Jan 2, 2009 | Coconut in the Media
Coconut Creatives Ltd like to announce the arrival of our latest new Coconut, Stephanie Randell who joined us before Christmas and works at the head office in Somerset.
Stephanie’s profile will be arriving soon at coconutcreatives.co.uk giving nosey people an opportunity to read all about her. We hope you have had a wonderful Christmas and New Year and if you’re feeling the January blues, why not take advantage of a Travel Lodge special offer we came across and book up a weekend away for £9 a night, bargain!
Oct 16, 2008 | Coconut in the Media
The Coconut girls, Sarah, Sally and Victoria recently travelled up to Birmingham to support a very special charity event. Organised annually by advertising guru agency, ARC Media, Coconut Creatives arrived in true Coconut style dressed to impress in full pirate costume!
The event was hosted at Birmingham’s finest Greek Athens Restaurant on the 3rd October with over 130 guests (majority also in pirate costumes!) from around the country who were invited to join in the pirate-y fun and helped raise £520 for the ‘togetheraware’ charities.
Guests lined up to put their 10 ‘X’s on the pirate map to try and win one of the treasures including magnums of champagne and a 32″ plasma TV! Coconuts Victoria and Sally managed to bag great prizes including a luxury wine hamper and a DVD box set of Pirates of the Caribbean. Sally also deservingly won the Best Dressed Pirate award and took home a magnum of champagne (that we secretly hope she’ll share with the rest of us Coconuts at Christmas!)
For more images of the Coconuts and friends getting pirate-y in Birmingham visit http://www.arcma.co.uk/GreekNight-2008-Pics.htm
Aug 20, 2008 | Coconut in the Media
For all attendees to this year’s Franchise Marketing Conference, we are delighted to offer the opportunity for a one-to-one consultancy with one of our marketing specialists from Coconut Creatives on any aspect of your franchise marketing strategy.
* Have your current campaign assessed prior to attending the conference
* Receive 30 minutes of one-to-one targeted and personalised marketing advice
* Take your business to the next level by asking the experts your franchise marketing queries
* Find out if your marketing and franchise recruitment plan maximises both efficiency and effectiveness
* Gain real and achievable solutions to your marketing and franchise recruitment challenges
Session times:
09:45, 10:15, 11:35, 12:20, 14:10, 15:15, 16:00
For more information about the conference visit http://www.franchiseinfo.co.uk/fmc/consultancyclinic
Aug 16, 2008 | Coconut in the Media
During the build of the first Loaf Hairstylists salon, Channel 4’s ‘Risking it All’ series filmed all the development work. At the end of the programme, the presenter praised the company on air and said that it was by far the most successful business of the series!
“As soon as the programme was aired in August 2006, our salon went into overdrive with calls from people all over the area wanting a booking with one of our stylists. We were thrilled and excited for the future,” says Richard Darlow, Managing Director of Loaf Hairstylists.
The Loaf Hairstylists niche is for city centre styling in the suburbs. Research showed that many people wanted a professional and stylish haircut but didn’t want to travel into the city centre and didn’t want to pay such a high price. The Loaf Hairstylists approach to hairdressing is relaxed yet professional, a combination that seems to work well with their quality brand image.
In 2006, a second salon was opened in Broomhill, yet another suburb of Sheffield. This salon also proved to be an immediate success and continues to grow.
Recently Loaf Hairstylists have opened up their business to franchisees with the first one already signed up. Their programme on Channel 4 has recently been rerun which should add to the hype and attention that this brand already has.
Franchisees don’t need any previous hairdressing experience because they will be trained in all aspects of the business. However, applicants need to be confident, have a flair for fashion and have lots of energy.
To request an information pack contact Craig@loafhair.com or call 01142 684494 or click the link below.
Aug 12, 2008 | Coconut in the Media
Coconut Creatives is now working with Mirage’s beauty salon in Leeds. Mirage is renowned for its professionally tailored treatments in a relaxing and tranquil environment and this successful business is now available as a franchise. This unique franchise opportunity is the ONLY combined hair and beauty business currently available in the UK.
Jaz Rander, founder of Mirage and qualified beauty therapist, explains why the franchise offering has been developed, “The Leeds salon draws clients from up to 70 miles away and they tell us that it is because we combine innovative beauty services with a real care for the individual. We have always strived to do things differently at Mirage and this has built our reputation to a point where our regular clients include national TV celebrities.”
Mirage was one of the first salons in the region to offer threading, Hollywood waxing, sugaring and non-surgical facelifts. The salon is also known for effectively treating skin pigmentation, acne and acne scarring, and other skin problems using their own PRAVI product range. PRAVI has been developed using ayurvedic principles, combining herbs, minerals and oils that contribute towards natural healing of the skin and Mirage franchisees will have exclusive use of these products.
A Mirage franchise would suit anyone looking for a management opportunity and whilst a keen interest in the beauty industry is desirable, it is not necessary as full training will be provided. The franchise, which costs just £106,500*, includes all training, treatment machines, operations manual, legalities, marketing promotion and opening stock.
For more information visit: www.miragebeauty.co.uk and for a franchise pack please call Prashant on 0113 249 0777 or email franchise@miragebeauty.co.uk. Coconut Creatives Marketing and PR Specialist Sally Butters is the account handler for Mirage.
Aug 8, 2008 | Coconut in the Media
1. If your Advertising isn’t working – STOP DOING IT!
Let’s start with the simple stuff. If you are running advertising that is not working, please stop it!
This applies to all advertising, whether you’re running ads in newspapers or magazines. Feel free to use posters everywhere and make sure you ask people where they found out about you.
2. Only use Direct Response Advertising
There are two types of advertising – direct response advertising and brand advertising.
Understanding the distinction between the two will immediately save you a fortune.
Brand advertising is used by companies like Coca Cola and the large car manufacturers to build and increase awareness of their brand. Unless you have huge amounts of money which you are happy to lose, you should avoid brand advertising at all costs. For a small business it is a complete waste of money.
The only type of advertising you ever want to consider is direct response advertising. The only purpose of direct response advertising is to produce a clear response.
3. Testing and Measuring
It is absolutely essential that you test and measure all of your advertising.
If we are going to engage in direct response advertising we obviously need to be able to measure that response, otherwise we are not going to know if the ad is working.
At the very least we need to know how many people responded to the advert. Then you need to compare that figure to the cost of the ad and you can immediately work out how profitable the ad was, or whether you should stop running it.
One of the reasons that Radio and TV Advertising can be so high risk, is that it’s very difficult to test it on a small scale. You should never invest in Radio and TV Advertising unless it’s money you can afford to lose.
4. Use Fun and Exciting Headlines when possible
Be adventurous with your headlines. Test different versions to see what works best. There are no rules – except what works.
5. Remember AIDA
There’s a classic formula used by advertisers and it’s well worth remembering. The formula is AIDA. This stands for
Attention – grab the reader’s attention
Interest – Create an interest in your product or service
Desire – Convert that interest into a strong desire to contact you and find out more
Action – Give them a reason to act now e.g. free consultation or buy one get one free etc
If you follow this formula in every ad that you write or produce, you will greatly increase your chances of success.
6. Benefits, Benefits, Benefits
One of the principles that should drive all of your marketing is communicating the BENEFITS of your business.
7. Don’t Advertise on a Left Hand Page
If you’re doing newspaper or magazine advertising, this one piece of knowledge can turn an unsuccessful ad campaign into a successful one. This has been tested again and again. When you read a publication, your eyes are drawn to the right hand page as you flick through, so statistically, more people will see your ad if it’s on the right hand page.
8. Never pay the full rate for advertising
The person selling you the advertising needs to know very early on that you have absolutely no intention of paying the full rate.
Most advertising rate cards are far too high and you can always negotiate. If you’re a small business remember that large companies who use ad agencies are buying based on the readership or audience levels rather than the rate card – so haggle and negotiate.
9. Don’t Follow the Competition
One of the biggest mistakes people make is advertising in publications or on various forms of media just because their competitors are doing so. Don’t for a minute think that all your competitors are there because their ads are producing great results. They’re more likely to be there because everyone else is and most of them wont have a clue whether their advertising is working.
In fact, this is a well-known sales trick used by the people selling ad space. If they can get one or two of your competitors to advertise, they can call you up and tell you how you’ll lose out if you don’t advertise too. What they fail to mention is that your competitors probably never test their advertising, often haven’t got a clue how to market and are only advertising there because they think you will. This is a highly effective way to sustain the advertising industry. It’s not a great way for you to run your business.
10. Don’t buy into the myth that Advertising is essential for your Business Success
Generally, advertising is one of the least effective ways to grow a business.
Advertising is just one of many marketing options that you have. But you really shouldn’t be dependent on it.
So start to think out of the box and use a few of the other marketing methods below:
· Direct Mail
· Internet
· Email marketing
· PR (Why spend money on advertising when PR gives you coverage for free)
· Strategic Alliances – i.e. make friends with other businesses and sharing clients
