Posts Tagged ‘marketing’

A reminder that on January 27, I’ll be hosting the first edition of the FIR Book Club.

This is an outgrowth of my position of Book Reviews Editor for the wonderful podcast For Immediate  Release, created by Shel Holtz and Neville Hobson.

In a quick 30 minutes, we’ll have a chat with an author and a call-in so that you can ask the author questions.

Our first guest on the FIR Book Club will be Christopher Barger, author of the new book “The Social Media Strategist.”

Join us on Blog Talk Radio on the 27th.

And two other book-related notes:

1. If you have a book you would like to hear reviewed — or if you’d like to do a review yourself! — get in touch and tell me about the title.
2. If you’re interested in being a guest reviewer, let me know what book you’re thinking about. In the past, we’ve had folks like Shel and the mellifluous Donna Papacosta do reviews. More voices are better.
3. If you’re a book publicist or an author of a book that is related to public relations, social media, communications, marketing — get in touch with me. I’d like to hear about your book and perhaps review it.

It’s a little surprising (maybe not very surprising, actually) that I don’t hear very often from authors or publishing companies asking me to review books. Try me.

I was watching my local newscast the other night when I watched a story about a local — and legendary — butcher shop.

Aubrey’s Meats is over 100 years old, and located in the Byward Market, one of Ottawa’s oldest areas. This may be one of its problems, actually. The Market, as it’s known to us Ottawans, is usually packed with a combination of tourists in search of the right tchotchke to take home to a coworker or maiden aunt and young revelers heading to The Heart and Crown or the Chateau Lafayette to get their drink on. If I’m gonna buy some steaks or a nice roast for the grill I’m not going to head to the Market.

But I digress. Aubrey’s Meats, according to its own “About” page, found itself in a serious bit of difficulty recently. The death of its owner and his declining health meant employees were running the shop. And not too well.

…in December 2010, Catherine Davis, the store’s bookkeeper, was made ad-hoc manager of Aubrey’s. When she took over, certain employees had run our store, between rent to the city and money owed to the suppliers, into a debt in excess of $300,000. Though it didn’t appear so, Aubrey’s was a sinking ship that some might not have tried to save. Out of a respect for Brian and his work, and an undying faith in this store’s potential, Catherine set about to keep Aubrey’s afloat.

So they were in trouble. Like some on a sinking ship, they grasped at anything that looked like it might help them float. And what they grabbed were Groupon and Kahoot.

They embarked on a number of different offers. One offered $200 in value for $89. They sold over 1000 of those. They offered others at $55 for $175 worth of meat. They sold thousands of those.

HANDLE WITH CARE

The hammer started to fall for the people running Aubrey’s when they realized that they couldn’t fulfil all the orders placed. So they limited it to redeeming $50 worth of meat at a time. Now they’ve suspended all redemptions until May 1.

What went wrong here? I think it should be obvious. The cash crunch they found themselves in made them decide to try this for an immediate cash infusion (even though they only get a portion of the revenue — according to the butcher who is the spokesperson for Aubrey’s right now, each $55 coupon resulted in $24 in revenue to Aubrey’s). But they didn’t look even one step down the road to figure out what to do if they SUCCEEDED with the offers. I feel for Aubrey’s employees. It sounds like they’re in a tight spot. But they’ve done themselves no favours by pursuing this strategy.

The companies which marketed their deals? I’d wager that they’re in no way suffering the way Aubrey’s is.

This isn’t a new story. Others, including my buddy Anne Weiskopf, have written about some of the challenges of managing daily deal sites for small businesses. Don’t just dive in. Think about the risks AND the potential benefits. If you’re new to doing that sort of thing, get advice. And if you’re considering a daily coupon site, you need to not only ask what will happen if your offer goes nowhere, you need to  think VERY carefully about what the implications of SUCCESS will be. Dying of popularity is not any better than dying of neglect. 

___

UPDATE, January 23: Three of the four companies which issued coupons for Aubrey’s meats are refunding those coupons, according to CBC Ottawa. Those are: Team Buy, DealFind and Groupon. CBC is reporting that Ottawa-based company Kahoot told its customers:

“We have been made aware of these unfortunate circumstances regarding Aubrey’s. Unfortunately we are unable to refund vouchers outside of seven days after purchase. If interested in a refund, we suggest going directly to Aubrey’s as they are now liable for their commitment to honour all vouchers sold.”

I wonder if Kahoot has thought about the several thousand people who bought through them rather than another of the coupon sites, and how likely they are to return to Kahoot to purchase.

UPDATE, JANUARY 24: I’ve asked Kahoot a couple of questions:

1. Can you provide the statement sent to customers who purchased Kahoot deals for Aubrey’s?
2. Is Kahoot concerned that its decision to not refund coupons will cost it brand loyalty when compared to the decisions of Teambuy, DealFind and Groupon to refund the coupons?

I’m hoping for a reply more substantive than this one from them:

Just 3 more and I get one free!

The Consumerist is one of my must-read blogs. But I don’t necessarily read it for solid marketing and communications advice. Until this morning, when I opened up my feed reader and found a post called “The Silly Hat Shop.”

It reminded me of a cool furniture store in my neighbourhood in Ottawa. They sell the sort of furniture that funky condos would have, as well as custom design services for furniture.

On their door, they trumpet that they’re on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. What’s that mean? For Twitter, they’ve posted 76 tweets in two years, with less than 50 followers. Most of those tweets are for sales on their products. On Facebook, a page with 133 friends and an unending series of sales. And on LinkedIn? Well, they have some employees there.

What does their online presence say to me? I’m NEVER buying full price from them, and they aren’t that different from a Leon’s, a “The Brick”, or other furniture stores.  In short, Ben Popken needed a hat and bought one at a new hat store. They then subjected him to a variety of marketing and loyalty techniques that, in his opinion and mine, don’t fit a hat shop. A frequent buyer card? Really?

I’d also wager that neither the hat shop nor the furniture store have put a second of thought into how they are going to evaluate the success of their frequent buyer club or their Twitter account.

Being a great buyer / retailer of hats, of furniture, of whatever, does not make you a great communicator of what you’re REALLY all about. If you sell great funky furniture that deserves premium treatment — and prices — why not treat it that way? And act as if you’re a trusted advisor rather than a salesman? If you sell hats, don’t treat them like they’re a cappuccino.

And if you can’t think this through because you’re too close to your store, too much in love with what you do — hire someone with a clear vision and trust their insights to do it for you.

(Photo CC licenced from Flickr user Slimmer_Jimmer)

Saw a chart today from Silicon Alley Insider:

There was something about the reported result that 21 per cent of consumers said they subscribed to the local paper mainly for coupons that made me go “hmmm.”

Apparently, coupons are growing (at least in the US — I can’t quickly find Canadian statistics). US coupon company Valassis had some interesting numbers in a report (registration required):

• In the first half of 2011, US companies distributed 167 billion coupons — that was down from 2010, but apparently up from 2008 and 2009
• Almost 90% of those are distributed either through inserts in newspapers or by direct mail
• Digital coupons are growing at a faster rate than traditional coupons

• Is there a value in unredeemed coupons — even if I don’t clip and use a coupon, does it offer some value as an ad?
• Is this a rate of return that businesses are really happy with?
• Are tools like Groupon and their competition any better?
• Do the numbers on coupon redemption suggest that there’s something wrong with the survey charted above?

Help me understand this, will ya?

There have been some stories in my local media about the closing of an old-school men’s clothing store in downtown Ottawa. 

G.L. Myles has been around for more than 90 years, and the current owner’s been there for more than 40, apparently. The store has provided clothes for lots of Prime Ministers and Governors-General, and apparently did a big trade in uniforms. The store also provides silk robes for Supreme Court Justices and less ostentatious ones for lawyers.

But, the owner told one reporter, men just aren’t wearing suits as much as they used to. He reminisces about top hats and white gloves, and about how nobody tied a bow tie like Lester B. Pearson (Pearson was a Nobel Peace Prize winner, a Prime Minister, and died 38 years ago). And on top of everything, he’s 67, and he’s got prostate cancer. (You’ve probably guessed that he doesn’t have a web site, or, as far as I know, an e-mail address.)

As I was listening, and then as I happened to walk past the store, its windows filled with “LIQUIDATION! CLOSING SALE!” signs, I thought about his reminiscences.

So there must have been a point before October 2010 when the owner thought to himself “Geez, men aren’t buying top hats any more. The silk ascots are not moving the way they used to (he really does / did sell ascots). This isn’t good.”

And at that point — or points, because he had to have thought it more than once — he had a choice. He could have changed his inventory. He could have moved from his location on a downtown Ottawa street where I’m sure the rent is prodigious.

Another men’s wear store in Ottawa, E.R. Fisher, has been around for even longer than Myles. They seem to be doing OK. They sell formal wear. They still provide uniforms, I think. And they sell corduroy pants, wool sweaters, and casual shirts. They’re not cheap — by no means in TipTop or Moores terrritory. But they seem to have a market.

To get all Seth Godin on you, we all make choices every day in our business lives. We do the right thing or the wrong thing, or we avoid making the decision at all. The owner of this store decided to reminisce about the days of men buying top hats and spats rather than actually choosing to sell stuff that people want to buy now.

Am I doing that? Are you? It’s a question worth asking, and answering honestly. Because time is not on your side. Or mine.