Your retail location has been up and running for a while. Sales have been consistent the last few years and you’re pretty happy. But there’s this little voice inside of you that says, “There are a lot of fair trade artisans and farmers out there that need you to sell more, so you can buy[…]
Is radical transparency the latest retail buzzword? Consumers are demanding more information when deciding which products to buy or consume. Rightly so, thanks to E.Coli outbreaks on produce like broccoli and investigations that reveal some of the items they buy might be produced under sweatshop conditions, among other human rights violations. How do retailers reconcile[…]
Does getting your product into a celebrity’s hands translate into sales at the retail level? Pick up any celebrity magazine or watch any awards show and you’ll notice how often celebrities show off their baubles or accessories and mention which designer they’re wearing. The reality is that we live in a celebrity-obsessed society and many[…]
Much has been written about how consumers engage with businesses that are active in cause-related marketing campaigns and its cousin, corporate social responsibility. Bottom line: it’s not whether a company decides to engage, since consumers expect companies to act responsibly and to see proof of their commitments, according to a 2015 Cone Communications / Ebiquity[…]
Most retailers know about Small Business Saturday, the campaign launched by American Express in 2010 to encourage customers to shop independent retailers the Saturday after Thanksgiving but there are plenty of other national campaigns worthy of a retailer’s attention. Doing so not only shows your customers that you’re supporting various causes, but it introduces your[…]
As our retailer partners find the lure of the Internet an impossible thing to resist, they face two choices with photography; use our image or take their own. Using ours is fine, but your site risks looking the same as all our other retail partners. Taking your own, well that can be just daunting. When[…]
So you’re finished with Pinterest account setup. Now all that’s left is to actually begin marketing. Let’s start with the basics. Look at what makes any type of marketing strategy and any type of business successful. The single answer here is value. If you want to engage your audience, if you want to build[…]
At the heart of effective brand building will always be engaging storytelling. Storytelling enables your audience to understand why you exist not just what you sell. Consumers will struggle to build affinity with a product or company, but a great story can help solidify certain qualities that the brand represents and who has a better[…]
It used to be that if you wanted to secure earned media coverage you’d send a press release to local reporters (or national magazines, depending on your reach) for consideration and if the reporter was interested, she would follow up with a request for an interview and/or product. Savvy retailers knew to get the attention[…]
I have a Fair Trade sensor in my brain. Every time I hear “Fair Trade” my ears perk up and I start looking around – kind of like when my dog hears the doorbell except I don’t generally bark. The radar’s been blipping a lot lately this presidential election season. Who knew that both the[…]