Beating the recession

What an inspiring blog post from Chris Barraclough in Marketing when he suggested that the recession is a great time to start a new agency.

The part I agreed with the most was when he referred to clients seeking new solutions that could improve their ROI and how starting out means you have none of the 'administrative fat' of the big agencies.

It's a premise that Elliott House has built its business on and an offer we find is attractive to our clients.

We can offer experienced and skilled editors and designers to work on projects at a cheaper price than the larger agencies as we don't carry any unnecessary overheads. It means we deliver a top service to large and small businesses but without the hefty price tag – especially good news now everyone is guarding their budgets more closely.

Times are hard but the right proposition, an abundance of creative ideas and excellent service will pay off every time.

Shopping for better communication

It's good to see that the high street has started to fight its way back into consumers' shopping baskets. Large supermarket chains and out of town retail parks may have lured us into their free parking lots with cheap deals and the convenience factor but smaller high street stores have at last spotted the crucial gap in the market. Their employees.

While online shopping has eliminated the need to exchange any kind of niceties with shop assistants (no one likes being pounced on as soon as they arrive in a store) it has also removed any physical human interaction which might have resulted in more product knowledge, confidence and actual joy in your purchase. (I don't know about you, but I still get a nagging doubt about my decision after buying anything on the web.)

Online shopping in the UK may be estimated to reach 81bn euros in 2011, according to the latest figures from IMRG, the UK's industry association for global retailing, but retailers are recognising there is still money to be made on the high street with the right proposition.

Holland & Barrett have just announced that it's shifting its marketing away from price promotions to focus more on its employees' expertise. It's a strategy Elliott House thinks is worth shouting about. It could be just the tonic for information-starved consumers who want reassurance that they're buying the correct product - rather than ignorantly shoving a packet of vitamins in the trolley alongside their frozen peas at the supermarket.

In a similar vein, retail guru Mary Portas is on a mission to bring a lot of love back to the high street. Her exploits in setting up her own shop in House of Fraser are currently being aired on Channel 4 and while she is focused on creating a better high street experience for older women, the principles she sets out about customer service should be on any store's shopping list.

"Shopping is about a sensory experience," explains Mary in the House of Fraser video below. "I want customers who come into this shop to feel cared about, loved. I want them to think: 'the time I was in that shop I was truly looked after.' And then I want them to feel fantastic."

While 37 million people might shop online in the UK, they and over 23 million others, are still interested in the 'sensory' shopping experience too. 

Investing in a better shopping environment means investing in employees. Mary shows, as is Holland & Barrett, that staff training, product knowledge and communication are key to pulling people through the door.

Customers want to be served by staff who believe in the brand, that understand the product and can help them to shop in confidence. And employees need to feel valued, knowledgable and informed to be able to do their jobs well.

Regular and effective internal communication can help retailers deliver those goals and beat the competition.  

Socially inadequate

I was reading someone's blog recently that was offering tips for charities on how to 'Tweet' properly. I was having a peek because I'm currently helping out a small charity with some PR and comms support and wanted to see if there were any tricks I was missing to add into my plan.

The tips in the blog were fairly basic and the comments underneath, from charities, nearly pulled the blogger's virtual being apart – describing his tone as patronising and out of touch. Charities, quite frankly, can tweet with the best of them, they chorused.

This is true to a certain extent – look at any of the big national charities and you will find they have all invested in social media to engage with thousands of their loyal supporters and promote the cause. But what about the little ones? The ones that do vital work in their local communities but on tiny budgets?  

When I approached the trustees of this small charity I am helping with my new plans for re-branding, website overhaul, improved PR and a social media strategy – it was the Twitter and Facebook suggestions that left them cold.

This charity desperately need to raise funds to be able to continue their work so I was surprised they would turn their back on what is basically 'free' exposure. But I also understood. Their particular work is based on confidentiality ­– and not shouting about it from the virtual rooftops. They feared a backlash from ‘exposing’ their name too much.

It's a fine line and one that needs to be trodden by communicators with extreme care and sensitivity. I could see the benefits of a new approach involving social media (not only to raise funds but also awareness) but I could also understand their concerns. 

Social networking may now be considered the norm by most major organisations and charities but for a lot of smaller businesses and local charities they are still working out where it sits in their communication mix and what benefits it can reap. 

Social media has to be handled in the same way as any new communications channel – it’s the same set of principles just a different set of tools. 

One thing is for sure, it can’t be ignored. There’s no stopping the conversation ­– even if you choose not to take part in the debate.