In Print » July 2011 » Features » Management Strategies

It's said that there's no such thing as bad publicity, but when it comes to publicizing yourself as a gourmet retailer, this statement could not be further from the truth. As an independently owned specialty store, what you want and need is good publicity ... and plenty of it. Just how do you make headlines? There are numerous options, and even better, they're almost all free.

Cost is the biggest difference between public relations (PR) and marketing, according to Nicole L. Reyhle – retail writer, speaker and consultant, and founder of Retail Minded, "A Boutique Style Retail Consultation & Support Firm' in Chicago.

"PR is a direct outreach to gain publicity ... and, typically, it's not something you're going to pay for," she says. "You don't need to pay for PR unless you're paying someone to do it. Your PR efforts are a strategy to gain an audience beyond your immediate audience."

Marketing, on the other hand, is "a proactive effort with an outlined strategy, but there's typically cost involved," Reyhle describes. Marketing can include paid-for radio spots or a booth at a community event.

In short, when it comes to PR vs. marketing, "One's free, one's not," she summarizes.

Publicity can be accomplished via social media, radio and TV as well as business-to-business partnerships. For example, Reyhle says, share your wares with other like-minded, non-competing businesses. As a gourmet retailer, you might reach out to a local catering company and find ways to cross-promote each other. Try merchandising one of your products at the checkout of another business with a frame identifying where shoppers can find said item, and do the same for your partner, she says.

You don't have to hire a PR firm to generate publicity for your business. But you do have to follow some rules of etiquette if you're going to get the response you desire.

Communication Skills
When reaching out to the press, Reyhle says, you must communicate effectively. This includes contacting the media at the right time. Whether making calls or sending out e-mails, in general, Mondays are bad, while Tuesdays and Wednesdays are better.

Also, communicate professionally, Reyhle continues.

"Introduce yourself again and again, but make it short and sweet," she advises. "Your sales pitch needs to capture their attention fast."

As such, learn to define your business quickly and effectively, and practice doing so.

"Beyond the actual being effective and fast, there is other etiquette such as speak clearly, and always identify your name, the name of your store, why you're calling and where you can be reached," Rehyle says. Although these tips may seem like no-brainers, they are crucial to the kind of reception you're going to get from members of the media.

"You can hound the press, but that won't be effective,"Rehyle continues, adding "Don't call back right away.' Instead, "Follow up with an e-mail."

Keep in mind that the media won't always bite.

"That said, keep pitching," Reyhle asserts. "Shift your audience a little bit, readjust the pitch story. Make sure you have a purpose. Just because you have a store doesn't mean you have a story."

Focus on story-worthy happenings such as a visiting chef or upcoming demonstration. A special event always is a good reason to contact the press. So is an anniversary.

And if a media outlet ends up reporting on your event, "use that press to gain press," Reyhl suggests. In other words, take the article, and issue a press release about it. Share the news with your Facebook followers and on your website, too.

One sure-fire way to get media coverage of your store is to support your community, which has the added bonus of making you and your staff members feel good. Participating in local events allows you to meet new people and further develop recognition of your brand. If you are the owner of the store, this is an opportunity to represent yourself as the face of your brand.

Look into working with the Chamber of Commerce or local schools to expand your audience, Reyhle says.

"If your customers are moms, go where the moms are," she hypothesizes. "If your customers are urban professionals, go where they are."

Retailers Relate
Depending on the size of your store, you may or may not have a staff member who handles PR for your business. Either way, you can still garner attention via local media.

As a self-declared mom-and-pop business, The Cheese Lady in Muskegon, Mich., does not have a dedicated PR person, but the store does take steps to achieve publicity. For starters, it maintains a monthly e-newsletter and makes Facebook posts once a week or so. It also does paid advertising, placing coupons in the local newspaper every other month. The shop is involved in fundraising events, too.

In June of this year, The Cheese Lady was featured on a Grand Rapids, Mich., TV station, which videotaped a visit to the store (available online at www.woodtv.com).

Ultimately, outside catering, farmer's market participation and word of mouth are its best means of publicity, states The Cheese Lady herself, Kathleen Fagan Riegler.

More than 30 local food bloggers participated in a bake sale at Great News Cookware & Cooking School to benefit Share Our Strength, a nonprofit organization.

The store's publicity goals: To attract "new customers or those customers who have heard about me, but have not found me," Riegler says, in addition to branding itself, staying in the public eye and being a part of the community.

Peppers of Key West in Key West, Fla., is another retailer taking steps to brand itself without a full-time PR person. Instead, Store Owner Pete Legrady manages that aspect of the business.

"Much of our publicity is accomplished through the experiential marketing at our tasting bar," Legrady says. "We also are able to obtain a huge amount of word-of-mouth advertising.'

Peppers of Key West also sends out newsletters every three weeks, publishes press releases every other month and makes social media posts every week in its efforts to brand the business and its products in hopes of "bringing in new and old customers by staying 'fresh' in their minds," Legrady sums up.

Meanwhile, Great News Cookware & Cooking School in San Diego has its own media planning & placement person, who issues press releases for events, and notifies local papers and websites such as Sign on San Diego, KPBS and the San Diego Reader about its quarterly class schedules, for example. The retailer also does monthly TV advertising to brand itself as "the premiere kitchenware store and cooking school in San Diego," says General Manager Erika D'Eugenio.

For Great News, "Television is the most important vehicle because you can actually see the products and cooking school," she notes.

Rösle recently named Great News Cookware & Cooking School its No. 1 independent retailer. The store shared this news with various trade journals.

In addition, this year, the store was named Rösle's No. 1 independent retailer. As such, the kitchenware manufacturer gave Great News its prestigious Big Ladle Award. News of this recognition appeared in various trade journals, D'Eugenio points out. And the retailer just sponsored an event called the Great American Bake Sale for Share Our Strength (a national nonprofit aimed at ending childhood hunger in America), in which more than 30 local food bloggers participated.

Furthermore, "We support local charities with cooking class gift certificates," D'Eugenio notes, adding that the retailer makes about 50 charitable donations each month.

All PR efforts are meant to generate traffic and help build the company's customer base, D'Eugenio says.

One retailer that's made a name for itself nationwide through various PR opportunities is Zingerman's in Ann Arbor, Mich.

Peppers of Key West drives traffic to its store through a tasting bar, where shoppers can sample its wares.

The deli-turned-gourmet-food-producer-and-market boasts two staff members who send out press releases about new products and upcoming events, while Co-founder Ari Weinzweig helps get the word out in a more informal way, via media friends and acquaintances.

Each of Zingerman's various businesses (from Zingerman's Coffee Co. to Zingerman's Creamery) has one or more e-newsletters, and they post to their individual websites on a regular basis.

"We actively use social media in a few of our businesses," notes Marketing Manager Pete Sickman-Garner, adding that The Bakehouse, Roadhouse and Deli post every day. Zingerman's also has a Twitter feed that he make posts to at least a couple times a day.

"Facebook and eNews have been among the most successful vehicles for us," Sickman-Garner says. "Also, our bimonthly printed newsletter is a great vehicle, as is the Tour de Food promo that it features."

"Your PR efforts are a strategy to gain an audience beyond your immediate audience."
– Nicole L. Reyhle, founder, Retail Minded

As a tourist destination, Zingerman's enjoyed widespread publicity surrounding its Camp Bacon event, which took place over the Fourth of July holiday weekend. Articles about the fest appeared in Greensboro, N.C.'s News & Record, The Detroit Free Press, The Orlando Sentinel, the travel section of USA Today and The Gourmet Retailer magazine, among other publications. Additional recent media coverage of Zingerman's included a New York Times piece on the retailer's use of technology to connect with clients (featuring an interview with Maggie Bayless).

When its very own Roadhouse chef, Alex Young, won this year's James Beard Award for Best Chef in the Great Lakes Region, the company issued a release ... but it's not stopping there.

"We're working that message into all of our promotional work, in newsletters, eNews, Facebook, Twitter, on menus, etc.," Sickman-Garner points out.

Getting Social
Zingerman's is one of many gourmet retailers who use social media on a regular basis to drive traffic to their stores.

More than 30,000 Facebook users "like' Zingerman's Delicatessen, which is keeping fans updated on the progress of its current expansion via photos it posts to its page. It also promoted its Camp Bacon event via the site with a link to event information and this post: "nom nom nom... camp bacon... this weekend... eat bacon..." The link to a recent interview Weinzweig did with Heritage Radio Network appears on page, as well.

Meanwhile, The Cheese Lady in Muskegon, Mich., operates a Facebook page with 1,706 followers. Recently, it used the site to announce the grand opening of its gourmet olive oil and vinegar shop. There, it also announces community events such as the Community Foundation for Muskegon County 2011 Annual Gathering. For example, on June 28, it wrote: "Genoa alami Crisps, Black Bean Dip with Tortilla Swords; Sundried Tomato Chicken Salad in Pastry Puffs, Applewood Smoked Bacon Egg & Thyme Tartines, cheese from The Cheese Lady, happy hour prices on drinks, and free pop and water. In case you needed extra reasons to attend our Annual Gathering tomorrow!"

In addition, 1,288 people "like" Peppers of Key West's Facebook page, which features photos and video of customer "torture tests" as well as links to news articles on its website. It also runs information about in-store events. For example, on April 11 Peppers of Key West wrote, "Some of you may know that we are holding a "jelly bean" counting contest here in the store – the closest guess each month wins a $50 gift certificate. This month's winner is Mark Blazer with an exact guess of 2,746 jellybeans! Congratulations Mark!! For the rest of you, the next time you are in Key West stop in and make your guess – of course the jellybeans will be in a different container!'

Like these retailers, if you're going to utilize social media to reach your audience, make it a part of your routine, Reyhle states. Customers will notice if your last update was four months ago, she notes. Sites such as Facebook don't require a huge, dedicated time effort; you can designate just 10-15 minutes a day to get the job done. Use it to post links to blogs on your website or news within the industry – topics of interest to your customers, even if it's something about a food show they might follow such as "Top Chef' on Bravo, Reyhle suggests.

If you're still not sure you can spare the time, Reyhle recommends coming up with 50 go-to Tweets, for example, that you can copy and paste as needed, rather than coming up with something new every day.

Ultimately, social media is simply a modern form of word of mouth, which stems from loyal, repeat customers.

So if you've got a great store with great product and great customer service, don't keep it a secret. Spread the word.

Five Ways to Make Waves Nicole L. Reyhle, founder of Chicago-based Retail Minded, offers the following tips in her article, "Creative Ways to Market Your Retail Store.' Additional advice can be found at www.retailminded.com 1. Reach out to local radio stations and publications. Explain to them in a professional fashion that you want to donate some product from your store in exchange for their mentioning of your business either on the air or in print. Take the time to negotiate specific details so that you know exactly what you are partnering yourself up with. This includes how often you get mentioned in exchange for the product. Make sure you have a timeline defined, as well. 2. Have a front window display contest. You can offer this to anyone or reach out to a specific group of people to do this, such as a local college or high school. Create buzz about this contest by promoting it to the local media. Have your partners in the contest, such as a college, do their own promoting of this contest, as well. Span out the contest over the course of a month for a highlighted, elongated event that will create ongoing buzz. 3. Sell store gift cards at other local businesses. This is a great way to encourage cross-promotion between local businesses as well as gain a new audience of customers to your store. Even if they don't sell a ton of gift cards to your store, the exposure will still offer the opportunity for your store to be introduced to new clients. To better support this, include an enticing visual display to feature the gift cards. 4. Hold monthly or bimonthly seminars or clinics at your store. Depending on your business, you can educate your customers at the seminars or clinics, provide knowledge on products you sell or provide "how-to' information that relates to your store assortment. Don't underestimate the value in bringing customers into your store for reasons other than shopping. This is a great way to show you support them and, in return, they just may end up shopping! 5. Volunteer your time by offering speeches on career days at high schools and colleges. Depending on who your target market is, this could introduce you to a whole new audience of potential customers. Make sure to "sell' your business during your speech.