Friday, November 28, 2008
Marketing To Moms: Are Retailers There Yet?
Retailwire recently posted a discussion related to retailers improving marketing efforts to moms and moms to be. The great thing about Retailwire is that it is intended to spur conversation; but much to my surprise this topic spurred only six people to speak up. Those that left comments suggest that the idea of marketing to "mom" is not new, and implied that the discussion wasn't even worth having. Needless to say reading this has gotten my juices flowing! I could not disagree more.
The idea might be old but the concept has yet to be refined and implemented well by any retailer. Sure, numerous retailers are talking the market to mom game; but is anyone really getting it yet? And if in fact if there is a retailer out there that is really getting this niche of marketing to moms; are we the moms hearing it?
Carol Spieckerman, President of New Market Builders suggest that there is one big retailer that is making headway in this area, Wal-mart. "In store, Walmart knows that if they can make everything from Tire and Lube Express to apparel more appealing to moms, they've won over a highly influential segment of the population. Walmart is focused on mom's relationship to the brand and all related touch points. That's why they've partnered with mommy bloggers and mobile providers and it's a big part of the retailer's in-store Smart Network initiative".
Wal-mart's reaching out and connecting to moms just started this Fall 2008; a fairly new initiative by anyone standards. BREATHE will be keeping an anxious eye on it's success. Over the course of the next few months we will also be searching out other retailers and service providers that are redefining how to market to mom. Do you have opinions, suggestions or comments? Please let us know. Posted by Ciri Raynor Fenzel at 1:54 PM 0 comments  Labels: Eleven Moms, Marketing to Moms, Moms, Niche Marketing, retail marketing, Smart Network, Wal-Mart
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Just a Few Of The Reasons I Like Twitter
Twitter.com is familiar to some, and very new to others. I joined Twitter about 8 months ago and have been learning and growing ever since. Many marketers spend a great deal of time trying to determine a direct correlation between revenue and the use of Twitter. In my opinion, there is no direct and immediate revenue stream from Twitter. But don't let that be your rationalization for not joining; Twitter is an amazingly powerful marketing tool that has tremendous value to your bottom line.
Community - Within a short few months I had over 400 followers on Twitter, not one of which I knew before creating my profile. At first I wondered how in the world I could return the follows (by becoming their follower) and possibly keep up with all of the information. Was it worth it? Could these people I didn't know become of interest to me, either professionally or personally? Turns out that yes, soon after "tweeting" quite a bit and following other people's tweets I in fact began to know some of the personalities. More importantly I found that there were people I could relate to whether it was regarding marketing, motherhood or military. I discovered people tweeting comments that I was often thinking!
Feedback - There is no other venue that I am aware of that you can tap into so easily and quickly to gain feedback or perspective, than twitter.com. Just like all friendships however to receive you must also give. I've used twitter.com to gather opinions on a broad array of things; from how to balance family and work, to what is happening at retail. The responses are immediate and real. To me this is qualitative research at its best.
Inspiration - This has probably been the thing I most appreciate about twitter.com. Everyday I log on to tweetdeck.com to see what is happening and it only takes a post or two to get my juices flowing. By seeing my follower's blogs, insights, and comments on how they manage day to day living I am inspired. Everyone on Twitter ultimately has their own mission, passion or perhaps item/service they are selling but my belief is that what most of us are tied to is the belief that we may inspire others while we are inspiring ourselves. I find that even after a few minutes on twitter.com I am anxious to do more, try a little harder, and work a bit more efficiently. No where else can I find that same encouragement and boost.
Trend Awareness - Maybe it is the marketer in me, but I have discovered a whole new realm of "trends" in the world through twitter.com. One of the most prevailing trend I've observed by far has been the significant number of stay at home moms creating successful and unique businesses. Moms have found a great resource and community in Twitter and have tapped into all that it can offer; site warming parties, web site giveaways, virtual wine tastings gatherings, etc. I look forward to seeing other groups and trends taking off on Twitter.
These are only four very immediate benefits of Twitter, I encourage you to create a profile, delve in and see how it can benefit you. Give it some time and I think you will be pleased. Off I go. Need to check in and see what is happening on Twitter! By the way you can follow me at http://twitter.com/cirifenzel.
Interested in getting up and running with Twitter or other social media platforms, but not sure where to begin? Let BREATHE help. Contact us a info@breathesolutions.com or 336-324-1190. Posted by Ciri Raynor Fenzel at 11:50 AM  Labels:
green marketing, online community, social media, traditional marketing, trends, tweetdeck, twitter.com
Monday, October 20, 2008
Wal-Mart Installs Wii in Young Men's Department
There is a great deal of hype today over Wal-mart's launch of the new AC/DC album "Black Ice". The album is an exclusive at Wal-Mart, wal-mart.com and Sam's. This is the band's first album in eight years and to give it ample presence in-store, Wal-mart has created “Rock Again AC/DC Stores". These concept stores are in each of Walmart’s 3,500 locations nationwide and will give fans of the rock group the opportunity to hang out while enjoying new AC/DC apparel, past albums, and a social gaming section for a related video game.
Just so happens that I went into a Wal-mart this morning and immediately noticed the new "Rock Again AC/DC Store". The reason I noticed it was because it was integrated into the young men's apparel department; and I thought what a brilliant retailtainment idea! At the time of my visit the Wii Guitar Hero was occupied by a Wal-mart employee who just couldn't get enough; but my guess is that soon the employee will be replaced with tons of kids and perhaps even a few dads. If Wal-mart doesn't have great sell through of the new album, I can almost guarantee that they will have increased sales of items in surrounding areas; namely young men's and electronics.
Not surprising is that the AC/DC display is not set-up in stores as originally designed and intended (by the AC/DC brand I am sure). The picture on top shows the ideal set up with a large AC/DC logo. The picture on the bottom shows the real display in-store that fits under the standard Wal-mart cornice (leaving off the AC/DC logo).
I am anxious to see if this exclusive AC/DC release at Wal-Mart is a success. More importantly, I look forward to tracking the influence of such an interactive area for customers in an apparel department. Will Wal-mart keep the Wii (and music products for that matter) in the young men's department, long term? I believe that Wal-Mart may have hit a home run with this concept. I will keep you posted. Posted by Ciri Raynor Fenzel at 12:08 PM 0 comments  Labels: AC/DC, in-store, innovation, marketing-at-retail, retail marketing, Shopping Habits, Wal-Mart
|
