If you’re a regular visitor, you know I tell the stories of businesses, brands, people and cities for a living. Recently, I went to Mandan, ND to meet with the city staff and leadership and to see the city firsthand so I could tell their story to the retail marketplace and help them attract new [...]
This year, the mood, pace and tone of RECon (the International Council of Shopping Centers annual Retail Convention in Las Vegas) is palpably different. Whatever the economists say, the winds have shifted in the development and tenanting side of retail. A few observations from days 1 and 2 of the show: People are dressed for [...]
Some of you know that about half of my consulting-side work is in economic development for cities and site owners. Mostly retail, but we also help cities attract new residential and industrial/office development as well. It’s work I love because if I do my job well, a corner of the world is a better place [...]
The mantra in real estate has always been, “Location, Location, Location!” Over the past year, since the advent of location-based apps such as Foursquare and Gowalla, it’s seemed the plugged-in community has adopted the location motto as its own. Predictions were made, and disputed, about how important these apps could be. I resisted the allure [...]
By now, you’ve completed all the steps in part 1 (previous post) and have a mountain of data…. random bits of impersonal knowledge. Next, we need to add some human insight to the data, season with some business sense and a dash of intuition and we’ll develop actionable information. Talk to your customers. Especially your [...]
This is the first in a series of posts about how Small Businesses can perform a Do-It-Yourself brand audit. A brand audit is a good idea for all businesses, but unless you have many locations, lots of employees, multiple campaigns across multiple channels… you can do at least a preliminary one on your own. Here’s how:
What you say about your place is marketing. What people think about your place is branding. When I see a city manager’s business card produced in house and printed on donated paper at the least expensive price point possible, with a “logo” that consists of a divided shape of some sort with each quadrant filled by some hallmark of place history, I shudder. Again. What is the promise?
If you clearly set expectations with your customers (or your kids), including noting the choices or options available, sharing any relevant urgency, reminding them of the important parts and delivering what you promised, your interactions will be much more fruitful.
Co-authored by Rickey Hayes and Mandy Vavrinak More and more cities and communities are realizing that growing their retail base wisely is an integral part of any balanced and long-term economic development strategy. Not every city can support extensive retail; overbuilding in some categories and areas has contributed to today’s economic woes in the retail [...]
