Fasten your seatbelt

In the words of the late great Bette Davis “Fasten your seatbelt. It’s going to be a bumpy night!"

Yes 2011 has been yet another rollercoaster of a year, we may be officially out of recession but times continue to be incredibly tough for both business and households alike. Many sectors especially retail are finding this year perhaps their greatest challenge yet. Whilst the media update us daily on the bad news they are also quick to point out that for some the economy is doing well with the much vaunted Staycation being heralded as the saving grace of the tourism industry. So which is it - Boom or Bust?

As we have moved into the traditional holiday season the word Staycation has come back into use again. So is the term Staycation just a fashionable hype that the media love to use to make everyone feel better? Certainly for some sectors of the tourism industry such as Camping and Caravanning the last few years have seen significant increases in business as customers have cut back on their holiday spend. And research from VisitScotland would also support this too, research that they carried out showed that a third of those asked wanted to holiday in 2011 in the UK compared to a fifth when the research was last carried out in 2008. People are more likely to keep their main holiday and book less short breaks and people are staying closer to home or staying at home and truly having a Staycation. People are risk averse and wanting to stick with what they know so there is some truth in the Staycation story though many in the tourism industry will tell you it’s far from the boom story hyped up in the media.

Bright Light Marketing via working with our clients and also with our role in the Scottish Borders Chamber of Commerce meet with businesses across the country on a regular basis in all sectors. All businesses are saying the same thing that times are tough and we are certainly not out of the woods yet. There are a whole lot of variables that could tip the balance as to whether things improve or get worse. And certainly in some sectors like retail things seem to be getting worse, such as former darlings of the high street Habitat going into administration as have Jane Norman and other well know high street names like HMV and Thornton’s shutting as many stores as they can. Higher energy prices, food prices and low wages are all factors that are cutting back consumer spend. No business is immune, we all have to run a tight ship if we are to survive. But as business owners we are still in control of how we handle these difficult times. So what can you do?

Well the businesses that will survive are those who do run a tight ship, know their financial position, have a forward looking strategy, promote themselves to their existing and potential customers, offer a great service and most importantly don’t stand still and do nothing.

Bright Light Marketing is working with many clients to make sure that they don’t stand still and that they do still communicate with their existing and future customers. And as we have said in this newsletter before it’s not about throwing money at marketing it’s about using your brain and thinking of ways to get your message across to the customers that you want to retain and attract. We finish this article with some examples of how some of our customers are doing just that. 

Lochcarron of Scotland are the world’s leading tartan manufacturer making fabrics in the Scottish Borders for over 60 years. They have a Visitor Centre in Selkirk with a mill tour, café and retail outlet. Obviously one of their main customers for this is visitors to the Scottish Borders. And we are working hard with them to ensure that as many visitors as possible know about the Lochcarron Visitor Centre when they visit. But equally important for any retail outlet and café is the local market and that has been one of the main aims of the marketing activity for 2011. Bright Light Marketing has worked with Lochcarron on a local campaign which has included a new promotional leaflet showcasing the retail outlet and café and showing locals enjoying the experience. This has been distributed throughout the Scottish Borders. In addition Lochcarron have started a Twitter campaign which has specifically targeted local people and has highlighted the changing menu in the café as well as what is available in the retail shop. A mailing has also been sent to local companies in the business area of Selkirk that Lochcarron is situated in and finally in order to target more locals on a Saturday a special Saturday campaign has been implemented. All of this marketing activity has worked, so far this year the Lochcarron Visitor Centre has increased its business by 30% on 2010. 

The Tontine Hotel that we work with in Peebles has also worked hard at maintaining and increasing business. Like many businesses the Tontine Hotel knows that existing customers are at its core. So the Tontine has communicated on at very regular basis with its database and has been price sensitive to the market. The Tontine has also promoted its food and beverage offering to the local market. This includes adverts in Peebles Life magazine which change with different reasons to visit the Tontine. The Tontine has also found Facebook a very effective business tool to market to locals as well as loyal accommodation customers. Again like Lochcarron, business levels at the Tontine are ahead of the same period last year even in these tough trading conditions.

Finally Oink in Edinburgh sell delicious hog roast rolls from their outlet in Victoria Street. They are delighted that they are currently ranked as 28th out of 820 restaurants on Trip Advisor for the whole of Edinburgh. An outstanding achievement but only if people are aware of it. Visitors to Edinburgh yes are likely to look at Trip Advisor before they visit. Locals much less so. So how do they get the message out to the local market? Oink has sent out a special offer postcard to local businesses and offices. This postcard also highlights the fantastic Trip Advisor result. People like to visit places with great customer reviews but only if they know about them. Oink also take their message to locals on a weekly basis by selling at the Edinburgh Farmers Market. Finally Bright Light Marketing have worked with Oink on a very targeted Twitter campaign. Again the results are positive with business levels up on 2010.

These are just a few examples of how Bright Light Marketing has worked hard with companies to ensure that whilst it may not be boom times you can increase your business and attract new customers even in difficult trading conditions. None of these case studies above have thrown money at their marketing. Instead they have worked with Bright Light Marketing to intelligently look at where they need to be promoting themselves and what messages they need to communicate.

If you would like to speak to Bright Light Marketing on how we can help you market your business please contact Fiona Drane on 01750 505053 or fiona.drane@brightlightmarketing.co.uk.
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