Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Woodland/ Windermere coupon direct mail

Woodland/Windermere print ad

Serenity Muskoka & Woodland print


Print ads for Various clients





Increase your business profile!

FREE CONSULTATION / AMAZING RATES

Introducing: Dan Blix Advertising Services

Dan Blix Advertising Services is able to offer advertising and marketing services at a very attractive price. The clients in my 25 years in the ad business have included many national and regional retailers. Beaver Lumber, St. Clair Paint & Paper and Sears to name a few, as well as customers in the service and tourism industries, such as Hidden Valley Inn and Grandview Farms. I will work closely with you to increase your understanding of the process involved in tracking and approaching your market and effectively delivering your sales message.
Call 687-4555 for a free phone consultation.

SALES PROMOTION

Sales Promotion is basically just that. A promotion to increase sales and increase product or service awareness. Before allocating your advertising budget, generally 2% to 10% of yearly gross sales, it is prudent to identify your target market. Once you determine whom it is you wish to reach, you then choose the best vehicle to reach this audience, all within the restraints of your yearly promotional budget. Proper planning can insure that you are getting the maximum return for your advertising dollar. Should your business be sensitive to seasonal flow, it is important that this be recognized and acted upon in the distribution of advertising funds.

MEDIA SELECTION

There is stiff media competition in all facets of promotion. Many magazines, newspapers, direct mail services, billboard companies and printers line up for a piece of your ad dollar. The broadcast media has grown to include not just television and radio, but the World Wide Web with its banner ads linking your business to a global audience. Websites have become not just a popular promo-tool, but a necessity.

There is no doubt that the decision making process is made more difficult with the choices being so vast and varied. The promotional media decisions that you make today
directly impact on your company’s future sales, profile and profits, therefore, should be
selected and negotiated carefully. There are deals and extra benefits available.

CREATIVE SERVICES

In these days of home and office computers, it has become commonplace for businesses to create their own promotional materials in-house. Although this can be considered a cost saving device, it also is a reflection of your company profile and affects how your customers and competition in the marketplace view you. For less than you may think, a professional ad service with the appropriate experience and software, can create a strong visual with effective copy to sell promotions targeted to your audience. In some cases the old adage ‘Penny Wise-Pound Foolish’ may well apply. So be cautious and focused.

Dan Blix may be contacted at (705) 687-4555 or email: dblix@sympatico.ca

Marketing 101

When first approached about writing a column on Marketing and Advertising directed at Muskoka business, it quickly brought to mind how diverse the commerce community is in our lovely part of the world. To call it a challenge to attempt to paint everything from the growing hospitality and manufacturing industries to the corner store with one broad stroke, could not just be considered an improbable task, but an impossibility. General principals apply, but every situation is unique and requires a customized creative marketing and sales approach.

Marketing is a area that depends entirely upon having a comprehensive understanding of your product or service, this column could only be addressed in rather general terms. Every company has it’s own distinct personality and their own unique way of trying to reach their audience. This does not, however, absolve them from a need for individual, thorough planning, with a contingency plan in the vault. Whether you’re selling auto parts, vacations, high end boats or popsicles, setting sales objectives and the proper use of the tools and vehicles used to meet these goals is paramount to the success of your business.

In a very competitive marketplace subject to fluctuating market trends, socio-economic whims and realities, rising production costs, weather anomalies, seasonal population explosions and your customer’s ever changing purchasing priorities, it is little wonder that we struggle to understand and adapt to these changes. The days of establishing a marketing strategy that carries your company through the year have disappeared! Flexibility and the ability to adjust to changing patterns is becoming increasingly important. Let me stress, this is not accomplished in panic-mode. The willingness to recognize a situation and react appropriately is essential in keeping your business survival and growth. Change is not a bad word, merely a test!

You can seek out marketing expertise, carefully plan your media strategy and create the most effective way of targeting your audience, but begin by knowing your customer's needs as well as using the often abused phrase, ‘Common Sense’. These are great multipurpose tools in your marketing toolbox.

Before I alienate those that have chosen marketing, advertising or media placement as a career, I should point out that analyzing stacks of demographics and fighting off media reps, each with their own rubber ruler, then trying to arrive at affordable conclusions, is a time consuming, and often tedious business. The fun for me, comes at the end of this process, when I can effectively place a handle on the creative implementation of all I’ve scanned or devoured.

Over my thirty odd years in the business, the keyword being ‘odd’, my advertising agency worked, on different levels, with some of the largest national and regional retailers in the country as well as numerous industrial or manufacturing clients. Throw in a string of Mom and Pop operations and that sums up how I, and my crew spent our time. Every client had their own special needs, ranging from new product marketing at ground level, to full blown national promotions. Every problem had to addressed, based on intelligence garnered from their marketing or advertising people, and applied to create the best response. Certainly not an exact science!

Since closing my agency doors seven years ago and leaving the world of critical paths and deadlines, I determined to make my permanent base Muskoka, and work out of my cottage on Loon Lake. I planned to employ only my computer and write the great Canadian novel. Many short stories and poems later, I found myself back to dissecting bad marketing decisions, poor selection of media and suspect advertising. There were simply too many adverisers making glowingly bad decisions in Muskoka and being influenced by the highly competitive pressure tactics of media sales, I was self-coerced into returning to the forefront. Something in the blood, I suppose. Think of me as a mad scientist in search of the perfect formula! I do love it when a plan comes together. I certainly hear about it, if it doesn't!

In future columns, I would like to offer the businesses of Muskoka, suggestions on establishing promotional budgets, identifying and targeting your customer, media selection and establishing a strong creative base that works for you and your product or service. My goal is simply to encourage you to think about your next marketing decision.

Incidentally, I first met your editor at a Chamber of Commerce 'Business After Hours' event. An excellent venue for networking with local business, and another progressive and informative piece of the marketing puzzle. This column is living proof.

Dan Blix

Is a writer / marketer / graphic designer based in Muskoka.
dblix@sympatico.ca 705- 687-4555