A Marketing Success Story

Did you read the Sunday Times Magazine this week (2nd August 2009)?

In it, there was an article, "Shifting Sands", about the need for British seaside towns to reinvent themselves for the increase in UK stay-at-home holidays. Attention was focused on Torquay, and there was one story that particularly caught my eye.

There are two rival ferry companies that run up and down the Torbay coastline linking Torquay, Brixham and Paignton. The Western Lady Ferry Service took the decision, 3 years ago, to sell two elegant second-world-war naval ships, and then invest in two new 170-passenger vessels at £500,000 a-piece. As a result, they need to have healthy passenger numbers just to break even and when fuel costs rise, and the weather turns inclement this has a significant knock-on effect. Despite having been in business for 64 years, they are finding it a struggle.

The rival company, Greenway Quay and Ferry Service, is not having anything like the same problems. Profits are up 50% on last year. In the 4 years the company has been in business, some shrewd investments have been made, including the purchase of one of the naval ships that Western Lady offloaded. Naturally, the question was posed "How has Greenway done so well, and Western Lady so badly?" The answer..?

"We offer more trips than anyone else, and we spend more than anyone else on marketing...because we know we've got to speculate to accumulate. That is not the attitude of everyone in the area." Will Ford, Greenway Quay and Ferry Service.

You will hear every marketing expert expounding on the need to "market your way out of a recession." The above story is a prime example of the success that can be achieved by thinking outside the box. Greenway have done different things; they have not been complacent. They offer a greater range of services, and by keeping control over his costs, Will Ford only needs to fill 35% of his boats to be profitable. It says much that he is close to capacity on almost all services he runs.

Don't make the mistake of ignoring the need to market your business. I have written four articles on how you can make the most of some of the most cost-effective forms of marketing you have at your disposal:

Marketing in a Difficult Economy - Employing a Cost-Effective Marketing Strategy

Search Engine Promotion - Getting your Website seen by Potential Customers

Effective Websites - the Importance of your Homepage

Consumer Behaviour Changes - An Introduction to Google Insights for Search

These articles are all available for you to download, free, from our website at:
http://www.argentrammedia.com/downloads.html

If you would like to discuss any aspect of your marketing, please call us to arrange a free initial consultation.

Argent Ram Media is a company that specialises in providing a range of marketing solutionsfor all businesses, from the small one-man-band up to the largest of multi-nationalcompanies.

Website Design & Development
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Acknowledgement - The Sunday Times Magazine, 2nd August 2009.