Hello ,
Greetings from sunny Sheffield, the HQ of AW.
Happy Bank Holiday Weekend! - Hope you can find a sunny spot to chill and relax.
Here it was snowing and hailing yesterday.. today the sun is out :)
Last week I was telling you about our new Cumbria design aromatics range and retailing project. You can read about it here.
So of course this week I have been quite involved with this.. sniffing fragrances, taking baths, and admiring all the types of card, ribbons and panatone colours that can change ever so slightly depending on the print material. My goodness, it's turning into a labour of love.
Today.. I can reveal to you the name.. Agnes & Cat. Proudly British, slightly eccentric and beautifully designed. Products with absolute authenticity and quality.
The name is enigmatic, there is no cat, and who the fruitcake is Agnes? There are answers to these questions apparently, but nobody told me yet :)
So far the feedback has been very encouraging, with lots of our lovely customers (that's you) already offering support and ideas.
Of course, nothing great was ever created by a committee, but maxim feedback and input.. all help develop and expose the possibilities. And this can make greatness.
The mystery designer from Cumbria.. you will discover later, comes to Sheffield three days a week to immerse in the project and push along all the tasks. He is a great guy and totally open to your ideas and input.
And here is an intro website Agnes & Cat..(work in progress) where you can register your interest and if you are feeling generous give us your thoughts.
What's better in the gift trade? A race to the top or a race to the bottom?
Seth Godin often talks about this. (Seth is a marketing genius and prolific writer/thinker - I highly recommend his blog).
What does it mean?.. well there are two ways to think... one is all about the price. Cheaper is always better, this is getting you bigger volume is saving your customers money. It's easy to cut the price, again and again. But inevitably quality and service will suffer, and ultimately no-one wins this race to the bottom. Eventually this even includes the customer.
The other thinking (in the race to the top) is that: Quality is king. Yes there is an acceptable price point that is reasonable to ask your gift buying customer to pay... but the race is on to give the most value and quality and improve the customer experience. This is more hard work, demands creativity and originality, attention to detail - but everyone can win in the race to the top and the world is a better place and I dare say always getting better.
Some industries are better on the race to the bottom (possibly) but the gift trade is about love, giving, kindness and generosity - it's absolutely not suited to the race to the bottom.
Do you really enjoy drinking the cheapest wine you can buy? The same goes for candles and bath-bombs and almost any gift-ware...
What do you think?
By the time you read this I will have left the office, and taken the high road to Manchester - boarded a flight bound for Bratislava, Slovakia. A small team from AW also in tow... Our EU adventure is game on...
No weekend break for us... but don't cry for us it will be fun.
Next week there should be interesting news from the East of Europe.
I'll update you.
Have a wonderful time, whether you are working or not.
Take care
David
