The local Smith City department store here in Marlborough recently held celebrations for one year in their ‘new’ premises. They turned it into a great event with amazing bargains to draw in the crowds, a festive atmosphere with barbeque, balloons, and media coverage with two radio stations present. All in all they did a great job of turning an occasion into a PR event.
One of the bargains was a baby carry pack at a massive discount of close to 70%. We have a wee man, and love the outdoors, so sent Nana off early to grab us a pack. The marketing had worked so well that there was a substantial queue of people and baby strollers outside the shop and as soon as the doors opened, the shop was flooded with customers. Only having 10 packs in stock, they sold out in less than 3 minutes… As the lucky 10 people happily carried their bargain packs home, many more customers left disappointed and annoyed that they had wasted their time, effort and in some cases money (I know at least two people who took time off work). This situation left me wondering –
“Do you really want disappointed customers?”
With such limited stock, it was guaranteed that some people would miss out. Smith City set themselves up to disappoint.
How your customers FEEL about your business, affects your Brand. In fact, I would go so far as to say, that how people feel about your business IS your Brand.
What’s your opinion?
