Sponsored video: Small business marketing lessons from Fred Aldous
November 28, 2012CRM, social media, social business and the future – Interview with Jon Ferrara of Nimble
November 30, 2012Note: This post has been Sponsored by O2, but all narrative and opinion is my own.
This post follows on from the first post in this series: Sponsored video: Small business marketing lessons from Fred Aldous
I love stories of businesses that are doing things that make them stand out. and then are delivering on them too.
You know the type. The sort of businesses that do cool things for their customers, are very local in their orientation but have a big reach and impact, that experiment and try new things, that create great experiences, that treat their people really well and get them involved (really involved) in the business and have been around for either a long time or are very early in their journey (innovation and age are not correlated, right?).
This post is the second of two that features videos of two businesses that fall into that category.
The featured business in this post is Camp and Furnace, a business that was born after the demise, last year, of the art organisation, A Foundation, on Greenland Street, part of The Baltic Triangle in Liverpool.
Part-bar, part-cafe, part-event space with designs on establishing a hotel (One space is dotted with vintage caravans and will eventually form a hotel) the business has combined three industrial spaces(a furnace, a blade factory and a coach shed) to create a ‘festival’ type of experience but indoors.
Check out the video below which features one of the founders of the Camp and Furnace team talking about their business and the marketing that they are doing through the O2 Priority scheme (http://unr.ly/UJ8A05):
Again, the things that I like about this business are both professional and personal:
- When any organisation dies it can be sad. But, it can also provide a ‘recycling’ opportunity given the right vision and drive to create something new, different and, maybe, better. Camp and Furnace are doing just that.
- At the same time they are delivering a customer experience that is a breathe of fresh air when compared to some of the slick(ish) and sanitised retail experiences that dominate our high streets. Check out Camp and Furnace’s site (http://unr.ly/T1vT9h) (http://unr.ly/Tg38EK) to learn more about their story and see how they are using social media and other new marketing techniques, like the O2 Priority scheme (http://unr.ly/UJ8A05); and
- Finally, as in the previous post, my Mum and Dad don’t live far away and my Mum and Dad are great fans of new shopping and eating experiences (especially my Mum) so I’ll be recommending Camp and Furnace to them and arranging to pop in next time I am up North to pay them a visit. 🙂
Finally, do check out The Guardian ‘Loving Local’ site (http://unr.ly/Tg45gp) for more stories of small, local businesses that are doing innovative things with their marketing.
Note: This post has been Sponsored by O2, but all narrative and opinion is my own.
8 Comments
This is brilliant! I would love to visit Camp and Furnace sometime. This company is a great success story of how to use social media to connect with people rather than ‘selling’ to them. Thank you also for the links! You might also gain some great insight from Lisa Anderson. She has written a wonderful book on the topic of leveraging social networks for success called, Leverage Social Networks to Drive Business Results. http://www.lma-consultinggroup.com/
Hi Lauren,
Thanks for your comment and the plug 😉
Best wishes,
Adrian
You’re welcome, Adrian :}. Enjoy!
Hello Adrian
I don’t cry over failed companies and I have not understand why others do. Experimentation and then “selection pressures” are essential to ensuring that the companies that stay in business are fit to stay in business. Those that are not are weeded out – if this did not happen then lousy companies would stay in business and company management would have no incentive to improve. Does that remind you of British Telecom when it was a state monopoly.
Maz
Hi Maz,
Thanks for your comment. I think you may need to re-read the first point that I was making. I said that it ‘can be sad’ when an organisation dies….that’s an emotional reference not about economics, economic evolution or political policy.
I agree that there is no place for companies that are not fit to stay in business.
Adrian
Great post! We are linking to this particularly great content on our site.
Keep up the good writing.