John’s Blog

Marketing has gone through a revolution over the last few years and month. It seems like every month a new idea hits the market place. Gone are the days when it was as simple as writing a newspaper advert and the job was done. The retailer of today has to consider the social media, conventional promotions, word of mouth marketing, loyalty schemes and a host of other ideas to develop

One of the things that hits me us as we travel up the west coast of the USA is how much more organised the marketing of markets is compared to most parts of the world. There seems to be a lot more cooperation between markets to build the pie for everyone. Oregon could be classed as one of the homes of the farmers market movement in the USA. The first

Travelling around the world you always pick up at least one new idea in any town. I was in Geraldton in mid West Australia in March working with a group of retailers. They are just opening their first Farmers Market in Geraldton. I discovered the T-shirt shown in the photograph whilst in town. A group of retailers have combined to produce a T-shirt that promotes the town centre and the

A number of you will be aware that I was recently on the Australian TV programme, “Today Tonight”, to present a session on how retailing will change once we get over the discount mode of doing business. If you missed it click here to view. I discussed the fact that I believed “Bundle” retailing would be the new trend for 2009. This technique is venturing into all aspects of retailing

Walk down any High Street in any country over the last few months and I will guarantee you will see discounting taking place. Some retailers are discounting with 50%,70% and 90% discount signs on display to try and survive while others are planning a profitable perceived discount campaign. You may not consider a discount strategy as a means of making more money, but I have just come across an excellent

For those of you who were involved with the Tipster marketing workshop, Jurek mentioned Pride and Passion a tipster web page that has been developed by the tourist board in Scotland. www.prideandpassion.net This is the link to the web page, it promotes local tourist attractions in Scotland.

Over the last few months I have been talking in conferences about retailers using YouTube to develop their own training programmes for customers and staff. Many have put this in the too hard basket. This week The Gardening Channel was launched, a how to TV channel for gardeners. This is an excellent tool and shows the possibilities. Check it out on www.thegardenchannel.tv Other retailers and sectors should be following this

Dr Charlie Hall is the present chairholder of the Ellison Chair in International Floriculture at Texas A & M University in the USA. He has a brilliant blog on marketing trends in the industry that everyone should be aware of. On February 15th he produced an excellent article on ‘Marketing During a Recession’. Under his ‘Making cents of the Green Industry’ column. Click the below link for more information. http://ellisonchair.blogspot.com

I recently attended the West Australian Nuffield scholar report backs from scholars who had travelled the world looking for new ideas in the agricultural sector. One presenter introduced the audience to Beyond Organix, www.beyondorganix.com. This webpage is worth checking out as it takes the discussion on organic food to the next level. What made me take notice of this Fresno, California business is that the priority is nutrition. They actually

I was speaking at a conference recently in the Australian capital, Canberra, and the organisers put me into the Crown Plaza. At first it was like many hotels around the world, until I went to breakfast. On the table was a promotion to inform guests that we were stopping in the first hotel in Australia that had joined the ‘RSPCA Choose Wisely’ initiative. This program ensures that every egg served

Anaconda is an Australian based outdoor store selling clothing, boots and equipment for the various outdoor activities. When you purchase products they ask customers if they would like a 10% discount if they returned on their birthday and purchased something else. They provide a birthday discount certificate to existing customers. This is a simple, but effective promotion to get customers to come back by offering a discount for a one

There is one thing that is certain, shoppers change their shopping habits in a downturn. This is evident when you pick up the daily newspaper up or watch the news and see the bankruptcy of specific retailers. The challenge for many retailers has been to react quickly to a rapidly changing economic climate. We have seen national icon brands suffer as consumers drift towards store brands. Plus large upmarket stores

Retailers are doing it tough around the world, the lessons learned to grow a business in the good times, do not apply to the economic climate of 2009. Having said that, I do believe that retailers who analyse the market and introduce new strategies have something to smile about. The consumers’ attitudes have certainly changed. The “elite of the elite” consumers are probably riding the storm better than most. Research

As many of you will be aware, I am an advocate of Tipster marketing. Whilst driving through the snow in early February in the UK, I discovered other companies building on Tipster concepts. A large billboard from British Airways had a picture of a taxi driver on it, with the quote: “Ask a local what site to visit” and then referred to the BA Website. This is an excellent example

As a society we seem to be in a difficult situation, apart from the recession, the environment is having its impact. It is either snow blizzards in the northern hemisphere of floods and fire down under. The following article came for Saatchi and Saatchi provides a positive insight to the future. In these difficult times it is well worth a read. I hope you enjoy it. http://www.saatchikevin.com/Loyalty_Beyond_Reason_2008/

You see them in Amsterdam at the Airport, on the High Street of Balham, at Westfield Shopping centre in London, Jarlicant Garden Centre in Spain and Hares Hatch Garden Centre in Reading UK. This year full size plastic cows are the “in” thing in Europe. Do not ask me why, but they are appearing in restaurants, airports, farm shops, shopping malls and garden centres.

Many of you have emailed me about the fires in Victoria and what affect it will have on the communities and the retail industry. The best person to answer that is someone who is on the spot. Maree Planner of Grevillea Nurseries is a garden centre owner from the suburbs of Melbourne, this is her report: Hi From Melbourne, Victoria. In the last two weeks Victoria has experienced its hottest

Customer Service is a key ingredient in getting through the tough times. One of our subscribers Murray Barton sent me the following article which I think will be of interest to you. It comes from a supplies back ground which is as equally as important as a retailers view on service. I hope you enjoy the artice. http://www.industryweek.com/articles/dont_forget_your_customer_18347.aspx

Delegates at conferences often ask me who will follow the Gen Y group? A report on Channel Nine in Australia recently revealed the answer, The I Generation (the Internet generation). The under 20’s cannot remember life without the web and believe the world revolves around the computer. They will drive a new way of communicating and shopping. Be prepared.

by Murray Barton http://incommunique.blogspot.com Every-one knows that it is easier to keep an existing customer than it is to get a new one but how far does this thinking go in your business? Have you empowered staff at all levels of your business to think outside of the box in order to keep your existing customers and keep them happy? Especially in the current economic times every customer you don’t