Excellent Marketing To Get In A Lather About!

One of my favourite trips out is to a small northern mill town called Hebden Bridge here in West Yorkshire. 

There are a number of reasons why I love this place so much, first of all it is beautiful, it just lies in a small valley in the pennines surrounded by lovely clean clear countryside, it has the river and a canal and a multitude of beautiful walks.

The energy is uplifting and the people are typical northerners which means they are plain talking, friendly and very helpful. 

But by far the best attraction for me as a marketer is the town its self. 

Why?

Well let me explain … Hebden Bridge is very unique because as you wander around its streets you begin to notice that the shops are different.  The difference is that the usual overpriced, boring high street chain shops that adorn every high street  are conspicuous by their absence (the only one to be found here is a Boots chemist).  Hebden Bridge has very cleverly branded its self as a town with a uniqueness.

What you do see are lots of beautiful, different and individual shops.  Shops owned by artists and artisans, and people with imagination.  Shops that are beautifully presented, kept clean and are enticing to go in.  This town practices attraction marketing perfectly. 

Because the shops belong to the individual who either makes the product or markets it they have an air of being loved and cared for and the imagination that goes into many of them is breathtaking.  This is a place where you want to wander slowly and buy, this is a town that has set its self apart from the crowd and even today in our current economy the shops and streets will always be busy.

We all have a favourite and mine happens to be The Yorkshire Soap Company.  Marcus and his business partner had an awesome idea – to make soap yummy. 

The Yorkshire Soap company shop is a soap boutique selling hand made soap cakes, soap cup cakes and bath truffles that resemble edible truffles.  All are beautifully made works of art and unless you knew they were made of soap you would think that you were in a patisserie.  And, what's even better is that no nasty chemicals are allowed!

As you walk down the street you see bubbles floating through the air and your curiosity is instantly aroused so you follow them, the nearer you get to the shop the more the smell entices you in.  This is very very clever marketing.

The shop is light bright and airy, it smells divine and the displays allow you to touch, hold, smell and try. The displays are not cluttered but give you space to look and see.  Soap cup cakes are displayed on cake stands and bath salts are placed in big bowls so you can feel and smell.

All of your senses are aroused and you start thinking of excuses to buy presents. This is a very clever and subtle seduction.

Not only that the packaging and branding is awesome – you get your slice of soap cake in a miniature cardboard handbag or your truffles get tied up in a bag with ribbons.  I buy all my friends presents from here and now they buy all their presents from here too.

Marcus himself is a lovely friendly man who obviously loves his work.  He always has time to talk and he happily tells you about his products and sometimes gives you samples to try. He packages your purchases beautifully no matter how busy he is.  This is a shop you want to return to and you want an excuse to buy someone a present because it is so lovely and different.

We recently had a family wedding and the bride and groom decided to break with tradition and not have an edible wedding cake.

Instead they asked Marcus to create a soap cake (that way everyone got a piece of soap to take home instead), the cake he created was perfect and is still being talked about. 

Excellent marketing is about creating a different brand that offers value and is attractive to others.  It is about having an idea or a passion then finding a way to share it with others.  Learning 'how' to market is about learning the skills to enable you to be able to sell anything to anyone, anywhere

It is about providing a service that goes above and beyond the norm – over delivering on every count. 

It is about daring to be different and unique and it is about having the courage and faith to go for it. 

For me the Yorkshire Soap Company ticks all of the boxes and has got it just right.

What do you think? Tell me why in the comments box below