Using a business model centred on party-planning, with marketing and sales activities limited to women’s homes, and with a strict ‘no men allowed’ policy, Ann Summers became a household name.  This approach may be viewed as sexist by some – in the politically correct times in which we live – but it proved hugely successful for the company.

Jacqueline really understood her customers and targeted them perfectly.  As a result, she built a company which has a gross annual sales turnover of £150m.  The group ranks as one of the most successful and profitable private companies in Britain and Jacqueline has earned a place amongst ‘Britain’s 100 Most Influential Women’.

We hope you’ll agree this is a great example of a successful business woman and a marketing model centred around your customers.

I remember a great example someone shared with me a while ago about a realtor (estate agent) in the United States who attended an industry conference in the midst of the recession.  Whilst his colleagues were lamenting the terrible situation, he was telling everyone he’d had a great year and asking what they were complaining about.  The other attendees couldn’t believe it and some questioned him about how he was enjoying success when everyone else was struggling.  He told them that he was finding it tough too, but that noone wanted to know that.  People buy from successful, enthusiastic people, so that’s what he was – and it was working.

There are some estate agents who have been enjoying success even in the past twelve months, with property prices falling, whilst vast amounts of the market have been cutting staff and reeling in costs.  So, what makes the difference?  Why are some really busy and others terribly quiet?  Why are some still making lots of money, even in a downturn?  It’s not a different industry, different geographic areas, or a vastly different model.  So, if it’s not the model, is it the business owner?

We had a recent example ourselves of how great marketing, backed up with fabulous customer service can generate property sales.  A few months ago, a property developer customer of ours launched the first phase of their development; just nine properties.  Because of the way it was marketed, over 300 people attended the launch weekend.  Two people turned up with cash deposits and fought over one of the plots and, a few months down the line, eight of those nine properties are sold and seven more have been sold off plan for the next phase of the development.

(I should add that this company has three local competitors, all offering lower priced new properties within a few miles.)  So why were they so successful?

Of course, I can’t tell you exactly what we did, because they paid a lot of money for that strategic help, but it shows it can be done.  The top tips were:

• Focus on your audience – understand who you want and target them specifically
• Do something different – every estate agent advertises in the property pages and on Right Move.  How can you make people stop and think, and take notice of you?
• Offer people something for free – the power of free champagne cannot be understated!  (In fact, the competitor up the road announced a champagne open weekend the day before this particular launch – I love it when competitors copy you – it shows you’ve had a great idea!)
• Create a fear of loss – with so many people at the launch, prospects wanted to make sure they got the property they wanted, so they committed on the day and put down sizeable deposits to reassure the developer of their serious intent.
• Have some fun – I cannot tell you how much fun this project was.  We worked alongside a graphic designer, a web designer and a copywriter.  To have the luxury of a creative team meant the customer benefited from four creative brains – and it definitely paid off.

Give it a go – what have you got to lose?

20,000 followers of @themediaisdying on Twitter are receiving minute-by-minute accounts of the latest redundancies, mergers and closures as the media industry as we know it changes beyond all recognition.  So what’s going on?

Most media relies on advertising for it’s funding, for example: newspaper adverts pay for the journalists who write the stories people want to read – the reason they buy the papers and magazines.  Advertising breaks on TV pay for the broadcasting rights and cover the cost of providing the programmes people want to watch.  It’s always been perceived as a necessary evil – we have to receive the advertising in order to get the news / the programmes we want.

But, in recent years, this business model has changed – thank goodness.  With changes in technology, people can now fast-forward adverts on television and source their news online via the BBC or their favourite newspaper.  The power is back in the hands of the consumer – which is where it should be to my mind.  The market has also fragmented, with more suppliers competing for our attention, for example the plethora of new digital TV channels and new magazines / online newspapers and blogs.  As a result, big businesses are cutting their advertising revenues, because the returns are reducing.

And that’s where your business comes in – do you monitor return on investment from your advertising?  If so, is it reducing?  Could you be spending your money in a different area and getting better returns?  If you don’t know, it’s definitely time you started finding out.  Check back tomorrow for some tips on how you could cut your advertising spend.