Last weekend I tried something very challenging: to spend the weekend in the local Tesco car park! I discovered that they rent out space in their car parks to businesses wanting to display their products, so I signed up with risk assessment and all to a two day campaign - which cost £600!
I had high hopes of interestingTesco customers and using Tesco's incredible customer profiling system to discover the demographics of my buyers. However, although we had a fair amount of interest I have only had one enquiry, which has not yet resulted in a sale. Most of the weekend was spent hanging around trying to keep warm, although the miserable wet and windy weather on the sunday did prove the point: the washing on the lines stayed dry.
It was an expensive piece of advertising then, but at least it put the Rotaire name and the product in the minds of thousands of people who otherwise may not have known about it, and next time their washing gets soaked they may look it up. It was fascinating to see the operation at close hand, a constant flow of shopping trolleys in and out of the store, the busy times and the less busy times - there was never a slack period. The car park nearly always full, the lively people going in, and the same people coming out devoid of interest, looking at the pavement. A large number thankfully used ther own bags; others emerged with six or eight of the things. Despite the weather, many went shopping in tee shirts, obviously coming from overheated houses to a heated car and a heated shop woth barely any contact with the outside world. Truly it was a watering hole for the masses.
As Edison once said, "Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration." It is a very steep hill to climb if you want to introduce an entirely new concept.
Saturday, 22 November 2008
Sunday, 19 October 2008
The Season is Over
The season is over as far as rotary washing lines are concerned - gardens in general suffer from neglect in winter, and garden centres quieten down. I always thought it would happen, but when the orders dry up it is uncomfortable. So I am brushing up on my marketing, and spending the time available to raise the profile for winter.
What I have to do is to peruade people that an airer with a dryline is an all-year round external drying facility, which is true. Even when the temperature dips near freezing the clothes come in iron-dry. A little damp but nearly all the water has been removed. It relieves households of loads of damp washing taking the energy from the indoor environment and replacing it with moisture. This is of course desirable.
I have gone back to Mike West's brilliant seminars on marketing enabled by MAS-WM, the regional support agency for manufacturers, in order to get my plan together. It is a really black art, and it shows for instance why Tesco is so efficient. Their tracking system is positively Machiavellian, and enables them to predict what will be sold from their shops and when. I won't bore you with the details but it is very clever indeed. What I need is a means of contacting likely customers to enable me to communicate effectively. I also need to spend more time displaying the product in public places, because it is only when people can see, touch and consider the Rotaire Dryline that they actually get the idea - something you can't communicate through a website. Then they realise what it could mean to their own lifestyle.
I spent Saturday in brilliant sunshine reading the course notes and talking to customers in a Co-operative car park with the Dryline on display. It proved to me that the time taken was worth while, even though I am unable to make actual sales on their premises. However, a lot of people were interested enough to take a leaflet. We shall see how many follow through to purchase.
What I have to do is to peruade people that an airer with a dryline is an all-year round external drying facility, which is true. Even when the temperature dips near freezing the clothes come in iron-dry. A little damp but nearly all the water has been removed. It relieves households of loads of damp washing taking the energy from the indoor environment and replacing it with moisture. This is of course desirable.
I have gone back to Mike West's brilliant seminars on marketing enabled by MAS-WM, the regional support agency for manufacturers, in order to get my plan together. It is a really black art, and it shows for instance why Tesco is so efficient. Their tracking system is positively Machiavellian, and enables them to predict what will be sold from their shops and when. I won't bore you with the details but it is very clever indeed. What I need is a means of contacting likely customers to enable me to communicate effectively. I also need to spend more time displaying the product in public places, because it is only when people can see, touch and consider the Rotaire Dryline that they actually get the idea - something you can't communicate through a website. Then they realise what it could mean to their own lifestyle.
I spent Saturday in brilliant sunshine reading the course notes and talking to customers in a Co-operative car park with the Dryline on display. It proved to me that the time taken was worth while, even though I am unable to make actual sales on their premises. However, a lot of people were interested enough to take a leaflet. We shall see how many follow through to purchase.
Wednesday, 1 October 2008
The Autumn Show
The Malvern Autumn Show was blessed with some of the best weather this year. It was worrying that it was the wrong weather for selling Drylines, which was, of course, why Fran and I were there. However, a small electric pump, some troughs and a length of pipe gave a good simulation of what happens when it rains. Last year, at the same show, people didn't understand so readily the reasons for owning one. This year most of our 1000 leaflets were taken away, and we sold nearly £1000 pounds of dryline covers. Dressed in our corporate fleeces we talked until we forgot what day it was, but we were praised for our low key sales technique. In other words, we didn't press folk to buy: just gave them the facts.
It seems that the credit crunch (as it is affectionately known) energy price rises and a growing ecological awareness have influenced the public to be receptive to new ideas. If that is so, long may it last. The awful weather this summer may have influenced them as well.
A day later more orders than ever are going out of the door, and there is good reason to be optimistic. It is not easy to introduce a new idea without national media support, and I hope that winter does not blind potential buyers to its benefits. In this country gardens are strictly for summer, and garden furniture does not sell through winter. It has a much closer relationship to the home and kitchen (or utility room) than to the outside world.
It seems that the credit crunch (as it is affectionately known) energy price rises and a growing ecological awareness have influenced the public to be receptive to new ideas. If that is so, long may it last. The awful weather this summer may have influenced them as well.
A day later more orders than ever are going out of the door, and there is good reason to be optimistic. It is not easy to introduce a new idea without national media support, and I hope that winter does not blind potential buyers to its benefits. In this country gardens are strictly for summer, and garden furniture does not sell through winter. It has a much closer relationship to the home and kitchen (or utility room) than to the outside world.
Sunday, 14 September 2008
A long wet summer
If anything, this summer has been more miserable than last summer here in the UK. Certainly in Malvern we have experienced record rainfall through August and into September, with barely a glimpse of sun or moon through the overcast skies. The plants have put all their energy into growth and not into flower or fruit, and I only saw one bee all summer! Yet some people still insist that global warming/climate change is not happening - and happening rather fast.
I got an e-mail to a list of prominent Greens (although I don't know why I was included) from a man in America who insisted the the Physical Society had changed their opinion (50,000 scientists can't be wrong!) and now thought it was "not proven." He insisted that we Greens had no proof; where were our double blind trials, etc etc. He really ranted, if emails can rant. When I responded that he was clutching at straws he went as far as quoting me and giving out my personal details! Then he ranted again.
I decided to check the Physical Society website where I found that they had not (contrary to an internet rumour) changed their opinion but held fast to their view that the changes were moving fast. I wrote to him quoting the website and politely suggested he should get his facts right. I have not had a reply...
Here in Malvern we are establishing a Transition group, to enable the community to adjust to the new circumstances in their own way in advance of the changes to come.
My contribution, the Rotaire Dryline, is now available in 32 different shapes and sizes to enable people easily to dry their washing without using energy or finding their washing wetter than when it went on the line. It has sold very well through the summer and purchasers have all expressed happiness at finding a solution to a lifelong problem. This summer has been an excellent proving ground, and they will find that it works in winter too. However, I expect that sales will drop off in winter, as the British tend not to think about their gardens until Spring. I hope I am wrong because it would make a significant (4 million tonnes of CO2) contribution if tumble driers weren't used - and that is just in this country.
I got an e-mail to a list of prominent Greens (although I don't know why I was included) from a man in America who insisted the the Physical Society had changed their opinion (50,000 scientists can't be wrong!) and now thought it was "not proven." He insisted that we Greens had no proof; where were our double blind trials, etc etc. He really ranted, if emails can rant. When I responded that he was clutching at straws he went as far as quoting me and giving out my personal details! Then he ranted again.
I decided to check the Physical Society website where I found that they had not (contrary to an internet rumour) changed their opinion but held fast to their view that the changes were moving fast. I wrote to him quoting the website and politely suggested he should get his facts right. I have not had a reply...
Here in Malvern we are establishing a Transition group, to enable the community to adjust to the new circumstances in their own way in advance of the changes to come.
My contribution, the Rotaire Dryline, is now available in 32 different shapes and sizes to enable people easily to dry their washing without using energy or finding their washing wetter than when it went on the line. It has sold very well through the summer and purchasers have all expressed happiness at finding a solution to a lifelong problem. This summer has been an excellent proving ground, and they will find that it works in winter too. However, I expect that sales will drop off in winter, as the British tend not to think about their gardens until Spring. I hope I am wrong because it would make a significant (4 million tonnes of CO2) contribution if tumble driers weren't used - and that is just in this country.
Sunday, 17 August 2008
A rainy night in Georgia
You go away for a rew days and what happens? The Russians invade Georgia; honestly, you can't take your eyes of things for a minute without them going wrong!
In 1956 they did something similar to stamp their authority over Hungary, so 50 years on nothing has changed. They are punishing the Georgian government for wanting to join the EU. So what will the West do? While everyone's eyes have been on the Olympics Russia has declared its intentions of being No 1 in Europe and the West will make some pitiful noises; what else can they do? Declare War?
If everyone is going Green to avoid global catastrophy then who is counting the CO2 emissions from all the wars that are currently occurring? I think governments should walk their talk.
In 1956 they did something similar to stamp their authority over Hungary, so 50 years on nothing has changed. They are punishing the Georgian government for wanting to join the EU. So what will the West do? While everyone's eyes have been on the Olympics Russia has declared its intentions of being No 1 in Europe and the West will make some pitiful noises; what else can they do? Declare War?
If everyone is going Green to avoid global catastrophy then who is counting the CO2 emissions from all the wars that are currently occurring? I think governments should walk their talk.
Green Travel isn't so bad
I just looked at my blogging output and found it very sporadic. The trouble, if you can call it that, is that the project is working: I am so busy selling Rotaire Drylines that I haven't got enough time for this recreation. I have just had a great break though. First I went to the Big Chill, mainly to see Leonard Cohen but also because the Big Green Gathering was not taking place and I like a festie now and again. Cohen was spellbinding. It is such a shame that the post-modern soundbite is "Oh, so depressing." If the truth is depressing then you need a counsellor.
Straight afterwards, only pausing to send out Drylines, my wife and I went to Venice and Rome by train. Last year's trip to Crete by air left me with a carbon defecit so we tried something different - and no children either, now that they are grown. The arrival in Venice was a joy, straight off the train, across the forecourt and onto a water taxi, a beautiful launch that took us through the canals to the hotel right near to the Basilica San Marco. The Venetians actually stole St Mark's remains from Jerusalem and set them up here. Marco Polo brought back spaghetti from China too, creating this international cuisine. Rome was fantastic too, but I don't think much can compare with Venice, partly because there isn't a single road, therefore no traffic. Then back on another overnight sleeper, eating dinner while the hills of Italy rolled by. It was so much preferable to air travel, you wonder why more people don't do it.
Straight afterwards, only pausing to send out Drylines, my wife and I went to Venice and Rome by train. Last year's trip to Crete by air left me with a carbon defecit so we tried something different - and no children either, now that they are grown. The arrival in Venice was a joy, straight off the train, across the forecourt and onto a water taxi, a beautiful launch that took us through the canals to the hotel right near to the Basilica San Marco. The Venetians actually stole St Mark's remains from Jerusalem and set them up here. Marco Polo brought back spaghetti from China too, creating this international cuisine. Rome was fantastic too, but I don't think much can compare with Venice, partly because there isn't a single road, therefore no traffic. Then back on another overnight sleeper, eating dinner while the hills of Italy rolled by. It was so much preferable to air travel, you wonder why more people don't do it.
Monday, 28 July 2008
Every Cloud Must Have A Silver Lining
Since May, when we displayed the Rotaire at the Malvern Spring Gardening Show, sales have increased week by week. This is in no small way aided by the weather which as usual has been depressingly cold and damp. It is particularly in the summer when one wakes up and (hope srpings eternal) imagines that the entire day will be just like a summer's day. After putting the washing out and rushing out to work, to shop or to some other place one notices the storm clouds gathering and, yes! it is raining again. Returning home you find the washing wetter than before, and either dries it indoors (a total waste) or leaves it out in hope (risky). Given the consistent rain all through June some people have told me that they knew someone must make such a product and decided to track it down via Google and other search engines. Others have said that they saw it months ago, but didn't realise how much they would need it this year.
Purchasers have been very positive in their feedback, and one purchaser heard about the Dryline on the radio. He said he heard a phone-in programme where they asked for anyone who was doing something for the first time to ring in. A lady called to say that she had just hung her washing out in the rain and was sitting indoors watching it dry. He was so impressed that he tracked the Rotaire office down on the net and bought one. Another excellent place to display them has been at CAT, the Centre for Alternative Technology in Macchynlleth, Wales. Many buyers have seen it on show there and taken our leaflet. The best way is to log into http://www.rotaire.com/ and watch the videos. The new one spells out exactly why it is so efficient and ecologically desirable, while the Dry Humour silent film and the Rotaire Demonstration show how easy it is to erect and use the Dryline washing cover.
ROTAIRE DRYLINE ADVERT
As a result of all this activity, at last the company bank balance is in positive territory, and long may it remain so. The next major hurdle is paying for the International Patent Territories, which is very expensive, and I want to pin down as much as I can, because these rotaries are in widespread use on all five continents. All of them have one flaw - it still rains!
Purchasers have been very positive in their feedback, and one purchaser heard about the Dryline on the radio. He said he heard a phone-in programme where they asked for anyone who was doing something for the first time to ring in. A lady called to say that she had just hung her washing out in the rain and was sitting indoors watching it dry. He was so impressed that he tracked the Rotaire office down on the net and bought one. Another excellent place to display them has been at CAT, the Centre for Alternative Technology in Macchynlleth, Wales. Many buyers have seen it on show there and taken our leaflet. The best way is to log into http://www.rotaire.com/ and watch the videos. The new one spells out exactly why it is so efficient and ecologically desirable, while the Dry Humour silent film and the Rotaire Demonstration show how easy it is to erect and use the Dryline washing cover.
ROTAIRE DRYLINE ADVERT
As a result of all this activity, at last the company bank balance is in positive territory, and long may it remain so. The next major hurdle is paying for the International Patent Territories, which is very expensive, and I want to pin down as much as I can, because these rotaries are in widespread use on all five continents. All of them have one flaw - it still rains!
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