Question

Topic: Advertising/PR

Holiday Shopping Promotion Ideas

Posted by Anonymous on 9/26/2006 at 6:13 PM ET 500 Points
The business district in our part of the city has been reborn from a historically manufacturing / warehouse region -- old buildings turned into office / showrooms, office condos, antiques, boutiques and upscale dining. Since the development is still too new to attract retail chains and franchises, the retailers are largely small, unique, owner-operated stores and restaurants.

The retailers would like to promote the district as a holiday (Christmas) shopping destination that offers a diverse selection, not found in the big malls. I'd like ideas for 2 things:

1. Themes / ideas for an oversized direct mail card to be sent in mid-November.

2. Ideas for measuring the effectiveness of the mailer. Because "percent off" or "dollars off" cannot be agreed upon unanimously by the various enterpreneurs, what other incentives or tracking methods are there for buyers to indicate it was the card that brung 'em?

Thanks for the assistance!


BARQ
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RESPONSES

  • Posted on 9/26/2006 at 6:58 PM Member
    This is what I have been working on for the last couple months. One we haven't used is Tweeking the holiday song: Silver Bells into a theme. It has that Towne Square - people gathering etc. feel: https://www.41051.com/xmaslyrics/silverbells.html

    Can you get a food merchant to give away hot chocolate on a coupon? How about a GWP (gift with purchase) spend so much at participating stores and receive a gift with same-day receipts.
  • Posted by Frank Hurtte on 9/26/2006 at 10:31 PM Accepted
    I like the appeal of an old time christmas... play up the old days when people came to the city for christmas instead of heading to walmart.

    As for judging the effectiveness... Offer a pin or cheap ornament when somebody brings in the flyer. A pin with the old time christmas theme would build on itself.
  • Posted by Harry Hallman on 9/27/2006 at 8:12 AM Accepted
    Tie into a charity who is feeding the hungry for the Holidays. People bring cans of food to a central location. This gets them in the area and there is some measurement in terms of how much you collect.
    Or perhaps (if you in the US) you can have a Send a Card to a Soldier campaign.

    A traditional Christmas approach sounds to be the best. In times of upheaval (war, terrorist) people like the comfort of tradition.

    We use to do an event called Miracle on Peachtree (play off of Miracle on 34th) and it was based around an entry fee of cans of food or toys for children to be donated. We had our best year the December of 2001.


  • Posted on 9/27/2006 at 10:35 AM Member
    You could play off the 12 days of Christmas with 12 stores or things to do or see there listed on a card. They could get their cards verified at the stores and when full put into a large raffle drawing.

  • Posted on 9/29/2006 at 7:27 PM Accepted
    "Making the Old New Again"...
    You could build off that theme. You could use the "punch" approach. They could use the card at each store and it would be punched when they redeem their special. Collect all the punches from each store. That would give you an idea of the rate of response to each place.
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