Category listing: Solutions
So you may have heard that this is the week that more men get vasectomies than any other week of the year. From the title of the post, care to take a guess why?This very innovative group of docs up in the NW are capitalizing on a “PROBLEM” and offering a “SOLUTION”. I heard Guy Kawasaki speak on “INNOVATION” (link here . . . not the best presentation in the world, but some real nuggets worth listening to if you have an hour) – he makes a point that real innovation is when a product/service is “unique and of great value to a customer.” I think these docs may have tapped into the challenge of making this oft-feared procedure a little more bearable. If you’re going to be watching the beginning of the NCAA tournament anyway . . . or if you need a reason to do so, maybe they’ve given you a new thought!
If I do catch some games, no peas for me please.
The Retail Doctor’s Makeover 10 Steps to Merchandising
By Bob Phibbs
1 Change your displays monthly.
Holidays and seasons only last so long, and promotional goods have a short shelf life. Display new arrivals first. If you ordered merchandise meant to go together, keep it together. You don’t want its first appearance to be diluted. Later, the few items that may be left can be grouped with new arrivals to give them a new look. If you ordered holiday candles form one vendor, mugs from another, and teas from another, wait for them all to arrive. Don’t put the candles out first as a sole item and lose the potential add-on sale.
2 A customer responds to things they want.
So don’t display the cheap hand mixer when the fancy KitchenAid is what every Emeril wannabe desires. Just because they need a mixer, doesn’t mean they won’t treat themselves to the expensive model if it is displayed well.
3 Look for one thing that makes a group.
All of one product works well in a grocery store, but it is little more than warehousing the items in a retail store. Display by product use — all items related to brewing and drinking tea, for example. Or display by color — the strongest color combinations to attract attention in retail are red, white, and black. Try related or contrasting colors. Our eyes quickly get the point and move on, so never make a monochromatic display.
4 Start with the display area closest to the front door and put your newest and most expensive items in the spotlight.
Be sure to have several levels of height and enough products so that the customer can pick up and touch without having to totally dismantle your display. Don’t ever put up a sign that says DO NOT TOUCH — even in a glass store. You might as well put up a sign that says DO NOT BUY. Displays are supposed to get messed up.
5 Find a totally unrelated item and put it in your display.
It serves as a prop, and its only purpose is to grab your customer’s attention. Add a stuffed toy pig to complete your Kitchenaid display. It is not necessary to add a prop to every display, but the idea should always be there.
6 Light your display like it’s showtime.
Adjust overhead lighting. If you have a particularly dark display with no way to highlight it from above, consider moving it to an existing light source or light form below with small spot lights. Remember, light makes the merchandise pop.
7 Add a few well-placed, well-worded signs.
Make sure they are short and easy to read. If your customers are mostly seniors, make it easy on them by using larger fonts. Handwritten signs with markers are okay for a kid’s lemonade stand, but anywhere else they tend to look amateurish.
8 Move existing displays around in the store when new merchandise comes in.
Since the fairly new products will still be selling, switch your displays two weeks after their arrival. Move one display from the front to the middle of the store and the other from the middle to the back.
9 Monitor your computer print outs and inventory levels weekly.
If something really takes off, be prepared to reorder immediately. If you have sold through your inventory and you have no backstock, change the display to something you have plenty of. If something doesn’t sell, try moving the same display to another location before giving up on it.
10 Make sure all of your stock is priced.
No one wants to have to ask how much something is.
Randy has asked me to weigh in on this past weekend’s Super Bowl Ads. The one ad that I enjoyed the most (and which resonated with those with whom I watched the game) was the Budweiser ad featuring Hank the Clydesdale and the famous Budweiser Dalmatian.
Here’s the ad if you need to watch it again:
I loved this ad for several reasons:
BRAND: It’s hard not to watch an ad on TV and when the famous Clydesdales show up, you immediately think “Budweiser”. These famous horses have produced alot of great commercials, including the famous “Naw, they usually go for 2″ commercial from 1996. To watch it, go here:
EMOTIONS: The music in this ad is great. Of course, the use of the Rocky theme song and the piano ballad at the beginning certainly draw in your emotions. The beginning of the ad has a sense of sadness and “rooting for the rookie” while the middle and end has the famous Rocky theme wanting you to cheer on good ol’ Hank as the also famous Dalmatian cheers him on.
HUMOR: There’s a lot of well-placed humor in this ad that’s not as slapstick as some of the other commercials. Just watching Hank pull the rope while the Dalmatian sits atop a bail of hay. Then watching Hank in the snow as he weaves in and out around the trees (similar to a good Rocky movie)…that is priceless. Of course, it ends with a “high-five” between Hank and the Dalmatian a year later as Hank has earned his spot onto the hitch team. Great humor !
When I read about John Jantsch’s definition of marketing being: GETTING PEOPLE WITH A SPECIFIC NEED OR PROBLEM TO KNOW, LIKE AND TRUST YOU, sometimes that TRUST is built over time as you offer your customers reason to think highly of your brand. This can be done in a million ways (perhaps an idea for a future post!!) I think this ad hits the mark in terms of strengthening their brand! There’s something trustworthy about those Clydesdales . . . makes me want to own one right now!
What are you doing to strengthen YOUR brand?
Are you leaving people with such a strong positive feeling about your name that they leave you compelled to return again AND refer you to their friends?
Are you offering such extraordinary service that your brand sticks out from among the others?
Are you going greater things in the community that people can’t help but take notice?
These are things that strengthen your brand name and you need to be doing them TODAY!
Thanks Randy for letting me guest post!! Those of you reading this should consider contacting Randy if you are interested in achieving this type of success for your organization. As a Duct Tape Marketing Coach, he has the tools and resources to make that happen!
- Donny “The Other Twin” -
