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Bad economic news? Here's what you can do(Furniture/Today Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) We got a double-barreled dose of bad news the other day when two key economic indicators took a turn for the worse. Consumer confidence tumbled to a nine-month low, and home sales posted their sharpest drop in 18 years. "This is bad news for the industry," one of my colleagues commented. But it can be good news for you, Mr. and Mrs. Mattress Retailer. Let me explain. When times turn tough, an understandable response by retailers is to cut back on advertising and promotion. That has the rather predictable effect of cutting back on traffic and thus reducing sales. A better strategy, when business hits the skids, is to step up your advertising a bit. With your competitors likely cutting back, you could more easily stand apart from the pack. We know that mattress demand is stable, with about 12% of consumers interested in buying a new bed each year. So you can meet those needs, and get the jump on your competitors. It's also a good time to try something different in merchandising and marketing. Remember that famous saying that insanity is doing the same thing time and again and expecting different results? At our recent Bedding Conference, keynote speaker Larry Wilson offered this clever twist: If you always do what you've always done, you'ill always get what you've always got. Two of our conference speakers offered helpful suggestions on how to stand out with new marketing messages. Craig McAndrews, co-founder of the Innovative Retail Group, said that messages about improving the quality of sleep are drowned out by messages about price and product specifications. So here's a great idea: Why not talk about better sleep in your bedding ads? Don Hofmann, the former Simmons marketing exec who is now a consultant to Louisville Bedding, presented powerful consumer research that shows that mattress purchase intent jumps from its normal level of 12% to an astounding 64% when messages about the new fire-resistant bedding are given to consumers. "We haven't seen an opportunity like this," Hofmann says. We can't control the economy, but we can try some new marketing tactics. I believe that selling better sleep and talking about the new technology in FR beds can help retailers sell more beds this year. But if you're happy with lousy sales, cut advertising, don't listen to marketing experts, throw away great opportunities to energize your business, and just keep on whining. Voila! You'll get more bad news to whine about. Contact David Perry at [email protected] Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information. All Rights Reserved. |