"Hallmark" Holidays Can Make Your Registers Sing

Calendar Marketing is a strategy that every restaurant and retail owner should consider. This type of marketing is the art of turning annual observances into sales-building promotional events using calendar dates, holidays, events and special days, weeks and months. These ideas will bring an unexpected excitement to your current customer base and in many cases, it will allow you to build a relationship with a neighboring retailer or group giving you access to their customer base which could be potential new customers for you. The biggest benefit to Calendar Marketing is that it allows you to connect with customers and potential customers on an emotion level and in some cases, your restaurant can be a part of family’s annual traditions.

Last week, a colleague went to Jack in the Box for lunch. On his tray, the liner read: Jack’s Cash Card Great For Gift Giving. Below the headline, the liner was sprinkled with at least 50 occasions for giving a Jack Cash card as a gift. As local store marketing idea generators, we love to see this type of promotion inside the store. Especially because they are giving loyal customers usage ideas for the Jack Cash Card, thus generating sales from gift cards all year long – not just at holiday time. But there was one small mistake – the observance date was not listed with the holiday. For example, the liner listed holidays like Best Friend’s Day, Receptionists Day and National Nurses Day. What if you wanted to actually buy your friend a Jack Card and give it to her on Best Friend Day? Unless you take the time to do a little research or google the holiday, you’ll never know when it occurs. And it’s on a tray liner, so after lunch it will go in the trash and the customer won’t think any more about it.
The bottom line is that as marketers we need to make it easy for customers to spend money. And keep messages and information simple. In the words of psychologist Arnold H. Glasgow, “Success is simple. Do what’s right, the right way, at the right time.”

Coffee Giant Takes It To The Streets

On March 15, Starbucks stores around the country treated Americans to a free cup of coffee – deeming it the first-ever National Coffee Break. The company estimated that they would give some 500,000 cups of free coffee during a two-hour window. Since the actual results of this promotion have not been reported, we don’t know if it was a positive experience for existing customers, grabbed the attention on non-users or was a total flop.

But what I do know is that it was a success in terms of local store marketing. For the first time ever, the coffee giant participated in a grass-roots program intended to tug at the heart strings of loyal users – making those people that more loyal. The company also used the Coffee Break to cross sell in-home/in-office brewing merchandise. The sales strategy encompassed an Annual Brewing Sale to showcase grinders, coffee makers, coffee accessories and more. Again, a brilliant way to cross sell/upsell customers and ultimately increasing the overall ticket average that day.

Whether Starbucks is a part of your weekly ritual or not, you’ve got to hand it to them for stepping up and embracing neighborhood marketing. From the job postings on their website, it looks like they are gearing up to not only be the leader in coffee sales, but in grass roots programs as well. Only the future will tell.

A Good Sampling Program Gone Wrong

Many retail companies are executing sampling programs inside the store. As we know, sampling new products to existing customers can be a highly effective sales tool for increasing knowledge of new products, cross selling and ultimately increasing ticket average.

But what happens when a perfectly good sampling program goes wrong?

Recently, I was shopping with a friend who is an avid, if not fanatical, customer of a well-known health and beauty chain. She wanted to stop in to pick up a few items, a quick stop that seemed harmless. After years of shopping with my dear friend, I should’ve known that an innocent “drop” into the store, typically ends up being a 30-minute visit filled with sampling new products and listening to sales pitches on the latest fountain-of-youth remedy. But this trip was a little different. This time, I found myself listening to the sales pitch on the newest line of products. The salesperson told us about the popularity of the line, how he has personally experienced results and that a sample would change our lives. Since my friend is the loyal customer, the salesperson built an instant bond with her – mostly making eye contact with her, leaving me to feel like an appendage rather than a potential customer. As my friend is getting slathered in mushroom-infused topical cream and listening to benefits, I think to myself how I would like to try some too. But to no avail. The salesperson never looks at me and tell me about the new line. And never offers me a sample of the mushroom-infused product.
While I could have requested to give it a try, I was curious to see if he would try to turn me into a believer. That salesperson lost out on an extra $150 in a five-minute period. I was all ready to plunk out my credit card and by the cream and oil. After all, I am in search of the fountain-of-youth too. But since I am not a loyal customer, or even an occasional customer of this chain, I was treated like an outsider. While in the store, they could’ve converted me making me a raving fan. This was an unfortunate missed opportunity. One that can never be reversed.This chain was doing everything right by sampling product, giving key beauty benefits, and making my friend feel good about her purchasing decision. But this is a case of a good sampling program gone wrong. And how many times does this happen at beauty counters, restaurants, clothing stores, and candy shops all around the country every day, hour and minute. Just because one person in a party is a raving fan does not mean that the others in the group should be ignored. In fact, this is a great time to initiate a relationship with potential new customers.

As marketers, we've got to keep our eye on the loyal customer and initiate a relationship with potential customers.