Our Marketing Strategy: Be Insanely Kind

As we opened our retail store, Cliché Noe Gifts Store, in San Francisco’s Noe Valley neighborhood, every sort of individual approached us to carry his or her cards, jewelry, art or books, both handmade and mainstream. At first, I bought the cards or small items to be kind, but this was quickly not sustainable! Of course, over time, it was impossible to say yes to everyone, so we elaborated on the concept of the 'trunk show', where traveling vendors show their wares, but the retailer does not necessarily carry the inventory, or there could be a complimentary component to merchandizing of brands already carried in house. What started as a negative- too many request to say yes to. Some very professional and others making personal art driven items, most were quite wonderful in their originality, but not necessarily a good 'fit' with our current mix of merchandise, we found that by that easily adapting a "No, we are sorry", negative response to a positive counter of, “Yes! Of course we can host you!” We became a proponent of a new marketing strategy; Be Insanely Kind.  This strategy fell in line with our need to host community relevant events over the course of a calendar year, especially seasonally. Generally, we serve wine and appetizers and the vendor/guest receives a venue: our retail location, scheduled on a weekday evening for example Wednesday or Thursday,  5pm -8pm, and our hospitably in exchange for a physical mailing (we create the post card, sometimes combining multiple dates) that they then send and  email to their friends, family and fans. We also drive the promotion with our own mailing and Vertical Response email lists. This creates a welcome influx of new visitors to the store as well as fulfilling our need to create host events on an ongoing basis. Please note- not every request plays out. In reality, very few follow through on the opportunity, but for those who do capture the concept, together we create a very personal and successful format.
As a footnote, we carry the BIK philosophy into our day-to-day operations by giving the customer what they want. If we do not happen to carry a pencil, we will give you one. If you did not purchase all your items at our store, we will still wrap it for you complimentary. We wrap and ship, and if we don’t have it we will find it for you, hopefully in our neighborhood, or as a special order. Also, as our customers are predominantly the people who live in Noe Valley and the people who visit them, we provide maps, guides to the neighborhood, and if you get lost call us and we will help you find your way.
https://www.linkedin.com/our-marketing-strategy-be-insanely-kind

Summerfest Noe Valley June 14th!

http://www.noevalleysummerfest.com

Fun times throughout Noe Valley June 14th! At Cliche' Noe we will be sponsoring Face Painting, Mimosa Tasting,( all day!) and popcorn & lemonade for the kids. 10am-2pm