 |
directories | store design | education | calendar |
| articles | resources | mccurry | contact us |
|
|
McCurry Associates Marketing Idea Exchange ArchivesVolume 51 - July 17, 2003
Idea #1 - Successful Portrait "Sitting" In The
Park I live in a nice small town with a beautiful park. Instead of doing my usual in store beach theme portraits this year, we are advertising Photos at the Park. We will shot short rolls of film and take them to the lab (my store is close by) and process them, let the customer come by within the hour, look at their proofs and then order a package of 1 8x10, 2 5x7, and 8 wallets for twenty-five dollars. This puts me outdoors where a lot of others people are and children are not fussy because they are doing what they like best, being outside. P.S. We print the packages while the customers wait. Works great.
Idea #2 - Tent Sales For Fun and Profit Among of the consistently successful events we have each year are our Annual Tent Sale events. We have two of these events each year at two of our store locations, one in the spring and one in the fall over a two-day weekend. These events have really picked up momentum since our customers have begun to look forward to them and ask about then the last several years. This event is an opportunity to sell merchandise that is old, discontinued, scratched, dented etc., at ridiculously low prices. The way we turn this into a profitable event is by making special buys on other products that we retain good margins on, and create an exciting "carnival" atmosphere that entices customers to buy. Some of the older merchandise is actually sold below cost, simply to turn old dead inventory that may still be in the stores. The tent in our parking lot makes it really hard to miss that there is an event going on, and we post large banners on the building two weeks prior to the event, to notify customers, stuff photofinishing envelopes with information about the upcoming event, have in store signage at all our store locations, and newspaper advertising the week of the event. We have kids' attractions such as a "castle jumper" to keep the kids occupied while the parents are shopping, and offer sodas and ice cream bars for the customers. We have door prizes every half hour, (for which you have to be present to win) to keep customers around longer, and further enhance the carnival atmosphere. Typically, the sales for a "Tent Sale" weekend are four to five times the average weekend's sales. Overall, one of the best promotional events for the company!
Idea #3 - Big Summertime Promotion In June of 2002, we inaugurated our 1st Annual Summer Celebration Sale. We wanted to see what we could do different to market a sale, as well as photography, at the same time. This sale runs the second week of June, and lasts 10 days. We run a four color, full page ad on the first Friday and Sunday of the sale, and a full page color ad on the second Friday. We run full page ads not only for their impact, but because of all the information we need to inform the customer about. We hold a Summer Celebration drawing at each of our five locations, with prizes including Twins baseball tickets, Bushnell binoculars, Minnesota Zoo passes, county park passes, and a grand prize of $300 National Camera Shopping Spree. We offer free giveaways to the first 50 customers on Friday, Saturday and Sunday on both sale weekends. These are small gifts, which might include a 4x6 photo album, a brushed metal magnetic frame or a free processing coupon. We also offer a free seminar class on "Is a Digital Camera Right for You?" on both weekends at each store. These classes average ten customers per store per class, and are well received by customers who are confused about what type of camera to buy. We emphasize selling digital products in our ads, and have manufacturers "digital demos" from Canon and Olympus on both weekends. For the kids, we give away free balloons on both weekends, and hold a special "Kids Wildlife Photo Contest" for children 12 and under. Winners receive single use cameras and passes to the Minnesota Zoo. We then display the winners at all our stores. For the adults, we hold a "Minnesota Best" photo contest in which the photographers try to show what they like best about Minnesota Summers. Prizes include a Nikon Coolpix 3100, a Bushnell Natureview Binocular and a $50 Photofinishing Certificate from National Camera. So was all the work worth the effort? I asked that same question as we planned this sales event, and I had my doubts. But in our first two years of the sale, sales increased for the 10 day period by an average of 15%. And this in one of our busiest times outside of the holiday season. In fact, this year, on our opening Friday, we had an all time record sales day (outside of December), and increased sales by 37%! In addition, we sold over 200 digital cameras and 16 digital SLR's on our opening weekend this year. The bottom line---------customers still respond to event marketing, and the sizzle is still just as important as the steak. If anyone has any further questions about this sale, feel free to e-mail me at mikel@natcam.com.
Idea # 7 - Hear Dr Glenn Omura - and Bill McCurry - - - a double header at the Great Lakes PMA Division Meeting at the beautiful and historic Dearborn Inn, Dearborn, MI on July 25 and 26. This PMA Division is a switched on group that doesn't slow down . . . they warmly welcome new comers.
Launch your digital marketing into higher gear - get to Dearborn July 25/26 - More info: PMA Division Activities: (800) 762-9287 x205 -
or -
|
