork in house and paid $6.00 a poster to have them professionally printed on think card.

Click here for a copy of the July newsletter for our Sophie Randall gift shops.  We have these available in front of the shops and we mail them to our database.  There is a correlation between what we promote in the newsletter and sales.

I am surprised more newsagents don’t produce newsletters and have them available from the front of the newsagency.  We have excellent traffic – shopping or passing by.  Every opportunity ought to be taken to leverage this.

At Sophie, we buy products in specifically to be promoted through the newsletter.  This month, it is the four books we feature.  These are high margin items for us yet still priced competitively.  We look for deals two months or more out.  They must meet demographic, pricing and margin criteria.

The posters we have placed in the malls, away from our shops at Frankston and Forest Hill are working for us.  In both stores, customers have mentioned the posters when buying ink from us.  We have posters on display around each centre – the centres provided the space without cost, we provided the posters themselves.  The same collateral is also on display at the websites for each centre.  Plus, we have flyers on display at customer service booths and material included in newsletters sent out by centre management to their database.  We were careful to craft a compelling call-to-action message targeted at the shopper.  As I noted, this campaign is working, customers are buying ink as a result!

Our landlord has given us free lightbox space in the centre at Forest Hill Chase for large format posters.  We are using these this month to connect with our ink offer.  The posters promote saving money and brands – the two most important messages when it comes to driving ink sales.  Given that our HOT Ink! brochures hit homes around the centre last week, the placement of the posters is timely.  Our only cost has been in creating the artwork and having the posters printed.

A florist in Frankston gives us a nice flower arrangement in the lead up to Mother’s Day to promote their business and provide one lucky customer with a fresh arrangement for their mum.  I like that this promotion supports a business in our centre, gives our customers a winning opportunity and brightens the shop for a couple of weeks.

I’d note that this is not our initiative, it started long before we bought the business.  We’re happy to maintain the tradition.

On a rainy day last week, our team at Forest Hill setup this display near our photocopier. I like it because it guides customers to a purchase for a purpose, especially if it is raining outside. It also brings together products from several categories: kids magazines, craft products and activity books. In most cases, the items promoted are usually located further away from the main traffic area of the shop.  The only item I’d add if we carried them would be an umbrella.