actionable marketing guide

Dear ,

Hi!

Last week I met a marketing colleague at Eisenberg’s Sandwich Shop near Fifth Avenue and 23^rd Street, opposite the famous Flatiron building. 

This New York institution has operated continuously for about 100 years. Despite living in the neighborhood, it was my first visit to the narrow railroad space.

It’s plainly decorated except for the front entry wall. It’s plastered with photos of the owners with recognizable personalities.

It serves a full menu of breakfast and lunch offerings that probably haven’t changed. If you want a BLT, peanut butter and jelly or a corn beef sandwich they’ve you covered. They even have the old New York specialty: egg creams (a combination of milk, chocolate syrup and seltzer – but no egg or cream!)

Eisenberg’s provided the perfect background for our discussion of how businesses extend their brand into their location. This shouldn’t be a surprise since place is one of the 4Ps (now 5Ps)

1. Product
2. Place
3. Price
4. Promotion
5. People

1. Brand. Does your retail location support your business? Do people live or visit this location for the type of products or services you offer? Does your look and feel reflect your brand?
2. Neighborhood. Does your business fit with and contribute to the personality of the neighborhood or does it stand out like a sore thumb? (Yes—New York is composed of lots of very small neighborhoods.) Like the establishment I described in last week’s letter, this is important.
3. Location. Specifically foot traffic and transportation. Are the people who come through this location interested in what you have to offer? Is it easily accessible. Flying Fingers, a suburban yarn store, created a yarnmobile to pick up and return knitters to New York City to overcome this obstacle.
4. Accessibility. How easy is it to enter and navigate? If you’re on the first floor of a walk-up building, you’re limiting your clientele.  The long time Yarn Company on Broadway requires a second floor trek up narrow, uneven stairs. 
5. Competition. How many other businesses offer the same or similar products? Understand that this isn’t as easy a question as you may think. It talks to opportunity and need. New York City is known for specialized districts for certain products. Don’t overlook online retailers. Fresh Direct parks a truck on my block 7 days a week to handle transfers. It does double duty as a giant billboard!
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If you’re smiling because you’ve got an online business and these questions don’t matter, think again. Online your location is just formatted differently.

Prime real estate is defined in terms of your URL. Recently, Noah Kagan spent 7 figures to acquire Sumo.com instead of sumome.com. 

I’m sure Eisenberg’s original owner didn’t envision a business that would still be going almost 100 years later.

But he did understand what his regulars wanted and needed. The fact that the business has continued to stick to that offering makes it a must-visit destination.

Spring is a good time to reassess your business’s location. How can your improve your branding?

Happy Marketing
Heidi.

Heidi Cohen
Actionable Marketing Guide

• ExcoB2B, a Montreal based agency, selected Heidi Cohen as a Top 30 Influencer In Marketing.
  
  
• Small Business Tools named Heidi Cohen as a Top 50 Marketing Influencer. It’s another list worth checking out.
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• Grey Campus named Heidi Cohen a Top 10 Influencer in Digital Marketing. Wow—check out her peers!

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