Marketing boot camp kick starts SMEs

Media Release 01 July 09

Marketing boot camp kick starts SMEs

With the recession affecting the nation’s estimated 280,000 SMEs hard, an Essential Marketing Boot Camp is helping small businesses market themselves smarter so they can survive and thrive.

The first boot camp run by The Marketing Company after discussions with Vision Manawatu and the local chamber of commerce regarding what is needed to help businesses get through this recession.

The first boot camp will be the model that will be offered in Hamilton, Wellington and Auckland for the nation’s small to medium sized-businesses who don’t have a marketing or communications person on their staff.

The key point of difference for the two-day boot camps from any other marketing seminar is that the business owners finish the camp having written their own marketing plan – giving them ownership and accountability so they will stick to the plan, says Ambrose Blowfield, Director of the Marketing Company.

“In today’s recession, small businesses cannot afford not to have a viable marketing plan,” explains Mr. Blowfield.

“And I would estimate that speaking with the 1000 or so SMEs nationwide in the past 4 years 90% of them don’t have a plan or they have one but it is sitting in their desk’s bottom drawer and never referred to.”

In a group, peer-critiqued environment, business owners are taken through the critical steps of writing a marketing plan themselves.

“It’s a tough 2 days but what Boot Camp isn’t?” says Mr. Blowfield. “For some businesses it’s a big step but in the right direction. At the end of the 2 days the marketing plans are then bound in a bright magenta coloured folder so they will be very difficult to lose in a bottom drawer!”

“Each plan is heavy on measurement and accountability at regular intervals to make sure it is working. Because each business owner or manager has been taken through the steps and written the plan themselves, they believe in it and have ownership of it.”

And the first boot camp in Palmerston North which attracted 18 businesses from Hamilton to Wellington it got the desired results of kick starting business to get smarter about their marketing with 100% of them rating the Boot Camp as Very Good to Excellent.

Web design business owner Brynn Neilson says he “found this to be an essential tool to plan my annual marketing and increase sales.”

“I found the speakers to be excellent and practical,” says Mr. Neilson. “The potential value to my business from attending this event was $120,000."

Meanwhile Vision Manawatu’s Chief Executive Elaine Reilly says “our research shows that over 50% of businesses don’t have a marketing or business plan.”

“To not have a plan in good economic times is a tragedy, to not have one in tougher economic times is a catastrophe,” stresses Mrs. Reilly.

“Usually in good business times, businesses become order takers without much planning. When tougher times hit they have often forgotten the need to plan. This is sad for two reasons - having no plan generally means owners have a lack of direction to follow, plus it generally dilutes the passion and purpose of the business owners.”

“Without having a clear plan and focus, business owners will waste time doing the wrong things which can be disastrous.”

The Essential Marketing Boot Camp will be run in Hamilton in early September, in Wellington in early October, and in Auckland in November.

ENDS

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