OUTDOOR SIGNAGE IN URBAN PLANNING

USING OUTDOOR SIGNAGE EFFECTIVELY

Signage is a powerful medium that has considerable value in urban development.  Signage can enhance a city or neighborhood’s aesthetic characteristics and reflect its personality and uniqueness. The type of signs used, as well as the colours and designs adopted can be identifiers of a location and its inhabitants. For instance if you were to visit the idyllic coastline of Cape Cod you would never see large neon signs as these are noisy and crass, and not compatible with the spirit of the place. 

Similarly, cities in the Arab world can also design areas that capture and project the essence of their identities.  For instance a souk or bazaar area may be enhanced through earthy colours and styles that are reminiscent of the desert as well as the styles historically associated with Arabian and Islamic architecture.

If used properly signage can serve equally well as business planning features that are used to identify business areas, retail centres and cultural areas reinforcing the sense of place and time.

To help this along municipal departments and urban planners can play a central role by providing the design guidelines for signage to developers, architects and designers. This would help in the commercial development of communities while nurturing and preserving the uniqueness of their identities.

By Sana Bagersh

Vans Goes French

Vans shoes launches this shoe at the Paris Fashion Week in March. The design is a result of a collaboration by Colette and Cobrasnake, and will be available exclusively through Collette, a funky online store with a brick and mortar existence on Rue Saint Honore in Paris.

Keeping in step is vital

by Sana Bagersh
(as published in The National)


Whenever I see troops marching in lockstep I wonder what would happen if one of the soldiers accidentally tripped. A single soldier falling would surely upset the entire line behind him, and ripple through the entire troop formation.
Cash flow in a business operates in a similar way. When a large company or organisation delays payment to a supplier the impact reverberates through all of the subsequent layers of businesses, including the entire supply chain right down to the smallest vendor. Although this appears to be a monetary issue from a business perspective, the implications can also affect individual entrepreneurs.

One entrepreneur I know, whom I will call Ahmed, has a two-year-old marketing company and employs five people. Ahmed has a lot of money due in his company's receivables, but his debtors are not paying on time. On paper, his company is comfortably in the black and doing well, with sales growing each month.
But unless Ahmed takes out a loan to cover his ongoing costs, including Dh50,000 (US$13,610) in monthly salaries, he may need to shut down his business. Multiply Ahmed by a few thousand other entrepreneurs and a trickle of an issue become an economic wave.

The reason some struggle financially is because they are exposed to risk that is beyond their control as many of the companies they deal with delay payments and some default.
 
The way some entrepreneurs deal with this problem is to take certain precautions to mitigate risk for longer-term survival. One of the first measures an entrepreneur takes is to insist on a cash advance, which may immediately force their company out of the competition with larger players in their industry.
Other entrepreneurs try to create a cash buffer by tacking on a "doing business" surcharge, so to speak, of about 10 to 15 per cent on the cost of a job. It helps hedge before the next job and acts as a cash bridge between delayed payments. However, this tends to make an entrepreneur's price less competitive compared with other companies that are able to weather longer payment cycles.
During tough times, an entrepreneur may also decide to reduce overhead spending as a long-term strategy. Other steps include trimming staff, halting hiring and putting a hold on upgrading technology and buying new equipment as well as cancelling staff training and cutting marketing spending. Once again, this makes a company less competitive and can leave it to stagnate. It is also likely to quash an entrepreneur's passion and dampen the motivation to continue.
To the broader economy the loss is even more formidable as small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) create jobs and are a dynamic force that inject energy, growth and new ideas.
In my view, SME growth needs to be nurtured through the introduction of better business practices and government-backed protocols. In the UK, the government is trying to counter the crippling effect of late payments on SMEs by inviting large companies to sign a "prompt payment code" that promotes the principle of sustainable payment across supply chains. This is a voluntary initiative and one that can be a positive step for SME development in any country.
Another logical measure may be to empower collection agencies so they are more able to collect on behalf of SMEs.
Entrepreneurs that I regularly come across demonstrate the fragile interdependency of their businesses and cash flow in the economy. It shows why the business sector needs to nurture discipline in payments and raise its business standards to create environments that are conducive for SMEs to start, and for all companies to flourish.
And if all these are not compelling motivations for changing business practices, then the single most important reason for paying on time is that it is simply the right thing to do.

(Sana Bagersh is the chief executive of the marketing consultancy BrandMoxie, based in Abu Dhabi, and founder of Tamakkan, which holds seminars for entrepreneurs).

Failing to plan business succession is courting disaster

by Sana Bagersh
(as published on The National last November 9, 2011)

When it comes to small businesses, the topic of succession usually takes a back seat to conversations about family preferences and petty prejudices.


Meet "Nasser", an astoundingly successful entrepreneur who is a relative of mine.

Nasser has been blessed with a brilliant mind, an exceptional capacity for recognising opportunity and an astute grasp of international investing. He owns plantations, properties and factories in Africa and Asia.

Alas, he lacks the ability to create a proper succession plan.

His situation is further complicated, as he has three wives, each of whom has children and lives on a different continent. Many of these children have not met each other and would not know how to communicate with each other because they speak different languages.

Yet those of Nasser's sons and daughters who are in communication with each other are already unhappy and starting to bicker.

Who is going to get the land in Uganda?

How about the factory in Malaysia?

And who gets the buildings in Sharjah?

The children are growing suspicious of each other and are losing respect for their father.

The heartbreak is that it is likely to become far worse after Nasser dies, as family members often band together into factions and call in the lawyers. In the end, Nasser may leave behind a legacy of familial disintegration, hate and many years of painful litigation.

Nasser is an extreme example of many entrepreneurs I see through my work.

The scale is always different, but the dynamics are the same: the head of the family's fortune tends to dominate, which can lead to chaos down the road for the company and, more tragic, for the family and the generations that follow.

Another entrepreneur, whom I'll call "Ammar", is on the other end of the succession planning spectrum.
He is pushing 60 and has lung cancer.

He called in his sons and daughters and told them that he expected many years of life ahead of him (God willing).
But that night, just in case, he thought it would be good to have a frank discussion of inheritance and governance.And with his lawyer in the room, he detailed a systematic plan of succession: whom he wanted to lead the company and how much each of the children would be entitled to.

He also detailed his path for kaizen, or improvement, including new accounting procedures, growth strategies and business principles of transparency and the nurturing of a positive and healthy corporate culture.

I wish Ammar would have a talk with Nasser.

Market Research: Getting the Right Answers

A multinational client approached us recently with a request for market research. The client had a sophisticated research platform that they use successfully in North America, and they wanted to replicate the results here. After studying their methodology and the survey form, we advised them (delicately) that they had the wrong survey, the wrong platform, the wrong environment and the wrong audience. We told them that we would be able to deliver the mechanics of the requirement (ie gather the information for them using their tools), but the data would be virtually useless to them.


The client’s survey (a proprietary, “signature” questionnaire) was eight pages long, with complicated rating scale questions (very pleasant, somewhat pleasant, neither pleasant nor unpleasant, somewhat unpleasant, very unpleasant etc….) that needed to be translated into Arabic, Urdu and Farsi…and had to be administered via phone or email across a few markets in the Gulf.

We explained that the cultural, demographic, linguistic, social and indeed, geographical, dynamics of this region required considerable modification to both the survey and the methods of gathering the data.

Eventually, we worked together to deconstruct the “proprietary, signature questionnaire” into simple questions with direct answers, that maintained conformity and integrity across multiple languages. And we mapped out the locations that provided the most representative sampling possible and created a mechanism whereby the data would be gathered at the most productive times.

The one universal truth in market research is that people everywhere do not like to participate in research. They do not like to be called at dinner time by a chirpy telemarketer asking them how they dispose of their household waste, and even less by a clipboard wielding interviewer promising “just a few questions”…

We tried during the market research process with the client to guard against “interview bias,” a problem doubly compounded by the fact that we were dealing cross culturally and in multiple languages. We all know that it is virtually impossible to eliminate bias, but the most important thing is to be aware of these biases and to minimize them as much as possible.

We identified certain biases that we needed to be especially mindful of in this instance. One was “moderator acceptance bias,” and this is where the respondent tells the questioner what he or she wants to hear, another is “leading acceptance bias” and this is where the respondent asks for explanation and the questioner starts putting words in the respondent’s mouth, and most importantly the “misunderstood question bias” and this is where the respondent doesn’t understand the question because of a different interpretation of the question due to the way it relates to his or her cultural and social context.

Most importantly we wanted to keep in mind that when conducting research it is critical to remember that it is all about gaining a deeper and more profound understanding of the respondent by asking the right questions - simply and succinctly. And this means not getting bogged down in process, technology or aesthetics.

Groupon, Cobone, Gonabit…Should You Use Them to Market Your Business?

At BrandMoxie we work closely with entrepreneurs and SMEs in exploring new, affordable and efficient ways of marketing. Many of our clients face shrunken marketing budgets and slowing business cycles, and recently more and more have been seeking our advice on whether they should run marketing programmes through group buying websites such as Groupon, Cobone and Gonabit. These entrepreneurs see their competitors selling their services this way and wonder if it makes sense for them to do it as well. So for all of those who have asked us and wondered, read on….


As a business owner you scratch your head and think that since everyone is using group buying websites, then they must work. They work beautifully - with almost no caveats - if you’re the consumer. As customer you’re getting great value deals and promotions at lower price thresholds than ever. But - if you’re the service provider you have to assess the opportunity carefully before jumping in. Consider the business model: your service is offered for a limited time, to an unlimited number, and usually becomes active when a certain number of people join the deal. The powerful marketing catalyst is that it gets all those interested in ‘the deal’ to aggressively push the offer to friends and family. So the consumer gets a great deal, you make new sales (without spending money for marketing), and the group buying site gets its margin. Perfect win-win, right? Well, not always...

The big advantage that these services offer a business owner is that they can build awareness about the company (and the offer) through their mass mailings. Groupon, for instance, sends their ‘Deal of the Day’ in the US to a subscriber list of 70 million customers! All the group buying websites require you, as the business owner, to offer a big discount over your usual price, and to pass on a sizeable margin, to the group buying site as its commission. The idea is that you would make less money per sale, but you make more on volume, and you win new customers as well.

Where can it go wrong? For one, the discount you have to offer can sometimes be so steep that it cuts too much into your profit, and may ultimately not be worth it. That’s especially if you’re already on tight profit margins. If your profit margins are wider then you may be able to sustain offering the service at hefty discounts, in exchange for the promise of future returns.

Clearly the advantage may be better to you if you’re a service business, such as a hairdresser, as opposed to a product provider, such as a restaurant. The reason is that service oriented businesses usually have fixed overheads that make it easier ‘to get the resources working’ whereas a product based business has to incur new/ additional expenses in order to generate the transactions.

So the heart of matter is that you should be clear about your motives for participating in Groupon, Cobone etc. More often than not businesses use group buying sites not for the volume based returns, but for the promise of gaining new customers. The problem, and this is where we get into buyer psychology, is that this may damage the long term ‘positioning’ of your business as price is a dominant brand attribute. This is where your consumer may associate the facial and blow dry combo you offered once through Cobone with Dh 200 rather than with the Dh 450 that is the regular everyday price. In their minds they may not be ready to fork out Dh 450 for a Dh 200 service, but will be inclined to wait until that service is back ‘on sale.’

In the event the customer bought your service on Groupon, likes your service, and is ready to be a repeat customer (buying at regular prices), then whatever ‘losses’ you might have incurred on the initial purchase will be redeemed in subsequent full-priced transactions.

If your business relies on single purchases, such as bridal gowns and cars, then you shouldn’t participate, for the obvious reason that you won’t be getting repeat business from your investment. Rather, in this case if you chose to participate it would be for no more than to gain from the volume-based (minimized) returns. Even assuming that the single-purchase person is going to recommend you to a friend, the repeat business opportunity may still be a long shot, and not worth any losses incurred from the discounts you gave.

While the lure of greater volume of business (even at smaller profit margins), and rapid exposure is always appealing, consider the challenges it poses to the long term sustainability of your business. Working for small margins can deplete your working capital quickly as you try to recover costs and make a profit. This is especially difficult for small businesses with insufficient equipment and small staff. Your staff may become overworked, exhausted and unmotivated just as your ‘newly-won’ customers become upset because you ran out of products or kept them waiting too long for service.

So while you shouldn’t rule out using group buying services such as Groupon, Cobone and Gonabit, as they will give you rapid exposure, make sure you plan well, and take into consideration all factors, including your costs, your resources, your profit margins, and the benefits that you expect to reap.

© BrandMoxie. All rights reserved.

Intelligence in Business

"BizBox" by BrandMoxie

Is it a brochure, a flyer or a sales kit?


Often at BrandMoxie we have a client who comes to us asking for a ‘brochure’ without a clear strategy on what the piece of marketing collateral is intended for. Here we offer insight on how to fine tune your marketing collateral to fit your specific business needs.

Usually marketing literature are required to help a customer make a buying decision. Because the development of such material can be costly in design, content creation and production, it is important for the business to determine the kind of ‘collateral’ required to achieve the specific business goal (which is almost always to convert a potential customer into a real customer).

The “Hand Out and Leave Behind” Brochure

As the name suggests, this is the brochure that you leave behind after your contact with the prospective customer. This brochure provides a good outline of your products and services and with it the specific benefits it offers the customer. It is important that your copy is punchy and has a clear ‘call to action.’ It also has to be relevant otherwise your ‘leave behind’ brochure will probably be left behind in the garbage bin!

The “In Response’ Brochure

This is the brochure that you send when someone is interested in your product or service and you want to provide information that could help them make a buying decision, basically to take them to a ‘stage two.’ This brochure should list all the strong benefits and features to persuade the customer, and hopefully close the deal.

The Catalogue

This is ‘brochure’ that is a listing usually in photos and prices. It is important that the catalogue does justice to the products otherwise it is best that it should be produced at all. So the quality of the photos and printing are immensely important to market the products. Such catalogues can be expensive to produce, and distribute, if they have many pages. These days ‘catalogue’ dependent businesses produce small printed versions and ask customers to browse more expanded online versions.

The Point of Sale Flyer

This is usually located strategically at retail points, and usually come in the form of a quick and brief read – often a flyer - to help the customer progress towards the buying decision as they come close to the ‘buying window.’ Or it is something the customer may scan over quickly and take with them to read at home. For the flyer convenience, visibility, attractive design and brevity of copy are all important.

The Direct Mailer

Sometimes a marketing strategy calls for a direct mail campaign, and this works best when the target group is relatively small and identifiable, and that the contact information is available to the marketer. In this case, the best collateral type is the direct mailer. Here the mailer should provide your product or services’ key selling points, and also some level of personalization so the recipient places a greater value since the mailer is intended for him or her. Here try to include the person’s name, title and address, and if at all possible personalize the letter (rather than sending it to ‘dear customer’).

The Sales Support Brochure

In some businesses a sales person has a short time to make a sales pitch to a customer, and that might involve showing the prospect a ‘brochure’. In this instance the brochure needs to serve as a selling aid, and showing the products in large photographs and headlines helps. If produced well, this kind of brochure, even if it is left behind with the potential customer, doubles up as a ‘leave behind’ brochure.